chris o'doherty; self portrait in full dress uniform
Aries New Moon
Self-FULL-ness
At 1:22pm EST on Tuesday March 21st we enjoy a New Moon of Aries at 0 degrees, hours after the Spring Equinox, and hours before Pluto moves to Aquarius for the next 20 years. Wow.
A typical 'cheerful spring' moment this is not.
Just look at the Geo-political scene... from North Korea's defensive posturing, to China's impending visit to Russia, to continued climactic and economic and social fracturing... things are HOT. And as Pluto moves into Aquarius Wednesday (square to the nodes for the next 8 months), followed by an out of bound Mars entering its emotionally defensive position in Cancer on the 26th, we shall see what we shall see.
kim jong un watches a missile launch with his daughter on March 19, 2023 in a photo distributed by north korean state media
I hope this Aries New Moon can stand as a simple reminder that we always have a choice as to where to put our WILL FORCE and our LIFE FORCE (both energies aptly descriptive of Aries nature). We can either plug it into our naval, defending our personal fears/needs/greeds and tribe... or we can point that WILLINGNESS to something higher in our self. Try the HEART. And the HIGHER MIND.
Aries is a selfish archetype by nature, because it represents the RIPPING of self out of the watery oneness of the Piscean Ocean of Consciousness and the THRUSTING of self into the physical incarnate form. Cast out of the womb, helpless and tender, Aries is the NEW SELF, ALONE. That's why Aries is so brave - it can't go back where it came from... it must step boldly forward. Action and Adventure and FIGHTING TO SURVIVE are its only choices!!
Or are they?
jason wearing the golden fleece; michele cortazzo
I'm beginning a 4 month Archetypal Awakening program tomorrow... so I have been pondering the Aries archetype all week. As part of the program, I recorded myself reading the myth of Jason and the Golden Fleece. In this myth, which many see as archetypally descriptive of Aries, the hero Jason, son of the King of a land called Thessaly, is 'cast out' of his father's kingdom when the King's brother steals the throne and imprisons him. Baby Jason is sent to be raised and trained by Chiron, the great hero-forging Centaur/Teacher. 'Cosmic conditioning' at its best. When he turns 20, Jason enthusiastically descends from Chiron's cave, sure that he will walk into Thessaly and take back his kingdom!
Turns out his Uncle is not quite as enthusiastic.
In an effort to get rid of Jason, uncle Pelias sends Jason on an impossible task, promising to relinquish the throne upon his success. To retrieve the Golden Fleece from King Aetes is the game, and Jason enthusiastically casts himself upon this adventure as well! Fortunate for Jason, he has plenty of cosmic support. And with Gods like Hera and Aphrodite on his side, it seems he is successful at his quest!! Blind faith, innocence and bold bravery, coupled with aligned higher forces, take Jason far. Yet in the end, he makes a complete botch of it.
A Heroic Tale turned Tragedy.
medea; performed by complete works theatre company, Melbourne
If you want, have a listen to this 38 min recording of the Myth, as written in the book 'Mythology: timeless tales of Gods and Heroes' by Edith Hamilton. You might be interested in how a famous mythologist tells the story. (Or perhaps in my amateur narration, normally reserved for my 9 year old and our bedtime adventures with Percy Jackson).
link to download audio file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/up19p84liplzwl2/Jason%20and%20the%20Golden%20Fleece%20Audio.m4a?dl=0
Once you listen, see what strikes YOU about this mythic tale of epic bravery, Aries style.
For me? I can't help but be struck with how Jason's selfishness, once charming, strong and brave, turns sour and dark.
And I draw comparison to the Archetype.
Aries natural impetuous 'selfishness' is at its best a sort of 'self-FULL-ness'... because the SELF that Aries is full of? It's Pisces, of course. Aries at its best is deeply connected to Source, to the Gods, to its cosmic origins in the 12th house... and thus it is able to receive information from its higher order family to guide its adventures. That is why, in Esoteric Astrology, Aries is said to be ruled by Mercury... because a Soul-embodied Aries is brave enough to receive messages straight from Source and INITIATE them onto the planet. Takes a brave soul to speak the higher truth.
Yet if at any time that self-FULL-ness turns inward, if Aries denies its cosmic origins and claims its special power as its own... well, that's an egoic mistake. An 'inversion' of self. A 'moving down the spiral' or 'choosing below the line' kind of thing. To believe one is impenetrable, impugnable and beyond reproach? Sounds like some leaders on the planet right now.
And one thing is certain: the Gods don't look kindly upon those who refuse to listen. I think if we keep acting like selfish buffoons, we are going to get what is coming, one way or the other. I just hope enough of us can 'choose' differently.
pandora; John William Waterhouse
So... may Tuesday's New Moon in Aries be our chance to make a strong declaration of
SELF-FULL-NESS
May we DECLARE to FIGHT for Unity Consciousness... treating each other as brothers and sisters, extensions of our selves and connected to each other and to life itself in loving awareness
May we CHOOSE to live above the line, moderating our selfish natures from a heart-centered place.
May we focus our WILL on RIGHT rather than might, allowing higher order thinking to precede small-minded defensiveness.
If more of us make these choices, if more of us take BRAVE ACTION toward awakening and living from that place 100% of the time, could we tip the collective scale???
Pluto in Aquarius will test our mettle to see.
So... Come on Heroes and Heroins - GO BIG OR GO HOME! Oh wait... We can't go home.
We're already there.
the evolution of the self; @idrawmypassion