7:30 pm  PDT  4/11/2021

 5:30 am  UTC 4/12/2021

New Moon in Aries

As you can see from the chart, there is an overwhelming emphasis of the Aries energy at this New Moon. As we’ve said time and again, New Moons are new beginnings, and Aries being the first sign of the zodiac, it’s an important time for new beginnings to spring forth. The planets and their representational archetypes are the clues as to what is being birthed now, should we pay attention to their symbolic intelligence.

Mars is the astrological ruler of Aries, and Mars is our take-action energy, but interestingly enough, this New Moon places an overwhelming influence of taking action within the feminine energy, as the New Moon is conjoined with three goddesses: Venus, Ceres and Eris. And non-binary Mercury is also in league with the New Moon convocation, calling us to pay attention to the force and power of the long-deprecated archetypal feminine. Chiron, too, is standing behind Mercury, supporting this call from the heavens to pay attention to how we must transform our aggressive energies, in order to survive as a species.

Mars now is in Gemini, forming a supportive sextile (60˚ angle) to the Aries cabal, asking us to take action with our ideas, to dialog with each other, write and make speeches, stand up for what we believe in, to speak up when situations are called for doing so. With its trine to Jupiter in Aquarius, it’s time to invoke our highest ideals and calls for freedom and human rights.

Ceres, the Great Mother archetype can be thought of as Mama Earth energy, but in the sign of Aries, she is holding a sword. She is aware that our carbon dioxide level on this planet has reached the level of 419 this month, a level higher than any in the past 400,000 years. She feels it in her lungs. Chiron’s message, delivered to us through Mercury’s agency from the heavens to humans, is that if we can listen and pay attention to the wounding that’s taking place on the Earth, then we will be able to take steps to change our ways. It’s the same with us individually; if we listen to what our bodies are telling us in advance of their breaking down, then we can alter our ways accordingly and prevent disaster.

Eris, on the other end of the group of planets (called a “stellium”) is the goddess of strife and discord. Her presence is a warning to us that we are at a precipice globally. Eris, sister to Ares (Mars) will not tolerate being discounted. If we try to ignore her, and pretend she’s irrelevant to our progress, she has a whole bevy of “symptoms” that she can deliver to us: difficult and depressive emotions, suicidal desires, lack of feeling connected to others, and even violent subterfuge to undermine our efforts. She, too holds a sword, being in Aries, and is calling attention to us through her connection to the “lights” of the Sun and Moon. With adequate respect, she can help us reclaim our lost power, since she is somewhat of a trickster like Mercury.

Last in the stellium is Venus. With all this darkness surrounding us, with the threat of ecocide and worldwide disasters, we cannot forget, ever, that the repair and solution to our problems is through love, by connecting to and opening our hearts and learning how to share our suffering, and our gifts with each other, to join hands to help each other out. And through our love of beauty, we are learning how we can love the Earth, mend our ways by remembering to honor and serve Her. Soon, Venus will appear as an evening light just after sunset, guiding us with her beauty to open our hearts to the cosmic imperative to evolve.

Venus is square (forms a challenge of a 90˚ angle) to Pluto at this New Moon, which speaks to dealing with the pain and suffering our hearts all share as we read the news or talk with our friends who are lonely or suffering from disease, or heartbreak. Pluto is also square the New Moon and Eris as well. This calls us to deepen our understanding of how our suffering has formed, what is the context and history we’re the result of. This often means letting go of beliefs, stories, ideas that we have lived by in the past but are no longer relevant to our present moment experience. This is difficult work, but when we can come to the other side of our suffering, we are transformed, and learn to deepen our love for ourselves, others, and of Life.

Pluto’s harsh influencing at this New Moon signifies that there is hard work ahead. It is hard work to change patterns, beliefs and behaviors we’ve grown up with, clung to, and lived by for generations. There is the inevitable backlash and reactionary conservatism, a desire to reinstate old values, both personally and globally. But Pluto demands we do our soul work. What is important to the soul? Growth and change. Work that fulfills us, relationships that deepen our heart, feeling the power of connection with others. “When soul is neglected, it doesn't just go away; it appears symptomatically in obsessions, addictions, violence, and loss of meaning.” —Thomas Moore.

Pluto now is asking us to look within ourselves for where our feminine power has been subjugated to the endless acquisition of material things, to the thirst for wealth or power, to whatever values the centuries of patriarchy have installed in us. Pluto is only one degree away from where it was at the birth of the US, and in 2022 it will be exact. This is a time of breakdown and transformation, of a country that has been built on the backs of slaves and the subjugation of Native peoples. That karma must be healed. Let us remember once again that is only love that heals. It’s powerful medicine. All else is distraction.