There’s a moment in transformation where you know things will never be the same again—but you’re not quite sure what comes next. That’s the energy we’re in right now.

For weeks, we’ve been living with the energy of Gate 36 (Crisis) and Gate 6 (Conflict) through the North and South Nodes. These themes of emotional upheaval and relational tension have been playing out in the world and in our personal lives.

But now, the intensity is ramping up. The Sun and Earth have moved into these same gates, layering on the emotional charge. And we’re moving toward a Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse in Gate 6 on Friday, March 14—an event that will illuminate everything that has been simmering beneath the surface.

A Blood Moon. The eclipse will turn the moon a deep red, like it’s burning in the sky. And that feels exactly like what’s happening inside so many of us right now.

Because this fire isn’t just external. It’s burning within us, around us, and through us.

Some of us are watching the flames rage, wondering what will be left when the embers settle. Others are standing in the middle of the blaze, trying to put out fires with bare hands. Some seem to be throwing gasoline on it just to watch the destruction. And some of us are seeing the fire for what it is—a necessary burning away of what can’t continue.

Blow-Ups & Breakthroughs: The Fire That Nearly Burned Me Down

A few days ago, I had a massive blow-up with my husband. Not an argument—a full-out eruption.

In the heat of it, I could actually observe myself. I could see how completely out of control this fire was burning. I knew something was being burned away, but I couldn’t stop the flames.

And that’s when I realized something crucial—this fire was real, and although I didn’t want to burn down my marriage, I was afraid that if I put out that fire nothing would change and the thing that most needed to change was me. 

Gate 36 is about emotional crisis. The kind that escalates fast, consuming everything in its path. It makes you feel like something must change right now.

Gate 6 is about friction. The kind that forces us into a choice—fight, flee, or transform.

In that moment, I had to make a choice. Let the fire rage and destroy everything in its path, including what I love, or step away and come back when I could see what needed burning.

So I walked away. And when I did, I realized that what I was actually fighting wasn’t my husband—it was a feeling inside of me. I was fighting against powerlessness. I was fighting against the idea that I needed him to agree with me in order to stand strong in my own truth, that I needed him to determine my worth. 

It was never about him. It was amazing how quickly I saw that. But as hot as that fire was burning it went out quickly when I saw that I was fueling it with a story I no longer believed.  That I was acting out from an old mindset. 

Only minutes later, I came back. And I had the conversation that actually needed to be had. Not the fight—the conversation. Because some things need to be burned away, but not everything needs to be destroyed.

The Lunar Eclipse: A Blood Moon That Mirrors Our Internal Fire

This isn’t just a regular full moon—it’s a Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse, and it’s happening in Gate 6 (Conflict), the very energy we’ve been swimming in for weeks.

Eclipses burn away what no longer serves us. They bring endings, but they also open doors—if we have the courage to walk through them.

This eclipse is asking us:

🔥 What needs to be released so you can move forward?

🔥 Where are you creating conflict to avoid a deeper truth?

🔥 What are you ready to let burn, and what do you want to protect from the flames?

It would be easy for me to approach this eclipse with trepidation after what happened the other day with my husband, right? Like, what if it gets worse? What if it gets deeper?

But I’m choosing to look at this differently. What if this eclipse is showing me what still needs to be healed—so that my relationship can be even stronger, clearer, and more authentic?

So what does that look like for me?

I’ve been with my husband for over 30 years—since I went on the roof. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned as a sixth-line being, it’s that my body won’t let me do anything half-assed. I have to be fully in integrity, fully authentic. And that has taken my marriage to a whole new place of depth and truth.

It’s beautiful, but it’s also terrifying at times—for both of us.

Because deep authenticity means there’s nowhere to hide. No more sweeping things under the rug. No more pretending something doesn’t matter when it does. No more settling for what’s comfortable when there’s an opportunity for something even more real.

That’s what conflict teaches us—not how to fight, but how to grow.

I had an incredible conversation about this earlier this week while recording the next episode of my podcast, Real Human Design Stories, with Richard Corbett. We talked about how our greatest love is often where our deepest wounds are healed. I even joked about how Richard’s chart seemed to reflect all the current transit energies. (You can find the episode at realhumandesignstories.com when it’s released Monday, March 17, at 5 p.m. EDT.)

And here’s another layer to all of this:

This eclipse is happening in a line that speaks to knowing when to advance and when to withdraw. The kind of emotional push-and-pull that can either erode intimacy or create deeper understanding—depending on how we navigate it.

At its lowest expression, this energy exploits weak points in relationships—whether by lashing out or withdrawing completely. But running away isn’t resolution.

And yet, an eclipse is different.

This is not the time to run.

Coming into this eclipse with awareness, I know I have the opportunity to pause, observe, and get ahead of my emotional reactivity before I start another fire.

The fire may still burn. But I don’t have to let it burn down what I’m trying to build.

The Saturn Conjunction in Gate 22: A Deepening of the Emotional Journey

This emotional energy hasn’t just arrived—it has been building, layer by layer, pulling us deeper into the work of emotional responsibility and relational growth.

Just before the Sun entered Gate 36 (Crisis) and intensified the emotional charge, Saturn and the Sun met in an exact conjunction in Gate 22 (Grace).

This was not a one-time lesson. Saturn has already traveled through Gate 22 three times—moving forward, retrograding, and now moving forward again. It has been offering us repeated opportunities to refine how we hold, process, and express our emotions.

And I can see how deeply this energy was present during my recent conflict with my husband. The fire of emotion was already lit, and I could feel myself caught in something much bigger than just the disagreement at hand. I could see it happening, but in the moment, it was still unfolding.

Looking back, I can recognize how this energy was asking me to step more fully into emotional responsibility—for myself, my triggers, and the deeper healing work that relationships invite.

Saturn in Gate 22.6 has been asking:

🌊 Am I holding my emotions with grace, or are they controlling me?

🌊 Am I allowing others to have their emotions without making them mean something about me?

🌊 Can I trust this process, even when it feels unbearably messy?

This isn’t about suppressing emotions or avoiding conflict. It’s about learning to move through them with grace—to allow deep feelings without letting them consume us, to stand in our truth without shutting others out, and to create relationships that hold space for the real work of intimacy.

This is the kind of work that makes love more real, more expansive, and more deeply fulfilling.

So, I’m asking myself—where can I soften without losing myself? Where can I step forward without burning everything down?

Because I know this isn’t just happening to me. We’re all navigating this in different ways, and I’d love to hear how this is showing up in your world.

Venus & Mercury Retrogrades: Revisiting Power & Perception

As if all this emotional intensity weren’t enough, Venus and Mercury are stirring the pot in a whole different way.

💫 Venus retrograde in Gate 17 (Opinions) is challenging us to rethink what we believe—about ourselves, our relationships, and our own authority. Where have we been outsourcing our sense of worth to the opinions of others?

💫 Mercury moving into Gate 21 (Control) before retrograding back into Gate 17 is asking us to examine where we try to hold onto power—and whether we truly trust ourselves to navigate the unknown.

Venus is forcing us to ask: Where have I given up my own power in order to be accepted?

Mercury is about to ask: What do I think I “know” that may not actually be true?

And this is where things hit me on a deeply personal level.

Because there are so many things I can’t control right now. And I’m not just talking about politics and the state of the world. 

I can’t control my husband’s response to the things I say or do. I can’t control how quickly we can work through our patterns, even when I see them clearly. I can’t force the kind of growth that has to happen on its own timeline.

I can’t control my body’s response to chronic sleep deprivation. I can’t control the frustrating delays in getting the medical support I need for my sleep apnea. And now, I can’t control the number on the scale despite my best efforts as my body tries to store energy. 

And yet, as I walked out of the doctor’s office today, feeling the weight of all of this, I reminded myself:

Everything is always happening for my greatest expansion, even when it sucks in the moment.

I have no idea what’s meant to come from this. I just have to trust that as long as I keep doing my best, things will happen as they happen.

That doesn’t mean I’ll like it. That doesn’t mean it won’t be frustrating or exhausting or painful.

But it does mean that this is part of what I’m here to experience.

And that kind of trust takes practice.

Radical self-trust is like a muscle—the more we use it, the stronger it gets.

And honestly? The things I’ve been experiencing this past week—did I mention my brother is in ICU?—would have taken me down ten years ago. 

I would have been in bed, sobbing, overwhelmed, drowning in uncertainty. Worrying that my health issues are the beginning of the slippery, ever-declining slope of aging.

And there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m not judging.

But I can see how much I’ve grown.

I can see how much safer I feel inside myself, even when life feels chaotic.

This is why I do the work I do.

Radical self-trust isn’t just a nice idea—it’s the foundation that keeps your knees from buckling when life feels impossible. 

It’s the difference between collapsing under uncertainty and being able to stand in it.

This isn’t about pretending to be unshakable. It’s about knowing that even when life shakes you, you won’t fall apart.

That’s why I show up as a mentor and guide—to help others cultivate this level of trust in themselves. Because I know what it’s like to doubt. To feel like life is happening to you instead of for you. And I know what it takes to shift that.

✨ Where are you being asked to trust, even when it feels impossible?

✨ Where can you release control and lean into the unknown?

✨ What’s one way you can remind yourself that you are safe, even in the uncertainty?

Embracing the Fire, Trusting the Process

This moment—this transit, this eclipse, this retrograde season—is an invitation. An invitation to step fully into who we are, to meet ourselves and our relationships with honesty, and to trust that clarity comes not from forcing answers but from standing confidently in our own light.

We don’t have to fear the fire. We can allow it to burn away what no longer serves us, knowing that what remains is what’s real.

Radical self-trust is not about always knowing the next step—it’s about knowing that when the time comes, you will know. It’s about trusting that even in the unknown, you are still on your path. It’s about remembering that relationships—whether with yourself or with others—are not meant to be battles of control, but spaces where we grow, heal, and evolve together.

So, as we move through this energy, let’s commit to this:

🔥 Let’s not run from the discomfort, but sit with it and see what it has to teach us.

🌱 Let’s trust that the pieces will come together in their own perfect timing.

✨ Let’s stand fully in our truth, knowing that the more we embrace who we are, the more everything else falls into place.

Because when we trust ourselves, when we let go of resistance, when we allow our light to shine—the path always becomes clear.

Navigating This Energy With Awareness

💡 New to working with transits? Start here: Simplify in 2025: Finding Clarity Through Human Design Transits

💡 See the current transits anytime: KathyBochonko.com/transitchart

🔥 Join me and Jess Tilly for our next live Transit Talk!

📅 Episode 7 – Thursday, March 13 at 12 PM Eastern

📍 Live in the Intuitive Human Design Facebook group! Can’t make it live? Catch the replay here or on YouTube.

This is a powerful, transformative energy. Are you feeling the fire? Have you noticed where conflict is bringing clarity? Let’s talk about it in the comments—I’d love to hear your reflections.

#RadicalSelfTrust #SimplifyIn2025 #ShineYourLight