March 2023: By the Numbers
a numerological forecast for clarity & inspiration
hello! this monthly offering is typically only shared with my paid pals. however, march is a big ole month and this installment came out a bit more loosey-goosey-stream-of-consciousness than the rest, so it is my gift to you! enjoy! 🖤
🌿 MARCH 2023 🌿
GET MESSY! STAY MALLEABLE! STOP STOPPING YOURSELF!
march 2023 has us hanging out with the numbers 3 and 1.
march is the 3rd month of the year, and when added to the overall 7 year of 2023, we get 10, which reduces to 1.
the communicator and the trailblazer.
the empress and the magician (by way of the wheel of fortune).
the maker and the magic.
creativity and luck. expression and opportunity. a vision and a spark.
there’s a lot going on this month when it comes to the “as above,” so we can be sure that there will be a lot going on this move when it comes to the “so below.”
six whole planets move signs in march—most notably saturn, which we’ll talk about in a minute—and we also meet the turning of the zodiacal wheel at the spring equinox! everyone that i know and trust is saying that this month is the true beginning of 2023. a time ripe for presence, action, and reckless hope.
but for now, we’re in the liminal space.
if you’ve been here for a while, cool, me too. if you’re just joining us, hey, hi, get comfy being uncomfy. it’s a weird place, but in my experience, it’s the most potent, the most honest, the most holy, and the most generative place to be.
all things start in the dark.
let yourself begin again here too.
new beginnings in the middle of (fruitful) mess
on march 7th, 2023, saturn will move out of aquarius (where it’s been hanging out since march 2020) and into pisces. this will usher in the beginning of the saturn return, a threshold between spiritual childhood and adulthood, for anyone with their natal saturn in pisces. it also heralds the ending of the saturn return for anyone with their natal saturn in aquarius.
this includes me!
i’ve spent the morning googling things like “how to process the ending of a saturn return,” and “what’s next for those with saturn in aquarius.” the results have not yielded anything particularly helpful, but i do want to share this little tidbit from astrologer alice sparkly kat, who wrote,
I learned, during my Saturn return, that no one is really out there measuring you against some standard of being good enough or not. People really don’t pay that much attention to you at all which is always a relief. This isn’t to say that people don’t judge you. People judge me all the time. However, their judgments of me may not matter to me because those judgments may only make sense in the narrative of their own emotional history and not mine.
i’ve been thinking a lot lately about judgment and the binary of good/bad, and about how no matter how deeply i’ve committed to living a life beyond limiting constructs, and outside of other’s ontological views on “reality,” it seems that i cannot truly escape the confines of good versus bad.
perhaps it stems from my religious upbringing, which was a healthy mix of cultural influence and personal choice, and for that reason comes with a heaping helping of grief. perhaps it’s due to our cultural storytelling, which pits the good “hero” against the bad “villain,” with little room for gray. or maybe it’s less sinister and more connected to my ethics, which places value on kindness and care, and seeks to separate from hurt and harm. maybe it’s all of the above.
but as i move forward from this time of spiritual realignment and maturation, i’d like to leave the horrible and inconclusive and completely subjective question of am i a good person? behind. for even the situations in which i, or others, perceive the answer to be absolutely not, there is room for nuance and as alice says, a difference of context within larger emotional narratives and histories.
i’ve also found myself examining what it means to be a compassionate and supportive person in the world without always needing to be “helpful” or “useful.” again, this is very much a continuation of simplistic ideas like “good” and “bad.”
saturn rules responsibility, a concept that was at the forefront of the 6 collective year we all experienced in 2022. most of us experienced situations in which we reflected on what we are truly responsible for. again, this is another area where there needs to be ample room left for context and complexities. but through the lens of the doorway to adulthood, responsibility is pinging me as an internal process, rather than an external one.
i am responsible for myself. i am responsible for my piece of the proverbial pie. i am responsible for the agreements i’ve made, and i am responsible for shifting those agreements if i find myself unable to follow through on them. i am responsible for what i think and feel about myself.
i am not responsible for others. i am not responsible for taking on extra pieces of pie. i am not responsible for other’s inability to follow through on their agreements, nor am i responsible for their lack of communication or honesty when things are in flux. i am not responsible for what others think or feel about me.
but this doesn’t mean that i shirk shit left and right, but rather that i am in right relationship to my responsibilities, and to others.
i am responsible for myself, and therefore i own my mistakes and “failures.”
i am responsible for myself, and therefore i work to repair harm that i’ve caused.
i am responsible for myself, and therefore i consider how i affect others/The Whole.
in a week, saturn will move into pisces. in a month, my life as i know it will change drastically. again. not for the last time. the cycle continues. and through it all, i will keep swimming, keep seeking, keep purging, keep dreaming, keep building and keep finding the saplings amongst the weeds.
as we move through march, through an overlapping cascade of endings and beginnings, can you stay open to miracles in the mess?
how to make magic out of just a few ideas and some chutzpah
the beginning phases of a creative process are strange, scary and exciting! suddenly, an idea pops in, and there it is—ready and ripe for the taking. just waiting for you to snatch it out of the air and do something with it already!
but what?
tender inspirations and fragile threads can be quite finicky. brains can be quite panic-driven. hands can be quite clumsy and eyes can be quite critical. and yet, we must pass through all of these “obstacles” in order to weave our way forward.
this month, do not squeeze too tightly. do not crush the sweet bud of life in your clammy palms. do not let a loud voice in the back of your mind, who has neither name nor noteworthy news, steer you off course or yuck your yum.
there isn’t much meaning to make here. this part of the whole shebang is about pure production. letting things that are bubbling, percolating, gestating, continue to do so with some help in the physical. this is the land of playlists and moodboards and outlines and sketches. this is the path of saving all of the tidbits even when you don’t like your execution thus far. this is the zone of artist’s outfits and dates and pep talks, and when all else fails: crying a little, then getting back to it.
how do you make magic out of a few ideas and a little chutzpah? you just keep showing up. to the page, to the game, to the gig, to the dream.
be brave enough to stop stopping yourself.
be radical enough to believe that this could turn into something else.
be wild enough to make bad art.
“be the weirdo who dares to enjoy.”
throw all of the spaghetti at the wall. maybe later you’ll see what sticks.
how logic meets practicality in strange and beautiful ways
when i think about the three types of number energies—practical (1, 4, 7), emotional (2, 5, 8), and logical (3, 6, 9)—i do tend to group the first and the last together, leaving emotional energy as the oddball out.
but logical and practical energies are not the same.
logical, from the greek logos, meaning “word,” “reason,” or even “to say,” speaks to both that which is rational, that which explains, and also the divine intelligence that permeates this existence.
it’s rooted in a mental space, up in the land of thoughts and theories, and could very well stay there, spending all of eternity chewing over facts and figures and connecting the proverbial dots.
practical, on the other hand, is defined as being, “of or concerned with the actual doing or use of something rather than with theory and ideas.”
it hangs out down below, in the legs and the feet, in the walking of the path, and in the laboratory of trial and error. what works and what doesn’t. what actually happens when we try things out and commit to not just a practice, but a praxis.
still, these two energies are quite complementary, if you can allow for them both to co-exist and even inform one another.
logic can help you to narrow things down. it’ll keep you from wandering down barren or previously trekked roads. it. can take the list of viable options down to a manageable size. but while it might seem like logic is leading you down the “correct” path, you won’t actually know until you try it the fuck out.
this month, we’re swimming in the soup of both theory and implementation.
furthermore, in the number 3, which is the ruling number of march, we also play around with imagination, with story, and with pure creative energy. the number 1, which rules march 2023, loves this exploration, and is ignited by the possibilities that lie ahead. thankfully, it’s young, fresh, and new on the scene, so it’s not so bogged down yet by all of the ways in which the world says things won’t work.
allow logic and reason and action and practice whirl around each other in the liminal space this month.
use “the word” as a touchstone, a guidepost, and a container, but do not let it become an obstacle, a barrier, or a cage.
let your “day-to-day” become your field notes, your observations, and your experiential information, but do not let it become rigid, disciplinary or punitive.
sheesh, intelligence and action make for a gorgeous couple!
for your march toolkit:
icymi, listen to sits 1x11 with sam valentine! we talk about shirking seriousness in spiritual spaces, what we really mean when we talk about the “tarot community,” and much, much more!
finding the fool: a tarot journey to radical transformation by meg jones wall comes out today! snag a copy! you won’t regret it!
marin boyle aka @/nsfwembroidery is updating their shop on the 2nd! join me in shopping for a lil pre-spring treat!
season 3 of “ted lasso” starts on march 15th! i’m so excited i could SCREAM.
the spring equinox or ostara lands on march 20th! the numbers to work with this year are 5 and 3, and traditional ritual items include flowers, citrus fruits, honey wine, and brightly colored crystals. drink water, put your feet in the grass, and welcome the light!
the fourth and final season of “succession” starts on march 26th! again, cue screaming, but mostly sobbing.