Mars Direct, New Moon, Losar, Venus Retrogrades & Mardi Gras!
Our next week and month are busy with festivals, new and full moons, eclipses, and continuing retrogrades! In the sky, Mars, after 2½ months in retrograde, is now slowly moving forward. We will have one week of no retrogrades but then two more retrogrades will soon begin (Venus and Mercury)! Note, the recent conversations (Mercury) about gold (Venus). What is in Fort Knox?
This week we have a Pisces new moon festival; Losar (Tibetan New Year festival); Venus, retrograding the Oscars (TV); and Mardi Gras. Next Wednesday March 5 (Ash Wednesday), Lent begins – our preparation for the Easter Resurrection Festival (April 20).
Mars: In the sky, Mars, retrograde since December 6, is slowly moving forward. Since early December, humanity has been internally focused. Now with Mars direct (in Cancer), we are testing the waters, ever so slowly considering new activities, new actions and plans. Mars in Cancer can be tumultuous waters! A strain perhaps on our emotions for a while.
Shadow: Although Mars is moving forward, the red planet remains in its retrograde shadow until the beginning of May! So, we, too, here on Earth, move ever so slowly – from inward looking (for 2½ months) to outward looking. It’s a contemplative process.
Mars is action, activity, desires, aspirations, hopes, wishes and dreams (skillful means). It is also the physical body and blood, anger, frustration, fanaticism and inflammation. During the Mars retro we may not have known what our desires were, we may not have been hungry, and our bodies may have hurt. Slowly this shifts, changes and dissolves away.
Saturday, March 1, Venus retrogrades. Sunday, March 2, is rather veiled, mysterious and mystical (Mercury/Neptune). Monday, March 3, Mercury leaves the watery depths of Pisces to enter fiery Aries. Communication becomes animated, forceful, passionate and heated, initiating new ideas! Tuesday, March 4, is Mardi Gras under the golden Taurus Moon. And on Wednesday, the season of Lent begins; our foreheads marked with a cross of ashes. We understand this.
And so, life moves on and we happily sail along with it. We realize life is a party, a joy ride, a car festival, a garden in bloom, a tree of mysteries. And looking around, we see the kingdom is colorful!
ARIES: The coming year will be of great potency for Aries. Not only will you experience relentless change but will actually personify change for others, especially in your work world. This means you have the opportunity to initiate completely new and transformative ideas that will re-shape the structure of your personal and professional life, co-workers, and all environments. Everyone around you will listen.
TAURUS: After this wintertime, knowing full well the reality of the times we’re in, you will work harder this year to provide essentials and establish stabilization among your circle of family and friends. You have the knowledge, energy, impetus and constancy to ask for help and reach out to those in need providing information on needed preparation. Many will look to you for guidance. We stand with you, with love, help and care.
GEMINI: You know many things, your mind is like a meadow of flowers, often hiding your thoughts and ideas from others. You wonder at the reality of your intuition but truly it’s intact and revelatory. Use it to guide others in ways that reveal to them their own spiritual worlds. Use your intuition also to improve the life of someone entrusted to your care. I know you will do this. It’s in your heart and Venus guides you. It’s love that informs your intelligence.
CANCER: Working with, caring for, nurturing and nourishing others brings all your gifts forth. At first during these times it may seem difficult to enter into groups of people. That’s natural for Cancer preferring to remain at home and under the shell of protection. Contact family, distant relatives, tend to close relationships with special care especially children, renew vows of marriage and commitment, and stand steady in the radiating light of goodwill. Goodwill propels you. And do your taxes early this year.
LEO: Communication becomes quite interesting as the year unfolds. You become more and more of a leader. Talk of love and detachment, dispassion and discrimination weave themselves into and through all conversations. At times, you may be anxious and burdened with work. Go slow, Balancing the two – relationships and daily work – is what your health needs. Concentrate primarily on what creates happiness. Relationships do, and they heal wounds.
VIRGO: The challenges of the last years lessen and diminish over the coming months. A relatively calm and peaceful time will begin although you may feel there is simply too much work, too many papers and communications to tend to. They offer, however, new opportunities and possibilities not felt before. Focus on good will, friendship, romance if possible. Deepen into your commitments through intention. When you do so, inspiration awakens.
LIBRA: Daily life, its ups and downs, how you tend to yourself, how you serve others, perhaps small animals, too, are a primary focus and will continue to be so in the coming year. Any sense of limitation has a purpose. Ask what that purpose is. Only do that which sustains, comforts, nurtures, reassures and calms. There will be situations this year offering insight into your early years. A truer understanding will surface creating psychological changes needed for your health and well-being. All of this is good. Your work may change, too.
SCORPIO: You may be contemplating childhood years, seeking to recognize what nurtured your self identity and creativity, what your parents provided, and how your psychological foundation influences your present life. Thoughts run deep, feelings deeper. Wounds resurface but soon dissolve away. A finely tuned creative vein begins to materialize. You seek ways to express yourself differently than before. Spaciousness in all areas is needed. Play for you is serious. Find some children and play with them.
SAGITTARIUS: You go through periods where you’re thrilled with life. And then days where you wonder what that was all about and cannot find any happiness or joy in any area of life – work, home, responsibilities or tasks. You are learning about life’s ups and downs, vicissitudes and dualities. They become tools for living. The challenges experienced are training grounds for deeper understanding and service. We don’t learn through comfort. Seek new friends and professional contacts. They are waiting for you.
CAPRICORN: Always seeking to be productive, you find satisfaction, pride of accomplishment and solace through work. Last year and for many years, Pluto was your taskmaster. Pluto was training you. Now you will be called to shape the new culture and civilization, lead in creating the fabric of communities, and be part of what transforms our planet, making her sacred. What is not needed in your life will fall away. Your time has arrived to be part of the New Group of World Servers.
AQUARIUS: A spiritual crisis may unfold in your life either in the past or in this coming year. Many of us skirt spiritual issues or reject past religious upbringing or have no religious attractions whatsoever. You will ask deeply religious and spiritual questions and from out of your experiences, a philosophy of life appears. Seclusion, retreat and contemplation will help define your purpose in this lifetime. Allow any irritations to settle down. Allow your imagination to fill your nights and days with creative thoughts. The purpose of Aquarius is to be a friend to all of humanity.
PISCES: So many planets are in Pisces now. It’s a watery world for the two fish, gazing at the heavens, the other’s gaze upon the earth. Great benefits from unknown sources will be offered to Pisces this year. Study all aspects of the Soul this year. Allow knowledge to deepen. Solitude will be your keynote even when you reach out to groups, friends and family. There will be a desire to make peace with everyone. Remember that peace is the result of Goodwill, which creates Right Relationships with all kingdoms. People will come to you. Guard them and yourself with care.
Risa – writer, editor, educator, teacher, psychological-spiritual counselor, mentor, astrologer & esotericist. Founder & Director of The Esoteric & Astrological Studies & Research Institute/College, a contemporary Wisdom School (center for spiritual discourse & study) for the Ageless Wisdom teachings. Foundations of the Teachings are the study & application of exoteric & esoteric Astrology, the Seven Rays, Theosophy, Esotericism, all religions, art, science & Raja Yoga meditation. risagoodwill@gmail.com nightlightnews.org/ Astrological, esoteric, day-to-day news, art, literature, psychology, the cosmos, consciousness, philosophy, history, religion, economics, geography & cultural journalism.
Recognition of the unique value of every living being expresses itself in reverence for life, compassion for all, sympathy with the need of all individuals to find truth for themselves, and respect for all religious traditions. ~The Esoteric & Theosophical Worldview