Monthly Vedic Astrology Forecast

New Moon in Aquarius/Shatabishak March 2
Mercury Transits Aquarius March 6 – 24
Mars-Venus War Ends March 12
Sun in Pisces March 14 – April 14
Full Moon in Virgo/Uttaraphalguni March 18
Mercury Transits Pisces March 24 – April 8
KSY March 24 – April 6
Venus Transits Aquarius March 30 – April 27

Summary

The Sun is growing stronger and the days longer in the Northern hemisphere here on Earth. Round 2 of Kala Sarpa Yoga is in full swing as March begins, breaking up when the Moon moves past Rahu on March 10. If times are intense as February becomes March, this may explain it. Between March 10 – 24, we have a clarity break and come up for some air.

The signs of Saturn are quite packed in March, with a new Moon in Aquarius on March 2 and a host of planets moving through Capricorn as well. This Saturn-heavy situation begins to breaks up toward late March when Sun and Mercury move to Pisces. This grouping of planets in the practical signs of Saturn could be a summit meeting of sorts as we collectively plow forward out of a difficult few years.

Mercury moves through Aquarius from March 6 – 24, joining Jupiter who is moving quickly toward his entrance to Pisces on April 12. This is a good time to wrap up loose ends in preparation for moving, either literally or figuratively. Lessons learned, time to move forward together.

The intense conjunction of Venus and Mars that has prevailed since mid-February will loosen up mid-March. The planets of love and power having to make it work on common ground has driven many to make serious decisions around relationships and resources. By mid-March we could see that choices have been made; Venus and Mars will slowly gain space apart signaling new chapters, similar to Mercury and Jupiter and their tandem momentum.

The Sun moves to Pisces on March 14, followed by Mercury on March 24, which begins to bring more expansive energy that allows for finding new space and growth avenues.

The Moon is full in the sign of Virgo/Uttaraphalguni on March 18. This will be a good time for perspective, analysis and preparation before we head into the final pulse of Kala Sarpa Yoga on March 24. The last week in March may have us feeling pulled by the tide and the challenge will be to balance surrender with steering.

New Moon in Aquarius/Shatabishak March 2

The Moon joins the Sun and Jupiter in Aquarius, with the exact point of the new Moon falling at 18° Aquarius at mid-day on March 2. This monthly joining will be in Shatabishak nakshatra, connected with the process of healing in a global way.

Aside from the nodes, with Rahu placed in Taurus and Ketu placed in Scorpio at this time, all of the visible planets are located in Saturn-ruled signs. Capricorn is occupied by Saturn himself along with Mercury, Venus and Mars. This is an extremely potent combination, with all of the planets being in decent dignity and strength. Saturn is in his own sign, Mercury and Venus are in a friendly sign and Mars is in his sign of exaltation.

With Capricorn's element being earth and its quality being movable, this may be the month to really dig in and push through with determination and inspiration. Saturn moves slowly remaining in Capricorn, Venus and Mars move to Aquarius in late March and Mercury zips into Aquarius on March 6.

As a trio, Sun, Moon and Jupiter are the designated saumya graha, the gentle planets. At this new Moon, may we take hope and comfort that we can use the understanding gained through recent trials to better navigate in our new paradigms. Life is for learning. With Jupiter and the nodal axis both shifting in April, it is time to integrate our recent experiences and leave behind what is irrelevant to our forward progress.

Shatabishak nakshatra lies entirely within the sign of Aquarius, which is co-ruled by Saturn and Rahu. Shatabishak is also ruled by Rahu. Rahu is currently strongly moving toward a new station in Aries. That's a lot of Rahu influence! The point is that Rahu's energy can be sudden, unstable or unexpectedly intrusive; not always in a negative way! Let things fall into place rather than agenda pushing too much as the Moon embarks on the next waxing cycle.

Shatabishak translates into "100 helpers." Realize that help is there, in varied forms and through diverse channels of healing, when you are ready.

Mercury Transits Aquarius March 6 – 24

Mercury is on the forward march, moving out of Saturn's earth sign of Capricorn and into Saturn's air sign of Aquarius on March 6. This will be a quick transit, with Mercury overtaking Jupiter at 25° Aquarius on March 20.

Mercury and Jupiter have a short battle from March 20 – 22 as Mercury passes by Jupiter. Since both of these planets rely on one another for the education continuum, issues and situations around study, teacher and schooling may arise toward the latter half of March.

With Mercury representing communication, analysis, learning and commerce, we may see things beginning to move a bit more quickly with the messenger free from Saturn's conjunction. We tend to experience delays and slower pace when Saturn is affecting our exchanges. With Mercury approaching and joining Jupiter in Aquarius, we may begin to feel some uplift and momentum combined.

The environment of Aquarius is quite paradoxical, with its dual lordship of Saturn and Rahu, which demands both stability and the need for free movement. Aquarius is an air sign, but also fixed in quality, again more paradox. Aquarius promotes equality, humanity, innovation and renovation. Concern for people, for the environment and for the plants and animals that share this home is strongly supported in this sign.

If you find yourself in a situation that demands a radical level of detachment combined with an immense need for positive hope, Mercury and Jupiter combined here should be quite supportive in objectively analyzing the facts and finding guidance that feels soul affirming.

With the wisdom of a saint and the openness of a child, prepare to move forward into the next chapter as Mercury leads the way into Pisces on March 24, followed by the great Jupiter on April 12.

Mars-Venus War Ends March 12

Mars and Venus have been traveling together since January, actually sharing the same seat in the train since February 12 and beginning to separate on March 12. The pair moved from Sagittarius to Capricorn on February 26, joining Mercury and Saturn.

Venus exits Capricorn for Aquarius on March 30 and Mars follows on April 6, setting the stage for the new acts to come with Jupiter moving to Pisces on April 12 and the nodal axis dropping into Aries-Libra.

"Sitting in the same seat" implies that these two planets have been transiting closely together and in fact sharing the same degree as they move for about one month. This is called planetary war and there exist various interpretations about how to judge who is winning and who is losing. In practical terms, it seems no one really wins in the game of war.

Mars is the head of the power department and Venus handles human resources. Strength, power, resources, strategy, planning… these are Mars' strengths. Venus' concern is more about the people, places and things and how we all interact.

Mars will exercise aggression while Venus leads with diplomacy. Despite these innate differences and obvious occupation of opposite camps, Venus and Mars are continually trying to make it work and find the middle ground where a relationship can be forged between two very different entities.

The tight conjunction for over a month from Feb 12 – March 12 implies that we may be individually and collectively reaching a point where negotiations have failed and there is a need for a show of force, for protecting boundaries or for destroying contracts that have been broken.

The conjunction of Mars and Venus can be applied to each individual chart by identifying which houses are holding the signs of Aries, Taurus, Libra and Scorpio, the signs of Mars and Venus. These houses could define the areas of struggle that may be affected by this extended Mars-Venus conjunction.

Just to review, Mars was moving more quickly after Venus' retrograde period, so entered Sagittarius on January 29, beginning this interaction and moving more rapidly at the time, caught up to Venus while still in Sagittarius around February 12. The pairing moves into Capricorn in tandem on February 26, still traveling together but in another sign (and house in an individual chart.) Look for shifts in the negotiation/battle/relationship around the end of February, as the dynamic pairing of Venus and Mars change signs.

The Moon also travels with Venus and Mars into Capricorn, reminding us that from February 24 – March 10 we have another very strong pulse of Kala Sarpa Yoga in effect. If there have been difficult decisions pending, answers should fall into place. Make sure you take the opportunity to submit your input or make minor adjustments while you can!

Again, Venus and Mars, even though gaining some space between them, will both remain in Capricorn through March. This brings some other implications, for example, they will be joining Saturn and Mercury, giving further opportunities for the "war" that comes when Venus and Mars move past Saturn.

Sun in Pisces March 14 – April 14

Our fearless leader, the Sun, moves out of Aquarius and into Pisces on March 14. It is during this transit each year that the vernal equinox occurs and the Sun begins to gain strength as the days lengthen (Northern hemisphere version.)

The Sun is captain of team Luminary: Sun, Moon, Mars/Ketu and Jupiter. When he transits signs lorded by his team, he functions more strongly in a positive way. This occurs on a two month on, two month off basis, based on the arrangement of the zodiac signs. Jupiter rules Pisces and Mars rules Aries, so from mid-March to mid-May each year, the Sun grows more powerful, based on both sign placement and Spring season.

Sun moves into Pisces, leaving Jupiter and Mercury in Aquarius and the trio of Mars, Venus and Saturn in Capricorn. We begin to see the planets spread out on the field of play, which could reflect in day to day life by the ability to gain the perspective that space engenders.

The sign of Pisces is watery by element and dual by nature. This implies a rather non-stationary environment that requires buoyancy and guidance to navigate. It is the final sign of the zodiac, inviting dissolution with the promise of regeneration that takes places in the first sign of the zodiac, Aries.

With the Sun representing our collective soul, we may find ourselves facing the need to integrate the essentials, discard that which has been spent and riding the tide of our soul-level desires into the next cycle of growth.

Full Moon in Virgo/Uttaraphalguni March 18

Just after midnight on March 18, the Moon exactly opposes the Sun in Pisces, shining brightly in Mercury's earth sign of Virgo at 4°, in the Sun's nakshatra of Uttaraphalguni. This lunar mansion points our attention toward harvesting the fruits of our labor and reaching for that which is ripe.

This full Moon sheds beautiful light to help us make the right choices based on the data that we have. May the truth be illuminated such that we can gracefully move forward with kindness, wisdom and compassion.

Mercury Transits Pisces March 24 – April 8

Mercury is running into the arms of the Sun, plunging into his sign of debility, Pisces, on March 24, for a rapid transit that bounces him to the front of the line as he blazes into Aries on April 8.

A note on combustion and debilitation, which dear little Mercury will be splashing into in late March; out of any of the planets these difficult states seem to affect Mercury a bit less severely.

Combustion is the state of being within a few degrees of the Sun, meaning that no one else can see that planet for a short while. Combustion is something that Mercury experiences more than any of the other planets and depending on the astrologer, the range of combustion can vary. If we take a 15º range before and 5º after the Sun, Mercury runs into combustion from March 18 – April 7, overtaking the Sun on April 2.

Debilitation of Mercury is another factor in March, but in a similar way, the skillful flexibility of Mercury makes it easy to find work arounds. With Mercury representing our capacity for communication and exchange, this short transit may show some challenges with our markets, our media and our day-to-day missives. It may feel like our messages are being lost, not heard or dissolving in thin air. With the Sun also blazing near Mercury, this may compound the feeling of getting lost in the shuffle.

KSY March 24 – April 6

Our third pulse of Kala Sarpa Yoga initiates on March 24, as the waning Moon crosses into Sagittarius. Reviewing the parameters of how this combination is formed, we focus on the nodal axis as a line that divides the zodiac in half at any given time.

The movement of the nodal axis (which we can't observe physically except during eclipses) is reverse from the regular forward motion of the planets as they orbit the Sun. The nodal axis also moves in a jittery way, meaning that it mostly moves retrograde but sometimes takes a few steps forward. The exact position of the nodal axis is reflected as the True Node calculation and the average retrograde position of the nodal axis is seen as the Mean Node calculation.

The True Nodes move signs on March 16. The Mean Nodes move signs on April 10. Either way, we still experience this combination, but it could be argued that it ends a bit sooner if we are taking the True Node, with the combination breaking on April 2.

Similar to the end of February, we may begin to feel the tides pulling us toward the inevitable as March wraps up. We are preparing to adjust to the next station of the nodal axis, with Rahu in Aries and Ketu in Libra through October 2023.

Rahu tends to amplify the sign and its indications where he sits. Moving into Aries, we are seeing an increase in initiative, change, movement and power, as Mars is the ruler of this fiery sign. This sign and house in a personal horoscope could become enlivened, unstable and unpredictable due to this 1.5 year transit.

Ketu's transit tends to cause a vacuum-like effect, which can cause deep changes, increased spirituality, worldly disinterest, obstruction or reversals in circumstances. The sign of Libra will feel this transit for the next 1.5 years. With Venus ruling Libra, this could show an upcoming shift in relationship status, business partnerships, entertainment trends and even innate philosophical beliefs.

Venus Transits Aquarius March 30 – April 27

Speaking of Venus, we've seen some Venus-related intensity since 2022 began, when Venus was in a retrograde phase, shifting roles from evening appearance in 2021 to morning appearance in 2022.

Next, we had Venus hitching up with Mars for a wild ride through February and March. Vis a vis the nodal axis change, let's examine that for the past 1.5 years, Rahu has been occupying a sign of Venus while Ketu has occupied Scorpio, co-ruled by Mars and Ketu. Just after this intense Venus-Mars conjunction phase, the axis shifts, with the next 1.5 years seeing Rahu in a sign of Mars (Aries) and Ketu in a sign of Venus (Libra.)

This play between Mars and Venus is eternal, in the sense of their signs always lying opposite to one another; an ever-present invitation to marry fire and water, despite the challenges. With all of these Mars-Venus factors at play, it would not be surprising to be witnessing or undergoing some instance of deep relationship growth as March becomes April 2022.

As Venus begins to pull away from Mars in mid-March, there is a meeting with Saturn from March 27 – 28 as the faster moving and brighter Venus moves past Saturn at 28º Capricorn. By March 30, Venus moves into Aquarius for about a month before hitting exaltation in Pisces on April 27.

The times are a changin' friends. Ready or not, it's time to make some moves! Stay strong, cooperate with friendly forces and trust the process.