Navigating the Astrology of March

Two retrogrades, two eclipses, and Neptune changes signs.

I have said this before, but if I didn’t know astrology, I probably would not be doing too well right now. It feels like there is so much uncertainty, it’s hard to plan for the future, and I just don’t have a lot of energy at the moment. By tracking the current transits though, I know there will be a noticeable shift in about two months, but before we can get there, we first have to navigate the transits happening in March.

There’s a lot of content flying around out there about the astrology of March, and it is a huge month astrologically. We’ve got two retrogrades, two eclipses, and an outer planet changing signs for the first time in over a decade. So I wanted to break it all down for you in a way that’s a bit easier to understand in the context of your own chart, so that you can focus on the areas that you do have control over. Let’s first walk through each of the significant transits of March, before we get into how you might incorporate these energies into your life. If you want a further explanation of what all of what we’re about to go over means for your specific rising sign, that is something I’ve covered over in my 2025 yearly horoscopes.

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March Timeline of Events

March 1: Venus retrograde begins and lasts until April 12. It will cover 10 degrees of Aries to 24 degrees of Pisces

March 14: Lunar eclipse in Virgo, occurs at 23 degrees of Virgo

March 15: Mercury retrograde begins and lasts until April 7. It will cover 9 degrees of Aries to 26 degrees of Pisces

March 29: Solar Eclipse in Aries, occurs at 8 degrees of Aries

March 30: Neptune moves into Aries, will remain at 0 degrees of Aries for a month.

All of March: Saturn will be covering 20-24 degrees of Pisces, and the North Node will be hovering at 27 degrees of Pisces

When you read through this timeline, did you start to notice something?

A very similar degree range is emphasized for all of these dates: late Pisces degrees, mainly from about 23/24 degrees of Pisces up until about 8/9 degrees of Aries. All of these transits are taking place across the third decan of Pisces and the first decan of Aries. This made me want to do some digging on the signs and their decans, and this new book I have on the topic was super helpful.

These two decans are pretty much polar opposites, so it will be interesting to see how over the course of the next few weeks the themes associated with each might be competing, both in your own life and also in the world at large.

The third decan of Pisces represents:

• Being in the dark - not really seeing the full picture, prone to being misled at first until you gain necessary wisdom on a situation

• Trying to get to the bottom of something that isn’t completely clear

• Stopping to reflect on if you need to react or fight back

• The ending or wrapping up of something

• Having greater spiritual awareness

Meanwhile, the first decan of Aries is associated with:

• A fresh start

• Pushing past obstacles and identifying your best course of action

• Obtaining freedom

• Figuring out your sense of identity and self expression

• Claiming what is yours - very much a fighting energy in this way

As you can see, these two parts of the zodiac are very different. And because the Venus and Mercury retrogrades start in Aries before moving back into Pisces, it could be that the Aries energy of wanting to take action and start something new is very much the vibe at the start of March, but as we get closer to the end of the month and these planets begin to shift back into Pisces, joining the North Node and Saturn there, you may feel like that first course of action you came up with isn’t working out like you hoped it would. You might need to reflect on a situation or opportunity first before jumping in fully. It could also be that there’s something that has to run its course in your life before you can completely move on to that next new chapter.

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Identifying what this means for your individual chart

Now that we’ve gone over some of the themes at large that will be the backdrop for March, you can identify what this means for your own individual chart by locating the houses ruled by Aries and Pisces. If when using Placidus, you have Pisces and Aries both in one house, I recommend switching to whole sign houses for this exercise to see how the themes of two distinct houses may be influencing each other.

Once you’ve located these two houses in your chart, you will want to dig deeper into understanding the themes of each. You can revisit this article I wrote on the 12 houses last year. For example, if you have a Libra rising chart, as seen in the diagram above, then your 7th house is ruled by Aries and your 6th by Pisces. So you may feel a blend of 7th and 6th house themes prominently over the next couple of months, and it might be that you’re rethinking certain work partnerships, or you may be balancing a relationship with your workload, or you could be stepping back from a relationship in order to take better care of yourself.

It will be interesting to see how the next month or two plays out, because the themes of these two houses ruled by Pisces and Aries may already feel very familiar to you, especially in regard to what’s been happening in your life over the last couple of years. Saturn has been transiting the Pisces ruled house of your chart since March 2023, Jupiter was in the Aries ruled house of your chart throughout parts of 2022 and 2023, and eclipses have been happening in Aries since April 2023. So these themes really aren’t that new to you, but whatever you’ve recently been starting in these parts of your life is now going to be going through a deeper restructuring phase, and will require more focus and commitment. You may also be dissolving long-held mindsets you’ve had in this part of your life, as you establish new beliefs there.

Both Aries and Pisces ruled houses will continue to be a bigger focus throughout 2025, 2026, and 2027, with the North Node transiting Pisces and Saturn continuing on in Aries. So if the themes of these two houses feel frustrating or uncertain at the moment, you will be spending a lot of time gaining a greater mastery over these two parts of your life. You can think of whatever is happening in March as being a precursor to bigger themes you will continue to experience over the next couple of years. And maybe what you end up constructing in your life during this time will continue to be an underlying theme over the next decade or so, since Neptune remains in the Aries house of your chart until 2039.

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Also Noting Virgo

We can’t forget the Virgo ruled house of your chart, which falls opposite to Pisces. Having the first lunar eclipse there in March will spark deeper reflection and will likely bring up a lot of emotions associated with that area of your life. There will be four eclipses in this sign between this March and early 2027, so any realizations that you’re making now will continue to be developed and incorporated into your life over the next two years. It could also be that a series of changes is about to happen in that area for you too.

For example, I have a friend who has an Aries rising chart, so Virgo rules her 6th house. She is currently feeling very conflicted about going back to work after maternity leave, and it’s left her reflecting on if she even likes her job anymore and how she might find a career that has more flexibility to stay at home. I told her she would likely feel pretty emotional about work this coming month, but that by September, when there’s a solar eclipse in Virgo, she would start to feel like a new beginning is taking place there for her.

It would also be good to lean more into these themes associated with the Virgo ruled house of your chart if the area ruled by Pisces feels overwhelming. With opposite signs, it’s good to find a balance between the two, not leaning too far in the direction of just one.

Virgo themes in general that you will want to keep in mind throughout March, especially around the middle of the month, will be:

• Prioritizing your physical health and wellness activities

• Finding greater structure in your daily routine, or finding a routine that works best for you

• Finding enjoyment in the mundane activities that make up your day - being more present

• Being of service to others, whether that’s through your work or in your personal relationships - might help you to obsess less over your own personal problems.

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Interpreting Planets or Angles Affected by These Transits

Some of you may have planets or angles in your chart that fall right in this 20-29 degree Pisces range, or within the 0-10 Aries range. It is also important to note if you have chart placements between 20-29 degrees of Gemini, Sagittarius, or Virgo, or placements between 0-10 degrees of Cancer, Capricorn or Libra. Those angles or planets will be directly affected by these retrogrades, eclipses, and Neptune ingress.

Wish my dad luck this month. He has a 1 degree Aries sun, getting hit by several different transits, as seen in the diagram above.

When interpreting what it will mean for that specific planet or angle in your chart, you need to get clear on what that planet represents, as well as what other houses it rules in your chart. In the case of the chart above, the Sun is in Aries, and is being affected by Mercury and Venus retrogrades. The Sun happens to rule the Leo 1st house and the ascendant of this chart. So not only is it a 9th house Mercury and Venus retrograde transit, but because the Sun is affected it also brings up themes related to both the Sun and the ascendant, which would tie in with identity, health, personal style, self confidence, etc.

To give another example, if for instance, you have a 28 degree Pisces Venus, transits this month that cross over that Venus will make Venusian themes like relationships, finances, or creativity more prominent in your life, and the houses ruled by Taurus and Libra in your chart and the themes associated with each will be extra relevant too. For any planets or angles affected by these transits, know that you will be doing greater reflection and restructuring not only on the topics related to that angle or planet, but also to the other house(s) it may rule in your chart.

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How to navigate the energy of March?

I’ve just thrown a lot of information at you. You might be wondering, what I can do this month, how can I best navigate some of this chaos?

My advice is to not plan for anything super intensely. Overall, March is still a very transitional time, so nothing is completely set in stone. Feelings and plans are open to change in the coming weeks, and how an idea, situation, or opportunity looks now may not be what it ends up being once we get past these retrogrades and eclipses. Also know that if any important realizations or big emotions come up, that you will continue to further develop and incorporate these ideas or feelings into your life over the next couple of years.

If you are looking for ways to lean into the energy of March in a more productive way, it might be helpful to embrace some of the themes related to Pisces and Aries below:

• Taking time to yourself for reflection, Pisces and Aries are both signs that are more solo in different ways.

• Following creative interests that come up - not overthinking what interests you’re drawn to, just pursuing them because they feel right

• Leaning into a spiritual practice. I personally like to journal and pose questions to my higher self, and then write down the first answer that enters my mind. Anyone who has read The Artist’s Way knows what I’m talking about.

  • Intuition just seems to be stronger under Pisces transits

• Getting out into nature - Pisces especially likes to feel connected to something bigger, and then Aries needs that stimulation of having a new experience. So maybe changing up your regular walks, exploring a new park, visiting a museum.

• Engaging in activities that serve both your mental and physical health

  • So maybe you’re exercising to feel better mentally

  • Or you’re taking time to rest more fully on days off so that you can show up to work with greater energy

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Revisiting the past to better understand the present

A lot of these transits that we’ve just gone over bear similarities to transits that happened from 2015-2017. The last time a Venus retrograde occurred in Aries was from March-April 2017, and Mercury retrograde also began shifting into Aries during that same time that year. Meanwhile, the last time Saturn was at this degree range of a mutable sign (20-29 degrees) was in 2017 when it was in the final degrees of Sagittarius, so chart placements at that degree range of a mutable sign (Pisces, Virgo, Gemini, Sagittarius) were similarly being affected by Saturn. Finally, the eclipses happened across the signs of Pisces and Virgo from 2015-2017.

So it might be helpful to reflect back on that time in your life for further insight into what type of transition you might be in right now. It won’t necessarily be that the exact same life circumstances are repeating, but internally you may have similar feelings resurfacing. You can also think about what immediately happened in your life right after 2017 - like 2018 and 2019. How did your circumstances change in the couple years that followed? That could help you to prepare for what comes next.

I hope this guide helps you to navigate the next several weeks! If you feel called to share any life updates that are correlated with the current astrology, feel free to do so in the comments section below.