Year: 2022

“Dawn points, and another day
Prepares for heat and silence. Out at sea the dawn wind
Wrinkles and slides. I am here
Or there, or elsewhere. In my beginning.” TS Eliot

“There are things you can’t reach but
You can reach out to them, all day long.
The wind, the bird flying away…
And it can keep you busy as anything else, and happier.” Mary Oliver

Recently I was reading a piece by the poet Robert Bly  about a men’s workshop he was conducting on the coast of Maine. There was a man in the class who had just retired  from a long career as a very driven and accomplished business person. Robert Bly was surprised by the distance the man kept during the workshop – often sitting alone or at a distance from the others. At one point, though, the man  spoke up and said in a quivering voice, “I don’t know what has happened to my life. I used to be so passionate and driven about my work and now all I want to do is sit by the ocean and watch the sea birds fly.”

April’s fiery  New Moon is in the wee hours of  April 1 at 11 degrees of Aries. This is a time that signals a very dynamic new start of a cycle  – but with its caveats.

At the time of the New Moon, Mars, Saturn, Juno and Venus are conjunct in the late degrees of Aquarius, squaring the Lunar Nodes in late Taurus and Scorpio. Traditionally the Lunar Nodes in astrology are associated with “destiny” and “fate” although in more contemporary terms, are associated with important threshold times – when choices are made which will influence the future more strongly.

Venus, the planet of values is involved in this configuration. We are living in a time of great changes and a time of shifting values – when things that were important once before seem less important now – just as the man at the workshop was experiencing.

When Venus is squaring the Nodes it bodes well to make any choices having to do with what you really value in your life with more consideration than you might give normally. This has to do particularly with avoiding choices that have led you down the wrong path before or could represent the repetition of an unproductive or addictive pattern. Also choices based on an ancestral influence that do not lead in a healthy direction.

It’s a good time for reviewing commitments in your own your life as well as your commitments to others and to make any new commitments clearly and specifically.

Aries is the sign of action and desire so this New Moon is a good time to move forward in a dynamic way.

Much of the struggle we see going on now between the old ways and the new, more innovative ways, has to do with the square between Saturn and Uranus – a long lasting influence which was exact in 2021.

One of the Sabian symbols for this time is,”A woman has risen out of the ocean, a seal is embracing her.”

Sabian symbol from Lynda Hill

 

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“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it.” Goethe

“The bamboo for prosperity, ” a Japanese friend explained to me,”the pine for long life, the plum for courage – the plum for courage because the plum puts forth blossoms while the snow is still on the ground.” Anne Morrow Lindbergh

There’s something so refreshing about the sign of Aries – signalling  a new  start and a new  beginning to the year- as it does with the astrological calendar. This sign is direct, focused, brave and ready for action.  This can be  a clarifying influence  after the Sun and Mercury’s transit through the last sign of the zodiac  – the dreamy , imaginative sign of Pisces.

Mercury has just entered the fiery sign of  Aries joining the Sun, Chiron and Pallas Athene. Mars, the planet of action and desire, rules this sign. This can add clarity and boldness to thinking. It’s wise to watch for impulsive speech or speech that can become overly harsh or combative. Best to temper the tendency towards impulsiveness as Mars loves action and tends towards impetuousness.

This week Venus moves up to a conjunction with both Juno and Saturn at 21 degrees of Aquarius . This is a good time to make a commitment. If there is something you’d like to be doing in the future, now is the time to seriously commit to the journey that will take you there. There is an independent nature to the sign of Aquarius which indicates that partnerships formed under  this influences  will allow for freedom and independence and not be as emotionally dependent.

Mars is within orb of Saturn now and moving up to a conjunction. This is sometimes described as driving with  both the gas and brakes on. It can be frustrating time for progress. Best to be patient and take things one step at a time.

There is a fiery New Moon in Aries on April 1 at 2:24 AM EDT. More about that later.

One of the Sabian symbols for this time is,”Two lovers are strolling  through a secluded walk.”

Sabian symbol from Lynda Hill