New Moon in Aries: Get Your Motor Running

Get your motor runnin'
Head out on the highway
Lookin' for adventure
And whatever comes our way.

~ Steppenwolf, “Born to Be Wild” (1969)

Ready for blast-off? Today we welcome the New Moon in Aries, cardinal fire sign of the Ram. Aries is the first sign of the zodiac, the supersonic seed that bursts through the ground, proclaiming new life. While all new moons are ‘seed planting times’ for the next lunar cycle, April’s new moon packs extra punch. Think, bursting life, fresh DNA uncoiling out of the seed coat as it erupts into the soil. Think, raw potential, kinetic energy, creative life force. This. Is. Your. Life.

Get ready for a seed idea to be revealed, or your life to take up a new course in the area of your birth chart that Aries lights up. It is bound to be noticeable! This New Moon in Aries is about: risk, courage, and the reward of experiencing something ENTIRELY new and unknown. 

EXPRESS YOUR “I AM” FACTOR 

At this New Moon-time, we are called – nay, make that provoked – to be even more authentically ourselves, and to make that self even more known to the Other, to the world. If we try to hang on the bench, cling to the sidelines, then we’re bound to feel stifled, to crumple, to cave in. This could cause resentment, irritability, and – in the deepest cases of entrenchment – even illness.

And if we have this fore-knowledge, we can use it. That’s the gift of astrology. So, where are you holding back? Where are you playing it safe? Where are you afraid to ‘make yourself known’ to the world?

Like a true nature's child
We were born, born to be wild
We can climb so high
I never wanna die

This is important. We can pay attention to the temptation to lull for years at a stretch, to chunks of time where we may be trying to rest on our laurels, chilling out, cruising through life comfortably. But if we listen closely, we realize something is nagging. Something is pricking. We can’t sleep at night. We know we have more to offer, we know there's more to learn, to develop, to bring to the surface. This is indeed that Aries seed, poking through the soil. Your calling. It’s time to burst forth and climb higher. Is this the moment to actualize your potential? You must, for it is Who You Are.

MAKE IT HAPPEN

The competitive, driven, and willful tone of “Just Do It!” Aries urges us to get going NOW on new projects. We are spurred to initiate fresh ventures and embark on journeys of great significance. Something new wants to burst forth in our life; most of us already know what that “Something” is, for it’s been rumbling under the surface for several months.

Sun and New Moon in impatient, achievement-oriented Aries are urging us to keep our eyes on the prize, to go for the mighty goal that makes us quiver in our boots.  Aries provides us a phenomenal amount of courage. Aries hates boredom and stagnation, turning to adventure, risk, and change to keep life perpetually interesting.

You know you need to make that move, take that leap, quit that job, start that project – and even if you’re spooked, you know the adrenalin rush will carry you through. If you have doubts because facing the unknown is just plain scary, take comfort in one of my favorite quotes from William Hutchison Murray (oft attributed to Goethe): 

“What you can do, or dream you can, begin it,
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.”

That’s the way! So tap into your courage reserves, inhale a big breath of life-giving oxygen, and start climbing, steady as she goes. At this New Moon in Aries, bolstered by the raw energy of your wild man or woman spirit, you really can move those mountains.
 

Yeah Darlin' go make it happen
Take the world in a love embrace
Fire all of your guns at once
And explode into space

Go make it happen!

Erin Reese is an author, spiritual guide, astrologer, and modern psychic reader based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She works with clients all over the world. For readings and spiritual counseling by Skype, phone or email, contact her directly. She can be reached at erin@erinreese.com.

New Moon in Aries: Self-Actualization

This Thursday, April 7, we have a New Moon in the cardinal fire sign of Aries, the Ram. Aries is the first sign of the zodiac, the supersonic seed that bursts through the ground, proclaiming new life. While all new moons are ‘seed planting times’ for the next lunar cycle, April’s new moon packs extra punch. The Sun and Moon are dancing closely with Uranus, also in Aries. Uranus is the great waker-upper, the individuator, the one who does not play by the rules. This energy can feel like très shaky ground if we are too stuck in our ways; yet, if we willingly heed the call of initiative this month, it will be a lot less disruptive.

A forthright Aries friend (and yes, I know “forthright Aries” is redundant) who is also an astrologer reminds me that Aries is holding that “A” for pure Authenticity. Aries’ motto is “I AM,” and is here to exist in all its potential and fullness of expression. Nothing is subtle for the fiery Ram; what’s done is done to the hilt, and with effectivity and potency.

At this New Moon-time, we are called – nay, make that provoked – to be even more authentically ourselves, and to make that self even more known to the Other, to the world. If we try to hang on the bench, cling to the sidelines, then we’re bound to feel stifled, to crumple, to cave in. This could cause resentment, irritability, and – in the deepest cases of entrenchment – even illness.

And if we have this fore-knowledge, we can use it. That’s the gift of astrology. So, where are you holding back? Where are you playing it safe? Where are you afraid to ‘make yourself known’ to the world? Helpfully, this New Moon is also nicely trine to Saturn, the workhorse of the zodiac, in fellow fire sign Sagittarius. With Saturn’s practical support, we are assisted in bringing our purposefulness to earth with a useful, grounded sense of meaning. Those passions are planted in reality; they are important, even necessary for Existence. Your energy, vitality, voice, and contribution matter.

Self-Actualization and the Hierarchy of Needs

If you plan on being anything less than you are capable of being,

you will probably be unhappy all the days of your life.

~ Abraham Maslow

Most of us are familiar with Abraham Maslow’s psychological Hierarchy of Needs, first presented in his 1943 paper entitled “A Theory of Motivation.” While this model has been around for a long time, I find it truly meaningful, and beautiful in its simplicity, clarity, and potency – a lot like Aries. In fact, as I type these words, I have an intuitive hunch that Abraham Maslow is an Aries – for his model is energetically Aries, with a pyramid shaped like an apex arrow pointed straight up, like the glyph of Mars, planetary ruler of the Ram. So I check and boom! Wikipedia reveals he is born on April 1, 1908 – a happy, wise April Fool indeed.

You’ll notice at the top of the Needs pyramid, the mountain peak, we find “self-actualization.” Once the basic human needs (physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem) have been fulfilled, we are left with expression of the highest: creativity, spiritual enlightenment, quest for knowledge, and the desire to give back to society, to serve.

It is at this point that things that may seem like a luxury to some, become a necessity to others who have the potential, the resources, the gifts. For example, for an impoverished family in the Sudan, it would seem unreasonable to expect that such a person could have the time or energy to explore philosophical questions or desire deepened states of meditation and spiritual development. They are far too busy getting food on their table. However, if you take a well-fed, well-educated individual from the U.S., who has sufficiently fulfilled all of the other aspects of the pyramid, they are only going to be antsy if they don’t strive for a higher realm of expression. It becomes not a luxury, but a necessity – even a responsibility to self – to give back to society, to attain higher heights, to self-actualize.

This is important. We can pay attention to the temptation to lull for years at a stretch, to chunks of time where we may be trying to rest on our laurels, chilling out, cruising through life comfortably. But if we listen closely, we realize something is nagging. Something is pricking. We can’t sleep at night. We know we have more to offer, we know there's more to learn, to develop, to bring to the surface. This is indeed that Aries seed, poking through the soil. Your calling. It’s nigh time, once again, to burst forth and climb higher. Is this the moment to actualize your potential? You must, for it is Who You Are.

Erin Reese is an author, spiritual guide, astrologer, and modern psychic reader based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She works with clients all over the world. For readings and spiritual counseling by Skype, phone or email, contact her directly. She can be reached at erin@erinreese.com.