Yesterday’s Full Moon in Virgo may have created pressures which could make a person fall back into comfort areas – dogmas, fandoms, enjoyable excess – and which may see others striving ahead into unfamiliar horizons. We are also all still settling into Saturn in Pisces, freshly ingressed the day of the full moon and creating plenty of new perspectives on pressure in his own right.

There are many ways to think of Saturn’s new placement in Pisces, and we’ll have three years to figure out how to navigate its currents. I previously wrote about it as a fish ladder, an element put into place to help us control the natural world. Taxonomies of nature would also fall under this purview, and I think it is equally apt to think of Saturn in Pisces as the structures which naturally occur in the world, which we can only happen upon and correlate with similar structures of the great expanse. Applying this to our inner world will likely be on offer and recommended during Saturn’s stay in Pisces.

That aside, this week is largely colored by other activity in Pisces. There, the Sun creeps closer to Neptune while Mercury edges closer to Sol’s obscuring beams. A little on this from my Pisces Season piece: “The end of the Sun’s time in Pisces sees it drawing closer to Neptune…this means that an already very fluid, porous sense of self is going to pass through a giant ocean of the mythic and fantastic. Neptune is the collective unconscious, the great sea of dreams and nightmares, and celestial objects passing through its sphere of influence seem to undergo massive distortion. What’s more, Mercury will have begun to really catch up to the Sun by this time, its voice getting more and more drowned out as it gets further ‘under the beams,’ finally reaching a state known as combustion where the Sun is said to devour its power. This may feel reminiscent of a Mercury retrograde to some; communication may become difficult, brains may become foggier, technology may cease to function.”

This aspect will tighten gradually throughout the week, and its effects may be felt gradually, as well. More on this as the conjunction perfects next week.

We also still have the big pile-up in Aries to consider. Venus has moved on from her conjunction with Jupiter and Chiron, but is locking into a square with Mars that will be exact on Saturday, 3/11. This may cause friction between actions and values, and may also may cause extra sensitivity in matters of relationship. But squares inspire movement too, and in many ways this is a “shit or get off the pot” type of transit. Venus and Mars are opposites, one asking us to connect, the other asking us to sever. Here, they are in conflict, and some may find that spilling into their lives.

Meanwhile, Jupiter and Chiron are still conjunct, which might leave many with their insecurities and trauma around self-betterment and empowerment laid bare. On the same day that Venus and Mars make their exact square, Jupiter will be in a particle conjunction with two asteroids: wounded Chiron, yes, but also with Vesta. Vesta shows us that our efforts to improve and grow don’t have to be displayed on a leaderboard somewhere, don’t have to be publicized, don’t even really need to be understood by others. Your gifts are for you and for others like you, and your life may be immeasurably improved by making space in your life for an interest or activity that those closest to you do not care for. They don’t have to. It’s sacred to YOU.

Until next Hump Day!