The Match That Lit the World.

After seven years in the very watery sign of Pisces, Uranus moves into the very fiery sign of Aries on March 12th – for the first time in 84 years. And we’ve been watching that fire rise for the past month.

(In most major planetary shifts, the population tends to be “psychic” – anticipating a shift. In September of 2008 the market crashed two months ahead of Pluto’s “crash” as that planet took a serious nose dive from the high flying sign of Sagittarius into the most grounding and sobering sign of Capricorn.)

Uranus in Aries: Rebellion, Freedom and the Willingness to Fight for it.

Uranus is the planet of rebels and the unexpected (among other things). Aries is the sign of independence and our own vision....and war. Put it all together and what do you get? Five middle eastern populations “unexpectedly” deciding that they want to be free. And a willingness to fight for it.

Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Libya and Jordan were lit by one fiery match and that match was the beginning of Uranus’ shift into a sign that said “Take it! Take your freedom! Fight for it!” There are variations on this theme. A right wing Wisconsin governor wants to be liberated from what he considers the yoke of unions in the United States. (Though you may agree with the workers – theirs is not a liberating energy – it is one of maintaining a status quo.) Students in London increasingly want to throw off the oppression of what they feel are impossible costs to get themselves educated. If Uranus in Aries holds sway, expect to hear more voices singing “I Gotta Be Free!” -- saying “I’ve had enough…get off my back…I declare my independence!”

The Good News is….It’s Your Turn, Too.

On a personal level, lots of us have also recently been declaring our own freedom so that we can follow our visions. For seven years, and especially in the past six months, Pisces, has been trying to convince us to let go. “Let go of what doesn’t work from your past and make space for what the future holds.” It whispered in the beginning. By the end it was shouting.

By that end some of us started our new lives by choice and others by the harder road of no choices left. Whichever the case, we are now at those new beginnings…where our lives will take us next. We have seven years to work on a vision of who want to be in this incarnation. If you have a new dream now it will seem natural to start that work. (The other option is to join or follow someone whose new vision you share. Uranus in Aries will also be the rise of the “fiery” individual who leads the way.)

Keep Both Hands on The Wheel.

Try to drive within the speed limit. Visions can sometimes spring full born but their execution generally doesn’t. Aries is a sign of moving forward at a breakneck pace. Take care and ground yourself in your present before you hurtle toward the future – because Aries can also be a reckless sign urging us to move forward at all costs without regard to consequences or the wreckage we can leave behind. With Uranus in this “solo” sign it’s important to remember there are other humans around who can be affected by your decisions.

But Wait, That’s Not All…

Fortunately there’s another shift coming which may help us to slow down a bit as all of that fire energy pushes us forward. The shift from Uranus would be enough change for a while, but it’s happening on the heels of a second change – a shift that won’t happen for a month but that’s also “spilling” over into this period. This is a huge one – both literally and figuratively. On April 4th, for the first time in 156 years, the huge watery planet of Neptune will move into the water sign of Pisces, which it rules.

Neptune and Pisces have two faces in astrology. On the spiritual side, Neptune in Pisces is the combination of the highest spiritual planet living in the highest spiritual sign, This combination amplifies their power and can represent the potential of a profound deepening of our spiritual connections and communication with our “highest consciousness” for the next decade plus – regardless of whether we believe that highest consciousness is something inside or outside of ourselves.

But that’s just one side of Neptune in Pisces. As many of those on it know, a lot of the spiritual path is about shedding the ego, surrendering and letting go – that’s one of the reasons that Pisces has the effect of encouraging us to “let go” in whatever sign it’s in – since it is the “highest consciousness “ sign. But as most of us also know, the job of letting go often isn’t that easy, and most of us find it hard to let go of everything we should when we should.

What happens when we can’t let go and we can’t accept where we are? The proverbial rock and a hard place position? The internal argument that tortures us can also lead us to terrific psychological and spiritual growth if we’re willing to “do the work.” But if we’re not ready for that yet (raise your hand if you can always let go…), it can also move us into denial in our fight to not accept an uncomfortable reality.

Beam Me Away From Here, Scotty...

Secular astrologers often caution against the dangers of Neptune – calling it the planet of addiction, delusion and escape. Pisces, the fish, symbolizes the Highest Consciousness -- e.g. Christ’s symbol was a fish (in this case don’t think of Christ in his religious form, but as The Christ, one of many avatars.) But a fish is also just a fish. And think of how easy it is for an actual fish to just swim away and never stand still to confront its environment. Pisceans can sometimes be avoiders of conflict. (My only argument is that secular astrologers often ignore the spiritual element of Neptune altogether - focusing only on the escape and delusion options.)

So the flip side of spiritual Neptune in Pisces is the flip side of true spirituality – false spirituality. It’s the watery lure of delusion, fogginess and denial that takes us away from our problems and “fools” us into thinking we actually have let go of them. (As they say about alcohol “They don’t call ‘em spirits for nothin’.” That quote can cut both ways.)

To paraphrase Timothy Leary – for those who aren’t interested in a path of higher consciousness (and sometimes even for those who are interested ) – as Neptune plies it way through Pisces for the next 13 years (!) it may be tempting to spend more time tuning out, turning on and/or dropping out. The result can be anything from a little or lot more time in front of the computer and the television to membership in cults, unquestioning belief in the occult arts and, at its worst, any habitual addiction that helps us avoid confronting ourselves and the internal work that we need to do to fuel our self-growth.

Pick A Door, Any Door…Or It Will Pick You.

What a combination! One planet and sign that urge us forward on to a strong independent vision (Uranus in Aries) in combination with another planet and sign (Neptune in Pisces) that can either bring us closer to higher consciousness or keep us in denial and delusion.

And what an effect it can have! Don’t be surprised if you’re feeling “tri-polar” in the coming days. That is -- you want to spend one day in urgent pursuit of your dreams, the next day in deep meditation and the third day escaping from it all by watching soap operas and game shows. If you’re feeling all of these you’ll be perfectly in sync with the energy of this shift.

Once it’s integrated this energy can be very productive. Meditation on the intelligence of our visions and how we should execute them. Letting go of urgency and the things we shouldn’t push. Taking a pass on all work (spiritual or otherwise) and letting ourselves just exist -- watch a movie, eat popcorn and play a video game without guilt. (Just don’t make it a constant habit.) The trick will be balance.

As Always, Time Will Tell…

This shift lasts for the next two months and we may be bouncing from one pole to the other -- “I’m staying! I’m going! Go forward! Let go! Forget it, I’m getting drunk/stoned or (fill in with your own adjective.)!!” When people tell me they’re arguing so much they want to split up these days or have found themselves in a confused state -- I’ve been saying,”Wait. Wait until May and then see how you feel.” By then we’ll begin to see how this new pattern works with us individually. It will be a pattern that seeks a balance between water and fire. Just enough water to keep a fire from burning too hot. And just enough fire to make sure the water doesn’t rise over our heads and drown us in illusion.