This Friday, October 13, the Moon waxes full in
Aries at 1:53 am (PDT). This is the first Full Moon of the fall in the Northern
Hemisphere. Friday the thirteenth conjures up many scary images for some
people. The number thirteen has been an unlucky number for some since
biblical times. However, if we observe carefully, we notice that there
are about thirteen lunar cycles in a year. Thirteen then becomes a number
we associate with the lunations and can be a good luck number instead
of one to fear.
“Become Like
Children...”
Try to look back at your life to the time you were a
child. Perhaps you played hide and seek with neighborhood friends, or
played dress-up with your parent’s old clothes, or made up imaginary games
with your best friend. These spontaneous and uninhibited moments are what
the sign of Aries is all about. The desire to freely express and be creative
in life is the fiery spark that charges the sign of the ram. With the
Full Moon transiting through Aries, this is a time for all of us to regain
a little bit of our childlike nature and to express ourselves without
worry or hindrance.
As we grow older, we are more inclined to try to fit
into society’s rules and expectations. We are asked to hold steady jobs,
pay our taxes and dress and act “appropriately” at work and in our community.
Over the years, we can feel bogged down and burdened by the responsibilities
of everyday living. If we have not given room or time for the kid in us,
we can feel frozen, rigid and lifeless.
Rules and Fools
Some of the best ways to regain our “inner child” is
to let go of some of the rules we have made for ourselves. Rules like
“I have to work long hours to get ahead,” “I need lots of money before
I can be happy” and “I need to lose twenty pounds before I can feel good
inside” all work to defeat us in the long run. Instead, try to imagine
each day in your life like a kid imagines it. There is little thought
to the distant future, and the past is too short to draw on. Rules are
meant to be broken, and nothing is too serious. Each moment becomes an
opportunity for play, a chance for fun, something new, a game, a possibility.
The Aries Full Moon points us to the direct spontaneous
expression of self. In the tarot deck, this concept is summed up in the
fool card. The fool merrily skips along, unhampered by the world’s confusions
and problems. This is not a time to deny more intense feelings and underlying
issues. It’s simply a time to balance them out by invoking the fool as
well. If you’re spending too much of your time focusing on what is difficult
and troubling, this is a good time to tip the scales the other way and
remember the simple joys found in everyday life.
The Red Planet
With the Full Moon in Aries this month, it is interesting
to look at Mars, the ruling planet of Aries. Mars, Jupiter and Pluto are
in a configuration called a t-square. T-squares usually point to adversity
and challenges in certain areas of life. The fiery planet Mars is connected
to our warrior nature, the side of us that likes to be bold, fight and
be strong. It is also connected to the emotion of anger. Anger can be
a positive force if it is used to express repressed feelings that need
to come out.
Working with Anger
All of us experience stress to some degree or another.
How each one of us deals with stress varies from person to person. Some
people become anxious and nervous, some become depressed and withdrawn
and others become angry. When we feel anger, it is often not appropriate
to express it in a public setting. Because of this, we try to hide the
anger and take in the negative feelings without processing them. When
this practice continues over a period of time, we build up a wellspring
of bottled rage and frustration. Often this anger comes out in misguided
ways, through mean comments to family members, impatience and emotional
distance with friends. Ultimately this anger can eat at our own peace
and serenity and harm our health and well-being. Perhaps our liver malfunctions
or our digestion gets clogged up as we start to feel the physical effects
of unexpressed frustration.
This Full Moon presents a perfect opportunity to channel
any latent anger from past experiences in a positive and cathartic manner.
One way for releasing anger is through ritual. During this time, take
a few hours of quiet time to meditate on your life. Sink into a reflective
space with the aid of gentle music, incense and ritual objects.
Allow any thoughts and feelings to come up. If you begin
to feel any anger or frustration from remembering past hurts, do not deny
them. Now is the time to hear these feelings and speak their names out
loud or through writing. If you need to, scream or cry and vent these
intense emotions out in this ritual space. This process does not eliminate
the anger, but it allows it to be present at a conscious level so that
you can see it and understand it. Perhaps the anger will shift into grief
and sadness, or perhaps it will ask you to change your life in some way.
Rituals like these offer the possibility of transformation. Good health
to you!
