Aries New Moon

Aries New Moon - Powerful Growth Energy

"If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all."

— Noam Chomsky

This Monday's Aries New Moon (11:37 AM PDT 19° Aries Solar Eclipse) and the dramatic stellium or 'pile-up' in Aries this week strongly suggests new beginnings, powerful growth energy and a demand for unrestrained freedom. But the complexities and nuances of this week's Aries energy are numerous. Aries is generally not known for any interest in 'Complexity', preferring to charge ahead with complete freedom — often quite impulsively and with little concern for anyone or anything that gets in the way. Well, "Not so fast!" This week's Aries energy is quite different, as is the path and the lessons that we are offered by this New Moon. The ruler of Aries, Mars, is conjunct Saturn in the vast depths of Pisces. Mars-Saturn conjunctions are often felt through extraordinary frustration. Extreme sensitivity is suggested by this conjunction which must be understood through the deeply intuitive but sometimes confusing insight of Pisces. Both Mars and Saturn can be quite uncomfortable in Pisces. But Mars can often find unsuspected strength and hidden resources in the Piscean depths. In this week's context, Saturn can become a surprising ally, encouraging us to lay deeply thoughtful groundwork and create lasting foundations in order to support the growth that is initiated this week. We face 'Creative Irritation' — surprising and confusing complications that demand creative solutions — arising out of the obstacles that surface when we try to explore our desire for freedom and take decisive action to move ahead. In order to take the definitive action that Aries seeks to pursue, we will need to face the obstacles directly. We must thoroughly consider the implications and face the fact that others may have different perspectives than our own. The Aries New Moon is tightly conjunction Chiron, which suggests that we will need a deep understanding of the costs of freedom as well as the recognition that the freedom and perspectives of others are actually as important as our own — no more and no less. Mercury's retrograde transit through Aries this week also seems to confound the impetuous Aries energy. But Mercury's 'inferior conjunction' with the Sun on Thursday suggests an important 'pivot point' where we can begin to intellectually understand the need for groundwork and a strong foundation to support our progress. There are reverberations of February's Chiron/North Node conjunction which encouraged us to better understand our own perspective and how we 'fit in' to the bigger picture. We are also likely to feel a return of the roller coaster emotions and self-doubts of the last Full Moon (March 25th, 5° Libra/Aries Lunar Eclipse). Courageous optimism may erase the return of self-doubt but can quickly take us too far if we forget the importance of the perspectives of others. The key to understanding this week's landscape is to expand our understanding and compassion for the perspective of others without in any way abandoning our own perspectives — which might sound easy but is extraordinarily challenging to truly accomplish. The tension may feel extreme but the potential for positive creative developments are extraordinary.

There are important opportunities to envision — to visualize — a new direction on Sunday, ahead of Monday's Aries New Moon. The Moon-Venus conjunction extends a stabilizing Venus-Pluto sextile. We are encouraged to break free in new directions on Monday under the New Moon. However, we should not forget the importance of the perspectives of others on our way towards freedom. Tuesday's energy emphasizes the need for 'slow and steady' effort despite the strong, powerful initiatory energy of the new lunar cycle. Our sensitivity may keep us on edge but expanded connections are well-supported. Sensitivity reaches a peak on Wednesday. Self-doubts may be erased by optimism but that optimism may quickly take us too far. We face obstacles that must be faced directly and not sidestepped. We reach a 'pivot point' on Thursday. We can more clearly understand intellectually how to overcome the obstacles that we seem to be facing. The early part of the day on Friday suggests significant discomfort but later in the day, we find room for more clarity. There is a shift in perspective that helps us to change our approach. We may be inclined to pull back a bit on Saturday after early activity lacks direction. We're reminded that we need to take stock of how those around us are feeling.