On Ash Wednesday, there is a new moon in Pisces, and Uranus re-enters Taurus after a several month retrograde hiatus in Aries. New moons represent the start of something—an offer to begin again. Pisces is a mystical and spiritual place for the moon to be. To wrap the Mardi Gras season with a day for reflection, intention setting, and spiritual release feels extra necessary this year. Uranus rules chaos and Taurus does best in steady movement. This is earthquake energy, enough to move even our most solid foundations seemingly overnight. With the aid of the new moon, consider this: how does your spiritual past hold you back? Earthquakes don’t happen just to ruin the precious things we have built. We can learn how to build and protect around them. What in your life is so precarious that it will crumble with a shake? There are planets like Pluto, where the main focus is a complete demolition you have to rebuild from; Uranus is not like this. It is here to challenge your fears, anxieties, and the ways in which you are holding yourself back. This new beginning is a good time to put a wrecking ball to some things and rebuild a more sound structure. The deeply-rooted quality of Taurus means that we need to start at our own origin story to untether those things that aren’t serving us best. Look at your parents, their parents, etc. Generational burdens are a good place to start.
Mercury is retrograde from the 5th to the 28th in Pisces. Development of deep emotional awareness is probable during this time, yet it is an absolutely terrible time to try to make sense of systems. Mercury retrograde always throws a monkey wrench into communication, and Pisces is fundamentally deep and cloudy. Yes, have a heart-to-heart. Spend time with people who make you feel peace about yourself and the world at large. Be careful and aware of drinking and drugs. This phase has a tendency to make us look to take the edge off, but it will drown you if you go too far. Do not enter into a contract or have surgery if you can help it. Spiritual contracts (like marriage) are different, but you may have weird experiences with things being on time. Mercury is retrograde three times a year, but this one is murkier than most. Take your time. Speak from your soul.
On the 20th, the sun enters Aries and slams the world back to reality. Getting things going feels a lot easier with this sun move, and if you are feeling emotional and slow, this is a good time to break free. The full moon in Libra also lands on this day, bringing passion and aggression in our direction. Start something.
ARIES
On the 6th, we end the multi-year saga of Uranus in Aries for the next 84 years. In reflection of your last seven years, did it just feel like a series of WTFs? Uranus can be like that with constant, weird changes—breaking out in pure joy, absolutely shocking heartbreak. Its frequency is about freaking you out, and as it moves permanently out of your sign, there is a possibility of boredom or confusion about where all the electricity went. Uranus will move on to your house of money and self worth. It will radicalize the way you look at yourself. Setting the intention now of deep self-trust and love is ideal. Manifestations of money are also probable, so changing your attitude about how much your time is worth is also ideal. Not everything is transactional, but reciprocal energy is important. Where are you putting more in than is being given back to you?
TAURUS
You are the master of holding on, staying put, and riding it out. You are rooted in the ways you were brought up. You can remember the beauty of the people who raised you, as well as the exact way they said the thing that broke your heart. In your foundation there are cracks that feel constantly vulnerable. And while everyone has these cracks, you check them often to make sure they are still there and influencing your worldviews. With the aid of chaotic Uranus in your sign for the next several years, you will be given an opportunity to release some of the unnecessary planted roots in your life. This month should be dedicated to understanding where you feel stuck, which cycles you go back to, which ways you tell yourself you can’t do whatever it is you want. Fear can be motivational or paralyzing; and when the sun moves into Aries on the 20th, you will have a clearer idea about how it has taken shape in your life. The more you move toward your vulnerability, the bigger the results.
GEMINI
Every person, at some point, gets lost. This month, there is pressure and confusion around what your basic direction is, and how you are seen and valued by society. Mercury is retrograde in your house of public identity from the 5th to the 28th, which brings up a lot of existential awareness. Where do you fit in? Is the work you are doing important? IS ANYTHING IMPORTANT? Be careful of these trails of thought—the universe is trying to communicate that your passions matter because you care about them. When Uranus moves on the 6th, it goes into your house of spirituality. This transit provides a several year connection to spirit. If you feel lost: where is true north? Is it in a god? Is it in nature? Is it in communication and teaching? Find your personal center for peace and run with it this month. Be kind to yourself in the process.
CANCER
Mars is in your house of community for all of this month, which may create some riffs in your social world. When Uranus enters the same space on the 6th, it begins a seven-year stretch of time where you’ll radicalize your feelings of community. Bring people in who make you feel free. If you have any kind of feelings towards someone like a “frenemy,” STOP IT. Clean it up; do not engage with people who make you feel inadequate or small. Create those spaces you need: start a volunteer group, a book club, a cooking night, or a storytelling event in your living room. Sometimes the world can feel lonely for your sign—you want deep connection yet don’t always know where to find it. This is a perfect time to create that. The full moon on the 20th is a good time to do something that makes you a little uncomfortable.
LEO
The astrological 8th house is where we hold our feelings about birth, death, and sex. This month, the sun and Mercury are camped out in this space, which brings a lot of light and awareness to these themes in your life. You may find yourself feeling things a little more deeply. You may be thinking a lot about people who are no longer with us. You may feel tired or annoyed about the various restarts you’ve experienced. This is a good time to take action. Get in touch with people you love and don’t talk to enough. Honor the people who aren’t here with a celebration of all the things they believed in. When the sun moves on the 20th, go somewhere to see someone you miss. You may feel stuck at first, but the illumination of this month will ultimately be motivating and freeing.
VIRGO
Uranus appears in a sign for seven-year increments. On the 6th of this month, Uranus moves into your house of adventure for its seven-year stay. Traveling during this time is ideal, but a (maybe semi) permanent change of scenery is even better. This could be a time where showing up for life as you have regularly doesn’t feel as comfortable. You may change your work, relationships, or location. The thing is, this transit is nothing to be afraid of. It’s a time to move toward things you are curious about, with the safety net of being able to find your way back if it doesn’t work out. The full moon on the 20th will provide special reminders of what actually matters to you; as long as you are motivated with these things in mind, you are making the right moves. Make a list of the things you don’t want to change, and act from there.
LIBRA
How does radical change feel as a concept to you? Are you ready for it? There is an almost permanent change on the 6th when Uranus enters your house of psychology, followed by a full moon in your sign on the 20th. You know that thing you’ve shelved that informs many of your fears and decisions, but is so emotionally difficult that you ignore it? Uranus wants to smash it into nothing. In order for this to happen, you have to be willing to go there. You have to be comfortable with the mess of letting go. Ultimately, this is for the best, but sadness and depression is something you avoid whenever you can. Here is the homework: in examining your foundation, what do you learn about yourself that still feels like a burden to you? Where do your feelings of inadequacy come from? The Uranus transit is long, so you don’t need to figure it all out now, but you do need to start thawing out that which makes you feel frozen.
SCORPIO
Uranus creates chaos when it enters a new sign. This month on the 6th, it goes into an opposition with your sign for the next seven years. This opposition has a way of cementing your knowledge around who you are, but sometimes in surprising circumstances. A lot of opportunity comes from places and situations that you really don’t see coming. If you are in a long-term relationship, things might get shaken up a bit, but only for the betterment of the bond. When the sun moves into Aries on the 20th, be ready for a daily life shift that will start a bigger domino effect. This may feel ominous, but it’s a good time to make space for something new and better suited to your passions.
SAGITTARIUS
For most of this month, Venus is in your house of communication. This is a good time to tell someone how you feel about them romantically. If you are single and looking, connect over a shared intellectual obsession. Uranus moves into your house of daily living and health on the 6th for seven years. This is a sure time to change routines and habits in your health. If you don’t like your job, it will become almost unbearable with this shift. Because this energy is so deeply rooted in surprises, get checked often for health-related issues. Get physicals and screenings, check in with whatever form of therapy works best for you, and prioritize your body. When the sun moves into a trine with your sign on the 20th, Jupiter will be illuminated and you might really feel yourself for the first time in a while. You are worthwhile and special, and the sun is just here to remind you of that.
CAPRICORN
You have a tendency to think often of how you fit into the big picture. Your actions are usually based on consideration for your legacy, and how you can make the world a more sound and structured space—not just for yourself, but for everyone you care about. Uranus enters your house of creativity and ego on the 6th, for seven years. This transit is slow and steady, in a trine to your sign, and will bring a lot of opportunity to prioritize yourself and sustain your level of dedication. If you were the only person on the planet, what would you build? What is the world missing that you could create to make your life better? When the sun moves on the 20th, you may feel a need for an uncomfortable change. Lean in.
AQUARIUS
Venus, the sign of love, is in your sign from the 1st to the 27th of this month. Your love life will take priority and it should become clear where you feel your best romantically. Spend time with old or new love interests, as long as they make you feel celebrated for everything you bring to the relationship. Uranus enters your house of home on the 6th, bringing some chaos to your family and house. What needs to be shaken up? What needs to be shaken out? This transit is slow: it will take seven years to finish its ride through this part of your chart. It is meant to make you see things differently and with more opportunity to release things that aren’t working best. If you are a parent, try different methods to get the results you are looking for. Even if you are only parenting yourself, the same is true. You do not get new outcomes with the same attempts.
PISCES
There is a new moon in your sign on the 6th of this month. This is a good time for a physical, emotional, and spiritual spring cleaning. There is an interesting intersection happening for Pisces this month. The universe is providing a perfect climate for your greatest gifts to shine, with Mercury retrograde and the sun shining in your sign for most of the month, bringing a lot of attention to your fundamental gifts. Unpacking your truths, shedding things that don’t serve you, and getting some momentum behind projects is all very public with these planetary alignments. When Uranus moves into your house of communication on the 6th, you may feel a very powerful need to tell your story and teach people about the ways the world actually works. The emotional spaces that you comfortably inhabit are foreign to many, but sharing your emotional intelligence can change the world. The full moon on the 20th might bring some chaos to your life, but a shake up might be just what you need to get the ball rolling.
iamastrology | illustrations Kallie Tiffau