Truthiness and Meaning

Third Quarter to New Moon

Guided by agile hooves and tilted halos, a half-lit Quixotic Moon rides bareback in hot pursuit of The Word. Held by the dark sky, she encounters Sol at the crossroads of fortune and spirit—a dynamic mutable square on March 14, 7:08 pm PT.  Perched high on her mount, Luna meets the moment with grit and grace as Mars immediately confronts her by opposition. Bold actions taken now through the New Moon on March 21 will wear the brand of the Truth Warrior.

Jupiter, lord of the Pisces Sun and Sagittarius Moon, intensifies the inherent friction of this testy Last Quarter phase. Out of sight in Aries, conjunct Chiron, the Sky God is on his own quest to heal and be healed. Sharpening his sword of freedom, he blindly incites an edgy tension between the known and the unknown. Healing has its jagged mysteries.

A sea change of cosmic movement dominates this waning Moon phase. Use the expansive, visionary nature of Jupiter to pierce through engrained conceptions. Is the Sagittarian urge to stand on principle beneficial or detrimental to the larger unfolding? Pisces implores a “go with the flow” vibe that can yield vital new intel from the imaginal realms. Make gracious adjustments to liberate dull beliefs.

Hell-bent on her conquest, Our Lady of Mutable Meaning shifts from side to side on her stout saddle as she rides in pursuit of the Mystical Slippery Fish. “Good luck with that truth thing,” whispers the trickster Mercury from his underwater garden. Moving from combust to cazimi on March 17, the dreamy seer’s rhyme is a transmission from the coveted King’s throne. Joined by Neptune, this oceanic trifecta is challenged by the chaos maker, an airy two-faced Mars. Each wandering star, in its own unique way, must forsake a solid identity for the malleable meandering of the present moment.

This is the final amorphous square between Mars in Gemini and Neptune in Pisces. It’s the last chapter of “say what?” that began when they first came within 3 degrees in mid-October 2022. Truth, as it seems, is a complex weave of outer facts, inner perception, and meaning-making. Once Mars leaves Gemini on March 25, inklings of discernment rise from layers of muted haze along the horizon. Idealist thinking or tilting at windmills may bring less than desired results.

Luna, long-rooted in Capricorn by now, excavates layers of raw, earthy realities when she conjoins Pluto in his powerful 29th degree during Mercury’s cazimi. The truth will set you free, but first, it will kick your ass. Volcanic heaves of minutia spew fated lava truths that transform solid ground.

This is the last time the Moon and Pluto will meet in the sign of the Seagoat until early July. Their transitional anaretic degree, and a separating sextile from the Pisces trio, is an opportunity to ground yourself in tender sensorial facts without casting deep feelings aside.

Jumping into another Saturn-ruled house, Luna soothes her parched throat with a drink from the Water Bearer’s urn. Maintaining a modicum of optimism (from her Sagittarian beginnings) these next few days challenge fixed ideas in the mind and bring attention to social structures that require hydration.

Luna will be plenty busy from March 17-19, activating Jupiter by sextile, Venus and Uranus by square, and Mars by trine. Relationship challenges that emerge now will benefit from direct action and courageous communication. No pussyfooting around. Be authentic but also be open to shaking up predictable patterns of relating.

Singing their swan songs, Venus, Mercury, and the Sun will all say their goodbyes to the yoked Fishes during this Third Quarter Moon period. Venus has already blown a square kiss to Pluto before entering her earthy home in Taurus on March 16. Muddy attachments born from alchemical muck are ready to be re-tooled for use.

Wading into Pisces, Luna enters the timeless azure waters with aplomb. She drops the stoicism that has followed her and dissolves into the wide expanse of Jupiter’s healing presence. Even a quick brush with Saturn’s drenched bones is softened by a simultaneous trine to Venus. Setting boundaries brings stability amidst any emotional confusion. As Luna makes time and space for what she loves, signs of new growth rise from the remains of ashes turned to protective silt at the water’s edge.

Until you value yourself, you won't value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it. - M. Scott Peck (Venus in Aries, Saturn in Pisces)

As if the cadre of planetary motion wasn’t enough to saturate Luna’s senses, Mercury pulls a rabbit out of the hat. Waving his psychopomp wand, he makes a quick sextile to Pluto before entering Aries on March 18. Sending magical words of empathy, the Trickster knows how to soften the harsh stones of experience with poetic nuance. One can divulge deep feelings without flooding the river banks.

Following in Mercury’s wake, the Sun will also sextile Pluto and then ingress into the sign of The Ram on March 20. Exalted, and in the degree of the world axis, it’s a new day—the Equinox, where light and dark meet in equal measure. 

Calling the Moon to join him, Luna makes a final conjunction with Neptune before she slips into Aries to round out a robust stellium in this cardinal fire sign. The dream scene gives way to the yang half of the year.

Consider this…

The divine landscape ushers in many cosmic shifts this month. Let the tension between knowing and not knowing wash over you; have faith in whom you are becoming. Being too sure of something may lead to missteps. Transgressing boundaries will trip you up, too.

As the Moon enters her Balsamic phase a few days before the New Moon, rest as much as you can. This is a time of release and surrender. Nurture the dreams that lie fallow in the dark earth. When the Aries Sun calls at the Equinox, life begins renewed.