a planetary interlude

the march-april 2002 forecast

all dates and times are based on pacific time.

previous forecasts

wow! what a month! i was so swamped, i couldn't even look at my website, let alone write for it! the planets were hopping around in the mutable signs (gemini, virgo, sagittarius, and pisces, and it wouldn't take much to guess that my mutable points were highly activated.

now, in mid-march, i can pick up the pieces (or files, as the case may be), and fill you in on what's been happening. the highlights of march as of this writing, on the 14th, include the jupiter station on march 1st and lots of interaction between the sun, moon, saturn and pluto. the latter is what heated up the atmosphere in the middle east and afghanistan again, and if your life has been a blur for the past three weeks, it's a cinch you have planets in the mutable signs. it doesn't follow, however, that it's been bad for you. i've seen many good things come out of this period.

so what's next?
since march 1st, we've had a unique experience: for the first time since march 8th, 2001 (a year ago!), all the planets have been direct. this means that the energies of the universe are unfettered, and goals that we have wanted to accomplish will be able to proceed forward without blockage. however, times of no obstacles can present obstacles of their own. once we become used to a certain percentage of our activities proceeding slowly, we usually fill in our time with more initiatives in order to ensure success. but what happens when suddenly all our initiatives are released, then propelled forward? we find ourselves overloaded! this is precisely what has been happening since march 1, when jupiter turned direct (now moving in the "normal" forward direction through the signs). this interlude will be brief, however, because pluto turns retrograde (backward) on the 20th, and then we're in for continuous retrogrades, when at least one planet moves backward, until november 20, 2006! this is nothing to be alarmed about (unless you live on drama), because it happens whenever the planets are spread throughout the sky in what's called a "splash" configuration. this means that the energies are dynamic, and rapid changes can occur.

pluto: the name of the game
for the rest of march, pluto will rule our experiences. this means that people with planets in mutable signs will continue to feel an energy explosion, especially if you have placements between 15 and 18 degrees. across the sky, saturn is continuing to close ground, until it makes its third and final contact, an opposition, with pluto on may 26th. its first two contacts were august 5th and november 1st, bracketing a very intense time for us. this establishes the general context for events, but it doesn't mean that anything as powerful will happen again.

pluto by itself rules transformation, and in its current sign of sagittarius, it's a transformation of and through beliefs, such as religion and philosophy. this is not only familiar in the obvious ways on the world scene, but in our own lives, we may find that we are assisted by an inner revolution if we will allow it to occur. this revolution has to do with truth. if we dare to see the truth, it will open us up to possibilities we could never have dreamed possible. if we live in a world of possibility if we say "why not" instead of "why"—we can reap benefits, often fantastic, from this transit of pluto.

pluto's critical dates are: august 5, november 1, december 6 of 2001; march 8 and 20, may 26, june 6, and august 26 of 2002. use these dates by taking note of events that happen on or around the dates as they occur. "seed dates" are the ones in 2001. release dates are the ones in 2002, with the culmination occurring on may 26-june 6. see if you can determine a theme at work at those times. it may arise at other times as well, but it should always come up around these dates. once you have the theme, you may be able to make intelligent decisions about how to maximize your success with it, or you will at least be able to mitigate any unfortunate experiences. if you can allow yourself to open to the truth, you will benefit the most.

the may-june dates are especially critical for both the u.s. and the middle east, as they involve eclipses, and the eclipses are highlighted in the u.s. and middle east (using eclipse charts cast for the location of the capital, for those of you who want to get specific). it is a good time to be especially vigilant and err on the side of caution.

april: a quiet planetary moment
the planets are unusually quiet in april, but that doesn't mean that your life will be; it just means that what happens will be unique to you, not shared with millions of others. much will depend on what's being triggered in your own chart. one day stands out beyond the others: on the 10th, mars and uranus interact to bring out the unexpected in our experiences. this may be something miraculous, as well as accidental, but it is also a good time to especially alert, grounded, and slow in the actions we take or the ways we react.

times like this may give us the opportunity to do foundation work. when the planets are highly active, we're putting out fires caused by a lack of foundation in what we are doing. this is not necessarily our fault, since laying a foundation is evolutionary as well as preliminary to our endeavors. this is something that stephen covey talks about in the seven habits of highly effective people. so a time of "no fires" is a time to prepare for the next high level of activity, not a time to become lazy. we can, and should, still relax and take some extra time to enjoy life, but activity now will enhance your effectiveness later.

if you have an april that is hopping with excitement, your own chart is being triggered. take advantage of it and look for another time to rest easy.