February 18: Sun enters Pisces at 02:36pm
Jupiter, Uranus, and Venus are also in the domain of the Celestial Fish until March 7th when the Love Goddess transforms from romantic to erotic when she merges with Aries. Mercury enters Pisces on March 2nd where he stays rather briefly, also exiting into the Ram on the 17th of the month. Thus the first week of March will be “very wet” as Sun, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Uranus will all be in Pisces. Please see my comments about this event under the March 1st heading.

Basically all Pisces benefit from these contacts as they will show up as a very powerful set of conjunctions in their Solar Return maps. (Creating a chart for the exact minute when the Sun returns every year to its natal position—one’s true birthday moment. Many astrologers read the Solar Return map as a synthesis of events for the individual for the coming year.) Even if you are not a “fan” of the Solar Return technique, at the very least people who are born and/or favored by Pisces in their natal charts will have some very wonderful transits during this Pisces period (and beyond in terms of Jupiter and Uranus). People with positions in the natal chart in the last decanate of Pisces (and the other water signs for that matter) will find that the middle of April to the end of May of this year may present some wonderful travel and educational opportunities. This is especially true for positions from 23-29º of the watery triplicity if one of these degrees occupies the Ascendant or Midheaven or is the position of the planetary ruler of either of these two major points in the chart. (Example: Sagittarius rising and Jupiter in 23-29º of a water sign in the natal map.) The 27th and 28th degree of Pisces will also have the opposition from Saturn, meaning that such travel and educational situations may be accompanied by certain work-related responsibilities or that there may have to be a choice between maintaining the status quo or risking moving into the new.

February 23: Sun sextile Pluto at 4.57 Pisces/Capricorn
Should this sextile link within a degree to your natal chart, there is much opportunity for regeneration and renewal in terms of the planet/house designations. Example: Natal Moon in the 7th house in 5º Taurus would indicate that there are opportunities to strengthen domestic partnership especially where real estate and/or finances are concerned.

February 27: Mercury conjunct Neptune at 26.38 Aquarius
In general this is a fine indication for visualizing and communicating ideas that can be uplifting within the context of friendships and other group relationships. The drawback or caution is to make sure that such ideas have a practical outlet or backing.

February 28: Full Moon at 9.59 Virgo at 04:39pm; Sun conjunct Jupiter at 9.44 Pisces
As we can see the Full Moon is rather exactly connected to Jupiter. What a great time for a pool party or an outing by the beach (if you live in Miami or the southern hemisphere!). Esoterically speaking, we have a very strong emphasis on the Sixth and Second Rays. If the expression is via the former, expect a lot of emphasis on sex, drugs, rock and roll, and messages and actions from false gurus and their followers. If these planetary forces come through the Second Ray either in your own life or in the collective life of humanity, expect some profound insights into love, a revelation of wisdom, and an expansion of consciousness and compassion through service. A lot of illusion or a lot of healing can come from these contacts, it just depends on where they are centered: soul or personality.

March 1: Mercury enters Pisces at 09:28am
The Little Herm swims rather rapidly in Poseidon’s waters, exiting the Fish on March 18th. Just as well as Pisces is not his favorite sign as he is far more psychic than rational, far more impressionable than analytical, and well is just not at his sharpest and most acute here. In fact, as pointed out under the first heading this month, there is a huge planetary wave in Pisces from March 1st through the 7th with five planets in the Fish (Sun, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Uranus). Many of the children born during this week will carry some very strong and innovative artistic abilities. If they are not overcome by their own emotional and psychic sensitivities, a group emerges at this time that is filled with compassion and the urge to be of help to all people and will have many ways to express their sense of union with all life, not the least of which will center in the arts. Those whose sense of self is not anchored in their higher nature and/or whose level of individualization of consciousness is subsumed into the collective waters rather than coming from an individualized stream, will be very prone to the addictive and self-absorbed tendencies common to the downward swimming Fish.

In general, it may not be so easy to get those things done this week that require intellectual precision. The urge will be to take it easy, go with the flow, indulge in chocolate and romance or for those so inclined, meditate, do yoga and commune with the Forces of Life. I guess making love while eating chocolate is a very wonderful way to interact with these Forces too—but then I have to admit that I have never left the 60’s too far behind in my consciousness. It was quite the party and such a beautiful learning experience! Anyway—five planets in Pisces including Venus and Jupiter: “Peace and Love, brothers and sisters!”

March 4: Venus conjunct Uranus at 25.50 Pisces
This is a great time for social gatherings and for visits with good friends. Should this conjunction fall on or to your Ascendant/Descendant axis, the ruler of your 5th or 7th house, or on or to your natal Venus or Mars, you just might find yourself in a very interesting intimate, personal interaction with someone quite unusual. Or, YOU may be that unusual person in that other individual’s life.

March 7: Venus enters Aries at 08:34am; Venus trines Mars at 00.21 Aries/Leo
This is a very erotic beginning to Venus’ passage through Mars’ own sign and certainly heats things up! Should this trine connect to the same points indicated under the March 4th heading, you are apt to find yourself quite take by another individual or vice-versa. In any event, the collective human libido will be quite high. Venus is in Aries however, a combination not known for longevity in relationships and she is trine a retrograde Mars, so the contact may be “fast and furious” but may contain more passion than compassion, and more thrust than stamina. For those of my readers who are not or no longer open to such serendipitous erotic human contacts, this aspect is great for social connecting, warm interpersonal interchanges, and genuinely interesting exchanges with people.

March 9: Venus opposing Saturn at 02.15 Aries/Libra
Talk about sobering up after the March 4th and 7th contacts, this opposition will do just that! Saturn/Venus aspects speak about taking and balancing responsibility within the context of relationships. Should this aspect fall within a degree of exactitude to your chart (especially if in relationship to the 7th or 5th houses and/or their rulers or your natal Venus or Moon), then this interpretation will most likely fit you rather perfectly today. In general, this can be a time of budget balancing, international economic discussions, and legislation relative to what we could broadly categorize as “Right Human Relationships.”

March 10: Mars turns direct at 00.18 Leo
And not a moment too soon for people strongly influenced by Aries and/or Scorpio (like your friend Alan Oken who has the Sun in Aries and Scorpio rising). Aries can now feel more comfortable with innovating creative plans and projects. Scorpio can finally release what he or she has been holding back because the timing hasn’t been right. Mars in Leo gives focus and potency to creative impulses and drives and now that the Celestial Warrior can move direct again (he really, really does not like being held back in retrograde even though a bit of introspection never hurt any person or planet), he’s ready for action.

March 11: Venus squares Pluto at 5.14 Aries/Capricorn
What the gods and goddess give, they can just as easily take away…

The Saturn/Venus and now the Saturn/Pluto contacts are as socially and interpersonally challenging as the March 4th to 7th contacts were uplifting and exciting. The best that these two have to offer the lover or “lovee” is the opportunity to bring refinement and more depth into one’s relationships. Of course this requires more processing than romance, more conscious building (and destroying) that “going with the Piscean flow” but these are square aspects in cardinal signs and as such they require an examination of motivation before we can move forward into the next stage of intimacy.

March 15: Mercury conjunct Uranus at 26.30 Pisces
The urge to communicate some innovative ideas or visions is very much the keyword phrase to describe this conjunction. We have here the rational mind merging with intuition. This can result in an acceleration of mental forces that can implement the wider and more effective dissemination of ideas or if the personal mental equipment cannot withstand the voltage, a lot of mental confusion and diffusion. This conjunction is best in the airy signs and pretty good in the fiery ones but when placed in this, the most watery of the water signs a great deal of idealism and illusion may get thrown into the mix.

March 17: Sun conjunct Uranus at 26.34 Pisces; Mercury enters Aries at 12:12pm; Mercury trines Mars at 00.37 Aries/Libra
On a very optimistic level (and let’s approach this aspect from such a perspective), the Sun conjunct Uranus energizes those efforts by men, woman, and groups representing Good Will to move forward in the implementation of their visions and ideals. Mercury enjoys his stay in Aries (as the Ram gives focus to the mind), and from the standpoint of esoteric astrology, is the ruler of this sign. Thus the trine between Mars (exoteric ruler of Aries) and Mercury in the Ram, can link the human mind with the “mind of the soul” allowing a flow of some wonderful new ideas into the collective consciousness of this Group of World Servers for the benefit of humanity. It’s a nice thought and this combination of planetary energies makes this all possible.

On a more personal level, should you have a contact within a degree of the Mars/Mercury trine, look for innovative and inspiring thoughts to come through your own field of endeavor.

March 18: Mercury opposes Saturn at 01.34 Aries/Libra
Mercury and Saturn are very related as they are both planets that world on mental levels. In soul-centered astrology, we look upon Saturn as the “structure of the mental body,” or that property of mind that holds our “mental substance” (thoughts, ideas, language skills, capacity for logical thinking, plus the raw mental matter that forms these mental dynamics) together in a structured order. Mercury is the messenger, the communicator, the speaker, and the language spoken. It’s sort of like a bee hive with Saturn being the structure of the hive (all the compartments of the honey comb, the hierarchy of bees, etc.) and Mercury the bees themselves buzzing all around, some of them communicating (Gemini) about and flying near-by for food source, while others are the worker bees (Virgo).

When Mercury and Saturn are well integrated the bees and the hive, our thoughts and the structure of mind, work well. But when these two planets are opposed a lot of pessimistic, worrisome, and taxing thoughts appear. This can be due to the fact that what we are thinking or what is presented to us, is temporarily “outside the box” of our normal mental habit patterns. We just don’t know where to put these ideas or communiqués. In any event, the opposition takes places in Aries/Libra, so for those afflicted by this opposition conflicts in communication between partners are very likely.