How Does Your Secret Garden Grow?

Spring 2025's Mercury Retrograde in Bloom

What mass conspirator governs the Realm?

Is it Woman Wrath with her blood boiling, sharpest teeth exposed? Or Heaven in silk robes, embroidered with neon kittens, pots of pear white tea in the chariot? Or even an ordinary Earth Maiden, led astray into the forest, trying to read the scripture of Hades in the runes of the rocks? On this planet, we’re perplexed by the mazes of Mercury Retrograde. We dream of the in-between, the lace-vein on the billowiest cloud rolling onward, catching pink, orange in the sunrise, sunset, remembering what we wished for but couldn’t hold onto. Matched by greenery, twigs, falcon wings, the Sun radiates over surfaces brighter, faster, fiercer, exposing 3-D life models. Soon the rain beats down pelting the Playdoh hills temporarily out of shape, watering the seed. Dreams grow again; structures are forming, feeling out bases, roots reaching, attempting permanence.

Unilaterally, Nature and the Cosmos seem to do as they please yet there is a method to this madness.

The glorious confusion of Change in both the Magickal and Mundane is the very arc the new Lunar Nodal Axis initiates. March is a massive seed-starter tray without labels, a stockpile of condensed dirt about to be planted without a plan. The sensational surprises of Retrograde Spring are multi-layered; we may be unsure what’s going to sprout but the foliage and blooms will be beautiful in their own way (if we leave our control freak at the garden gate, looking at you, South Node in Virgo). Wild tendrils unfurling sway to-and-fro just like the weather who cannot make up its mind ~Jack Frost one day and Spring Slut the next~ akin to the cosmos’ many moving parts.

March is a vigilance and a veneration.

MAJOR MARCH STARTS

3/1 - 4/12/25 Venus Retrograde in Aries & Pisces

3/14 Blood Moon / Lunar Eclipse in Virgo

3/15 - 4/7/25 Mercury Retrograde in Aries & Pisces

3/29 Solar Eclipse in Aries (Merc Rx in Pisces begins)

3/19 - 7/10/25 Juno Retrograde in Sagittarius

3/21 - 6/13/25 Vesta Retrograde in Scorpio

3/30/25 - 3/23/39 Neptune in Aries

Not only will Venus Retrograde and Mercury Retrograde overlap and flip-flop in 2 Signs, Mercury Retrograde begins right after A BLOOD VIRGO MOON AND LUNAR ECLIPSE and just a few days shy of Aries Season. Towards the end of March, Mercury will back-spin into the Sign of Pisces ON THE TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE IN ARIES. Truly a Retrograde period for the books but a blessing in disguise if we show up for its process. Aries Season as Spring’s start is what many Moonies consider their true New Year; I personally feel it’s a BETTER beginning than the Gregorian Calendar’s January 1st. Whoever thought it was a good idea to “start over” in the dead of Winter was insane.

Winter’s for inner quiet; Spring’s bloom finds us alive and inspired to take action towards our desires and dreams.

Pisces is the last Sign of the Zodiac and its Season’s important Inner Planet Retrogrades finds this time-frame truly ideal for re-view, re-new and re-evaluation of our values and communication in our relationships. With large asteroid Retrogrades and Neptune making a major step into a new era PLUS 2 Eclipses, all this combined makes March 2025 the MOST Astrologically rich month of the year. With Mars Retrograde in Cancer recently direct on February 23rd, only a few retrograde-free days were had around the powerful Pisces New Moon. This important peek into the North Node may have helped us find some hope in a political prowess of doom and darkness. The Virgo Blood Moon Eclipse welled over on South Node subjects we must learn to let go over this year-and-a-half cycle.

Inner Planet Retrogrades deeply affect humans with incredibly intricate navigation thru relationships and logistics in the double-backspin influencing us to re-frame these realms of our personal lives. The sky-wheel re-setting is a sacred act, both revolutionary AND revolting, but this teeter-totter re-affirms that PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE. Progress is a process. It takes empty space, sitting in stagnation, percolation and priming in order to change fruitfully and intentionally. However, these Inner Planet Retrogrades can just as easily lead us astray especially when Aries is involved. Not to diss the Ram but the go-go-go Aries energy does not bode well in Venus Rx and tho more positive in Mercury, the “think before you speak” rule will be one to abide.

I personally cannot fathom how the cosmic constant flux does not register as insanity nor does it make sense how some smile while the shit-show of human rights violations and multiple regressions makes me grit my teeth. Dentistry will be needed when these back-spins are thru (and I have the unexpected dental bills to prove it, how on point for Rx surprises)! With Venus Retrograde ALREADY creating love-forlorn frequencies of frustrations, the vernal rainbows of romance that turns Earthlings into squirrels spinning thru oak branch highways of flirtation finds my own heartstrings requesting no zinging, please and thanks!

And yet it can be exhilarating to frolic in faerie-tale Spring with abandon. Not to mention Spring Fever is a real scientific phenomenon. Our juices are flowing again. We’ll soon be bunnies in heat, ready to link-up in all the savory sexual ways. Spring Fever IS real AND a huge distraction from the details that need attending. Mercury Rx winds will swoosh down into our towns, swirl around our sense of stability, carried into our metal mobiles, our cellular voices, our coffee cups, our offices, our home zones. Blossom’s nectar, bees’ flickering, the cruel trickery of weather works its way into our bodies, no immunity to what is larger than us. While birds peck at our necks to extract what is required, some may have seemingly perched on our shoulders for weeks, months, years now, excreting down our backs with dread. Pressing long-term problems, duties on the back burner for too long, will ABSOLUTELY persist during Spring Eclipse Season.

3/14 - 4/7 MERCURY RETROGRADE

Mercury rules information and communication, both which make the World go round, but living in a time of dis-information, news run by capitalism that does NOT report fairly on the People’s revolution, is a wild ride in itself. Terror may catch many of us by the throat nuzzling its face into our nests of hair with breath heavy. What armor to wear? Plotting to resist the chaos of this motion is unwise and unrealistic. I personally would rather not go naked. Even in the realm of Venus Rx, I’d rather not be some doe for Spring Fever to hunt. We too often feel invisibly helpless in the cosmic reversal while the energies are non-linear and when in a Fire Sign feels akin to a freak on a leash lunging to break free. Fight/flight is strong depending on your placements, but no matter your chart, discomfort is the cost of growth and March’s Retrogrades are asking us to stop playing small and trying to hide from the inevitable. It’s time to rise up and face the facts, y’all!

Change is inevitable, sprouting through the frozen Earth, whether we like it or not.

Where we FEAR retrogrades’ strong strife in our personal lives, back-spins will ALWAYS be an opportunity to take the true temperature of a situation and measure where we’re at against what we want to happen. Of course Retrogrades can be cumbersome if you do NOT know how to handle them. The Femme Moon’s Let’s Get Retrograde zine is available for download at the end of this post until Beltane 5/1, extensively covering all arenas Mercury Rx affects. I personally rely on routine so Retrograde time is felt IN MY BODY more than I like to admit. Rx triggers hypochondriac hell; is it just headache, hormones, anxiety, vertigo, disease, death? No one wants to deal with a tall stack of serious decisions while other pesky problems decide they are just going to pop-up. I want to be left alone so I can GET SHIT DONE especially as a Virgo Moon with Girl Scout efficiencies ~everything to work on schedule!~ which Retrogrades inevitably un-do.

The un-doing is part of Mercury Retrograde’s Magick.

Mercury’s Rx message between Aries and Pisces is “Sink or swim! Shine or singe!”

A double-sign double-retrograde in Venus AND Mercury can overwhelming mind-fuck in itself. Venus rules Love, Money, Lifestyle where Mercury rules Communication, Tech, Travel thus scrambling our routines and relationships. Awareness is half the battle; putting mindfulness at the center will be a willpower win. Both Mercury in Pisces and Aries are moody though in dramatically different demeanor. The swirly switch between the 2 Signs in both Venus and Mercury Retrograde will yank us around all while being highly attuned to blaming the backspin for creating chaos. Pisces CAN be great to go with the flow and Aries is a pro at locking-in when their sights are set; these traits will be the saving grace of the double back-spin boogie.

These astrological placements need coaxing and coddling but add vivacious value when seen/heard for the positive attributes they bring to our self-development. Still, I am not a fan of any Retrograde sharing 2 Signs. It’s a less clean configuration that can affect us sensitive little Earthlings in a rather distinctive fashion. Out of all the Planets, Venus and Mercury in Retrograde meddle with humans the most. They are not only personal Planets but have similar time-frames moving thru the Signs often close to the Sun Season. It’s not uncommon for your personal Venus and Mercury to be the same as your Sun Sign or in the Sign before or after. Check your chart to find out if you don’t already; I always recommend Cafe Astrology for a trusty calculation.

The Childlike Empress (Pisces) vs. the Warrior Princess (Aries), Venus and Mercury are in for a mess of mixed signals during Retrograde.

Mercury Rx in Aries 3/15 - 3/29/25

Aries as the 1st Sign in the Zodiac is based in Identity.

The cave-man discovery of fire, the playtime that hones in on our personal preferences, the wheels turning re: individual approach to problem-solving, our personalities forming at a young age as we learn how we relate to others on the playground. Mercury Retrograde in Aries can blast thru the brick wall like the Kool-Aid Man on steroids OR like a bully that kicks the building blocks in preschool down so that we have to start over again. Mercury Aries influences us to stand up for ourselves. Merc Rx in Aries asks HOW we do so. Do we negotiate, cower or put up a fight? One thing is for certain: hot-headness will be a little TOO EASY no matter our personal dispositions.

We will have to bite our tongues aplenty to keep the drama to a minimum especially in the domestic and relational pies of life. But the most chaotic aspect we will face is our presentation, our personas in ego-struggle in social circles. This is NOT a time to assume we are invincible. Those plagued by indecision-fatigue (common for AuDHD’s) may find themselves cemented in strain at a huge resistance to all the Aries energy. Those who are motivated and ready will on the opposite find themselves annoyed that the momentum inside is not matching the trajectory of approvals, take-offs and answers needed to go forth. Mercury Rx in Aries is an antsy hell-hound ready to run but the Rx stagnation will make us want to SCREAM in its frustrating wait.

As authenticity is Aries’ main motivation and Retrogrades slow down planetary “productivity”, IDENTITY CRISIS will inevitably be a burden.