Blog art from the Zodiac Series by Anne-Sophie of aetherealmoods.com
On March 17th, 2018, we are offered a new moon in late Pisces near wounded healer Chiron and in the same sign as dreamy Neptune. Slow-moving, faithful Jupiter floods the new moon with Scorpionic intensity, emphasizing our capacity for intimate exchange as well as necessary severance. Potent Pluto deepens our willingness to surrender to the deep-healing dynamics at play. Overwhelmingly so, this new moon seed contains themes of faith, wisdom, healing, compassion, surrender, and self-acceptance.
Venus and Mercury are dancing together in mid-Aries, preparing to become visible in the night-sky after sunset, while inspiring our hearts and minds with feelings and thoughts of sweet, sap-rising springtime. However, the wide-eyed and pioneering creative expression of Mercury and Venus is besieged by fear, obstacle, and obsession, as this planetary pair moves away from a square to Saturn and toward a square with Pluto. Flickering ideas and values are threatened by mountains of rock and mud of the past, of the established ways, yet their power grows and surges as the obstacles become stronger.
Some sense arises inside of us that art and self-expression matters. Giving shape, texture, and voice to the tender tendrils of new spring growth matters. Perhaps our words, even when slowly and fearfully spoken, light something provocative and large. Perhaps our unique vision and goal seemed so important at time not so far away, but now we are challenged in some way to release our tight hold in order to slip more sweetly into the oceanic oneness. Some element of sacrifice is requested of us now – both the late degrees of Sagittarius and the sign of Pisces speak to this theme. Can we become too intoxicated with the theme of giving something up or away? Do we surrender with an expectation, or do we let go when we become so challenged and heavy that there is literally no other option?
Mars lingers at the final, anaretic degree of Sagittarius, sending a sacrificial square to the new moon seed, threatening our dreamy ideal of perfect wholeness with a rather extreme commitment to going all the way. A last ditch, heroic battle rages inside of us but our eyes are switching to a new target. Our intentions to heal are threatened and inflamed by our desire to go to the extreme…perhaps that means we are tempted to throw our body-mind-souls toward something that is already fading into the past. Perhaps we need to soften into the wise waters of Pisces for some much needed regeneration before we can push ourselves onward.
If we can align our intent to heal with our passion for uniting our capacities toward a singular vision, we may be able to make the most of this rather martyr-heavy, spiritualizing influence.
Interestingly, this is the first of three new moons of 2018 that feature an anaretic Mars. That, together with Mars reaching the culmination of his 2-year cycle during his retrograde phase (June 26th – August 27th), which occurs when he reaches his greatest distance from the Sun, closest distance to the earth, and appears most large and bright in our skies, indicates to me that something special is going on with our masculine essence.
The male inside each of us is being tested, our passions are maturing toward a higher focus and collective mission.
Mars signifies passion, desire, defense, and protection. If Mars were a hormone, he would be testosterone, as he gathers up our vital energies in service of our reproductive goals or bodily integrity, but always with a cost. While Mars increases muscular strength in a budding male adolescent, he also offers up acne and immune-suppression. Mars’ tendency toward defense and destruction arise from his extreme nature of heat and dryness – he forces separation between two entities.
Yet sometimes destruction is essential. Think of the wet tiny chick emerging from a cracked egg. Think of the adrenalin that floods a fetus’ body, triggering a cascade of events in his mother's body that end up with the infant pulsing their through a narrow birth canal into a new life.
If the chick or infant were to remain in their warm, wet, and cozy homes, surely they would die.
Up to the present, the wombspace was the singular source of life and nourishment. Yet a womb can become a tomb from one moment to the next, and timing is everything.
Mars offers us that focused and speedy response to the threats and demands and changes of our environment. As he pauses in the 29th degree of Sagittarius during this new moon, and in the 29th degree of Capricorn during the May (before his retrograde) and the September (after his retrograde) new moons, we have this offering of time to enact fear and decisiveness that serves life. We can honour our defensive – and at times – destructive impulses, and leave our wombs, whatever they might be, before they become tombs.