The New Moon in Aries exact on 30th March 2014 at 6.46 pm GMT is the most powerful new moon of this year and possibly over the last ten years. Aries rules warrior Mars and this energy will activate the cardinal grand cross which characterises much of April so hang on to your boot straps!
There are a few factors that produce the intensity. Firstly the grand cross is formed from cardinal signs. Cardinal signs Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn relate to turning points in the seasons that generate powerful energy especially when evoked. They generate movement and momentum towards creation in the worldly sense.
Secondly it’s a black moon, or almost at that status. Another is that it is close to perigee – when the moon is closest to the earth so it’s impact is more widely felt and stronger effect on emotional tides within us. It also activates the infamous T-square.
The most intense time of this new moon is the few days before 30th March. Before the new moon reaches Aries, it will be in Pisces, the last sign of the zodiac, which is a time to release. So while new moons are generally a time to invite in the new, with this new moon there is a different sense that the old can also leave through dissolving of attachments through Pisces. A time to cleanse and detox right at all levels.
Aries is an initiating energy about action, new direction and movement. In Aries shadow we find the potential for angry, impulsive and perhaps violent behaviour. When we have a difficult new moon, which this is, although it is also incredibly powerful, you need to also look at the shadow aspect of the sign it’s in so you can a sense of how it could play out if the energies overwhelm you. With this Aries new moon, we need to look to Mars for more of an idea of how its energy will likely play out, as Mars is Aries’ planetary ruler.
Mars, as I mentioned last week, has just turned retrograde in Libra, which is Aries opposite sign. How carefully we conduct ourselves in relationships (Libra rules relationships) is up for review right now. Have you noticed how you have been getting spontaneously frustrated recently, especially with partners? Well that’s Mars retrograde perhaps triggering something in your natal chart. Our unresolved issues will create more stress right now and we are more liable to impulsive decision making.
Our world of relationships and commitments to one another, the world of accountability, is what’s at stake. It’s never easy when our challenges come in our relationships as much of our joy and pain gets expressed and experienced here. There is a concealed quality to this Mars retrograde too, it’s more veiled with it being in Libra – it’s more in its shadow ruler shall we say. This could mean that we don’t see whose to blame in situations, that we project out and dream up what’s inside of us. It will all feel more hidden at the moment and with the intense astrology of April around the corner, this ‘preview’ new moon offers us a window into what we might need to further manage later.
Mars is also exactly opposite the planet Eris, a newer discovery. Eris tends to be a source of some chaos, akin to Black Moon Lilith. In psychological terms, it causes you to doubt who you are. Altogether the signs are pointing towards this not being the time to assume you have all the answers.
Juno, the asteroid of marriage and partnership, is also in Aries close to this new moon, ruling important relationships where serious commitment is involved, such as contracts of marriage or business. Aries needs freedom and independence, it likes to do its own thing and not really play by the rule book. We might want relationships on our own terms now, or project our power onto others. It might also symbolise our own commitment (Juno) to our own path of individuation (Aries). Calling back your power and projections is particularly important right now.
The new moon aspects – a square to the Jupiter (Cancer) and Pluto (Capricorn), a conjunction to Uranus (Aries) – all activate the potent ongoing T-square that I have mentioned a few times now in previous posts. In April, this amplifies into a grand cross (involving four planets) and so the energy hypes up further with Mars completing the leg of the T-square. Moon and Sun (both Aries) conjunct Uranus will create a fair amount of unpredictability at this new moon so try not to be too fixed with plans. Uranus, like Aries, also likes it’s freedom – so this is theme is again emphasised here. Pluto applying its square can also feel like the rug is being pulled out from under us, like we need to let go of what’s not working (and indeed that is what we need to do). Jupiter will work to only exaggerate influences.
The interaction of these planets in the four elements – fire, water, air and earth – provides the perfect playing field for profound manifestation, if you can allow access to the fifth quality or element of space. Space, similar to light, is indefinable and indescribable, pertaining to the Source present in the quantum field. Becoming more aware of the space in between will help negotiate these powerful energies playing out. If we get too sucked into the pull of these elements without remembering to include the space we find in our own centre, then we will struggle here.
It’s a perfect time to harness and channel this energy to support us in April. I will be planting my veggies seeds in my allotment this Sunday night and Monday morning. I’m also running the new moon workshop this Sunday for the same reason. Do what works for you, if you don’t know what that is, I suggest you call in, or out, your presence as a start. Let the transformation being asked for really move through you so you get a powerful shift from it. Also remember that this crazy planetary energy has a Divine intelligence behind it which is being directed towards our deeper or higher evolution and so while at times it is hard, it’s necessary, and it WILL, ultimately, if flowed with rather than resisted, make you feel amazing. Astrology and life doesn’t need to be feared, its just there to be understood and harnessed.
If you want to know how this new moon will affect you, you can go to here http://www.astro.com/cgi/ade.cgi choose ‘Extended Chart Selection’. If you have any planets, especially your sun or moon, at 7-10 degrees of any of the cardinal signs Aries, Cancer, Libra or Capricorn, then you will feel this new moon more than most other cardinal sign folk.
