Moon into Aries

Friday afternoon through Sunday night

At 1:33pm EST, the waning Moon steps into Aries, igniting the last stage of the lunar cycle that began with the Aries New Moon in early March. The end of each lunar cycle is a time of release, letting go of what doesn't serve us. Astrologer Moses Siregar describes this as the phase in which we can burn up karma, and the Aries Moon has the bonfires lit.

We've all experienced Aries this month, within ourselves, coming at us from outside, or both. Everything seem to be on edge, bursting into flames unexpectedly. This Aries Moon transit gives us one more chance to experience this energy up close and personal, as the Moon conjuncts each of the planets in Aries, beginning with Uranus Friday afternoon and evening.

The Moon squares Pluto overnight Friday, then moves through Saturday conjuncting Venus, opposing Saturn, then conjuncting Mercury. Saturday also brings an opposition between Venus and Saturn, and the exact conjunction between Mars and Jupiter. Avoid spontaneous combustion today!

Sometimes under a waning Moon, we feel an intense need to get our message out. This is, after all, the disseminating half of the cycle. With all the Aries energy around, watch out for the urge to set the record straight, tell it like it is, and tell someone off (for their own good, of course). Deciding that a valued goal justifies questionable means doesn't generally lead to good results, and always generates serious karma.

Instead of moving into anger, irritation, or self righteous indignation, flow Aries energy into exuberance, enthusiasm, and joy. Connect with Aries' commitment to move forward, and let go of habits, attitudes, behaviors, and emotional patterns you already know aren't good for you. Celebrate life with movement; dance your prayers.

Sunday morning brings the Moon into conjunction with Jupiter, then Mars. The edgy asteroid Eris is aligned with Jupiter and Mars now too, giving us another push to understand exactly what triggers us and how we respond. The Moon spends most of Sunday void of course, possibly burnt out after her scorching transit through Aries, stepping into the calmer space of Taurus overnight.

Aries wants to push, push, push. During this transit, listen to your body, work hard without hurting yourself, blast through inner obstacles instead of other people, and dance with joyous abandon (the video is Gabrielle Roth's Power Wave, produced by Sounds True).