Full Moon in Aries

Dear Friends

We have a full moon in the sign of Aries today (26 Sep, 5.50pm UK time). Coming just three days after the autumn equinox and the Sun’s ingress into Libra, this potent Aries Moon presents us with the challenge: how can I stay true to myself, while remaining open to relationship?

The Libra season draws us toward the other, toward the beauty of the world, toward the possibility of union, of peace, of harmony. At an Aries full moon though, we are confronted with a necessary and inevitable counter-force.

This is my Aries mantra: “I am here. I am now. Fully present as I am.”

The Courage to Be Ourselves

Aries calls us back to ourselves, to the recognition of our own distinct identity and the sovereignty of our individuality.

Today’s chart presents us with a paradox though, as the Moon is closely conjunct Neptune, so we must mindful not to idealise or romanticise that idea of our independent self, and overlook our inevitable inter-dependence with others. We don’t want to become the heroic martyr and tell ourselves stories like: ‘Well, obviously I have to meet the world as myself, and that’s all I can put my faith in, no matter the cost to my relationships.’

That doesn’t serve us, and it is something of a delusion.

The Art of Relationship: Holding the Tension

This Aries full moon illuminates the shadow of Libra, which is to overcompromise or over-accomodate the Other for sake of peace.

But avoidance of conflict does not constitute a true peace, whether we over-reach into Other, or draw everything back into ourselves. It is fragile because it avoids the truth that only a confrontation with the deeper tension within the soul can address.

And both are avoidance strategies - whether I make it all about us, or all about me.

The art of relationship is to hold the tension.

Who am I in my own right? What am I in relation to you? How is my image of myself affected when you reflect back to me your impression of who I am? And how do I recognise myself in the midst of this relationship encounter?

The real task of this full moon is to discover how I can show up in my full presence as myself, while staying related to You, open to reflection, open to how I am grown in the seedbed of unavoidable relationality.

Reclaiming Our Own Initiative

And yes, an Aries full moon reminds us that there are times when we must have the courage to stand alone, to say no, to back ourselves, to take back the initiative.

Sometimes putting ourselves first is precisely what is needed to restore balance within our relationships. There is a reason why the safety stewards on airplanes tell you that in case of cabin pressure loss, you must put your own oxygen mask on first before helping others with theirs!

Neptune: Moving Beyond the Image of the Separate Self

Neptune’s presence with the moon can actually soften the self-protective instincts of Aries, and paradoxically, it can bring about a realisation that the life we defend so fiercely, the life of ‘me myself and I’ is actually inseparable from the lives of others.

It can remind us that we are mystically connected in ways that undermine the distinctions of identity and individuality. It’s a complex picture.

The Aspects in Today’s Full Moon Chart

Not only do we have the presence of the Moon-Neptune conjunction in Aries in today’s full moon chart, the opposition between Sun and Moon actually forms a ‘kite aspect with the other planets.

This includes a grand air trine between Sun (in Libra), Uranus (in Gemini) & Pluto (in Aquarius), with the Moon and Neptune forming sextile aspects from Uranus and Pluto to make up the kite pattern. Because it contains so many harmonious aspects (trines and sextiles), a kite is full of creative possibilites and imaginative potential.

And I would say that the power of imagination is a key feature of this full moon energy.

Imagination: The Antidote to Idealism

Imagination has the power to temper idealism.

It allows us to perceive possibilities within the world as it appears to us in the here and now, and from there we can draw toward us possible futures that we have not yet learned to recognise.

Uranus offers the capacity to see ourselves and the world from a radically different perspective and the trine and sextile aspect to the Sun and Moon respectively can facilitate new pathways of understanding.

Pluto connects us to the depth of who we are, it unsettles us by casting shadows, revealing uncomfortable truth about the way we project our existential fears onto the world. Pluto also offers the possibility of profound transformation.

The Spiritual Work: Participation in the World as it Is

So the spiritual work here is to resist the temptation to abandon the world in pursuit of an ideal, and to allow our the depth of our knowing to transform the way we participate in the world as it is. We have Uranus pointing us upward and outward, reminding us of our origins in the starry heavens, awakening new perspectives, and stimulating new neural pathways in the mind.

We have Pluto drawing us inward and downward into the depths the soul, transforming the unconscious patterns of our collective life.

And we have Neptune dissolving our attachment to an established identity, and opening imagination towards a future that has not yet taken form.

And reverberating from this full Moon, the Libra sun keeps us engaged with the reality of relationship, while Aries gives us the courage to be ourselves and to come forth boldly with the “I Am” presence.

My Aries Mantra

Herein lies a natural extension of my Aries mantra:

“I am here. I am now. Fully present as I am.”

Under the energy of this full moon, we could develop this into:

I am here, not merely to defend who I have been, but to participate in who I am now and in what I am becoming.

Full moon blessings to all,

John

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