INTO THE FIRE APPROACHING THE SPRING EQUINOX Waking up out of the deep and dreamy waters of Pisces-land,

, were entering the season of Fire. The Sun moves into Aries on Wednesday (4:02 am PDT), signaling Spring Equinox (Fall in the Southern Hemisphere). The day and night are equal and the light starts to take ascendance. Equinox is a major power day in the wheel of the year, and not only the start of a new season, but a new astrological year. Mars vitality, passion and action is the ruler of Aries and a key player at the Spring Equinox. Once Mars moved into Aries about a week ago, I felt the fires ignite everything sped up, my to-do list suddenly expanded, and ideas that had been floating around in the back of my mind demanded tangible expression. Mars is always strong in his home sign, but now is particularly potent as he approaches a conjunction with Uranus, planet of revolution, liberation and acceleration. Word to the wise: Mars-Uranus is a volatile combination, and especially in fiery Aries, and especially since its also triggering the Uranus-Pluto square. Unconscious Mars-Uranus looks like: violence; angry emotional outbursts; overly impulsive actions; unwise risk-taking; and accidents. As this feisty, fiery, potentially explosive energy gets stirred up, we want to give it a place to go rather than attempting to stuff it and allowing it to wreak havoc in the subconscious and erupt in sneaky ways (like accidents). Anger is the emotion ruled by Mars and Aries, and if youre sitting on a backlog of repressed rage, now would be a great time to engage in healthy, constructive outlets kick-boxing, ecstatic dance, beating on pillows, sweating it out in a sauna. Every emotion serves a purpose, and the purpose of anger is to propel us into taking action and setting boundaries, and ultimately, to encourage spiritual growth. The Mars-Uranus conjunction will be close to exact at the Equinox, and fueled by the fire of the Aries Sun, which means that this fierce, fast-moving and very HOT energy pervades the entire Spring season. The potential for volatility will be especially high leading up to and during the Libra Full Moon on March 27. Even if YOU are perfectly enlightened and have worked through all your anger issues, the people around you may not be operating from the same level of awareness. Slow down, take your time getting to where you need to go, and remember to ground yourself and your car (or bike) before you get on the road. In fact, grounding feeling your feet on the ground and your connection with the center of the planet would be a good practice as often as possible.

Consciously cooperating with the Uranus-Pluto square this Spring could look like: breaking free (responsibly) from circumstances that feel out of integrity; experimenting with an innovative approach to radically transform a stuck situation; taking a brave first step toward a long-term goal; telling the radical, scary-yetliberating truth, to yourself first, about who you are and what you really want. The Aries planets squaring Pluto in Capricorn are also a wake-up call to take personal responsibility for creating the collective reality you desire. Recognize your power as an individual and step into the role you know you came here to play. The stakes are high, and taking the risk of being yourself and living your purpose is, in the big picture, much less of a risk than playing small and living out someone elses idea of who youre supposed to be. Fire is the predominant element at the Equinox, but we havent entirely emerged from the soulful, sensitive, slow-moving Piscean waters four planets still occupy the sign of the Fish. Aries is the first sign of the zodiac, calling in the energy of new beginnings, but planets in Pisces, the last sign especially the personal planets Mercury and Venus suggest more deep work around dissolving the past, purification and healing. Theres a balance to strike between the go-go-go, hyper-yang, make-it-happen Aries push, and the inward-turning, dreamtime-needing, let-go-let-goddess pull of Pisces. Trust your bodys instincts to discern when to assert your will and when to surrender. Keep in mind that although Mercury Retrograde ended on Sunday, it takes a few weeks to get back up to speed, and we wont fully emerge from the Retro shadow until April 6. Further animating the Water element, the Moon will be in Cancer, forming a Grand Trine with Neptune, Mercury and Chiron in Pisces and Saturn in Scorpio. The Water Grand Trine facilitates ease and flow in deepening intimacy and healing emotional blocks, and heightens sensitivity, intuition and compassion. HOWEVER, the Moon in Cancer also forms a tight square with the Mars-Uranus conjunction, and opposes Pluto suggesting a theme of getting out of our comfort zones, and transforming our notions of security, nurturing, family and home.