Aries Full Moon

The Aries Full Moon on 29 September will ignite a rapid tempo of quickly developing events in the month ahead, as the lunation will be followed by a tumultuous eclipse season in October. In many ways the lunation is a gateway into a frenetic month full of change that could sometimes feel exciting and innovative, at other times unsettling and unstable. Aries is zodiacal terrain that augments directness, courageous initiative, and speed, yet with Mars (domicile ruler of Aries) and the Sun (exaltation ruler of Aries) both in Libra, impulses to rush ahead will be counterbalanced by careful consideration and calculation. Ever since the north node of the moon moved into Aries and the south node of the moon shifted into Libra in July, the polarity between the decisive action of Aries and the contemplative calibration of Libra has been an underlying influence. The Aries Full Moon is the first lunation to activate the lunar nodes since their sign change, with the upcoming Solar Eclipse in Libra on 14 October being the first eclipse with the nodes in Aries and Libra. With the nodes activated by eclipses in the month ahead, changes we have sensed brewing will become suddenly realized. We will need to embrace the mystery of not knowing and the potential of unknown direction, letting go of insistence on keeping things the same.

The most exact aspects formed during the Aries Full Moon involve the liberating impetus of Uranus, with Venus in Leo completing a jolting square with Uranus in Taurus on 29 September and Mercury in Virgo completing a flowing trine with Uranus on 30 September. Following an extended period of Venus retrograde (23 July – 4 September) and Mercury retrograde (23 August – 15 September), the momentum of both Venus and Mercury catalyzing Uranus will set in motion desires that have been reshaped by their retrograde periods. Mercury stationed retrograde on 23 August within two degrees of an exact trine with Uranus, and so the creative fire of new ideas that deepened with incubation during Mercury retrograde can flow into expression under the full light of the Moon. The square between Venus and Uranus is particularly powerful due to it being the third and final in a sequence that began on 2 July when Venus was direct in Leo followed by a second square on 9 August when Venus was retrograde in Leo. Whether the Venus retrograde in Leo transit brought dramatic external changes or more internal mutation, the Full Moon will illuminate opportunities to embody the ways in which your values, aspirations, and relational desires metamorphosed in recent months.

While Venus and Mercury are involved in stimulating aspects with Uranus that could feel liberating and facilitate experimentation and invention, Mars in Libra is in a very different place. Mars is responsible for resourcing the Aries Full Moon and bringing effects into form, yet Mars is simultaneously on the threshold of being initiated into an underworld journey of mystery and rebirth. The Aries Full Moon will illuminate the heliacal setting of Mars, as the star of Ares will move within fifteen degrees of being under the beams of the Sun on 30 September. The descent of Mars into the underworld will necessitate a cathartic purging, emptying, and release as Mars is simultaneously forming a conjunction with the South Node of the Moon that will become exact on 4 October. Due to the upcoming Solar Eclipse also conjoining the South Node of the Moon in Libra, Mars will be exposing symptoms of larger issues that could intensify in the month ahead. Find the courage to dive into the dissolving darkness with Mars, letting go of what needs to be laid to rest, noticing the deeper understanding that may emerge from contemplating inner motivation, being willing to make adjustments and changes in direction as needed.

In addition to the South Node, Pluto is also overseeing the initiation of Mars into Mystery due to the red planet applying to an intensifying square aspect with Pluto. Mars typically involves the fierce application of will that separates, protects, and fights for what we want to achieve. Yet Mars in Libra combining with the South Node and Pluto can feel erratic and unbalanced, with mental anxiety and indecision inhibiting capacity to embrace and enact the changes we desire to make happen. Pluto will demand digging deeper into the roots of presenting issues, and though we may need to examine aspects of ourselves that have been previously disempowered, ultimately the tension with Pluto can be empowering in ways that stir new forms of vital ambition and desire. Keep in mind that Mars has a long underworld descent ahead that will stretch across the eclipses of October, with Mars eventually becoming reanimated by a conjunction with the Sun in Scorpio on 17 November. Productive work can happen before then, but Mars will also be shepherding us through a deeper rebirth within darkness that will take time to fully realize.

Bernadette Brady in Predictive Astrology: The Eagle and the Lark defined eclipse season as the period of time in which the Sun is within eighteen degrees of the lunar nodes. This places the Aries Full Moon as a gateway into eclipse season, as the Sun will cross into the eighteen degree range following the lunation. Eclipse season often brings a bending of time and an acceleration of life changing events, especially when a particular eclipse is significant for someone personally. Although events associated with particular eclipses are not dramatic for everyone, with some personally struck by specific eclipses more so than others, collectively we live through a period of accelerated change in current events. The quality of time speeding up will be especially felt with the nodes in the cardinal signs of Aries and Libra, as cardinal signs initiate change and new beginnings with fast paced events.

During the forthcoming waning Moon phase, in the week leading up to the Solar Eclipse in Libra, there will be a sequence of major shifts that will increase dynamics of transition and instability. Most notably, Mercury will enter Libra on 5 October (after having been in Virgo since 28 July) and Venus will enter Virgo on 9 October (after having been in Leo since 5 June). While the change in signs for Venus and Mercury could feel like a release valve being opened due to their extended time in previous signs, Venus in Virgo will immediately form an opposition with Saturn in Pisces that will require a sobering assessment of circumstances and challenges that must be worked through. Venus is in her fall in Virgo, another living symbol for descent into darknesss and the understanding that comes from incubating within low lying places. If the opposition between Venus and Saturn feels harsh, keep in mind it is a passing influence and consider the issues that Saturn is demanding that you pay attention to.

At the same time, Mars in Libra will form a square with Pluto on 8 October while Pluto has an intensified presence due to stationing direct on 11 October. Mars clashing with Pluto will stir ambitions but be wary of taking on too much, as the proximity between Mars and the South Node of the Moon in Libra indicates the need to let go of the inessential to have more focalized energy available for core priorities. The tension between Mars and Pluto will also reveal entanglements in power dynamics. Once Mars enters his watery home of Scorpio on 11 October the red planet will be in a stronger position for taking action, but it will be wise to avoid confrontation that will lead to exacerbated conflicts during the upcoming eclipses. Though the clashing between Mars and Pluto may dredge up difficult issues to face, opening to the deeper realizations brought by Pluto will increase connection with your most soulful desires. The tests of this time can ultimately cultivate greater strength and courage to embody.

Aries 1 Decan

The Full Moon will illuminate the first decan of Aries associated with the Two of Wands card illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith. The image of a conquering figure holding a globe, piercing the expanse of the horizon with his gaze is fitting for a decan steeped in will power, as he seems intent on enacting his vision upon reality and expanding his influence. The ambitious confidence and assertion present in the image connects with the fact that Mars rules the first face of Aries, giving Mars both domicile and decan rulership over the Aries Full Moon. While the figure in the image appears self assured and saturated with confidence, the transit of Mars in Libra combining with both the South Node of the Moon and Pluto during the lunation indicates the necessity of being willing to question our long range vision and ambitious plans, considering how they will need to be reconfigured in accordance with both internal and external changes. T. Susan Chang in 36 Secrets described a typical takeaway from drawing the Two of Wands being to “seize your courage” and enact “a bold plan of action,” yet she also raised two pertinent questions that resonate with the relationship between the Two of Wands and the present astrology: “Are you becoming who you mean to be? Are you acting based on who you are, or on who you would like to be?”

Austin Coppock in 36 Faces ascribed the symbol of “The Axe” to the first decan of Aries, as it has a long association with fierce figures such as in the Liber Hermetis where the face reveals a man “standing on feet like claws” and “holding above his head a double-sided axe with both hands.” Indeed, Henrich Cornelius Agrippa in Three Books of Occult Philosophy wrote that within the first face of Aries “rises the likeness of a black man, standing dressed in white and girded. [He has] a large body, red eyes, and great strength, and [appears] as if angry; this images signifies and is made for boldness, strength, loftiness, and immodesty.” Coppock rooted the fierce symbolism of “The Axe” in it being “the primordial splitter” that creates the division necessary for growth, as “cosmologies begin with the sundering of the One.” Indeed, not only did the Hellenistic text the 36 Airs identify the mythic Aidoneus with the first face of Aries, so did the ancient philosopher Empedocles identify Aidoneus as one of the four fundamental elements at the root of creation.

While Coppock described “The Axe” as a magical tool essential for the use of the first face of Aries in “breaking bonds which no longer serve” and bringing “subjective order to the world” through “taming the environment,” he also noted it is a face of raw, unfiltered, and untamed willpower that can evoke the “tyrannical spirit of the infant.” As it is a decan focused upon “the will pressing reality to conform with its pattern,” its strength lies in the personal power of an “unrestrained will” and “the individual yang struggling out of the collective yin.” Yet Coppock also warned of “a tendency in this decan to try to do too much with force alone,” quickly accumulating karmic debts and destructive opponents. This warning will be especially important to keep in mind with Mars in Libra forming a conjunction with the South Node of the Moon and a square with Pluto stationing in Capricorn.

The Aries Full Moon will ignite the fiery, raw individualism of the first face of Aries, and so we need to consider how and why we intend to wield its penetrative potency externally and internally. While the martial ambition found in this face can be linked with empire builders who wish to amass immense power and control, its primordial fire is also what brings the inspiration and foresight required to throw off the shackles of empire and insist on liberation. Rather than blindly chasing ambitious ideals and focusing on dominating others with your willpower, consider how to empower yourself to pursue your core purpose with martial force that also helps you cultivate greater skill while inspiring others to do the same. Remember the guidance of the Orphic hymn to Ares, suggesting that the god of war yield to the wishes of the love goddess Aphrodite and the loosening of Dionysian revelry, transmuting the weapons of war into the agricultural works of Demeter that will feed others. Under the illumination of the Aries Full Moon, discover the inner treasure and central desire you can cultivate to feed and nurture your soul through the tempestuous times to come.

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References

Agrippa, Heinrich Cornelius. (2021). Three Occult Books of Philosophy. Translated by Eric Purdue. Inner Traditions.

Brady, Bernadette. (1992). Predictive Astrology: The Eagle and the Lark. Weiser Books.

Chang, T. Susan. (2021). 36 Secrets: A Decanic Journey through the Minor Arcana of the Tarot. Anima Mundi Press.

Coppock, Austin. (2014). 36 Faces: The History, Astrology and Magic of the Decans. Three Hands Press.