Astrodharma Transit Update: March 2020

By Hunter Reynolds, on February 28th, 2020

DEATHBED TRAINING

WITH 10% OF THE world’s population locked-down in quarantine and the portable cremation furnaces of Wuhan burning-out from overuse, it’s tempting to believe we are perversely “special” for living in such dire, death-stinky times. The truth: Before, during and after this pandemic, orphaned ego (that mad scientist hunched over in his hairdo’d lab) will continue to proliferate dis-ease in the petri dish of mind.

Even the most hardened Astro-skeptic would have to agree: The viral reverberations of the Jan 12th Saturn/Pluto conjunction are pushing everyone to humbly accept: free will plays second fiddle to the archetypal curriculum of the planets. What better than a wispy little virus to shake the mighty pillars of Samsara and topple our depressing belief in a mechanical, dead universe (Saturn), so the Aquarian age of astrology can be reborn (Pluto)!

The first half of March is a mind-scrambling enigma. Ready to fall flat on your face in the mud? Make plans. Ask: Where am I going? Ready to understand absolutely nothing, yet sense a shepherding presence guiding you, slowly, on a path through the fog? Congratulations. You’re flowing famously with Mercury retrograde in Pisces (Feb 16- Mar 9th). Think of these first two weeks in March as “deathbed training:” a chance to practice positive disintegration as you lucidly transition into the other world with grace, nobility and a wildly contagious generosity of faith.

Note for fridge:

I know who I am (an abyss of stillness charged with an etheric presence) and I know why I meditate (so I stop releasing creepy bio-weapons into the hairy headquarters of other egos).

This retrograded patch of Pisces tests our faith in two ways. During the first 2 1/2 weeks (Feb 16th- Mar 3rd) Mercury challenges us to be humble enough to hand over our personal will and direction to god. During the final week of the retrograde (Mar 3-9) Mercury moves into Aquarius testing our faith in God’s stage set: society as a whole. Come April, as we emerge from Mercury retro’s shadow period, Mercury finally releases us into a fresh, updated vision for our life, equipping us with the divine madness we will need to step into to our radically updated role in Saturn/Pluto’s frightening-yet-inevitable socio-ecomonic demolition project.

The Dirty Little “P” Word

Sometimes astrology is embarrassingly accurate. In an act of classic Mercury retrograde in Pisces confusion between compassion and enabling, Dr Tedros Adhanom (Sun in Pisces and (gulp) head of the World Health Organization) decided to immunize the planet from the dirty little “P” word, “pandemic”. When did this descent into magical thinking take place? You guessed it. At precisely the moment when the preconditions for the use of word were met. Poof! The organization charged with protecting the health of the planet became a kinder, gentler super spreader.

But wait, says dewey-eyed Pisces. If a little word-smithing helps stabilize the world economy and this inspires folks to “keep the faith” why not tweak the language a little? Nice try, Pisces. In times of crisis, lies cost lives and topple governments. No surprise that the good doctor’s act of “benevolent manipulation” backfired. Why? Because everyone knows: when a drinker starts bending the definition of “alcoholic”, you know you’re dealing with a desperate, out-of-control addict.

Saturn into Aquarius: Building the foundations for a sacred society

On March 21st, we get a three month preview of Saturn’s momentous movement out of Capricorn into Aquarius.

1) March 21st- July 1st, 2020
2) Dec 17, 2020- Mar 7, 2023

To understand the meaning of Saturn’s shift into Aquarius, we will need to understand it as part of a larger narrative and to do that, we must grasp the basic meaning of the signs that precede and follow Aquarius: Capricorn and Pisces.

The purpose of Capricorn is to establish the lawful social structures that serve as “stage sets” on which the dynamic interplay of Aquarian community can then expose the unworkability of egoic intercourse, driving us all to learn to relate as Piscean soul-mirrors, moving together in selfless service.

Why are so many minds flooded with existential angst? Because their shrinking birth/death interval is not embedded in a larger, soul-spiraling narrative. Because they have no intelligent, symbol-rich language (like astrology) with which to make meaning out of life’s suffering and, thereby, refocus their attention on life’s incarnational endgame: Pisces.

Without the timeless communion of Pisces, all Aquarian attempts at social equality and cooperative, earth-saving community quickly devolve into a compressed field of egos. Still, there needs to be a reasonably stable structure on which to build this sacred society. This is the foundation that Saturn in Aquarius will, over the next three years, be prodding us to build. But first– with the help of “black swans” like the Coronavirus– the corrupt, materialistic manifestation Saturn in Capricorn system must crack and crumble.

March 9th Full Moon in Virgo: Visions Born of Energized Silence

This Virgo Full Moon is opposed Pisces and conjunct Neptune– the ruler of Pisces. Harmoniously aspected with Mars, Jupiter, Pluto and Saturn in Capricorn, this Full Moon has the power to deliver our first sneak peek through the fog at the grounded, actionable vision that wants to channel through us this April. Don’t get me wrong. This is not a time for brainstorming. Answers come not through effort, but by grace. Simply set your intention then unambitiously abide in this Full Moon’s energized field of silence.

March 24th New Moon in Aries: Growth & Opportunity

Fast on the heels of the Aries equinox (March 19th) this New Moon favors professional growth and opportunity. Pluto conjunct Mars and Jupiter in Capricorn awaken the burning ambition we will need to break down old structures and build up new ones. With Venus in Taurus Trining this powerful stellium, this New Moon equips us with the power to attract money and resources for a world-healing project along with the compatible business partnerships to pull it off. On top of all that, the sextile to Uranus favors innovative, out-of-the-box risk taking. Damn the crumbling collective; it’s time to start moving forward.

Build the wall

Pisces rules the pressed-together world of the feet and the immune system that swells up to protectively encase foreign pathogens when we get too pressed-together and our psycho-physical borders get overwhelmed. Aries, on the other hand, rules the atomized, un-pressed together world of the head which, in a conscious soul, regularly bows down to the field-sensing Pisces feet for clues as to how, when and where to “fear forward” and make our mark on the world with our personhood. Use March to build up your Pisces immunity so you can safely re-assert your Aries will in April. At key points in a life the gods offer us chances. April (however flawed) is the only good fight there is.

During world-rocking times like these, meditation and the support of like-minded allies in awakening are absolutely essential. Why? Because, when we’re anchored in our deathless Being, the grimness is leavened with compassion, humanity and faith in the divine play.