Happy Pisces New Moon! Happy solar eclipse! This is the time of the year when we open up a new chapter focused on compassion, healing, spirituality, retreat, mysticism, art, and music. If new moons are new beginnings, then a solar eclipse turns our focus to the coming six months. The new moon will be exact on March 8, 2016 at 8:55 pm EST at 18 degrees Pisces. For those further afield, that’s 5:55 pm Los Angeles, 1:55 am London, and 12:55 pm Sydney on March 9.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the energy of redemption lately. And when we swim through the waters of Pisces, not unlike the River of Jordan, we are reborn, redeemed, and washed clean. If Virgo is physical purification, then Pisces is spiritual purification. Within its waters is unconditional love and forgiveness.

It’s hard to forgive. We’re human; the knots of pain and trauma accumulate and calcify. They block our heart and harden our gaze. But here we are, at waters edge, and we have a chance to let it all go. Are we ready?

This is an intense solar eclipse, make no mistake. Falling on the South Node of the Moon, conjunct Chiron, square Saturn, and exactly opposite Jupiter, we’re at the mercy of forces much larger than ourselves. Saturn in Sagittarius — faith. Jupiter in Virgo — service. Chiron in Pisces — spiritual wounds. Biblical analogies come to mind.

When we’re dealing with these three planets, we’re working though themes of the collective, the transpersonal — things that go beyond the wants and desires of the ego. The solar eclipse is a meditation on the pain and aguish we carry that is both our own and part of the human experience.

Eclipses are an imperative. Like a clock striking the hour, they announce what we’ll be working on over the six months. If we’re feeling emotionally overwhelmed and triggered, note that we can’t run away anymore or shut down. It’s Pisces shadow instinct to hide, get lost, take a drink, and to sleep — but our wounds are right in front of us. We have to heal. We have to see that our loss is humanity’s loss, our grief is humanity’s grief. When we heal for ourselves, we heal for everyone.

Thankfully Jupiter on the North Node pulls us out of the abyss and toward the future. It’s a helping hand on the slippery road we’re on. (There’s a mutual reception between Mercury and Jupiter, too.) We can do this. But Saturn square the eclipse says there’s no going back. Salvation and redemption awaits.

For now we purify.

Enjoyed this post? I also do private, one-on-one consultations via Skype and phone, which allow us to delve into your chart and reveal where this new moon will manifest. Go to my consultations page to book your session. Check out my testimonials and FAQ to learn more about what I do.