Saturday's conjunction of Venus & Mars with the Sun tells us it's time to become conscious of what we love and how we desire it. Wednesday's New Moon in Aries is the last of the beginning of the 2013 New Year. Who are you? Who do you want to be? It's time to look at yourself and decide. Are you a bit player in someone's B movie or are you the character who carries the story to its successful completion. Aries always leads.

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(Article changed on April 8, 2013 at 18:56)

The Cosmic Story: Aries New Moon 2013: A New Birth

   The Goddess always works in threes.  

Astrologers hold that the new year starts not only at Spring Equinox each year when the Sun moves over the equator from Pisces into Aries, but also at the first full Moon in Libra/Aries, which marks religious celebrations around the world; and most especially it begins at the Aries New Moon, since the new Moon initiates timing rhythms for earthly cycles.   This Aries New Moon 2013 is special though, because it is the doorway to the future.   So mark it well. 

Just as with the Goddess in her triune form of Maiden, Mother & Crone, there are three steps to this dance:   Spring Equinox marks the physical experience of taking in equal amounts of light and dark, offering us a new balance, a new potential to work with on an instinctual level.   The Full Moon marks a shedding of skin and a new birth, a sacrifice and a resurrection, because now the new Aries energy of Self encounters its need for the Other, a Partner, a bonding with the world.   This first New Moon of the year, choose to plant the seeds of the wisdom of your heart, which knows what needs to be created this year.   And so on this New Moon, we plant the seeds of the future.   Our future.

We've just come through an intense few weeks since the Libra Full Moon on March 27^th.   How did your weeks go?   (It's always informative to go back over the last newsletter to give some structure to your experience.)  The Sun, Venus and Mars connected with the ongoing, revolutionary & evolutionary Uranus/Pluto square energy, helping us create a new story about our lives, a story that entails both the height of spiritual possibilities and the depths of our longings.   The Cosmic Story said, "It's important to understand (Sun) what you've uncovered (Uranus/Pluto) about what you really love (Venus) so you can shift your desires (Mars) to attain those new goals."

The old operating system of patriarchy cannot resolve our complex problems and so it needs to be replaced by a new, more powerful operating system, one that includes the feminine Imagination and results in Wisdom.   This new paradigm of life begins with you and those people you connect with.   This is a group endeavor, but it requires each of us to bring our gifts to the Round Table of Life.   

Venus/Mars Conjunction on April 6th

On Saturday, April 6^th, we get the chance to unite our heart's desire with the power to manifest it.   Venus and Mars, those two archetypal lovers, are engaging in the sacred marriage this night.   Once every two years, Venus and Mars join together in the sky to unite their energies of love and desire.   After this past full Moon in Libra and Aries, we have a gift that can help us both be for ourselves and be there for others.   If we balanced those energies within us at the full Moon, which was ruled by Mars (the Sun in Aries) and Venus (the Moon in Libra), Saturday's sacred union might be interesting.   On any and all levels, creative sparks are in order.  

This year, their bridal chamber is within the bright blaze of the Sun' light, which happens only every 32 years.   Venus and Mars share in the power of the Sun's primal fires of life, returning now to shine upon the land. There is something glorious about that image, isn't there?   Remember when Venus went across the face of the Sun on June 5, 2012?   Now with Venus and Mars beginning their new relationship cycle in Aries, it feels like the return of the strong masculine, the return of the King.   This sacred marriage in the sky is en-lightened by its proximity to the Sun, hidden and yet bathed in the Sun's glow.   Isn't this another part of the cosmic story which promises us the possibilities of a new beginning?

Venus is the power of attraction, connection, bonding, cohesion.   Like attracts like!   It is a blessed gift that here on Earth, we have transformed this primal root energy of creation/destruction into the beauty, power and comfort of Love.   Venus leads us to what we naturally connect to: beauty, art, sex, love, wisdom, Life.   The truth of ancient symbolism affirms that since Venus/Aphrodite is a goddess, she embodies Feminine Spirit and symbolizes women.   Aphrodite is the goddess of Spirit incarnated in the Body, making the body holy.   

Our bodies tell the tale of who we are this incarnation.   When we reject our differences, we stay stuck in patriarchal thinking.   The old system has taken over.   Our bodies are different: they look different, they function differently.   Instead of ignoring the differences, perhaps we need to explore the knowledge and wisdom they might contain.   It doesn't mean that there is only one way for a woman or a man to live.   It does mean that women and men have different gifts to contribute to our world.   As Venus/Aphrodite is a female goddess, her blessed gift to women is Wisdom.

Mars/Eros is the power of desire, of striving, of attaining, of action and results.   We have been blessed with the power to grow, to change, to achieve and to sacrifice.   Mars is the warrior, the protector, the individuality of the ego, the male of the species.   But he is also the ancient force of Eros, the power of desire.   Which masculine archetype calls to you?    What kind of warrior are you?   How do you handle your desires?     What is your Mars up to?   What do you desire? 

The Eros aspect of Mars relates to the instinctual uprush of desires we feel at springtime and in youth.   The pure response of Nature!   As we grow older, we recognize this feeling each Spring, when more light in our days banishes Winter's darkness.   Our life-force is renewed along with the rest of Creation.   Under patriarchy, trying to "tame the instincts' repressed and twisted them so badly that they turned the life-engendering desires of Eros into depravity, and a mighty archetype into a petulant child god.   We need to re-define our terms.   We need both the imagination of the deep feminine and the fine discernment of the strong masculine to unite in true desire and deep love.  

I discovered as I got older that the baby boomers--yes my generation--want to stay young forever and they think to do it by holding on to the desires of their youth.   This is not the way to go, people.   As we get older, there are different joys and desires that are much more satisfying.   Each age of life has different personal priorities and goals, as well as larger, social concerns.   Mars is the masculine power to achieve those priorities and goals.   Since Mars is a masculine god, his great gift to men is Integrity.  

"Integrity is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles and outcomes." (Wikipedia)     When men are empowered, they stand in their integrity, their honesty, their Truth, their honor, their reliability.    

When Venus and Mars unite in the fiery rays of the Sun, you know that this new energy is important to bring into consciousness.   The sacred lovers declare, "Be who you are, love who you are, act out of who you are."   While common knowledge would say that Mars is more powerful then Venus here in his own sign of Aries, our Mars is "clothed in the Sun'   and is consciously uniting with his Lady Wisdom, his inner guidance and spiritual yearnings.  

Remember, Venus and Mars know how to make love!   Under the light of the Pisces Balsamic Moon, their lovemaking will be filled with great imagination and great compassion for each other.   Their sacred sexuality grounds in these new energies in our bodies.   Pay attention to your 2^nd/sacral and 4^th/heart chakras.   What feelings and images are arise there?  

These planetary energies have just been renewed through the Piscean waters of loss and healing, the fiery transmutation of joining the Aries Sun, and the cultural jolting and re-visioning of the Uranus/Pluto square.  Their lovemaking tonight could remake the world!   Let them renew your hope and love, so that at the Aries New Moon, you'll plant the heritage seeds of your own future, rather than the GMO seeds of patriarchal compliance.

The Sabian symbol for the union of Venus and Mars at 20* Aries is: Two beautiful white swans feeding in a shimmering lake.   The archetypal image of romantic love and companionship, swans have ever been symbols of sublime beauty, poetic inspiration and devoted love.   An ancient totem of beauty, the Swan awakens the power and beauty of the Self, our spiritual essence.   A herald of new realms and new powers, Swan teaches us how to see our own and others' inner beauty.   Swans are sacred to Aphrodite/Venus and have ever been the totem of the poet, mystic and dreamer.   Swans mate for life, and so they symbolize the power to see with the eyes of Love.   First see and love yourself so you can see and love another.   And then dream big!

The Aries New Moon

The Aries New Moon occurs on Wednesday April 10^th at 2:36 am PDT/ 5:36 am EDT/ 9:36 am GMT. 

The Sabian symbol for the Sun and Moon at 21* Aries is: A pugilist, flushed with strength, enters the ring.  This is a symbol of physical and even sexual strength and confidence.  There's also a sense of self-reliance, which is a positive Aries trait.  This image calls us to enter the ring of life and take a stand for what we believe in, with the self-confidence to know you can win.

The collective mind (Mercury in Pisces along with Neptune and Chiron/Jupiter in Gemini) is stirring, opening to a larger perspective.   This is the new Moon to plant the seeds of your future Self and our collective future.   Jupiter is at 14* Gemini: Two people, living far apart, in telepathic communication.   The ability to telepathically communicate with others is not reserved for a special few.   We have an inner psychicnet that connects our collective mind.   And Mercury at 25* Pisces: After drastic reforms, a purified clergy officiates anew.    A new spiritual revival is indicated, with a rededication of the collective to spiritual values.    

Pluto begins its yearly retrograde on April 12 at 12* Capricorn:   In an old diamond mine, a showcase displaying and explaining crystalline structures.   This symbol speaks to the basic structures of life, whether the natural laws of the cosmos or the archetypal patterns within the psyche.   The diamond mind in Buddhism is the enlightened mind.   Pluto stops at this threshold of knowledge and teaching to go back over some steps me might have missed.   Pluto will turn back to direct motion at 9* Capricorn on September 20, 2013--a few days before the Autumn Equinox.  

Uranus in Aries and Saturn in Scorpio form a quincunx (150* angle) on April 12^th as well, causing some frustration.   The rub comes when we awaken to our new story (Uranus) and discover we still have some emotional hang-ups to resolve.   Once again, emotional wounds want to teach us about the world, not keep us from the world.   Understand what they taught you and then find ways to integrate that understanding in your new image of yourself.

As the Cosmic Story heats up to the 3^rd big Uranus/Pluto square on May 20^th, be sure to write yourself into the role of world savior.   Along with the rest of us!

Cathy

Authors Website: http://www.cathypagano.com

Authors Bio:

Cathy Pagano is a spiritual advisor and Jungian psychotherapist, storyteller, author and teacher.

She is the author of a book on the return of the Goddess, "Wisdom's Daughters: How Women Can Change the World".

Cathy trained at the C. G. Jung Institut-Zurich in dream interpretation, has an M.A. in Counseling Psychology in Feminine Spirituality, and is a certified Life Coach.

As an astrologer and storyteller, she weaves the Cosmic Stories written in the stars. From The Bard's Grove, she writes about emerging archetypal themes in movies and books.

Cathy works with the tools of the imagination - dreams, alchemy, myths, astrology, symbolic language, storytelling, ritual - to awaken the Soul's wisdom.



I believe that Americans are called to a higher consciousness at this point in our history. We are called on to live up to our ideals and create the country our forefathers imagined. Inner consciousness needs to be acted upon for social justice.



Cathy believes that our writers and artists must take up our responsibility to create art that inspires, teaches and heals our humanity.



Cathy writes about political, psychological/spiritual, and cultural issues.