Ostara Aries New Moon: March 21
The Sun enters Aries at 5:34PM ET on March 20, and the wheel of the year turns again. Aries season begins the astrological new year at the Equinox, one of just two days of sacred balance between light and dark. The Vernal Equinox marks the first day of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and the start of the solar half of the year when we have more day than night.
The Aries ingress chart creates the container for Spring and is the inception point for the astrological new year. Light has been growing since the Winter Solstice on December 21, but over the next 3 months, the Sun will ascend to its highest peak until it reaches the longest day and shortest night at the Summer Solstice on June 21. On the Equinox, we appreciate the balance between extremes at the midway point, and take a brief pause to surrender positions and embrace totality. It's the end of Pisces season and the start of something brand new. The pace of life quickens in Aries season and we begin to take action on all the plans we made and dreams we stored up during the quiet months.
We celebrate the Wiccan festival of Ostara at the start of Spring, marking the turn of season when the Earth starts to awaken after a long Winter’s nap. Life bursts forth in tiny buds and small shoots. The growing season will soon be here. We gather our seeds and prepare to move back out into the world. Spring is a joyful time when the sleeping land wakes up and baby animals are born. We’re inspired and invigorated by the change in temperature and encouraged to rediscover the world anew. Now is the time that your Winter wishes will come true.
Ancient spring rites marked the return of the Sun God with festivals of fertility and play. These pagan practices were adapted during Christian conversion and Eostra’s Day became Easter. Stories changed from the Sun rising again to God’s Son, the shining one, returning to him. At Ostara we consider where we’re in need of rebirth and how the Aries area of our chart can midwife us into the new.
Aries season is action packed with two new moons, on the first and last day, the second being a total solar eclipse. Jupiter has been sowing seeds in Aries since last May, and desires to ensure survival before departing for Taurus on May 16. These powerful lunations will serve as catalysts to launch us into the future. Aries season contains several significant transits: Pluto entering Aquarius at 8:23AM ET on March 23, and Mars finally departing Gemini for Cancer at 7:45AM ET on March 25. Both of these ingresses will be felt, but the tone and tenor Aries season will markedly shift once Mars moves from an air sign into the Moon’s watery abode.
The first New Moon at 00°49 Aries at 1:23PM ET on March 21, is significant because it falls on the Equinox point. A balancing station of the cosmos believed to contain sacred power. For thousands of years astro mages have conducted rituals to align themselves with the perfect nature of this degree. Namely, our guardian spirit, the good daimon, that is assigned to every individual to help us fulfill our destiny on Earth.
Aries is ruled by Mars, the planet of personal will and volition. Each of us has a different life purpose, but there is a sense in all of us that something wants to come through. Humans are here to create, manifest, and serve. If we ignore this yearning, it will pursue us, hound us, haunt us, and ultimately destroy us. If we move towards this life force–seek to understand it, learn from it, and honor it–it will meet us, mold us, shape us, and hold us up. This is not as simple a decision as it sounds. Many of us have significant blocks to pursuing our purpose due to fear, lack, and insecurity.
It is Mars that can point us in the direction of our destiny, and, if our sense of Mars is deficient, it can prevent us from achieving what our soul has come to do. Our guardian daimon is a divine guide that helps us persevere and persist. This potent Aries New Moon is ideal for opening yourself up to divine guidance. Witches have longed talked of drawing down the moon. Seek to do just that.