Horoscope Week: March 4th to 10th, 2019

Horoscope: March 4th to 10th, 2019

Astrologer Pam Younghans writes this weekly astrological journal based on planetary influences, and offers perspectives and insights to assist you in making the best use of current energies. This column is not intended as prediction. Your own experience will be more specifically defined by transits to your personal chart.

Highlighted Aspects for This Week
All times listed are Pacific Standard Time. For Eastern Time, add 3 hours. For Greenwich Mean Time, add 8 hours.
TUE: Mercury stations retrograde 10:18 a.m., Sun semisquare Uranus 12:38 p.m.
WED: Uranus enters Taurus 12:26 a.m., New Moon 8:03 a.m., Moon conjunct Neptune 8:48 a.m., Sun conjunct Neptune 4:59 p.m.
THU: Mercury semisquare Mars 10:18 a.m., Sun conjunct Vesta 2:12 p.m., Venus semisquare Jupiter 7:14 p.m.
FRI: Sun sextile Saturn 11:10 p.m.
SUN: Mars semisquare Chiron 1:50 a.m., Mars sextile Neptune 9:19 a.m., Saturn sextile Vesta, 4:48 p.m.

NEPTUNE, god of the oceans, and Uranus, god of lightning, are cast in starring roles in our drama this week. A Pisces New Moon and retrograde Mercury are also in the spotlight -- and all of these players are onstage at the same time, making for a very interesting -- and pivotal -- couple of days.

Here's the cast of characters, in order of appearance:

MERCURY stations retrograde at 10:18 a.m. PST on Tuesday, in the 29th "critical degree" of Pisces. When a planetary event occurs in the last degree of any sign, astrologers consider that event to have greater import and impact than it might otherwise have. This is due to the sense that the planet is completing lessons associated with the sign, trying to wrap things up before moving onto the next project.

Emphasizing this theme further, the 29th degree of Pisces also happens to be the final degree of the zodiac, a wheel that "begins" at 0 degrees of Aries. This imbues our Mercury retrograde phase with a greater sense of urgency, an even stronger need to use this time to complete and resolve certain issues.


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We will see evidence of both the light and dark faces of Mercury in Pisces this week, and throughout the time that Mercury is traveling backward (until March 28). The benefits of Mercury in the 12th sign include a heightened imagination, increased spiritual perception, and enhanced intuition. Our minds are more impressionable than usual -- which, of course, can be either positive or negative, depending on the circumstances.

On the flip side of the Mercury-in-Pisces coin, we'll need to be careful of being too gullible, confused thinking, and a lack of practical focus. There are also potentials for confusion, misunderstandings, and even deception, simply because our minds are less discerning than usual. It may be difficult to know truth from fiction.

But, if we aspire to be a poet or an intuitive, or wish to explore the world of dreams and meditation, Mercury's retrograde phase in Pisces can take us to new depths in these areas.

NEXT TO TAKE the spotlight, Uranus re-enters Taurus at 12:26 a.m. PST on Wednesday. Although Uranus did visit Taurus for a while in 2018 (from May 15 to November 6), we can think of those six months as being exploratory -- much like our experience if we were to try living in a city before making a decision to move there. Now Uranus, luggage in hand, is disembarking the Aries train, ready to set up camp in Taurus Town for the next seven years.

Any time Uranus changes signs, we can expect important shifts to occur. Sometimes, these shifts are literal -- such as when Uranus entered Aries on March 11, 2011, the very day that a major earthquake rattled Japan, setting off a tsunami and damaging nuclear reactors. In May 2018, when Uranus came to visit Taurus, the Kilauea volcano began a flurry of eruptions that lasted for several months, forever altering the landscape (Taurus) of the Hawaiian islands.

To support Mother Earth through this transition time, we will want to hold the intention for any environmental changes to occur gently and easily, while still allowing tension to be released as needed.

THE NEW MOON occurs at 8:03 a.m. PST on Wednesday, at 15°47? Pisces. At the time of the lunation, the Sun and Moon are less than one degree away from both Neptune and the asteroid Vesta.

This close alignment of the New Moon, Neptune, and Vesta activates our commitment to either a creative/artistic project or a spiritual goal. It also promises that over the next four weeks, we can anticipate expansion in these areas. The fact that Mercury is retrograde for three of those four weeks leads us to believe that the process underway will be very deep indeed, or perhaps will be something that we tend to keep private.

Vesta is a hard worker, devoted to being of service, and dedicated to a purpose greater than itself. Neptune rules our capacity for creative and spiritual growth, as well as our ability to open our hearts in compassion and understanding. When these two work together in spiritually-oriented Pisces, we may find ourselves drawn to commit more fully to a spiritual ideal, or to be of greater service to the world. The capacity for ecstatic union with the Divine is also enhanced.

THIS ALIGNMENT of the Sun, Moon, Neptune, and Vesta, occurs at the same degree as the fixed star Ankaa, increasing the transformational effects of the New Moon. Astrologer Roderick Kidston explains Ankaa's influence in his book The Magic of the Stars:

"Ankaa is the chief star of the constellation Phoenix, the Firebird. The mythology of the Firebird suggests there is vibrant magic with this star, something elemental, inextinguishable, vital and transcendent. Ankaa is one of the power stars which indicate the working of great forces of transformation. Sometimes this process appears to be forced by external events, but it's a reasonable bet something internal is attracting the seismic shift or fiery rebirth.

"More simply, Ankaa is about change, but this is driven by immense powers of creation. This can be both personal and collective. Like it or not, you are in a spiral of upwards development and you have to be willing to let go of the old and embrace the new."

AS I TRANSCRIBE this description of Ankaa, I have the sense that the fixed star actually embodies both the transcendent qualities of our Pisces New Moon and the breakdown / breakthrough potentials of Uranus moving into Taurus. And it's interesting that Mr. Kidston actually uses the words "seismic shift" when referring to Ankaa's effects.

With all of these planetary events occurring on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, we can anticipate that these two days will be memorable. And yet, the energies of the alignments are woven into the entire four-week lunar cycle that begins on Wednesday -- a cycle that literally takes us through the rest of March, culminating with the New Moon in Aries on April 5.

There appears to be much positive potential unfolding during this time, but it is also likely to feel fairly unstable. This, of course, is difficult for us physical beings who rely on the security of feeling a solid surface beneath our feet. But we are not without a grounding line -- the planet Saturn is in harmonious sextile aspect with that New Moon conglomerate. This aspect acts an anchor and reminds that we have all the strength we need to successfully navigate the uncertainties of change.

IF YOUR BIRTHDAY IS THIS WEEK: In the year ahead, you will rededicate yourself to what is most valuable to you, and to what is essential to your fulfillment. This is not a light-hearted time, but neither is it oppressive. Instead, your choices arise from a deep knowing within you of what is most necessary on spiritual and creative levels of your being. You may decide to devote yourself more fully to your spiritual path, to your artistic work, to being a stronger force of compassion in the world, or to another Piscean ideal. You will intuitively sense where your soul is guiding you. Your primary challenges may be finding the time and space to listen to the quiet voice within. It is essential to give yourself this alone time, for your sensitivity to the thoughts and desires of those around you is also heightened, making it difficult to clearly perceive your truth if it appears to contradict the needs of others.

About the Author

Pam YounghansPam Younghans is a professional astrologer, editor, and writer. She lives in a log home northeast of Seattle, Washington with her beloved animal companions. She has been interpreting charts professionally for over 25 years. If you are interested in an astrology reading, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or leave a message at 425.445.3775. For more information about NorthPoint Astrology offerings, please visit northpointastrology.com or visit her Facebook page.

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