Aries New Moon eclipse – 8 April 2024

When the force arrives, relax and let it go through – 
it is tension that gets damaged.

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(You may need to be on my website to see the video – the charts are there, and there are extra thoughts)
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Eclipses –
.       Some people make a lot of fuss about eclipses, and on a practical level they are rather amazing to experience, especially the total ones. When the Earth gets in between the Sun and Moon at night, to see a huge shadow eating up the Moon’s bright disc can feel alarming. But the Moon blocking the face of the Sun during the day time feels like the whole Earth holding its breath, forced by the fear to pray that the light will return. It isn’t the whole Earth that sees it, of course, only those in the path across some of it; but the Earth is a whole, a single entity, and we all react to anything that deeply affects a part. Our source of all light and life will be blocked by all that is unconscious, instinctive, unknown to us, and we fear the loss of conscious control. However, the rest of the Earth doesn’t see the eclipse, and everyone may not necessarily notice any great earth-shattering changes.

Potentially a healing crisis
.       Having said all that, this eclipsing New Moon is EXACTLY on Chiron in Aries, which is a truly amazing coincidence, and points to a time of healing the wounds to our sense of impotence in the face of circumstances, our sense of not being deserving, or worthy, of the good things in life or even of life itself. This is about healing our sense of self, our right to breathe the air, to say what we feel, to change our behaviour as we learn, to be real in the moment, in touch with truth. Up to May 1st, we are all swimming in the ocean of human emotions, feeling whatever others feel. At first issues of control arise, and not having control tends to feel frightening (Mars through Pisces passes Saturn). Towards the end of April we will find it easier to relax with the spiritual perspective, realising it’s where we hold on that we get hurt, letting go is the easier way (Mars passes Neptune). For those who do notice energetic shifts through the emotional field, it’s a great opportunity to let go of whatever you discover has been blocking the light of spirit from your soul, and a lot of that is in the control of the mind . . .

Up-grading our mental equipment
.       The last New Moon letter, was focusing on how our reality is largely virtual in that our understanding of what is around us is conditioned by many things, including our early learning and cultural development. The end result being that we all see the world somewhat differently. This month, that field of exploration is now in the frame for transformation, which starts with realising exactly how our particular view-point might be affecting what we see, and completes its purpose only when we are able to let go of the habits of thought, check out our assumptions, stop making our personality’s foibles a reason for the decisions we make, and get real!
.       The field is Mercury’s domain, the realm of ideas, conscious thought, and communication; the quality of the field for the next few weeks is Aries, fiery, fast and personal, potentially competitive and demanding. Mercury appears to go retrograde three times a year, each time for a period of about 20 days. (On the 19 March, it moved into that part of the Zodiac that is now seeing it retrograde until 25 April, and which it will cover once more to completion on13 May.) So between 19 March to 1 April, we would have been making the first pass over the territory, and now, until 25 April, we are all back-tracking through the second pass, over any old problems that may have arisen, as well as any good ideas we may have had. We don’t have to dig into the past to remember, circumstances and relationships will be bringing them into our face. And Mercury doesn’t leave Aries for Taurus until 15 May.

How to help the process of self-transformation
.       To the extent we are aware of ourselves in action, we will be realising our part in creating problems by our reactions – in movement, in our conversations, in our assumptions, fiery and personal. In the process, we will have lots of opportunities to face those attitudes that need up-grading – inner work we may have been putting off. Making these changes at last gives a deep sense of self-respect. We really do know what we need to let go, but we may be staying in step with loved old friends or family, or getting a buzz out of attacking someone else’s standards or craziness to divert attention from our own shady areas. But keeping attitudes we have truly out-grown creates a sense of inner shame – it keeps us small, younger than our maturity, and postpones our sense of being in charge of our life. Eckhart Tolle speaks of that shady area as our ‘pain body’, and when we feel as though we’re indulging below our truth, it’s as though we are feeding our pain body, which keeps it alive of course! If this paragraph doesn’t resonate with you, please ignore it – we are not all the same.
.       I see our personality as a set of skills, abilities, response patterns, reactions, and lots of emotion. All this we need to accept about ourselves because it’s the kit we’ve got, what we as spirit brought in, and there will be a purpose for it all. What needs transforming is what we say about all that, the meaning our minds give to what we experience, basically it’s the attitudes of mind that define our response to other people and to life. The personality is what it is, but the attitudes can be shifted, and this is what transforms us from immature teenagers – which some people remain their whole life – to full human beings, participating in life with integrity and compassion. Most of us still have an inner teenager, and it’s wise to know this rather than thinking that’s who we are.

A wave of change and growth from 20 April
.       As if all that wasn’t enough, we have the conjunction of Jupiter over Uranus, promised for a few years as a final movement of Jupiter ahead of all the outer planets. Uranus has been leading for some time, with the unpredictable changes and general uncertainty as to security, safety and any kind of return to what style of life we have known before. Jupiter takes us beyond all this, the changes having happened, to a sense of growth, being able to get going in whatever new direction is appropriate, creating new ways of living our lives with our planet Earth (Jupiter and Uranus in Taurus). However, Jupiter has to conjunct Uranus to overtake him, the younger god overtaking his grandfather. And this could be events, or decisions, or changes that wipe out the old ways irretrievably.
.       This conjunction will occur on 20 April, the generous Jupiter meets and passes the unpredictable Uranus, so who knows what U-turn life has in store for us all. This could be the biggest sudden change in circumstances we’ve seen so far – and it may not be! Then the Sun and all the faster planets follow Jupiter over Uranus: the Sun on 14 May, Venus on 19 May, Mercury on 1 June, and Mars entering Taurus on 10 June overtakes Uranus on 16 July – a wave of movement and acceptance, and finally the energy being earthed.
.       So we will need to be grounded in our own inner strength and resolve. Choose which stance suits your nature best: either stand relaxed but firm, or get on your surf board to see how far the wave may take you, or prepare to plunge to the depths in order to rise to the heights. But above all things, be in touch with your inner wisdom, and be guided by it. Guidance from outside cannot know what you personally need. And on the inside, neither personality nor ego can guide our soul through its growth.

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Contemplation for this New Moon in Aries

Mother Nature turns
rolls over in her pearly sheets:
“I have been still too long
and life is growing around me
threatening its own survival.
All change, dear ones!
I’ll try not to squash you
but turn I must.”

With love,
Margaret
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And if you are anywhere near Bolton, Lancashire, UK on 20 April, I would love to see you for a day I’ll be giving on ‘Our Journey through Life’ via your progressing Moon, unpacking the toolkit we brought, for our soul’s North Node purpose.
https://boltonastrologicalsociety.co.uk/services/what-s-happening/conference-150261644
Toby Carvery, The Watermillock, Crompton Way, Bolton. BL1 0TJ (£40 lunch included)