This New Moon in Aries is one of the most potent weeks for manifestation of the entire year. Not only is Aries the start of the Astrological New Year, resetting our wheel of growth throughout the zodiac, but it also occurs during an incredibly powerful astrological week.
On March 20th, the Spring Equinox occurred, heralding rebirth and new life throughout the Northern Hemisphere, and kicking off a new season, as the Sun moved in to the fiery sign of Aries. Aries represents the spark of life and initiation itself. Bravery and a warrior-like mentality are supporting us this Aries season, as we all step into new versions of ourselves. It takes courage to bloom.
Later this week, Pluto, planet of transformation, god of the underworld, and deep portal to all things powerful, will move into a new sign, after spending 18 years in Capricorn.
Additionally, Mars, which has been spending an inordinate amount of time in Gemini for the past 7 1/2 months, will finally leave Gemini, moving into the sign of Cancer, on Friday, March 25th. Mars typically spends just about two months in each sign, so it’s emphasis in Gemini for such a long period, has been an extreme focus of our passionate, aggressive, reactionary energy in the realm of communications and our one-on-one relationships. As it shifts into the sign of Cancer, it’s going to bring about the theme of care in new, profound ways.
The New Moon entering Aries is an absolute joy when it comes to refreshing, resetting, and re-entering yourself in new energetic ways. It will also bring up hardship, as New Moons often do, recycling an awareness of what we need to release, in order to start fresh.
This past zodiacal year has been a challenging journey, and we are all in need of new energy, particularly when it comes to our sense of self-worth, our spiritual sovereignty, and our beliefs about one another.
I see Aries as the sign of pure, initiatory Spirit. It’s that first breath of life, when a baby is born, that is the snapshot of the birth chart itself. It is the moment when the soul incarnates into the body. This Aries New Moon is a seed moment for your most powerful dreams and manifestations to come forward — to burn into the night and have a ripple effect of motivational energy within and around you.
The goal of Aries is to know thyself through the path of individuation. Carl Jung calls individuation an unconscious natural spontaneous process but also a relatively rare one, something: “only experienced by those who have gone through the wearisome but indispensable business of coming to terms with the unconscious components of the personality.”
We have certainly been through battles on a collective scale these past few years, and the Pluto transition of power this week will churn up the unconscious into conscious thought. What have you learned about yourself? What teachings are you now noticing have been integrated into your personality over the past few years? What would you like to further explore and embody in your own personality? How would you prefer to feel? Who would you prefer to be?
Aries embodies youth, innocence, forthrightness, and bravery, like no other sign. I love Aries energy this time of year, because it’s so motivating in setting off the chain of reaction for vitality in our bodies, and in Nature, as our souls replenish, and a new phase of Sunlight begins.
As Pluto enters Aquarius this week, on Thursday, the 23rd, this represents a collective shift in consciousness. Whatever sign Pluto occupies shows us the spaces in our society where deep change needs to take place. Pluto uncovers the darkness and drags us, often unwillingly, into unknown territory. Pluto breaks us so that we can be born again. During its last 18 years, in the sign of Capricorn, we have seen a questioning, and a revolt, against the structures, systems and hierarchies that hold up our very lives, whether it’s healthcare, the economy, our knowledge of ecosystems, or inequalities when it comes to race and sexuality.
All of these former ideologies are crumbling, and many are beginning to recognize the collective embrace that is needed as we move forward into an interconnected world. Aquarius is the archetype of interconnected humanity. It represents humanitarian efforts, being unique within the collective, original thinking, and true technological and imaginative advances.
Aquarian ideals have been spoken about since the 60s and 70s as the “New Age”. This is now an entrance point. We are elevating our collective consciousness in a wave of acknowledgment that we are “all in it together.” And we are more willing to celebrate our differences in a way we never have before. Getting there is not going to be easy, however. Pluto will surely test us along the way.
So, for this New Moon in Aries, I want you to dream your wildest dream for yourself. If you had no doubts about who you could be in the world, who would you be? I hope you’re feeling as much energy and vitality throughout this week as I am. I hope you are feeling ready to start a new chapter of your life, and burn away any old residues of the past that have been weighing you down.
A few ritual suggestions for this New Moon:
Write, on a piece of paper, those things in your life you are ready to burn away, and actually burn them in a fire.
Write, on a piece of paper, the dreams and intentions you want to grow this season and bury them into the Earth, like a seed. You can even plant them with real seeds
Plant seeds with your family or with children, light a candle and acknowledge your aspirations for yourself.
Take a new step in some direction that you have never been before . It can be as simple as going for a walk somewhere different, wearing your hair differently, or maybe even as expansive as taking a new class in a topic you haven’t yet explored.
Blessings for this New Moon in Aries, Happy Aries season, Happy Equinox, and Happy Astrological New Year!
Art by Scott Norris from Fine Art America