The Sun enters Pisces III on 10 March 2026 at 9:57 am EDT — The Cup of Blood, as Austin Coppock named it in 36 Faces. T. Susan Chang, in her book 36 Secrets, built a range of connections between this decan and the 10 of Cups in the Tarot deck, which she called Perfected Success. The Hellenistic era tended to associate these ten days at the end of the astrological year with two deities, Elpis and Maia, the spirits of Hope and Memory. The Sun will travel through this decan for ten days and fifty minutes, entering Aries I at the moment of the Spring Equinox on 20 March 2026 at 10:46 am EDT.

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Please note that with the start of Daylight Saving Time in the US on 8 March 2026 I will be moving from EST (Eastern Standard Time) to EDT (Eastern Daylight Time). This means that instead of being five hours behind UTC/GMT, I will identify times that are only four hours behind. Thus, if it’s noon at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, England… it will be 8 am where I live (and 5 am in Los Angeles)

I’e previously written about Pisces III in 2020 – 2021 – 2022 – 2023 – 2024 – 2025.

At least some Greek-speaking peoples in the eastern Mediterranean worshipped Elpis and Maia at this time of year, as the old year ended and the new year begin. At the end of February, in Rome and cities that looked to Rome as their religious center, the festivals of the Feralia, Charistia and Terminalia established or renewed healthy relationships between living members of a family and their neighbors, the dead, and the city. The annual sacrifices to Mars as both a war-god and the plough-pusher occurred in the first ten days of March, followed by festivals in honor of Hera as the protector of motherhood — a reminder that an appetite for war and a desire for healthy children were never far apart in the days when armies fought each other hand-to-hand.

Yet once those festivals ended, people had to turn their attention to the spring planting season — and look over their stored food and resources, and figure out how to make it last. This would dredge up the uncomfortable processes of ugly memory on the one hand, while everyone tried to remain hopeful for the future. The basic problem facing many ancient cultures at this season of year was this: in winter, no new food grows; but once you plant seeds, it can take seventy to a hundred days for them to produce edible food, and even mature fruit and nut trees can take five months or more between blossom and apple or nut. Every householder had to look at their stored resources with a mix of hope and memory — “we used more flour two years ago, than what we have now, between March and July… but there are more oats. So we’ll have to eat more porridge and less bread. I’ll have to make fewer noodles. There are enough lentils, but not enough dried fruit and smoked fish.” The end of the astrological year and the long-term challenges of caloric intake in a subsistence farming environment, happen to line up pretty well.

Householders thus had to rely on Maia — memory — to determine the best course of action for nutrition and household planning; they would study their past actions and resources, consult their records, and make guesses about how to stretch their short-ration resources or use up their abundance, or how to barter what they had for what they needed. At the same time, they also relied on Elpis — hope — to keep them from despair at the risk of deprivation, knowing that malnutrition was a common cause of the weaknesses that brought on disease, and that starvation was also a reality. No family liked to lose children, but it wasn’t until the early 20th century that infant mortality was such a ‘solved problem’ that family planning entered common discussion. My own four grandparents born in the early 1900s each lost more than one sibling or cousin to diphtheria, rubella, mumps, measles, polio, and other early childhood diseases — but neither of my parents did, being born in the mid-century years.

The Ten of Cups in Tarot, associated with this decan, hints at this kind of ideal happiness — you and a spouse or significant other in a place representative of success, with access to food and water, with living children able to enjoy themselves, and a vision of continuing prosperity and health. That vision may not always be achievable — there’s an element of pie in the sky on this front. Yet this is the season in which both our hopes and our terrors are odd-couple roommates in the apartment of our dreams.

This decan is also ruled by planetary Mars — and this is the only place in the cycle of the Zodiac where any planet administrates two decans in a row, since Mars also has Aries I.

The dodeks of Pisces III are assigned to Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, and Aquarius. Together, they tell the story of a person learning unwelcome secrets, having to sit with the truth and understand that information from their own point of view, store their conclusions, and then act in the world on the basis of new information.

Dates to Watch

• 14 March — Mercury retrograde conjuncts Mars — This is a combination that invites exciting mental energy, but also requires a certain degree of moral restraint. You’re likely to have greater capacities to marshal arguments and present sophisticated intellectual frameworks, but also to do so in a competitive or combative way. Choose your sides carefully.
• 18 March — Venus squares Jupiter — don’t schedule anything you must do today, because this transit practically begs us to play hooky from anything essential. However, be aware that impulse shopping and justification of expensive purchases are quite common under this aspect. Canceling an important doctor’s appointment for a coffee date at Nieman-Marcus may be desirable but contraindicated.
• 19 March — Saturn sextile Pluto — this transit promises that we are tested to our limits, and may work harder than we have in years. Yet it often also results in recognition of our existing achievements, and a new or renewed focus on the parts of our labor where we have the most impact.
• 19 March — Sun sextile Uranus — this transit is intolerant of restriction or limitation, and we tend to defenestrate order and stasis in favor of delightful new opportunities to sow chaos and weirdness in our lives. Coinciding with the eve of the spring equinox, it’s a great time to plant new possibilities and unleash new growth of curiosities and imaginative possibilities.
• 20 March — Mars trines Jupiter — talk a big game today, but be prepared to back it up with achievement and delivery of what you promise. Self-confidence can get you far, but recognize that ambition alone can get you into trouble; back it up with support from your actual abilities. A great day for starting new exercise or athletic projects.

House Delineations

The First House of self and self-presentation is Taurus, ruled by inconjunct and detrimented Venus in Aries.

The Second House of money and possessions is Gemini, ruled by squaring and retrograde Mercury in Pisces, where they’re both detrimented and exiled. Financial matters and questions of possessions are about to be bifurcated — you’ll have enough to tide you over but it’s not likely to be a great time to take on bigger expenses.

The Third House of extended family and intimate friends is Cancer, ruled by the inconjunct Moon in Sagittarius. At 11°, she’s in the Twentieth Mansion called The Beam, associated with safe travel and coming home quickly, but also well placed for your actions to ruin your allies’ wealth and resources or to bring about condemnation.

The Fourth House of home, household, and parents is Leo, ruled by the inconjunct Sun in Pisces. Though free of the besiegement of Mars and Mercury, and making steady progress toward early Aries, it’s likely to be March 27 or before current household matters settle down — but pay attention to the ways in which home delights and gratifies, because that’s the ray of sunshine you’ll need..

The Fifth House of pleasures and pastimes is Virgo, ruled by opposing Mercury — who has all the disadvantages in Pisces possible: retrograde, under the Sun’s beams, debilitated and exiled. Your friends need you, and yet many of your plans to bring yourself joy in their company are likely to die and wither on the vine. Keep planning and keep scheduling events, but know that the mice are having the same troubles you are.

The Sixth House of daily routines, pets, and injuries is Libra, ruled by opposing and detrimented Venus in Aries. Expect personal norms to be upset and disrupted by long-term issues outside your control; these might include hospital visits, protests, organization meetings, government hearings, and political activism. In extreme edge cases this turmoil may even involve visits to courthouses or jails.

The Seventh House of spouse, peer partners, and rivals is Scorpio, ruled by trining Mars in Aquarius. Romantic matters and spousal issues may be bubbling away beneath the surface, but there will be an important and even vital connection between how you each support your friends, and support those friends together. Coordinate your responses to one another.

The Eighth House of obligation, duty and legacy is Sagittarius, ruled by inconjunct Jupiter exalted in Cancer. The theme appears again of feeling a big-hearted responsibility to look after friends and colleagues on a daily basis — and to break free of norms and routines for the sake of caretaking.

The Ninth House of higher learning and long-distance travel is Capricorn, ruled by squaring Saturn exiled in Aries. Travel requires highly practical and commonplace reasons, this week; the temptation is to go rushing off on emergency calls and to provide rush service on certifications or coaching sessions — Don’t. Instead, take a considered, leisurely walk toward your destination, and arrive exactly when you mean to.

The Tenth House of career and professional reputation is Aquarius, ruled by sextile Saturn exiled in Aries. Your awareness of long-term plans and the obstacles that delay those plans from fruition are invaluable to the right audience, but mere idiocy and annoyance to the wrong one. Save your explanations for an audience that matters. Yet at the same time, be reluctant to hand out the keys to the kingdom like candy — hold back from revealing all secrets; it’s the control of those locks that gives you the power you have.

The Eleventh House of friends, associates, and allies is Pisces, ruled by trining Jupiter exalted but retrograde in Cancer. A stellium of planets here makes your friends and allies, colleagues and acquaintances, much needier and much more visible to you than usual. You have the resources to draw some of them closer to you with support and encouragement, but not all of them. How will you choose to express both your generosity and actual limitations.

The Twelfth House of both obstacles and opportunities is Aries, ruled by inconjunct Mars in Pisces. A stellium of planets here makes your hopes seem more believable and needful and worthwhile — but the challenges to be overcome on the way to that hope, seem more insurmountable and delayed. Find a way to hold on to hope and keep going. Even if you only get a few feet closer to your goal, you made progress. Keep choosing to direct your footsteps toward hope.

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.

Taurus: Long term plans, terrors and hopeful visions have been trying to contact you about your future… It sounds corny, because it is. And yet it’s true. You’ve gone through considerable changes over the last few years, and there’s still a few ideas looking for a chance to break free and express themselves between now and late April. But for all that, there’s some ‘friends’ who aren’t doing you any favors and some break-ups with them are coming… and there’s some emotionally heavy lifting that you’re going to have to do on someone else’s behalf. But underlying it all — there’s a future you’re almost ready to take on, but haven’t yet. Maybe it’s time to give that possibility some actual planning time.

Gemini: Sometimes great new windfalls land in your lap just as some new liabilities come due. The trouble is that the income never seems equal to the outflow — learning to manage both, both in the immediate short-term and the more nebulous long-term, is the challenge of the coming week. Work colleagues are the ones most likely to stir up difficulties for you, as an important project nears a deadline, but you may find yourself facing a cold shoulder from someone you believed was with you to the end. Pay attention to how your siblings or relations show up for you, and be prepared to thank them properly.

Cancer: Close personal friendships and your connection to the land are emphasized these next ten days, but you may have to begin with a ‘shared errand’ with a friend to pick out seeds for your garden this spring. Don’t have a garden? Try a window box. No window box? Maybe a birdhouse or bird feeder or two. And if that doesn’t work, go on the hunt together for a new Easter bonnet. Don’t celebrate Easter? It would be easier if you chose to recognize that the nature of the errand doesn’t matter so much as the quality of the colleague you’re going with (although the errand should be spring-themed in some way). Choose someone who will upset your usual routine and who will take you wildly off-course in a good way.

Leo: There’s a contentment that comes from treating home and hearth like a second skin, but your real responsibilities require you to enter the ebb and flow of other responsibilities — responsibilities that ar closely connected to strongly held beliefs and intentions. What are those, you might ask? Why aren’t they showing up? Truthfully, you can’t see them yet, or are willfully ignoring them, because you’re not choosing a partner for this particular adventure, and so it’s not clear what resources you have available to you. But someone out there has the skillset and the knowledge for you to take the next step into your real work, and you have to start looking for them. But even if you find them, know that they might not be a spouse or even a lover; sometimes a productive business partner is the right source of allyship.

Virgo: Your partnerships and key relationships are likely a source of personal frustrations this week, particularly when you were planning some delightful solo time and new to-do list items or events appear on a shared schedule. There are some trips you were planning to take, or some rabbit holes of study you intended to dive into — and there will be time for all that, but not right now, not today, and certainly not when you had what were (at least for you) relatively vague plans. Celebrate the win! Your spouse or partner knows you well enough to block time out on the schedule for shared experiences — delight in those possibilities and accept the role-reversals even as you discover a chance to try something new.

Libra: business and health routines may be disrupted by an important counterpart or associate in your workplace — allegedly in the name of efficiency or some new and creative strategy. But it’s worth considering: is it idiocy? Or sabotage? Document the changes that they make or want to make, and satisfy what will be your supervisor’s level of curiosity about why these shifts in policy are being made, and also where they come from in the organization’s table of management. It might not be part of a hostile takeover, but some cool new projects from on high don’t really have a good underlying rationale and might be disrupting vital systems for someone else. On a financial level, remember to keep your habits of income and expenditure balanced — the goal is to keep everything running effectively, not to drop your spinning top first.

Scorpio: Delightful times with a spouse or significant other may involve rougher conversations than usual, or be interrupted by the wrong name in the wrong part of the night. But be especially aware of the long dialogue with variations on the theme, “So… we need to talk.” You’re poorly equipped right now to have this conversation at 2 in the morning (so are they!) but sometimes such conversations can’t be put off or delayed. It’s worth acknowledging honestly any underlying monetary factors, first of all; and also any familial dramas that you can’t control or contain. But you may find that certain friendships or associations need new boundaries and expectations drawn, and learning to hold these bounds may require climbing up a steep learning curve.

Sagittarius: It may be time to hit the road, even if it breaks your rules, your norms, and your heart to do so. Powerful and painful issues are cropping up in familial situations, and adapting to those realities may be quite difficult. It may also require cutting off longstanding plans and disappointing friends; rescheduling is possible, and they’ll understand the organic nature of the obstacles. Still, hold out some vision of what you’re trying to achieve and they’ll express buy-in in a range of creative ways. Career objectives still matter, but people wouldn’t blame you for focusing on familial matters for a while. Are there any repairs around the house that you can manage, or tasks that need doing. You might be slacking even if you’re trying your best… and you still need generous leeway and grace from housemates. Ask for it.

Capricorn: Travel, but for practical purposes and with long-term goals in mind. Goals like maintaining youthfulness, whimsey, delight in the world, and retreat from its more tedious expectations. Honor and glorify your spouse or significant other, upend certain “brand norms” about yourself in the name of fun, and remember that you’re not living to work, but living to create a family or household that can thrive even in difficult circumstances. Remember that how you choose friends means that they’re probably self-sufficient in a crisis — but that means you’ll have to hunt them down in order to ask “hey, are you OK?” Plan to break the usual code of silence, and expect a real answer to that question. Then ask it of yourself, too, and tell the right people the answer.

Aquarius: Professional roles suit you this week, but you may have to be more critical of existing plans than anyone else at the table. Before you present the critique, though, think through the alternatives — nobody likes a critic who can’t present an alternative. You may get by with a little help from your friends this week, but you might have to fight or argue with the ones whose help you need the most. Display good sportsmanship when right, graceful and gracious in conceding the point and match. New options and possibilities open up to connect with family once you acknowledge the immediate obstacles to reunion. Household may experience some disruptions that only prayerful patience can fix, but you have a chance to really lead your team by tackling some ugly tasks at the root in a hands-on way.

Pisces: Personal friendships and professional collegiality may take a hit this week, and your self-esteem may be on the chopping block. You may find yourself saying, “let’s circle back to that discussion one more time…” as you confront long-winded explanations of why things aren’t getting done or your achievements and progress aren’t being recognized, or your needs. are trapped in limbo. This may cause long-term restrictions to your financial life, and require creative solutions to

Aries: It probably feels like retreat and solitude would be good for you, and the vision of that possibility matters — but the reality is probably not what you dreamed it would be. You may find yourself critically sorting the good and bad into separate piles, sneering at support services while enjoying the food; or starving yourself rather than eat what’s placed before you while lauding the guru or idealizing the new CEO. One way or another, don’t fall into the traps of trying to sort the good from the bad this week. Recognize all of it as part and parcel of a new reality, and create a plan and pattern that allows you to work within both the good and bad to achieve the beautiful rather than the ugly. Some of this may mean slimming down your expectations, and writing more reflective journal entries about what responsibilities are yours for making sure your solitude is valuable. You may also find it helpful to think in dollars and cents about what your spiritual pursuits actually cost, and determine if the price is worth the prophet.

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.