the new moon at 26’02 aries is exact on sunday april 15th 2018 at 6:57pm PDT. a new moon already resonates with the energy of aries- the first sign of the zodiac that is all about new beginnings and initiating things. so this is an extra fiery and potent new moon for setting new things in motion right now (where aries is in your chart is where the initiating energy is- check your weekly horoscopes for more info).
for those of us in the northern hemisphere we began spring on march 20th when the sun moved into aries. yet that initiation into spring and a new solar year was not typical. normal this is about brand new cycles being seeded! yet two days later mercury stationed retrograde in aries- which speaks to needing to deal with the past before we can move forward. in addition during mercury’s retrograde cycle he squares saturn a total of 3 times- which brings delays, limitations and restrictions. add to this mars- the ruling planet of aries- being in capricorn and aligning with saturn to square mercury (exact 4/2-4/5) and we get a very different picture of the start of spring in 2018. the last month has been less about moving forward and starting new cycles and more about dealing with the past and facing anything from the past that limits or inhibits us from creating new beginnings.
so i see this new moon in aries as the real start to spring- as we have a new moon in aries conjunct uranus (the planet of sudden change, liberation and freedom!) and in the early morning hours before the new moon (in the dark of the moon) we have mercury stationing direct. we now have a new moon in the sign the new moon resonates with conjunct a planet that is about activation and change and we have the winged messenger planet coming out of the Underworld and back into the Light. this is the new moon to set intentions, plant seeds and prepare to follow up with definite actions and movement in the coming lunar cycle. the key is to make wise use of the saturn/capricorn energy that demanded we reign in our will and desires so we are not acting in haste, impulsivity or reactivity. if we were able to work with the saturn/capricorn energy to develop more self mastery, capacity for discernment and spiritual maturity- then this new moon will be a time to take all that inner grounding and inward focus up and out. new cycles seeded right now can have far reaching impact.
this new moon conjunct uranus is also conjunct eris- the Goddess who reveals the shadow and what is going on behind the scenes- and widely square pluto- the Lord of the Underworld. in order to move forward we have to acknowledge the past and how it has taken us to where we are now. in order to start new things we have to complete old cycles and be willing to cut away/release/let die that which is no longer of value and cannot support us in the next wave of our evolution (personally and collectively).
the ruler of this lunation is of course mars- who is in capricorn as part of the ‘capricorn confluence’ (as i have been calling it) that 2018 is all about. in 2018 we have saturn in capricorn (the ruler of capricorn in his own sign), pluto in capricorn aligning with his own karmic south node (in october), black moon lilith in capricorn aligning with pluto in may, mars retrograde in aquarius and capricorn this summer (both saturn ruled signs), the karmic south node entering into capricorn in november, and the cancer/capricorn eclipses commencing this summer as well. where capricorn is in our charts we have A LOT OF TRANSFORMATIVE ENERGY unfolding (check your weekly horoscopes for more info). mars is triggering all of this capricorn confluence energy right now as he moves through the capricorn part of the sky. he is past his conjunction to saturn but is now heading to align with pluto and black moon lilith. he is also just past his trine to venus- and as he aligns with pluto and lilith, venus will trine them both.
there are some very potent energies brewing in regards to relationships and partnerships as well as the masculine/feminine balance within and without. mars heading to pluto shows me that the masculine is about to go through a massive death and rebirth process. this new moon in aries conjunct uranus mirrors that. somethings gotta give, somethings gotta change in the way the masculine is running it’s energy. just to be clear here i am not talking about men- i am talking about the masculine within us all. a long time ago our world was balanced and honored both the feminine and the masculine- but in our current day and age we have a major masculine default and imbalance going on. and we especially have a lot of shadow masculine energy flying around: with a desire for power, control, dominance and duality running rampant on our planet.
this new moon with mars heading to pluto and lilith speaks to the change that has to happen. we cannot keep on going in this direction or it will have dire consequences for our well being and for all of humanity on planet earth. we must learn to change this old paradigm that keeps us stuck and stagnant in our growth as a species but also keeps in a toxic way of relating to earth and to each other that is like a pressure cooker waiting to explode.
in the days following the new moon we have saturn going retrograde on the 17th and pluto going retrograde on the 22nd. we also have chiron the Wounded Healer heading into the sign of aries on the 17th as well. again the focus on CAPRICORN in our charts but also in the world around us (governments, countries, powers that be, traditions, business, institutions and more) is strong. there’s a stripping away that is happening that is necessary before something new can be established. unfortunately most of us really resist change. we are used to what we are used to- even if it does not help us thrive and evolve. we will often choose safety and security out of fear. and many of us give away our power to authority figures who say they know what is best for us- without questioning their motives and their alliances behind the scenes. shadow capricorn is about maintaining power at any cost which sources from fear. exalted capricorn is about ‘tearing down the old and creating new forms that allow for the externalization of the Divine Plan’ (alan open)
so where capricorn is in our charts and what capricorn represents in our culture- this ‘capricorn confluence’ is stripping away, getting to the root and foundation, helping us see what structures/foundations/beliefs/paradigms serve and which do not. from this space of awareness we are then asked to facilitate our own death and rebirth process. this is not a time to hold onto the old out of fear as this is the very thing that will create resistance to the rebirth that follows. because it is the nature of most humans to need a lot of intensity in order to be motivated to change- this can speak to things getting super intense in our personal and collecitve lives in order to bring things to a head, a crescendo, a moment in time where we finally accept that change has to happen rather than stay stuck in the other stages of grief (denial, anger, depression, bargaining) which hold us back from the making the change we so clearly need.
luckily in the midst of all this intense capricorn energy we have jupiter in scorpio linking with pluto in capricorn- a powerful alignment unfolding all year that is helping us do the deep work of catharsis, transformation, loss and renewal. jupiter is helping us plumb the depths! and pluto is revealing the structures/beliefs/limitations that hold us back. this is EXCELLENT astrology for being in therapy, doing shadow work, doing shamanic work and other kinds of Underworld/inner self work.
of course looking at the chart we cannot avoid noticing chiron at 29 pisces- such a hugely signifiant transit that i wrote a separate blog about it. to read that blog click here- https://www.divineharmony.org/cosmic-insight/astrology-blog/the-29th-degree-the-end-of-a-cycle-the-end-of-an-era/
but in short any planet at the 29th degree brings us to points of culmination, completion and perhaps crisis. this is a degree of transition- ready to head into a new sign but still on the last leg of the journey in the previous one. anything and everything not addressed or dealt with can come to a head when a planet transits the 29th degree. and being that this is chiron we are talking about- the guardian to the threshold and rainbow bridge from the manifest (personal/social planets) to the unmanifest (outer/transpersonal planets), and also being that we are talking about not just the last degree of a sign but the last degree of the last sign of the entire zodiac- we can see the liminal space energy we are positioned in right now. massive endings making way for massive new beginnings. it’s like we are in the birth portal but first a death of the old must occur. (for more info read the blog linked above)
we cannot forget to notice two asteroids conjunct this new moon and uranus- phaethon and apollo. both very fiery, solar energy asteroids that are very yang/masculine. phaethon has a very mars-like energy. martha wolcott says this asteroid symbolizes recklessness, feeling out of control, taking on more than we can handle and having trouble keeping to the middle of the road. that is pretty much the shadow of mars in a nutshell! with this potent asteroid involved with the new moon conjunct sudden and unexpected uranus- we would all do well to reign in our impulsivity and reactivity and count to 10 and breathe deeply before we speak or act (i am talking to myself, to you and to the leaders of the countries around the world right now!). this can be a recipe for disaster if we allow the shadow of our emotions to take hold of us and if we engage in power/control dynamics with others.
martha westcott says the asteroid apollo symbolizes being slow to learn and finding ourselves over and over again in the same karmic circumstances and crises. this is where we keep banging our head against a wall over and over and over again. with a new moon in fiery yang aries conjunct in the moment uranus and aligned with phaethon and apollo- i really hope none of the world leaders take hasteful, impulsive, reactive and karmic actions in the coming lunar cycle. at some point we need to learn that wielding the shadow side of mars is not only destroying our planet but it is derailing our growth as a species. this is a new moon to decide to make a radical change and stop beating our heads against the wall, stop engaging in power/control dynamics and instead embrace radical changes that are for the benefit of all. this is not a time to be selfish- it’s a time to be grounded in the Self. this is not a time to act without thinking. this is a time to think and feel and ground down and from this place take actions for the benefit of all.
as you can see this is quite the new moon! it’s one for the books! i leave you with ellias lonsdale’s star sparks meditation for 27 aries. he talks about this degree being ‘a fun house’. this degree shines a light on where we play hide and seek with ourselves and everyone else. it’s a wake up/shake up degree (very much like uranus on the new moon). a degree of owning our shit and shadow and where we play games. a degree of calling ourselves out on our stuff so that the fragmented parts of ourselves stop acting our and instead come back into wholeness. it’s a call into the real Self. if the whole world was full of people anchored in their true Selves- the game as we know it would change!
blessings…
~dh
27 aries- NEW MOON DEGREE
Aries 27 A fun house
If you ever can get out of the places you get yourself into, you will have learned a whole lot more than your outer mind flashes on or seemed to be there in the bargain. Sometimes it’s all about getting caught in tight traps and very definitive cycles and then how we do manage to pull ourselves beyond the wreckage into a whole new life, a rebirth.
The intricacies of the pattern are everything. We need the most intriguing and inescapable worlds to get hung up upon and spun around by. Each one has to be such an immense challenge. And in the midst of the madness, it feels to us like this is the one, and we belong this time, and all we have to do is ride it out to wishes-come-true.
But it turns out later that we were playing hide and seek with ourselves and with everybody else. What we were showing at any given point was what strategically fit the situation. We gave little of ourselves away. And eventually that syndrome of getting in and getting out and trying to shunt the edges of disaster proves to be no longer viable. Too little given, not enough in return.
We are in an ego conundrum here. Our self-flattering self praising ego self emphasizes how it looks and how it seems. The one inside who needs to come through is only interested in how it really is. Each of these cycles and contexts is an attempt to break us out of the iron grip of an outer mental self which is hooked on sense phenomena and just not getting it that playing games is a self-sabotaging way to go, with each time only leading back to yet another variation on the theme of hiding out, escaping, playing off of oneself, not being available to the deeper story here.
So we eventually outlast our appearance-in-the-moment existence and we discover that there really is somebody incredible on the inside to be.