Transiting the Gap: Pisces to Aries and the Power of Navaratri.

{For this week’s horoscope, click here.}

This is a particularly powerful week.

By Saturday the 13th, four planets will have moved to Aries, and they will all be sitting with Ketu. The moon kicks off the momentum Monday crossing Sun, Mars and Venus in Pisces and then into Aries on Wednesday the 10th, just on the tail of Venus crossing over into Aries as well. Mars moves to Aries (it’s own sign) on Friday and then Sun to Aries on Saturday (its place of exaltation). This will bring a lot of heat, passion and creativity to Aries, and add the complexity and fire of Ketu into the mix, and there’s bound to be some changes, excitement, heat and combustion, explosions and unknowns as well. The week ends with Moon going exalted in Taurus on Sunday, in the passionate and sattvic (pure) nakshatra, Rohini.

So what does all of this momentum mean and why is this particular change of signs so intense? For the last several weeks, we have had a lot of energy in Pisces with Mars, Sun and Venus transiting the last sign of the zodiac. There is a nod to the twelfth house with Pisces, and all things related to it. Endings, solitude, foreign travel, losses, ashrams, bed pleasures, marriage and more. The Pisces energy is related to water, temples, caves, fish, movement and cleansing as well as the aforementioned twelfth house matters. We have been experiencing this energy in our relationships, business and work experiences, spiritual pursuits and ancestral connections among other things.

This junction from Pisces to Aries is particularly challenging and poignant. As with any ending, a beginning presents it self. So with the endings of Pisces/twelfth house matters, we can expect some shredding and discarding, letting go along with it. Passing from Pisces to Aries is a challenging path because Pisces is water and Aries is fire, and as we know, fire and water don’t mix well. Symbolically, we could literally say that the fire is going out, getting washed out and extinguished, with some of our pursuits over the course of this passage. What remains after the flood will be pieces that we can use to build on and with. Consider them your clues. These scraps that remain will be what we use for this next cycle around the zodiac, so pay particular attention to what is being left and let go of, and what is here to stay (for now).

There’s another catch though: Ketu. By the end of this week, Venus, Mars and Sun will have crossed this tricky junction and have made it into Aries, only to sit for the next few weeks with Ketu, the moksha planet. Ketu always throws us a few curve balls, because he cuts away our attachments (we could call his work on us, our ‘refinement’). So even though some of our “belongings” safely make it across the treacherous threshold of endings (Pisces/water) into beginnings (Aries/fire), we then must contend with Ketu’s shenanigans. What remains with us after this transit through Aries will be a better  indication of what materials we are working with for the next cycle through the zodiac. So the next month will be yet another of change, endings, and transformations.

The fact that Ketu is currently in Bharani nakshatra is an indication that we will be working directly with Yama, lord of death and dharma. Yama is restriction, restraint, the enforcer of rules. Bharani brings clarity and purification with him and extreme sensitivity, as the symbol for Bharani is the Yoni. Ruled by Venus, Bharani will also be bringing relationships, passion, creativity and abundance into focus.

Expect further clarity, cutting, severing ties and success with destruction and the removal of anything that does not serve you. Be sensitive to what needs to be let go. Suffering comes when we cling to, or hold on too tightly to our attachments. Use this time for spring cleaning on all levels of your life- emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually. By letting go of the old, we create space for the new and the new that more closely aligns with our higher vibrations.

While in Aries, Venus, Sun and Mars will be receiving a direct aspect from both Rahu and retrograde Saturn (read more about this combination via my previous articles). Simultaneously, we will have a debilitated and weak Mercury in Pisces as of the 9th. This may increase issues with communication, mental confusion, slow thinking and processing as well as business and finances.

Adding further intensity to this week and what it symbolizes, Navaratri begins on Thursday the 11th, just after the new moon in Pisces on the 10th (yet another symbolic layer of this particular time we are in). Navaratri is the celebration of the Divine Feminine as it is expressed through the goddesses Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. This nine day celebration takes place in the fall and in the spring, during the seasonal junction times, or sandhi (gap) times.

These particular nine days in the Vedic calendar indicate when the Laws of Nature are most alive and awakened and can be utilized most profoundly. In the fall, these goddess energies are helping Nature (this includes us) to transition into the winter of life—rest, silence, endings, transformations. In the spring, their energy is moving us into a phase of enlivening, awakening, and the transformations that come with this increase in energy.

The first three days of Navaratri are connected with Durga and associated with clearing and cutting that which is not serving us (perfectly aligned with the planetary transits indeed!). The next three days Lakshmi is enlivened. Once we have cleared and cleansed with Durga, we are prepared for the soothing and nurturing, the abundance and thriving of Lakshmi. The final three days of celebration are associated with goddess Saraswati who brings her guidance, abundant knowledge, wisdom and creativity to us. We are then prepared for her gifts of insights, illumination and enlightenment. The day after Navaratri is Lord Rama’s birthday, Sri Ram Navami, and seals the power gained over the previous nine days with gifts from the King.

This is a particularly potent and powerful week. We have multiple planets transiting a very challenging gap and bound for transformation, coupled with a new moon and an exalted moon. Additionally, we begin Navaratri and align with Durga’s energy of fierce, cutting and healing forces. Moon will be exalted on Sunday the 14th in Rohini nakshatra on the first day of Lakshmi, so expect an intense swell of love, passion, compassion and creativity to move through you.

Surrender to the intensity and power of this week and let your own subtle awareness be present.

Dedicate time for your practice and be diligent with rest, meditation, movement practices, mantras and altar offerings. Using this sacred time for listening, carving out space for being in silence, and aligning with its sacred potential, will increase the guidance you receive. Use this week for transformations and use it as momentum for your new year ahead.

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Ed: Kate Bartolotta