The Cosmic Story: Aries New Moon 2021

 

The Cosmic Story: Aries New Moon 2021

The Fire of Creation 

Motherpeace Deck

In many ways, this Sunday’s Aries New Moon is another beginning of the astrological new year – another aspect of Spring Equinox. Now the Light and Dark will grow imbalanced until Summer Solstice/Winter Solstice.

Up North, the Light is returning.

Astrology is based on cycles. Such as the soli-lunar cycle of Sun and Moon. Astrology looks at the planetary cycles and tries to understand what happens when two planets connect to each other in different mathematical configurations. It also looks at how present cycles are related to past cycles.

This New Moon is connected to a few past cycles and planetary aspects, so we’ll be revisiting what happened in the past so we can move into the future.

Aries symbolizes the fire of Spirit descending upon us, giving us life, giving us the opportunity to start over, to begin again. Just as we’re energized by this fiery Spirit, Spirit wants to be expressed. Fire wants to burn! 

 

 

The paradox is that fire is both creative and destructive – it is up to us to shape something with the fire into the third, transformative state. (You can read more about the magic of Fire and its patrons at The Bard's Grove) We humans can use fire to both create consciousness as well as destroy life.

At this moment of cultural crisis and transformation, we’re each being asked by destiny to make our choice – will we create a new life here on Earth and heal ourselves and Mother Earth or will we continue to kill and destroy life?

This Aries New Moon will square the sensitive degrees of Capricorn where Saturn, Pluto, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury came together last year to such devastating effects. Now these archetypal energies have been regenerated (Pluto) and infused with hope and imagination (Neptune in Pisces). We have opportunities now with Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius to affect collective consciousness through our technology and our common visions.

The world is at a turning point. We can collapse back into a death culture that thrives on war and power, or we can emerge into a new world where peace and cooperation can set our energies flowing to heal Nature and re-create ourselves.

Will we use the pure fires of this powerful Aries New Moon to heal or destroy ourselves? Never doubt that our individual choices will unite and set the vision for our future.

Whatever you think of President Biden, he is setting a course to re-build America from the bottom up. This is a vision that helps people while it works towards climate accountability. Hopefully, COVID has given us a sense of sacrifice and community. Pluto says it’s time for us to take responsibility and sacrifice our time or money to create ‘a more perfect union’. (Abraham Lincoln) 

 

Like the new light of sunrise, Aries and Mars embody a pioneering energy, the same type of energy used to explore and later unfortunately dominate the New World. After people settling in America used this Mars energy to fight and conquer this wild, beautiful continent, their descendants focused that Mars energy on commercial enterprises and scientific and technological discoveries. It is the energy that America has thrived on. It is a young, eager, adventurous energy that made us a great power in the world.

Lately, though, we seem to have lost this pioneering spirit as a country. Perhaps turning away from it because we’ve seen and understood what its done to our Native peoples, to the land and to other countries. Or perhaps our relative wealth breeds contentment and sometimes laziness.

But this decline aligns with the fact that we’re at the end of America’s Pluto cycle (our power and our past), which runs from 2021 – 2024 and perfects (conjuncts natal Pluto) for the first time on February 20, 2022 (2/20/22).

As the cycle ends, a new one begins. What will we make of it? While Pluto works to destroy what is no longer viable, it also wants us to evolve and grow. Will our evolutionary track lead us to extinction? Or to new heights of human consciousness, compassion and wisdom? We have to work with Pluto on this one. As this archetypal energy of power and surrender is renewed, we the people will partake of it. Just like Americans engaged with it before we declared our independence in 1776.

This death and rebirth energy compels us to question ourselves and our values. What are our country’s values? What do we stand for? How do we value our natural and cultural resources? How do we value our people, who are all immigrants and therefore orphans who have been uprooted from their motherlands. What are we willing to fight to protect – people or things? How should our government be structured and should our collective government provide us with basic necessities for ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’? How should the country’s finances be organized – should the economy be the cultural center or just a tool when we put life at the center? What role does private business play in our country? What role do citizens play?

While Aries is about the individual Hero’s Journey, the truth is our whole world culture needs regenerating. So humanity is being called to the Hero’s Journey. 

 

Will we answer the call?

This is who we were born to be. This is what we were born to do.

Aries New Moon 2021

The Aries New Moon occurs on April 11, 2021 at 3:31pm Alaska time, 4:31pm PDT/ 7:31pm EDT and on April 12, 2021 at 12:31am GMT.

 

 

The Sabian symbol for the Sun and Moon at 23* Aries is: A pregnant woman in a light summer dress. Besides being an image of fertility, pregnancy is an inner process. This New Moon is so juicy and full of potential. Summer is the time when the Earth is most fertile. Take this image with you as you plant your New Moon seeds in the dark. Watch for the slim crescent Moon on Tuesday. That’s the day to begin something new.

This Aries New Moon is comprised of a conjunction of 6 planetary bodies: Chiron, Mercury, Sun, Moon, Eris and Venus join energies to fill us with the courage and strength to be authentic, strategically engaging in the world in new ways. If we ask these archetypal energies to guide us, they can help us manifest what creative ideas we’ve been working with this past year.

We’ll need some guidance as this New Moon squares 23-24* Capricorn where the transformative conjunction of Pluto and Saturn happened last year on January 11, 2020. As well as to the degrees of the three Jupiter-Pluto conjunctions during 2020.

This Aries New Moon squares where the Capricorn New Moon on January 13, 2021 occurred. That New Moon was conjunct Pluto, hopefully helping us confront our fears. With this New Moon in a first quarter square to January’s New Moon, we get to move past our fears to a clearer vision of what’s needed. We are being asked to choose. That’s what free will is all about. The choices we make.

Since we are helping rebuild our society (sq to Pluto), we as citizens have the responsibility to find out what our government is doing. When we go to City or Town Council meetings, we have a voice in what happens in our local, state and national communities. If we all pay attention, we can help communities steer our way through these troubled waters. This is the time to make new commitments to transform the world. Just don’t settle on the exact form yet. Play with your options! Aries loves to play.

This Aries New Moon fire is fanned by Saturn, Jupiter and Mars in air signs, sparking new ideas and possibilities. With Saturn in the mix, we have to come up with good, solid ideas before we act on them.

Like the shifting, dancing flames, however, it isn’t time to settle in on one answer or way. That comes later on this Spring. Now is the time to dance with the flame and try out new shapes and patterns to see which one rings true for you.

 

With Venus and Mars dancing together in a cooperative, encouraging sextile, our values and our desires dance well together. Our values and what we love will become clear to our authentic Self. It’s time to brake free from patriarchy’s capitalistic spell controlling our desires.

Mars, which rules these Aries planets, is in Gemini and likes to play around with different ideas and information – so it’s a good time to do more research. With a creative trine to Jupiter in Aquarius, it’s a great time to talk with people and find out what they’re thinking about, which will help you consolidate your own ideas.

Communication is key here, especially since Mercury in Aries is in what’s called mutual reception with Mars in Gemini – they’re staying in each other’s home sign. Mars can be argumentative, so please try to listen before you speak. It’s about really hearing what others say before you respond.

We do have to watch out for Mars since he’s out-of-bounds – meaning he’s going to be a wild card energy, that refuses to play within the lines. Allow your thoughts and ideas to be outrageous if you want. You’ll be winnowing through them in the next month or so.

With Mars in Gemini and Jupiter in Aquarius closely supporting this New Moon, you’ll want to pick and choose which seeds to plant, since you might have an over-abundance of them.

 

 

Mars’ sister, Eris, warrior goddess of the Heart, mediates between this New Moon and Venus. She will insist that we listen to our hearts and our values (Venus) when we set our seed intentions – otherwise she’ll create dis-cord for going against our hearts’ desire.

Find your Aries house. Look at what sign and house your Mars occupies. These will tell you which road is right for you. Understand what underlying motives make you want to take action. With Mars in Gemini, first and foremost, you are going on an adventure of the mind (Georgia Stathis). Think of all those possibilities!

When Mars goes into Cancer on April 23^rd, the same day as Mercury conjuncts Uranus in Taurus, your emotional body will come online and you’ll know what direction to take.

Over the next week or so, Venus, the Sun and Mercury will square Pluto, helping us leave behind old habits and ideas that no longer serve us in our new story. You might run into some old power dynamics that you’ll have to deal with. Don’t react! Try to understand what’s going on and choose how you want to deal with it.

 

Venus moves into Taurus from April 14 – May 8. Things will feel more gentle and enjoyable. Venus is beginning her Evening Star phase as the Goddess of Love and Wisdom rather than her Morning Star phase as a Goddess of War and outer engagement.

All the planets are moving forward now until Pluto goes retrograde on April 27^th. So things might move forward rapidly now. Just go with the flow and see what happens.

The Sabian symbol for Pluto turning retrograde at 27* Capricorn is: Pilgrims climbing the steep steps leading to a mountain shrine.  It's time to go in search of higher consciousness.

Mercury, Mars, Saturn, Venus, Pluto and Pallas Athena are connecting to the Gemini/Sagittarius nodes. This bit of information from astrologer Anne Ortlee: when planets aspects the nodes like this watch for people to come into your life who will have an affect on you in some way. So see who you connect with in the next few weeks. They might be bringing you the help you need.

The Sky is ever changing and so are its energies. Try to keep up but be good to yourself. This is still a new and emerging energy we’re dealing with. Take care of it as you would a beloved child.

Blessings of the Spring to you all!

Cathy

I Want A Lot

You see, I want a lot.
Perhaps I want everything:
the darkness that comes with every infinite fall
and the shivering blaze of every step up.

So many live on and want nothing
and are raised to the rank of prince
by the slippery ease of their light judgments.

But what you love to see are faces
that so work and feel thirst....

You have not grown old, and it is not too late
to dive into your increasing depths
where life calmly gives out its own secret.

~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~

(Selected Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke, trans. By Robert Bly)

The Cosmic Story: Libra Full Super Moon, 2021

 

The Cosmic Story: Libra Full Super Moon 2021

Venus Releases Our Soul’s Light

Happy Spring Equinox! The Sun is warm, the breezes are cold and the Earth is starting to send up her early Spring flowers – crocuses, early daffodils, snowdrops. And the trees have a light green energy on their branches.

Every Spring Equinox is a re-birth of the Light and warmth. What was conceived at Winter Solstice is now ready to emerge into the world. This is a special new beginning, since it’s the first Equinox since the big paradigm shift of the Jupiter/Saturn conjunction in Aquarius on December 21, 2020. This conjunction occurred at the conception point of Light returning. Now that the Light is being birthed here in the northern hemisphere, it will contain the energy of that conjunction.

At Winter Solstice, beside this game changing conjunction of the social planets, which shifts our paradigm from the earth plane of materialism to the mental plane of ideas, Venus in Sagittarius was trine Chiron in Aries, connecting us with the need to find our truth. For this Libra Full Moon, Venus plays a major role, both as ruler of the Libra Moon and because she joins Chiron and the Sun in Aries, so expect to see a lot of healing around love, connection, relationships, money and the Feminine.

Since this Full Moon grew out of the gentle, imaginative, mystical Pisces New Moon, the energy of Venus conjunction Neptune in Pisces was part of that New Moon energy. So it will add lots of compassion for ourselves and others, as well as a more imaginative vision of what the Divine Feminine is up to.

Libra Full Moon

 

The Libra Full Moon is a Super Moon because it is close to the Earth, at its perigee. It will look larger, so go out and watch it rise if you can.

The Libra Full Moon occurs on Sunday, March 28 at 10:48am Alaska time, 11:48am PDT, 2:48pm EDT and 7:48pm GMT.

 

 

This first Full Moon of Spring is always about Self and Other. As we birth a renewed sense of self – who are we this year? - we also adjust our relationship to others. As we grown older, deepen and change, our way of relating changes too.

Aries always forges a new path for itself. It’s an initiating energy – the fire of creation – and the warrior energy of Aries will stand up for what it believes in. So let it stand up now for light and love.

We associate Aries with Mars, its ruler, and say that Aries is about developing courage, leadership and independence. This comes from the fact that Aries is a cardinal FIRE sign, meaning that this fire is our life force, our energy, our Kundalini. Aries is the originating fire, where we catch fire to do something. To follow that energy takes courage, when we follow our own path we gain independence and when others see how we handle life, we become leaders. What kind of future are we going to create?

 

Motherpeace Ace of Wands

 

Mars is in Gemini now, conjunct the Gemini North Node. Our energies are focused on opening up to new ideas while we let go of our limiting beliefs (South Node in Sagittarius). It also opens us to communicating more consciously with others, often seeing both sides of the story and probably being overwhelmed by all the interesting things we want to DO.

While Aries and Mars can be self-concerned (which isn’t the same as selfish), Libra is concerned with other people and how to relate to them. Like Libra’s symbol, the Scale or Balance, Libra wants to make sure that everyone has an equal and fair share of things. The big lesson for Libras is that they have to stay on their own side of the scale to really find balance. Unfortunately, many Libras tend to jump over to the other person’s side of the scale, thinking that this will make things fair. But then they create an imbalance and aren’t fair to themselves – which leads to trouble! 

 

 

Libra is a cardinal AIR sign, meaning it likes to think things through. Libra’s balance comes from an understanding of what the Other might need without letting go of our own needs. It means being willing to compromise to be fair. Libra wants to find the diplomatic and graceful outcome and is always willing to try.

But the big story of this Full Moon is the Libra Moon’s ruling planet, Venus.

Venus as Lady Wisdom

On March 26, Venus conjuncts the Sun in her superior/exterior conjunction, meaning she’s on the far side of the Sun. Venus is at the mid-point of her yearly cycle, transitioning from her Morning Star phase to her Evening Star phase. She has been invisible in the morning sky since February 14^th, hidden in the Sun’s rays, and she will emerge from the Sun’s rays as an Evening Star on May 5^th.

As Adam Gainsburg says in his book, The Light of Venus, this stage of Venus’ journey around the Sun is her Underworld phase, where “The Queen of Heaven dissolves into the very fabric of the kosmos and becomes re-conceived as the forthcoming Queen of Heaven and Earth.”

He calls this her ‘transmutation’ phase, when she leaves behind what she’s learned from society and descends into a death so she can re-emerge as a guiding light of Wisdom and Compassion. “Transmutation is essentially a feminine mode of transformation. Changes occur from the inside first…” Transmutation forces us to serve who we are becoming, beyond who we’ve been: trans (beyond) mutate (change).(pg. 120)

Transmutation involves being willing to let go of your familiar self for the promise of a greater reality to come.

During this phase, you become more aware of other people’s energies so that you come to rely on your own inner sense of things. Since Venus is at the fastest stage of her orbit, personal change can happen rapidly. Adam says this is a good time to deal with loss and loneliness. And what a great meditation to do as the world begins to re-emerge after a year of isolation.

 

100 Venus Cycles

 What makes this even more interesting is that we are also starting a new phase of the Venus Star Point in Aries, which is another way to understand Venus’ journey around the Sun. In Arielle Guttman’s Venus Star Rising, she describes this as a time of swift personal development.

Venus here symbolizes the quest for our personal identity, self-awareness and self-discovery. Venus asks us what we value about ourselves and others. She encompasses all of those Aries qualities of new beginnings, growth, rebirth, leadership, being a catalyst, a pioneer and adventurer. It entails being head-strong, intelligent, intuitive, impulsive and impatient.

So Venus here, conjunct this Aries Sun (we’ll talk Chiron in a minute) means we need to shine a light on these qualities. Venus is changing, transmuting, alchemizing into a new form. Since Venus is the principle of attraction and connection, we need to be more conscious of what we want to attract and who we want to connect with.

 

Venus is also going into her Wisdom phase as an Evening Star. In our movies, we like to think that if we make women warriors, we are giving women power. But the Divine Feminine is much more than the energy of her Amazon nature. She is also a Medium or Wise Woman, able to see the unseen. She is a Mother, who knows the appropriate ways to nurture. She is the Lover, who is strong enough to meet her partner as an equal. We need to develop all the feminine parts of ourselves, not just the warrior. Yes, Venus in Aries is courageous and bold, but she can be that as Mother, Lover, Wise Woman as well as Amazon warrior.

This is a time to be more heart-centered when we choose our direction. As we enter a ‘new world’ beyond COVID, what is it we are going to strive for? What do we want to make of ourselves? What values do we individually and as a country need to nurture? Venus is in her wisdom phase, so we need to make wise choices about what is important in our lives.

It’s also a time when we need to learn patience, when we work to restrain our impulsive nature so we make those wise decisions. We can do this by learning to enjoy Nature and the grace and bounty we have in our lives. And of course, by learning to breathe correctly. (See my blog on TheWinds about the winds of change and breath work.)

We need a new paradigm for living, and Venus offers us a chance to do that through the lens of the Divine Feminine, who births each new age of the world. She is waiting for us to listen to our hearts and use our intelligence to find new sustainable ways of living, both collectively and personally. With this Venus star point, we are given the optimism to see endless possibilities, so let your boundless spirit radiate the power and joy of a youthful attitude, at whatever age! 

 

Chiron

 

Venus and the Sun are also conjunct the asteroid Chiron, named for the centaur who taught the Greek heroes their destiny. He is considered ‘the wounded healer’ because though he was immortal, he was mortally wounded and couldn’t die until the gods released him from his pain. As he travels through Aries, Chiron asks us to focus on our wounded sense of Self. Patriarchy has wounded us all, forcing us to fit into its boxes through societal conditioning. Chiron wants to heal us of these wounds so we can find our self-confidence and gain deeper self-awareness and authenticity.

Chiron, though, was most renown for being the mentor of heroes. So the other side of Chiron’s wounding is the ability to mentor ourselves and others to become our authentic Selves as we pursue our destiny. With Venus in her Wisdom aspect joining Chiron, this is our opportunity to heal our wounded sense of self and begin to live from our Higher Self. Allowing Venus’ love and compassion to heal us, we can go out into the world with renewed courage and optimism.

The other day I hear someone say that Love isn’t an emotion, it’s a state of being. Living in a state of Love, we can be a healing light to others and to the world.

The Sabian symbol for the Sun, Venus and Chiron at 9* Aries is: A crystal gazer. I love this image for this time. A crystal ball is a symbol of wholeness, and we gaze into it to see the invisible, to see what is hidden behind the veils – whether the future or a situation that needs understanding. The images we see speak to our right brain, feminine mind. The focus of our intention comes from our masculine, left brain. We unite in wholeness as we develop our intuitive functions and balance them with our intelligence.

 

The Sabian symbol for the Moon at 9* Libra is: Three ‘old masters’ hanging on the wall of a special room in an art gallery. Rudhyar calls this ‘the need to return to Source during a confused search for new value in a chaotic society’.

This image speaks to this moment. I love synchronicity! Three is the number of process as well as a sense of wholeness. The mastery of our artistic sense, the sense that appreciates beauty and proportion, reminds us that there are cosmic laws that shape us. And despite the chaos of our world, we can reclaim our connection to those cosmic laws. The rest we can bury and leave behind.

There is a Kite pattern in this Full Moon chart. 

 

 

A kite is made up of 3 aspects: 1) a grand trine (each planet 120* apart), 2) a partile grand sextile (3 planets 60* apart), and 3) an opposition (180*).

1) The grand AIR trine consists of Mars/NN in Gemini, Moon in Libra and Saturn in Aquarius. This is a harmonious aspect that opens us to a vision of something greater than what we’re experiencing now. We are birthing new ideas now. This AIR grand trine consists of energies that generate, concentrate and distribute power. The Libra Moon generates the ideals of justice, equality and balance; the Aquarian Saturn concentrates and gives structure to those ideas and possibilities that can work for the good of the whole; Mars and the North Node in Gemini distribute these ideas for us to work with personally.

2) the partile grand sextile consists of Saturn in Aquarius, the Sun/Venus/Chiron conjunction in Aries and Mars & NN in Gemini. These new ideas feed the Sun conjunction so that we gain a new perspective on ourselves and the new spiritual impulse of this Spring Full Moon.

3) the Opposition is the Full Moon. At Full Moon, our unconscious needs and desires are fully lit up, and we can see what it is that the Sun needs from us and what we need from life. This is the aspect of transformation, of the creative change that needs to take place. The Sun/Venus/Chiron conjunction says, Heal Thyself with Love. The Libra Moon shows us what keeps us from that self-awareness by showing us how we relate to each other. We might think we’re better than others, or we might feel less than others. We need a creative change to bring us into balance.

The basic meaning of this kite is a dynamic expression of how we can use the power of life and love to expand into a greater role of responsibility through cooperation and maturity.

At this Aries/Libra Full Moon, we need a new way to connect with each other that demands a new sense of ourselves and our values. It’s time for humanity to grow up!

Uranus in Taurus is Earth’s guiding genius, awakening us to the cosmic laws of the earth plane, to our human body, to the natural cycles of Nature. We need to awaken in our bodies – to bring Spirit down into our bodies and know that we are temples of Spirit. Uranus inconjuncts this Full Moon, jarring us out of our heads and into our bodies to get the ‘real feel’ of our life. It could make us moody or irritable, but there’s also a sense that we want some emotional freedom. Sometimes we have to adjust our actions to what is possible in the moment, knowing that we can build on what we do now and create a better future as we go along.

Last but not least is Mercury conjunct Neptune in Pisces. We all need to dream a little dream with each other. What is our collective dream? What does humanity really desire? Do we really want to continue with our death cultures and warring religions, or do we want the peace, environmental security and harmony that we can achieve if we have the will? Neptune infuses Mercury with the gift of the creative imagination. Learn to use it well, but this is the gift we humans need to cultivate in the coming years.

Mars in Gemini squares Mercury, Gemini’s ruling planet. We need to listen to our dreams, our imagination, our visions (the Crystal Gazer!) and our emotional intelligence now as we all head back into ‘the world’. Our doing must flow from our being.

All in all, a great Full Moon. Go out if its warm enough and take a moonbath! Let the Moon speak to you in visions, images, feelings. Dance and move, breathe and make a joyful noise to Spirit as you celebrate the return of Life!

Blessed Be!

Cathy

 

 

To Begin With, the Sweet Grass

(excerpt)

1.

Will the hungry ox stand in the field and not eat
of the sweet grass?
Will the owl bite off its own wings?
Will the lark forget to lift its body in the air or
forget to sing?
Will the rivers run upstream?

Behold, I say - behold
the reliability and the finery and the teachings
of this gritty earth gift.

2.

Eat bread and understand comfort.
Drink water, and understand delight.
Visit the garden where the scarlet trumpets
are opening their bodies for the hummingbirds
who are drinking the sweetness, who are
thrillingly gluttonous.

For one thing leads to another.
Soon you will notice how stones shine underfoot.
Eventually tides will be the only calendar you believe in.

And someone's face, whom you love, will be as a star
both intimate and ultimate,
and you will be both heart-shaken and respectful.
And you will hear the air itself, like a beloved, whisper:
oh, let me, for a while longer, enter the two
beautiful bodies of your lungs.

7.

What I loved in the beginning, I think, was mostly myself.
Never mind that I had to, since somebody had to.
That was many years ago.
Since then I have gone out from my confinements,
through with difficulty.
I mean the ones that thought to rule my heart.
I cast them out, I put them on the mush pile.
They will be nourishment somehow (everything is nourishment
somehow or another).
And I have become the child of the clouds, and of hope.
I have become the friend of the enemy, whoever that is.
I have become older and, cherishing what I have learned,
I have become younger.

And what do I risk to tell you this, which is all I know?
Love yourself. Then forget it. Then, love the world.

~ Mary Oliver ~

(Evidence)