New Moon in Aries April 16, 2018:
Mercury Retrograde is Your Friend

★ Do the one day New Moon in Aries Ritual any time between April 13^th and April 23rd for the best effects.   The New Moon rises in Aries on April 16^th at 3:57am CEST.
Get help for this New Moon in Emotional Wellness Happy Hour:  New Moon in Aries

Keywords:  Higher Self Leadership, Higher Self-Esteem, Creativity, Challenge/Opportunity, Self-Assertion, Vision, Physical and Mental Stamina, Glamour

The sign of Aries is ruled by the planet Mars.  It is a masculine fire sign.  We have all probably met an Aries person and been quite impressed by their confidence and high self-esteem.  Personally, I am impressed by how Aries people know what they want.  Aries is the first sign of the Zodiac and it is equated with the high soaring vibration of Spring.  Aries is energetic, good in the body, skillful, inquisitive, and pleasure-seeking.

Beginning around April 13^th,  we will have the Sun in Aries along with the New Moon in Aries.  This is a fantastic opportunity to reset our system and make a new pact with our self-awareness. Because Aries is the first sign of the zodiac, we can view this as the start of a new year.  A new year = A new YOU.  Now is the perfect time to rededicate ourselves to our important goals around our self-esteem.  This means it is a great time for expressing ourselves more powerfully and re-upping our commitment to self-love.  Aries rules the head, the brain, the face and the eyes.  With the Sun in Aries, for a month, starting March 20^th, the Universe is urging us to expand how we use our head (do we ram into things like Aries, the ram?) how we use our brain (Aries is inquisitive and book smart.  They love learning things in technical details,) how we face the world (Aries takes on challenge head-on, face first.  They are direct,) and how we see the world (Aries is bright-eyed. You can see the fire when you look in their eyes, and they see the world as a mountain to be conquered.)

When the Sun moves into a sign, we are all challenged to grow ourselves in the areas the sign rules.  So right now, we are being called to be more Arian—confident and assertive, etc.  Okay.  So let me do a brief check-in here and ask you how you’ve been feeling the last couple of weeks.  Just reflect on your energy and check-in with yourself.  Have you been feeling more confident?  Have you been feeling great in your body?  Yes?  No?

Many of us have NOT been feeling particularly confident… in fact, we have been feeling beat down.  Don’t worry.  There’s a cosmological explanation for this and it’s called Mercury Retrograde.  The Sun entered Aries on March 20^th and Mercury went retrograde (IN ARIES) on March 22^nd.  Mercury Retrograde is a phenomena where the planet Mercury is in a motion that seems like it’s moving opposite the Earth.  It’s not actually, but because of the orbit, it seems like it.  Mercury primarily rules communication, not just among people, but among systems.  Things go wrong when Mercury goes retrograde.  Technology, electronics, and all mechanical things are ruled by Mercury and when he goes into retrograde motion, those things cease to communicate effectively.  The whole human body is a system of communication, particularly around the brain.  So, our whole system is challenged.  We can’t think straight, we can’t necessarily process our emotions fully, and we just feel off kilter somehow. OH!  And Mercury and Mars (Aries ruler) are enemitic, meaning, they don’t get on very well.  Mars is hot-headed and impulsive.  It is direct and can dispense with small talk.  Mercury loves processes and it appreciates long and thoughtful communication.  Mars wants you to get to the point.  Mercury loves to draw out the conclusions and to keep building on them.  So when the Sun moved into Aries, what was potentially a beautiful opportunity to unleash our Badass Butterfly Nature became thwarted with a bold, “Uh-uh.  Not so fast.”

Mercury Retrograde was like pouring thick, rich tar into the spokes of your bicycle wheels.  Here you are pedaling along happily only to find that you have to pedal harder and you’re not getting very far.   Uh-oh—you’re stuck!

But thank goodness Mercury Retrograde has tremendous healing associated with its pain.  This is a great opportunity to redo things.  Whenever a planet goes REtrograde, the key is to REdo.  They say that during Mercury Retrograde, you should not start new projects, sign new contracts, or start new relationships.  You should certainly not make new large ticket purchases or invest in new technology.  But what people don’t realize is that you can REDO stuff.  That’s what’s great about Mercury Retrograde!  So let’s say you got hired for a new job in Mercury retrograde last year and after getting your first check, you realized that something was wrong with how you were getting paid.  You take the issue to your boss and human resources and you’re unable to get things resolved in a way that seems satisfying.  Things were miscommunicated or misinterpreted and you were left with the short end of the stick.  This is super typical of Mercury Retrograde.  This is why astrologers caution you against accepting a job (and buying technology and making other large ticket purchases) while Mercury is in retrograde motion.  The great news is that when Mercury Retrograde comes back, it is the perfect time to REnegotiate, REwrite, and REdo in general.

So while the Sun is pushing us forward into Arian Badassery, Mercury Retrograde is pulling us back saying, “Slow down and REview.  Slow down and REdo.” The Sun is wanting us to experience expansion in our self-esteem and Mercury is saying, “Slow down and REview.  Slow down and REdo.”

Here is my advice for this period, Friend.  Since Aries is about self-esteem and self-confidence, consider taking this time to question your source of self-esteem and self-confidence.  Take this time to feel into your self-doubt, anxiety and worry, and see if you can’t have some breakthroughs to help you heal any original trauma.  I offer a powerful service called the Completion Process which helps you find the original source of emotional wounding and create healing for it.  Healing and Shadow Work are great things to do when Mercury is retrograde because we are SO aware of our pain during this time.  WOW!

Our beloved Universe has a wonderful sense of humor and a deep sense of compassion because get this: we have the New Moon in Aries on April 16^th and Mercury moves back into direct motion on April 15^th.  Whew!  RElief!

Okay.  I know that I’ve been talking a lot about the Sun and Mercury Retrograde, but they are SUPER important to get you ready for this New Moon phase.  As I’ve said, Mercury Retrograde is a tough period and whether you realize it or not, making your way through this tough period acts as an initiation into the next phase of your evolution.  Slow down and REview; slow down and REdo are fortifying your base, your core.  The three or so weeks of Mercury retrograde are like energetic boot camp.  And wonderfully, on the last day, you’ve got a New Moon begging you to claim your reward for having survived.  So, what’s it going to be, Precious?

How to benefit from the New Moon in Aries

The Sun and Aries are super masculine.  The Moon is super feminine.  The Sun and Aries have focal points outside themselves—they are in the world and they stand facing forward in creative masculine Authority.  The Moon has two faces, one of which faces inward and the other which faces outward—both in creative feminine Authority.  When the Moon is full, I teach that we should use her light to illuminate our inner landscapes.  My 10-day Full Moon ritual takes us on a journey of exploring our deepest, darkest, shadow selves to find healing and reconciliation, forgiveness and inner strength.  When the Moon is new, we use the dark, emptiness of the Moon’s face like a canvas on which we get to paint our heart’s desires.  At the New Moon, we become like the Sun and we cast our focus outward and give shape to our future.  So what shall we create with this wonderful opportunity, my friend?

Here are my suggestions, but you use your intuition to create your own destiny: (And remember to do the one-day New Moon Ritual to help you align with the energies…)

Higher Self-Esteem, Self-Confidence and overall Badassery.  You’ve been challenged by the Sun and retrograde Mercury.  You might have felt like you’ve been through the ringer.  But rest assured, this New Moon is demanding you to rise up from the ashes like a phoenix.  As retrograde Mercury fades, your confidence can shoot up like a rocket, if you are willing to let it.  It’s important that you take a careful self-assessment and understand how you’ve been challenged these past weeks.  After you’ve assessed your performance, don’t be afraid to lovingly rate yourself.  Be critical to the degree that you develop your Higher Self-esteem, not break it.  Aries is not known for its emotion or its ability to see another perspective.  Although I want you to be careful of being overly critical, this is a prime opportunity to claim Badassery.  You must vision your Badassery, claim it and act on it.  Let me give you an example.

I am currently in a lovely cottage in Mount Pelion, Greece.  It is a beautiful landscape and I came here to heal something.  Okay, look.  I was following my heart LITERALLY.  I had a strong impulse (upon which I always act) and I was guided to book a trip to Greece.  I was led to a particular cottage on Airbnb.  There is no doubt that this was all Spirit guided because there was no f*cking logic to it.  When I asked Spirit why I was going, I was told that I was going to find Chiron and learn from him.  In Greek mythology, Chiron is a centaur that roamed the hills of Pelion.  Chiron was a profound healer and if you’re familiar with astrology at all, you might recognize that there is an essential asteroid that we’ve named Chiron.  This asteroid influences our healing journey for this particular lifetime.  By the way, if you want to know about your healing journey using astrology, you can order your Astrological Birth Chart which will tell you all about your planets and how they’re interacting with one another.  This 30+ page report will tell you about your Chiron placement and what influence it has on the other aspects of your chart.  It’s essential for going deeper into your healing.  This Chiron placement can help you understand why you came to Earth and what you came here to heal.  This report is a great starting point!

At first, I was excited about the trip, but as the time came closer, I started REthinking my decision (Mercury Retrograde.  I arrived in Greece the day Mercury went retrograde. Ha!) I got to the lovely stone cabin and was settling in okay.  I admit that I was uneasy.  Part of me was feeling Badass (Sun in Aries influence) but another part was feeling stressed out and apprehensive (Mercury Retrograde influence.  Normally, I’m never stressed out while traveling.)  I found myself swamped with work and I couldn’t really get out to do all the hiking and exploring of the mountain that I had wanted to do.

After I had been here for a few days, I went out for a walk along the old train tracks.  As I was passing this quaint little hotel on the main road near my house and a puppy came charging up behind me and tapped my heels.  I looked down and he sat looking up at me with the most soulful eyes.  He was beautiful, but malnourished.  Nothing but skin and bones.  I went into the hotel and saw that they had a tavern, but no one was around.  I decided that I would walk on and when I came back, if the puppy was still there, I would have dinner and give him my leftovers. I could also make inquiries and help the hotel find a shelter for him.

Well, I walked for about 90 minutes and as soon as I approached the hotel, puppy came bounding up again.  I went into the hotel, had my dinner and came out with some food.  I had asked the hotel staff about putting him somewhere safe while I contacted the shelter and they refused saying that there are too many strays and they didn’t want to help.  I was irritated because while there were a lot of stray adult dogs in the area, a lone puppy is particularly vulnerable.  The hotel staff had watched as the puppy was being abandoned by a man and woman in a van! He had no clan, no pack.  He had no food.  He was lost in a very clean village with no trash cans to tumble and feed himself.  They had been ignoring him for days!  By the way, it is bloody cold on this mountain!

I was very upset and I walked to my cottage and asked my host if I could bring the dog onto the property while I found it shelter.  I was met with a resounding NO.  “There are too many dogs.  I can’t help them all so I won’t help one; I’ll end up with the responsibility because there are no real shelters here.  It is the dog’s karma.” No, no, NO.  (This is Mercury Retrograde stickiness and resistance, by the way.  This is cosmological design aimed to help us grow.)

I went to bed and could not sleep.  I was so upset for many reasons.  Lots of stuff was going on inside my head and I couldn’t get it sorted (this is VERY retrograde Mercury.) I cried uncontrollably because I felt powerless, and I cried mostly because I could not bring myself to defy the host of the Airbnb and go up to the hotel and bring the dog down to safety.  I cried because I felt cowardly.  (This is the courageous Aries wanting to come through, but the Mercury Retrograde stickiness is holding it back.)  This kind of self-assessment is what you’ll need to do in order to take advantage of this New Moon in Aries.  Be courageously honest with how you feel.  Boldly acknowledge where you need to develop the Arian qualities of courage, confidence, and initiative.

After not sleeping, at 2am I started searching for shelters and planning my strategy to rescue that puppy. (This is very Mercurial.  Mercury likes planning and strategizing.)  Instantly, I found an organization that services dogs here on Mount Pelion.  I wrote them a message on Facebook and I decided that I would wait patiently for their response while I focused my mind on what I want to happen for the dog.  This was very hard because fear kept making me see the dog as a victim.  I really had to fight to stay focused and positive.  I did Shadow Work and it helped a lot.  Then I started getting more proactive and thinking about how I could contribute to the safety of dogs in the area while I’m here on Mount Pelion.  I started getting empowered as I imagined myself spending time at a shelter caring for dogs while I’m here.  Was this the reason Spirit led me to Greece?

I knew that the shelter folks would give me some helpful information and I decided that I became excited about spending time at their organization and/or giving them a generous donation if they could actually help me with the dog.  My energy started shifting from I can’t to I can.  My determination was rising and so was my confidence.  (Mercury retrograde made me rethink my approach to this situation. Sun in Aries is asserting itself through my determination.)

Vida from the shelter wrote me back at around 10:00 that morning and said they’d appreciate the donation and that they had a foster care person who would microchip and vaccinate the pup whilst they tried to rehome him.  She said that they rehome these dogs mostly in the UK and Germany.  I started imagining this little dog roaming the German landscape with a lovely family surrounding him.  I felt elated.  By the way, the organization is called PAWS Pelion Greece.   If you want to donate to them, they’d be happy to receive.  There are hundreds of abandoned dogs in the area and PAWS is terribly short staffed and underfunded. Vida and her team are working to change the landscape of Pelion in a healthy way.  Your support of the organization would be soooo appreciated.  Even if it’s just five dollars.  That can buy 5 kilograms of dog food!

Anyway, so after finding out how helpful Vida was, I went back to my Airbnb host and told her that I would be sponsoring the dog and that they would come and pick him up the next day.  I asked if she wouldn’t mind me bringing him on the property and she was shocked by my tenacity and commitment to the animal.  She started to REflect on her own perspective around the situation and she grew more open. She agreed to let the dog on the property as long as I cleaned up after him, watched him, and didn’t let him in the house.  Of course, I heartily agreed.  Her heart was opening by the moment and she went into her basement and came back with a carrying case, a leash and some old blankets that had belonged to her dog.

Okay.  I’m going to pause here and try to explain this powerful opportunity this Mercury Retrograde provided for my Airbnb host to REDO (correct) her own Shadow.  The Airbnb host had given her dog away just five months before because she was traveling.  She was resistant to me bringing this new puppy for fear of the heartbreak she had experienced before.  She had also had a previous tenant who had brought home a kitten, promising to rehome it, but abandoned it for the host to take care of.  Upon seeing my fire, my host’s mind started opening and hear heart was able to start shining through the layers of past grief.  All of a sudden, she became resourceful and helpful. This is the healing power of the Mercury Retrograde period.  Opportunities to REDO abound!

The moment I got her approval, I took some cheese up to the hotel. I was anxious and nervous because I thought the puppy might have moved on.  But he was there.  I lured him back to cottage, fed him, set up a little house for him and made him comfortable.  Upon seeing the dog, my Airbnb’s host REALLY softened and she began to yearn for his company.  She wanted to keep him!

My hackles raised in a weird way and I got strangely defensive thinking she wouldn’t be an appropriate owner for this dog.  She had said a few things that rubbed me the wrong way (like putting his crate in a dark, damp storage space at night so we wouldn’t hear him whining) and my instinct said that I shouldn’t encourage that union. It was crystal clear to me that they were not going to be a great match.  This was Mars exerting its influence on me.  Aries is confident and can see things clearly.  It is also highly intuitive. Very strong currents of Arian leadership were coming through me and I started visualizing what this little dog needed. I wondered who could best provide for him.  After sitting with these feelings and the thoughts in my head, I decided that I would take the dog.  The powerlessness that I had felt the night before was gone as I saw that I am Badass and that I am EFFECTIVE.  There was no better owner for this dog than me. This is a great example of claiming your Badassery.

I wrote to Vida at PAWS and went through the process of proper adoption—microchip, deworming, defleaing, vaccinations, health certificate, etc.  Boom.  Done. (Taking action is super Aries!)  Voilà! I have a dog.  Again.  (Mercury Retrograde)

So, during this New Moon in Aries period, the first thing I want you to consider is how you can grow your self-esteem, self-confidence and your overall Badassery.

Managing Nwyfre.  Nwyfre comes to us from Druidry and it means ‘Life Force.’ The New Moon in Aries is a powerful time to create some kind of relationship with Life Force Energy, Nwyfre.  All of us have access to Nwyfre.  There is an abundance of it, and it is this drive that is flowing through us, activating our organs and keeping us alive.  The nature of Aries is fire and LIFE.  If you’ve been rundown, out of shape, depressed or just plain old tired, the New Moon in Aries is a great time to set some goals around your energy.  For example, recently (within the last year) I tend to have a lot of anxiety in my system.  It permeates everything I do-- even when I am in quiet contemplation.  I used to be on medication to help me manage anxiety and panic attacks, but I did a lot of healing work and got myself free of that affliction.  I’m noticing it creep in again as I take on new challenges and this New Moon in Aries is the perfect time to confront it.  Anxiety, nervousness, worry, and fear are issues of excess Nwyfre.  This energy needs to be harnessed and directed toward something useful.  Nwyfre is like a wild beast.  A wild beast is a beautiful thing when it is able to run free and express itself and when it is under the leadership of an effective authority.  But when it is not directed and instead is left pent-up and unmastered, it becomes an undisciplined drive that is destructive. I suggest that during this Moon phase, you tune into yourself and check your Life Force Energy.  Do you have excessive energy that is wreaking havoc on you unconsciously?  Or is your Life Force Energy weakly flowing so that you feel stagnant and lethargic?  Use the Aries discipline and focus to help you master Nwyfre.

Decision Making.    Aries is decisive.  They know what they want and I love how Aries people don’t even seem to know how to doubt or question what they want.  It’s a beautiful thing.  And the thing is, what I have found with Aries is that it is not afraid to research and learn about a thing beforehand.  If you’ve been straddling the fence about something, now is the time to tune into your intuition and make the decision.  Aries people have excellent follow through.  They’re not afraid of commitment and I want to encourage you to make some big, bold, Badass decisions (after you’ve done your research, of course!)

In conclusion… As we move into the New Moon in Aries phase, try to take the lessons you’ve learned over these last two weeks and build a stronger foundation for your Badass future.  On the list of things you could be calling-in for yourself:  MORE CONFIDENCE.  Perhaps your desire is to embody that Arian confidence every day and to apply it to all your endeavors. Aries represents strong will and this Moon phase is calling you to master it.  Mars rules the ego and a well-trained ego is a joy like a well-trained dog. Let’s take the opportunity of this New Moon to focus our will and train our ego.  Also, consider how you would like stronger Higher Self-confidence to manifest in your life.   Now is the perfect time to dialogue with Spirit and the Universe at large about Higher Self-esteem.

Okay, Lovely.  This is PLENTY of information for you to consider for this Moon phase.  Feel free to share your own experiences in the Comments section for this blog post, or join me in my  Emotional Wellness & Spiritual Empowerment Facebook group where you're always invited to share your experiences during the Moon phases.  Also, remember to sign-up for the one-day New Moon ritual to balance your Shadow and connect with your Light.

And don’t forget to check out  Badass Butterfly's Moonlight Tarot School.  It’s a 12 module program that will have you reading Tarot Cards in no time! Please sign up.  It's gonna be GOOOOOOOD!