Hey loves,
Whew, it’s an important time in the skies…. Happy Astrological New Year, Ostara, Spring Equinox, and Aries season!
This week marks the start of the 3rd year of Astrosomatics and the 2nd season of Cycles of Time Podcast. Woohoo! It’s been such a joy to walk the wheel of the year with you all over the past couple of years, and as I’ve mentioned before, I’m making a few exciting changes/upgrades this year, so a couple announcements before I dive into the forecast:
Video Killed the Radio Star: I’m moving out of my dark cave and into the realm of Video! Check out my brand new Youtube Channel. (You can still get the audio on your favorite podcast players, too, or subscribe me here on Substack for the written transcript.)
Join the EMBODY THE REVOLUTION Membership!
I’ve wanted to keep this muse-letter totally free for the past couple of years, and I intend to keep my weekly forecasts free for the long haul. But in addition, this year I’m excited to offer a super valuable paid tier as well (in my humble opinion!)
Paid Subscriber Perks:
Weekly somatic practice videos to help ground you amongst the energy of the current moment
A monthly PDF WORKBOOK delivered at the beginning of each Zodiac season with lots of juicy info and journaling prompts about the themes of the season, including major astro transits and Human Design gates.
A live-on-Zoom REVOLUTIONARY BREATHWORK SESSION on each new or full moon of the year. I am certified as a trauma-informed breathwork facilitator, and I will be hosting a guided breathwork session every month that helps us drop into our bodies and attune to the themes of the season. Learn more and see dates for these sessions here.
A Cycles of Time Astro/HD Google CALENDAR so you can follow along with the transits- like an astrologer/HD guide in your pocket!
A monthly COMMUNITY REFLECTION session on Zoom to discuss how the energies of the season showed up for you.
An ongoing COMMUNITY FORUM to connect with other embodied revolutionaries.
Click the button below to subscribe and get all the EMBODY THE REVOLUTION membership perks- I’d love to have you join us as we walk the wheel of the year together.
Now without further ado, onto the week ahead….
This Week in the Wheel of the Year:
This week’s mantra:
“I release the past and step boldly into my new beginning, leaving my assumptions and expectations at the door.”
The Cosmic Birth Canal: This Week’s Energetic Blueprint:
Like a kite cut from the string,
lightly the soul of my youth has taken flight. – Ishikawa Takuboku
This week is a powerful threshold—a moment of transition between endings and new beginnings. We’re wrapping up Pisces season and stepping into the fire of Aries with the Spring Equinox on March 20, marking the Astrological New Year. This is a cosmic rebirth, a fresh start, and the universe’s way of saying: It’s time to move forward!
We’re in the East on the Medicine Wheel, the direction of new beginnings, illumination, and fresh perspectives. The Waning Moon is helping us release what we don’t need, clearing space for what’s coming next. Meanwhile, the elemental shift from Water (Pisces) to Fire (Aries) moves us from deep emotional currents to bold, instinctual action.
Pisces, the last sign of the zodiac, is associated with the feet—the place where we feel the weight of the past, where energy pools before it moves upward. Aries, the first sign, is ruled by the head—the spark of initiation, the fire of identity, and the impulse to move forward without hesitation. This transition is like a cosmic birth canal, pushing us from the dreamy, fluid state of Pisces into the raw, primal emergence of Aries. If you’ve been feeling stuck, foggy, or in limbo, this is the moment where things start to break through.
The Spring Equinox & Celebrations of Ostara
March 20 is the Equinox, when light and dark are in perfect balance. From this point forward, days begin to grow longer, and Aries season kicks off, bringing a surge of energy. Aries doesn’t wait for permission—it moves. This is the time to embrace your desires, trust your instincts, and take bold steps toward what you truly want. If you’ve been waiting for a sign—this is it!
Ostara is the Pagan festival of the Spring Equinox, marking the balance of day and night before the light overtakes the darkness. Named after the Germanic goddess Eostre, this festival celebrates renewal, fertility, and the awakening of life after winter’s sleep. Many of its themes, such as eggs and hares, later influenced Easter traditions.
Ancient peoples honored this time with rituals of balance and new beginnings. They lit fires, planted seeds, and honored the Earth’s fertility, welcoming the return of warmth and growth. In some traditions, people painted eggs as symbols of creation and released hares into the fields to invoke prosperity.
Today, modern Pagans and Wiccans celebrate Ostara by decorating altars with flowers, seeds, and eggs, holding outdoor rituals, and meditating on new intentions. It is a time to embrace rebirth, creativity, and the return of the sun’s strength, as life stirs once more.
The Transition from Gate 36 to Gate 25: The Journey from Chaos to Innocence
Early in the week, we’re under the influence of Gate 36 (Crisis/“Darkening of the Light”), which can bring emotional ups and downs or a sense of uncertainty. This is the energy of transformation through experience, so if things feel messy, know that it’s all part of the process. By midweek, we shift into Gate 25 (Universal Love & Innocence), a beautiful energy that reconnects us to trust, spontaneity, and a sense of divine timing. This is about opening your heart to what is, rather than getting caught up in what should be.
In the Human Design wheel, the shift from Gate 36 (The Darkening of the Light) to Gate 25 (The Innocent) is a profound rebirth—a movement from emotional turbulence into pure, divine surrender.
This passage is like the moment after a great storm, when the skies clear, and all that remains is raw, unfiltered presence. It is the journey from suffering to grace, from the intensity of experience to the simplicity of being.
Gate 36: The Darkening of the Light – The Descent into Chaos
I Ching Hexagram 36 | Gene Key 36: Turbulence → Humanity → Compassion
Gate 36 is a gate of crisis, carrying the emotional intensity of human suffering. It represents the dark night of the soul, the place where life’s most challenging experiences shape our evolution. The energy here is restless, seeking new experiences, extremes of emotion, and the full spectrum of pleasure and pain.
In the Shadow frequency, this is Turbulence—the state of feeling lost in emotional chaos, drama, and suffering. It is the fear of pain itself, leading to an endless search for external experiences to fill an inner void.
At the Gift level, Gate 36 transforms into Humanity—the understanding that suffering is part of life’s unfolding, a shared experience that connects all beings. From this perspective, our wounds become portals to deeper empathy, allowing us to guide others through their darkness.
At the Siddhi level, the highest expression is Compassion—the realization that pain itself is sacred. It is not something to escape but something to embrace and alchemize into love.
This gate tests the soul, forcing it through the fires of intensity, passion, heartbreak, and longing. It is the descent into the depths of human experience—only to emerge on the other side, purified and open.
And that is where Gate 25 awaits.
Gate 25: The Innocent – The Return to Purity
I Ching Hexagram 25 | Gene Key 25: Constriction → Acceptance → Universal Love
When we pass through the final threshold of Gate 36, we step into Gate 25—the energy of pure, undistorted love.
This is the Gate of the Spirit, often called The Innocent, because it holds the energy of a heart untainted by fear, expectation, or agenda. It is the frequency of childlike wonder, radical trust, and spontaneous love for life itself.
In the Shadow state, Gate 25 experiences Constriction—the tight, fearful contraction that comes from closing ourselves off to love. This is often a reaction to the pain of Gate 36—after experiencing so much turbulence, the heart may attempt to protect itself by withdrawing.
But when we soften into Acceptance, we realize that love is not something we must earn—it simply exists. There is no need to seek it or to guard ourselves from it. It is the fundamental fabric of reality.
At its highest expression, Universal Love, Gate 25 radiates pure, unconditional presence. It does not seek or need—it simply is. This is the love that exists beyond attachment, beyond desire, beyond suffering. It is the same energy that flows through nature, through the stars, through the breath of the universe itself.
Here’s a beautiful visual encompassing 25’s energy from Kari Hohne, founder of Cafe au Soul:
Baby birds do not develop their colorful beaks and feathers until adolescence, when the territorial urge begins. Until then, their coloring allows them to remain hidden and protected. This is the protection offered to a state of innocence.
Like a hatchling protected from early danger, you can approach the threshold of perception with a sense of discovery. The master said: “Those who do not know what cannot be done can accomplish great things.”
Wu Wang means ‘not attached,’ or not caught up in defending yourself against unfolding events. Exerting the will can sometimes create disharmony in the flow of life. Unattached, you can observe your fundamental harmony with what unfolds.
The master said: “those who know no limits meet with no obstruction.” This state of innocence ensures your success.
Innocence allows you to see how events cultivate your power of your Te. It requires three things: compassion when relating to others, an appreciation for the ‘uncarved block,’ or the ever changing aspect of life by remaining simple in your desires not playing the host but remaining the guest of a greater unfolding.
The Alchemical Shift: From Experience to Presence
The journey from Gate 36 to Gate 25 is the cycle of life itself.
Gate 36 throws us into the depths of feeling, forcing us to experience life fully, even painfully.
Gate 25 brings us out the other side, teaching us that the experience itself was never the point—only the love we bring to it.
This is the alchemy of suffering into wisdom, of longing into fulfillment, of turbulence into peace.
If Gate 36 is the dark storm of the soul, Gate 25 is the clear blue sky that follows.
If Gate 36 is the seeker, always chasing new emotional highs and lows, Gate 25 is the sage, sitting quietly in the present moment, knowing all is already whole.
This transition is the passage from karma to dharma—from the illusion that we must struggle to find meaning, to the truth that meaning is already here, in every breath, in every heartbeat, in every moment.
This is the return to innocence.
You rise from sleep where your mind was open and then climb back into a type of sensory awareness that classifies everything. Just as you do in dreams, it is important to hover at the doorway of perception, without judgment or attachment to an outcome.
Innocence asks you to keep an open mind so that the Creative can lead you toward an environment that is beneficial to you.
-Kari Hohne
Themes for the Week:
Let go of the old weight – Pisces season asks us to shed emotional baggage.
Trust the process – Like a cosmic birth canal, Gate 36 brings growing pains, but clarity is coming.
Step into your power – Aries season is all about action, courage, and fresh starts.
Feel the shift in your body – Move from the feet (Pisces) to the head (Aries) and embrace forward momentum.
Embrace the power of Innocence - If you push too hard to be in the world, the unexpected cannot find you.
Thanks for being here for year 2 of Cycles of Time. If you have a friend who might resonate with this work, please consider sharing it with them!
Have a transformative and beautiful week ahead,
Alison
Stay in touch:
You can find me at astrosomatics.com, @cyclesoftimepodcast and @astro.somatics on Instagram, Youtube, or subscribe at astrosomatics.substack.com to get the pod in your inbox every Monday.
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