The Sun enters Aries I, The Double Bladed Axe, on March 20, 2023 at 5:25 pm EDT, with the ASC in Virgo and the Sun above the horizon. Austin Coppock in 36 Faces noted that this decan was associated with Mars and that ancient sources associated it with a divine name or epithet, “Aidoneus” meaning the unseen one… apparently a title of Hades or Pluto, “the ruler below” and “the wealthy one.”
Thank you to Wren and Ophiuchoid who made contributions through Ko-Fi to help make the horoscopes for Aries available to a wider public. Normally, the first decan is open to the public, the second decan is available to my Patreon supporters, and the third decan is available to my mailing list.
The first deity of the decans in the Ancient Greek tradition was the god of the underworld. It’s strange that the first prince of the starry realm is also the first prince of the realm of the dead. But, as Gordon White has pointed out, in a great many indigenous cultures — the stars are the campfires of the ancestors. It may be that this is a holdover from a secret teaching, that “the world above us, the skies” is actually the “world below” where the souls of the ancestors live. Or maybe it was a lot easier for ancient peoples to the the two realms as not separated. I remember an experience when I was in summer camp, maybe eight or nine years old, sleeping on grass in the open air and looking up into the night sky at the stars. I had the sense of Earth moving very fast, and me being held to it surface like I was in a spinning gravity wheel at an amusement park. In that moment of awareness of earth’s motion, one can truly feel like you’re about to fall off the edge of the world into the shimmering darkness of night… into the realm of the “ruler of many”, Hades. Maybe that’s what we’re being reminded of, here in Aries I.
Mars, of course, is the ruler of both the sign of Aries as a whole, and the administrator of the first decan (and the ruler of its first term in the Egyptian bounds): It’s Mars, all the way down. There’s an energy and a forcefulness here, and a new ambition. Lots of people are setting up new expectations for themselves as the spring gets going. And of course, the ancient world treated this time of year as their own New Year’s Day — the start of the spring planting season, and the start of the war-season, when the first warmth made it possible to exercise and train soldiers, and go marauding against neighbors.
The dodeks of Aries I are reifications of Aries, Taurus, Gemini, and Cancer, encapsulating the whole of spring into ten short days. First there’s the sudden bloom of heat, followed by a return to the chilliness a dew-frosted meadow when the grass is growing again but the leaves of the trees have not yet returned. Then comes the weather shift period, where cold nights and warm days alternate with cold days and warm nights. Dirt roads turn to mud in the first part of Aries, and snow-melt creates vernal ponds in the woods and their groves; the channels of streams fill with spring run-off and the rivers rise with snowmelt. The axe comes down on the hardwood and splits it for next winter; or on the head of an enemy as the battle-season begins; or on the relationship that couldn’t survive the winter nesting-in. Spring is a time for many new things, and a putting-away of the old.
I wrote about Aries I in 2022, 2021, and 2020 as well. I’m also not the only one who writes about decans online. Tony of the Woods is starting his own decan series.
Planetary Placements
The Ascendant is in Virgo II, the Hammer and Anvil, indicating a season of artisanship and craftiness. Today the word “crafty” in English suggests someone with a low cunning and mean-streak cleverness; someone planning to get something for nothing, or who plans to get without giving. Yet the early English king Alfred the Great, in his gloss of the New Testament into Anglo-Saxon, used the word “craeft” or craft as the translation of the word Sapientia or wisdom. We’re being advised to treat the next ten days as an opportunity for judicious thought and careful consideration — and to use them as days for projects of useful beauty.
That naturally suggests an attention to our group projects: labors with spouse or significant other, or with colleagues at work. Yet the Lot of Fortune in Leo III The Banner indicates that this isn’t maybe the best use of your time or effort. This decan indicates that you should spend this time and energy on projects that advance yourself and your long-range aims. Also administered by Mars (who is sextile to both the Sun and the Lot of Fortune). Be aware that you can trip yourself up through a mix of dithering, and not considering your long-term interests — and that if you have children, your long-term interests are a lot longer-term than a year or two from now: if they’re under 18 years of age, it’s time to start considering a forty-year timeline, broken down into decadal and half-decade goals.
The Nodal Axis runs between the first decans of Taurus and Scorpio, with the crap and difficulty emerging in what sort of smack you say to your friends, and what sort of troubles they dump on you. The Orphic Hymn to Mercury calls the tongue a weapon — and more than ever, what we say and how we advise others, is likely to bring us difficulties and contention. Weigh your words carefully. At the same time, the hunger in our lives is indicated by a longing for stability in how we come into food and drink, clothing and shelter, not just now but over the long-haul.
The Imum Coeli in the first decan of Sagittarius advises us to make rapid changes at home, but to recognize that some changes may be unwanted or have unexpected or undesirable consequences. Short, quick conversations with partners bring more benefit than protracted discussions or lengthy arguments.
Pluto remains in the last decan of Capricorn, inching ever closer to his exit on March 23 at 8:23 am EDT. Although here in this chart he’s in the sixth house, at the ingress he’ll be in the tenth house — marking the transition of his focused power from support of the Powers-That-Be to the critics of the established order. If Pluto has any significance as a true planet, that day and week is likely to mark a moment when significant power shifts from those with wealth and power to the workers who make their wealth and power possible. (If it doesn’t, well… it might be that Pluto really is more of a dwarf planet, with not nearly so much importance in astrology as we’d like.)
Saturn, The Moon, and Neptune are all in Pisces, activating all three of its decans (The Labyrinth, the Net, and The Cup of Blood). Pisces is a sign of complex confusion in this chart: it represents Others in our lives — significant others, business colleagues, enemies and rivals, spouses, and close allies. Pisces, if it had an axiom, would choose “can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em.” There’s a constant approach and distancing between you and these important Others in your life in these next ten days, based on the presence of these three planets: Saturn promises natural boundaries like time, distance or schedule conflicts; the Moon indicates challenges in our gut-reactions to people — an awareness that some of these relationships are reaching their end; Neptune indicates imaginations out of alignment with reality, or “what we know we know, that just ain’t so,” to quote Mark Twain — our certainties and core beliefs are likely to be challenged, but also we should suspect anything that seems to have even the slightest amount of softness in its foundation. The Moon is in the 28th Mansion, “The Belly of the Fish” — a well-favored establishment with good water views and a fabulous menu, popular with multi-generational families, gamblers, truckers and successful merchants: she promises great success in our connections to others.
The Sun, Mercury and Jupiter hold the first two decans of Aries, associated with Hades and with Persephone, and managing a gently favorable trine with ruling Mars. With Mars and Mercury in one another’s houses, they trade places by mutual reception, and put pressure on us to complete our professional obligations with greater focus and legal circumspection than usual. It may be a time to manage expectations by “working to rule” rather than “other duties as assigned” — but there’s also an expectation of the sovereign power of the executive and the military being exercised with greater care and intelligence than usual. Our spouse’s resources may be under greater threat than usual, but new generosity may be in store for us — since Mars may rule here, but Jupiter has a substantial degree of authority to act in his name.
Venus and Uranus hold the first two decans of Taurus, associated with the Graces and the Seasons. Called The Plough and The Lingam Yoni, these are the windows of the sky associated with both intermediate planning, and immediate agency — with the idea that our labor now results in reward later, as well as with the idea that some rewards are both immediate and necessary. Uranus tends to surprise us (and often unpleasantly), so it may be that we should consider some of the ways we might be unhappily triggered: a return to the office, a layoff, a pay cut, a travel delay, a deferral of our necessary coursework, a sudden withdrawal of our student loan forgiveness. Preparing an immediate response to such kinds of nasty surprises helps us prepare for the worst, while leaving open the possibility of a pleasant wonder. Venus, meanwhile, invites us to open our eyes to aesthetic possibilities: taking a class on art or design or craft, developing a consistent practice, or starting a garden this year.
Mars and the Midheaven hold the high ground of Gemini in the tenth house, challenging our reputation with executable decisions that have far-ranging consequences. Some genies can’t be stuffed back in the bottle, lamp or ring — some knowledge can’t be un-gained — some realizations or insights make you too expensive to allow to leave, but also too costly to promote away from essential functions. Be cautious of learning too much beyond your pay-grade in the current ten day period. At the same time, angry bosses and supervisors stalk the cubicle farms and the C-suites and writers’ rooms, looking for expendable talent. It’s a time for watching your back and knowing where your towel is.
Horoscopes by Rising Sign
Thank you to Wren and Ophiuchoid who made contributions through Ko-Fi to help make the horoscopes for Aries available to a wider public. Normally, the first decan is open to the public, the second decan is available to my Patreon supporters, and the third decan is available to my mailing list.
Virgo: It’s time to send a few of your preferred flags up the flagpole and see which ones attract the most salutes — You have the craft and artistry to achieve great things, but the question on your mind should be in service to what goals? The planets’ positions at the start of these ten days suggest that you’ll be reacting and responding to others: bosses, supervisors, spouses, business partners, professors, bureaucrats with that unpleasant mix of pettiness and power. The best way for you to exercise your potential is to hyper-focus on a couple of hobbies, and figure out which of the various political or economic causes you support, win you the most favorable kinds of attention and reward you deserve.
Libra: Balance your financial situation against your responsibilities, but recognize that dressing for the job you want is pretty important. At the same time, though, don’t ignore your current responsibilities in search of a higher-order position: you can’t afford to slip up right now. Instead, manage your boss through coaching, and manage your peers through a mix of enthusiastic image-management, and being the gate-keeping expert in the room. Some in your household or family need outsized management; I won’t say you need to hold their hand through toilet training, but it might require that level of dedication.
Scorpio: A close friend will dump a heavy weight of gossip or rumor on you in coming days, even as you try to keep their secrets through a six-month round of planting and harvest. It’s important to remember that you can respond to this kind of unexpected trust with immediate support and care — or immediate repudiation of their efforts to stifle or control your behavior You may lose a friend by opening up their Pandora’s box, but you may also gain some new opportunities. Some delightful pleasures may be postponed or rescheduled, but you are able to establish some favorable routines leading to success in the ten days ahead.
Sagittarius: The next ten days are going to test your home, but also help you identify how quickly your ideas of family and household can shift. Financial responsibilities bloom: you have to take charge of the cost of life and living and control debt carefully. Lots of lovely elements are likely to come together, although it may take a long and winding road to get there. Meanwhile, focus on some of your artistic goals; do a little each day, recognizing that it’s likely to be lonely and occasionally challenging — but the rewards are likely to arrive shortly. Your spouse or significant other faces down conflicts bravely, but needs you as a guide on the side to successfully pass these trials.
Capricorn: Are you carving time out of your busy schedule for your personal passions, whether that be hanging with the kids or playing your favorite video games? This chart suggests that there’s a bit of creative laziness in that choice — that you’re allowing your accustomed entertainments to shut out new possibilities. It’s time to go on a bit of a journey to find a new way to become outstanding in your field. It may take some time: don’t invest your imagination in something you can master in a day. Recognize that there will be unusual shifts in the tides currently enveloping your extended family, but that your own household is likely to weather the current storm — just be sure you don’t take out your own anxieties on the employees you need the most.
Aquarius: My friend John once accepted a plate of cookies from a niece of his wife; he learned later from his wife, to his chagrin, that this meant the rest of the family believed he had accepted the job of being grandmother’s lawn-mower guy for the summer. Subtle communication from extended family or intimate friends may bind you to unspoken contracts and cut you off from pursuing your own anticipated plans — and these implied agreements may limit your financial capacities for some time. These aren’t likely to be commitments you can just drop or let go of, but chances are you can find some creative ways to fulfill them. It’s ok to get a little angry about the way these commitments are imposed on you, but be a) specific, b) immediate, and c) thoughtful about how you object. And then let it go: this isn’t how you want to be remembered.
Pisces: Important Others in your life are likely to take all the oxygen out of the room in the next ten days — spouse, business partners, significant others, even rivals are likely to eat your time, trap your attention, or consume your energy on chimeric and illusory goals with no basis in real effort. Your main energy will be spent on keeping the financial fires burning, and you may feel like not much more than an ATM or bank teller, dispensing resources to those for whom youre. responsible. Take this as a creative journey, though, into understanding how the familial web instead extends beyond yourself. You can be the patron of so many who need your help. Just don’t turn a blind eye to angry responses when your generosity meets its necessary limits.
Aries: A focus on your responsibilities, and expanding them, is probably due in your life right now. You’re going to have to deal with some sort of bureaucratic cock-up; get your paperwork in order. At the same time, a technical and intellectual focus is probably needed — separate out your duties into what you know how to do, and what you’re expected to do, in the workplace. Once you do that, you’ll have a sense of how to ask (in innovative ways) for more money or resources — for classes you need to take, personnel your department needs or even necessary vacation time. I heard a health care manager explain recently that she had understood her job to deliver her team’s message to the CEO; instead, she realized that her job was to deliver her team’s work to the health system so patients and staff had trust in each other. You may want to think about that, these next ten days — it’s easy to focus on the suffering, the confusion, or the obstacles in your winding path — or to feel trapped. But what is it that you’re expected to deliver? What is the completed work that you (and your team?) are supposed to celebrate achieving?
Taurus: You’re having deep confusion around the circle of friends and associates that you think of as peers, allies, rivals, and essential community pillars. People seem to be making choices entirely divorced from the facts on the ground, and taking the long way around to get to decisions that change twice a day, like the tides. Meanwhile, you see your own way forward with certainty, and you’re sure that you can act with generosity and mercy, expertise and vision, to carry out new expectations. You have innovative and revolutionary abilities right now. You’re also able to carry out big financial shifts in your life and in others’ lives, even as a partner wrestles with new familial expectations. BUT — these next ten days will likely shift you from a power behind the throne to a new kind of critic with an important outsider’s perspective… a sibling may be a source of difficulty in your life, requiring you to assume a new strategy.
Gemini: You gain professional notice in the next ten days, but possibly for losing your temper while in the spotlight. This might be for the right reasons, for the ethical and moral boundaries of your avocation — or simply because you can’t take the abuse any longer. Call a friend or sibling: someone who has the larger concerns of justice, fairness, and equality in mind, and lay out your issue clearly, even if you have to protect some information. The reality is that your capacity to see many possibilities, and consider many options, gets in the way of choosing the best road for what lies ahead. At least some of your friends will suggest kindness, or a type of “lackadaisical mercy” where you can’t be bothered to inflict consequences where they’re due.
Cancer: A brief health scare may be coming in the next month, but it’s probably over by the middle of May. All the same, be wary of dull knives in the kitchen and things like the tools of spring gardening: pruning hooks and limbing saws and shears. More caution with table saws and suchlike is warranted, especially when working on friends’ projects where your skill at assembly and construction is likely to be valued. A shift in a significant other’s financial situation signals a signficant change for your relationship, possibly allowing a promising vacation or journey together, or a destination experience with friends. Supporting a cause with your own funds may feel great, but a chance comment among friends may reveal more than you intend about your private life. A mentor or patron in the workplace saddles you with new duties.
Leo: If you feel lonely in the next ten days, put up the banner indicating your favorite causes in the places where your friends and allies will see it; and do what you can to assemble the gang on a learning journey together. You can expect to start an unintentional dust-up, or to hurt someone’s feelings, but you can also mend fences as you go. Be cautious about initiating new romances; they’re likely to lead to financial entanglement and more responsibility than you’d like, far out of alignment with what you believe you should have to deal with. if you’re uncertain about a new love, be aware that a rapid exit may be difficult; if you’re in a long-term relationship that you’re thinking about unwinding… know that you may have to accept that the unwinding will take as long as the path in. One way or another, you’re about to start a two-decade period where it will feel a lot easier to criticize a spouse or significant other… try to remember to give them some leeway rather than rushing to instant examination or inquisition.
Colophon
I have a Patreon account for those who want to support this column as it continues its third year. Those funds support artists, artisans and thinkers that I regard as contributing to the well-being of the world. You can also buy me a Ko-fi in $3 increments; any column I write after receiving a Ko-Fi donation will be open to the public). You can also schedule an appointment with me using Accuity Scheduling, for a natal or solar return consultation.
If you want to read some of my astrologically-oriented poetry, the largest collection is called A Full Volume of Splendor and Starlight, available through my Etsy shop, and containing poems and hymns to the planets, constellations, decan deities, and Moon Mansion angels. While not astrological, Festae contains hymns to some of the older Roman gods and spirits from the calendar created by Numa Pompilius, the second ancient King of Rome.
I use iPhemeris for my charting software, and screenshot it to make charts. I want to thank the team that develops iPhemeris for the addition of Terms and Decans to their charts. I also use Hugh Tran‘s Physis typeface to craft logos for this blog, as well.
I use Christopher Warnock‘s The Mansions of the Moon as the basis of my Moon placement delineations, and Austin Coppock‘s 36 Faces for much of my planetary delineations. Neither gentleman endorses me.
