The March New Moon arrives on Saturday the 17th at 07:12 am MT while Moon transits the final sign of the zodiac, Pisces, and Purvabhadra nakshatra. Moon joins Sun, exalted Venus and debilitated Mercury here as well. All receive gaze from Mars and Rahu. This combination can provoke aggression and confusion, as well as a lack of clear thinking and intensified emotions. This theme may intensify throughout the waxing cycle. Focus on clearing and releasing what rises to the surface and attend to the needs arriving. Allow emotions to move through you and support the release of your big emotions.

New Moon in Purvabhadra increases the need for integration and balance of opposing forces. There is a need for honoring duality and harmonizing conflicts. Ajaikapada rules over this portion of the sky. He is an expression of Nataraja, Lord of the Dance, Lord Shiva. He dances between realms, worlds, and holds both. One foot grounded and rooted, the other lifted, prepared to move forward. This is an expression of his ability to hold duality and integrate opposing forces.

Shiva asks us to simplify and do tapas in order for purification. Something must be released and actions and behaviors need to be simplified. Through this process of releasing, simplifying and purifying, clarity, wisdom and prosperity emerges. The power of Rudra is offered under this constellation, which can be channeled into auspicious activities and purposes with positive results. The symbol of this constellation is the front half of a funeral cot, inviting in release and letting go. This cycle prepares us for something new. Be prepared to let go, in order for the new to have space to arrive. A deep level of purification is taking place in the days ahead. Support this process and allow new resources to support you.

There is much clearing and release taking place. This waxing cycle supports clearing and letting go of the old. Parts of you that have been stuck will require your conscious uprooting. This may mean you have to retrace some old terrain in order to support the clearing. Dive deeply and honor depths and unconscious realms. Awakening to your inner conflicts and polarities are key in this process. Gains come with your clearing and release process. You must make room for something new. This process may require diving into very old, painful territory and cleaning up relationship grief. Seek integration, harmony and balance between self and others. Between inner and outer. Between your darkness and light. What mirrors are arriving to help you attend to the past and release it? What relationships need to be released once and for all? What integration and balance is needed in order for deeper grounding?

In the cycle ahead, attend to your grounding, inner and outer stability as well as your feet. Connect with the earth and find ways to deepen your roots. Find your ground and activate your inner intelligence. Pay attention to your feet and what they tell you about your grounding cord. Stay rooted.

As the new Moon arrives, Chaitra Navaratri begins as well. Navaratri begins the evening of the 17th and continues until the 25th of March. The final day of Navaratri is Ram Navami, the celebrated birth day of Lord Ram.

The Navaratri celebration is an expression of what is taking place within Nature, through the Laws that govern Nature, marking an important transition within us and around us. Align with Nature and Her powerful energy of change and transformation during Navaratri. Ritualize your connections with Nature- in order to land more closely to your own inner wisdom, to Her wisdom. Strengthen your connection to self and Spirit.

Navaratri is a poignant time in the Vedic Calendar. This ancient calendar is one that is dedicated to Nature and her cycles and rhythms, the planets, and most importantly the Moon. In the Vedic Calendar, time is connected to what Nature and the cosmos are doing, and these elements are intimately related. Navaratri occurs twice a year- in the "gap" seasons of spring and fall. These times are considered sandhi times; delicate times that feel like you are neither here, nor there. We might call it the netherworld. This time, though delicate, is considered sacred.

Read More About Navaratri.

Just after Sun shifts into Virgo on September 16th, the full Moon in Pisces occurs with a penumbral lunar eclipse. This eclipse ends the unusually long eclipse portal that began on August 18th with an “almost” lunar eclipse. At the time of the full Moon (Purnima), the Moon has barely entered Pisces and will be under a degree- literally propping open the door between Aquarius and Pisces. This sandhi Moon is in very fragile and vulnerable territory, yet extremely spiritual as well.

The penumbral lunar eclipse on the 16th will be visible in much of Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, Western South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Arctic and Antarctica. It will not touch North America. The eclipse will begin at 10:54 am MDT, ending at 14:53 MDT. The maximum eclipse will occur at 12:54 pm MDT. From a Vedic perspective, it is not advised to be outside during the eclipse. Stay covered if you have to be out and about- especially your head and eyes. As the eclipse portal comes to a close, a release process is taking place. This may take several more days or weeks to integrate fully.

Moon in Pisces and Purvabhadrapada nakshatra during the time of the full Moon amplifies themes of release and letting go during the coming waning cycle. Pisces correlates to the 12th house of the zodiac, the final bhava (house) of the jyotish chart, connected to endings, release, transformation and retreats. It is the house of marriage (a transformational process) and finality. The 12th house is also connected to the ancestors because it is a house of death, endings and release. The next step is the spirit world.

Purvabhadra is a constellation of integration, balance and harmonizing polarities. The ruling deity is Ajaikapada, a form of Shiva, Lord of the Dance. There is skillfulness with making money and doing challenging work. It is said that this constellation can cure the impossible. The symbol of this lunar constellation is a funeral cot, which speaks to themes of transformation, death and purification- all that is beyond the material plane of existence. Bhadra means auspicious in Sanskrit, while pada is foot. There is an ability to walk in two worlds- material and spiritual- through this constellation.

These themes activate in the coming waning cycle. As the Moon turns your focus inward, spirit will support your inner awareness more fully. This cycle will also support healing and transformation through the emotional body landscape- for those who are willing to lean in closer to their grief, sadness and loss. The heart is being cracked open. Let the light and spirit enter your heart.

The full Moon chart indicates a mixture of passion and sadness, which can create aggression or depression. How do you channel your powerful emotions? It’s vital that you use your emotional body intelligence to create, share, connect and communicate in authentic ways. Use your emotion as a resource, as a change agent.

Scorpio and Anuradha nakshatra are on the horizon at the time of the full Moon, indicating that Mitra’s support will bring resources and connection in the days and weeks to come. He rules the “friendly star” which is symbolized by a decorated archway. There is triumph here and celebration. Friends, connection and community arrive. As an Aditya, Mitra’s role is to bring resources and support. He does it through connection, collaboration and relationship. Saturn rules this nakshatra, which indicates consistent, steady work is necessary for the resources to arrive. It also indicates that your steady steps will finally pay off- depending on your relationship with Saturn. As the planet of grief and sorrow, Saturn requires that you attend to your emotional body landscape diligently. With your attention to grief, he grants you more space in your heart for the joys of life. This is a cycle to pay close attention to your emotions and gather resources, support, guidance and community to weather the inner storms.

In the coming days, it may feel like you have a foot in two world at times, but this is an essential part of your integration process. Connect with your different needs and honor your two halves. Work closely with balancing masculine and feminine energies as well as inner and outer realms. Use the coming weeks to move closer to your polarities, not away from them. As you lean in closer, you can begin to heal and integrate opposing energies within. This is an important part of closing the healing wisdom of the eclipse portal.

As you move through this eclipse portal cycle, integrating and digesting the powerful themes of this shadowed time, there will be strong emotional body waves activated. This is a cleansing cycle, a time to move out grief and harvest rich inner wisdom that has long been covered up by your shadow. Use this Tapping Meditation as a resource for uncovering your emotional body pain, so you can find the needs underneath the big feelings. Then follow up with the Creative Ritual below. Attend to the space you've created with consciousness and presence.

Step One:

Grief Tapping Meditation

Step Two:

Awakening Inner Space ~ Creative Ritual

We worked a lot in this Space Clearing the Heart Workshop with noticing the internal landscape, what is arriving. As we continued to cultivate inner presence during the class, I asked you to notice the space within your body. Where do you feel more space in the body? Where does this space arrive within you? How does it feel? This space within is ripe with potential and possibility. It is fragile and vulnerable, but also very powerful. This creative ritual will help you continue to cultivate a relationship with this inner space.

1) Using craypas, paints or pencils, create an image of the space you are cultivating a relationship with. What does this space feel like within you? Create an image that expresses this feeling using colors, textures and shapes. Allow 10 to 20 minutes at minimum for this image. Title your image.

2) Use your image to inspire a movement exploration. Let your body move in response to your space image. Use the intention of "moving with this feeling of space in the body". What sensations emerge for you during your dance? What awareness? Allow 5 to 10 minutes for this movement exploration. I encourage you to extend this time frame as you recycle this process.

* If you are in an acute grief phase, you may wish to simply hold a shape in the body, to mirror your space image, rather than move the image.

3) Harvesting. In your journal answer these questions:
I am, I want, I need, I sense, I feel, I imagine.

How do you want to attend to this space within? What is your intention?
What am I opening to? What am I closing to?