Strike a match. Pfft. There is that moment of ignition, the spark. It worked. Now there’s fire. What we will do now with thist pinch of fire between our fingers? It’s up in the air. Light a candle? Blow it out? Nothing but the spark has happened yet. But it will.
That’s Aries. Fire and action.
On April 11 at 7:30 p.m. on the West Coast (10:30 ET), we will have a New Moon in Aries. The Aries New Moon is the first New Moon following the March equinox. It’s in the first sign of the zodiac. Spring is really here.
This union of the Sun and Moon comes amidst a large stellium, or cluster, of planetary bodies all in Aries. Centaur Chiron, Mercury, Venus, asteroid Ceres, dwarf planet Eris, are all in Aries, meaning that for whichever part of your natal chart houses Aries, the topics and experiences related to that house will be lit up.
Aries energy is like an infant’s first breath, like a bean sprout popping up from the soil. It’s the will to live, to survive, as an individual. It is pure potential. As with all New Moon moments, it’s time to plant our intentions. We want to start something. We may feel driven, even competitive with others.
We also may feel frustration and tension, as individuals and within society. That’s because this New Moon at 22 degrees of Aries is making an applying square aspect to Pluto at 26 degrees of Capricorn. On April 11, relational Venus will already be in a tight square with Pluto, perhaps drawing our attention to relational conflicts or the things we really dislike about ourselves and others. In quick succession, all the other Aries planets and planetoids will, in mid-April, also make squares to Pluto in Capricorn.
A square is an approximately 90-degree angle. It’s like two planes of reality coming at each other, getting in each other’s way. Something must be adjusted. In this case, the Moon square to Pluto may have us feeling ultra-sensitive about power dynamics and external authority. Aries is impatient. We might want to hit the gas pedal or yell at someone or something: “Get out of my way!” Collectively, there may be instances of Arian “rage against the machine,” with Pluto in Capricorn representing systems and institutions. With awareness, we can steer clear of the worst potentials while using fire as fuel.
As always, there is much more going on with the symphony in the sky.
For one thing, at the New Moon, Mars is in Gemini, making a nice, harmonious trine aspect with Jupiter in Aquarius. Trines are 120-degree angles between planets moving through signs of the same element, in this case, air. Mars in Gemini suggests bright new ideas, coming on fast, while Jupiter in Aquarius may represent an expansion of a high moral agenda for the benefit of all. It’s a time to be social, a welcome relief for everyone who has felt as if we’ve been “locked down” for months. All that Aries energy at this New Moon says: go, go, go. Mars and Jupiter, in trine, is uplifting, like a breeze above the fire.
Later in the month, with the Full Moon coming on April 26 on the West Coast, a sense of seriousness may abide, as by then the sky will be dominated by planets and the Sun and Moon in fixed signs. We will no longer be feeling the initiatory flame of Aries. By April 19, the Sun will have moved into fixed earth Taurus, meaning that the Full Moon, in Taurus’ opposite sign, will be in fixed water sign Scorpio. To boot, the Sun will be approaching a conjunction with wild-card Uranus which inhabits Taurus until mid-2025. At the full Moon, the faster moving Venus and Mercury will also be passing through the middle degrees of Taurus.
That’s an abundance of solid earth. It might feel like our feet are stuck in mud. Taurus, symbolized by a circle with a little crescent moon on top, looking like a bull’s head, gets a rap about being stubborn, but the fixed signs are also about staying in one place long enough to actually get things done. With the cardinal signs, starting with Aries, we initiate action. With the fixed signs that come next, we hunker down and plow through; followed by the mutable signs that jostle us to change.
At the Full Moon of April 26, in square to both the Sun and Moon will be reliable old Saturn in Aquarius. With the Sun and Moon opposed and each squaring Saturn, that’s called a T-square. It’s an aspect of tension. But with Saturn, there’s also the idea of the wisdom of boundaries, a kind of course correction after the galloping fire of so many planets at once in Aries mid-month. Saturn will be in a square aspect with Uranus all of this year, prompting us to consider what we want to change (Uranus) and what we want to keep from the past (Saturn).
Whatever ideas or projects we plant on April 11/12 or within the few days afterward, there will be so much fiery energy at our disposal, that with a measure of luck and nurture, we’ve got good prospects for success. The Aries New Moon heralds everything we love about spring.
Blessings on the Aries New Moon!
Sara
Sara R. Diamond, an astrologer based in the San Francisco Bay Area, is a life-long student and practitioner in several esoteric paths. Her style of astrology combines modern-psychological astrology with insights from traditional astrology. Sara is also an estate planning attorney. In addition, she has published four books on right-wing movements in the United States and earned her Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. You are invited to contact Sara via her website at www.SaraDiamondAstrology.com.
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