The spring equinox of 2025 occurs at 5:01 am EDT on 20 March 2025, a few hours before sunrise, placing our solar system’s Sun in the third house of neighbors, communications, primary education, siblings, and extended family — where he absorbs Venus and Mercury’s signifiers into himself as they both retrograde, promising that reason will be guided by creative and tactful communication, and an extended focus on healing past divisions and discords. The ‘chain of dispositors’ for all three planets bounces, though, from Mars to Moon, then to Jupiter to Mercury to Mars again — promising that this is no simple fire-side chat. There will be argument and tears, legalistic hypotheticals and hypocrisies, roundabout and circular reasoning, and back to raised voices and conflict.

Traditionally, the Sun’s entry into 0° Aries is the “New Year’s Day” of the astrological year, which is the official moment of the Vernal Equinox. Wizards collected the dew of the first dawn as a magical ingredient; Sabian priests saluted the rising Sun with special prayers and offerings; ancient texts suggest it’s a time when underworld and celestial realms act together with unusual harmony. The Ascendant of this moment is supposed to suggest whether the year ahead will be stable or contentious. This year, it’s in Aquarius, the Fixed Air sign — suggesting that the turmoil of stale intellectual ideas and harsh austerities that affect global politics in general and American life in particular are likely to remain in effect for a full twelve months. It’s strange to say that “this current turmoil is stable” — and yet the evidence suggests we should settle in for a long haul.

Among the planets, all of them except the Moon and Pluto are below the horizon — implying that for the next year, we should largely focus on household concerns and personal economic issues, as well as local or community matters, rather than national or public affairs. And yet, the Moon and Pluto also remind us that great wealth should be subject to critique and suspicion, and that efforts to change lawmaking processes through elections are the most likely to yield results. It’s a dismaying message from the heavens, at least for me personally. The Lot of Fortune is in the fifth house in Gemini, suggesting that the protection of one’s own children (not “children” in general — let me be specific about that) should be a significant priority for us all, especially not just by thinking and coaching them, but making hands-on plans.

Austin Coppock called this decan the Two Bladed Axe in his book 36 Faces while the ancient Greeks associated with ‘Aidoneus — whose name looks like that glorious god of beauty, Adonis. Don’t be deceived: it’s instead the personal name of a deity we more formally call by his title, Hades, after the realm that he rules — the underworld. T. Susan Chang called this decan Seeds of Dominion in her book 36 Secrets, noting its relationship to the 2 of Wands in the Tarot deck. That card shows a man standing atop a tower with two staffs — one bolted to the wall like a standard or a banner; the other in his hand as though he were about to travel. We thus see the relationship between here, where we are secure, and some far-off place not yet found, to which we must journey or adventure. We find nothing new in a place of safety; great possibilities only exist in the world we have yet to explore.

The previous decan, Pisces III, was associated with the goddesses of memory and of hope, Maia and Elpis; while the next decan, Aries II, is connected with Persephone, the goddess who acted both as the nurturer of flowers and the terrifying Queen of the Underworld. Aidoneus, ruler of Hades, thus stands in a place of transition between the attributes of living beings, who still remember and yet have hope of the future — and the return of truly spring-like conditions. I live on a dirt road, and I’m all too aware how impassible and hopeless my street always seems to be this time of year, a track of churned mud surrounded by gray and leafless trees.

The next ten days are a churn of complex events, astrologically speaking: yesterday, March 19, was the Sun’s last conjunction with Neptune in Pisces — which we’re likely to experience as rationality finally piercing a veil of delusions. March 22 is the Venus cazimi, as the Sun meets the retrograding planet of love and beauty coming toward him. March 24 is the Mercury cazimi, as the Sun exits besiegement and leaves both behind. March 27 and March 29, first Venus and then Mercury will encounter Neptune, before Neptune leaves Pisces behind for Aries on March 30. (the visionary planet will return to Pisces for a brief stay from October ’25 to January ’26, but that’s the last gasp). AND of course we have a solar eclipse on March 29, as well as the Sun’s entry to Aries II on the following day.

The Solar Eclipse belongs to a series, Saros 149, with a range of odd connections to one particular place since the first eclipse in the series occurred in mid-August 1664. Within the same week, a small community of Dutch settlers in North America agreed to become English — and Niue Amsterdam became New York. Under the 1772 Solar Eclipse in this series, Alexander Hamilton arrived in New York City from the Caribbean for the first time, as well — launching a career that saw him rise high in both city and national leadership. Under the 1917 eclipse in this series, there were riots over price gouging for food in New York City related to inflationary pressures connected to World War I and the Spanish Flu epidemic. Yet another eclipse appears to be related to the first planning meetings for the Brooklyn Bridge, although I couldn’t find a specific/definite link. I think we should be looking to New York City, though, to see the effects of this eclipse — which is, interestingly enough, the last partial eclipse in this series for nearly 800 years.

A Cazimi is an event in which one of the two inner planets, Mercury or Venus, either appears as a small black dot on the surface of the Sun, or vanishes behind the Sun during its passage through the Sun’s same degree. While this event is too small (and the Sun too bright) to see with the naked eye, ancient and Islamicate-era astrologers and astronomers were able to figure out ways to observe these events in sidelong ways, and assigned them special meanings. A Venus cazimi is often a moment of sublime beauty, while a Mercury cazimi is almost always a moment of precise and clear communication.

Finally, planets conjuncting Neptune often launch visionary careers or celebrated creative projects of various kinds — Neptune with Venus may result in fashion designers or models or unusual runway collections; while Mercury may launch film-makers, writers, poets, or psychedelics experts. The risks of addictive behaviors and possible overdoses should not be underestimated this week, though.

The dodeks of Aries I are Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer — a miniature springtime rolled into a ten day period. One memorable year I found myself in Montreal, Canada, during Aries I. My travel companion and I rolled into town expecting to be shivery and cold, with extra coats and long underwear. Instead, it was balmy and warm, and we stripped down to t-shirts and long pants. The Canadians were in sundresses and shorts and sleeveless shirts, and not much else. We felt overdressed all weekend. Look for a surge into spring this year, but be wary of forceful and blustery winds which may be steady and difficult to block out.

House Delineations

The First House of self and self-presentation is Aquarius, ruled by inconjunct Saturn and hosting Pluto; retrograde Mercury in Aries and Jupiter in Gemini both provide triplicity support in the form of impassioned verbiage and reluctant leadership. Be wary of allowing your speech to spill too far from your own home ground of expertise — misinformation travels farther and faster than truth right now. Put your hands to work in ways that limit your support for those who regard themselves as Earth’s natural overlords. It will be easy to dress for the job you want, if what you want to be is a prophet or critic of existing norms; it’s going to get harder to wear uniforms.

The Second House of possessions and wealth is Pisces, ruled by squaring Jupiter and hosting Saturn and Neptune. Trining exiled Mars in Cancer and squaring Moon in Sagittarius indicate daily ‘sticker shock’ and increasing calls for mutual aid from friends providing an overall picture of financial insecurity and instability, as well as a belief or hope in relief that is not coming. Some practice of financial austerity would be wise.

The Third House of siblings and neighbors is Aries, ruled by exiled Mars in Cancer from the square. The exalted Sun, and retrograding Venus and Mercury, are co-present. It’s a good week for reconciling with siblings and extended family, first with expressions of love, and then with rational communication about challenging topics. If you can’t resolve pressing explosive issues right away, keep returning to love first, then communication until you can.

THe Fourth House of family and household is Taurus, ruled by inconjunct Venus (in the Taurus dodek); sextile exiled Mars in Cancer indicates daily challenges while Uranus promises ongoing uproar best addressed with a steady diet of prayer. Keep returning to the traditional norms of your household, knowing that things will be better in six months than they are today.

The Fifth House of children and pastimes is Gemini, ruled by sextile retrograding Mercury and hosting Jupiter; squaring Saturn suggests that financial support for both recreation and your progeny are required but not always available. Hard choices lie ahead for how you can spend your time and energy on projects and activities outside of your main competencies, but maybe some of your efforts would benefit from a hybrid approach. Encourage your children to actions that are analog/offline and hands-on or creative.

The Sixth House of work and health management is Cancer, ruled by the inconjunct Moon and hosting a decidedly fishy Mars; squaring Venus suggests checking in with your sisters about her favorite soothing teas for dealing with all this bullish*t. Illnesses are more likely to take the form of gross, snotty inconveniences than truly life-threatening emergencies… but take dehydration problems like vomiting and diarrhea seriously even so.

The Seventh House of relationships is Leo, ruled by the trining and exalted Sun. Relationship matters may have a tendency to be performative but also passionate this week — be demonstrative in your affections with a significant other, be loud in your appreciation of business partners, and be precise when explaining your enmities and rivalries to others. However, be aware that it’s a good time to hold certain kinds of viciousness in check — online vehemence and vitriol is likely to spread faster and farther than you mean to. Have a private life, people.

The Eighth House of duty and responsibility is Virgo, ruled by inconjunct and retrograde Mercury; the Moon in Sagittarius squares, suggesting that getting by with a little help from one’s friends is … good, up to a point? Targeted mutual support and assistance (“I got some groceries for you today”) is better than a generalized offer of help (“anything you need! Any way I can help! Except… I have no money to give you, I can’t drive you anywhere, there’s no errands I can run, and I don’t really want to babysit.”). Your errands, obligations and duties are likely to pile up over the next ten days, and people are more likely to ask you for additional help than to offer it.

The Ninth House of travel and higher education is Libra, ruled by opposing Venus. Your personal plans for self-improvement or long-distance journeys are likely to be canceled, changed, or revised — with familial matters closer to home taking priority, like looking after a sick aunt or cousin, or shepherding reluctant children through a series of intellectual puzzles. Whatever travel or courses you do take are likely to be more expensive than usual, and be less useful or entertaining than you hope.

The Tenth House of career, reputation and public notice is Scorpio, ruled by trining but exiled Mars in Cancer; neither of the triplicity lords are able to provide support. Your goodness and greatness are likely to pass unnoticed, but your ambitions and secret desires are more likely to attract unwanted attention, and non-compliance or rule-breaking are more likely to earn a stern talking-to or a letter of warning than a commendation. It’s not a great time for sticking your neck out for the sake of strangers — the problem is that the medicine for what ails us all together, is also poison to us individually.

The Eleventh House of friends and associations is Sagittarius, ruled by detrimented and opposing Jupiter and hosting the Moon; squaring Saturn and exalted Sun provide additional triplicity support. It costs a lot of money to keep friends organized and happy with you, and financially you may feel the pinch this month. Super close friends are more likely to be tactful about the money you owe, and are more likely to provide the kind of targeted support that’s needed; be cautious of the loud and lousy friend who’s too forceful about your perceived obligations.

The Twelfth House of hospitalization, incarceration, challenges, and opportunities, is Capricorn ruled by the sexual Saturn in Pisces; detrimented Venus from the square and exiled Mars from the opposition create ongoing anxieties that are difficult to suppress. A lot may be riding on you and your acumen for holding on to the right things for the future, and managing the right combination of resources to ward off terrible outcomes. A private life, and closely held information, may be the best defense against the challenges of the current era — consider the value in laying up stores against a winter of discontent, rather than assuming that it’s time to spring forward to the fight.

Horoscopes

Decan I of any sign (usually covering the 21st of the month to the first of the following month) is free to all visitors; Decan II is only available to Patreon and Ko-Fi.com subscribers; and Decan III is available to Patreon, Ko-Fi, and MailChimp subscribers.

I recommend reading your Sun sign, Moon sign, and Rising sign for best results. I write them with rising sign in mind, but several people have told me they find that they do better with all three.

Aquarius: You may have deep clarity about how to make or lose a fortune these next ten days, but you face the ethical questions that go along with it: how much should you pay the people that help you? How much can you screw over your clients, and your vendors? How much do you yourself deserve to earn for your knowledge and insights? You have the vision, and the desperate hunger, to succeed at building a side-hustle into a thriving business — providing you call the right team of intimate allies to you to build your secret supervillain plan together. But it will require you to upend your household’s norms, abandon the emotional baggage attached to your daily routines, and accept that the challenges of your past will have to be exhumed and processed in new ways. All of this may cause you to alienate your children and abandon the hobbies that bring you joy. Are you prepared to do that, in exchange for the financial successes that will support your household and family? OR — will you accept the current field of play in your life, with its present drudgery and contentment? Next month brings new paths to success and new opportunities, but some doors in your life may be about to close.

Pisces: Your mantra this week should be I am not my bank account; I am more than the sum of what I own. Yet you may find yourself grasping for evidence that you are more than an ATM for family members, and that your house is more than just a soup kitchen or thrift store bargain rack. To ease your mind, take the time to do a net worth statement for yourself: What do you think the total value of all your assets is, and what do you owe? For some of you, this will be a relief; for others a cluster of anxiety — but confronting the truth will help you be creative about managing your financial future effectively. You may find it valuable to target a few big career goals in coming weeks and months — a promotion, a raise, a sideways transfer in your company: your household and family could use the extra income and boost in your reputation. The question looms large, whether you’re in paradise or purgatory, facing perfection or punishment… but how you choose to rely on your current team of allies (friends, relations, spouse, children) will make a difference in the next ten days.

Aries: You can spark up some quality conversations with your family and close friends over the next few days, as long as you focus on some of the more beautiful and elegant moments in your family history. It’s not that you have to focus on the living and the dead exclusively, but maybe don’t make your opening gambit, “whatever happened to great-aunt Alice’s silverware?” or “do you think you could bear to part with that solid gold pendant of Mom’s?” The temptation to begin to argue about stuff — who has what, and what is missing — will run hot and cold this coming week, and the memories of the thing will often be attached to the hope that it will belong to the right person (it never does). Accept that upheaval in property is the normal way of things, but that the thing is never more valuable than the person. Generosity to family, friends and associates is more likely to bring future success your way than arguing for your right now — the hardships of today will pass, but grudges nursed from current conflicts will persist for a while.

Taurus: Household matters are likely in a state of upheaval, in part because of where you must focus your attentions: career matters require you to adopt leadership roles, discipline your friends into some kind of organized plan, and think through the big picture of your community and inner circle’s success. This is a bit like being the town priest or priestess, shaman, mayor, police chief, fire brigade captain, garbage collector and therapist all at once, and it’s no fun wearing oh-so-many hats at once. Your significant other is probably dumping a bunch of new obligations in your lap, too, and breaking some long-standing agreements in the process. It’s worth remembering that this is likely to make your family or household stronger in the long run, but right now it feels big and expensive and a sprawling mess. Yet you may find that there’s enormous contentment and joy in treating this as an antique hobbyhorse worthy of restoration and repair — it may be useless to do, but it’s still work you’re good at, it’s a powerful legacy to hand on to the future, and you may find a new path to personal success while doing it.

Gemini: Your preferred activities that are ordinarily fun, are tinged with a requirement to assume leadership roles that you’re not entirely comfortable with. You’re normally content with planning six months out, ten months out… but right now you have to make big decisions that have immediate and irreversible effects. No one else seems to see the big picture, and you keep asking, on behalf of both your family and your employers, surely you don’t want me to be making decisions of this magnitude?? Let me assure you, they do. But while these folks around you are deferring to your judgement and expertise, they’re also short-changing you on remuneration for your services. You’re getting paid big bucks, in their mind, in terms of “experience” and “exposure” — which don’t actually buy groceries, pay rent, fill gas tanks, or even pad a resume with titles. Be prepared to ask for what you want … name your price, in writing … each time you have to make a decision above your pay grade. You might not be rewarded until late in the year, but you get nothing if you don’t ask.

Cancer: Oh what a dreary and painful tedium of new emotional upsets you’re facing, day after day. No sooner are today’s trials behind you, than tomorrow’s troubles seem to refill the goblets. Your long-range planning for future happiness seems to be nothing more than a thought-experiment that gets bogged down in the big picture and the tiniest details simultaneously. Your extended family seems to be on the verge of collapse; your workplace seems to expect you to be the voice of reason in the midst of a potentially explosive conflict between creative services and the accounting department; school and travel matters waffle between wild possibilities and harsh realities; and the burden of your obligations seems to be either “I have nothing to do” or “I am crushed under the weight of all this work.” The solution is to choose some relatively easy targets for enjoyable experiences, and fulfill them, like meeting friends for drinks after work or attending a picnic. You might not enjoy these activities in the moment, but reflecting on them later will remind you that fun will come back into your life. Eventually.

Leo: My mother used to say that women spent a lot of time talking about The Relationship® even if it wasn’t the most pressing thing in their lives — but it’s worth it to you right now to spend some time talking about that, regardless of gender or your current relationship status. Single or attached, married or casual, there are serious questions about how to sustain and grow your security and well-being in your current relationship status. Part of it is “how do I have fun and feel emotionally fulfilled?” and part is “how do I avoid injurious problems from mounting in my life?” and part is “how do I see the big picture of friends and family changing?” and part is “What would I do if my career blew up (for good or bad) in the next month?” Your obligations and duties in the world are hitting some hard boundaries; your vision of a bigger world for yourself may be somewhat narrower at the moment, too, and your wallet may feel emptier than normal. These problems can be fixed, but it starts with addressing the questions of who you’re in relationships with, and how, and why, and what they mean for the future.

Virgo: “Trouble,” patters the Music Man, “starts with T and that rhymes with P, and that stands for pool.” There’s definitely a sense in the skies right now that you’ve got troubles that begin with a hole you’ve dug for yourself, which seems to come with more obligations and expenses than income; and more vision and ideals than bankable realities. Still, there’s no option but to brand yourself — not with fire, but with intellectual property like hard work, and steady effort, and a promise to watch out for others and to critique their essential systems. There’s always going to be ideals to uphold, and you’re good at that — but there are also practical, down-to-dearth things that are wroth doing. You may find that you’ll need to be creative in new ways and communicative in new ways — show your work in writing, in passionate communication, and in fancy new newsletters that use color! and graphics! and some of those newfangled charts and graphs! Arlo Guthrie did a lot with 8×10 glossy black-and-white photos… step up your game, friend, to turn your hole into a real foundation for something BIG.

Libra: The wide world is full of useful ideas that you can buy, sell, trade, and re-arrange, but it requires entering into alliance with challenging forces that threaten to burn it all down. In the workplace, you’ve got a boss stomping around and chewing scenery, but it’s not clear if they’re making a show of it or in earnest working to bring about ruin. One way or another, you have to act as though this is a real plan — and it may require that you summon up more than mere imaginary friends to defend you; your significant other may know a good lawyer or two; your sibling or a close friend may know a good spymaster who can help you get the inside scoop. It’s worth remembering that pay scales are often a company’s close-guarded secret, but it’s often the information that most effectively unites workers against a common supervisor or employer. Keep your planning only to one accomplice, though: three can keep a secret but only if two are dead, and far too many chefs are at work in this particular kitchen.

Scorpio: So many rules in the workplace, and even as you’re learning them you’re realizing how essential it’s going to be to break them (regularly) in order to get anything done! Part of the problem, of course, is that you need the money the job offers, more than you need the job… and if your spouse or significant other didn’t help you get this, you might be tempted to walk out right now. So first, give credit where credit is due — recognize the peer(s) who helped make this possible. Second, dedicate at least some of the funds to a household resource fund… and some to the “happiness in hard times” fund too. It’s hard to get through months of slogging work where your leadership and hands-on attitude are essential, but where there are no daily niceties to make it worthwhile: make time for daily sweetness and joy.

Sagittarius: Emotionally, it’s time to make some time for yourself; and personally, you want to have all the fun in all the ways it’s possible to have fun. In terms of your actual duties and responsibilities, though… yeah… you’ve got your hands full with a range of practical and intellectual tasks that require your full attention; and no sooner do you check off the last thing on the to-do list than someone writes out a new one for you! Your resources and your identity are closely tied to the issues of caretaking your family or managing a household with both vision and practical insights, and it’s unlikely that any one day is much like the last or the next. Keep going for now — underlying conditions will soon change, but you have another few weeks of the current slog. Your time to rest and rejuvenate is coming… just… not yet?

Capricorn: It maybe be the people who are closest to you in the monkey circle — siblings, cousins, your 3am emergency friends — who are your worst enemies at the moment, as they counsel you to wrong action from imperfect visions. Unfortunately, you may not be able to enlighten them to the full picture, because some emotional cups shouldn’t be dumped out in public. Instead, they should be drunk in a spirit of reconciliation and communication, even when that discussion is harsh or rehashes weeks of difficulties and miscommunication. Part of the problem is that memory of past wrongs, and hope for a better future, go hand in glove — Until you know how the past failed, you’ll be unable to construct a new future. By the end of March, you may be able to put together a new vision for family (found or blood) — but it requires a few days of work to reset your belief in your chosen community, and some upheaval in how you choose to seek happiness.

Colophon

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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.