New Moon in Aries

We are all going through a big, painful process of transformation. It's sticky. It's messy. It's not what we thought it would be. We have to let go, lest we may be pulled in the undertow, and surrender to the flow.

Aries is Cardinal Fire. It is the first sign in the zodiacal wheel, and many honor the Spring Equinox (when the Sun moves into Aries) as the start of the new year. Here we are, at the turn of the season, where the Sun is at zero degrees of Aries, the initiator, where the Moon will meet with the Sun to usher in the first New Moon on the first day of this Lunar Year. We have been experiencing some heavy planetary weather over the last 6 months (and beyond), but lately it has been particularly challenging... Since the last full moon two weeks ago, Saturn left Aquarius where it won’t return for another 28 or so years, and has gone into Pisces. Jupiter and Chiron made a conjunction in Aries, an aspect we won’t experience for another 13 years, and one that tore us open, exposed deep wounds related to our identity and the core of who we are. We’ve had various potent aspects with personal planets along the way, creating a roller coaster of hope and despair along the way… 

Days after this New Moon, we will move through the final gate of our planetary rites of passage. The way forward will become soft under our feet, our vision more clear. 

Pluto plays an extremely prominent role in this lunar cycle - let me count the ways... If you’ve been following along with my lunar insights, you’ve heard me speak about the anaretic degree, or the final degree of every sign of the zodiac (there are 30 degrees for every sign). Pluto has been sitting at the 29th degree of Capricorn for the last month, giving us ample time to feel this collective angst that has been building… and he finally changes signs on Thursday. The ingresses of slow moving planets (e.g. Pluto) can be especially dramatic, followed by a decrescendo of integration time, as we collectively adjust and re-orient to the new energy, going through peaks and valleys of big shifts along the way, as we spiral in our evolutionary dance. In the case of Pluto, the time he moves through Aquarius will be intertwined with cycles of death, decay, and rebirth, and power tug of wars in Aquarian style - we can speculate on what we can expect for this new cycle, but no one alive has experienced Pluto in Aquarius… We can look to history to see what occurred in the past to inform what we can expect now… one relevant example for us in the United States is the birth of this country - the United States was fighting for their freedom from British rule and establishing themselves as a sovereign nation, on stolen land, mind you, as Pluto was moving from Capricorn into Aquarius…

Pluto’s time spent in different signs represents generational groups. As Chani Nicholas explains, the energy of the generation isn’t really felt until that generation comes of age. The millennials are those born with Pluto in Scorpio… the boomers are Pluto in Leo… Gen Z are Pluto in Sagittarius… As Pluto leaves Capricorn, we will begin to feel the influence of this generation as they begin to assert themselves in the world. What we do know is the experiences we’ve had since Pluto entered Capricorn in 2008. We know that the world as we knew it is being left behind us, and it’s not going to be all sunshine and rainbows. This is not the “age of Aquarius” but an activation of the age of Aquarius, as Divine Harmony explains. We are still dealing with, and probably always will be dealing with, corruption and abuse of power, very much Plutonian themes. As Pluto moves into Aquarius, we will likely, unfortunately, see a big push of abuse of technology as a means for power over (we have already been experiencing this energy, and it will intensify). Big tech will flex its influence, and we will have to stay vigilant to maintain our sovereignty and protect our intellectual property. Richard Tarnas calls this time a “changing of the Gods” (watch the documentary he contributed to, Changing of the Gods, or read his book, Cosmos and Psyche). Pluto in Aquarius is not all scary, though… if we do our part, we can see immense beautiful shifts in humanity. Pluto is about magick, in all of its forms - the key is to use this power for the sake of the Highest Good. Pluto in Aquarius is capable of creating the social reform we have been trying to speak and imagine into existence. The challenge we have been facing and will continue to face is not being swept away by technology and sneaky marketing tactics. The power of Pluto is available for us all - we have to be intentional about our focus, about our words, our habits, what we feed our senses. The antidote is staying rooted in nature. Put down your phone and listen to the silence. Spend time in the forest. Put your feet on the ground, your hands in the dirt. Hug a friend, your family, your partner, your children. Hug them long and hard. We have to stay rooted in our hearts, in the center of our being. What is sacred? Acknowledge it daily through ritual - it doesn’t have to be fancy. It can be as simple as taking a big breath into your body and sending it down into your feet. The more important part is ritualizing the act and honoring it as sacred. 

As the ruling planet of Aries, Mars rules this lunation. He is still in Gemini, where he has been traversing since August of last year. He has finally left his retrograde shadow, and so we are wrapping up the lessons we have hopefully responded to responsibly, around our words, the way we use our words to wield our magic, conscious or otherwise, as within so without, and the way our words ripple out and affect others, sometimes cutting deep if we are not owning our rage. Have you been impeccable with your word? How have you adjusted the way you communicate or express yourself over the last 6 months? What inspired the shift?

Mars  is squaring the Moon and Sun, and squaring Ceres, creating a T-square configuration.  Don't let your need to be right, or your stubborn scope to individuate and go it alone get in the way of the path forward. Challenge your perspective, stay curious, and choose your battles wisely. The medicine of this New Moon is through nurturing your relationships (Ceres in Libra). The balm is in gathering in community, even and especially when it feels hard. Do not fear your darkness, or hide in it. We are all human, and part of being human is traversing the shadows. It does not have to be a solo journey. Go gather, grab a friend, get in there, skip the small talk. Vulnerability is key - stretch your hand out when you see someone is hurting, and let them know you're there if they need you to help them get the poison out.

The darkness comes in waves...and we all experience the crests and crashes at different times - a synchronistic orchestration that allows for us to play both nurturer and nurtured as the occasions arise. You are both.

Mars is making an aspect with Pluto and Lilith, called the "Finger of Fate" or "Finger of God" - also referred to as a Yod. It is a triangular formation (which I have included in the artwork for the lunation) with Pluto at the apex, and Lilith and Mars at the base. The energy of Pluto is the dominating energy in this formation, forming uncomfortable aspects (quincunxes) to both Lilith and Mars. On the flip side, Mars and Lilith are in a supportive aspect to one another, making their collective energy at odds with the very strong pull from Pluto, who is at the anaretic degree of Capricorn, which we have established is already uncomfortable in and of itself. I am not an expert on Yods, and some astrologers may argue with me about the significance of using Lilith in a Yod formation, since Lilith represents an abstract point in space, a point on the Moon’s orbit that is furthest from the Earth, and not a dense, physical celestial body. Scientists have found that the most energy is found in the space between matter, the black spaces, and Lilith is a point in this dark, spacious, mysterious energy. In terms of personal astrology, she represents the part of ourselves that we have exiled because of social conditioning - the aspects and desires we bury away into the deepest caverns of ourselves in hopes that no one will ever see or know. Lilith shows up in our “dark nights of the soul” and I think it’s no coincidence that she is here in this new moon chart in this powerful formation. So, yods are extremely difficult, “high-pressure” aspects that create a sort of crucible for transformation. Lilith moves quickly through the sky, as she is a point in the Moon’s orbit, so the fact that this formation is showing up in our New Moon chart gives me hope that this is just the conditions we need, if we are brave enough to sit with it, to make some big shifts in our personal journeys, related to our gifts we want to share in the world, the gifts the world needs us to share, and how we can integrate together in community in a more sustainable way for the future we want to see manifest. In a nutshell, this Pluto-Mars-Lilith yod can be felt as (in my humble opinion) a karmic tunnel, the only way is through, where we are facing and grappling, not so gracefully, with overwhelming righteous rage over toxic masculinity, and trying to figure out how to break these destructive cycles and heal. How do we identify and name it? How can we possibly move forward in integrity when it feels like the odds are against us?

So where is the light…

Saturn is making a trine to the South Node of the Moon in Scorpio, and a sextile to the North Node in Taurus, which is conjunct VENUS (thank GODDESS). There is some relief… for the next couple of weeks, really set your intention on releasing all of the heavy, sticky muck and bring in the BEAUTY. This is the start of spring, and Venus conjunct the North Node is CALLING IN THE RENEWAL. Make sure you are making time for ritual releasing - write your negative beliefs on paper and burn it. Take a bath, fill it with salts and essential oils and flowers. Cover yourself in oil. Take a f*ckin break. You have time for it. You absolutely need it and deserve it. Schedule it in if you have to. Although these times are really challenging, we must take the time to remember what we are grateful for and keep it close to our hearts. Write it on your mirror. Saturn in Pisces is helping us to question and reform the structures around our belief systems. Let yourself be a little bit more permeable, more fluid. Question what you have been subscribing to, both energetically and tangibly. Recommit to spiritual practices that energize you. Venus in Taurus wants you to honor and worship your body as the sacred temple it is. Venus is getting brighter and brighter in the sky every night. Take the time to go outside at and after sunset to gaze at her, feel her warmth. How does looking at her make you feel? What does it make you think? By taking the time to gaze at her, you are tuning in to her messages… the more you listen, the louder she will get…

That is all I have to give for now… Stay curious, stay open, stay kind.