Happy Full Moon in Aries! This Full Moon at approximately 16 ½ degrees of Aries becomes exact at 4:54PM New York time (20:54 GMT), today, on Sunday, October 9.
In contrast to airy, passive, harmony-seeking Libra—the sign in which the sun remains—the moon now becomes illuminated in fiery, assertive and passionate Aries, which isn't afraid to ruffle feathers. Aries is represented by the ram, an animal so full of force and energy that it will fight other rams to the death just for the right to mate with a ewe.
Aries is the first sign of the Zodiac, and the ruler of the First House--the House of Self. This house is associated with the Rising Sign (your Rising Sign is the cusp of your First House) and is in charge of our personality and appearance—how we appear and present ourself to the world. It also is in charge of your early childhood, where your perceptions of the world are formed, and of your potential.
Mars, the ruler of Aries, is in its pre-Retrograde Shadow Phase. It makes several aspects in this Full Moon chart by the way, including sextiling the moon; trining the sun and Saturn; and squaring Neptune (more on these later).
In Tropical Astrology, which I follow and discuss in these articles, 0 degrees of Aries happens annually on the Vernal (Spring) Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. This keeps the Zodiac Wheel aligned precisely to the seasons.
In the tarot, Aries is best represented by the Ace of Wands. Aries is the starter energy. It is the essence of the yang, or Divine Masculine energy.
It is the force required to get things moving, to create things. It also carries a huge amount of potential, because it is such a powerful force, ready to be directed in whatever direction the co-creator chooses (to be a co-creator is essentially the understanding and acknowledgment that we have the right and the power to create through the will, however that there are always unseen Universal forces that will play a role in determining outcomes of our manifestations).
Aries is one of the four cardinal signs of the Zodiac, as it heralds the start of a season (the others being Cancer, for summer; Libra, for autumn; and Capricorn, for winter).
According to Wikipedia, “In Greek Mythology, the symbol of the ram is based on the Chrysomallus, the flying ram that rescued Phrixus and Helle, the children of the Boeotian king Athamas and provided the Golden Fleece.”
The numerology of Aries is of course the number 1—the starter energy. The 1 is necessary to create the 2 through 9.
Since Mars rules over the physical body and sport, we will be feeling called to move our bodies around and in the 28 days following this Full Moon! Get out there and exercise—it’s good for body, mind and soul! With Mars trining the sun and Saturn and sextiling the moon, any new workout routines will likely contribute greatly to your long-term health!
As the calendar has turned to October, the nation has turned its sporting eyes to the Major League Baseball playoffs; the intensity of the baseball postseason, with the sellout crowds standing on their feet cheering every 2-strike count, is a great exemplification of the Aries energies!
Aries is in charge of the emotions of passion and anger. Passion and anger are really different expressions of the same type of energy. So, around this Aries Full Moon and during the 28 days that follow, it’s the time to get excited and inspired about where you’re going in life! My private sessions with clients in the days around this Full Moon have been full of passion and inspiration.
It’s just as important to restrain yourself and refrain from expressing anger inappropriately around this time. This is a time of year when people will be grumpier and angrier than usual. Fights and disputes will start at the drop of a hat.
Stay out of the way of angry people. Remove yourself from discussions and situations when people get angry. Don’t send that angry text or e-mail. Wait until your emotions calm down, then write it from a calm, logical state of mind. Drive carefully on the roads: go the speed limit.
Venus—in harmonious, balanced Libra--conjuncts the sun and opposes the Full Moon. So, we may be feeling called to seek out partnership during the 28 days that follow this Full Moon.
For those that are already in committed relationships, there will be a draw toward harmonizing and working together. This is a welcomed energy now that Mercury has gone back Direct (in Virgo) and is beginning to speed up. Mercury Retrograde has been a tumultuous time for many couples.
(By the way, Mercury will leave its Shadow Phase on October 16, making it a safe time to make big decisions, make big purchases, sign new contracts, etc.)
The Aries Full Moon in general makes people more concupiscent, but this energy is amplified manifold by the Pluto Station (more on that later) --so indulging in sensual experiences with your partner can be a great way to facilitate some post-Mercury Retrograde healing.
Mars squares the exalted, Retrograde Neptune (in its own home sign of Pisces), so on one hand this can be a great time to indulge in fantasies with your partner—but on the other hand, people may be more apt to be dishonest or hide things from each other.
As always with everything involving partnerships, open communication is the key to a harmonious, successful union. With Venus opposing the moon, couples could be triggered into intense arguments if they are not careful; though with the planet of love also of course conjuct the sun, those couples that communicate with one another honestly and effectively should be able to experience the continued harmony that Venus’s passage through Libra has to offer.
With Saturn sextiling the moon and trining the sun, there is an opportunity to experience greater stability in relationships. The rocky period can end—but again, this is all predicated on the quality, authenticity, and honesty in the communication between partners.
The moon is also joined in the sky by Chiron, a minor planet and comet that is known as the ‘Wounded Healer’. As it opposes Venus, this means that the opportunity is ripe for childhood wounds to be worked through within the envelope of a romantic relationship. Throughout Chiron’s 9-year-plus transit through Aries, the focus is especially on healing childhood wounds around the father/masculine aspect.
One major feature of this Full Moon chart is that Pluto has finally ended its 5-month-plus Retrograde phase. It stations Direct in Capricorn on this Full Moon, meaning it is exalted. Pluto carries the qualities of deep transformation and inner work. It is ruled by Scorpio--the sign that rules over death, rebirth, and transformation.
When Pluto is exalted, it is a time to look within and do deep inner work—especially working with childhood traumas. It is also a time to renegotiate imbalanced power dynamics in relationships—though this same energy could also cause people to abuse their power (more on that later), so it is two sides of a coin.
As Capricorn (ruled by Saturn) is the sign that rules over self-responsibility, it is important at this time to let go of all illusions of victimhood. Victimhood truly is an illusion because we are all powerful co-creators living in a holographic reality that only seems to be solid via our perception of it.
It is time to set boundaries once and for all with those in your life that treat you unfairly. At this time, it’s probably best to simply state your boundaries and then remove yourself from the situation, as people are more likely now than ever to get angry or even violent. With Chiron joining the Full Moon in the sky, it may especially be a time to take back your power from those that express Shadow Masculine traits like control, manipulation and overagressiveness.
Just know that as the co-creator that you are, you absolutely have the power to free yourself from any situations or relationships that are keeping you trapped in any way. It often takes courage, confidence, and perseverance to do so—but the power is within you. This is the message I feel that the Pluto Station Direct in Capricorn is relaying to us.
If you are in a relationship, remember the old adage of ‘if you love something, set it free’.
This doesn’t mean you have to break up with your partner, but remember that being clingy, controlling, or manipulative will end up causing resentment in your partner. This is important to remember now, because the sun forms a quincunx/inconjunt to the Retrograde Uranus—making us both want to be seen/recognized/appreciated and feel free at the same time. So ask yourself—how can I make my partner feel recognized, and seen and heard, but also free? And how can I deal with the feelings of fear that might arise within me, if I gift my partner with this feeling of freedom?
Pluto going back into Direct motion wraps up a cycle that began with its Retrograde on April 25. Think back to what was going on in your life and where you were at in April. What cycles have wrapped up? What loops have come full-circle and closed? What deep healing has been accomplished?
Pluto is going to become more of a feature of astrological discourse in the last quarter of this year and the first quarter of 2023, because it is nearing the end of its journey through Capricorn, which began in 2008. I’ll dig more into the meaning of Pluto’s transition into Aquarius as that starts to come closer to becoming a reality in the coming months.
People who have their sun, Ascendant or Mars in Aries can tend to be ambitious and courageous. They tend to naturally and unapologetically go after what they want in life. They tend to embody the Divine Masculine traits of strength, discipline, courage and perseverance--though they need to watch out for falling into the trap of the Shadow Masculine traits.
In honor of the significant Martian influence on this Full Moon chart, let's dig into how one can incorporate the Divine Masculine traits into one’s life, and how one can utilize the archetype of the Spiritual Warrior on the Ascension path.
DIVINE MASCULINE TRAITS AND THE SPIRITUAL WARRIOR ARCHETYPE
Four of the most important Divine Masculine traits and virtues of the Spiritual Warrior archetype are strength, perseverance, courage and discipline.
Strength is one of the most important Divine Masculine traits. Physical strength is important to develop, yes, but so is mental strength. Mental strength is often what separates those that rise to the top of a certain field, art, or sport from those that never arrive at an elite level of performance.
The subconscious mind holds the key in determining what manifests in our life, what our experience is of what manifests in our life, and how we handle our emotions. Since the subconscious mind is created from our experience of life between the ages of 0 and 7, it largely is created out of a reflection of the way our parents (or those who raised us) perceived life, interpreted life, and handled their emotions.
If your parents (or caregivers) were optimists, then your natural set point will be optimism. If they were pessimists, then your natural set point will be more pessimistic. If your parents (or caregivers) were very emotionally intelligent people--meaning they were comfortable with all emotions but were able to have control over their emotional state the vast majority of the time--then that's going to be natural for you as well. Unfortunately, most people didn't have parents that expressed a very high level of emotional intelligence.
So for most of us, mental strength and emotional intelligence have to be developed later in life. We need to read books, listen to podcasts, watch YouTube videos, and work with healers and therapists in order to overcome the negative patterns of our parents or caregivers.
It takes a lot of practice. We have to significantly change the ways that we talk about ourselves—and life in general. We have to find tactics that work in helping us to overcome emotional triggers and to pull ourselves out of fear, depression, jealousy, anger, etc.
Having a set of daily affirmations is a great way to accelerate your improvement in these areas. Also, you can make great strides forward simply by not continuing to engage in some of the mentally weak or emotionally immature patterns and tendencies of the past.
Put some reminders up around your home and office. When you find yourself going into an old negative pattern, say “STOP” out loud. Interrupt the pattern, then consciously change your state. Find something to laugh at, or force yourself to smile. The act of smiling signals to your brain that it's time to produce a different cocktail of chemicals and to raise your emotional state!
The words you speak out loud are more important than you might think. Everything you speak out loud gets recognized by your subconscious mind. Every word and phrase either reinforces old patterns or moves you in the direction of creating new ones.
I would encourage you to check out my Change Your Reality by Changing Your Words Mastery Empowerment Course if you'd like to learn more about the importance of words and how to change your life by changing your speech. You can check it out here.
I know that all of this is easier said than done. But in an ironic twist, mental strength is what separates those that can overcome their bad subconscious patterns and greatly improve their lives from those that can't. (And in an ironic but refreshing twist, you get to decide whether you're going to be mentally strong or not.You have complete Free Will!)
Some of us on this Ascension journey have gone through multiple tribulations in this lifetime alone where we had to gather all of our inner strength simply to survive. Even if you haven't had extreme difficulties like that, everyone can think of an instance where they had to be strong just to make it through. When creating a Life Plan, the soul always includes situations in which the character incarnated will need to access their inner strength in order to proceed through the intended lesson.
Some souls have created more situations requiring this than others. If you feel like your soul has created a lot of difficult situations for you to go through, know that it is because your soul believed you would survive each and learn valuable lessons in doing so.
You are meant to make it through all of your tough times. If you're still reading this right now, then it's not your exit point. You're meant to stay here and persevere through whatever difficulties you are facing. Your soul is not trying to destroy you; it's just challenging you in an extreme way in order to help the very best version of yourself—which may be lying in a cocoon—to emerge.
The past three years has been very challenging for nearly everyone on the planet. A deadly disease has ravished the globe. Many have lost loved ones or had long-term negative health effects. The world stands on the brink of a potential nuclear World War III. People have become more divided than ever over politics. It's hard to know who and what information out there can be trusted. Many nations are facing inflation, economic declines, and food shortages, including here in the United States.
This intensely difficult period of time on our planet is the perfect opportunity for us to bring out the archetype of the Spiritual Warrior. The Spiritual Warrior encounters obstacles and difficulties in their path but has the strength and resolve to move through the obstacles—rather than let the obstacles topple them.
Perseverance is also required in these difficult situations. Anyone that has achieved anything great in their lives has had to persevere through obstacles and setbacks. To persevere even when nothing seems to be going the way you want it to requires mental strength. Even when you want to give up on your dreams, you're strong enough to interrupt those thoughts that want to pull you down into the muck, and you keep on charging ahead toward what you want to create.
The Universe will probably give you many chances throughout your life to embody the Spiritual Warrior archetype. Some will inevitably face more difficulties than others. This has to do with the specific karma that you bring into this life from other lifetimes.
When times are good in your life, enjoy them to the fullest. When times are tough, it's a wonderful opportunity to bring out the Spiritual Warrior within.
Here are some questions to consider when pondering the role of strength and perseverance in your life. Please journal on these if you think it might be helpful:
- What are some of the negative patterns (that probably came from childhood) that I know I need to kick?
- Where did I pick up these patterns? Am I modeling the way that my parents (or caregivers) acted when I was young (or maybe they still act this way)?
- Are there some situations in my life currently where I intuitively feel like I should persevere through the obstacles and frustrations?
- In what situations in my past or present have I embodied the Spiritual Warrior?
- What sort of strong qualities did I express (or am expressing now) in those situations?
- What specific situations come up often in my life where I could express more of the strength of the Spiritual Warrior?
- Do I feel strong in my physical body? If not, could I work on increasing my physical strength just a bit?
- Do I tend to give up too easily? Am I easily dissuaded?
- What would ten percent more strength in my life look like? What would it feel like?
- What would ten percent more perseverance in my life look like? What would it feel like?
Aries the Ram also illustrates the Divine Masculine trait of courage. Think of one of your favorite movies. The movie you're thinking of most likely had a hero (perhaps it was the protagonist themself). The hero always must embody courage at certain points in their journey. And to be courageous usually requires taking risks.
We all can think of situations in our life where we took a risk and it paid off. Perhaps you followed a hunch and found yourself rewarded--or perhaps you said 'screw it' and did something fun that was a bit risky. Maybe you decided to take a job in another state and you ended up meeting your future partner. In these situations, you accessed the inner courage and you took a leap of faith.
Oftentimes, a soul will write into the Life Plan one or several 'big' situations where courage is one of the intended lessons to be learned. You might be presented with a big opportunity, however perhaps it might require moving out of your comfort zone. If you take the risk, it might mean you pass that particular lesson (not that it will likely or necessarily be your last lesson in courage)--while if you decide to play it safe it likely means you'll get another opportunity to show off your inner courage down the line.
Ever get that feeling that you should just take a leap of faith and go for it? Those are the exact instances where you will find inner courage paying off handsomely. Imagine harnessing that strong Aries energy—with its unlimited potential—and utilizing it to take that leap of faith, like the alchemist in The Magician card in the tarot harnessing the Universal energy with his crystal wand pointed to the sky.
Another aspect of the courage of the Spiritual Warrior is a willingness to show one's true self/personality to the world. So many of us are afraid to show ourselves out of fear of judgment or ridicule. So many of us go along with how others believe we should live our lives. These fears can root from feeling judged or ridiculed by one's parents or caregivers--as well as being ridiculed or ostracized in primary school or high school.
Opening the throat chakra fully and expressing who-you-really-feel-you-are to the world is an important aspect of the Ascension path. The world needs you to show up as the real you! And this of course requires courage.
Here are some questions to consider when pondering the role of courage in your life:
- What situations can I recall where I acted on the courage of the Spiritual Warrior within me?
- How did it feel to act on that courage?
- Do I have access to this courage any time I want to?
- Is there a situation in my life right now where I feel the Universe is asking for me to take a courageous risk or leap of faith?
- How could taking more risks lead to a greater sense of fulfillment in my life?
- How could I present myself more authentically and courageously to the world?
- What would ten percent more courage in my life look like? What would it feel like?
Another crucial Divine Masculine trait is discipline. It requires mental strength to have discipline over oneself, but it also requires a passion for life--a passion to make the best of your limited time in the specific physical container you have chosen for this lifetime. This passion also falls under the realm of Aries.
The starter energy that Aries holds—that unlimited potential—desires to express itself passionately. The more passionately it is expressed, the more smoothly the manifestations you're desiring to create can become reality.
If you want to get really good at anything in your life, it requires discipline. Whatever your chosen art or creative expression is—whether it's painting, cooking, psychic work, yoga, or whatever else—it requires repeated practice to build competency and skill. Basic life skills require discipline as well to develop. If you want to become more relaxed and at peace, you need to incorporate daily meditation and/or visualization practices into your schedule.
When you dabble in something, you can only go so far. But when you spend time developing a skill or working on something every single day, you're going to become a master at it.
Prioritizing your schedule goes hand-in-hand with establishing discipline. Many people have their hands in too many jars at once, and because of this they don't progress as quickly in their career. You've got to be able to prioritize what is the most important thing in your life at any given time.
Having at least one or two daily rituals that support your health and well-being—physical and/or mental—sets the stage for you to be more productive and disciplined in the rest of your life, as well as to be happy and content.
Here are some questions to consider when pondering the role of discipline in your life:
- In what areas of my life do I struggle with discipline?
- In what ways do I tend to get sidetracked? What catches my attention that I probably should avoid?
- If I were to be more disciplined with my spiritual practices, what positive changes might I see in my life?
- What are two supportive practices that I know I should incorporate into my life on a daily basis?
- What would showing ten percent more discipline in my life look like? What would it feel like?
AN INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS TIME ON THE WORLD STAGE
Astrologically, we are in a very precarious time on the world stage. The Aries Full Moon and Pluto Station in and of themselves are potentially violent and explosive, but we also have Uranus (Retrograde in Taurus) and Saturn (Retrograde in Aquarius) coming the closest they have to squaring one another exactly since December. This particular series of Saturn-Uranus squares is bringing geopolitical and financial instability on the world stage; travel restrictions; as well as an increased risk of natural disasters (Jupiter in Aries enhances this risk even more).
This square became exact thrice in 2021, and is now has just over a half-degree of orb, so almost an exact square. These two influential planets won’t square again until 2043.
This is all the astrological backdrop of course to the War in Ukraine and the increasingly dangerous threat of Putin using nuclear weapons. If you don’t think that the world is standing on the brink of World War III—if you think it’s all just political theater, you’re living in illusion and denial. This was always the danger of Jupiter in Aries and the Saturn-Uranus squares. Remember, World War II began with Jupiter in Aries.
The Great Depression of 1929 coincided with a Saturn-Uranus square. The Black Friday stock market crash and the fall of the Berlin Wall coincided with a Saturn-Uranus conjunction. The Spanish Flu and the Russian Civil War coincided with a Saturn-Uranus opposition. So as you can see, Saturn and Uranus meeting in any sort of significant aspect seems to coincide with major issues on the world stage—including in Russia.
I really don’t know what’s going to happen. I believe that our benevolent extraterrestrial friends would step in and prevent a nuclear weapon being used in war, but how can we know for sure that that safeguard truly is in place?
UFO researcher Robert Hastings reported over a decade ago about over a hundred military personnel reporting having nuclear technology turned off or deactivated at the same time they spotted UFOs.
So I’m a believer. But it’s still ultra-concerning. It seems inevitable that there will be some sort of escalation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict soon—probably during the 28 days following this powder keg Full Moon chart.
All we can do as Lightworkers is to continue to pray and visualize peace, and ask our extraterrestrial friends to assist in de-escalation of the situation. And of course there are charities that support Ukrainian refugees that you can contribute to if you feel so called to.
It also does feel to me like there will be some major earthquake or volcano before the end of 2022, and that the stock markets will continue to head deeper into a bear market.
And just a reminder—that despite everything that’s going on in the outside world, you absolutely have all the power to create the Heaven-on-Earth reality that you desire! Make your home your bubble, your sanctuary of Light.
I’m just someone that enjoys analyzing what’s going on in the outside world—but remember to not get too emotionally caught up in it, especially in these most dire of times on the world stage. Focus on what you love and what brings you joy—and if you enjoy following along with politics and world events, as I do, then just don’t let it consume you or bring you down.
We have to continue to contribute vibrationally to what we want to manifest in this world—which is a Utopia of Love, Peace, Harmony, and Abundance. And that process begins with us Lightworkers manifesting that reality in our own little worlds.
Wishing you a passionate, courageous and vigorous Full Moon in Aries!
With Love,
Matthew John
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