Eros Enters Aquarius

On March 23rd, Pluto enters Aquarius after 15 years in Capricorn. On March 25th, Mars enters Cancer after his long retrograde that kept him in Gemini for seven months. Between these two events, Asteroid Eros enters Aquarius on March 24th, conjunct Pluto and quincunx Mars.

*The quincunx between Mars and Eros is within one degree orb from March 7th to April 24th. It is the defining aspect of Part One of Planetary Clarity’s Eros in Aquarius series.*

As Eros transits conjunct Pluto, he joins the grand trine of Pluto, Sedna at 29° Taurus and Ceres retrograde at 29° Virgo.

The chart below is set for the moment of the Moon’s ingress into Gemini on March 25th, activating the Eros/Pluto conjunction by trine.

Mars is met at the summer solstice point by asteroid Hekate, the triple goddess who counseled Ceres through the grief of losing her daughter Persephone to Pluto’s underworld.
Asteroid Persephone and Ceres are both retrograde in Virgo, depicting the sacred ritual that makes the world turn, mutable earth matrix housekeeping.

When Persephone was first lost to the Underworld, Hekate’s guidance to Ceres was to de-center herself from the drama, accept that her beloved daughter needs to go, and trust that she will return. Ceres then learned to manage her energy in cycles, giving us the seasons. Hekate brings similar guidance to Mars at this important ingress, during his long-term aspect to Eros.

Even while retrograde, Gemini is a lively sign for Mars, and the ingress to Cancer is a deceleration.

Tarot Clarity says Mars in Cancer is: “…a tricky placement for the planet of overt action to be confined to a secure refuge. The Martian spirit says “the best defense is a good offense” but in the crab shell of Cancer, Mars energy is divorced from the attack, surrounded by shields… This gives us the opportunity to rest, clarify our purpose, take inventory of resources, study the maps, and invest in our closest relationships- which increases our confidence and makes us more effective workers.”

The quincunx is the aspect of compartmentalization and adjustment, it is usually considered a “hard aspect” because the objects don’t have what it takes to “get along” but in many instances such as this one, it is beneficial. Mars, the embodiment of Yang, has a huge influence on the expression of Eros, and the quincunx from Cancer simply denies him the brute strength, stamina, and risk tolerance he would require to chase his whims. Eros has to sit down, face himself honestly, and count his blessings, which he will have ample opportunities to do throughout the month of April as he enters Aquarius, squares the lunar nodes, opposes Lilith in Leo, and makes his first contact with Venus during the Heart Chakra gate (Stay tuned to Planetary Clarity for all this and more).

But the grand trine sets the tone for the immensity of the trials ahead for Eros. Pluto and Sedna’s future retrogrades will cross back and forth across Zero Aquarius/ 29° Capricorn and Zero Gemini/ 29° Taurus; Ceres retrograde brings her three times across Zero Libra/ 29° Virgo. All three earth-to-air transition points are being initiated by the most powerful guides of our solar system at the moment Eros arrives.

Sedna’s extremely long-lasting trine to Pluto lasts from around 2022 to 2026, reminding us that the conditions of our transformations are often not up to us, and that our survival depends on our inner spiritual powers, no matter how disastrous we feel about our external circumstances. The Moon’s synchronistic presence at Zero Gemini foreshadows Sedna’s historic ingress into Gemini later this summer, and transmits her wisdom to Eros entering Aquarius, when our soul survival depends on him perhaps now more than ever.

Ceres teaches Eros what she had to accept- Pluto is not the bad guy. In the Underworld we develop our root system, the strength that supports our flowers and fruits. A difficult lesson for the asteroid most known for struggling with his desires. With the help of Hekate and Mars, Eros understands that his mission here is to reflect on his desires, not to pursue them.

Eros in Aquarius