As we come to the end of the astrological new year, ditch the cynicism and pretend reality is conspiring to shower you with blessings. Let your mind travel to new heights, then turn those dreams into reality
Grace McGrade is an intuitive astrologer and priestess based in Los Angeles. She is the host of the podcast “Bitchcraft: Spirituality for Bad People.” For more astrology, read her guide to risings signs and moon signs. Read an overview of what 2024 has coming up for us this year here.
March opens in a surreal haze, as the Sun makes its journey through Pisces, blurring the lines between the real and the fantastical. It’s the breaking point between Winter and Spring, and we are sifting through buried emotional material, preparing for the victory of light over darkness. In the final stretch of Winter, we are in need of restoration and reprieve, looking for clues about what to renew and what to release. The Piscean placements create an atmosphere of unreality, keeping our heads in the heavens. Feelings and fairytales take precedence over the mundanities of daily life, and our appetites for escapism will be at an all time high. Our daily lives take on a dream-like quality and our intuitive facilities enhance as we wade through unconscious realms.
On March 10, a New Moon in Pisces opens our healing channels, bestowing messages from the great beyond and helping us process emotions to better manifest the future. Embrace the catharsis as the heaviest months of the year are over. As the personal planets make their annual stop in Pisces, we can feel spacey and ungrounded, privy to mood changes and bouts of daydreams. Venus enters Pisces on the 11th, followed by Mars on the 22nd. Venus has ongoing conversations with Saturn this month, acting as a celestial checkpoint for our relationships. Are we using our relationships to escape, or expand? Are we being delusional, or deliberate? Perhaps it’s time to face the music.
The Sun gallivants into fiery Aries on the 19th, signifying the start of a brand new astrological cycle. It’s the astrological new year, spring has sprung, as we have a renewed sense of purpose. Aries season is a reminder to reacquaint ourselves with our personal missions, to restore our drive. Eager to embrace new trajectories and embark on adventure, our attitude returns to one of greater independence, as we are reminded of what makes us individuals. Eclipse season approaches, and we are once again looking to rebalance the axis between ourselves and our counterparts.
On March 25, the Full Moon in Libra illuminates our codependent attributes and puts superficial dynamics to the test. We are closing out cycles of remaining in relationships that don’t match our ideals, or pace, in exchange for something more honest. With the Aries placements ensuring we make bold moves, we can be childish and combative, prone to tantrums. Mercury prepares to retrograde on April 1 and we are quick to say what we mean – but we must be cautious of being mean when we say it.
ARIES//ARIES RISING
March is your chance for rest and reprieve, before the dawn of a new astrological year. You are kissing the void, reacquainting with the abyss, privy to psychic nudges that answer cosmic questions. Reacquaint with your inner world, tend to your emotional landscape.
You may be mourning outdated outlooks or dynamics, grieving relationships that didn’t quite pan out. Eclipse season is around the corner, falling into your arena of relationships, inciting permanent and drastic change. You are clearing the way for lasting lovers and karmic connections that stand the test of time. By the time your birthday season kicks off, on the 19th, you emerge out of a shining chrysalis of greater self knowledge. Restored vitality, purpose and drive, you end March on the fast track towards true love.
Aries Beauty Recommendation: Aesop Amazing Face Cleanser
TAURUS//TAURUS RISING
Pisces season supports you to surrender connections that are out of alignment, as the Sun shines in the sector of friendships. Social engagements and group projects take precedence and you are encouraged to collaborate in a shared mission. You are subject to psychic insights about who to keep in your close corner, privy to uncomfortable “aha” moments about other’s true intentions.
A new astrological year is on the horizon, and you may prefer to opt for solitude than drain yourself by entertaining others. The tortured artists and evangelical escapists have to go, and you no longer want to assist anyone in glamorising their pain. It’s time to find creatives who add to your rosy picture of life, rather than pollute it.
Taurus Beauty Recommendation: Byredo Liquid Lipstick Matte in Marriage
GEMINI//GEMINI RISING
Pisces season has you detecting dreams from delusion, as the planets illuminate your sector of ambition. You are learning how to pair your gifts of imagination with time management and structure. If you want to become a VIP, you must first feel like one. Try to simulate feelings of approval and recognition within yourself, before reaching externally for affirmation. The more you can tend to your own inner landscape before taking action, the better.
Aries season kicks off on the 19th, initiating a 12-month cycle of new beginnings, particularly in your area of friendships and social scenes. You need a like-minded tribe to bring out the best in you, and as eclipse season approaches, you naturally gravitate towards the right people.
Gemini Beauty Recommendation: Seven London Soap Collection
CANCER // CANCER RISING
March beckons you to move beyond your regularly scheduled programming and take more risks. As the Sun radiates through mystical Pisces, you are encouraged to challenge any narratives that keep you in victimhood. Drop any outdated stories about failure and restore your sense of faith. The universe isn’t punitive or cruel, it ebbs and flows in the direction of your attention. Turn your focus to the bigger picture. Let your mind travel to new heights, expand your knowledge and try on different perspectives. Whether you are making a physical trip or going on a metaphysical one – you are getting spiritually upgraded.
Aries season arrives March 19, increasing your professional momentum, drawing your attention towards career matters. A 12-month cycle of new beginnings incites professional ventures for you, so keep your focus sharp!
Cancer Beauty Recommendation: Jasmina Vico Screen Star Serum
LEO // LEO RISING
You are a martyr when it comes to love, privy to bouts of delusion and fantasy. Romantic by nature, you have had your fair share of lessons when it comes to idealising partners and friends. Pisces season shines a light on your 8th house of sex, death and rebirth – helping you explore your approach to intimacy. This is your time to transform and transmute, to unearth forgotten heartache and become your own lover. Keep doors to the past closed and set intentions for lasting love.
The New Moon on March 10 encourages you to embark into a new level of intimacy, free of the psychic stressors of the past. You are unearthing a newfound sexual prowess, an erotic magnetism, paired with boundariedness and selectivity. It is inevitable that many will gravitate in your direction, but now is the time to practise discernment. Let people show you who they are, not just tell you what you want to hear. It’s time to gatekeep your generosity and guard your magic, at least until you are swept off your feet.
Leo Beauty Recommendation: Lelo Lily 2 Personal Massager
VIRGO // VIRGO RISING
With the Sun radiating in your opposite sign Pisces, you’re trading your work gear for “delulu” lemons, encouraged to approach life from a fantastical vantage point, rather than analysing everything. Let yourself dream, ponder, dilly-dally and fall into fantasy. Your sector of significant others is highlighted, determining the relationships that need to be phased out, or even taken to another level. March is about letting go of the tight reins on your life and becoming a passenger. Surrender control and let someone else take the lead.
With Eclipse season on the horizon, you are encouraged to gravitate towards interdependent dynamics, who avoid disturbing your energetic equilibrium. Take note of who seems to be in perpetual victimhood, or who resorts to guilt trips as an attempt to control you. Instead, look out for those who are evolving, who seek to form generative dynamics that leave you feeling inspired.
Virgo Beauty Recommendation: Danessa Myricks Beauty Infinite Chrome Flakes
LIBRA // LIBRA RISING
Pisces season illuminates your sector of health, wellness and daily routine, assisting you in incorporating intuitive practices that uplift your lifestyle. Whether you are smudging, sweating or sneaking crystals under your pillow, March wants you to get regimented about self-care.
Relationships may be unsteady, particularly as Eclipse season approaches and the planets move into Aries. Remember to curtail the people-pleasing, and practice integrity. Become radically honest and learn how to conserve your time. You are an innately social creature, with a need for variety and fun, but anything that costs you your peace is too expensive.
Libra Beauty Recommendation: She’s Lost Control Cleansing Set
SCORPIO // SCORPIO RISING
Your co-ruler, Pluto, has been in Aquarius for a month, paving way for powerful interpersonal connections, encouraging you to explore new scenes and settings. You crave a sense of belonging, a stasis of safety you can unfurl in.
Pisces illuminates your fifth sector of play and creativity this month, so try to find cunning and inventive ways to experience bliss. Let your hair down and look for beauty in unexpected environments. Piscean energy is about fantasy and reacquainting with the unseen realms. Diversify your palette, stay away from numbants. Try to find a forbidden pleasure that gets you closer to yourself. As the planets move into Aries, you are ready to reset your regiment, focused on matters of health and hygiene. Cultivate new mediums of medicine and reacquaint with your body.
Scorpio Beauty Recommendation: Santa Maria Novella Melograno Bath Salts
SAGITTARIUS // SAGITTARIUS RISING
Pisces season lulls you into a psychic haze and you require room to retreat into your feelings and fantasies. Unusually home-bodied this March, you are examining your foundations, discerning what needs to be eliminated in your immediate environment. Use your imagination as a vehicle into the past, paving way for childhood catharsis.
After a grand adventure, you need a castle to call home. How can you infuse your domain with more magic? What familial patterns need negating? As you inspect your origin story, you unearth important information about who you are becoming as an adult, and how far you have come.
Sagittarius Beauty Recommendation: Diptyque Figuier Scented Candle
CAPRICORN // CAPRICORN RISING
Your dreams are begging for execution, and with the detours and delays of last year behind you, you are prepared to take strides towards success. March illuminates your headspace, as the Piscean placements enhance your conscious thinking. You possess the gift of a pragmatic and focused mind, but March is your call to fantasise.
You are floating through alternate vantage points, playing with your perception of the world around you. Ditch the cynicism and pretend reality is conspiring to shower you in blessings. Imagine, visualise and invite inspiration to strike in silent moments. Ask unanswerable questions, and divulge your discoveries to anyone who will listen.
Capricorn Beauty Recommendation: Hourglass Phantom Volumizing Glossy Balm
AQUARIUS // AQUARIUS RISING
With Pluto placed in your sign, the only constant is change. In this transient state, you are called to rely on something bigger than you, to fine tune your spiritual senses and connect to the divine. Pisces season offers you a chance to surrender anything too heavy over the care of a higher power. Build spiritual self-worth and embrace blind faith.
Your sector of resources is illuminated and new revenues of income may present themselves to you. You are multi-faceted, capable of channelling talent into a variety of mediums and March is a call to experiment. What would you pursue if you were free of imposter syndrome? What would you try if you were assured success? Fortune favours the brave.
Aquarius Beauty Recommendation: Montale Full Incense
PISCES // PISCES RISING
Happy Birthday Season, Pisces! With Saturn, Mars, Neptune, Venus and the Sun all stationed in your sign this month, it promises to be a busy season. Social endeavours aside, you are restored a sense of purpose, magnetically drawing the right opportunities towards you. You are reminded that your innate talent for imagining and introspecting can be used to sway probabilities in your favour. If there is something you desire, you must emulate the feeling of having it, before it shows up for you, in physicality.
Eclipse season draws attention to your self-esteem and asks you to practise greater self-reliance and confidence. You may be untethering from toxic bonds, or rebalancing dynamics, but things are looking up in terms of how you conserve energy.
Pisces Beauty Recommendation: Bleach London No Bleach Vivid Red