The Spring Equinox, a time of rebirth in the northern hemisphere, comes on 20th March as the Sun enters Aries beginning a new astrological cycle. It coincides with Nowruz, the Iranian New Year. The four Cardinal Ingresses of the year – Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn – are held to be significant in the quarter year which follows.
This Spring Solstice sees the Aries Sun close to Neptune Saturn offering an array of possibilities. Neptune, the compassionate healer softening Saturn’s rigid self-reliance and uncaring streak, to offer a hand to the underdogs. Or Neptune’s tendency to fantasy undermining Saturn’s grip on reality, leading to neurotic fears. Often associated with suffering and sacrifice, it can lead to illness. There usually is a struggle between lower and higher motivations, between primitive responses and humanitarian ideals.
Relocated to Teheran it puts the confused Sun Saturn Neptune on the Descendant, in the chart area of allies and enemies; with a grandstanding Pluto in the 5th and confident Jupiter in the 10th. Relocated to Washington, DC there is an indecisive Sun Saturn Neptune in the 11th, hinting at a lack of forward planning.
Eris, the planet of chaos and discord is conjunct the wounded-healer Chiron, a toxic combination well illustrated in the Middle East conflagration.
The Mars is not prominent, as it was in the recent late December Capricorn Ingress with a disturbing Sun Mars square Neptune Saturn.
And more so in the 2025 Libra Ingress – Mars square Pluto, and on the apex of a yod inconjunct Saturn Neptune sextile Uranus. With another yod of Mars sextile Venus inconjunct Neptune Saturn. It was a particularly strong chart with an Air Grand Trine of Pluto trine Uranus trine Sun opposition Neptune Saturn. One ancient astrologer believed the Libra Ingress was the key to the year ahead.
Another point of interest is the New Moon in late Pisces on March 19th, the day before the solstice. It is the first New Moon after the 17 February Solar Eclipse at 28 Aquarius square Uranus. My impression looking back on past eclipse cycles is that the following New Moon can often be a trigger for events connected to the eclipse. That eclipse located to Tehran has Eris Chiron (= chaos, conflict and unhealable wounds) conjunct the Midheaven and Pluto conjunct the Descendant, marker for enemies and allies.
Roll on the August Solar Eclipse which promises “a time of breaking out of a negative situation which has seemed hopeless into a more positive space with more options available. Worries will clear. Solutions will appear and need to be grasped.” Can’t come a moment too soon.
The March 19th New Moon at 28 Pisces conjuncts Pete Hegseth’s natal Moon and the fixed star, Scheat. This seems relevant to the situation in the Gulf – Scheat is connected to disasters at sea, shipwrecks, etc. On March 20th, the Sun enters 0 Aries. Soon after that, Mercury turns direct.
The winged horse of Pegasus, Scheat’s constellation, evokes some potent symbolic resonances as Iran targets oil supplies and shipping. A red Pegasus horse was the symbol for oil company Mobil, then subsequently adopted by ExxonMobil Corporation. There’s a Turkish airline company that regularly flies/flew to Tehran named Pegasus Airlines. There’s also, currently, Pegasus Oil and Gas. Their company website states:
“At Pegasus Oil and Gas Trading LLC, we take immense pride in being your trusted partner in the dynamic world of energy. As a leading player in the UAE’s oil and gas sector, we are dedicated to delivering top-tier petroleum products while setting industry standards for excellence and reliability.”
Oil Nationalisation Day is a national annual public holiday in Iran, celebrated on 20th March, connecting with Persian New Year Nowruz celebrations at the Vernal Equinox. It marks the 1951 nationalisation of the oil industry, and Iran’s independence from the West’s control of that industry – formerly a British-run enterprise. The date for the first OND in 1951 was just before the Spring Equinox on the 21st that year. The Sun was therefore 29 Pisces, aligned with fixed star Scheat in Pegasus. It opposed Saturn Rx, 28 Virgo – a neat reversal of last September 21st’s Solar Eclipse, 29 Virgo, opposing Saturn Rx 28 Pisces. The Autumn Equinox was on the 22nd September in 2025.
Cosmic patterns. They never cease to amaze me.
A fascinating array of interwoven threads and synchronicity there, Jane.
Thanks VF! I’ve done a minor amount of digging on this now to see how the 29 Pisces Scheat message might work for Iran, and wondered about 2010. The Uranus in Pisces aligned with Scheat back then would also symbolically include oil (Neptune). In April 2010 Saturn 28 Virgo opposed Uranus 28 Pisces. In May, Jupiter 27 Pisces opposed Saturn in Virgo. On 29th April, the UN reported:
“Iran can use next week’s global gathering on disarmament at United Nations Headquarters to reassure other States of its peaceful nuclear intentions, the forum’s chair said today as he urged countries to exchange ideas on how to cut the world’s stockpile of nuclear weapons.”
April 2010 also saw these events. I’ve long associated Scheat with plane crashes – the winged horse soars above, his rider falls to earth:
April 2010 was marked by major international events, including the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano which caused massive European air travel disruptions, the Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash that killed President Lech Kaczyński, and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill following a rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.
April 2010 saw significant violence and upheavals in Iran, following the elections.
More positively, for the Solar side of things, in February 2010, the UN’s General Assembly recognised 21 March as International Day of Nowruz.
“The General Assembly this afternoon recognized the International Day of Nowruz, a spring festival of Persian origin…..
According to the preamble of the resolution on the International Day (document A/64/L.30/Rev.2), Nowruz, which means new day, is celebrated on 21 March, the day of the vernal equinox, by more than 300 million people worldwide as the beginning of the new year. It has been celebrated for over 3,000 years in the Balkans, the Black Sea Basin, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Middle East and other regions.” (press.un.org)
On the day of the Aries Ingress the current retrograde Mercury turns direct at 8 Pisces at 19:33 UTC on 20th March 2026. This event occurs in exact square to the US Sibley natal Uranus at 8 Gemini. Interestingly when Mercury went retrograde on 26 February 2026 it was at 22 Pisces square the US Sibley Mars at 21 Gemini. It will return to that degree on Thursday 9th April 2026 which is the day Mars ingresses into Aries.
Interesting that the Vernal Equinox Mercury squares the USA Gemini Uranus, Hugh. That aligns with the great star Aldebaran, 9 Gemini, the alpha star of Taurus, which once marked the Vernal Equinox thousands of years ago, and is sometimes called Watcher of the East.
“Aldebaran has been in the sign Gemini since 1286 AD, just around the height of the Christian Crusades against Islam, an interesting indicator of conflict between two world schools of thought. Antares, for the other side in the conflict, went into religious Sagittarius in 1272 AD and showed its superiority, perhaps, since the Crusaders never did dislodge the Saracens.” [The Living Stars, Dr. Eric Morse, p.36.]
The Full Moon on 31st May is 9 Sagittarius, aligning with fixed star Antares in the heart of the Scorpion, Scorpius constellation. Red star Antares is high energy, has many fiery military and Mars-related associations, and has been named Watcher of The West. It marked the Autumn Equinox around 3052 BC.
Hugh, thanks for pointing out the Aries Ingress-Mercury SD connection. I’d add that Mercury SD is conjunct the North Node at 8 Pisces 54. Altogether suggesting, to me, a new phase or increased focus on ideas, communication, plans with others.
Perhaps, considering the trine to his natal Mercury at 8 Cancer 52 (11th House), we will see this timing emphasis reflected in particular by President Trump’s words and actions.
The Aries Ingress chart set for London in the UK has the MC at 11 Taurus exactly conjunct the UK 1801 Mars.