In Gothic literature, developed during the Romantic period (late 18th and 19th centuries), mainly in Britain and America, the castle was the usual setting for the drama of the story. The castle full of dark corners, moist, mystery but also memories of inherited crimes, fears and repressed sexuality was...the symbol of the soul.
Inside this castle mysteries and shockingly violent events were played out for the heroine (mostly a woman) who was usually in mental turmoil, the well-known damsel in distress.
Our soul is indeed a castle, built with heavy stones, dark corners... and a heavy aesthetic... like the Middle Ages.
But the soul is very light, so why can such a heavy building bring out the luminosity and lightness of existence?
It is with such thoughts that we will open the curtain on the April's New Moon. Tomorrow, April 1, at 7:24 a.m., BST, the first New Moon of the astrological year will be completed. (11°30' Aries).
New Moons in the sign of Aries usually mark the time when we can embark on bold ventures with enthusiasm and courage.
In this case this is true but man is called to have a conversation with his soul and his traumas. The New Moon is in very close proximity to the planetoid Chiron. The Moon and the Sun are the archetypes of our mother and father respectively, and the Centaur Chiron relates to our deep traumas that will haunt us for a lifetime. Chiron teaches healing but, as the myth tells us, he himself never found it. He healed others because he knew their pain, but he was never able to heal himself; just to admit his weakness and rise to the occasion, to not let his pain destroy him. But isn't that all too courageous?
Mercury also participates in the New Moon pattern bringing an intellectual process, a perhaps psychic emotional understanding of our ties to trauma. The trauma is there but, is our soul's castle impregnable because of this so distant trauma? I speculate that perhaps Mercury, as the Psychopomp of mythology, is the one who can carry the soul's message to our consciousness. I wonder what messages it finds in the dark corners of your Castle and brings them to your conscious mind?
The planets of the New Moon are subjected (disposed as it is called in astrology) to Mars, the ruler of Aries. Mars symbolizes our struggle for survival, sexuality and our need to assert ourselves.
This Mars has for some time been in union with Venus, his eternal lover, the archetype of balance and love. At first he was all-powerful, full of self-confidence (in the sign of Capricorn Mars is in exaltation) and he was chasing her, trying to put his demands on her platter. She, in deep waters, like a heroine of gothic novels with fear and passion let Mars hold her (after Mars' chase, Venus let him go ahead and she always moved close to him). And so the lovers began their journey together.
Their game took an intellectual turn with the passage of the two planets into the sign of Aquarius, where they played almost on equal terms (Mars lost his dignities and became a peregrine planet). Love was born and blossomed (with their last conjunction) under the watchful eye of lurking Saturn.
But in the New Moon chart the two lovers put up a wall between them... the wall is called Saturn ( Saturn is in the midpoint of Mars and Venus).
Saturn is the walls of our Castle; the one we have been building for years with heavy stones, putting up boundaries from the I and the We, from the imaginary and the real, from the inside and the outside. Not coincidentally, Saturn is the boundary, and in our bodies the boundary is our skin.
The two lovers Mars and Venus have long been under its dominion, in that their journey joined them in the sign of Capricorn and then in the sign of Aquarius; signs both ruled by Saturn.
The two lovers have put up a wall, but is that how it appears on the surface? Mars is about to fall against the wall of his castle (Mars-Saturn conjunction ends April 5).
There is a belief in astrology that Mars' aspect to Saturn creates sexual blockages. This is true however it is not always necessary. The reason is that Saturn, as mentioned is our skin and the matter. Many times people with Mars and Saturn have no sexual blockage at all; quite the opposite! They have an unbridled desire to break boundaries, to build one with the flesh of the two. You'll hear that Mars and Saturn brings sexual coldness and it may be true, but it can also bring the battle of fire and ice. The battle of the wall with the warrior! In the current conjunction Saturn is powerful, Mars simply surrenders. Will you surrender to his demands? Will you fortify your castle so no one can enter your soul?
People believe that sexuality is the lower instinct but even this is not always true. Through the sign of Scorpio (Mars' nocturnal rulership position), people are taught that sexuality is both the serpent and the eagle; what can make you crawl into the ground but also transform and soar. No other demon on earth but that of Love and Death, as the Freudian theory said, can dominate man and make him LIVE!
It is also true that men, fearing lest the conqueror Mars should pass through the walls of their castle, transform their relations into superficial ones. There they have security that their Castle remains impregnable and no demonic love, need, desire will invade it. You see, in there you become vulnerable. People hide with their Saturns and build...and build.
And somewhere there, the divine intervention, the Deus ex machina. Jupiter and Neptune approach each other (April 12 precision conjunction) to tell you: "There is no limit. No matter how many stones you put up, no matter how many walls you raise the water always...memories, emotions, will find a way to intrude." Water symbolizes emotion. Jupiter's contact with Neptune brings oceans of water. The feeling that lovingly embraces creation and the souls of people. The same water can drown.
Astrologers are divided on what Jupiter's grand conjunction with Neptune will bring.
Of course, we can suspect that it will bring idealization, idealism and perhaps even deception. I agree that the conjunction is not one dimensional, but I disagree when people are warned about whatever the divine creator has decided to bring them on the path of their evolutionary process. When they are told to watch their emotions or love, when astrologers and all kinds of advisors tell you, " Experience it, but be careful!" When one is swimming in the depths of emotions you can't tell them to be careful. They know... but they can't do anything about it. You don't go swimming in the ocean if you're going to be so scared... You stay on land and guard your castle to keep it impregnable and if it rains you put more stones to seal the leaks.
See, Venus, as a damsel in distress before ghosts, found Saturn first. She is the one who will continue her journey into Pisces, the sign of her exaltation. A weak heroine who transforms herself in the watery paths of Pisces, following the gods with faith and love. No longer afraid, she is in the hands of the Gods.
But the warrior of the story, Mars, will pass through the gates of the Eclipses...to fight the darkness...he too will be called upon to trust the divine plan. Will he? The conclusions are yours.
I will not give advice on this New Moon, I don't like advice. After all, it depends on what kind of castle each person has built; how dark it is, how impregnable he wants it, and how much he fears looting. You can let your castle fall down, but there at sunrise, through the rubble, the sun will come through and give light to all the dark corners...and when night falls it will look haunted, yet so charming.
On the Aries New Moon, humans are called to transform ourselves from stones to warriors, from wounded children to teachers of light. As I said, I won't tell you what this New Moon will bring because it depends on how many stones you have put in your castle, how the wounds have defined your fortress, whether you are finally ready to transcend yourself and become brave warriors against all odds, even with the knowledge that you are not omnipotent, left in the divine plan's mercy. Mars in the sign of Aquarius is a peregrine, so are we all...peregrine warriors who stumble upon walls that we ourselves built for the safety of our souls. But like I said the soul is light and bright. While you build your castle, the gods Neptune and Jupiter will laugh and when you fall into the ocean you will say to them:
"You have deceived me, gods!"
And they will say to you:
"You have deceived yourself... Castles are conquered from within!"
The New Moon affects those born between 3/30-5/4 , 2-8/10 and 1-7/7 and 12/30-5/1. Mostly Cardinal signs (Aries-Libra-Cancer-Capricorn) or those with planets in them, degrees 9-13° are affected.
Of the Fixed signs (Taurus, Scorpio, Leo, Aquarius) those born near 1/2, 2/5, 3/8 and 4/11. As well as those who are in the 3rd decan of the signs or have planets from 17-25°.
And of the Mutable (Gemini, Parthians, Sagittarius and Pisces), those born near 2/6, as well as those born either in the first days of the 3rd decan or who have planets from 20-24°.
By Anastasia Diakidi
31/3/2022
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