New Moon in Aries March 24, 2020: Breathing with Gratitude

 

New Moon in Aries – March 24, 2020 – Breathing with Gratitude

This Tuesday, March 24, 2020, the moon and sun join in the sign of Aries.  This new moon gives us a real spring into Aries with new perspectives and new energy.  Right now, across the United States, we are in various degrees of social distancing in isolation in our homes. Our daily lives tucked tightly into the domain of our physical home.  As the world leaders and medical professionals manage through landmines of a new kind, battling a microscopic virus. Just a few months ago many of us were complaining of seeing too many political campaign ads, now we cannot help but see a tidal wave of news reports, memes and personal sharing online or in conversation about the malicious coronavirus, or COV19.  I am writing this new moon newsletter on March 23^rd, at the very end of the balsamic moon cycle that was Pisces, which if we consider the symbolism of Pisces, especially with Neptune in Pisces the theme of something spreading rapidly would be a high probability. And here we are, working together (well most of us), to try and flatten a curve of how many people become infected in a brief window of time. Our collective intent is to stretch that time out and flatten the spike of need for services on our finite medical resources across the nation, and even across the globe.

We are in a few larger cycles that are still active which is important to remember. Here’s a review on those cycles still having an impact on our day-to-day experiences even though they were exact a month or more ago.  Saturn is the planet of restrictions.  In January, Saturn was still in the sign of Capricorn (tropical zodiac).  Saturn made a conjunction with the lord of the underworld, Pluto – Hades if you go with his Greek name. These two symbolize really challenging combination of energy as archetypes of the human experience. Saturn, is the lord of restrictions, limits and karmic cause and effect showing up in our material world.  Saturn also is the authority, the master of something too.  He doesn’t care if you’re comfortable.  It’s about hard work, sweat, tears and sometimes the feeling of scarcity.  Saturn can feel like a nightmare if you’re not prepared for what this planet is asking for symbolically.  When Pluto touches Saturn, it a heavy and with death involved, not just death-rebirth of personality but actual death of the physical life too.  It is sobering but better to rip that band-aid off about your fear of death right now.  It is healthy to have some fear, because your little ego-mind uses it to protect you too.  There are individuals right now who may wish they had listened to that inner voice, and there may be a high penalty to pay for not doing so when they were asked to by higher authorities.  Keep in mind there are doses of fear that hurt you too.  That would be taking things to the extreme that you are actually endangering others with certain behaviors, that’s right hoarding doesn’t help you feel connected into your community it actually is an isolating behavior.  Saturn-Pluto conjunction in Capricorn, are really giving us all a Master Class in restricted movements, what we can actually do productively for ourselves in the larger world and how the relationship with authority figures may change during this year too.  As Saturn moved into the sign of Aquarius, the social distancing really was in full force.  The news shared today that the United Kingdom just locked down today.  This is a world-changing event in every way we could imagine. Last year when looking forward at the Saturn-Pluto conjunction astrologers (including myself) discussed the historical patterns of other times in history we’ve navigated this kind of archetypal energy.  The usual manifestations then were wars, death, and destruction, disruption of peaceful communities and prisons being built.  Consider how similar the themes are, this time the war is on a microscopic bug that can is a real challenge to contain, so humans to protect themselves need to be contained, in their homes.  Both are costly in their own ways, but there are differences one can be grateful for too. In a weird way, this virus though the bulk of us are contained into our homes and distancing ourselves from others it is showing us also the enduring and tenacity of the human spirit.  Saturn in the sign of Aquarius will emphasize the social distancing, but it will also reflect the growing consciousness of the collective in greater numbers to matters of concern, safety and overall well-being of the group.  That is the humanitarian at the heart of Aquarius.  This is bringing our attention to how one of us moves and acts affect the group.  I could not imagine a more potent and formidable way to learn that and bring it into our consciousness.  So you can say a prayer and say thank you for this awareness, and the more of us actually feel that gratitude, well you know in your hearts it will dissolve the barriers that we had in our conscious before and that creates the outer world we know and experience.  I do not need to do the math, thank goodness because right now helping my 13-year-old daughter in her common core math has me maxed out on my personal math brainpower.  I also must add something I read online today how awful it is for the seniors in high school right now and what they are missing and someone said their veteran husband said in reply that his classmates’ senior trip was to Vietnam, so staying home would be rather a blessing. That comment really made me think how truly important it is to count your blessings with a bit of historical perspective.  While government leaders and representatives hammer out the details of our economic stimulus package that will shape the future many of us are finding some comforts in the required quarantine.  Longer moments with our adored pets, slower work expectations (for some), and school homework at an all-time low.  My teenager is smiling knowing that she can spend more time on creative projects right now, once I calmed her fears of what was happening in the world beyond our front door.

In addition to the larger cycle of Saturn-Pluto in Capricorn, a few additional planets are adding the Capricorn archetype, Mars and Jupiter.  Jupiter and Pluto will be moving in and out of exact conjunctions this year and they will continue to reveal the deep transformation of with traveling, education and even our public courts of law because Jupiter is the ruling planets of those things in our experience. Mars adds to the strategic and courageous moves for some and in others, it may be the energy adding to sustaining for longer periods of time increasing our patience, or frustrations.  It depends on how you are actively moving around physically when you can use your Mars energy. My bike rides and my walks are longer, because of this time of quarantine and thank goodness for sunny days of spring to make it the highlight of my days right now. March 31st use caution in your activities as Mars will conjunct Saturn in Aquarius and usually when a planet leaves a sign there is an increase in that energy expressed, so Mars in Capricorn with one big push of energy (pioneering, courage, physical strength (pumping iron) or violence are various expressions), so chose wisely.

Neptune in Pisces adds the magical and surreal into this moment.  How many movies have you checked off your wish list?  Creative projects you’ve wanted to do for months are now a worthy spend of your time; drawing, painting, needlework, focused time with your dusty scrapbooks, photography in the quiet of your backyard and playing music.  It is kind of being like a child a little bit figuring out what inspires you when you let boredom come to you.

Venus is at 20 degrees Taurus in a trine aspect with Jupiter at 23 degrees Capricorn and applying at this new moon.  The trine perfects on Friday, March 27^th, and later the next day perfects the trine with Pluto in the morning. What a lovely trine of earth, with the moon in Taurus, it would be a perfect day for gardening or planting a tree.   She is in her domicile, though in a superior square to Saturn in Aquarius, however, the distance by degree is easier to manage. Venus helps us in this moment in the pared-down simplicity.  How are you managing the transition into simplicity? Taurus is a sign of simplicity as part of the sweetness of life, sometimes it comes in the most unexpected ways.  What are you experiencing with your five senses now that two months ago wasn’t in your immediate awareness with a busy daily routine? Venus moves into Gemini on April 3^rd.  I write from my personal experience; I work from home and I have for six years. My transition is helping my family changing their routines inside our home and how to handle the day when the pressures to perform are different.  I do not work in the business of grocery, delivery, warehousing, healthcare or pharmaceuticals to know the intense overwhelm the workers of these areas of our lives are experiencing right now. However, my behavior of staying home and managing to essential needs does support them indirectly, as many of us are becoming acutely aware of group consciousness, which we are feeling more intensely now and the responsibility to that pressure with Saturn’s entry on March 21^st into the sign of Aquarius. It is a good thing I wrote plans in pencil on my paper calendar because I have been erasing many future events from piano lessons, soccer games, gym time, date nights, movie nights with Sydney at the local theater, in-person classes I had planned to teach and travel plans.  However, I have been adding a few online events too, the truth of the unexpected twists that our lives take. Cooking at home has become a bigger responsibility too. Adapting in the moment is good for us all, it will help us when we are several more weeks into this quarantine effort together.

Mercury is moving through Pisces at 6 degrees at this new moon and will catch up to Neptune on April 3^rd, same day Venus will make the ingress into Gemini. When Mercury reaches Neptune there may be more news and confusion related to the spread of the virus. It may be a peak point for some.  Once Mercury reaches Aries the mode will shift with urgency and speed of managing communications, environments and even perceptions.  The shift of Mercury from Pisces to Aries will be palpable.  Mercury is our perception and our logical mind. It’s been in a fuzzy place while it finishes its transit in Pisces. Mercury moves into Aries late on April 10^th (Pacific Daylight Time) and on the 9^th for many others.  Mars in Capricorn is the ruler of Aries and will participate in what Mercury does.  There will be considerable strategic thinking and actions taking place, possibly some intensely fierce conversations as well.  Life will have a feeling of urgency. Knowing this ahead of time, create something that will shake-off the high urgency by planned dancing, lift your weights and even brainstorming sessions for future writing.  Mercury will be sextile Saturn in Aquarius when he enters Aries, so the light bulbs may go off and you want to prepare to capture them.  Good time to write with a dose of intensity or bringing forward your pioneering ideas you’ve birth in your quiet moments of recent days. There are many ways Mercury in Aries will manifest in our local communities.  How might we envision those days as one we support others in service to the whole?  Mercury is in Aries from April 9^th 10^th through April 27^th.  He’s zipping along fast while in Aries so take advantage of it in meaningful ways while in this time of containment at home. Be mindful of your frustrations surfacing and how you voice them, Mercury in Aries will build the tensions and square to Mars in Capricorn will be ripe for bursts of angry inner gremlins we’ve let grow. Be wise, calm and sit upon your meditation pillow just a bit longer.  You’ll thank yourself for Saturnine discipline to quiet your mind for doing just that.

This Aries new moon may have you discovering the part of you that has craved peace for a long time. Whether you are an ER nurse working long hours, a single mother with her children trying to balance all the needs of those who look to her face for comfort, or the father who is pondering being the best provider for his family and wondering about all the unknowns of this moment, every soul has always had a place to go that offers them the unique peace. It is always there in the stillness, it’s available in this moment and perhaps you needed a little reminder that it is there, so I invite you. Sit down in your comfy chair, feet on the ground or crossed beneath you comfortably, close your eyes, feel the air in your lungs, breathe in deep, exhale slowly. Do it again.  Feel your heartbeat. Hear the birds outside your window. Breath in deeply. Exhale slowly. Cherish your breath, love your body, mind, and spirit and be grateful for everything. Even grateful for the microscopic things that have scared us yet have reminded us we are connected. Be still. Just observe your breath and be grateful.  Life observes you as you observe life and a new equilibrium flows. Bless your day and go with your new inspirations. Bless this moment. Namaste.