We began the lunar cycle with cosmic heart healing and this upwelling of Venusian magic (see last week’s forecast here). This week, the vibe grows more Martian, with the Sun and Venus entering Aries. The ingress into Aries, from Pisces, is often a shift of feeling birthed, of feeling a direction or a new willpower emerge from a place we felt formless. If we were not enjoying the Piscean astroweather, it can feel like getting our feet on land after a tumultuous seafaring journey. If we did enjoy Pisces Season, it can feel like embarking on a path of action after a dip into our deepest inspirations and inner visions.
When contemplating Aries or Mars, it reminds me how life-giving it is to have positive relationships with all of the archetypes. Many people have trouble with Mars. Mars relates to war, and historically humans have not outgrown warfare – just as Mars has not left the archetypal pantheon. Mars relates to what gets our blood pumping through our veins, what arouses us in all senses of the word. What calls us to attention and initiation. What activates us.
I’ve always found it more useful and more beneficial in the long run to develop a meaningful relationship with an archetype as opposed to simply judging it, not liking it, or fearing it. If we consider our relationship to Mars, we have to think about what defense means to us, what assertiveness means to us, how we protect, and how we pursue. Where we don’t have skills (or sharpened skills) for meeting and working through conflict, life will show us – it can take the form of saying yes to things when we don’t mean it, or not bringing something up that may need to be addressed. Or, if we are more unconscious of how we express Mars, it can also look like encountering conflict everywhere we go when we didn’t intend that.
Whatever our circumstances or proclivities, working with Mars is learning about action and how we create sovereignty, in a way that is appropriate for us. The warrior does not just face external obstacles, ‘out there’, but also internal ones like having the courage to really face oneself. I see strong Martian energy all the time in people in ways that has nothing to do with conventional war – it may take the form of a dancer, an entrepreneur, any kind of go-getter, or also the person who knows how to directly name what they want, or assert their needs in a moment of conflict. At heart, Martians know how to stand up for themselves, and once they feel put-together in that way they often direct their life-force to service – using their strength (in whatever form that takes) to help others.
Welcome back! Or in case this is your first time here, I’m Sabrina Monarch and I’m a soul-centered astrologer. I love providing perspectives on the opportunities of transits and putting into words what the zeitgeist feels like at this moment in time, to support you on your path & open a dialogue between us and the cosmos. If you would like to receive these weekly forecasts to your inbox and be notified of upcoming educational opportunities, sign up for my mailing list here.
Watch this forecast on YouTube, or continue reading below:
Here’s our week, after a few announcements:
Study Evolutionary Astrology with me in May 2021 – enrollment is now open! It’s always an inspiring group of deep thinkers that gather for this class. If you are wanting to learn karmic soul-centered astrology, and go deeper into the astrological craft in both an intuitive and a structured/guided way – and you resonate with these forecasts, you’ll love this course. Learn more, read testimonials, and enroll here. You can also listen to a podcast interview I did on Amelia Quint’s Bad Astrologers about what Evolutionary Astrology is for a feel of this system of astrology and how I approach it.
New episode of Magic of the Spheres: I had an inspired conversation with astrologer Drew Levanti @anthrosophist about the aura of moments – how the mode (cardinal, fixed, or mutable) of the rising sign at the inception of an event influences the entire trajectory. Drew practices and teaches electional astrology, which involves generating an intentional/auspicious time to begin ventures, projects, or anything that has a start.
I’ve known peripherally about electional astrology for years and it was always on my wishlist as something to learn about, and the way Drew talks about electional and teaches it finally opened a door for me. Subsequently, his work has expanded my relationship with hourly time, which… is a whole trip 
and something I’m really enjoying. Tune in for some deeper insights about the modes & the philosophy of participating with time. Listen where you tune into podcasts, or on your browser here.
Update on 28 Year Cycles: I wrote to my mailing list about this research opportunity and received an overwhelming response and had to close the form! Just wanted to let you know that I loved and appreciated your applications and I won’t be able to get back to everyone. Thank you so much for your interest in participating. I will be in touch with people around this consult slowly/sustainably.
March 18, 2021
Venus in 26 Pisces sextile Pluto in 26 Capricorn: 10:20 AM PDT
- Sometimes the initial spark for an opening process is felt as aversion or jealousy – feeling triggered by someone else’s expression because it reflects a place we feel lack or latency. When we have an intense and challenging response to something which we also find beautiful/pleasing, this can be an augur that we are ready to integrate or uplevel a powerful aspect of ourselves. By noticing the sensation and extending kindness/compassion to ourselves in it, we can also inquire more deeply into what value or desire is being exposed in the encounter. What did this encounter symbolize? Then we can see if we are willing to open to that desire or experience from within, in the true form it wants to show up for us (as opposed to the very specific way it shows up for another person).
March 20, 2021
Sun enters Aries: 2:37 AM PDT
(Image: Joelle Jones)
- Aries can be likened to answering the call for adventure in the hero’s journey – Aries is where we step out, take a leap, DO SOMETHING. We aren’t just sitting at home, waiting for life to happen for or to us.
- It is notable that this is the first Aries Season in a few years were the Sun will not make hard aspects to Saturn in Capricorn (now that Saturn is in Aquarius). And, this Aries Season all the planets are direct (no retrogrades). Aries is so much about forward motion, going for it, doing it, being the first. These skies look like there is less, potentially, standing in the way of that aspect of Aries’ nature!
- Chiron is however, in early Aries, so some of the inhibitions we feel are our own internal journey of developing courage. On the other hand, if we lack forethought or conscientiousness in a place where we could really use it, there may be activations this month around thinking before we act.
- Aries also relates to the ways that we learn through doing – that some forms of greater refinement may be accessible only through throwing ourselves into the arena.
- Aries necessarily highlights courage and bravery. The opposite side of that coin is fear and inhibition. In Aries experience, having a goal or a mission can be an alchemical process because when focusing on a finish line, and having one’s head in the game, one may feel spiritually/emotionally resourced to actually unpack one’s fears, and quickly confront and transform them.
- While a finish line is an alchemical agent for Aries (something to aspire to), we may also remember that the joy is the journey of discovering oneself through the act of becoming oneself. Aries brings a great deal of attention to the self and the question of “who am I?”. Consider the ways that having a goal or a mission creates an abundance of experience, learning, and self-awareness for you.
March 21, 2021
Venus enters Aries: 7:16 AM PDT
(Image: Eivind Hansen)
Venus will stay in Aries until April 14, 2021.
- Venus in Aries can reveal the pursuer side of Venus. This is a Venus that goes directly for what she wants.
- Many business teachings that I find value in de-glorify the hustle and the hustle mentality – hustling is not sustainable. It’s nice to know how to create abundance in one’s life without having to work so hard all of the time. So while this is true, let’s look at…
- The romance of the sprint. The romance of the launch. The romance dare I say, of the hustle. Again, not exactly sustainable, but when the energy is there, this energy initiates so much.
- I knew a Venus in Aries woman who was extremely direct about flirting and meeting people. She was down to find/meet lovers anywhere – at parties, on the street, at the grocery store. The setting didn’t really matter – if she felt an energy or a vibe, she’d just go for it, stare at them and call them to her. Not all of these encounters were positive – some explosive. But, the last person she stared down and met this way, she ended up marrying, and their relationship is passionate. The initial flames and sparks she created eventually resulted in a sustainable fire.
- When I listen to interviews with business people on podcasts, who may be well-established or thriving now, they often have stories of the ways they hustled. And while they grew out of those original methods (which were high cost when it comes to energy/time), it’s like they have stars in their eyes when they talk about it, because at the end of the day it was fun. It was fun to create something out of nothing, and to be that driven that you were willing to do whatever it takes.
- It can be through experimentation or trying new things that we gain experiences, from which we gain a greater sense of wisdom or direction. These early hustle stories are often people who wanted to accomplish something but had no idea how. So they tried things out, to learn about the path and about themselves. As a byproduct of the experiments, they met people, had encounters, or met mentors – and then a refinement process emerged.
- So, consider if there is a new direction opening for you, in which you know what you want but you don’t know how to get there. What romance do you afford to your beginnings?
- As for the hustle, I think that energies have their time and place. Let’s say someone has been hustling for a while – it may be a NEW experience for them to learn how to slow down or run their enterprise a different way that allows them more relaxation. That would be important to learn, given that the hustle is not sustainable. Energetically, Aries has a go-getter energy and is a battering ram! Aries will go forward in a direction until they are tired. And then they will do it again. So in the realm of relating to our desires (Venus), we might contemplate how we relate with the start-up energy (Aries) of our desire, and if we relate to our own momentum, or suppress it. And at deeper levels in the game, how we refine our momentum, and how we entertain new goals that are more life-enhancing than the methods/goals of our past.
Mercury in 8 Pisces sextile Uranus in 8 Taurus: 4:35 PM PDT
(Image: A Pull at the Back of the Mind by Toyin Ojih Odutola)
Mars in 10 Gemini trine Saturn in 10 Aquarius: 7:35 PM PDT
- Mars and Saturn harmonizing in air signs (air relating to ideas, intellect & communication) may correspond with us contacting or being the conduit for ideas which are clarifying, ideas of impact. It calls into consideration how we relate to these things responsibility.
- Internally, this could look like epiphanies or realizations that break/interrupt a pattern of complacency or collusion. For example, if we have been saying yes to something we’re not actually available for, this can be the start of clarity in saying no.
- Mars and Saturn together express differently when there is consent within the relationship/container. As example, the friend who tells you a hard truth because you were willing to hear it and you trust them. Or the coach who reflects back to you something you haven’t been able to see clearly yourself, and they do so because that is the role they are playing in the situation and they are doing it with love. Or, in conversation, asking someone what kind of feedback they want – do they just want to be listened to, or do they want advice?
March 23, 2021
Mercury in 11 Pisces square Mars in 11 Gemini: 8:26 PM PDT
(Image: Joelle Jones)
- Mars in Gemini has already related to lively conversation, and the potential for more aggression in the verbal/communicative field than normal. Mercury-Mars contacts create a similar experience – it is a debate aspect. During Mercury-Mars time periods, situations/conversations can constellate where it feels competitive, or hard to get a word in, or like people are interrupting and talking over each other. We might want to be conscientious about this dynamic.
- At a nervous system level, this could be a good time for working with de-escalating the inflammation that we feel around ideas or words. We do not have to be in full-on trauma response or hyper-vigilance to be effective in dealing with conflict – this can actually work against meaningful conflict resolution if we stay in that response. When we are highly activated or inflamed by some stressor, it’s like the body gets turned into a go-mode weapon. So part of responsibly wielding our own capacity for violence (if we want to look at it this way) is knowing how we operate and knowing how to wield ourselves. So being in relationship with our own nervous system and stressors (and learning how to increasingly have bandwidth or self-regulate) actually relates to being more effectual.
- For experiences like this, this is why in addition to loving vibrational magic (positivity, raising one’s vibration, and the like), I love shadow work and deep innerwork. When we’re upset, making it us versus them or us versus the world or us versus the trigger can keep us in a victim mentality. It is often more transformative to understand our role in the situation and shift our interior reality, nourish our own nervous system, and learn something about ourselves. It’s not about what is fair or who is right/wrong here – but whether we have a reactive, victimized relationship with life or an empowered, increasingly sober relationship with conflict and our capacity to move through it with increasing lucidity.
- Consider how you process being upset – how you hold the sensations, how you come back to yourself and presence with yourself, validate yourself like you would care for your inner-child, and transform and move the energy. Life itself is always teaching and activating us.
Thank you for meditating on the planets with me this week! If you would like further guidance, I have been increasingly focused on longer-term experiences in the form of the Evolutionary Astrology Intensive, higher level courses for alumni, and 1:1 mentorship – helping people form a depth relationship to their natal chart and personal transits over time, to develop themselves, to heal, and to reach their goals, all through the soul-making lens of evolutionary astrology. I would love to support you in building your relationship with astrology. The intensive is currently open for enrollment, and I am soon to take on new coaching clients.
Find me on Instagram @sabrinamonarch, get on my mailing list to stay apprised of all upcoming offerings and events, and I’ll see you next week!
With love,
Sabrina Monarch
(Top Image: Milla Jovovich 1997 by Ruvén Afanador)
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