8:24 pm  AHST 03/31/2022
  11:24  pm   PDT  03/31/2022

  2:24 am    EDT  04/01/2022
  7:24 am    UTC  04/01/2022

This is the New Moon that begins a new cycle around the zodiac. Equinox in March is the very beginning of the year to Western astrologers, 0˚ of Aries, having ended with the very last degree of Pisces on March 20th. This year the New Moon happens about 10 days after the Equinox, and it just happens to be tightly conjoined with the planetary body of Chiron by less than a degree.

Very tight conjunctions are large arrow-pointings by the Universe to call our attention to whatever archetypal energies are being focused upon in the heavens. We are at a New Beginning phase of the year, in the new beginning energy of Aries. Aries energy is like the first blossom to open, the standing up of a newly awakened being, opening its eyes, and being ready and eager to begin to live. This is about taking action, moving forward, beginning a new phase of our lives. And yet, and yet, there is Chiron.

Chiron is a small planetary body that orbits between Saturn and Uranus. Saturn is the known, the last visible planet to the naked eye, and represents the limitations of our physicality, such as time and mortality. Uranus represents that which transcends physical reality, ideas of global unity, as well as electricity, technology, that which connects us at a larger level than previously imagined. Chiron acts as a bridge between these two realities. But Chiron also represents the “wounded healer” archetype. Wherever we run up against the limits of our physical body, or any of our limitations (Saturn), Chiron act as a bridge or key to unlock wisdom. It can’t “fix” or change the wound, but it can inform us, humble us, allow us to rise above the conditions that created the problem, and act as a grounding to get us to move beyond what we previously believed was not possible.

So as we awaken to this new cycle of energy, bursting forth with Aries zeal or eagerness, Chiron’s influence immediately connects us with the knowledge of the “impossible” or the unattainable. We may be dealing with disease, or a chronic condition that gets worse, limited relationships, or our despair around the state of the world. But the Aries energy pushes us forth anyway, asking us to see the first flower that opens as a sign of hope, asking us to affirm what is important to us, to see possibility where before there was only darkness.

Aries is ruled by Mars, the planet of action. When we look at Mars in the chart, we see that it is a 90˚ angle, a square (a “being tested” energy) to Uranus, the planet of change, revolution, upsets. So we need to be cautious about how we move, how we integrate this new-found “spring forth” energy. This square is what astrologers call “separating” meaning it’s already past its exactitude, thus it’s seen as weaker, which means it’s more of a cautionary indication to watch our impulsivity. And Mars’s energy is also shifted by being conjoined with Venus and Saturn at this juncture.

All three of these planetary archetypes, Mars, Venus and Saturn, are in Aquarius, the sign of transcendence. Mars and Venus are our personal planets, asking us to come to a more “impersonal” or objective identification with our egos, our desires, a more Aquarian “remove” from emotionality. And Mars/Venus together asks us to balance action with love. Saturn makes it mandatory, less of a choice. Given how depressing and almost absurd the world stage is right now, the less we personalize the more we can transcend. Meditation, in whatever form we practice it, allows us to get beyond our personal identification with our emotions and thoughts.

Speaking of transcendence, Jupiter and Neptune in Pisces, that once-in-165 years conjunction are getting closer together now, becoming exact on April 12^th. There is a metaphysical truth that this conjunction beckons: what we imagine becomes our reality. Since it’s “meta”physical it can’t be realized as something the conscious mind is in control of. We create our reality but we don’t control it. But what we imagine as possible affects its coming about. And if we give up and say “what’s the use” then we get to live in a defeated world. Since the industrial and scientific revolutions, we have been taught that universe is dead matter, simply operating under the laws of physics. But as we investigate deeper and deeper into the nature of “matter” we find that there’s no “there” there, that it’s largely made up of energy and “empty” space. That’s the world around us, but it’s our bodies, too. The energy of our imaginations plays a much larger part than any of us realize.

This is how Chiron operates, in the sphere of our higher mind. In some ways it impels us to “go beyond” the known reaches of Saturn, to enlarge our scope to include a broader, more inclusive picture of reality. Seeing the big picture, we take into account more than just our own personal agendas, and look with curiosity at the world around us, even through our own suffering and pain. It’s a challenging task, but Chiron asks no less than that. 

Since Aries is also the sign that rules the forging of our identity, we are being pushed to re-define our self-image, as well as on the larger scale of how humanity sees itself. Can we “grow up” into trusting that humans can largely self-govern? Or do we continue to mistrust each other, gathering absurd amounts of weaponry and associated technologies out of fear? Is our collective focus on greed and acquisitiveness, or might we turn to the enormous job of healing, the healing of centuries of violence, trauma, war, and patriarchy?

Where in our beliefs are we complicit with war? Where in our beliefs do we resign ourselves to it, rationalize it, see it as inevitable? In a world so connected, so intimate with each other, our thoughts and beliefs are on some level interwoven into the fabric of every person’s experience. Chiron at this New Moon tells us each of us must do our own work to heal, to continually bring to and expand our awareness the meaning of our own woundings. And when we do, we act as an influence of the possibility of peace, of mindfulness, of being an inspiration to everyone we encounter.