The Moon will begin a new phase with the Sun at 4:50 am on Friday, April 17, at 27° 28′ Aries.
This lunation, at the tail end of the sign of Aries, comes amidst an unusual stellium—a cluster of planets in Aries between April 15 and 19. Neptune, Mercury, Mars, Saturn, and asteroids Chiron and Eris will all be in Aries.
This is the sign of cardinal, or forward moving, fire. The Aries glyph looks like the horns of a ram. Aries is the first of the zodiacal signs, ready to burst onto the scene. Aries is like the moment of birth when it is every creature’s first instinct just to survive.
An ideal time to set monthly intentions arrives shortly after the Moon is new and a tiny sliver of crescent light appears in the sky. Especially with an Aries New Moon, the imperative is to “just do it,” though the specifics of what to do may not be so obvious. Aries is a style of action and reaction that doesn’t necessarily involve much forethought. Signs in the cardinal mode are strong on initiating projects, but not always consistent with follow-through.
Aries’ style is fierce, independent, courageous, confident, with plenty of physical stamina. Aries can also be blunt, impatient, aggressive, and violent. Aries is the sign of the Warrior, after all. Its ruling planet is red hot Mars. On April 19, Mars will conjoin Saturn in Aries; Saturn may limit some of the Aries intensity in the collective atmosphere, though not likely by much. On April 20, Mercury (speech and thought) will conjoin both Mars and Saturn; this will be a time to temper what one says.
At the New Moon of April 17, the Sun and Moon will be just past a conjunction with Chiron, the asteroid named for the Greek god known as a “wounded healer.” Chiron in astrology correlates with sensitivity to suffering and the inner wounds one struggles to resolve.
The pile-up of planets in Aries in the days leading up to and following this New Moon speaks to a need for caution. Astrologers online are warning of possible escalations in wars now raging. Some predict more outrage from the powers that be inside the Trump regime—not hard to fathom—up to and including a fall from the throne. Prediction is tricky business that often involves blind spots and wishful thinking. Any stellium brings “too much” of a single sign’s energy, and with all planets now moving in direct motion—no retrogrades—nothing is held back.
The volatility reflected in the Aries stellium is accompanied by another potentially ominous transit. Uranus, the force of shock-and-awe, is at the end of its seven-year passage through the sign of Taurus. Uranus is at the last, “anaretic,” 29th degree of Taurus. When a planet arrives at this last degree, it’s as if the planetary force has a final chance to manifest in a particular way. We don’t know how or if the world will be rocked, or whether Uranus’ coming ingress into the tricky air sign of Gemini (on April 25) will bode any better for humanity.
There is one stabilizing force at this time, the planet Venus’ current passage through Taurus, the fixed earth sign that Venus rules. Venus in Taurus speaks to a collective desire for calm, and a gentle invitation, amidst the fires of Aries, to slow down, sit still, and pray for peace.
Blessings for 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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