ARIES NEW MOON - 5 April 2019

Exact at 9.50am BST, 4.50am EDT

This Moon may be in brave, pioneering, independent Aries, but there is also a lot of planetary energy in sensitive, compassionate and inspiring Pisces at the moment! This actually creates a lovely balance between the independent, pioneering nature of Aries and the tender, intuitive nature of Pisces. Pisces has the dreams while Aries can put them into action!  This enables us to be brave and honest while also coming from a place of unconditional love. This is a time of new beginnings, whereby we allow something to be left behind in the dark of the moon so that something new can take its place. It is a mini rebirth of sorts. This is a time for planting seeds so that they can grow and flourish over the course of the next month. There is a lot going on in this cosmos of ours at the moment, so a bit of Aries courage, decisiveness and motivation is definitely welcome! Aries is that part of us that is willing to face our fears and step into unknown territory. It is also that part of us that is able to put the cards on the table and get everything out into the open. Aries invites us to trust our instincts to lead us in the right direction.

It helps that Mercury is now direct after the retrograde of all retrogrades!!This particular Mercury Retrograde was also in elusive, right-brained and down-right confusing Pisces while sitting right next to Pisces’ ruler Neptune! It is not surprising that chaos has reigned and people have been so incapable of making concrete decisions! This energy could literally cause our minds to be completely overwhelmed and prevent us from thinking clearly at all! It could also bring free-floating anxiety and the potential for some confusing misunderstandings.

Over the course of the next week this energy will be abating, although Mercury and Neptune are still partnered up. However, now that Mercury is moving forward instead of backwards, this combination does bring the potential for interactions to occur that come from a place of unconditional love and profound empathy. It also helps us to come up with some inspired and imaginative ideas.  Neptune and Pisces remind us that we are all in this together, helping us to see beyond the ego and relate from a place of truth and compassion. With Venus, the planet of relationships, joining the Pisces party we have the potential for us to really be able to open our hearts and tune into one another, seeing beyond our usual protective walls and relating to one another’s true essence. Venus is moving towards Neptune over the coming week and the energy will peak on 10 April.

In the meantime, we have a veritable symphony involving the outer planets at the moment that is profoundly transforming and also quite unsettling! We have Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn, exposing the rot in the power structures and systems, both globally and personally, and bringing about a much needed restructuring process.  At the same time we have Uranus in Taurus shaking up our sense of material and financial security, which of course makes sense when so much is unsure and changing in our world! Taurus is that part of us that likes to feel safe and secure and resists change, while Uranus is the planet of wake-up calls, sudden shocks and upheaval. This combination is bound to create some feelings of insecurity! We humans do tend to resist change and fear the unknown, and we are certainly veering into uncharted territory right now on many levels!

There is an unsettled feeling in the air, which wasn’t helped by Mercury retrograde because everything was so unclear, making it hard to see where we are going or to make any decisions! Hopefully now we will be able to think clearly, which could help us to transform unsettled feelings of fear into excitement about the possibilities that lie ahead.  Uranus is also making us all too aware of what needs to change regarding our treatment of Mother Earth. It is time to radically change the way we approach this growing crisis and Uranus should help us to come up with some alternative and visionary ideas on how to do this, as well as potentially creating a new approach to our financial system. However, sometimes things have to break down before we are able to have a breakthrough. And then of course we have Neptune in Pisces, helping us to open our hearts and feel profound compassion and empathy for the suffering of others, while also bringing the potential for overwhelm, burying our heads in the sand, deception, propaganda, numbing out and escapism. Neptune reminds us that we all come from the same melting pot and that what happens to one has in impact on us all. We are not separate. We have to remember this.

However, the most prevalent energy at this moment is the approaching conjunction between Pluto and the South Node which peaks on 4 April, followed by Saturn conjunct the South Node which peaks around 30 April. We are currently being called to clear old karma and to purge our old patterns that are simply not working for us anymore. Pluto calls for us to be really, truly honest with ourselves and to have a long hard look under the proverbial carpet and bring out into the open whatever we have hidden away there. It is time to step into our power; not power over others, which is the old way, but our true power that comes from within and also empowers everyone else who comes into contact with us. The Cancer North Node reminds us that there is great strength in allowing ourselves to be vulnerable rather than trying to control ourselves and others in order to somehow feel safe and protected. True vulnerability involves admitting that we don’t have it all figured out and that we are human. It involves allowing people to see who we really are, beyond our façade.

We all have an inner Capricorn – that part of us that suppresses our real feelings and tries to control people, situations and our reactions out of fear or to somehow feel safe. That part of us that contracts and puts the walls up, shutting others out when we are hurt or afraid. We are being asked to recognise this and make way for a new way to come in. We are being encouraged to soften and allow whatever emotions are there to emerge. To allow others to see that vulnerable part of ourselves, and by so doing, we allow both our heart and theirs to remain open rather than contracted. To let go instead of holding on too tightly. To let our inner child meet the other person’s inner child. To show how we really feel rather than putting up appearances. To admit when we are scared, can’t cope and need help, or don’t have the answer. To admit that we’re not perfect. To let others see that part of ourselves that we tend to protect and keep hidden. To be honest about feeling hurt instead of closing down.  To let the walls and defences fall.

This could be a time of profound realisations and insight into our more unhelpful patterns and conditioned habits. We have a chance to be really honest with ourselves and others, helped by this Aries Moon, and to recognise what needs to transform in our lives. The past is meeting the future and now we have a chance to do things differently and write a different script. We have been here before, but how can we transmute it this time and turn the lead into gold? What are our particular walls that we put up in order to stay safe?  We are in the midst of a profound shift and have the potential to transform some very old karma and purge some deeply entrenched, familiar and unhealthy habits and patterns. We are being called to really step up to the plate and operate from a place of integrity and vulnerability. We are being asked to be brave, self-reflective and honest and do the inner work necessary to step out of the darkness and into the light.

The Sabian symbol for the degree of the Pluto / South Node conjunction, at 24° Capricorn, is “A woman entering a convent”, which Dane Rudyar describes as “Total commitment to a transcendent goal”. This symbol reinforces the feeling that this is a time to turn within and be willing to do the inner work. However, one could also see how going into a convent could involve turning away from societal pressures and also denying or supressing the need for earthy pleasures. 

The Sabian symbol for the New Moon itself is a beautiful one, at 16° Aries: “Nature spirits are seen at work in the light of sunset”, which Dane Rudyar describes as “attunement to the potency of invisible forces of nature” and an invitation to open our minds to “the possibility of approaching life in a holistic and nonrational, intuitive manner….the process of ‘becoming like a little child’”. This, again, encourages us to put our rational, sensible adult down and allow our inner child to come out that has the absolute faith that we are always guided and protected. Even when things may seem dark and bleak and hopeless there are unseen forces at play that we are unaware of. On another level, maybe this is also an invitation to become more aware of and honour the nature spirits in order to help heal our relationship with Mother Earth.

This Moon feels very hopeful indeed. It feels like we are being given a chance to take a big step forward, with the courage and honesty of Aries and the sensitivity and compassion of Pisces. This is the first New Moon of the astrological New Year and so it feels like a good time to start fresh, shedding our old ways and moving forward, all shiny and new! There is a sense of innocence and naivety about Aries and we are being asked to cultivate some of that energy for this Moon. Like the Fool in the Tarot, we are encouraged to remain open and curious, and even though we may not know where we are going we are invited to keep our hearts open and bravely take a leap of faith and step into the unknown. We have been here before but it’s time to do it differently this time.

“There is a strength in vulnerability, in facing your demons and knowing that kindness is more important despite of them. To be vulnerable it to be brave” Chrissie Pinney

My website: www.amybirdartandastrology.com

Picture: Unknown