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).

Beltane! The Sun in Taurus

hawthorn, the mayflower

Beltane is one of the four great Fire Festivals in the fixed signs of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius. In the ancient Celtic calendar, Beltane is a hinge ushering in the light half of the year, a time of fertility and abundance.

In the standard calendar, Beltane is May 1. According to the Sun, Beltane is May 5, when the middle of Taurus, the 15th degree, is reached. Celebrations include bonfires lit to honor the solar god Belos, rites of cleansing and purification, and rites to bring fertility to the land, to animals, and to the people.

This year's Beltane season promises to be powerful indeed. The Sun may be in peaceful Taurus but five planets continue to blaze in Aries. In the Beltane chart, Uranus the Awakener is first, followed by Venus conjunct Mercury, and Jupiter conjunct Mars. The bonfire is alight!

At this time, the veils between the worlds are thin, the land of Faery is close at hand, and magic abounds. White hawthorn blooms, whose branches are cut but not brought indoors, for this flower of May belongs to the Fae.

Now, everything gestated during the winter is born, desires are made manifest, the unconscious emerges into the light. Venus and Mercury together are expressive, Jupiter and Mars are active, Mars exactly trines the North Node energizing our life path. The Gemini Moon reaches out to connect with everyone and everything.

The past weeks have brought the challenges of Aries––irritations, miscommunication, anger, headaches, accidents––with an almost overwhelming energy. This Sunday, as the lusty month of May arrives and Beltane begins, we are invited to flow that energy into exuberant celebrations of Spring. Throw open the doors and dance with fairies in the fields.

During this Beltane, experience joy. Connect with whatever brings you alive. Be juicy! Where is Aries in your birth chart? Something new and exciting wants to happen there. Saturn remains in Libra, opposite Aries, but remember one of his roles is to make things real. The Taurus New Moon is also part of this Beltane season, a time of planting seeds in fertile soil. Celebrate the fiery energy of Spring!

"It loved to happen" ––Marcus Aurelius

Moon into Pisces

Tuesday night through Friday morning

Overnight tonight, the Moon swims into Pisces' ocean and joins Neptune, creating a strong matrix for dreaming. Also happening overnight, Venus and Pluto will reach their exact square. This Venus-Pluto challenge has been looming for a few days, creating tension in relationships, finances, and creative work. Pluto may push for transformative changes in these areas, with Venus in fiery Aries either resisting, or lighting up and embracing the change.

These two aspects tonight, the Moon and Neptune together, and Venus and Pluto squaring off, create an interesting opportunity for dreaming. This would be an excellent night to ask for dreams about challenges in Venusian areas––relationships, finances, creativity––and in finding balance and harmony in our lives.

With dreams in mind, I'm offering this link to one of Donna Eden's techniques, as something to try before going to sleep tonight. Donna Eden is a vibrant advocate, practitioner, and teacher of energy medicine. This particular technique stimulates the neurovascular points in the forebrain and, although dreams aren't mentioned in this video, she teaches this technique for improving dream recall as well.

This video runs just over seven minutes. The technique itself is demonstrated at 3:10 minutes, with an alternative method included at 6:30 minutes. The stressors in our lives are the hardest things for us to think about clearly, and areas where dreams can provide guidance and support. May you have (and remember) big dreams tonight!

Wednesday we enter the a time of understanding. The Moon joins Chiron the wounded healer. In Pisces, this connection can lead to emotional healing that is felt in the body, perhaps through a remembering of past wounds. Then,we reach the time in the waning cycle when the Sun and Moon flow energy in sextile. Shortly after, the Moon forms a sextile to Pluto, flowing energy for transformation. The Pluto connection is the last classical aspect for this Moon transit through Pisces, beginning a void of course phase that lasts until Friday morning.

And yet there are significant aspects happening with that void time. Early Thursday morning, the Moon joins the asteroid Ceres and forms an inconjunct angle-of-adjustment with Saturn. This aspect pattern emphasizes the tension we currently feel in relationships, and the need to honor our feelings as we consider the needs of the masculines and the feminine, the practical and the intuitive, the mundane and the hidden, both within ourselves and in our lives.

This Moon transit through Pisces, coming close to the end of the waning lunar cycle, allows us to feel where things are not working, access intuitive guidance about what might need to change, and release whatever we need to let go of. The Moon emerges into bright Aries at 1:33pm Friday.