October 17: Aries Full Moon
The Full Moon at 24°35 Aries on October 17, conjunct the wounded healer, Chiron, and in a square with Mars in Cancer, asks us to connect with emotional bravery. The world is on fire and the collective grief and heartbreak make it hard to take care of ourselves. It’s difficult to bear witness to the atrocities of war while tending to our mundane lives. The Aries Full Moon wants us to maintain honest emotional boundaries, about what we need and want, so that we can show up for the struggles of life. For a full overview of Chiron through the houses, check out this Wednesday Witch patreon post.
Mars entered Cancer on September 4, triggering issues of an emotional nature that land on a physical level in the body. Vulnerability is considered a weakness when it really just indicates a delicate part of us that requires gentleness. We should protect our wounds while they heal, but we mustn’t let them stay hidden or they become toxic. The wounded healer, Chiron, teaches that pain can be instructive but it also inhibits us when left too long. The universe is longing for wholeness, and over the next 6 months, we’re going on an intense journey with three retrogrades in the areas of life that are highlighted at this lunation–Aries and Cancer.
Optimal Aries energy channels outward to create dynamic development in the natural world. Connected to the Emperor card in the tarot Major Arcana, Aries encourages us to own our seat of power and get inspired about what we came here to manifest. Aries represents the Self that is in an endless process of development, but its cardinal cousin Cancer is about our origins, the family and country that we emerged from.
The Emperor can’t exert healthy boundaries if it doesn’t have safety. The parameters of our home life must be secure and well defined in order to be able to build beyond those walls. The popular rhetoric is that in order for some families to be safe, others must be harmed. However, it is dubious whether war ever led to lasting peace. The energetics of resistance dictate that whatever I struggle against will draw me closer towards it. Aries is the soldier who carries out the orders, and on a collective level we’ve been asked what we’re complicit in since the eclipse cycle began in April 2023. The sextile from Jupiter in Gemini asks us to imagine a world in which all children were free from hunger and harm.
Mars in Cancer activates our mama bear protective instincts that wants to defend the young, scared parts of us. Mars passed its retrograde shadow on October 4 at 17°01 Cancer, so whatever is activated now will be revisited in the Winter. Cancer will gladly self-sacrifice for others but martyrdom is not the move. Exploring challenges to self-care and enlisting more support is more appropriate. For some insight, check out this amazing discussion with Diana Rose Harper on The Astrology Podcast on Astrology for Radical Self Care.
The Aries Full Moon usually illuminates what lights us up and inspires us to GO, but with Mars transiting Cancer from September 2024-April 2025, our focus is inward and intimate. Getting our domestic life in order is the priority of this Moon, which means considering the cleanliness of our home, and bolstering our physical and emotional well being.
Mars in the Moon’s domain has been interrupting sleep and triggering subconscious emanations. Dreams may tell the story of difficult memories or family dynamics that have been too painful for us to deal with. It can be disturbing when what we’ve hoped to avoid rises to the surface, but keeping feelings suppressed expends a lot of energy. The universe wants us to work to good effect, and nothing will be held back when Mars goes retrograde from December 6-February 23. Now is the time to shore up the support you need to face what needs to be expressed for us to live from a more free place in the Spring.