Full Moon in Aries: Re-Structure
This Full Moon brings with it so much potential
for increased love and honoring of Self.
We are invited to the next level of
creating systems and structures in our world,
in which we are free to be fully ourselves.
This Full Moon makes it very clear that,
in that next level, there’s simply no room for
self-effacement, people-pleasing,
playing it small, or denying our power.
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Mentioned:
My insightful astrology teacher, Austin Coppock.
Mind Witchery Episode 82, A Spell to Expand Your Capacity for Speaking Your Truth.
Make Magic:
You’ll find the questions for every 2022 full (and new) moon in the book
New and Full Moon Rituals for Entrepreneurs and Changemakers,
co-authored with my friend and fellow witch Leslie Tagorda,
host of The Savvy Luminary podcast.
Transcript: Full Moon in Aries: Re-Structure
Natalie Miller: Welcome to Mind Witchery. I’m your host, Natalie Miller, and I’m so glad you’re here.
Hello, my love. I'm so glad that you are here today for an astrological Mind Witchery. We're talking today about the Full Moon in Aries, which is happening October 9th for our North American and European witches, and October 10th for those Down Under and from my East Coast of the United States' perspective way east.
Hold onto your hat, my love, for this Full Moon because it is intense. It's intense. And, as you know, if you listen to Mind Witchery, for me, astrology is a symbology that encourages us to pay attention to certain energies and concepts in our lives. It's a metaphorical way of engaging with our reality that yields deeper truths. So, I'm not really interested in predictive astrology, like, here's what's going to happen. What I'm interested in is how the symbology of the planets is asking us to attune to different vibes, and pay attention to different aspects and elements of our lives.
So, when I say this is intensity, really what I'm saying is we are invited into an experience of intensity. It doesn't mean that the Moon is causing intensity. It means that we have this opportunity to attune to, almost like a radio station, right, we're kind of turning the dial, to what feels a lot. [laugh] It's like I'm not even saying "like." It's like it doesn't feel like a lot. It feels a lot.
And the symbology suggests lots of reasons for this kind of attunement in this moment. One is that this Full Moon is in Aries, and Aries is the sign of cardinal fire. Aries is striking a match. Aries is a grenade. Aries is the little blowtorch. It is cardinal, meaning initiatory, beginning; and fire, meaning action, transformation, change.
It's sort of perfect that this episode is nestled within my little miniseries on expanding our capacities. It's like right on time because [laugh] the Full Moon in Aries, I've decided to say this is a rebirth, for reasons I will explain. But it is considered in many systems of astrology the beginning of the Zodiac. It is the spark. It is "let there be light." It is the initiatory fire. So, that's one part that's kind of intense because Aries is kind of intense.
Another part is that Saturn and Uranus, two planets that mean very opposite—very opposite—things, are in almost exactly a square relationship. And Saturn and Uranus have been squaring one another. They did a couple of times in 2021. This is kind of finishing it up. And, so, with Saturn, which symbolizes boundaries and "no" and systems and structures, right—Saturn which, for a very long time, marked for us, yep, that is the end. That is the end of our solar system.
When Saturn is squaring Uranus, who symbolizes—what?—change, difference, revolution—Uranus, which is one planet beyond where we thought everything ended, and Uranus, which behaves differently than any other planet we knew, Uranus who says, "Hmm, how could this be different?" Uranus, who says, "Huh, what else is there to consider?" [laugh]—do you like my, "huh-huh-hah?".
When Uranus is squaring Saturn, you know, I love this image that my astrology teacher, Austin Coppock, taught me, it's like when two planets are squaring, they pull up at the same time at a four-way stop. So, boundaries and systems and structures and "no" are on one car at this intersection, and then the other one is like, "I mean, fuck it, and yeah, and what else, and [laugh] your rules are bullshit." Right? These are the two cars that are arriving at the intersection at the same time, and so that's the negotiation that we're having—and that's intense.
That's a lot, to sort of both honor, yeah, we need boundaries and we need systems, and we need to know what's going on and, also, at the same time, sometimes our structures are too confining or not completely truthful, and need to be able to shift and evolve and change. And sometimes, actually, what we need is bigger freedom. Like, those two concepts coming together make this a moment where we're saying, "How do we rebuild, renovate our systems and structures in a way that actually creates more freedom, more capacity for truth and evolution?" That's intense.
OK. But, wait, there's more. [laugh] In this lunation, our Full Moon is conjoining Chiron, and Chiron is a planet of kind of unending healing. Chiron symbolizes the wound and the woundedness that we are here to learn to heal. And, so, in this mix also, besides the Moon being in Aries, the sign of cardinal fire, is this kind of sensitivity to where we are most deeply working on greater harmony and health and healing. So, that's a lot.
Now, very happily, in this lunation, the Sun is conjoining Venus—whew, thank goodness—the Sun is conjoining Venus, and not only is the Sun conjoining Venus but, remember, in a Full Moon, the Sun is in the sign opposite. So, if the Moon is in Aries, that means that the Sun with Venus is in Libra, and this is like—this is a balm in some ways. This is like excellent lighting [laugh] for this moment.
And, in other ways, this is a reminder, an illumination of how important harmony is; how important true harmonious just connection is. And that's beautiful in this moment because, in this moment, what we are really invited to do is to more fully love and accept ourselves, and to do this next level of creating systems and structures in our world, in our work; systems and structures in which we are free to be fully ourselves.
So, this Full Moon makes it very clear that any self-effacement, any people-pleasing, any playing it small does not really have a place in your next level. We are invited in this Full Moon to see any and all places that we are not allowing ourselves to be ourselves. We are invited to see any ways that we are ignoring or denying who we are, what we need, purportedly for the convenience of others.
Remember, Uranus is like freedom, truth, an evolving reality. And Saturn is saying, "OK, yeah, but also structure." And, so, what does this look like? I want to give you a really—I know this is all very lofty and conceptual. But let me give you an example of this. Like, maybe you just only think well before noon. If so [laugh], you and I are together in this.
Like, if I'm going to do creative work, work that requires deep thought, it pretty much needs to be before noon o'clock, before the Sun is headed for the other horizon. And, so, I've been able to structure my own life, to own my everyday, to structure my work to allow for that, to honor that. That's a reality for me. I can't be doing thinking work after noon.
Now, there are other things I can do, and so I've kind of created a flow in which that's possible. But the good thinking, the good writing, all of that time, it needs to be earlier. So, I've been able to figure out how I can structure that in. What does the everyday schedule look like that honors that truth of mine?
Now, is that not the funnest sometimes for other people in my life? Mm-hmm, that's right [laugh], you know? Sometimes, people want to meet after noon, and sometimes I'm tempted to say, "Sure, yeah, we can do that."
But, more and more, and, again, this particular lunation is saying, "OK, like, clean the rest of this up. [laugh] Like, wherever this is not all cleaned up, it's time to do it." Yeah? This is again not the first time Saturn and Uranus are in relationship asking for renovated structures. So, it's sort of saying, "What are the last bits of renovation that need to happen?"
So, for example, I have a coach who said, "Oh, here's a practice that's really great to do before you go to bed." And I tried but, frankly, at bedtime, I'm just not going to do that practice. So, to honor my truth, to honor myself, to go my own way, what I decided is that, you know what, I'm going to do this practice in the morning, and so I started doing the practice in the morning and, lo and behold, I actually do it, and it works really well. [laugh] Yeah? So, that's what kind of this is about.
All right. So, I've kind of jumped in already to the questions. You can tell there's just a lot of energy [laugh], a lot to say and a lot of energy with this lunation. But let me share with you the official questions, and what I mean by the official questions is that my friend Leslie Tagorda and I wrote this book called New and Full Moon Rituals, and in this book, we give you questions for each of the lunations, and I'll go through them. If you want to have the book or you already have the book, this is on page 155 of New and Full Moon Rituals.
And, you know, I invite you to—whether you're listening or reading—to take these questions into actual journaling, like, pen and paper. Oh, it could be like keypad and keyboard, if you need. But really, like, journal about these. Spend a moment with these questions.
In the Full Moon, we see further in the dark. Right? The light of the Sun illuminates the Moon, and we have a lot of ability, we have an invitation also, to really look at how we are and where we are. So, I hope you'll take advantage of that.
And, at the same time, if you are listening to this episode, and it's not anywhere near the Full Moon on October 9th, 10th, like, whatever, because your self-awareness has the light of a thousand suns. So, you can shine your self-awareness on these questions anyway.
OK. So, here's the first question, at long last. What systems have you broken free from over the last 18 months? What systems have you broken free from and, in doing so, what have you discovered about yourself and about the world? Where have you broken free? And this honestly could be a workplace. This could be the PTA. This could be a conditioned way of being.
OK, second question. Think of a relationship, like a collaboration or a partnership, a client, that didn't work out the way you wanted. What can you now see that helps you to move on with grace and gratitude? This is very Sun plus Venus opposing Moon plus Chiron. It's saying, "OK. But how did this actually work out for you?"
Yes, it hurt. Yes, it wasn't what you wanted. But how is it contributing to your healing? What did you get? What did you learn? What did you discover? Like, how can you honor that, even though this relationship didn't turn out the way you wanted it, it gave you gifts? It taught you things. It helped you to see yourself differently.
I do want to add a little caveat here. When you're thinking about what you learned about yourself, we aren't looking for criticisms. We're not going for, "Oh, I learned I'm a terrible judge of character, or I learned that I can't trust anyone, or I learned I am incredibly weak." You know, what we are looking for are the gems, the pearls of wisdom. What we're looking for is what you want to keep.
So, maybe instead of, "Oh, I learned that I trust too easily," it might be, "I learned to listen to my inner voice, and to cultivate trust more slowly." Do you see the difference? It's like I want to keep that. I want to keep the pearl of wisdom. You know, always listen to myself, and cultivate trust more slowly, that's a lesson I want to keep.
I don’t really want to keep "I learned I trust too easily." Do you see what I mean? So, if you have one learning that is negative, the way you can transform it is say, "OK, and so what do you want to remember, or what do you want to take forward with you?"
OK. Let me move to question 3. [laugh] These are always like 3(a) and 3(b) but—so, 3(a) and (b). Where do you tend to self-efface or people-please, and how do you feel in these places? Right? Where do you tend to self-efface or people-please, and how do you feel in these places? It's a moment for looking at that, and for being honest about that.
All right. The fourth question for this lunation: what aspects of yourself are you still hiding or holding back, and what do you need to believe to let them shine forth? Ooh, this question goes so well with the episode from last week, which is Expanding our Capacity to Speak Truth. Yeah, what are you holding back, what are you hiding, and what do you need to believe to illuminate these parts of you?
OK. And then finally—and this is a real nod to Aries, to this Moon being in Aries—how can you move your body to activate and empower your voice? I will tell you that I started very regularly doing Pilates, like, three months ago. My wonderful trainer had a baby, and instead of continuing with training, I thought, you know, I'm kind of feeling a desire for some Pilates.
And what I have found is (a) I love it. I'm not doing mat Pilates, for those of you in the know, I'm doing like equipment. So, I'm doing reformer and tower. And, you know, basically, there is a structure within which I am cultivating freedom and strength, and it is so delicious for my body. And what I've found is that as I am building this strength and flexibility in my actual body, I am finding more strength and flexibility in the way I'm showing up in my life.
So, I don’t know, what is it for you? It's going to be different for everyone, and this is really important because for some of us, we need to like swim and flow, and for some of us, we need to pound and run and maybe even like punch. It's going to be different for everyone. For me, fluidity and gracefulness is really helping and key. Incorporating breath very on purpose is key. But, again, it's different for everyone, and so how is it that you are maybe deeply feeling called to explore moving your body, getting your body involved, to support your evolution? It's always a good question but especially for this lunation.
OK. So, the last thing to just say about this Moon is that the ruler of this Moon—Mars—Mars rules Aries, so Mars rules the Moon. Mars is very close to going retrograde, and Mars is going to be retrograde for a long time. [laugh] Like, just get ready. And the symbology here is that the planet of action, the planet of "let's do it," the planet of "fuck this, fuck that," [laugh] right, Mars is—this is where we get the word "martial" from.
Mars is interested in making moves and taking names and—gosh, you know, I always just share with you these strange metaphors that come to me. But what just came to me was the character from Game of Thrones, Arya Stark. So, I don’t know if you're a Game of Thrones fan, but Arya Stark is like the younger daughter, and she's such a badass.
From a very young age, she loves to like sword fight, and so she learns to sword fight. And in the epic, in the story, Arya, who really does have all this burgeoning power, her whole world is sort of turned upside down, and [laugh] she—a lot of shit happens to people she loves, and so she starts having this list of kind of people she's going to kill, right? It's like, "I'm going to avenge all these people."
Arya Stark is very Mars energy, and in Arya's story, there's a long, long time where she can't go fast. It's like she needs to develop skill. She needs to kind of find her people. She needs to rebuild. That's the word I'm looking for. She really needs to rebuild, in a way, to be able to take the actions she really wants to take, and to be the badass she really is. There's like many, many seasons actually [laugh] where, yes, things are happening but they're happening slowly and they're, like, they're slowly concentrating her power.
That is pretty much what this Mars retrograde is going to be like, and in this lunation where Mars is so close to beginning its retrograde, we're kind of already feeling this whoa, whoa, whoa. OK, we see what needs to change. We see the places that we need to be more self-honoring and less people-pleasing. We see the actions we need to take.
We see where it's time to stop holding back. And, yet, a lot of restructuring, a lot of energy-gathering, a lot of next-level conjuring, a lot of capacity-expanding needs to happen in order for us to stand fully and firmly in that new order that we want to create for ourselves.
If you happen to know your chart or have your chart, if you look at the house where Gemini is. The sign of Gemini is in some part of your chart. They're numbered. If you look at them, they're numbered 1 through 12. And if you want to see [laugh] where exactly this Instant Pot is working—oh, my gosh, that's another good metaphor. It's an Instant Pot.
Like [laugh], we hear "instant," and we're like, "Yes, I want it right now." But the energy of this moment is such that, yes, you will totally have it in 40 minutes. [laugh] The Instant Pot is actually perfect because when you set the Instant Pot to cook for eight minutes, you actually have to wait for the Instant Pot to get to the pressure so that it can cook for eight minutes, and then you have to wait for the Instant Pot to release the pressure in many ways. Oh, my gosh, metaphors upon metaphors today.
So, if you want to see where the Instant Pot, for you, is going to be cooking and going to be creating that pressure, and where especially you'll be invited to make changes, look for where Gemini is in your chart, and then just look up—you know, for me, I'm a Pisces rising, so it's in the Fourth House for me, so it's home and family. Good times. [laugh] That's where I'll be doing it. And you can see where it is for you.
You might also, while you're at it, look and see where is Aries in my chart? Like, where is this lunation illuminating my opportunities for healing? As a Pisces rising, again, Aries is the Second House for me, so it's around money and resources. Hmm, interesting. So, in this moment, something's happening.
I'm seeing something around money and resources that is also kind of setting the stage for or related to a pressure cooker of change and transformation that I'm going to be experiencing in home and family. Mm-hmm. So, this is what is fun about astrology for me. It's inviting us to see energies and vibes and relationships among different parts of ourselves and different aspects of our lives in new ways.
Whew. OK, that was a lot. I'm going to trust that whatever little gem you needed, you will take from this episode. You don't have to take everything ever actually. You can always just take what's useful, and leave the rest.
But, above all, what I do hope you come away with is that now is a moment for you to be unapologetically fully and brightly who you are. It's a moment to structure your life in a way that supports who you are. It's a moment to create systems that help you to shine, and to reject, to reckon with and renovate systems that don’t allow you to shine.
All right, my love, there you have it, Full Moon in Aries 2022. Please give yourself extra space and time and love and soothing [laugh], right? Wherever there's intensity, let there be extra soothing measures. And, of course, tune in next week. We will return to the expanding capacities series, which I'm really hoping is just the thing for you in this moment.
All right. Thanks for listening, and bye for now.
Thank you for listening to this episode of Mind Witchery. To catch all the magic I’m offering, please subscribe to the show, or if you want a little bit of weekly witchiness in your inbox, sign up for my Sunday Letter at mindwitchery.com. If today’s episode made you think of a friend or loved one, your sister, your neighbor, please tell them about it. We need more magic-makers in this troubled world.
Like all good things, this podcast is co-created by stellar people. Our music is by fabulous DJ, artist, and producer, Shammy Dee. Our gorgeous art is by the sorcerers at New Moon Creative. Mind Witchery is produced in conjunction with Particulate Media, K.O. Myers, executive producer. And I am Natalie Miller. Till next time.
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