Wildly, Fearlessly Alive
The Sun enters Aries this week, marking the equinox (March 19, 2024, 8:06 pm PDT) that initiates Spring in the Northern Hemisphere and Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. But indulge my Northern Hemisphere perspective in what follows, because it goes to the heart of our tropical zodiac system, why it feels right, and how it aligns with this essential moment in the year.
While clocks and calendars herald the beginning of the new year on January 1, our bodies know better. The heart is uplifted by warmth, light, tender green grass, and the thrill of going outside in a light sweater. We spring to life at the Aries equinox, and it’s our energetic new year. Astrologically, it’s an invitation to emerge from hibernation and to hurl ourselves into the vernal grasp of spring, reckless as kids let out of class for recess. We want to dig gardens, go on Easter egg hunts, and never, from one day to the next, know what the weather will be like. To start something new; to go on a raucous spring break trip. Everything seems possible.
In your birth chart, the house placement of the first degree of Aries, called the Aries Point, shows where you’re a pioneer, an initiator, and entirely fearless. And as the Sun enters Aries, it’s where you’re coming wildly, fearlessly alive after a long winter.
Streamlining
Shortly after entering Aries, the Sun makes a sextile to Pluto (March 21, 2024, 1:03 pm PDT), beginning the new season on an emphatic note. Normally, the Sun is focused on being ever more decisively itself; but Pluto is insistent on becoming and pursuing something else, something more.
At this aspect, they can find a compromise. What if we make the kinds of Pluto changes that actually make us more fully ourselves – like getting rid of anything that’s false or no longer suits us? Maybe going through the closet and getting rid of what no longer fits our body or our personality? Shifting focus from what we’re determined to have, to what comes naturally? That kind of streamlining is empowering – and lightening the load helps us move faster along the Aries path!
Grace for Your Struggle
When successful artists are asked to offer advice to young people considering a career in their field, they usually say something like, “If you can be happy doing anything else, do that instead.” Success in certain fields is so unlikely, such a long shot, that you need be not just accomplished but tenacious and determined, too.
That’s the lesson of Venus conjoining Saturn (March 21, 2024, 4:09 pm PDT). Sometimes, we only know what we truly value when are faced with adversity, self-doubt, and discouragement. If you truly desire something, you will stop at absolutely nothing in your pursuit of it.
But this quick transit of Venus with Saturn offers something else, too: grace for your struggle. When you’ve been trying hard for so long, breaking your back, picking yourself up and dusting yourself off repeatedly, it can be easy to forget why you wanted to do something in the first place. You may be on the brink of giving up altogether. Until…
…A word of encouragement comes your way. A good review, maybe, or some money. A kindly hug from someone older and wiser. A little touch of Venus to brighten the long, tiring days, and to remind you what you loved in the first place about this career, or this project, or this person.
Floating to the top
If you’ve ever seen a movie protagonist dramatically subsumed by quicksand, you may be surprised to learn that such a fate is highly unlikely, despite how often it’s been deployed as a dramatic trope. Usually, even if you should accidentally stumble into one of these wet, sandy pits, you’ll only sink to waist level. That said, if you thrash and struggle to get out, you will be pulled under a bit deeper. And eventually, unable to escape, your greatest peril comes from predators, hypothermia, or dehydration, not from drowning.
It’s not the quicksand that takes you down. It’s the panic.
Most of us wander into metaphorical quicksand from time to time, into situations that overwhelm and incapacitate us. The instinct is to struggle mightily for escape, but that’s the wrong approach. What’s called for instead is a variation on the advice for escaping actual quicksand: Very gently move your legs to increase viscosity, and turn your body slightly so you can gradually float to the top.
Gentle motion, flexibility, and floating: These are your survival tools as Mars, the emergency response planet, enters Pisces (March 22, 2024, 4:47 pm PDT). At times like this, surrender—not struggle—is the key.
Kindred Spirit
There’s something very relaxing about Venus in Pisces. Something restorative about jumping into a canoe and meandering down the river, in no particular hurry, with no particular destination in mind, just enjoying what comes your way.
And as Venus comes together in a sextile with Jupiter in Taurus (March 24, 2024, 9:37 am PDT), she meets a kindred spirit. Jupiter in Taurus doesn’t like to move fast, either, generally appreciating the present moment and the luxuries to be found there – a verdant pasture, a gentle breeze, something nice to eat.
That happy, lowing cow in the pasture certainly looks like he’s onto something, and waving hello, Venus might be intrigued enough to dock her boat for a little while and come up on land; maybe see what Jupiter in Taurus has in that lunch hamper. Enjoy some good conversation and a sandwich, and jabber about the meaning of life.
Mind you, it’s not a necessity. You can float on downriver if you like, enjoying the rest of the scenery along the way. But stopping to enjoy the pleasures of the soil and grass, and sharing lunch with a relaxed and grounded companion spirit, could be well worth your while.
Writing and images © 2017-24 by April Elliott Kent
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