Choosing to View The World in a New Way: Full Moon in Aries
The Moon is one of the most potent and visible symbols in the sky. Its path over any given month mirrors our own experience. Like the Moon we, our lives, are constantly evolving, never the same from one moment to the next. We ebb, we flow.
Full Moon’s are full of magic and mystery, lighting up the sky they can reveal what is normally hidden. They illuminate our inner world and are an opportunity to kindle and awareness that can light our path forward. We can use them to show us what we need to embrace, what we need to release and in what direction to take that much needed next step.
I can trace the Moon’s path in my own chart, clarifying why I am so profoundly tugged by these particular tides in this particular moment. As I turn my gaze inward I am filled with a sense of coming home to myself and immensely grateful for the reunion of places within that I had unwittingly neglected over time in the busyness of life.
One of the names of this Full Moon is Hunter Moon…I wonder what are you hunting for?
Overall this is a sweet Full Moon that provides an opportunity for healing as we move forward. The Sun is in Libra right next to Venus in opposite the Moon with (conjunct) Chiron in Aries.
What is Chiron’s role in this?
Chiron is nicknamed the wounded healer but we tend to forget that his primary function in myth was as a teacher and healer. Chiron was the maker of heroes; Achilles, Hercules, Jason of the Argonauts, all apprenticed themselves to him. Yes, he trained them as warriors but also taught them healing, alchemy, astrology and astronomy. And yes, Chiron was wounded but by a poison of his own making. How often have we unwittingly repeatedly stymied our lives with a poison of our own making? The wound is but an incident in the Chiron story, a plot device to get us to the final pages. If we’ve learn anything from Chiron, we learn that the wound is actually the key to the end of our earthly suffering.
What Chiron asks us to do is to take a step outward, outside of the perspective of the ego, and see what it is the soul is asking of us.
This Full Moon is in Aries, the sign that actually rules heroes. This fiery Moon invites us to open our hearts, move past our wounds and use its light to illuminate our soul’s purpose. Aries as a sign is connected with questing. The need to find purpose. Finding our path takes commitment, motivation, and courage but it isn’t a direct path. As J.R.R. Toilken said in The Lord of the Rings “Not all who wander are lost.”
The word courage is often associated with Aries. This is another word whose origins I love:
Coming from the heart about sums it up. Something that is ostensibly easy but in truth we must apprentice ourselves to this process over and over again. It mirrors the Aries/Libra polarity; the balance between ourselves and others is also an ever evolving dance. It where we once again get to apprentice ourselves while asking how do we balance our needs with those of others? How do we develop a beautiful relationship with ourselves?
Today, Saturday, October 8, the day before the Full Moon, Lord of the Underworld Pluto turns direct having been retrograde since April 29. In evolutionary astrology Pluto is connected with the deepest needs of our soul, yet another indicator that it is time to take steps forward on our journey, to move past our shadowed self our interior “monsters under the bed” that actually disappear when we turn on the light. The growth and transformation our hearts and souls are yearning for requires a shedding of the past and a resurrection of ourselves as we lean into change. We must release what no longer serves us. This Full Moon illuminates the areas of our lives where we need to encourage ourselves, where it would behoove us to direct our attention and step into the light.
This the last Moon before we officially are in eclipse season - both the next New and Full Moons take place during an eclipse. More about those to follow.
Meditation for the Full Moon in Aries
Allow yourself to settle in a comfortable space. Place your feet firmly on the ground. Close your eyes and become aware of your breath. Just direct your attention to how it moves in and out of your body. Notice that this simple act begins to slow your mind. Take a moment to observe how your breath essentially connects your inner and outer world. Allow yourself to relax, to surrender to the moment, as you become aware of this connection. Follow your breath for a few minutes until you begin to feel a release, a sense of settling. From this place imagine this fiery Full Moon filling your heart with its light. Feel it warmth, its vibrant energy. Envision this vibrance expanding out into your aura surrounding you with a protective light. This is the energy of Aries the hero. The one who protects. Allow yourself to bask in this energy, to become one with this primal force that connects your inner and outer worlds. Become aware of your feet on the ground. Feel this light grounding you, connecting you with the center, the heart, of the earth itself. Feel her support and nourishment. From this sense of safety and support go back into the center of your heart and ask yourself what does my soul desire? Contemplate this for a few moments allowing what ever needs to arise without judgement. Breathe deeply in and ask yourself what do I need to release? Again contemplate this for a few moments allowing what needs to be brought into consciousness to arise. Focus once again on your breathing, breathing deeply in and out bring your awareness to your connection to the all. And when you are ready open your eyes looking upon the world anew.
