by DK Brainard
This year's Aries Ingress chart offers a genuine sense of renewed hope and the potential for unexpected new opportunities with a carefree Gemini Moon trine Jupiter in Aquarius.
A productive but potentially bipolar trine from Mars in Gemini (the assertive or driven mind) to Saturn in Aquarius (how we structure society) could result in even more erratic efforts to control the narrative and outlaw the non-conformists using big data and control of information technology.
But it can also lead to the creation of surprising new markets, grassroots movements, and fresh information streams that serve as alternatives to the existing big money / big tech power structures.
Astrologers use the annual Aries Ingress chart to get a picture of the themes we will be seeing both in the coming season and the coming astrological year.
We Need the Vitality of Nature
The astrology of 2020 was so unrelentingly harsh, it's really nice to see a chart with more positive overtones than negative ones. And, as I was reflecting on the energy of the spring equinox and the ingress chart, I was struck by just how heavy the last year has been.
For most of us, last week (or thereabouts) marked the one-year anniversary of "15 Days to Slow the Spread." Although it became quickly obvious that we would be in lockdown for more than 15 days, we kept hearing (and telling ourselves) that soon the beaches and parks and businesses and schools would be open again and life would go back to some semblance of normalcy.
It's clear in hindsight that "back to normal" was never part of the plan. But to the organizers' credit, they sprung the Covid narrative on us so fast and controlled the information channels so completely (mainstream media, state governors, big city mayors, celebrities and social media "influencers" to name a few) that it was genuinely hard to know what to believe.
By the time some of us came to our senses, we'd already been herded into our homes, the beaches and parks were patrolled and padlocked, and a frighteningly high percentage of our supposed fellow citizens were primed to snitch on anyone who broke the rules and tried to go hiking or sit on the beach or take the kids to swing on the swings.
As a result, many people missed out on a key component for keeping their immune systems strong and maintaining optimal vitality - being outside during the spring time. Tatiana pointed this out on one of community circle calls last year. The Sun's angle to the Earth in the spring - along with the activity and energy of the plants, birds and animals at this time of year - is vital for maintaining the health of the body throughout the remainder of the year.
We need to get plenty of fresh air and sunlight this spring. Especially if you work in an environment where you are expected to wear a mask for several hours a day, you don't want to go into whatever "pandemic" update is planned for the autumn and winter having missed out on spring two years running.
Nurturing Momentum
I believe we're in the midst of World War III - the war on human consciousness - as Margarita Alcantar phrased it on Cosmic Fire Podcast Episode 17. I believe this war is likely to continue until Pluto leaves Capricorn in 2023.
I believe love and freedom and beauty win in the end. But those of us who are fighting for these quintessentially human values need to be as healthy and as focused and as clear-eyed and as resourced as we can possibly be.
The other thing I feel can be really helpful in accessing the positive astrology energy on offer now is recognizing that we have just lived through the first year of a massive social experiment that is taking place on an unprecedented global scale. Honoring how challenging it has been - even if you haven't lost your business or your home or been hospitalized with Covid - is a powerful mental stance that will enable you to move forward with a sense of balance and a realistic outlook.
Like someone recovering from a major accident who has been in bed, indoors, for several months, we might emerge this spring feeling weak, unsteady, uncertain, and blinded by the light of day. That's okay, as long as we remember to remind ourselves that it's not our fault, we didn't do anything wrong, and that we're just going to take one step at a time.
Because we can rebuild a sense of momentum and optimism now. But, even as we dream of what we desire to have more of down the road, we need to commit to creating and nurturing momentum in small ways. Maybe that means taking an extra day for yourself to hike in the woods or sit in the sun. Maybe it means putting off that huge project in favor of completing a smaller, funner one.
Surprising Opportunities
Mercury sextile Uranus in Taurus in the Ingress chart reinforces a theme I've been seeing for this year: that our best opportunities for more prosperity, more freedom and more joy may come in surprising forms or seemingly out of the blue. Part of this picture may be that these opportunities don't exist yet or we can't see them from our current vantage point. The series of Saturn-Uranus squares happening this year will cause many societal structures and relationships to break down but it will also create new opportunities that seem to appear spontaneously out of the ether.
This is especially true for us healers, artists and visionaries. People are already starting to crack under the pressure. And this process will accelerate over the next three years as more and more people are confronted with the truth of how systematically our bodies have been poisoned, our commons have been fenced and appropriated for the profit of the poisoners, and our energy has been harvested to kill, maim, and enslave humans and our fellow creatures.
Those who aren't irrevocably brainwashed and possessed are going to be crying out for help - and they'll need those of us who have been preparing ourselves for this time (whether we knew that was what were doing or not!).
I believe the near future will bring us more opportunity to share our gifts, experience real love, and enjoy radical abundance than we can easily imagine right now.
But, in order to get from here to there we need to be strong. We need to honor our own needs and be vigilant in checking in with our body wisdom.
We need to exercise discernment and keep strong boundaries. And we must remember that, as Margarita pointed out on the recent podcast, we heal the world not by giving our power to those who demand it, but by taking responsibility for everything in our lives. And - as Avalon Kalin shared on our most recent podcast - by resolutely staying focused on what is healing and beautiful and true.