WOODRUFF ON ASTROLOGY - SPRING 2024


QUARTERLY HOROSCOPE
BY FREDERICK WOODRUFF

Frederick Woodruff is an astrologer and Corridor correspondent from Vashon Island in Puget Sound. For his spring report, Frederick welcomes the astrological new year with a discussion on eclipse season and how a sign's themes are magnified during these special events.

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Frederick Woodruff’s career as a professional astrologer spans four decades. Artists, writers, and creatively motivated folks consult with him regularly to better comprehend the cycles that define their unique narratives.


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Happy New (Astrological) Year


Whether we live in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere, each sign of the Zodiac signifies a particular phase in the yearly cycle that marks the seasons that define our relationship to time. True, Australia’s springtime corresponds to the Northern Hemisphere’s autumn, but no matter. The same Aries impulse—that begins with the equinox—breaks nature free from the previous season’s themes. This launches an entirely new vibe into the atmosphere.


The Sun’s shift into Aries moves us beyond two of nature’s most intense quarters—the freeze of winter (in the north) or the intense heat of summer (in the south). It introduces nature to an abrupt jolt: seeds split to release turgid sprouts. Or new death: leaves, spent and curled, fall from the trees back to their origin in the Earth.

See if you can notice this pronounced turn as March comes to a close. You’ll probably have registered a hesitancy to pull back and recoil into everything that’s familiar in your life just before the equinox occurs on March 20 (on the East Coast of the US). It might feel like the ghosts of the past converge in the week before the equinox to distract you from the disruption that propels the new season forward. This can be an apprehensive period as the innate urge to jump ahead is mired by anxieties—leftover emotional dross from the winter. But try to reframe this hesitancy—consider how an arrow is first pulled back in the bow before flying free.


Why do eclipses fascinate?


Astrologically, the specificity and exactness of an eclipse mirrors a sudden concentration of attention within life. We’re forced to focus and place a magnifying glass over the themes represented by the sign (and signs) that the eclipses highlight.


But more viscerally, eclipses disrupt our normal perception of the heavens. Our accustomed sky view modifies drastically. During an eclipse, reality might feel turned on its head—experienced as being ‘inside out.’ The Sun darkens, or the Moon casts its own ruddy luminescence.

The author, Annie Dillard, wrote of the impact of an eclipse on the senses. The following recounting is from her book Teaching a Stone to Talk, where she tells of a visit to central Washington some years ago to observe, along with thousands of others, a total eclipse of the Sun. She describes the eerie daylight event like this:


“From all the hills came screams. A piece of sky beside the crescent sun was detaching. It was a loosened circle of evening sky, suddenly lighted from the back. It was an abrupt black body out of nowhere; it was a flat disk; it was almost over the sun. That is when there were screams. At once this disk of sky slid over the sun like a lid. The sky snapped over the sun like a lens cover. Abruptly it was dark night, on the land and in the sky.”


And what about the ‘sky within,’ that realm of the psyche that astrology speaks to? How do we register the impact of the eclipses? Consider it this way: Imagine your will, your conscious self (Sun), aligned exactly—or opposed precisely—to the contents of your unconscious (Moon). Our inner world concentrates and sharpens during eclipse periods—the narrative of our dreams becomes more pronounced and unavoidable.

The astrological new year is fraught with more tension and hesitancy than usual. Two eclipses usher in the new season this year: a lunar eclipse on March 25 and a total eclipse of the Sun on April 8. The lunar eclipse puts into play the polarity between the signs Aries and Libra. Translated, this means balancing our personal freedom and self-expression (Aries) and the impersonal laws and societal decorum (Libra) that harmonize society. We’ll most likely experience this as extreme tension in our interpersonal relationships.


The solar eclipse on April 8 coincides with a desire to break free while still attempting to maintain the integrity of our partnerships. From this tension, courage can be forged to strike out on your own and not remain static by overanalyzing a situation. Conversely, this new fortitude can help our current relationships evolve and deepen. Regardless, all of our associations are up for a makeover.


Another theme related to the eclipses is the amplified opportunity to divine and intuitively perceive what the mind can not solve logically. See if you can apply this heightened sensitivity by making way for flashes, clues, omens, and hints from your life experiences.


“These are the kinds of flashes or hints that are positioned on the periphery of our lives, just out of consciousness—waiting for us to notice their presence—waiting for us to move toward the direction they are pointing.”

When I work with clients who are unsure of a new direction they want to take in their lives, I suggest that they pause and reflect on the clues that are coming to them from subjects they’ve suddenly become interested in. Or, more literally, by how they might have been inspired by a section of a book they read, a movie they watched, or a particular piece of an emphatic dream. These are the kinds of flashes or hints that are positioned on the periphery of our lives, just out of consciousness—waiting for us to notice their presence—waiting for us to move toward the direction they are pointing.


Horoscopes for Spring 2024


ARIES: Science leads us to believe that all events must have a graspable meaning. But according to whom? Who defines this meaning? These are the philosophical puzzles that require attention from you now. As your investigation steadies, you’ll reconnect with your natural inclination to proceed without overanalyzing.


TAURUS: A theme you return to often in life involves the workings of power. Taurus folks are indeed dynamos—heavy-duty energy channelers. But their stewardship works best when they aren’t thinking about themselves ‘doing’ the conducting. This is your riddle to contemplate this month. Locate your ‘prime mover’ and then proceed with purpose.

GEMINI: You are faced with a confusing choice: spontaneous self-expression or disciplined self-control. Which will you choose? Being Mercurial, you’ll try to toggle between the two expressions. But I’d like to suggest that you hunker down, align your efforts with a set schedule, and apply consistent discipline. Constructing guardrails now will ensure optimal motion.


CANCER: Your imagination is heightened throughout the two eclipse cycles. This can inspire and galvanize your artistic side. But don’t squander this otherworldy sense of ‘going with the flow.’ Ground it in reality. With Saturn in a harmonious aspect to your Sun, you’ll accomplish much with concentrated effort that accesses your already-in-place know-how.


LEO: Explore ways to simplify this month. Frugality can be an art form. Why is there a need to do more with less? You’re attempting to understand better what your life is made of and what you truly value. Pulling back on expenditures will benefit you. Where is it, exactly, that you’re headed? What do you hope to achieve? Those are your burning questions.

VIRGO: Our bodies have a remarkable capacity for accommodating—in the most optimized way—wherever we might be in our aging process. What was good for us in our twenties might not work well in our later years. Take a closer look at routines and habits that you can shift to support your present-day maturity. Acknowledge your acquired wisdom.


LIBRA: The upside of having your ideas opposed by others is that you must devise new strategies—new methods for achieving your intentions. The lunar eclipse in March finds you reexamining everything that you felt confident about before. You’re about to discover what’s most precious in your life. And what will assist you with your already fine-tuned relationship skills.


SCORPIO: Relationship tensions are coming to a head now. A cycle has run its course. The lesson? Don’t try so hard. It’s impossible to know why people act as they do, but you can try to comprehend the rationales that move you . Don’t judge yourself too harshly. Apply kindness and forgiveness, avoid guilt, and then move on.

SAGITTARIUS: Your superpower is your ability to see the big picture and arrange all the attendant parts into a cohesive narrative. How will you apply your gifts now? Much depends on how you communicate with others. The more clarity you express, the more steady your path forward will be. Avoid scattershot muddles and second-guessing. Honesty and forthrightness are your allies.


CAPRICORN: Your efforts to express your creative side have hit a critical point. Maybe you feel stuck in a repeat loop—if so, deliberately interrupt the pattern and reach for unusual, untried streams of inspiration. Move towards absurdity and humor to upend old programming. Comedy contains a wisdom all its own. Find and read a copy of Aesop’s fables.


AQUARIUS: Folks in your circle who continue to say ‘yes’ to you will not be much help now. You need some imaginative friction in your world. It’s time to spin 180 degrees in your thinking and allow strange or surprising impulses to fire your imagination. You’re a nonconformist—embrace this distinctive expression and apply your skill sets to helping those less fortunate.


PISCES: How do we make the intangible tangible? Start the new season by priming the pump of your imagination, allowing a cascade of new insights to dominate your thinking (and feeling). Expose your awareness to creative byproducts—art, cinema, and poetry—that inspire you. You function best when motivated by beauty. Seek guidance from unlikely sources.

 

Corridor 2023