SPRING EQUINOX - Thursday 20 March 2014

4.57pm GMT, 12.57pm EDT!

The Vernal Equinox is upon us; a day when we have a perfect balance between light and dark. Symbolically this represents equal part shadows (fear) and equal parts light (love). It is Yin and Yang, Night and Day, Masculine and Feminine. This marks the beginning of the astrological year because it is the moment when the Sun moves from Pisces, the end of the zodiac, into Aries, the beginning of the zodiac. Pisces season has been a time of surrender, release and letting go; it is dream time, the death of the ego and a time to go within. Pisces is the end of it all, the ultimate death, when we go back to source, floating around in the cosmic womb and become one with the collective unconscious. Now we have Aries season upon us which represents birth and new beginnings, when we boldly move forward and act on our desires. Like shoots coming up out of the ground, we have the courage to start anew and recreate ourselves. Pisces us the death of the ego, and in Aries we are born again, with a new set of desires and the impulse to start again afresh. When I contemplate the astrological significance of the Equinox I think of a baby coming out of the dark, warm, watery womb into the bright, loud world! What a shock that must be!

The chart for the Equinox holds within it the themes for the whole year, because this is the astrological New Year and whatever is found within the chart for that moment sets the tone for the whole year ahead. My overall feeling for this chart, both based on what the chart says and on the various conversations I have had this week, is that this is a time to focus on the group and to remember that we are all in it together. There is a beautiful Grand Water Trine in this chart which holds the potential for letting go of fear and healing the collective. The power of the group is truly remarkable and what can be achieved when people join together to help each other is absolutely phenomenal. This is a time to let go of the illusion of separation, because it simply isn’t true! The scientists agree –. we are all connected and the sooner everyone realises this and stops acting on selfish desires, the better this world will be. If you put a group of people together and they all focus on healing one person who has pain, not only does that person feel their pain diminish in a dramatic way, but other people in the group do as well! The power of intention itself is truly remarkable in what it can achieve, but the power of group intention is even more amazing.

While the Grand Water trine is wonderful, flowing, compassionate intuitive energy, we also have a Cardinal T-square between Pluto, Uranus and Jupiter which is impelling us to change and shaking up the structure of the world we live in. It is the perfect complement to the Grand Trine because a lot has to change before we are able to achieve the Aquarian dream of a global community, universal love and brotherhood of man where we all help each other and put personal desires aside! This T-square will push us out of our comfort zones and force us to face our shadows and undo our unconscious programming so that we can move forward and live up to our true potential as human beings. When we clear away the darkness we allow more light in.

This will be the fifth out of seven Pluto Uranus squares since 2012, so we are pretty used to this energy by now! It just has to be drummed into us a couple more times before the process of transformation and revolution on a global and personal level is complete. We are currently heading for a monumental shake up when Mars joins in the T-square in April and forms a Grand Cross, so we can expect things to come to a head both collectively and personally in the next month. On a global level we are certainly seeing the build-up of pressure and as what happens to one happens to all we can expect to feel the pressure for change on a personal level as well. Pluto and Uranus also rule natural and man-made disasters, so this could be a possibility in the coming months as things reach boiling point. Mother Nature is just as mad as some of our nations and rightly so!

Mars, the ruler of Aries, is currently retrograde in Libra, sitting right next to the North Node, which makes me think that this year may be very much relationship oriented. The retrograde motion means that we could go back over our relationships in order to redefine them and do the work necessary to make them function better. Old relationships could be renewed and current ones could have new life breathed into them. What we think we want from our relationships and what we really need could be two different things altogether! Certainly we are being asked to find balance, harmony, compromise and cooperation and with Venus, the ruler of Libra, in Aquarius we may approach our relationships from an entirely different perspective and try out new ways of being in our relationships. Aquarius likes to experiment and is far from conventional! In general, Aquarius reminds us that acting with self-centred, narcissistic motives simply isn’t the answer. One for all and all for one! Now is not the time for selfishness and going it alone. We must all join together and help each other. Everybody feels better when we do! An act of kindness not only affects the person we are helping, but it actually makes up feel better than anything else possibly could. It makes us feel good about ourselves, and that is absolutely priceless.

Another very noticeable part of the chart for the astrological New Year is that not only is Mercury, the planet of mind and communication, in intuitive, compassionate and empathetic Pisces, but he is also sitting right next to Neptune, the ruler of Pisces! This gives a double dose of Pisces energy and signifies that we should make sure that we turn inward as much as possible, trusting our intuition and allowing ourselves the time to meditate and also to listen to our dreams. If we honour our dreams and keep a dream diary we find that we are rewarded in kind and receive more and more messages from our unconscious mind. Pisces also has the power to manifest, seemingly out of nowhere, purely by the power of the imagination. What the mind can conceive, the body can achieve! We must practice mindfulness at this time, because thoughts have energy and so we must be more aware of our thought processes because they have the power to either create or destroy. Pisces is universal love and so we are asked to train ourselves to act and react with love, not fear. Take a step back and notice when you are reacting with fear and you will do so less and less. We might find that we become more and more empathetic on a collective level in the coming months and the more compassion we have for others the more connected we feel and the more likely we are to reach out and lend a helping hand.

This is an extremely powerful Equinox. As it is the astrological New Year it is an amazing time to set some intentions for the year ahead and honour the moment with ritual or a ceremony of some kind. It doesn’t have to be anything too complicated, but I do feel that it is important to acknowledge this particular Equinox. It is the birth of a new year and so we should start as we mean to go on. The energy at the moment that the Sun moves from Pisces into Aries is actually palpable if you take time to be still and notice it. We are moving from the unconscious realms of Pisces into the Aries season of conscious action and desire and methinks that our intentions should come from a place of love and hope for the future. If you can, gather with as many people as you can in that moment and all hold hands. Even if you are at work you can take time out to honour the shift. Set the intention for a world ruled by love, not fear. You will feel the powerful energy of the group in that moment, I guarantee! The power of love is truly a beautiful thing and has the potential to move mountains.

Much love

Amy

xoxo