The sun moves into Aries on March 19, 2024
Welcome to Aries season!
The sun moves into the fiery sign of its exaltation on March 19th at 8:06 pm and Aries season ends on April 19th at 6:59 am when the sun moves into Taurus.
Overview:
This Aries season is bringing along a Mercury retrograde, eclipse season, and Chiron conjunctions, kicking off the new astrological year with intensity, a focus on healing, and a message about slowing down and acting with care. This next month may be unpredictable, and louder or more boisterous than the energy we’ve gotten used to, but Aries season will be leaving us with lessons about the meaning of our self-determination, the need to move with a sense of accountability, and the importance of standing up for what truly matters to us.
Lunations:
Full moon lunar eclipse in Libra (5°) March 25th at 12:00 am
New Moon Solar eclipse in Aries (19°) April 8th at 11:20 am
Aries season breakdown:
-
Aries season begins on the heels of Mercury’s conjunction to the north node, and as it approaches another conjunction, this time to Chiron. Aries energy began building up steam in early March, so when it gets going in earnest, it kicks off with a bang. The planet of communication is bringing up conversations and thoughts related to deep wounds around autonomy, expression, action, individualism, and leadership, as well as what we do to heal those wounds. Mercury is in its retrograde shadow period, so what it does in these moments before stationing retrograde (which it will on April 1st) is important and will come back around (twice) over the next 2 month period. How we address these wounds doesn’t have to be perfect, we will have time to workshop this part.
The energy for the first few days is fiery, with the strong presence in Aries and the moon in Leo, we may feel compelled to prove ourselves and make bold acts of self-determination. Then Venus and Saturn conjoin in Pisces on the 21st, asking us how we commit to ourselves, to connection, to our values, and what boundaries and limitations we need to place in our lives to be able to build love, creativity, and pleasure on a strong and secure foundation.
The collective energy cools off a little on the evening of March 22nd, when the moon moves into Virgo, and Mars, the ruling planet of this solar season, moves into Pisces, approaching its looming conjunction with Saturn. The moon opposes the separating Venus Saturn conjunction, highlighting any lingering needs related to the transit from the day before.
Things lighten on the 24th as Venus in Pisces sextiles Jupiter in Taurus, they share mutual reception in these signs, making this an extra sweet moment for connecting with others and partaking in expressions of beauty. Aries season begins like a seesaw, a preview for what’s to come.
-
March 25th brings along our first eclipse of the year, a lunar eclipse near the south node in Libra. The sun and moon are largely unaspected (except by each other) making this eclipse a bit of a wildcard and potentially a little more open-ended in its consequences. Lunar eclipses are about releasing letting go, and allowing things to come to a point of culmination. The south node is also about letting go and releasing, and the experience of being drained, we may feel this in our social life, things related to justice or the justice system, relationships, the concept of connection more generally, and other libran areas of life. The eclipse may be a bit wiring, we might feel a bit of a full moon hangover in the days following. After the eclipse the moon goes on to conjoin the south node (opposing the north node) and also oppose Chiron and Mercury in Aries; it may be important to talk through our needs and emotions, as a way of healing any pain points brought up by this eclipse.
In the last few days of March, Venus sextiles Uranus in Taurus, bringing a little excitement and innovation to our relationships, our art practices, and our values, then the moon in Scorpio comes around to trine Venus and oppose Uranus, highlighting the importance of the changes we’re making or the changes we are drawn to, and need for ourselves. The very end of March may show us hints of what’s to come with Taurus season’s Uranus-Jupiter conjunction.
-
On the 1st of April, the moon moves into Capricorn challenging the sun in Aries getting cozy with the north node and Chiron, and Mercury stations retrograde bringing confusion, impulsive words, and misguided plans. Thinking things through thoroughly won’t save us from revisiting them in the future but it can protect us from the worst of our carelessness.
The tension in the air continues to build, between Mars approaching Saturn, the sun approaching the north node and Chiron, and the moon conjoining Pluto. April 3rd when Venus conjoins Neptune in Pisces, it may feel like a delusional escape from reality, but a lovely and welcome one. Romantic, creative, dreamy, spiritual, connective, this transit is a balm for some of the more intense deep, and frustrating transits coexisting with it.
The following day the sun conjoins the north node, intensifying the Aries themes we’ve been experiencing, asking us how we negotiate ourselves in relation to others, how we get things done, how we take action, and how we self-identify. Then later that day Venus moves into its sign of detriment, joining the sun, the north node, Chiron, and Mercury retrograde in Aries, where it will sextile Pluto in Aquarius a few days later reminding us of our power, and magnifying the strength in our beauty and our values, even when they are unconventional.
-
On April 8th we have the second eclipse in this eclipse series, dubbed, “the great North American eclipse,” where the sun and moon will meet up with the north node in Aries. A few minutes later in the day, the sun completes its conjunction with Chiron, the wounded healer. Our needs may be unavoidable, and our tempers may fly. The ruler of this eclipse, Mars, is closing in on a conjunction with Saturn, and that can feel frustrating and immovable. This lunation’s proximity to the north node and to Chiron can bring intensity and pain, and with the addition of mercury retrograding in the same sign, this lunation may feel chaotic, sudden, and difficult to explain, but it will take some time for this one to integrate—all eclipses play out over a 6 month period, but the intensity of this one specifically will continue to play out as all of the coexisting tension in the sky works itself out (particularly over the next 2 weeks).
Two days later Mars completes its conjunction with Saturn and we may experience a strong-willed desire to move, act, and, make things happen, as well as an immovable force slowing things down, presenting limitations, and highlighting the consequences of ill-thought-out actions. With Mercury retrograde, in perhaps the most impulsive sign, we are not necessarily primmed to be at our best, thoughtfulness-wise, but with the moon passing through Taurus and conjoining Jupiter and Uranus on that day we might have the stability and the necessary perspective to handle this energy.
The following day we have a Mercury cazimi, just after the moon moves into Gemini. This is the moment in the retrograde when we may have insights, increased clarity, and more cognizance around mercurial tasks—so we can smooth over anything that may have come up the following day with this brief jolt of intellectual and conversational prowess.
-
On the 15th Mercury conjoins Chiron while the moon is in Cancer, and this might help us to find some language to describe our wounds. As we round out Aries season, we might be able to reach out to people, journal through our feelings, or find a way to express some of what’s been coming up around our identity, and independence in the last few weeks. The moon in Cancer may challenge us to meet our own needs and find the care we require for ourselves at the moment.
The moon moves back into Leo (where it was when we began Aries season) and we may close out Aries season feeling more passionate and expressive once again. When Venus conjoins the north node, and then Mercury on the 17th and 19th (respectively), we may be more vocal about what we care about, more activated by our creativity, and more energized to be ourselves and find authentic connections as we move into Taurus season.
-
March 19th at 8:06 pm: the sun enters Aries (0°)
March 20th at 10:26 am: Mercury in Aries conjoins Chiron in Aries (18°)
March 21st at 1:02 pm: the sun in Aries sextiles Pluto in Aquarius (1°)
March 21st at 4:09 pm: Venus in Pisces conjoins Saturn in Pisces (12°)
March 22nd at 4:48 pm: Mars enters Pisces (0°)
March 24th at 9:36 am: Venus in Pisces sextiles Jupiter in Taurus (15°)
March 25th at 12:00 am: full moon lunar eclipse in Libra (5°)
March 28th at 6:58 am: Venus in Pisces sextiles Uranus in Taurus (20°)
April 1st at 3:14 pm: Mercury in Aries stations retrograde (27°)
April 3rd at 6:10 am: Venus in Pisces conjoins Neptune in Pisces (28°)
April 4th at 3:10 pm: the sun in Aries conjoins the north node (15°)
April 4th at 9:00 pm: Venus enters Aries (0°)
April 6th at 10:45 am: Venus in Aries sextiles Pluto in Aquarius (1°)
April 8th at 11:20 am: new moon solar eclipse in Aries (19°)
April 8th at 11:28 am: the sun in Aries conjoins Chiron in Aries (19°)
April 10th at 1:36 pm: Mars in Pisces conjoins Saturn in Pisces (14°)
April 11th at 4:02 pm: the sun in Aries conjoins Mercury in Aries (22°)
April 15th at 8:23 am: Mercury in Aries conjoins Chiron in Aries (19°)
April 17th at 11:45 am: Venus in Aries conjoins the north node in Aries (15°)
April 19th at 1:59 am: Mercury in Aries conjoins Venus in Aries (17°)
April 19th at 6:59 am: the sun enters Taurus (0°)
