March 20th is the first day of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere (Fall in the Southern Hemisphere.) The Sun moves into the sign of Aries. Aries is the sign of becoming, and instinctual action. The ruling planet of Aries is Mars, the red planet, which has been very bright in the night sky of late. The reason for it’s brightness is due to the fact that it is very close to the earth at the time. This occurs when Mars is retrograde.

As the ruling planet of Aries the sign that Mars inhabits gives us a clue as to the energy we will experience as the Sun moves through Aries. Mars is in the sign of Libra, the sign of relationship. Let’s not forget that the Planet Mars was named after the Roman God of war, This can mean war within relationships for some, yet that is not the best use for this energy. Libra is the sign of balance, fairness, justice, diplomacy and equal rights. Libra loves order and abhors chaos. Libra is also the archetype of listening. Mars is not known for his listening ability. With Mars and Aries, we tend to shoot first and ask questions later. Yet with Mars retrograde AND in Libra, considered action is the best way to utilize the Martial energy. It is best to talk out our differences, come to some sort of understanding and compromise.

It is said no one likes compromise, yet if we wish to share this planet with others it’s guaranteed that we will have to concede some of our needs for the good of the whole. We do get some help with this challenge from a planet that is generally not seen as helpful.

Saturn, the planet of structure is now retrograde in Scorpio, the sign of intimate relationship, shard resources and transformation. Whenever a planet is retrograde we have the opportunity to review, revise and reformulate. The structures indicated by Saturn are more open to change when Saturn is retrograde. If you happen to have a Saturn retrograde natally, you are also more open to alternative realities, especially concerning the way society is structured. Add the fact that this is all happening in the sign of transformation, we have a golden opportunity to revise our relationships to each other, to shared resources opening us up to the death of the old way of being and being reborn into a new way.

There is yet another heavenly road sign to help us find the direction of our collective destiny, and that is found in the signs of the Nodes of the Moon. The nodes of the Moon are not planetary bodies, they are points along the elliptic where the path of the Earth around the Sun intersects with the orbit of the Moon around the Earth. Yet these points in space are seen as very powerful points in astrology going back to ancient times. Lunar (Moon) Nodes are always 180 degrees apart from each other so they are found in opposite signs. They remain in a set of signs for a little over 18 months and move from sign to sign in a backwards motion. In fact Eclipses can only occur at these nodes.

The North Node of the Moon is seen as the direction forward for our conscious collective evolution. The South Node of the Moon is seen as the issues of the past that must be released in order to consciously evolve. In February the Nodes of the Moon changed signs from the North Node in Scorpio/South Node in Taurus, to the North Node in Libra/South Node in Aries. This means that our collective conscious evolution is in the direction of Libra, balance, harmony, diplomacy, fairness, and equality.

Each day the planet gets smaller and smaller. Each day we see how our actions (Aries) no matter how seemingly inconsequential, effects the greater whole. The connectivity created by the internet has made it near impossible to be uniformed unless you consciously choose to sleep. Has anyone else thrown a piece of plastic in the garbage and not wonder if it will find its way to that giant plastic island in the middle of the Pacific? Libra requires us to not just listen, but to live mindfully.

The fate of the world lies squarely in our hands. Lets recreate our personal world mindfully and this will flow out like ripples on a pond to the greater world. We can do this, it takes one mindful action at a time. Acting out, or acting in habitual ways will only cause us to suffer unnecessarily. It time to put on our big girl/boy pants and live responsively.