And the time came
when the risk to remain
tight in a bud
was more painful
than the risk it took
to bloom.
Anais Nin
Spring is proof that there is beauty in new beginnings
Matshona Dhliwayo
The Spring Equinox and New Moon on March 21, 2023 at 0 Aries is a time of emergence.
We are primed to break ground, burst forth and spring anew. Our warrior spirit awakens and we are infused with renewed vigor and strength. All New Moons mark a new beginning, but this one is supercharged and is perhaps the most significant new Moon of the year! On its heels, two days after the Equinox, Pluto will enter Aquarius, making this week the pivot point of 2023. We stand on the precipice between the old and the new, integrating lessons we have learned and gearing up to enthusiastically move towards an unknown and expansive future.
5 Planets and 2 Asteroids in Aries (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Jupiter, Chiron, Eris, Vesta)
Neptune (out of sign) conjunct New Moon
Pluto sextile the New Moon
Jupiter conjunct Chiron in Aries
New Moon Ruler: Mars square Neptune and the New Moon, trine Saturn
Tipping Point Moment: Pluto on the verge of entering Aquarius
Annually, both the Spring Equinox and Aries New Moon (in the Northern Hemisphere) are the time when new life emerges – the daffodils bloom, trees bud and the sound of songbirds once again fills the air. It can feel like new life appeared out of nowhere. 0 Aries is one of the prime cardinal points of the sky, and is the point of ignition that begins a whole new cycle of life. It arrives with undettered enthusiasm and boldness.
This year, both the Spring Equinox and Aries New Moon coincide on the same day, signifying a powerful rebirth and renewal of life. In addition, there will be two Aries New Moons in a row. The second occurs on the April 20 Solar Eclipse which initiates a new chapter in our lives and the life of the collective.
Buried deep beneath the barren landscape of winter, new life is quickened at the winter solstice and germinates until the Spring Equinox when the Sun arrives a 0 Aries. It is then that we feel the call to re-emerge like a bear rousing itself from a state of hibernation; or like a tree that feels its sap rising to fill its trunk and limbs, or like a bird breaking out of the shell that protected and fed it until it was strong enough to break out– we an pick whichever metaphor fits, and feel the renewal of energy teeming through us - raw, determined, strong and meteoric in its life-affirming velocity to spring forth.
You are reborn with the roses, in every spring. ~ Juan Ramon Jimenez
We are ready to launch ourselves on a new course of action that has been incubated through the winter months fed by dreams and what we have learned. Our self trust and confidence have undergone a healing process (Jupiter conjunct Chiron in Aries). We are to affirm our creative power, embrace what sparks our enthusiasm and let this guide us to create, to move towards what is calling us to grow in the garden of our life.
The deep roots never doubt spring will come.
Marty Rubin
Five Planets and Two Asteroids in the Sign of the Ram
Sun, Moon, Mercury, Jupiter, Chiron, Vesta and Eris in Aries
There is an abundance of fire energy! Aries fire is creative, enthusiastic, bold and potentially combative. Aries is about personal empowerment. Our focus rightly goes to ourself and what fuels enthusiasm. This will direct the course we are to take to launch the new chapter waiting for us.
There is potency in trusting our impulse about what we want to initiate. It is a fighting energy. What are we ready to fight for? If we don’t own and direct this energy well, it is too potent to be bottled up. If we try to sit on or bottle up this energy, we may experience an accident, have an illness associated with inflammation or overheating, or find ourselves getting angry for the wrong reasons. It is time to be a warrior about something that calls us forth and to be intentional about what we decide to do next.
Spring Cleansing. This is a prime time to detoxify and cleanse our liver. We benefit from foods, a special program or focused exercises that re-energize areas of our being that have fallen into lethargy. This will help clear blocks of anger and frustration so that enthusiasm and generosity flow more freely.
Dramatic Shifts
Pluto sextile Aries New Moon on the Equinox
Pluto square April 20 Eclipse in Aries
The planet of transformation (Pluto) is in a beneficial relationship with the New Moon supporting us to embrace new and life-affirming endeavors. We are encouraged to trust our gut instincts as never before. This is less mental or logical, and more a movement that arises from our gut.
The April 20 Eclipse will bring dramatic shift that inspires new technologies, innovations and awarenesses that will mark a departure from a way we have been living and a movement towards something yet undiscovered.
Neptune conjunct the New Moon
We can feel overwhelmed or exhausted by the influx of information we are receiving. We are to become quiet enough with ourselves so that we attune to the impulse, the nature of what is firing us up. We are encouraged to feel the great creative source of all life, to feel our interconnection with the creative pulse of the universe and how it is moving through us. What this inspires will cue us as to where we should give our focus so that we are not spread thin or feel whipped around by all the various thoughts and ideas swirling about.
you are not a machine.
you are more like a garden.
you need different things
on different days. a little sun today,
a little less water tomorrow.
you have fallow and fruitful seasons.
it is not a design flaw.
it is wiser than perpetual sameness.
what does your garden need today?
Joy Clarkson
Speaking with Greater Truth and Clarity
New Moon Ruler: Mars
Mars square Neptune and the New Moon, trines Saturn
Mars is Out of Bounds, meaning it is traveling outside the path of the ecliptic, until early May. The renegade within us is fueled. We may be feeling a bit cocky, wanting to strut our stuff. On the world stage, this can compel leaders to behave with a bravado that provokes increased conflict and escalates the potential for outbreaks of war. For us, we can decide whether to wage acts of war, or acts of love. What do we want to fight for? What do we want to create?
Love is the sap of the tree of Life. ~ Banani Ray
Mars is in its final days of its nearly 8-month journey in Gemini, that included a two month plus period in retrograde. The planet of action’s (Mars) prolonged journey in Geimini compelled us to distill truth from false narratives. Contemplating the power of our words and thoughts, we had the opportunity to root out destructive or self-defeating thought patterns and ways of communicating. With Mars now out of its shadow phase, there has been a maturation, a refining of how we communicate. We have spent time thinking things through, seeing differing perspectives and arriving at new understandings. We are more discerning about what information we feed our mind and what we broadcast. We are better equipped to cooperate rather than combat others in order to be heard.
Nurture what we Wish to Grow (Ceres at 0 Libra oppose the New Moon). We are reminded to nurture our relationships with an eye to fairness and consideration of another's needs. Opposing the powerful New Moon, Ceres points out that there is a difference between self-assertion and selfishness. The impulse to empower ourselves will achieve greater success if we also value the empowerment of all.
Ceres rules food production and distribution. In Libra, she is advocating for a coming together to pool resources, rather than moving from fear to hoard the earth’s food for oneself. There is a strong Aries signature in current world politics with nations becoming increasingly nationalistic and tworld’s leaders waging wars, imposing sanctions and looking to maximize their control of resources for their own country. Opposing this runaway Aries impulse, Ceres quietly and firmly points out that this approach is shortsighted and suggests that the potential fulfill our needs and follow our inclinations (Aries) will meet with greater success if we also adhere to values of justice and fairness for all (Libra).
Pluto: The Key that Unlocks the Door to Tomorrow
Pluto is bolstering the strength to affirm our impulses at this Full Moon (sextile the Sun/Moon) and will be helping us to regenerate and to truly embrace a fresh start in our lives at the April 20 Solar Eclipse (squares the Eclipse). Beyond this Pluto has a larger agenda, and one that underlies the movement of 2023.
In its last two days of its 15-year journey in Capricorn, it is completing its agenda in Capricorn – to destabilize structures, systems and institutions that are out of integrity with the principles and values that shaped them. 2008, the year Pluto moved into Capricorn, we saw the housing crisis which precipitated a financial crisis and the bailing out of big banks. Pluto’s last days and weeks in Capricorn have been a taking account of what was learned and is giving us a report care for how well we have learned the lessons that were needed. With inflation rising, large banks closing and criticism surfacing once again around the regulation of banks, we have an echo of the 2008 crisis. Will we get a passing grade or need to learn our lessons all over again?
As Pluto enters Aquarius on March 23, where it will remain for 20 years, we will experience events on the world stage in the coming weeks and months that clue us into what Pluto in Aquarius will portend. Also this year, for the first time since the French Revolution of 1789, Pluto will be square the nodal axis (from now through November). The nodes reveal the past we are to let go of and the future we are to embrace. With Pluto changing signs and square the nodes, the world culture and current world order are in for big shifts. We are on the precipice of a new order of things. (Read more on Pluto in Aquarius)
The New Moon and Equinox, though, brings our attention to ourselves and to what lights us up as individuals. We are to pursue, even fight for, what we feel especially called to engage and create.
Where flowers bloom, so does hope. Lady Bird Johnson
The Winged Horse Takes Flight
The New Moon aligned with Markab and Scheat of the constellation Pegasus
In conclusion, I want to bring attention to the constellation illuminated by the New Moon: Pegasus.
Pegasus is a Greek mythic white horse with wings. Pegasus evokes images of freedom and of taking flight. But what is remarkable about Pegasus is what set the stage for Pegasus to exist.
Pegasus flew out of the neck of Medusa after her head was cut off. Medusa was a Gorgon, a monster with hair of snakes and an eye, that when fixed on a person, turned them to stone. But Medusa was not always a monster. Initially, she was a beautiful young woman who had dedicated herself to the service of Athena. Her vows included one of chastity.
One day as Medusa was serving in the temple of Athena, the sea god Poseidon noticed Medusa and lusted after her. Storming the temple he ravished Medusa, much as a raging sea will break shore and ravage the buildings that reside along the shoreline. Athena was enraged. She was furious with Medusa for breaking her vow. Today we might say that her rage was misplaced, but that is another conversation. Athena took revenge on Medusa by turning her into a hideous monster.
Pegasus is the offspring of Medusa and Poseidon. He gestated in Medusa, unable to be born until her head was cut off. And then, he was free to spread his wings.
Many of us have histories of hurt, betrayal, and trauma. From these experiences, over time, with healing, we can experience a rebirth, where a new sense of self can take flight as the old self is left behind. This New Moon has the potency for this to be such a time for us.
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