And It's Equinox, So What?

3.20.06


Today, the Sun moves into Aries… ending another year-long cycle through the zodiac wheel.

That makes it the first day of spring—or of fall, depending on your place in the world—and what would be the New Year, if Western astrology were king.

So why don't I give as big a damn about today's equinox as perhaps I should? Well, it's not just because I'm neck-deep in work and hardly have time to fix a meal, let alone sit down and formulate astro-new-year resolutions. See, I will be making time for such formulations… next week, not now.

When the Sun crosses from Pisces into Aries, it's the archetypical moment of new beginnings in astrology. But as I wrote on this March equinox occasion two years ago, there's a danger in overhyping one 'new beginning' after another… and robbing the special initiatory potency from any of them, since they become a dime a dozen. My favorite morning joke (which works best if you repeat it ad nauseum, day in and day out) is to proudly assert, 'Today is the first day of the rest of my life.' It's always true—so obviously so that it's also always ridiculous.

We've got to prioritize our beginnings, and give the proper respect to the big ones… such as a solar eclipse New Moon in Aries, which we can ardently look ahead to on next Wednesday, Mar 29. With such an event, we have the combination of (1) a New Moon, the ideal moment to begin a venture (2) the pioneering flavor of Aries, the fire-starting firstborn of the zodiac, and (3) the cosmic/karmic/alarming charge of eclipsehood, made even more forward-propelling by its conjunction to the North (rather than South) Node of the Moon. (If that's too much astrology, then just trust me on it.)

Today's equinox falls in the 'in between eclipses' period, since we just welcomed a lunar eclipse last week in Virgo… and as such, it represents one (albeit noteworthy) point in the transition from past to future. As I wrote at FAMOUS online, this week is like a bridge between (1) acute reawakening of old pains and passions and (2) our commitments to dive fearlessly into radical freshness.

If you're ready with your fancifully fresh ideas and effervescently newfangled undertakings, then by all means, feel free to ritualize them into being with today's equinox. The eclipse-period pulse will charge 'em up with an extra zing.

But if, like me, you're still trying to disentangle yourself from the previous business—I've still got to call the cable company back because my new box is also turning itself on and off, just like the last one—we've got a bit more time to organize our intentions for the next astrological year ahead.

Start thinking about it now, though… and over these next several days, I'll help guide you through the process of stating what you want.

Meanwhile, equinox cheers to a new season!