Tomorrow we greet the New Moon in Aries (00º49’), arriving on the heels of the Equinox. The sign of Aries dominates the sky. We see the Sun and Moon, plus Mercury, Chiron, Jupiter, and Eris all in cardinal Fire.
This is one of the hinges of the solar year. The Sun sits at the equator, giving equal day and night to each hemisphere.
We in the north are in a time of increasing light, ready to fully enter spring. We’re eager to move. We feel decisive. We want something to happen. We want to make things happen.
Mercury at 05º04’ Aries remains combust, subsumed in the blaze of the Sun. Thoughts and perceptions (Mercury) align with core identity (Sun) and emotions (Moon). This creates a singularity of focus that enhances the Aries drive.
Another boost to the Aries vibe is a still close, if separating, square to Mars, the ruler of Aries.
We’re at the Aries Point, which is 0º Aries. Where this degree falls in your birth chart indicates where new things come into your life. This is the point at which we begin a new zodiacal year.
The new year is born and so, in a sense, are we. The sign of Aries is all about starting things, initiating, creating a sharp, decisive division between past and future, what we had before and what we want now.
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The close proximity of the New Moon to the Equinox and the number of planets in Aries increase the sense of this as a pivotal moment. There’s a “now or never” quality that comes with this New Moon.
I’m thinking of the myth of the birth of the hero, a framework developed by psychoanalyst Otto Rank, an Austrian who was a close colleague of Sigmund Freud’s. Rank wrote about common motifs in legends that recount the birth of heroes, recasting them into a psychological framework.
I’d like to focus on a few aspects of this framework that are especially Aries-like. One is, we are speaking about the birth of boys, of male heroes. Certainly there are heroines throughout mythology, but their births do not seem to follow this pattern in the same way.
A boy child is born. He is noted as being remarkable from birth. This is often seen in precocious talents, such as walking or talking remarkably early, and/or unusual size and strength.
There have been signs or prophecies about this child, saying he will be a threat to his father, or his father’s kingdom. His parents are of high social status.
Due to fears aroused by the prophecies, the child is sent away, either abandoned to be raised by animals, or left with people of much lower social standing. He grows strong and hearty nonetheless, outstripping his peers.
Eventually, he realizes he is not like his companions. He doesn’t fit in. He has other desires, other callings. He sets out on his own to find his destiny.
This is an Aries story, one especially strong at this particular New Moon.
A yang, masculine energy emerges from the waters of Pisces. The strength of this energy might alarm us, but if we ignore it, try to send it away, or abandon it, it will return to haunt us. This yang force has desire and direction. It is a pioneering force, ready to carve out new paths, find new ways, to reach its destiny.
This New Moon with all this Aries will land in your chart somewhere.
If your birth chart is compatible with Aries Fire, you might welcome this infusion of new energy and focus. If your chart is not so easily matched with this New Moon, you might feel irritated, jumpy, as if you got plugged into an electrical current too strong for your comfort.
Of course, most of us will be somewhere in between. Both energized and irritated, perhaps. It’s worth checking, though, because this fiery force wants to go somewhere, do something, find something. If we try to push it away, or ignore it, it might show up in less productive ways. It’s better to forge a new path than get into fights with those around you.
Something else came to mind as I worked with this New Moon chart. In the musical Hamilton, there is a song called The Room Where It Happens. At this moment in the show, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr speculate about their legacies when Hamilton is called into a secret meeting, during which key decisions are made that give Hamilton something he very much wants.
The song, sung by Burr, sneers a bit at the idea that important decisions are made behind the scenes by a handful of people, but he’s also jealous it is Hamilton who was singled out, Hamilton who was in the room, while Burr was left outside.
Hamilton is one version of the birth of the hero story, an immigrant who “came from nothing” who, through his talents and his drive, wound up in the halls of power.
I looked at that stellium of planets in Aries and thought, that’s the room, right there. Something’s going to happen. Do I want to be in that room? Or would I rather not be? The answer to this question will tell each of us something about how we orient to this strongly Aries New Moon.
Another big change happens during this New Moon phase. On the morning of March 23, Pluto enters Aquarius. This shift will be monumental, as Pluto’s entry into new signs always is.
At a fundamental level, this Plutonian shift from cardinal Earth into fixed Air adds an important and very deep layer to the theme of change we see at this New Moon.
We’re already seeing signs of this shift.
Pluto has been in the final, intense, anaretic degree of Capricorn. When Pluto entered Capricorn in 2008, we experienced significant worldwide market failures due to the collapse of the housing market in the US. These were Plutonian failures because they revealed, to ordinary people, what market insiders had known all along: Markets were riddled with fraud and stacked against regular folk who lost houses and pensions in the collapse.
After the crash, some changes in regulations were put into place, and later some key provisions were rolled back.
What has been in the news the last few days? Bank failures. Specifically, failures made possible by the rollbacks in the earlier regulation. As Pluto prepares to exit Capricorn, we’re getting a review. Do we remember 2008 and everything that happened afterwards? Do we care?
Sometimes we respond to Pluto as though the planet is causing breakdowns, desires failures, engineers destruction. This is not the case.
Pluto’s role instead is to bring weaknesses in our foundations into focus so we can see them. We get to decide what happens, but Pluto makes sure we see what’s going on.
Now Pluto’s gaze will turn to Aquarian things such as technology.
It’s interesting to note that the bank that started the current crisis was a tech bank, funding tech startups in Silicon Valley. And there’s already indications of potential fraud. The owner of Silicon Valley Bank himself lobbied to roll back those market regulations. He is now alleged to have sold off a lot of his stock in his own bank before the run on the bank and its subsequent failure.
We’re at the intersection of Capricorn and Aquarius right there with Pluto.
Pluto moves so slowly and retrogrades frequently enough that the current entry into Aquarius will only last a few months. In June, Pluto retrogrades back into Capricorn until 2024.
What we’ll experience over the next few months is a preview. Notice where the shift from Capricorn into Aquarius happens in your birth chart. This is where Pluto is transiting right now. Check to see what planets and points in your chart Pluto will be aspecting in the months and years ahead.
What comes up in world events and in each of our lives between now and June offers a heads up on what Pluto’s twenty years in Aquarius might look like. This is something worth paying attention to.
So, we have a monumental sort of New Moon ahead of us. Lots of Fire energy, and a major shift for the planet who brings our attention to the deepest, most shadowy parts of our world and our psyches.
How will you choose to channel the Aries Fire? Do you want to be in the room where it happens? And then the Plutonian question: How deep are you ready to go?
This New Moon in Aries brings important shifts that will reverberate for some time to come. Get ready.