March 2007: Leadership Crisis or Growth

On March 3, 2007, a total lunar eclipse (with Sun in Pisces and Moon in Virgo) occurs. This is a very unique eclipse astronomically because it is partially visible from every continent. It is about 13 degrees east of the triple star Regulus, often called Cor Leonis, the Lion’s Heart. For some, the symbol of Regulus is the Crushing Foot. It was one of the four royal stars, called the Watcher of the North, observed around 3,000 BCE by Persians at the start of their summer solstice.

Regulus exhibits the nature of Mars and Jupiter. It also exhibits the nature of the Sun and Uranus. For this reason, this star, associated with leadership, military actions, lofty ideals, and other actions that can lead to hubris, generosity, or vengeance. The point of the greatest eclipse is in Nigeria and Cameroon. However, other total stages of the eclipse will be visible in Europe, Africa, and western Asia.

This eclipse is very important for several reasons: The energy of Jupiter is very active throughout the month of March as leaders in various countries are trying to push their agendas without regard to the public. The energy of Uranus is very important because at the time of the eclipse there is a conjunction between the Sun, Uranus, and the Moon’s North Node, indicating upheavals related to leadership or military actions. Uranus will form a conjunction to the Moon’s North Node on March 30, 2007 when the actual leadership changes or military actions will occur.

Personally this eclipse represents your own attitudes towards leaders. It indicates that actions based on hubris may lead to difficulties in your life. However, this eclipse can also indicate successes if your actions come from true generosity and compassion for others.

The eclipse occurs at 13 degrees of Pisces and Virgo. Therefore, if you have any Virgo or Pisces planets between 11 to 15 degrees you may find this time very tumultuous. In general, this is a time period to review your lofty ideals and determine how realistic they are. This is also a time to understand how to use power in your life. If you are a Virgo or Pisces, you will find challenges to your ideals that need to be addressed. This is not a time to ignore those challenges or else they will create more difficulties for you when the solar eclipse occurs later in the month and when Uranus forms a conjunction to the Moon’s North Node at the end of the month.

Mercury in Aquarius turns direct on March 7. There may have been certain projects that you started at the end of January 2007 that didn’t seem to go anywhere. Now those projects will start moving forward. As they do, it’s important to work with other people in order to achieve success. Aquarius rules networking and social interaction. This is not the time to try to do everything on your own.

From March 8th to March 16th, there is a grand fire trine that occurs. It starts on March 8th when Venus forms a trine to Jupiter. This can represent that you are still operating with lofty ideals and haven’t given everything appropriate practical consideration. Or, this could indicate that you are willing to work with others in achieving success. At this time, Venus is in the sign of Aries, its detriment. This means that you need to understand that while you may have some important plans, you are not alone. Other people also have some good plans. If you are in a leadership position, the challenge for you is to determine how to work with others for the best solutions and results. If you try to push your point of view without regard to others you’ll find that others are more than willing to do everything possible to stop your efforts.

This willingness of others to provide barriers in your life is strong when Venus forms two aspects on March 9th: A trine to Saturn retrograde and a sextile to Neptune. Saturn demands that any new project have a solid foundation to succeed. Saturn also demands that lessons learned from the past not be ignored. If you are embarking on a new project, take the time to incorporate all the lessons you’ve learned from the past. The sextile that Venus forms to Neptune can help you draw on your inspirations. In addition, this sextile can help you heal problems you’ve had with other people.

On March 16th two very important aspects occur. Venus will complete its grand fire trine by forming a trine to Pluto in the evening, eastern daylight savings time. However, a few hours before that occurs, Jupiter forms a trine to Saturn retrograde. This is a very important trine because it represents a shift of consciousness from following leaders blindly to taking personal action and responsibility for leadership. Basically, the public believes that it knows better than leaders as to what is good for its nation. This cycle occurs approximately every 19 to 21 years in a series between three to five times. This time the cycle will occur in a series of three: On March 16, 2007; May 6, 2007; and January 21, 2008. You may see various countries with leadership crises at this time. However, you may not see the final result of the crises until the end of January 2008 when this cycle completes its series.

When Jupiter and Saturn form a trine, it represents the need to embrace all members of society. When this doesn’t occur, people take action. Some examples are the three-day strike South African black workers held against new labor laws; legal changes in Britain reducing the voting age for women from 30 to 21; the tearing down of the Berlin Wall; and the widespread strikes by Solidarity in Poland.

Another area of change that occurs when Jupiter and Saturn form a trine is that the old economic models no longer work. Saturn likes to put a stop to rapid expansion especially in industries such as banking, oil, and transportation. The greatest impact this will have on you is a withdrawal of easy credit and loans and increased mergers in the banking, oil, and transportation industries.

You need to be careful during this cycle. There is a desire to push yourself as far as you can go without any consideration for the risks involved. But, when Jupiter forms a trine to Saturn, the spiritual lesson is to understand that everything has boundaries and there can be a breaking point. That’s why the old economic models no longer work. They’ve been pushed to their limits and Saturn is demanding a balance. That’s also why people have difficulty accepting leaders that keep demanding actions without showing healthy results for a better life.

If you take time to develop careful plans within your emotional or financial safety zone, you’ll actually be able to use these plans as building blocks that increase your success. Think of this image. Jupiter trine Saturn represents a rubber band. Pull the rubber band too far and it snaps. But, understand how you can stretch that rubber band slowly and you can use it to bundle different things together. Through bundling different things together you now have solid information you need to make changes in your life or enjoy living your life. When Jupiter forms a trine to Saturn the lesson is about understanding how to use your past limitations as building blocks for future actions. (If you are interested in more information regarding the mundane trends of Jupiter trine Saturn, you may be interested in reading my book, Trend Analysis for the Year 2007.)

A few hours after Jupiter forms its trine to Saturn retrograde, Venus completes the grand fire trine by forming a trine to Pluto. There is a passion that occurs when Venus forms a trine to Pluto. It can represent your desire to understand your boundaries and create plans of success that use the past as building blocks to the future. This can emphasize the positive of the former aspect, Jupiter trine Saturn, which occurred a few days earlier.

At the same time, the aspect of Venus forming a trine to Pluto is interesting because Pluto is in its shadow period. (This means that Pluto will be going retrograde shortly.) With Pluto in its shadow period, there are power struggles occurring behind the scenes. Be very careful when other people give you unsolicited advice. They may be looking out for their best interests rather than your interests.

On the following day, March 17th, Venus enters its own sign of Taurus. Now you may really understand the value of working with your own resources and not pushing beyond your limitations.

When Mercury enters Pisces on March 18th, you may be able to understand how important it is for you to apply compassion to your plans. While technically Mercury is very uncomfortable in Pisces, this can still work well for you. This is not the time to look for logical solutions. Rather, this is the time to understand your feelings before proceeding with actions. It’s also a time to apply compassion in your relationships with other people.

Sometimes when Mercury is in Pisces you feel fear either because changes are occurring or you believe people are deceiving you. If you are experiencing fears, it’s important to try and understand why these fears are so dominant right now. These fears may have a basis and are a warning. Or, they are self-defeating thoughts that prevent you from moving forward with your goals. Self-defeating thoughts often come from feelings of insecurity that immobilize you or cause you to become harshly critical.

On this day, March 18th, there are five energy points in Pisces (Mercury, Uranus, Moon’s North Node, Moon, and Sun). This movement of Mercury into Pisces is also occurring on the same day of the Partial Solar Eclipse. So, you may be dealing with fears that you will be “eclipsed.” This means that you may be dealing with fears that other people won’t understand your actions or won’t support your actions.

The Partial Solar eclipse will occur at 28 degrees Pisces and be seen in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, North Korea, South Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Russia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. It will also be visible in parts of northern Alaska. These are the areas where events that occur will be at their strongest. Many of these areas will actually experience erratic weather patterns, especially in the United States.

Because of the heavy Pisces influences in this eclipse, fears of inadequacy may grip your emotions. You may feel that other people are controlling your destiny. However, Pisces can also be a sign of compassion and understanding. If you let compassion guide you, you’ll be able to move beyond feels of inadequacy, anger, or vengeance. Instead, you’ll be able to develop relationships that can increase your ability to function better. This is especially true if you have planets between 26 degrees of Virgo or Pisces and 0 degrees of Aries or Libra.

The Aries Equinox, the beginning of the astrological calendar, occurs on March 20th. This is a chart that has many underlying energies. When the energies are underlying, it means that they operate on a subconscious rather than a conscious level. The fire element is strong indicating that your spiritual inspirations will be very important this year. The fixed quality is very strong indicating that you need to have a solid foundation before you take action in your life. At the same time this fixed quality indicates that you may be tempted to hold on to some concepts and situations longer than necessary. If you do, you may find these concepts or situations cause pain instead of growth.

Uranus is getting closer to its conjunction to the Moon’s North Node which will occur near the end of March. Because of the eclipse that occurred at the beginning of March and the importance of the Uranus symbolism in that eclipse, this aspect is very important in the Aries Equinox chart. It can indicate that you are willing to take risks; no matter what the cost. However, it can also indicate that in order to succeed it’s important to build coalitions and work with other people. Again this is not the time to do things on your own. This really is a time to develop partnerships and coalitions with others.

When the Aries Equinox occurs, the energy of Mars is very important because Aries is the sign of Mars. This is especially important over the next few days. From March 22 to March 25, 2007, Mars forms several aspects.

On March 22nd, Mars forms an opposition to Saturn retrograde. You may feel very confined right now. Mars in Aquarius represents the desire to take independent actions. But Saturn retrograde in Leo inhibits risk taking. Therefore, this emphasizes the need to work with others to find solutions.

You’ll find that it’s easier to do things on March 23rd when Mars forms a sextile to Jupiter. You’ll get positive feedback from people you work with. You’ll also find that it’s easier to work with groups of people to achieve specific goals. This is a good time to use your ability to build coalitions to find solutions to problems.

When Mars forms the conjunction to Neptune on March 25th you may question some of the actions you started. However, this can actually be a good day to resolve problems, especially relationship problems. You’ll have a heightened sense of compassion for other people’s difficulties. Just be careful when it comes to signing contracts today. You may feel the desire to please other people a little too much and may agree to some clauses you normally wouldn’t accept.

Uranus forms its conjunction to the Moon’s North Node on March 30th. Sometimes Uranus conjunct Moon’s North Node represents the end of situations. At other times, it represents frustration because things are taking longer than usual. You may decide that some projects aren’t worth the price and it’s time to let go. You may also get new information that helps you make adjustment to your plans. This can be a difficult time for people in leadership positions. In some cases leaders will be asked to leave their position because people have lost faith in their judgments. In other cases people will ask them to take actions because circumstances seem very difficult right now.

As the month draws to a close, Pluto turns retrograde on March 31st. Pluto is a slow moving energy point and retrogrades with slow moving planets and energy points aren’t always noticed. The best way to use this energy is to work behind the scenes in developing coalitions to achieve projects. Political activities are always working behind the scenes when Pluto is retrograde. This does make it more difficult for leaders to work in the public’s view as they really need to work behind the scenes.