digital art from www.paulsquire.com

Mercury turned direct on Saturday after a three-week period of missed appointments, crashed computers, and conversations that began “I thought you said…” For some time Mercury has been marching in lockstep with Uranus, the planet of revolution and radical departures from ordinary thinking, and this combination has brought with it a groundswell of revolutionary activity as well as some surprising revelations. The buildup of energy as we approach the Aries New Moon solar eclipse on Wednesday will likely encourage an increase in aggression (Aries) and bravado resulting in a higher level of violence and action/reaction across the globe. Pent-up emotion erupted in the public arena this weekend:

Demonstrators in Belarus were clubbed and their leader arrested during an increase in violence on Saturday, about a week after a widely-questioned election on March 19 left the current administration in power.

Over half a million protesters in Los Angeles were accompanied by tens of thousands more in other cities such as Denver, Phoenix and Milwaukee in marches and speeches protesting the anti-immigration bill that is before the US Senate this week.

Riots in France over the past week came to a head as students snubbed efforts of the Prime Minister to quell the violence.

And then there were some surprising revelations:

The Pentagon claimed that Russia had provided classified information to Saddam Hussein as the US invasion of Iraq unfolded.

Scientists in Ethiopia found the skull of a new human ancestor that could be the long-sought missing link.

The journal Science published two studies on Friday revealing that global warming is occurring much more quickly than previously thought, resulting in significant earth changes by the year 2100.

You may be experiencing the intensity of the upcoming eclipse on a more personal level as well. Change is difficult, but ultimately propels us towards a more complete experience of life on earth and an increase in wisdom and depth of perception.