March Astrology 2026: The Light Refracts

With a Virgo Total Lunar Eclipse and Mercury retrograde, March shuts the door to the past and allows us to imagine a brave new future

Image by Harry Quan from Unsplash

March Astrology Forecast

It's March and the wheels have already hit the tarmac. The historic Saturn-Neptune Conjunction of February 2026 has laid the foundation for a whole new world. But first there is the small matter of putting an end to the past…

The slate is being wiped clean as we speak and that can mean a whole number of things, not all of them pleasant.

For this is a new age of Heroes that we are entering. And heroes are not made in easy times.  

The moment has come to take courage, build strength, and establish greater independence.

This is a time of old empire-dissolution as new empires are being born.

But, truth be told, we’ve had enough of empires. This conjunction is in Aries after all. The individual is on the ascendancy.

Let's check out the cosmic vibes in this March astrology weather forecast...

Virgo Total Lunar Eclipse (March 3rd)

March enters all guns blazing (sadly too literal) with a powerful Total Lunar Eclipse at 13° Virgo at 11:37 GMT / UT on March 3rd. 

This is a South Node Eclipse, revealing the truth about the past, accelerating events long in the making, and marking the irrevocable end of an old way of life.

The penny finally drops, truths hit home, things are become clear. 

This eclipse is opposite its ruler, Mercury, which is currently retrograde. This signals the beginning of a long rethink about where we find ourselves and how we got here, reframing the past so we can make better choices in future.

The Sun and Moon harmonise with Jupiter and this presents an opportunity for growth, expansion and long term vision.

It’s worth noting that expansionism, greed, opportunism, blind faith and arrogance are also Jupitarian things.

This is why one should never think of astrology in terms of "good" and "bad" but rather consider how we can best work with the energies the cosmos presents us with.

The simple fact is Jupiter is strong in the sky this month and this presents us all with unique opportunities.

Images and Thoughts for contemplation:

• Sabian Symbol: a powerful statesman overcomes a state of political hysteria.

• Gene Key / Hexagram 64: Confusion is the danger here as we look outside for answers. With Mercury also retrograde in Pisces, external events make little sense, information may be scarce, and we need to engage our imagination and ultimately look within for true illumination.

• Saros Cycle: This family of eclipses (appearing around every 18 years) is characterised by Mercury. News, logistics, paperwork and communications may prove frustrating, urging a meticulous reassessment of the situation. We last had this family of eclipses in February 2008. Rung any bells?

• Metonic Cycle: It is also worth looking back 19 years, which is the frequency with which the Moon returns back to the exact spot in the sky. That brings us back to March 3rd 2007, when we had an eclipse in nigh the same degree of Virgo (of a different family / Saros cycle). Worth meditating on what was happening for you back then.

Mercury Retrograde Meets the Sun (March 7th) & Goes Direct (March 20th)

March entered with Mercury retrograde. The little whizzer turned retrograde February 26th and will go direct March 20th. 

For the first week of March, up until March 7th Mercury is in Hindsight Mode.

He is, that is, in his so-called “Epimethean” phase, still setting in the Western horizon shortly after sunset.

This is the time to look back, tidy loose ends and rearrange our perspective with the benefit of hindsight and the aid of that powerful Total Lunar Eclipse.  

Come March 7th Mercury conjuncts the Sun and crosses over to his morning star phase (too close to the Sun to see of course). March 7th-20th is Mercury’s “Promethean” phase when he enters Foresight Mode.

Let's do all our ruminating and rethinking of past matter by March 7th. For from that point on, it’s time to try and tentatively project our thoughts into the future.  

That March 7th conjunction is essentially a “New Mercury”. We get one of those three times a year.

Just like we have a New Moon, we have renewal cycles for all the planetary bodies. That New Mercury - the (so called) "inferior" Mercury conjunction with the Sun during its retrograde phase which happens three times a year - plants new ideas in the dark recesses of our minds. We won’t see their upshot clearly until May this year at the Full Mercury phase (the ‘superior conjunction’ with Mercury direct.

Do watch those days around March 7th to see what is becoming clear in the depths of your mind and pay attention to the two weeks after to see what new ideas are cooking...  

Mercury won’t straighten his course - i.e. go direct - until March 20th. This gives us two weeks from the 7th onwards to try and decipher which way to go and get all our ducks in a row.

Best not to finalise your thinking (or paperwork or electronic purchases if possible) until well past March 20th, allowing a few days extra for Mercury to fully wake up and ditch maintenance mode!

March 7th-20th is a good time for Research and Development, and Beta-testing ideas. 

The New Mercury (Mercury’s Inferior Conjunction) happens at 17° Pisces on March 7th at 11:01am GMT. 

Sabian Symbol: "An Easter Parade" (participation in collective peak experiences).

(Mercury was also retrograde in Pisces at the outbreak of Covid six years ago. Funny business is afoot creating confusion at these times. This is a time to believe very little of what we see and hear and turn inwards for truth.)

Venus enters Aries & conjuncts Saturn and Neptune (March 6th-8th)

As Mercury shifts gears, Venus also enters Aries on March 6th, ditching the Pisces frills and chiffons for a suitable warrior-amazon Aries outfit, complete with armour, ready to confer with Neptune and Saturn on the 7th and 8th of March. 

This is the first time we truly realise how the world changing around us affects what matters most to us.

These are our preferences, assets, and desires, our relationships and our capacity to enjoy love, self worth and life’s good things. 

Time to bring our values and preferences into alignment with a new reality in the making and make choices from this new vantage point. 

Venus in Aries also reminds us that love is ultimately not a soft, easy or superficial state of affairs. If something or someone is worth our love, then it is worth fighting for.  Love demands courage and bravery.

Venus in Aries is under no illusions on that score, and relationships take on a ‘straight down the line’ (slightly crass yet more honest) hue during this period. 

Venus in Aries also loves a bit of a scrap so that could fuel the current warring appetite.

Jupiter stations Direct mid-Cancer (March 11th)

Back to back with Mercury's and Venus' shifts, we have imperial Jupiter stationing direct in his exaltation sign in Cancer at 15 ° on March 11th.

Jupiter direct on March 11th fills the world with his expansionist, visionary and exuberant spirit.

Time to set your sights on something big and believe!

Believing is seeing.

A last quarter Moon on the same day in Sagittarius (Jupiter's sign) calls for a broader perspective on events.

Jupiter is the brightest body in a star-studded part of the night sky right now, sitting at mid-Cancer, close to bright Sirius (below to the left), the unmistakeable constellation of Orion (below slightly to the right), and Castor & Pollux of the Twins (right above). 

Here we have all kinds of big shots confidently jostling for position - a time of faith and opportunity.

This is a lucky time - big Jupiter vibes - a time of faith and opportunity for growth and abundance.

Equally, with Jupiter so accentuated, this is perhaps a time of taking liberties and respecting no bounds…  

This expansionism is accentuated as the Sun and Mercury trine Jupiter on the 5th and 9th respectively, leading up to Jupiter’s station on March 11th. Mars brings up the rear, trining Jupiter on March 22nd (just past the Equinox), for an extra boost of confidence and get-go. Mars-Jupiter is also famous for its serendipity.

March 11th fires up your vision. Then March 22nd is a good day for major initiatives - especially those that require good timing. .

Jupiter stationary in such a strong position spreads faith, optimism and eagerness for more...

The time is perfect for taking a bold step - especially around anything to do with home and family, land, shelter and nurturing - new territory and anything that makes us feel more secure at base.

We are now entering the final couple of months of Jupiter in its sign of exaltation, Cancer, until June 30th.

March 11th - June 30th is the perfect time to set life on a more abundant foundation and push forward with our most ambitious plans.

March 13th-17th - Mars-Mercury-North Node Conjunction

March 13th-17th is the next major nerve point of the month, when a lot that is meaningful could happen very quickly.  

Mars in Pisces (since March 2nd) now meets that retrograde Mercury while both conjunct the North Node in Pisces: Mercury crosses over that North Node (the eclipse point) on the 13th, Mercury and Mars meet on the 15th, then Mars conjuncts the Node on the 17th. This creates a five day window of key talks and initiatives with significant repercussions.

A lot can happen in a short time when Mars and Mercury meet. Ideas are enacted without delay and rows can flare up.  Mercury is retrograde and this could complicate matters. Whatever arises won’t be easily resolved, at least not before Mercury and Mars meet again in late April.

This Pisces Mars-Mercury combo is rather diffuse - fabulous for selfless service, spiritual pursuits and exercises of the imagination.

It’s rather prone to flights of fancy too. So when it comes to more mundane matters, things could get rather confusing, obfuscated, fuzzy.

If you want to be sure to hit your target with a concentrated force, best wait until Mars and Mercury enter Aries.

Mars enters Aries on April 9th, Mercury on April 15th and the two meet again April 20th. That will be a time of major initiative.

For now, best flex the imaginative muscles, pursue inspiring projects and do some work on the astral plane.

Pisces New Moon (March 19th)

And so we arrive at the next batch of key March dates: March 19th and 20th - the days surrounding the Equinox, and the March New Moon in the dregs of Pisces.

One day before the Equinox we have a Pisces New Moon at the penultimate degree of the entire Zodiac, the 359th degree at 29° Pisces at 01:23 GMT / UT. This is the point where total dissolution is but a step away.

This is a New Moon at five minutes to midnight. It says “get ready; l you haven’t got much time!’

We have a powerful laser beam of planets packed all along Pisces and Aries at this moment, bridging the gap between old and new. This is a “stellium” so called, a veritable locomotive with the Sun and Moon sandwiched in the middle.

This New Moon truly sets the scene for the end of our old ways and the transition into some totally new terrain, in which firm seeds will be planted in April.

The Sun and Moon in late Pisces are conjunct Neptune and Saturn in early Aries signifying the tightrope we must all walk if we are to navigate the present chaos and leap from the old world to the New without falling into the abyss.

A perfect sextile to Uranus reveals a real opportunity for breakthrough, a window to leap through, let go of the old patterns and embrace change.

Once, again, Mercury is prominent at this Pisces New Moon: he is practically stationary, conjunct the eclipse points / Lunar Nodes (pointing to humanity's True North), and the first to rise at dawn, leading the parade.

The way we discern and understand our world now is more critical than ever in guiding us through this passage from past to future.

Mercury here evokes the image of the Magus just when reality (in Pisces) is at its most malleable.

Mars in Pisces forms a grand trine to Jupiter and Black Moon Lilith at this New Moon. This is a confident yet subversive energy, perfect for expanding esoteric work, underground projects and secret initiatives.

The Pisces New Moon Sabian Symbol is ‘Light breaking into many colours through a prism.’  This is a wonderful symbol for the phantasmagoric multiplicity of life as it refracts into its many aspects, and the importance of being able to differentiate between them without prejudice. And yet still be able to choose and commit to one path in the interest of forward momentum.

The New Moon is the time to set an intention for a brave and liberating transition to this new world.

Just in time for…

March Equinox 2026  / Sun enters Aries (March 20th)

All this leads us to March 20th and the Aries Equinox at 14:45 GMT/UT of 2026.

With Neptune and Saturn having only just activated that power-point of the giant clock in the sky, the world is on the brink of change.

And now the Sun comes to shine a light on exactly how our world is changing.

March 20th-25th lays it all out for us to clearly see.

The Sun enters Aries on the 20th then conjuncts Neptune on the 22nd and Saturn on the 25th. This is when our world truly takes a new direction.

Time to take charge and make conscious and dynamic choices.

Mercury steals the show again, stationing direct on the day of the Equinox, on March 20th at 19:32 GMT.

We have an influx of information at our disposal beginning to come through on the 20th and still coming through in the days following the Equinox.

The Moon is waxing and it's time to put our best foot forward. 

This March Equinox marks a powerful turning point. It demands that we step up. No more prevaricating. The future calls for presence, courage, and leadership. 

As each planet moves from Pisces to Aries now, March-May is the time to translate dreams into action.

Next month, in April, Mercury and Mars will be the next planets to cross over the Aries Equinox point (on the 9th and 15th of April respectively), meeting Neptune and Saturn April 14th-20th, mobilising energies.

March 19th - Chiron-Eris Conjunction (add Venus on March 26th)

Amid all that commotion, on March 19th, we see Chiron and Eris (two key planetary bodies outside the usual pantheon) complete their final conjunction at 25° Aries. 

Eris literally means ‘strife’ and ‘discord’. Chiron represents gaping open wounds in need of healing. Put the two together and you have a lot of hurt and aggression coming to the surface. And so it has been since last year (the first instances of this arrived in May and October 2025 e.v. ).

This March sees the final expression of these angry, inflamed and festering wounds that nobody dares talk about.  this is a time of unrest.

Both Chiron and Eris represent the underdog and we may see said dog make some noise…

The vulnerability and anger generated flare up by March 26th when Venus arrives to join Chiron and Eris.

March 26th exposes fault lines in our relationships and finances, leaching old hurts and resentments onto the surface. The days surrounding March 26th call for sensitive handling. 

From mid-April to mid-May more planets activate this sensitive spot, and we will need to revisit any festering wounds again and again this spring to improve matters.  

This conjunction between Chiron and Eris ultimately brings a sense of awakening and self-discovery.

The time has come to step outside any comfort zones and embrace a more authentic sense of self.

March 28th - Saturn - Pluto opening sextile

The month closes with an important influence in the background:  March 28th sees the one and only Saturn-Pluto opening sextile of 2026. 

This is the first time that the real seeds and intentions planted at the seminal Saturn-Pluto conjunction of early 2020, a once in nearly four decades occurrence (and the one that locked down the world!) become fully visible to the naked eye. 

What truly happened back then?

Whatever the intent behind 2020, it shall no longer remain inscrutable.

As the seeds planted in 2020 now begin to push through the ground, they will soon be unfolding in the clear light of day. 

What seeds did you plant in your own life at the start of 2020? What major decisions did you make that formed the very survival backbone of your life moving forward?  This is your opportunity to examine these, nourish them and accelerate their growth. 

Saturn-Pluto is a hardy plant. It grows only in the harshest conditions. So the “opportunity” presented at March’s end may be a rather quiet, sombre circumstance. Something quietly unfolding in the background.

And yet an opportunity this is. To nourish that hardy, enduring and survival-ready part of your life whose seeds you planted in early 2020.  

These are interesting times we live in...

March Astro Calendar

Discreet bite-sized astrological events by date to assist planning and contemplation:

WEEK 1

2 March - Mars in Pisces 14:15:  full power flights of fancy

3 March - Virgo Total Lunar Eclipse 11:37 at 13 Virgo: The end of a way of life.

4 March - Venus sextile Uranus: exciting romance / unstable markets

5 March - Sun trine Jupiter: energy built-up / luck

6 March - Venus in Aries: relationships are straight down the line / love of war

7 March - Mercury Inferior Conjunction to Sun: The seed of new ideas 

7 March - Venus conjunct Neptune: romantic in love

8 March - Venus conjunct Saturn: (romantic) love gets real

WEEK 2

9 March - Mercury trine Jupiter: ample news and communications, lucky words

10 March - Venus sextile Pluto: deep pockets, intense emotion, deep love. 

10 March - Mercury Perigee: Mercury clarity - Mercury close to the earth

11 March - Jupiter direct mid-Cancer: intense exhilaration / ready to push forward with visions and big ideas.

11 March - Last Quarter Moon in Sagittarius: change of perspective

13 March - Mars conjunct NN: key initiatives take us towards an unknown destiny

15 March - Mercury Rx conjunct Mars: ideas have legs; arguments; speed; a time of action

WEEK 3

17 March - Mercury Rx conjunct NN: key news and communications

18 March - Venus square Jupiter: greed / too much of a good thing / nothing satisfies

18 March - Sun sextile Uranus: An opportunity for breakthrough via leadership

19 March - Pisces New Moon: Put your best foot forward and prepare for the future

19 March - Chiron conjunct Eris: deep open wounds come to the fore

20 March - Spring Equinox Sun in Aries: World reborn

20 March - Mercury Direct Pisces: Fragmented information starts getting released

22 March - Mars trine Jupiter: a day of confidence luck and serendipity

22 March - Sun conjunct Neptune: What do you dream of? Revitalise your dreams!

WEEK 4

23 March - Mercury conjunct NN: Key information coming to light.

25 March - Sun conjunct Saturn: Make a firm commitment to your plans and the discipline and hard work required to see them through. 

25 March - Sun sextile Pluto: and opportunity for empowerment, financial and otherwise

25 March - First Quarter Moon in Cancer: crisis in action, things planted at the new moon in Pisces on the 19th take on a life of their own

26 March - Venus conjunct Eris and Chiron: Painful realisations come to the open

28 March - Saturn opening sextile Pluto: the first shoots of initiatives planted in 2020 begin to show

WEEK 5

30 March - Venus enters Taurus: Slow down and smell the roses. A more sensual time begins. Preoccupation with pleasure, love, beauty, luxury, value and markets.

Article by YourAstroGenes.com