March brings a heavy winter to culmination and a transiting into spring is finally afoot. But not before an intense journey forwards and backwards is realised. The last two months have been loaded with Saturnian energy. So something was about to burst. It is The Tower and the Pot! The new moon has already entered Pisces few days ago, and the two fish will dominate – symbolically speaking – the month. With it the element of water will dominate as well. As we move from the distant intellectual and humanitarian Aquarius we are given the opportunity, while staying in the humanitarian, even if a bit remote sphere, to engage our intuitive powers. It’s time for universal love. So a very personal and private time for us all. Mercury, the Sun, Moon and Neptune are in Pisces now. Over in Capricorn we have a rather packed full house with Mars, Jupiter, Ceres, the South Node of the Moon, Pluto, and Saturn. They are empowering, grounding and materialising our visions and dreams.

So how does The Tower fit in this configuration you may ask? This is all fire, instability and destruction. Where is the earthing and watering elements to be found? Everything is dissolving in Pisces. In addition, with Mercury retrograde at the beginning of the month through the sign, and with a shadow period that goes right through to the 30th there is no mitigating the effects of confusion and mysticism we are engulfed by. If anything, it compounds what would be our logical decision making process, with sentimental feeling going backwards and inwards. Our analytical powers, overpowered by oceanic Neptune. Reality becomes unreality. Structures may fall. But The Tower does not represent ruin. It rather tells us of the destruction of what is fake and inauthentic. It’s the crashing down of falsehood, and what we euphemistically perhaps call fake news in its many disguises. It’s the collapse of fake news in the environment and in ourselves. And because this is the Alchemical Tarot we can see the references to the pot boiling and us observing the changes that are out of our control. The transmutation that is taking place in front of our very eyes permeates our lives. It’s almost like a dream but the breakthrough is real. And the sense of ‘as above so bellow’ is a moment of enlightenment and joy. The break up of reality leads to a sudden flash of creativity and inspiration that must be seized.

This burst of energy leads to the Queen of Coins. She is represented here as a true Goddess of Fortune – Bona Fortuna. She sits at the centre of the spread personifying pleasure and abundance. Holding a rather phallic looking horn full of goodness, she is assertive yet passive. Things seem to just happen. Calmness permeates everything in sight. And generosity. Luscious and tame natural landscape surround her. She has luxurious hair and is dressed only in jewels, and seemingly being comfortable with it. Her crown is obviously her authority. The Queen holds a giant coin on her right hand. An ancient castle is depicted in the distance. She is a classical representation of Venus and Ceres. These attributes of sensuality and well being are leading to higher goals. By the end of March material goods and achievements manifesting in all their forms will lead to a more complex aim. The month’s upheavals will manifest prosperity but prosperity itself is no escape from suffering. It is a month we have to go through to get out. So the journey will lead to a situation of sacrifice that is necessary for the solution. Whatever we are involved with, we will not be able to resolve it without an element of sacrifice.

With The Hanged Man, the lesson is that we are going to have to give up something for a higher purpose. The Hanged Man represents an ordeal in the journey but it is not death. It does not indicate finality or an ending. Yet, it is not negotiable either. The depicted serpent can be found in the work of the 14th century French alchemist Flamel. It is an enigmatic element that is said to represent Mercury being sacrificed to complete the Work. A similar sacrifice is found in the myth that tells of Odin – a revered Norse god – who hanged himself from the World Tree to gain wisdom. By hanging upside down The Hanged Man loses his gold coins. So there is loss of ego, of self esteem or material possessions. In the same way as the heroes of myths and Gods we become attached to purpose and responsibility. The self necessarily dissolves for something bigger and nobler than our immediate gratification. Happiness is suspended.

Flavia