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A New Leaf
Spirituality is seeded, germinates, sprouts, and blossoms in the mundane.
It is to be found and nurtured in the smallest of daily activities.
~ Thomas Moore
We’re finally here, after a long winter indeed: perched at the moment of New Beginnings on multiple fronts: the Spring Equinox not the least, on March 20, just a day before the New Moon at 0° Aries – Aries being the first sign in the zodiac wheel, the Beginner’s Mind newborn, ready to ‘spring’ into action. (The way we’ve already had to do with our clocks, two weekends ago, with the Spring Forward command! Amazing how hard it is to adjust to just one hour’s change.)
But change is certainly afoot. The days are finally warming, the light now stretching longer into the early evenings, and early leafing buds and blossoms starting to fill back in the stark winter lines of branches and stalks. No matter how we may feel inwardly (as I write, there’s still a strong Pisces energy in the sky), Spring presses on!
This is very much the nature of the Fiery Aries signature– pushing forward courageously into new ventures, not caring too terribly much about anything other than its mission of trail blazing its way into Being, of bringing energy and light to Life. Aries doesn’t much take to the introverted, sometimes dreamy, sometimes mopey domain that preceded it. Like most juxtaposed signs, newbie Aries is fashioned in sharp distinction to last-in-the-cycle Pisces. Rather than removing itself form personhood and connecting to other planes of existence, Aries – and Spring – passionately shouts, “Let’s start this thing!” (And that thing, and that thing, as Aries is wont to do…sometimes leaving a trail of unfinished inspirations in its wake.)
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Elemental Boost
The zodiacal wheel was originally developed by the Greeks to be in sync with the cycles of the seasonal changes on Earth. So at this point in time, we are poised at the beginning of the seasonal and astrological wheels, which brings along the blessing of healthy green things sprouting from the ground! And as a trained herbalist I can inform that some of these are great to ingest for spring cleansing of our livers, which may have gone sluggish during more sedentary, indulgent-inclined winter habit!
A young, curly-haired checker in a smart cap at my local Community Market recently commented on a product I was buying for inflammation, saying ,“Yeah, I have all kinds of chronic inflammation. But I’ve found the best thing is to chew on a bit of turmeric root. That, and drinking plenty of water, getting lots of sunshine, and walking with my bare feet on the ground.” A bit bad for business, I pointed out, but I was pleased to hear his well-founded advice! It got me thinking, as I then proceeded on a walk along our rain-soaked Laguna wetlands, that he was prescribing that I partake of the elements: fire (sun), water, and earth! (Air goes without saying if we’re out of doors.) Right up my Earth Sky alley!
His words helped me imbibe the nourishment of this rare sunny day between rains, and the sounds and sight of the trickling water pathways coursing through grasses and newly forged creeks. Thus filled with the dance of the elements, instinct then prompted me earth-wards, to search for edible spring greens to further fortify myself. I was rewarded with bitter but bracing Dandelion leaf, sweet Fennel, and warming Chickweed! 🙂 Years ago, I learned of the practice of eating these when travelling to a new country or region, so as to help get grounded upon arrival. Of course even in one’s own homeland eating your wild greens (also delish are Purslane and Miner’s Lettuce) is a great tonifying spring practice.
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Wounded Healer Emboldened
Two other astrological signatures upon us that bear this same Aries “start-up” energy are the Jupiter-Chiron conjunction in Aries, and the upcoming ingress of Pluto into Aquarius on March 23. The entry of Pluto into a new sign is the start of a larger transformative cycle affecting culture worldwide. Likewise, the conjunction of any two planets (regardless of the sign) signifies an Aries-type event, in that it begins a cycle, during which the faster planet will eventually cycle around the wheel until it once again meets the conjunction point with the slower planet (or asteroid, in the case of Chiron). It will take 13 years for Jupiter to cycle around and return to its next conjunction with Chiron.. ♈ With an Aries imprint flavoring this new cycle, we will be pioneering a new way of integrating the disparate energies of Chiron, known as the Wounded Healer, and Jupiter, the Teacher, who spreads its meaning-making messages with faith and optimism (‘it’s all good-ness’!), operating within the social/cultural sphere of life. In the flavor of Aries, there will be a marked passion about this endeavor, ranging from resentful fury to optimistic enthusiasm. Chiron energy initiates from a position of lack, signifying where we have felt invalidated or unrecognized by others, not good enough. It often implies a childhood wound, where we felt abandoned, and not nourished. This initial pain is something we may feel impelled to heal, depending on the prominence of Chiron in one’s chart. Often this healing can involve offering ourselves to others (in the realms described by both our natal Chiron imprint, and where it is transiting through our chart now), to serve or heal them, to give them what we never got—as, being wounded ourselves, we are deeply sensitive and compassionate in this area. In offering our special gifts in this way, we can also ultimately heal ourselves and grow in consciousness. Of course, as with all archetypal imprints, there is a potential downside here, which is that, if we are off center, Jupiter could expand and intensify our sense of helplessness, or bitterness for not being recognized or given a seat at the table. So we must be wary not to let those feelings take over. Applied with enough healthy detachment, if Chiron succeeds in its original intent, it offers the potential to evolve as healer of self and others. So, when we combine this with benevolent Jupiter’s tendency to expand and teach about what it touches, to want to integrate it into the social realms, there is the potential for a powerful union of (Chironian) depth and (Jupiterian) breadth (like Oregon’s magnificent Crater Lake, below), and of the lessons reaped from pain and meaning-making—not unlike the disparate juxtaposition of the Saturn in Pisces configuration I talked of in my Hunger Moon offering, in its containing of inner depths within outer structures. |
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Shambhala Warriors
As Saturn in Pisces asks that we in some way frame or ground our transcendent or interior knowings, Jupiter potentially assists the wounded one in us in emerging with boldness and faith, and asserting her Truth, (Jupiter being the fiery ruler of Sagittarius, whose quest is truth) to offer service to the collective, in whatever big or small way is ours to give. To quote astrologer Ang Stoic:
The dynamic Jupiter/Chiron conjunction in Aries offers a powerful opportunity for individuals to develop the skills to assert their insights more compassionately, becoming Shambhala warriors in their own right…Chiron’s influence reminds us that our own emotional pain, our shame and rejection can be transformed into moral courage, motivating us to take action in dismantling the dark weapons of the human mind that, as Pluto enters Aquarius, threaten the future of all beings.
Stoic’s reference to the “Shambhala warriors” reminds me of a powerful exposition by writer and Taurean earth activist Joanna Macy on the Shambhala Warrior Prophecy from 12 centuries ago. The prophecy is apt not just in respect to the Jupiter-Chiron conjunction, but also to the sign of rugged individual Aries (associated with the Ram), the signature of Tuesday’s New Moon. (Interesting, that Tuesday – Martes in Spanish—is so named from the root Mars-Day, another emphasis on the Mars-ruled Aries theme). Because, in its highest manifestation, Aries is the sacred warrior, acting intuitively and fearlessly to protect the Cosmic Order.
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Steam Heat: Some Water With Your Fire!
Next time I will write more on the impact of Pluto entering Aquarius, but here I want to linger in the watery realms, because the New Moon signature asks us to, with Neptune in Pisces being (loosely) conjunct this New Moon Aries conjunction, in an ‘out of sign’ aspect. This juxtaposition asks that the strong Pisces Neptune, in the sign it rules, be included in the program with the ingress into charismatic Fire, as we set intentions for the month ahead. This is further emphasized by having Saturn in Pisces for the next 2.5 years.
So as we look towards whatever the New may be calling us towards this spring, we’re asked to juggle the divergent energies of water and fire, of yin and yang: of our bold (Aries), expansive (Jupiter) and Just Do It! impulses (Aries); with our inward listening ear tuned to the energies of the unseen, yet intuitively felt. This means that despite the impatient Aries calls to action, we remember the discipline of keeping space in our lives for receptive, “unproductive time,” from which the creative life expression of Aries is birthed.
I was reminded, listening in last night on a discussion of mythologists and movie experts about Academy Award winners, that the way of the Feminine is to tell stories that are circular, not through linearity. (Hereby my disclaimer if my thoughts ramble and wander – hopefully in circles!) They were discussing Everything Everywhere All At Once, in particular, and citing its chaotic, rather unpolished, yet in its own way uniquely Feminine methods of bringing through a ‘story.’
They also cited the hero’s journey – which partakes of the Aries archetype – of the fearless one who sets out for a new land, as my ex-husband with no less than 4 planets in Aries did, having grown up in Communist Russia, and landed here in Sonoma County in the early 90s after perestroika to become a respected teacher and permaculture expert, and Aikido master (another Aries pursuit).
What was pointed to in the discussion was that the time of the (masculine) hero’s journey is in the collective field being replaced with a new impulse that considers the Whole, and the Feminine way of being. This promises to be enhanced by Pluto’s ingress to inclusive Aquarius, which at its best, honors the interconnected web of all Life. Yet, the individual note of Aries heroism does still have its place in the archetypal pantheon – it just needs to be guided by the big picture realms, as per Aquarius and Pisces. (We do well to offer any heroic intent a cup of archetypal astrology with its bluster!)
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Fun and Games
Another important aspect of the Aries energy to harness is playfulness. Given Aries’ association with war, this can take the form of fierce play. I think back to how my Aries Moon daughter loved to wrestle with her Aries Sun dad when she was young. Having little such overtly Aries energy myself, I used to marvel at their love of rough and tumble! (I am obviously attracted to it as I so strongly drew it in to my family fold!)
Similarly, I was captivated the other day to find myself witness to a game of boisterous tag being played between my local mockingbird and one of my Stellar’s jays. Entranced, I watched mockingbird chase jay in unending gyroscope-shaped circles through the branches of a large privet tree in my yard. The sound of four large fluttering wings tirelessly cycling through the leafing branches, accompanied by flashes of mockingbird’s white underfeathers as he angled towards jay’s imposing black crown served up a circus-like marvel…and I hadn’t even had to buy tickets!
I like to draw the connection (as I’m wont to do), that these feathered friends were embodying the child-like spiritedness of the Aries impulse—spontaneous, freedom-loving, and inherently riveting (like all Fire signs!).
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End Notes
If you’ve read this far, you are surely a hero in your own right! My expansive Jupiter in the 3rd House of communication got the better of me, as there is a LOT percolating at this moment in time—and not just birds chasing in circles through trees, but that too! In short, it’s a good time to take note of the celestial energies coming in—primarily of nuanced and subtle Water teaming with confident and self-asserting Fire. And imminently, Pluto will enter ‘anything goes’ Aquarius (Chat GPT and autocratic government takeovers?, Earth-centered systems and communities?) which will be a slower reveal, as in June Pluto then retrogrades back into Capricorn for seven final months.
There could very well be a feeling of ‘shake up’ in one form or another these days and weeks, so it’s good to look in our inner and outer lives for where we notice the shifts. And to stay grounded in the elements, as my health foods market friend suggests!
Speaking of hydration, and as a final end note, I will invoke Veda Austin, who spoke about Water as Source on a podcast I previously recommended. She asserts that almost all humans are de-hydrated, whether literally or figuratively. She points to how in her father’s indigenous Maori language, water is referred to as “the waters,” alluding to both the Earth’s physical waters, and the “spiritual” waters of life. She suggests that fear is inherently dehydrating. From this perspective, yes, the modern machine is surely sapping us dry.
But despite the ecological and socio-political calamities we now read of daily, we have a choice (harkening back to the tools of the Shambhala warrior) to dismantle the fear-based maya of the mind, and to tune ourselves consistently towards kindness, beauty, and magic. (Don’t forget play!) And towards our connectedness with Earth and Sky.
As Austin says, The secrets are in the subtleties. All the magic is in these in between realms.
And we do well to honor the Aries impulse through all this: to have fun, take risks, try new things, and to not forget to savor and include the ambiguous “in between!”
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Further Meanderings
Joanna Macy’s Shambhala Warrior prophecy – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6TM8g2YND
Joanna Macy website – https://www.joannamacy.net/main
Prior post: Hunger Moon – https://dianabadger.com/kinship/
Prior post: Kinship – https://dianabadger.com/kinship-with-all-life/
Vera Austin Water As Source Podcast – https://forthewild.world/listen/veda-austin-on-water-as-source-317
All photos copyright Diana Badger 2023