Less reflecting more doing as a fiery New Moon invites change.
As I’m sat here typing this the snow is billowing around outside, the warm sunny days we had over the weekend seem like a dream, and it’s back to snuggly socks, toasty jumpers and laughing about my writing about spring and new starts when it feels like a return to winter.
But here we are. Tomorrow is a new month and a new moon. It’s also the first new moon of 2022 astrologically and occurs at 7.24am in the UK. I always feel like I should be busy setting resolutions etc in January when it still feels very much like a hibernation month. It was only when I started studying Moonology and Astrology that I realised how much it resonated, and that the new year really began with Aries season. And what better way to start a new year than with a new moon and a chance to really focus in on setting intentions for not only the next month but the next 6 months until the full moon in Aries arrives in October.
Aries – dynamic, motivated, active, courageous, generous, enthusiastic, impulsive, impatient and sometimes self-obsessed, as the first sign of the Zodiac Aries is the sign of ‘self’. It’s fire sign with lots of movement, self-starting and energised, Aries has as its ruling planet the god of war Mars, so a new year and a new moon and maybe, just possibly a new start.
As the first sign of a new astrological year, Aries itself can mark the beginning of something new. And that something is usually full of energy. It's a very energetic, very dynamic, very fast time. So, for me it makes sense that this is the time to be focused on what I want to achieve this year, to set goals, to plan but more importantly to take action on the dreams that have been brewing over the winter hibernation months.
The downside to Aries season is that it means we might be prone to acting before thinking, because this is a very head rather than heart time. Even that wonderful energy, and that wonderful motivation can tap into recklessness if it's too energetic and too motivated, and without thought. The energy of number one, people who are born leaders, motivators, and action takers but who can, at times be so focused on self that the balance of thinking about others is neglected.
Planetary Aspects
Planetary wise tomorrow, the 1st of the month we have the Sun, and the Moon, Mercury and Chiron all lined up in Aries. We consider the Sun to be our outer persona, our extrovert side, the external part of us. The moon is our inner self, our reflective, spiritual, feminine side. Mercury is the planet of communication. It's the winged Messenger, the ruling planet of both Gemini’s and Virgos. Chiron is known as the wounded healer and is all about using our wounds to heal and move forward.
When you've got a line up working like this, in Aries, which is the sign of the self, the masculine energy of number 1, and impulsive action it changes the energy of the New Moon. Particularly when you've got Chiron in in the mix too. It's about showing us that we have a lot of strength in our vulnerability. We’ve finished the last year, it's complete. And hopefully we've looked at and acknowledged what we've learnt, what knowledge we've gained, and what we're capable of, what we've battled through and how we've grown. It's further understanding where our strengths are, but also where we are vulnerable. Where is our softer underbelly? Things can happen to us in life that mean that we hide our vulnerabilities away, we lock them away so deeply that sometimes we even forget that they're there. And that can mean that we forget just how big a role they play in who we are. By being courageous and sharing that side of us, by allowing our vulnerability to emerge from these hidden depths up to the surface so that others can see can be the bravest and the strongest thing you can do. It can also be the most healing thing that you can do. Acknowledging where we are, and what we've come through is a very healing process.
New Moon Meaning
So, one of the messages about this new moon is not to worry about how others see you or how you think others might see you. But to just be yourself, be true to yourself. It's not about looking at yourself through other people's eyes or even other people's expectations. It's about you knowing who you are and allowing other people to see who you truly are. So, the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, and Chiron in Aries call for us to be brave and reveal ourselves. But we also have Mars, Saturn, and Venus in Aquarius, and we've got Jupiter and Neptune in Pisces. Again, there is a message coming through here re-iterating that we need to be our true selves, we have to stop being what others expect us to be, stop trying to be what others want us to be, and detach from worrying about what others might think.
That means being with those who love you for who you are, not who they think you should be. It asks us to accept ourselves, but also to accept others as themselves too. Even accepting that showing who you are might mean a shift in those that you connect with, it might be that you have some changes in relationships or friendships. But the only thing that you came here to do was to be you. There’s something so empowering and affirming when other people can see the best version of you. It inspires us to work towards growing into that person that they see, to be our best selves.
Conversely it can be very difficult when the expectations or labels of others are put on you. Especially if they don’t resonate with you or feel fair, or even ones that you might have outgrown. But people can't always see that you've changed, or that you're not who they think you are unless you're willing to open up and to be vulnerable. To show them who you truly are. It's easy to put on a persona, it's easy to be the person that other people's think that you are, it's not so easy to hold on to that for a long time, it's much, much easier to be you.
It's time to accept and love ourselves and ask those around us to do the same. And of course, that also means that we've got to give the same respect. We need to give that love and that acceptance back to others and allow them to be who they are. So, there's also a question there of how you look at other people around you and what expectations or what impressions you might be putting on those around you too. It's time to stop viewing ourselves through other people's eyes. And it's time to step into our own magic, our own power, and be who we are, and who we are on a deep soul level.
But what about if we aren't place in our lives where we can feel ready to love and accept ourselves? Even if we're not there yet on a really, really deep soul level we know who we are. We know what we stand for. We know what our beliefs are, what our strengths are and what our truths are. And if you are struggling to see those things, it's probably that you're not in a place yet where you can see, accept, and love that about yourself and that's fine too. You will get there. We will all get there. So don't beat yourself up. But if you can start to look at who you are, and how you can stand up for your truths and use the energy of this new moon to really work on setting those intentions around accepting yourself around loving yourself and about being able to stand up and reveal yourself to those around, you can begin to heal.
Now New Moons generally are a slower time, a more reflective, inner work time but with an Aries moon it’s less so. If we look at the world stage, and you know I've said before that I don't really like discussing anything to do with politics, economics, anything like that in my blogs, but there's no getting away from the fact that we all know what's happening now. And when you look astrologically at what we've got going on since we had that very dark spiritual New Moon in Pisces, most of us have had very strong emotional thoughts and feelings about events. And because Aries is impulsive, and can connect without thought, then any feelings that you might have repressed are more than likely going to be brought up to the surface under this energy of this new moon. That can even include ancient stuff that you might have thought was buried deeply, or even dealt with. Anything that's been hidden away that has stopped you, even a really, tiny thing that has the effect of preventing you from showing up as your true self, that could well come up to the surface under this new moon. And that means it's time to really deal with it once and for all. Especially those relationships that may be draining energetically or overly dramatic and filled with unbalanced expectations.
Aries cries out for change. But because it's Aries thankfully it doesn't need to be perfect, change just needs to start. Make a plan and start putting it into action. And because it's a new moon the word plan is very definitely indicated here, make your plans, put your steps in place, set your intentions, and start planning for what it is you want to shift and change and what you want to bring in.
As I mentioned earlier, we have this wonderful line up of Chiron and Mercury alongside the Sun and Moon in Aries. And whilst that number one, masculine energy can at times be quite aggressive or impatient wouldn't it be wonderful to think that maybe under this energy that the aggressive masculine power play energy we have on the world stage presently could be softened down or even ended. And maybe this might be something that you would like to also include in your new moon wishes that the energy is shifted, and that the healing begins? And that that masculine energy and aggressive, impatient energy is tempered, or even end? Wouldn't it be wonderful to think that we can use our intention setting under this new moon to really bring about a huge shift?
Ponderings
Think about what it is you want to achieve under this new moon and how the energy of this Aries New Moon is going to decide what you want to clear out. Maybe ponder such as:
how can I show up as me?
Where am I hiding myself away from others?
Do I allow others to be themselves?
Or do I put my expectations on them?
How can I accept my vulnerability as a strength and a blessing?
Where am I self-sabotaging and playing small?
What is stopping me from using my voice and showing up as me?
Have I acknowledged and accepted who I truly am?
Where do I need to put some work in on accepting and loving myself as the special, wonderful soul I am.
Rituals
As always when you're doing your intention setting, use your rituals. Whether you write out your intentions, mind map, draw or paint them out, create a crystal grid, however you decide to put your intentions out there into the universe make it a special connective ritual. I generally start with energetically clearing the place where I'm working from using sage, Palo Santo or an aura spray. I light my new moon candle and begin to connect to my hopes and dreams (with a healthy dose of Virgo reality ;-)). And then I write down my intentions. Once that’s complete, I create my crystal grid placing my intentions under the main stone in the centre of my crystal grid. After charging the grid with reiki and a crystal wand I leave it to simply work its magic for the next day or two before removing and cleansing the crystals.
For this fiery, energetic New Moon I've gone for crystals for courage so
Red Jasper which is for courage and action, a fire stone.
Labradorite which is a confidence stone. It's also a stone of protection and a stone for change and for manifestation.
And then a lovely Blue Topaz, a very soft, very gentle soothing stone, but it's also very good at helping us to speak our truth.
Amethyst is a very spiritual, but a very healing stone. It centres your energy. And again, it's a very calming stone. But it also helps so that any intentions we set are realistic.
Blue Chalcedony, which is another soothing, very peaceful, very stress relieving stone. But it's a good one for emotional balance and for instilling and allowing self-care.
Aquamarine again, this is a stone of courage, but it quietens the mind. And it allows you to get in touch with who you are, and to use your voice so that you express yourself in the right way. So, it's a good stone for self-expression.
Bloodstone. Again, it's another courage instilling one, because I think, particularly when you're working on allowing your vulnerability to be seen, then we should take any help that's out there in the universe to help us stay strong, and to bring that courage to the front so that we can bring that vulnerability out. But bloodstone also reduces aggression. It's a very grounding stone, it helps us make decisions, and it stops impatient thoughts and impatient behaviour.
Jade, again, is another protective calming stone. But Jade has this wonderful energy of encouraging us to be who we really are. It also helps us with any emotional releasing that we need to do and when you're working with that thought of being vulnerable, allowing your vulnerability to be a strength, allowing yourself to stand as who you are. Sometimes that letting go of the labels that have been placed on you, letting go of others’ expectations can bring a lot of emotions to the surface to be dealt with.
This is a wonderful new moon to work under, there's a lot of energy that will support you. If you feel you haven’t yet got 2022 off to a good start, now is your chance to change all that and to really act on achieving your goals and dreams.