New Moon in Aries

The Iliad contains a story of Ares, the god with insatiable desire for war, being sealed within a bronze container for thirteen months. Homer sung that he would have died if Hermes had not been told and secretly released him.

The alchemical symbolism of volatile martial heat contained for a lunar period, liberated and reintroduced into circulation by Hermes, matches the extraordinary symbolism of the New Moon in Aries on April 17. Mercury is quickly moving to release Mars from the containment of Saturn in Aries, with all of the traditional planets in Aries save Jupiter exalted in Cancer and Venus in her earthy domicile of Taurus. Neptune, Chiron, and Eris are also in Aries with the New Moon.

Mercury and Mars are contained by Neptune and Saturn in Aries, as the stars of Ares and Hermes move into conjunctions with Saturn on April 19 and 20. Saturn restrains Mars, yet with Saturn in fall in the fiery home of Mars, there can be disciplined and strategic movement fueled by the Eros of instinct and desire. The conjunction of Mercury and Mars on April 20 is the final of five conjunctions stretching back to October 19 (November 12, January 17, March 15 are the other ones). What has Mercury been mediating with your Mars to release and express since last October?

Times of Saturn and Mars conjunctions tend to bring frustration and obstacles to work through in our personal lives, as well as harrowing current events. Yet there’s nothing normal about the current conjunction combined with the procession of planets in Aries. We won’t have another New Moon in Aries like this in our lifetimes, made all the more rare considering the recent conjunction of Saturn and Neptune in the first degree of Aries, with Mercury and Mars moving in between them.

Strategy will be necessary, such as Psyche in the story of Psyche and Eros. After Aphrodite gave Psyche the dangerous task of collecting golden wool from fierce, deadly rams who shine like the sun, Psyche nearly threw herself to her own death in a rushing river. In the darkest moment of despair at the river’s edge, a marsh-reed suddenly mediated with advice. Psyche was guided to seek cover in the shade of a sycamore tree during the heat of the noonday sun, so she may avoid the rams becoming viciously agitated by highpoint of solar heat. Psyche receives the necessary strategy: wait until the rams begin to cool themselves in the river breeze, and shake the branches of the nearby grove that will have collected their golden fleece in its bush. 

Marie-Louise Von Franz in her analysis of the Psyche and Eros story viewed the reed as corresponding to the “tiny hints of truth with we get from the unconscious,” whispering “the truth and anticipation of the future.” Von Franz noted that Carl Jung “always saids that truth does not speak with a loud voice,” but rather that “its low but unsuppressible voice announces itself as a malaise, or a bad conscience,” requiring quiet contemplation to feel and discern its hints. The capacity Psyche displays in waiting for the right moment to gather the golden fleece reveals the importance of waiting and patiently tending to unconscious processes as they work themselves out rather than reacting impulsively. Von Franz stressed the importance of finding out what overwhelming emotions mean, stating that “wherever there is a destructive emotion, there is possibly also light, and the art is to perceive this light without getting pulled into the primitiveness of uncontrolled emotion.”

We may experience extremities of emotions following the New Moon in Aries, as Mars, Mercury, and Saturn collide together on April 19 and 20. For some it may be more about enduring hardship through disciplined action, for others the implosion of planets in Aries may incite enflamed ambition, idealistic visions, or burning resilience to follow the heart of desire no matter the odds or the obstacles in one’s way. Whatever the case may be, take the time to fully explore the feelings demanding attention to more fully realize the guidance they bring for the path ahead. Mercury will be busy mediating and working his magic with the stellium in Aries.

Most important will be trusting your instincts. Enduring the turbulence and resiliently persevering with the vision of the path ahead. Be bold like Aries, and remember that a New Moon like this can set potent intentions in motion but they will take time to fully develop and require determined follow through to make them happen. All of the planets will continue to move direct until Pluto stations retrograde on May 6, and so there is a strong burst of wind to set sails in motion.

Aries 3 Decan

The New Moon is in the third decan of Aries associated with the Four of Wands tarot arcanum illustrated above by Pamela Colman Smith. It’s not clear who the figures in the center of the image are, if they are performers being celebrated or celebrants participating in communal festivities. What is clear is the lovingly decorated garland filled with vivacious blossoms and the combined symbolism of a bridge and large castle in the background: the figures are in a centering and protective place from which to express their creativity and charisma. T Susan Chang in her book 36 Secrets described the Four of Wands as a “temporary refuge” and “safe haven” similar to Rivendell in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, a moment to take comfort and refuge from whatever ordeals you have been enduring. Although Aries is the domicile of contentious and combative Mars, the third decan of Aries is ruled by Venus and Jupiter, the two traditional planets most associated with fertile growth, sources of abundant pleasure, and creative vision. 

While Venus is not naturally comfortable in Aries, she is capable of manifesting success and achievement in the third face of Aries despite it being an environment suited for the fiery assertiveness of Mars and the radiant grandeur of the Sun. Austin Coppock in his book 36 Faces ascribed the image of “The Burning Rose” to the third face of Aries, attributing to it “the power of art to overcome hostility,” and “the power of the spirit to unify and seduce, to motivate and to bond those of confluent passions.” Coppock further noted this decan requires “the martial heat of the battlefield,” as it is the battle-ready ferocity of Aries turned toward artistic performance and charismatic presentation that gives this decan its power “to create a commonality of spirit even in the most hostile conditions.” Yet Coppock also pointed out that the bonds formed within this face require its burning intensity to endure, whereas less intense passions are needed within longterm relationships. Thus it’s a face of “peak experiences” and “inspiring unions amidst life’s greatest struggles,” a place where “bonds are forged and spirits raised,” a decan which “grants the charisma to motivate and attract.”

With the constraint of Saturn meeting the aggression of Mars during the New Moon of Aries, we may need to confront what lies underneath at the foundation of our ambitious dreams of achievement. Henrich Cornelius Agrippa in Three Books of Occult Philosophy wrote that within the third face of Aries “rises the figure of a white man, pale, red hair, and dressed in red, with one hand wearing a gold bracelet and holding forth a staff. His likeness is as if [he is] restless and angry, because he cannot perform the good he wishes. This image confers talent, tameness, joy, and beauty.” When having to contend with overwhelming current events corresponding with the lunation and the global economic uncertainty, we may feel our own version of the restless anger of the figure not being able to enact his wishes. The presence of Saturn within the procession of planets in Aries may point to the need of tending to larger visions of future opportunity while simultaneously remaining patient, accepting of current realities, and determinedly working toward desired outcomes.

In contrast, the image for the third decan of Aries found in the Hellenistic text Liber Hermetis wears a gold crown with glistening emeralds decorating her belly. She is full of magic and her staff has the heads of four serpents facing a polarity of directions. Her garments of dark rose are lined with golden strings and she seems to possess the grace of the third face of Aries figure painted above by Francesco del Cossa rather than the fury over constraints described by other texts. The focused countenance in del Cossa’s figure suggests they have an inner knowing of being able to make a targeted impact, as they seem to be summoning an inner force to project through the golden bracelet held delicately with their fingers. There is also something in this image evoking the disciplined focus brought by Saturn to Mercury and Mars in Aries. Francesco del Cossa placed an arrow in the other hand, evoking the mythic Eros or Cupid.

Eros is in fact resonant, as the Hellenistic text 36 Airs of the Zodiac ascribed the figure of Eros to the third face of Aries: the capacity of Eros to arouse passions into creations that inspire collective forces lies at the heart of the decan’s meaning. While some spiritual lineages place Eros as a primordial, hermaphroditic deity at the dawn of Creation, later traditions made Eros into the cunning son of Aphrodite who constantly stirred up the troubles brought forth by lust in both mortals and gods with his bow and arrows. Interestingly, Eros is also present with the New Moon in Aries by the Eros asteroid in Cancer forming a square aspect to the Sun and Moon.

Another version of Eros is found in Plato’s Symposium, where Eros is described by Socrates as the child born from the sexual union of the divine forms of Poverty and Resource. To Socrates, Eros or Love is always poor, always in a state of need, but is also always resourceful in being able to gain what it needs. Within the polarity between Poverty and Resource, the daimonic force of Eros weaves together awareness of the wisdom to be found through our earthly desires. As Saturn meets Mars and Mercury in Aries in the days following the New Moon in Aries, create protected space from whatever difficulties you have been experiencing in order to envision what you truly wish to create and contribute. Let Saturn’s restrictions serve as the stone that kindles the inner fire that will sustain your determination in the journey ahead.

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References

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

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.

Von Franz, Marie-Louise. (1992). The Golden Ass of Apuleius: the Liberation of the Feminine in Man. Shambhala.