March Astrology: Mercury Goes Direct, The Spring Equinox and Staying Well in Chaotic Times
So we’ve survived Mercury retrograde, some of us just barely. But we’re not done yet. March is a big month, astrologically speaking. As always, the best thing we can do for ourselves is to carve out time when and where we need it to really tune into ourselves. These events require it. If we lose ourselves in stressing out, it can affect everything from our immune response to our relationships.
When things feel messy, chaotic, and confusing, it never hurts to go back to basics - adequate sleep, nourishing food, staying hydrated, and being still. If you make yourself your home and safe space, you can always come back there when things feel rocky.
And with that, let’s go over some of the most notable transits this month:
Venus in its home sign, Taurus, brings us closer to comfort, simple pleasures, and daily routines. “Let’s all try to be a little bit kinder to ourselves,” is the main message of this transit. We must listen to our bodies and give ourselves the things we need, so that we can receive the things that we want. It’s not about prioritizing work or play, but balancing the energy of both to ease into the flow and alignment that will give us the motivation to continue moving forward.
This short story from Alana Fairchild’s Sacred Rebels oracle card deck perfectly illustrates the energy of Venus in Taurus:
“The great French Impressionist painter, Monet, sat in his garden on a warm afternoon. He was napping lightly on his garden bench, with the sunlight dappling gently through the straw hat resting over his face. It was soft and warm on his closed eyelids. He sighed contentedly. A nosy neighbor poked his head over the fence, keen to know what the brilliant artist was up to now. ‘Sir, you are resting!’ the neighbor called out. ‘No,’ responded Monet, wriggling to get even more comfortable on his reclining garden chair, ‘I am working’. He relaxed further as the mild breeze tickled the hair on his forearms. Monet returned to his garden the next day. Consumed by the urge to translate his feelings onto the canvas, he painted with great energy and focus. He was inspired and the paint flowed. Again the nosy neighbor poked his head over the fence. He called out, ‘Sir, you are working!’ ‘No,’ said Monet, barely pausing with his brush, ‘I am resting’.”
You’ll know when it’s your time to rest, and your time to work, so trust your intuition on that front.
Mercury went direct in Aquarius as of Monday, March 9.
As we exit the shadow period, and celebrated under the light of the full moon, we’re likely all thinking how good it feels to be done with this retrograde! It’s been quite the confusing one for many. With so much conflicting information out there, how do we know what to believe? The heart holds a lot of these answers for us, which come when we’re still. When we allow the fear to just be without reacting, it has a chance to dissipate. We are all in the process of learning this now, together, as a collective.
It’s important that we use these cycles of life and events to tune into a greater awareness. Yet sometimes, these big shifts occur with the intention to kind of jolt those who have been living in states of suppression and denial.
In these events, it really boils down to two choices: Trust or Fear?
Trust, which is a form of love, tells us that all is well.
Fear, on the other hand, tells us to control and hold on tighter and try to force certain outcomes.
We are in this dance of accepting what is, with the head knowledge that tells us that fear is attracted to more fear, while our hearts are wise enough to know that this fear can be diffused only by peace. We are in a state of learning what it means to surrender.
The Sun moves into Aries on March 19, on the first day of Spring, marking the beginning of a new astrological calendar year.
With Mercury direct and the sun in Aries, our motivation and inner fire returns. With that, so can our impulsivity. Any decisions we have been waiting to make will become clear during the Equinox and we will be glad that we didn’t rush into anything. As it is the end of winter and beginning of spring, this time requires a great deal of trust. Trust that the flowers will bloom again and life will show us her beauty again.
Just a couple days later on the 21st, Saturn moves from Capricorn into Aquarius.
This is kind of a big deal. It’s a three-year long transit, and it’s the first time that Saturn has been in an air sign since 2010 - when it was in Libra, for only a few months. This time, however, we have the responsible, taskmaster, traditional, masculine father energy of the zodiac in Aquarius. Aquarius is the sign of rebellion, eccentricity, and shaking up of the status quo. For those born between Feb 6, 1991 and January 27, 1994, it will be your Saturn return, but that does not mean this age group is the only one affected by this transit. True, this period of time is more intense for them (as the pressure eases up off of those with Saturn in Capricorn), yet we all have Aquarius and Saturn in our charts so we will feel this energy as well.
Change is a major theme coming up for us in the next few years.
Yes, change is a constant in life, but this one encompasses different kinds of changes - the seeds of which we have already planted these past few months. That feeling of underlying chaos, or that we’re teetering on the edge of big transformations, is absolutely real. The big player in this energy is Aquarius’ ruler, Uranus. When Saturn moves into Aquarius, it will form a square to Uranus in Taurus. This tension is going to cause a lot of back-and-forth between wanting and feeling ready for absolute changes, and resisting the change completely in favor of staying comfortable. This tension can be felt as we sense things are overdue for a total breaking down and restructuring, and the panic that can ensue when we don’t know where to start.
Saturn is about slow, methodical strategies and taking it day by day. Uranus wants to rip the rug out from underneath us, and wink as we find our footing again - which we ultimately do. They are two planets that are about growth and transformation, but they go about it in completely different ways. The energy we choose to tune into is completely up to us. We may choose the slow climb, daily actionable steps, and responsible energy. Or we may choose the “burn it down” energy. Our inclinations could lean one way or another according to our natal charts, but ultimately the decision is our own. Practicing awareness allows us to tune into whatever part of the wheel we need in whatever growth and transition period we are in.
With all of this said, there is no specific message for your sign this week, but an ultimate and overarching urge to tune into yourself and put yourself in a state where you can receive the blessings coming to you amidst the chaos and confusion.
When we feel a lack of “stability” as we may know it, we are really just feeling life.
Because of a lot of occurrences in the three-dimensional view of the planet, the natural world kind of has to do a shifting around of its contents in order to realign everything. That’s why the practice of grounding is so powerful - it literally plants your feet into the ground and tunes you into the energetics of the planet. It’s actually been shown by science to put our cells back into homeostasis, and quiet down everything that we don’t really need to be taking in. This is a great practice for transitions (or any time, really) and a good way to put our health first.
Lymphatic drainage and self-massage techniques are a necessary step that we should all be taking. The lymph system moves out all that ‘sludge’ that would otherwise be hanging out in our bodies weighing us down. You can look up ways online to stimulate the lymphatic system at home or you can go to a specialist to learn techniques, but this is an important one. Drinking hot water with lemon first thing in the morning, before eating or drinking anything else, is also a great way to stimulate the lymph nodes.
It’s called “spring cleaning” for a reason.
With the ending of one astrological calendar year with Pisces, and the beginning of a new one with Aries season and the Spring Equinox, clearing out the old to make room for the new is another thing we all can and should be doing. Spring literally brings the new: growth of new life after the winter meltdown, the re-emergence of hibernating animals (and people!), the sun shines again, babies are born, people start naturally spending more time outside and wanting to come together. While Venus is in Taurus and the sun is in Aries, it’s a time that we can expect abundance, miracles and blessings. But we do have our part to do in the action - we have to plant the seeds in order for these things to grow. And the first part of that comes with clearing out the stagnant and the old energy - from our bodies as well as from our homes.
You may have already intuitively begun cleaning things out of your space, going through what you don’t need by donating, recycling, and upcycling materials that someone else could put to better use. If you haven’t begun this but have been thinking about it, this is your invitation to start. It’s really difficult to receive new things when the old things are taking up space. So going along with our theme for the month, let’s make it easier on ourselves by being kinder to ourselves. If it’s stressing you out to let things go, then wait. If you don’t know what to do in the moment, sometimes it’s best to do nothing until you do!
Make sure when you’re cleaning and clearing your space of clutter, that you don’t forget to dust your space as well. Dust can actually make us sick, cause allergies, and carry mold. No one likes looking at a space like that, right? It traps and clings to things, all things. Be sure to dust often - twice a week is good. We don’t want energy to be stagnant in our homes, we want it to move freely. This is a basic law of feng shui and just a good thing to remember to do!
Another thing Venus in Taurus encourages us to do is to pay attention to the beauty all around us.
It’s easy to get distracted by negativity, news, fear and even “well meaning” distractions. It’s important to take time out of our schedules to appreciate nature, to find a small but meaningful item that makes you think of a friend so you gift it to them, to put on your favorite perfume, to beautify your space with flowers, or to have stretches of time away from your technology. It’s useful to ask ourselves often, “Is this helping or hurting me?” It can be confusing, and it can take practice to know the difference. If we’re not tuned into our bodies, it can feel utterly impossible. So take these moments for yourself. Let’s all get right with ourselves. We are being launched forward into something new, and soon, but we will miss it if we aren’t present.
Take care of each other and yourselves. Don’t feed into the fear, but don’t stick your head in the sands either! These next few years will require us to be awake, present, and a little rebellious as we confront our biggest fears so that true transformation can occur. Wishing you all a beautiful start to March.
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Elisabeth is a writer and astrologer based in Seattle. To connect with her and learn more about astrology, you can email her at hi@elisabethmckinley.com, or follow her Instagram @elisabetham.