Full Moon in Aries: The Beacons Are Lit

Early Thursday, we reach the Full Moon in Aries which presents us with an extraordinary chart.

We see a Grand Cross in the cardinal signs: Moon in Aries opposite Sun in Libra, squared by Mars in Cancer and Pluto in Capricorn. The Moon is conjunct the asteroids Eris and Chiron, also in Aries.

The cardinal signs–Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn–start things. Yet we don’t seem to be in a good position to begin a new enterprise.

Notice how many planets are not only in the third decan but also in or close to the final degrees of their signs. The ends of the zodiac signs are places of endings, not beginnings.

The Sun lacks strength in Libra. The Sun prefers to act directly and powerfully without reference to others, while Libra’s power is in negotiating and building coalitions. Mars actively dislikes being in Cancer, not wanting the baggage of emotions or the needs of others. The Moon is not at her best in Aries, uncomfortable with high heat and impulsive action. Pluto? Pluto is fine.

Notice that the Moon and Mars are in each other’s signs, in what’s called mutual reception. They’re not happy where they are, but at least they can support each other. In fact, according to traditional measures of dignity, the Moon is the strongest body in this chart.

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The Moon is our physical body and our emotions. I love that science has finally learned that we store emotions, where? In our bodies. The Moon wants community, togetherness, a sense of family and security.

In Aries, we want to act on our own. Aries Moon people generally need movement to process feelings and sort out problems. There’s no point telling an Aries Moon to sit still. It’s counterproductive. When challenged, Aries Moons tend to isolate rather than affiliate. They feel a need to go away when stressed. Independence is vital.

But we humans are not singular, isolated, or alone. We’re in community, linked inextricably to ancestry, family, and society. Libra knows this.

The Sun in Libra is a bit like a mirror image of the Moon in Aries. With the Sun, we want to shine as individuals, act from our own talents and convictions, and make our mark on the world. Libra Suns find ways to act through being diplomatic, having mad skills in mediation, and bringing people together. Libra Suns know their strengths are in empowering others; yet there can be a lingering sense of being invisible or unrecognized.

This Moon is flanked by Eris and Chiron, who represent our individual patterns of wounding (Chiron) and the escalating crises of the world (Eris). The personal is political. And, you know, no pressure.

Pluto has just turned direct in the final degree of Capricorn, preparing to leave this sign of structure and building and tradition for the last time in over 200 years.

Pluto entered Capricorn along with meltdowns in financial markets that exposed structural fraud and inequities. The systems of power we’ve created have achieved great things at enormous cost.

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Pluto has supplied all the evidence we need of the consequences of continuing down the paths we’ve made. We’re at a major turning point. Will it be business as usual? Or a break with the past to forge new ways?

T. Susan Chang connects the final decan of Capricorn with the Four of Pentacles in the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot. This is the card of the miser, the one who cannot let go of what he has acquired. He who dies with the most toys, wins.

She goes on to link this decan of Capricorn to the Devil card and the mythic demiurge, a Saturnian figure sometimes known as Sol Invictus. (This, by the way, is in her book 36 Secrets, written as a tarot-based companion to Austin Coppock’s 36 Faces.)

The demiurge is a figure we must wrestle with as we move with Pluto from Capricorn to Aquarius. Which gods will we choose to follow?

Pluto is part of another, also mythic, aspect pattern in this chart. Pluto sextiles Venus in the final degree of Scorpio, and Neptune at the end of Pisces. Venus and Neptune trine each other.

In the final degrees of Saturn-ruled Capricorn and Mars-ruled Scorpio, there is desperation. We hold tightly to something already past its peak. We feel the decay setting in. The tide is turning. But we’re not ready to let go.

Venus at the end of Scorpio shows us the end of cycles. If we hold the rosebud, the lily at the height of its bloom, the way we looked when we were 20, the first time we fell in love, we hasten their end because we’re trying to control the process.

Can we instead see the beauty in cycles of life, not only in moments that feel like perfection to us?

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Venus’ gift here is clarity. She rules the last decan of Scorpio. The sense of attraction here is deep and intense. But if we learn to let go and let be, with grace, we gain a deep and abiding perspective on what is truly of value.

Pluto at the end of Capricorn reminds us we can’t hold on forever. Gold may not decay, but we do. Flowers will bloom again each spring, but we will not always be around to see them. All the wealth and power in the world cannot keep us alive indefinitely.

Neptune at the end of Pisces prepares for dissolution. Here we are at the end of a zodiacal cycle. What comes next is the rebirth of Aries and a new beginning. The tricky part is to trust in the process. To know what is complete, what is finished, and to allow space for the new to be born.

So, here let’s have a brief aside on some things not to do with this Full Moon.

Given the intensity of all the things, this is not a good time to fight with people. We’re going to feel all the feels. It might be easy to point fingers at who and what we deem responsible. But this Full Moon squared by Mars and Pluto can create make-or-break situations.

We might have a conversation that becomes an argument, and then a fight, to the point where things are said that cannot be unsaid. There’s a no-going-back feel to this Full Moon we’ll want to keep in mind.

Mars in Cancer can be petulant, resentful, and passive aggressive. This is a great time to notice what triggers us. Who, when, what, why. Write it down, even. But don’t to act on it, unless you must, and are prepared to abide the consequences.

There’s another aspect to this Mars, though, that I want to name as acting with honor.

Mars in Cancer can feel hampered by emotions and relationships. Yet it is our feelings, our deep connections, and our commitments that inspire our greatest actions and most glorious sacrifices.

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At this Full Moon, Mars and Jupiter are precisely parallel. In other words, they’re at the exact same declination in the sky. This is like a conjunction, which means the values, commitments, and convictions of Jupiter meld with this Mars.

This is a heroic Mars. With the Moon and Mars square and in mutual reception, we find ourselves in a space where we can explore what it means to be a hero. What it means to be honorable, to have principles upon which we base our actions, to engage with the world with honor.

In the world today, we are each of us called to act. Choosing to sit this one out, in times like these, becomes its own action.

What will we do in the days, weeks, months, and years ahead? And why? What are our motives? What is our code?

I live in western North Carolina, a region still reeling from the completely unexpected force of hurricane Helene. I have been very fortunate. Yet seeing both the devastation and the response around me has been intense.

Ordinary people responded to extreme circumstances with great heroism and sacrifice. Ordinary time, itself, stopped in the last weeks here. There are experiences and stories that no one will forget.

Yet western North Carolina is only one place in a world in turmoil. Only one place where crises call forth the best and the worst in the human character. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say we’re all facing into some very different possibilities for the future of our world.

If, at this Full Moon, we consider where we are, what we want, why we want it, and what we’re prepared to do to help create it, we’ll have taken some important steps away from the old world and toward the new one waiting to be born.

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