This New Moon in Aries has the potential to feel like the real start of Spring, since at Equinox, we were steeped in Mercury retrograde in Pisces, with a strong Neptunian foggy fuzzy tone to the Sun/Chiron conjunction. And this New Moon is trine to Jupiter in Sagittarius. So there should be an abundance of positive energy flowing, awakening to the joy of Spring. But as I’m staring at the chart, my brain sort of goes blank, my mind’s kind of wandering around. What’s going on?

Well partially, Mercury (which rules our thinking and information processing) hasn’t quite gotten back up to speed yet. It’s still in Pisces, conjunct that great foggy, deep and inscrutable Neptune (the unconscious). And also Jupiter is slowing down now, and will go retrograde (as it does annually) 5 days after this New Moon. But this is a chart of awakening, so what are we awakening to?

Yes, Spring is in the air in the Northern hemisphere. Aries represents the new beginning of Life, the energy of taking initiative, making a new start. Aries is ruled by Mars, the planet that rules our taking action, moving ahead. Mars is a warrior energy, but please, can we begin to look at it another way? In our new era, is there no longer the God of War but the God of Action? Can we be warriors in the sense of needing to bravely and courageously tackle the most important and direst issues of our time? We need a life without War, we need to become aware of how much it is a business, the business of calculated thievery assisted by a  propagandized public. The old paradigm is dead, is deadly, is killing us, killing the biosphere. There are no more “backwaters” left to exploit. In a sense, in order to survive, we are being forced to adopt a paradigm that is inclusive, that promotes cooperation.

So, to make a new start, we must begin with ourselves. This Aries New Moon is square (forms a challenging 90˚ angle) to Saturn, and Pluto as well. When the Sun is square Saturn (which will be exact the day Jupiter goes retrograde) we question our willpower, our ability to accomplish. We’re pushed to look at how we’ve asserted ourselves in relationships, called into question our relationship to accomplishment. Do we have to push ourselves relentlessly, is our self-talk punishing or belittling? And how does that fit into the old paradigm of us against them? Does our inner power dynamic reflect the world’s? Saturn rules how we structure our reality, our self-discipline. Is our modus operandi fear-based, or trust-based? And if the paradigm is about being inclusive, doesn’t that also include our own shadowy self?

Pluto’s proximity to Saturn now heralds a revolution in how we use our power, both individually and on our planet. Pluto’s transformative influence will affect the political power that rules nations and global populations. The Pluto/Saturn conjunction upcoming in January of 2020 opens a doorway for major change. In its 33-38 year cycle the conjunction of these two planets always brings a shift in global power. Think 1914, or 1947, or the big greedy shift out of the 60’s into Reagan’s 1982. There are big doings coming up astrologically, so this is a year for preparation of shifting sands to come, personally as well as globally.

Back to Jupiter. In its own sign now of Sagittarius, we are in a new cycle of finding where to aim our highest hopes, our best aspirations for ourselves and this troubled world. What are our truest values? In a trine (harmonious 120˚ angle) to this New Moon, we are being asked to take a look at and to trust our relationship to All That Is, to continually discover our life’s meaning, to find inspiration in being alive at this momentous time in history. We are all waking up to the horror of how we have been grossly deceived by our leaders, how our dedication to our religion, our country, our political party or culture, has been co-opted. In the age of fake news, of spin, of “alternative facts” we no longer trust authority, and now must awaken and learn to trust the truth of our own hearts.

“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
― George Orwell