Friday, April 2, 2021

Springing forth with vigor and purpose: the April Aries New Moon

 



 “To be in unity with the Spirit is to be in unity with one’s fellows.”-

Howard Thurman, Meditations of the Heart 


 

The good news is, we’re about to feel more energized than we have in a while, under pandemic restraints. The question is, to what purposes will all this energy spring forth?  

A number of things are happening astrologically in the coming month that raises that question, but one stands out at the moment. On April 11, we will experience a particularly rambunctious Aries New Moon that deserves a detailed look. It’s likely to impact a number of developing stories in the news, including the sensitive murder trial now going on in Minneapolis of former police office Derek Chauvin, for his callous—and deadly—brutality last summer against the deceased George Floyd. The nation is braced for turmoil if less than justice is done there, and given the chart we’ll examine below, this “bracing” is probably wise. Trouble is, this is a no-win situation, given the polarized battle lines that have drawn. People of all colors and ethnicities protested Floyd’s cold-blooded killing, literally under the knee of a police officer, all through the summer, yet the extremists who seem to approve of such killings (as long as the police are killing black men) may decide to use this trial as an excuse to hit the streets as well.  

Water mains across the nation are about to get long-overdue attention.
There will be other outlets for these vibrant Aries energies, as well: Biden has recently announced a massive infrastructure and jobs plan that his administration intends to rally around through the summer—if anything, April’s fiery New Moon energy will provide a nice launching pad. This energy is very timely in terms of other things happening in the country, too—more and more people are being vaccinated, so freed up to get back to work. And, if all goes according to plan, school kids will be heading back into the classrooms, perhaps even for “catch up” summer school sessions.  

Before we get ahead of ourselves here, though, let’s examine that New Moon chart, first on its own (Chart #1) and then against the nation’s radix and progressed charts for this moment (Triwheel #1). Notice that Easter (Apr. 4) falls exactly on the 3rd quarter point of this past month’s lunar cycle, so this New Moon transpires the following week. As with any 3rd quarter phase, we should be throwing open the windows and cleaning out our cosmic “closets” between now and then (maybe the origin of the tradition of “spring cleaning?”), all in readiness for that new feeling of “rebirth” that comes with Easter and Spring. To say that this is needed in both our personal lives and in our collective life together right now feels trite; in fact, this is always the case, but it seems more relevant than ever right now, when a unified approach to the major challenges facing us today is so critical. More on this ahead.   

 


Chart #1. New Moon, April 11, 2021, 10:30:41 p.m. DST, Washington, D.C. Tropical Equal Houses, True Node. All charts cast with Kepler 8.0 and courtesy of Cosmic Patterns software. 

Part-of-Fortune rises at the ASC (both in Scorpio), sextiles Pluto (Capricorn) and inconjoins Sun-Moon-Venus (Aries). It seems that Biden (Sun) and the American people (Moon) will be challenging Wall Street (Pluto, Capricorn) to put its treasure to productive, actionable uses—yes, building up the national debt (Pluto rules this chart), but with Saturn (Aquarius) in the 3rd house, disposing that Pluto, and an aggressive, determined Venus (Aries) leading the vibrant Aries stellium in the 5th, there’s a nice sense that infrastructure projects will get moving in our communities because the willpower and energy exists on the local level (3rd) and among the influential “golf club” set (5th) to make that happen. Venus disposes Taurus Uranus, which in turn squares Aquarius Saturn, highlighting infrastructure projects that involve high tech. 

Of course, other uses for all those energies are possible, as well; I’m particularly concerned that the fiery 5th house concentration could facilitate extremist groups who are just looking for a fight. Gemini Mars disposes those Aries points from the 7th , square Neptune (Pisces) in the 4th—it's quite possible misinformation will continue to fuel volatile outbreaks like we saw on January 6th, or equally troubling, more hate-inspired shooting episodes. Trump continues to put out his “big lie” about the election being “stolen” from him and that isn’t likely to let up while state legislatures are trying to pass voter suppression laws that take their cues from that lie, so things may get worse before they get better. Thankfully, Biden, some sports teams and corporate leaders are coming out in opposition to this new generation of Jim Crow-style laws; one person, one vote should be uncontroversial in a democracy, but democracy is not the point of those pushing these laws, it seems.  

On another note, Neptune in the 4th is likely to support the continued vaccination of millions more across the nation, but because mutable signs are dualistic, we can probably also assume that a parallel stream of spikes in COVID cases will continue to happen. Pockets of vaccine resistance will continue (Neptune squares Mars); according to Seth Mnookin’s Panic Virus, misinformation that sows mistrust of the government and the medical establishment has haunted us for as long as vaccines have been available. Unfortunately, the same dynamic seems to be at work here, with Mars in the 7th house of “enemies.”  

Neptune in the 4th suggests, finally, that asylum and refugee cases will keep rising at the southern border, too. This will trigger a backlash, as it always does (square Mars), but as usual with this no-win situation, there’s no way to tackle the dilemma but to go through it and try to keep our souls intact in the process.  

 

 


The triwheel 

It makes sense at this point to see how all of the above is likely to work within the U.S. Sibly context. Let’s check out Triwheel #1 below. 

 


Triwheel #1. (inner wheel) US (Sibly) chart, July 4, 1776, 5:10 p.m., Philadelphia, PA; (middle wheel) Secondary Progressions, Solar Arc MC Method, for April 12, 2021, 12:00 p.m., US Sibly chart, Washington, D.C.; (outer wheel) New Moon, April 11, 2021, 10:30:41 p.m., Washington, D.C.. Tropical Equal Houses, True Node. All charts cast with Kepler 8.0 and courtesy of Cosmic Patterns software. 

This triwheel only confirms many of the themes we saw in Chart #1 above, but it also give us some interesting specifics to discuss. For starters, an interesting interchart-T-square 

Transiting Pluto-Sibly Progressed So. Node and Sibly Pluto conjoin (all Capricorn) and oppose Progressed No. Node and Sibly Mercury (Mercury); this axis squares Transiting Venus-Sun-Moon-Ceres conjunct Sibly Chiron in Aries. Several events in recent weeks raise concern that we’re in for another wave of racialized turmoil, and this complex of aspects confirms that possibility. Sibly Chiron, quite likely signaling America’s “original wound” with race and racism, is often active when such racial tensions surface, and we can be fairly certain that the Derek Chauvin trial will heighten emotions, especially in those for whom the wounds being ripped open are painfully real. The fact that the trial is being televised only enhances the impact (Sibly Mercury-Pluto opposition). It is fairly amazing that the nation’s progressed nodal axis ties in so tightly with all of this—as an indicator of our evolving public consciousness and awareness, perhaps it’s hopeful that the PNo. Node falls on the more empathetic, Cancer end of that axis.  

 

Pretty much something for everyone here.

All this Pluto activity can also relate to the economy and Wall Street, of course, and there could be some cause for concern that it will all “heat up” with so much Aries energy afloat. This possibility could be reinforced by Jupiter transiting in late Aquarius conjunct Sibly Moon (Aquarius) and sextile Venus in Aries. The People (Moon) will undoubtedly put the largesse they’re now experiencing with stimulus package and tax return money back into the economy, but to those who fear the economy will overheat and trigger inflation, I wouldn’t pull any alarm bells yet. A lot of that largesse will probably be swallowed up in everyday expenses like rent, car payments, medical expenses and back property taxes. As with the infrastructure projects that will likely also benefit from all of this, we’re not doing anything outrageous or luxurious—just taking care of very practical needs like repairing bridges so they don’t fall on our heads. Biden’s plans for addressing climate change are nothing extraordinary either—most developed nations (like China) have been sprinting ahead of us on this.  

The good news is, people are likely to feel more secure because actual problems are being solved, which could soften the angry tone of our public discourse a bit.  

Transiting Jupiter also trines Sibly and transiting Mars (both Gemini). Despite the positive potentials above, however, this connection may explain why we’re also seeing exaggerated instances of violence on the streets these days—the case of the man who brutally kicked an older Asian woman just trying to walk to church in New York City comes to mind here—mind-bogglingly senseless. It’s interesting that we’ve been going through a heightened atmosphere of violence and unrest recently—turns out, on top of an excess of Aries energy, we’ve had the ongoing Mars’ "return” to Sibly Mars, square both transiting and Sibly Neptune (Pisces-Virgo) to contend with. Jupiter heightens anything it touches, and in Aquarius, these developments can be shocking. 

  

Maybe we thought this was a no-brainer?

Clearly, even if they are a miniscule minority, too many Americans are seeing “enemies” in their neighbors these days—COVID’s impact on our national health is one thing (and the recent spike in case numbers is also implicated in these aspects), but there appears to be an even more pernicious sickness attacking our national Soul. It’s not entirely surprising that this would surface so strongly during our Sibly Pluto return (Capricorn), and Neptune’s “half return” (opposition, Pisces) to Sibly Neptune (Virgo). The last time this exact situation happened, with Neptune and Mars in similar positions, was in 1857, during the brutal run-up to the Civil War. There was a “bleeding war” going on in the Kansas territory over slavery that year, a war between the U.S. military and Mormons in Utah, and a bloody Seminole War going on in Florida. Thankfully, we’re not doomed to repeat such havoc, but our current issues with racially or politically-charged gun violence are certainly reflected here.  

Notice that Transiting No. Node (Gemini) conjoins and Saturn (Aquarius) trines the Sibly Mars/Uranus (midpoint, Gemini) and Sibly DSC (Gemini). Midpoints expert Michael Munkasey offers great insight into this midpoint, suggesting that it could indicate the need for military reform and “unplanned military actions,” but more negatively, it could also reflect “radical movements within the military; rebellion against modernization efforts.”1  All of these possibilities make sense; as we know, a good many of the people arrested for their roles in the Capitol riot on January 6th are former military, and there are signs that the military is plagued with extremist members pushing white supremacist notions and so on.  

Transiting Uranus (Taurus) semi-sextiles Sibly Uranus (Gemini) and squares Transiting Saturn (Aquarius). This Uranus may be stimulating unrest in labor forces (such as in Bessemer, Alabama, with Amazon workers), and you might notice that we’re heading into a Sibly Uranus return in the next 6-½ years or so, when that trend may blossom further. There’s likely a role for the military in this, as well: Uranus has an approximate 84-year cycle around the Sun, so this has happened only twice more in our history, once in 1860 and once in 1944—both during periods dominated by military action. These same energies could also be used-(IMHO, much more productively)-for the massive infrastructure projects that are being discussed in D.C. We need a period of relative peace to accomplish these projects; it may be wise to look out for attempts to distract our attention.   

Final thoughts 

Thinking about all the Uranus/Aquarius energy at work these days, I have to end with a few comments about a story I read in the New York Times recently: about how China doesn’t “respect” us anymore because we’ve become, as comedian Bill Maher put it in one of his “rants,” a “silly people” who can’t get big things done anymore. Economist Thomas Friedman opines in this article that Maher might just be right. An excerpt illustrates:

“For many of our political leaders, governing has become sports, entertainment or just mindless tribal warfare. No wonder China’s leaders see us as a nation in imperial decline, living off the leftover fumes of American ‘exceptionalism.’ I wish I could say they were all wrong. 

‘New Rule: You’re not going to win the battle for the 21st century if you are a ‘silly people.’ And Americans are a silly people,' said Maher. ‘That’s the classic phrase from ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ — when Lawrence tells his Bedouin allies that as long as they stay a bunch of squabbling tribes, they will remain ‘a silly people.’ …” 

While I definitely see Maher’s (and Friedman’s) points, I think that there are astrological signs that Biden’s infrastructure program could prove the naysayers wrong. We haven’t had leaders capable of inspiring the dedicated national focus needed to accomplish “big things” for a long time. Our budgets have been caught up in waging wars for decades—now, that’s a silly waste, if ever there was one. So many of our politicians and prominent leaders have, for decades, decried government as the problem rather than the solution to our everyday needs, and all that has accomplished is to sow mistrust and weaken our institutions so they’re basically incapable of doing “big things.” Yes, we did this to ourselves, but there’s no sense dwelling on all that; IMHO, it’s time to reject that old malaise and to start operating as if the future matters for all of us.   


My latest--click here for info and a free preview!


Finally, one last note of shameless promotion: you might notice that there is a new book link posted right above here and on this blog's Publications page. I’m happy to announce that I’ve recently published a new E-book entitled The Mundane Moon: an evolving cosmic story for “We the People,” and it is now available on Amazon for Kindle e-readers--click on the pic for more information 

More about this title and its contents in another post real soon—meanwhile, enjoy your holiday weekends safely, everyone--Spring has sprung!

 

 

Raye Robertson is a practicing astrologer, writer and former educator. A graduate of the Faculty of Astrological Studies (U.K.), Raye focuses on mundane, collective-oriented astrology, with a particular interest in current affairs, culture and media, the astrology of generations, and public concerns such as education and health. Several of her articles on these topics have been featured in The Mountain Astrologer and other publications over the years; see the Publications tab on the home page for longer works in E-book form, including her most recent: The Mundane Moon: an evolving cosmic story for “We the People,” .  

For information about individual chart readings, contact: robertsonraye@gmail.com 

  

© Raye Robertson 2021. All rights reserved.