The Sun enters Pisces III on the Ninth of March at 9:17 pm EST (and journeys there until March 19 for the spring equinox, which occurs at 11:07 pm EDT that day). Pisces III is called The Cup of Blood in Austin Coppock's naming system, and T. Susan Chang calls it the Unwoven Rainbow. The Golden Dawn's members learned to title the 10 of cups the Lord of Satiety — and the idea of the satisfaction or completion of the work before a new beginning seems quite apropos to this decan.
Some witches today often speak of "outer court" knowledge against "inner court" knowledge — what's open to all, against what information is only available to initiates. In the third decan of mutable signs like Pisces, we often find "middle court" material, though: what is taught to would-be initiates to gauge their interest and discretion, and what is available to all who would seek initiation. It's significant that these ten days before the Spring Equinox were associated with the Lesser Mysteries of Eleusis — "The Telling" of the stories that formed the basis of the Greater Mysteries celebrated at Virgo III The Sarcophagus, which were "The Showing." Visitors from all over the Mediterranean would come to Athens by ship and then walk to Eleusis to have the Lesser Mysteries told ; eighteen months later, they would be shown.
It's perhaps significant, then, that the list from Cosmas of Jerusalem lists Elpis as the spirit responsible for Pisces III — and that the traditional planetary rulers are Jupiter (for the sign) and Mars (for the decan). Elpis, or "hope", was the spirit trapped inside Pandora's jar — and another spirit associated with this time, in another list, is Maia, or "memory." Sometimes depicted as a butterfly Accordingly, Mars provides the energy to complete the year (and start the new one), while Jupiter generously provides generosity and mercy to us as the year ends. Meanwhile, the two spirits of Maia and Elpis grace us with remembrance of things past, and tentative aspirations for the astrological year ahead.
The dodeks of Pisces III each reflect one of these signs in order: Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, and Aquarius. Together, they tell a story of heartbreak and grief, with Scorpio representing the intensity and fury of feeling that results when a lover breaks up with us (through one of several mechanisms, including abandonment, argument, disgust, or death). Sagittarius represents both the targeted efforts to reclaim lost connection through a mix of bargaining and pursuit. Capricorn is the world-weary cold anger that follows on from frustration, while Aquarius is the renewal of self-hood and singularity that follows, where we become older and wiser, but also more canny and more perceptive of underlying motivations.
Planetary Placements
The astrological year's last decan has a night chart this year, with the Sun and Moon preparing for a dark moon together in the fifth house, and only Jupiter and Uranus above the horizon in the seventh house. The overall message is stay close to home, seek comfort in your family and household (break those rules a little for friends), and focus your attention on personal delights even when it's hard to do so.
That's not exactly a comforting message, right?
The Lot of Fortune is in the first house just below the Ascendant in Scorpio, inviting us all to talk out our strategies for the coming days — but to be a little secretive when it comes to speaking these ideas in front of others. Scorpio I is associated with the Nymphai, the creative spirits of woodland, spring, and wild mountain — but also with Mars and violent speech. You may find yourself talking to yourself with irrational anger in coming days.... but do your best to identify your strategic goals amid all that self- talk that seems like indignant ranting. THere's a plan in there somewhere, and your more rational self needs to know what it is, and if you agree with it.
Pluto, Mars, and Venus are all hanging out with the Imum Coeli in the fourth house, with Uranus squaring Mars pretty closely from the seventh. You and your partner or spouse, especially if you live together, may be facing off a fair bit in days to come. Rebellion, chafing against restriction, and unrest are common indicators of this transit — and even an ideal shared life can go through periods of upset where it feels like our agency or autonomy is threatened. Venus makes trine and sextile to the Ascendant and Descendant from Aquarius III The Knot, reminding us that we cannot both love and control someone else at the same time — we must loosen some bonds in order to keep them.
The fifth house — of children, pastimes, food and drink, and hobbies — holds Saturn, the Moon and Sun, and Mercury. The middle and last decans of Pisces, The Net and The Cup of Blood, are the most active in this chart — with one promising online restrictions of both a legal and a natural nature — note the anti-TikTok bill currently wending its way through Congress on the one hand, and watch for news about shortages of critical Internet infrastructure components, or outages on social media platforms such as occurred on Facebook and Instagram last week — and the other indicating ongoing propaganda efforts online in the run-up to US elections in November. It will be tempting to be glued to your computer screen to find out what's happening, but it's worth remembering that news doesn't happen nearly as quickly as the 24-hour news-cycle would suggest. Tend to your children, make good food, spend time with your hobbies — and make time and space for your significant other or spouse to do the same, because mutual support requires shared burdens as well as shared joys.
Let me note, as well — Saturn has just exited his years-long passage through the stretch of the Zodiac from Sagittarius III to Pisces I which he either rules or administers. He entered this stretch of the sky in December 2016. The last time Saturn made this passage was February 1987 to May 1994... and February 1987 was the month the first panel of the United States AIDS Quilt was made, while May 1994 marked the first significant decline in monthly AIDS deaths since the disease emerged — and Bill Clinton's announcement that the National Institutes of Health would embark on a 10-year research plan to find a cure or treatment; that plan culminated with the appearance of PrEP, the common prophylactic pharmaceutical protocol (say that 10 times fast) against HIV infection . It seems entirely possible that Saturn's transit of its signs of rulership this time parallel the world's experiences with Corona virus (a disease often emerges long before it registers in the public consciousness, alas), and we should be alert to the possibility of a new pestilence emerging in the mid-2040s and not truly receding until 2053. Since our entry to the Age of Air in December 2020, Saturn's prominence will continue to rise as one of the rulers of Air signs... and this seven-year period out of every thirty-year Saturn cycle should give us pause.
The Nodal Axis passes between Aries and Libra, where the North Node activates our daily routines and health concerns. It's a good time to assert your self-discipline by taking up bodyweight exercises or flexibility programs, or engaging in other practices intended to boost your energy. Where trouble emerges, though, is in lengthy retreats or group practices: the gym, the yoga retreat center, the martial arts dojo, or programs for advanced athletic effort are all likely to be challenging places. As spring training starts for baseball season, for example, be alert to news of injuries and illnesses causing temporary or even permanent disqualifications.
Finally, let's be aware that the four stakes of the chart — Ascendant, Descendant, Midheaven, and Imum Coeli — are in the first decans of the fixed signs. These points are associated with the start of projects or programs which will require steady effort to complete, whether at work or in the home, in your self or in your partner. Remember that anything you do in coming days is unlikely to be one-and-done. Instead, it will be an ongoing function that will depend on your expertise, your capacity to be critical without being mean, your ability to speak honestly without hurtful bluntness, and your talent for sticking with a multi-month effort. Don't give up right after you start — keep going.
Horoscopes by rising sign
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.
Since it's the last ten days of the astrological year, though, I'm making these horoscopes free to all readers.
Scorpio: You have great freedom this week to do and say whatever you wish, but the consequences of your speech may come back to bite you in six months. Don't mistake playful submission for a surrender of either agency or autonomy — negotiation toward expectations of a common future may feel like a trap, but it's also a palace of delightful potential; you need not feel like this the end. Even so, there should be caution about mistaking enthusiasms for facts on the ground. You take your greatest risks when you lock yourself into remote possibilities — no matter how much you desire to dig in and reign right now, there's a need to preserve a shared relationship, moment to moment. Some friendly agreements you've forged with friends could be broken.
Sagittarius: Financial troubles ease after a bottleneck, but be kind to spouses and significant others over shared resources compared to your search for ongoing entertainments and the needs of your children (if you have step-kids, some forging of new connections would be worthwhile, but treat this as a paternal responsibility). Some contention continues to arise in family maters, particularly among siblings or the extended web of cousins; you'll be expected to play peace-maker, but there's also significant financial questions at issue here. When deciding on informal activities, sticking close to home is better than wide-ranging adventures. Your daily life should have more time expended on a significant other, although you may feel the pull toward more self-directed ends. A friend may give you crap about the links you're ignoring.
Capricorn: Checking in with any older siblings or cousins is worthwhile, but expect conversation to go to some dark places. You may be feeling trapped in the complicated ground between parents and children, where the challenges of age and the opportunities of youth intersect. Parents often become the framers or scaffold-builders of their children's experiences as tweens and teens, and often at roughly the same time that they take on the legacies and inheritances of their parents. With Saturn, the Moon, and the Sun all in your third house, checking in with cousins about familial anxieties may be a rewarding conversation. There's a mix of financial and household responsibilities that require hands-on attention and perhaps professional guidance, but figuring out what you gut through and do yourself, and what you should surrender to a hired hand, will be difficult. Expect that your wallet may take a hit, either way.
Aquarius: What would it take to think of your household and family as a clear economic union, where you each were contributing to the well-being of the whole in positive ways? There are some contentious issues to be worked out here, but it's not simply a matter of you drawing up a financial plan and telling your teenager to get a job and start paying rent. No — before you start wagging your tongue telling others to shape up or ship out, it would be wise to identify the ways in which you're failing to be the professional that your family expects you to be. It's probably about a two-year project to remake your family's economic success or turn your whole household into a smoothly functioning wealth factory — but it starts with you loosening your grip on the people you love, and doing what you can to market your wide range of knowledges into useful employment.
Pisces: You may have troubles practicing your craft this week ¸— or be troubled by your devotion to your craft — as the Moon passes over and through your home sign. The costs of materials may cause difficulty, or your leadership roles within your family may intrude on precious time set aside for personal projects; even your solo obligations to house and home may intrude on your regular routines of personal care. There, indeed, you may find that there's a mix of practical challenges that require hard work and ambition to solve; and others that only require prettifying and tidying up. If you have kids, involving them in these chores in some fashion would be welcome — the greatest sources of happiness we have as adults are often the things that we did in playtime as children.
Aries: You hunger for sovereignty these days, but your commitment to the bit is a little fishy — On the financial side of things, you're wedded to making instant gratification a possibility for your spouse or significant other... or even to your rivals, if you can make them pay in other ways. However, the present upheavals in your wallet and guts will require you to adopt a more regimented, rigorous discipline, and count your pearls of wisdom more deliberately. On the other side, the side of showy pastimes and passions, you're better off hiding your light under a bushel or allowing the dopamine-tide to pull you from old projects and toward new projects. And finally, there's the matter of inviting friends and acquaintances into your house — whether for commercial goal-setting or for more romantic inclinations, you should expect that there's an accompanying contentiousness that will come under your roof when you invite others in.
Taurus: You're in a good state to get things done at work or in the home, and there's a professionalism to how you approach family matters in coming days. There may be some critiques of you among your friends for how you manage your children... and some responsibility too, from you, in critiquing your children's friends, too. It's going to be obvious to everyone how you want to take time off from your daily routines, but to do what? will be the question that is left without an answer. What indeed? Whether it's carousing with friends, or taking up the reins of your professional duties (not without grumbling), or renewing connections with a significant other —there is likely to be some grudging reluctance, yes... but all sorts of possibilities can unfold if you but open to them.
Gemini: "Duty" and "legacy" are sometimes opposite sides of the same coin, and there are times when your job or career is a tedious chore. However, in the next ten days you're likely to find your office or other place of employment more of a palace than a prison — at least in part because there's a sense of accomplishment or completion and you're able to see several high profile projects through to their ending, and also take in and put out some very effective pieces of work in a relatively short time. This doesn't mean you won't want something else: a luxurious night in a bathtub of hot water; some really lovely new towels; a trip someplace other than the corner store that feels both homely and long-distance at the same time. All it requires is that you break a few rules around the house and around your friends, and accept that happiness is in part about recreation — of who you are and what you want.
Cancer: The dark of the Moon will shine a strange light on some new journeys you're about to undertake: over water? Into the depths of the self? It's hard to say, except that it has the taste of pleasure and new forms of delight. At its heart, though, is a reminder that communication and deliberate, specific knowledge are required here — don't let your enthusiasms run too far ahead of fact, and expect to acquire information in the usual way: slowly, with deliberation and consistency of study. Ten minutes here, twenty minutes there — the hopes and dreams you're carrying around in this basket or bucket need to be swirled around more than once a week. Give it time every day. Similarly, friendship benefits from small, immediate contacts rather than lengthy devotion more rarely: text a friend, send them a greeting, keep the stream of connection flowing and alive.
Leo: The next ten days will put you in the spotlight professionally, and you may have to fight for what you want, fiercely as well as diplomatically — especially when it comes to any financial arrangements you've made when it comes to house and home or regular pastimes and hobbies. In general, your monetary arrangements this season are likely to require some bends or breaks in your usual rules; try to do it when you're of a cool head, but things may get hot and heavy nonetheless. Some game-playing with intellectual partners is probably necessary, but always make sure you know who benefits when the money gets divided at the end of the game. Pay attention to your more tedious duties and obligations this week: that's the place where issues will crop up and create trouble, but also escape your immediate notice.
Virgo: The next week or so may require you to run hotter and more passionate than usual, and break some of your own ethical guidelines on minor issues in order to solve greater ones. There are financial troubles cropping up in your life that will require intense attention to your daily routines and to the larger but more odious duties — and yet it's in the attention to these sorts of details that an an extraordinary amount of satisfaction is likely to be found. THat's good, because your spouse or significant other is likely to face a fair share of messes in which you are also likely to be involved — not because you want to be, or because they want you to be, but because you both know that you have the skills to solve them. However, approach this disruption of your normal routines with a bit of diplomatic graciousness: don't simply take the work from them, but wait to be invited. That kindness will matter a lot.
Libra: Missing that special someone in your life? Expend the resources necessary to have the talk about it — either with a friend who's willing to put the spotlight on you, or with a therapist who's willing to bend their rules a bit, or with a friend who's open to "benefits" of some kind. But you're looking for some kinds of stimulation that aren't immediately available without showing some new ambitions; and you are going some dark places in your daily routine and feeling like old habits have been washed out by ancestral responsibilities that can't be adjusted for in what you'd like to have. No one says you have to be lonely, enclosed, or pent up; and maybe there's a place here for you to accept that you can and should go in two different directions in your life... one to continue to have what you have, and another to experiment with what you'd like to have in the future.
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.
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