Aries New Moon: The Instinct For Survival    Another New Moon is upon us and it’s a biggie! This Aries New Moon is not only about new beginnings—which you should see the culmination of in about six months—but about the will to survive as well…    The Aries archetype is all about survival in the sense that one has to fight one’s way out his or her mother’s womb in order to be born. if you really think about it, the tremendous amount of energy it takes to burst forth out of the peaceful uroboric waters of the womb into the birth canal and out of your mother’s body, you’ll begin to get what I mean!    But what is it that tells us it’s the right time to go from our blissfully unaware state of pre-birth and propel ourselves out in the cold harshly lit outside world—a world in which, as humans, we are unable to fend for ourselves without our mother’s care?    Simple: It’s INSTINCT!    So Aries energy, particularly prevalent in the universe at this Aries New Moon—and in your life, depending on into what house of your natal chart it falls—is about proactive energy and about having the energy and will not only to survive but to thrive… Pluto & Uranus: Still Doing Their Square Dance    New Moons are always times to set your intentions for the month. In this case, you may set them for the next six months in order to really be able to continue on your path, regardless of any bombardment of universal energies you may experience personally between now and then.    Because this Aries New Moon meets up with Uranus in Aries and squares Pluto in Capricorn, it’s likely effects will factor into how you’re handling the Pluto/Uranus energies that have dominated the heavens (and thus our lives here on Earth) since at least 2012…    This square’s energies are prevalent everywhere you look: from the Arab Spring uprising in the Middle East to Ferguson, Missouri (and the Black Lives Matter movement), from the Syrian refugee crisis to the breakdown in infrastructure worldwide (but particularly here in the U.S.), and more…    These are the forces of revolution vs. the status quo, anti-change, clinging to a “business as usual” mentality, at all costs.    So how to navigate such energies?    If you’ve been hit personally by the energies of the Pluto/Uranus square (meaning they’ve touched sensitive planetary or natal chart points as part of your energetic makeup) you probably know it by now…    Such energies may have included, but are not limited to: loss (or gain) of a job, money, and/or relationship (including loss through death.) Loss is usually about the need for transformation.    And when sudden events derail or propel us, often they are the result of our need for change that’s risen to such a point that a crisis occurs in order for the universe to get us in touch with our soul’s true desire for change.    When death (either literal or figurative in the form of endings) occurs in one’s life, this external manifestation reflects changes occurring in our own internal energies. Resistance to such changes usually makes it tougher to adjust and may simply delay the inevitable…    Changes—be they deemed negative or positive in our lives initially–are always about moving our soul forward for the purpose of living our lives to their highest potential in this lifetime. So What Are Your Intentions?    If they’re about something new—bravo! Plant that seed and go for it! If they’re connected to an ongoing or already established project or work, then keep on keepin’ on–especially if you’ve already had a modicum of success and are attempting to build on that.    The important thing to know is that not only is this Aries New Moon conjoining Uranus in Aries and squaring Pluto in Capricorn, but it’s trining Saturn as well. A trine is what we astrologers call an “easy” aspect.    Saturn is the planet of hard work. Saturn helps us move slowly and cautiously, and think accurately with an eye toward manifestation. This trine is likely to make it easier for us to do some of the necessary work without experiencing undue hardship. Think of Saturn like a mentor, a teacher, or a guide, who says to you: “you can do it—slow and steady wins the race.”    However, with Saturn, there’s no free lunch. Under Saturn’s tutelage, you can’t have dessert until you eat your meat (as Pink Floyd liked to say), and you can’t go out to play until you eat your dinner…Saturn can help ground the planting of this new seed…    …even if it’s amidst any turmoil in your life connected to transformation or sudden unexpected change–and the resistance you may feel to such transformation or change.    But if you succumb to the fiery, impatient, impetuousness of this Aries New Moon energy—especially in its conjunction with the “leap before you look” rebelliousness of Uranus in Aries, you may find the foundation upon which you’ve attempted to set your intentions is less than firm.    Far better to allow yourself to believe in any aha! or eureka! moments this Aries New Moon energy brings to you now based on the Sun & Moon’s alignment with Uranus, but to proceed slowly.    Saturn is retrograde until August 13, making this an excellent time for you to be inspired, but remember to move cautiously enough to ensure you’ll ultimately be able to manifest any intentions set now.    When Saturn guides us in this fashion, who are we to ignore him or dispute his wise advice? And this advice shows up in our lives in the events and relationships around us. So if a project gets, waylaid, cut, postponed, or otherwise stuck in the mud, do not despair.    Likewise, if a job or relationship appears to falter or end, it means that it is no longer instrumental to your future growth. This departure will more than likely open up the necessary space for something new–something better!–to come into your life… Acceptance of Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes: Always Up To You!    The Aries New Moon is a time to dig deeply into the earth (metaphoricallyspeaking) and plant a seed that you know, with the proper tender loving care, will take root. You want it to grow into a sturdy plant that matches your expectation. So much of astrology is based on cycles. The New Moon and Full Moon cycles occur approximately every 14 days, so the universe provides us with the opportunity to set new intentions, or to reaffirm or reset older intentions, every lunar cycle of 29.5 days.    It’s not now or never, and it never will be, in terms of how the universe guides us toward our best and highest interest in this lifetime should we choose to become aware that our lives are always a matter of our choices.    When we choose to embrace that choice is our right as part of our human, incarnated experience, we leave behind the blame game, the he said/she said, the “but you told me to do it that way ergo I’m not responsible for the outcome.”       Likewise, any tendencies to play the martyr and try to save everyone–which may or may not, in the end, be in your best interest–can fall by the wayside.    Embracing the kind of change inherent in this Aries New Moon energy includes having the courage to follow your instinct. Making a choice, even if it’s an instinctual one, can propel us out into the world and allow us to leave behind the security of the womb so that we may LIVE.    (And here is where this New Moon’s trine to Saturn has your back, assuring you it won’t be as hard as you might think.)    Once planted, the seed must be nurtured, and the intentions affirmed on an ongoing basis—utilizing the clarity of that trine to Saturn. This enables us to make any necessary changes, or to halt or amend, in the near term what you may be attempting to do in order to have a better, more prosperous and meaningful outcome in the long term.  More Retrogrades in April…    During these next few months–since Saturn’s station retrograde on March 25–we’ll be seeing and feeling more planetary retrogrades. On April 17 Mars begins his long retrograde period, while Saturn continues his retrograde motion untilAugust 13.    Pluto stations retrograde on April 18 until September 26, and in the shorter term, Mercury retrogrades in the sign of Taurus on April 28. Neptune and Chiron will both station retrograde in July.    Typical retrograde energy/behavior looks like this: time to review, re-analyze, rethink, re-plan, re-strategize, revisit (or just about any word you can put “re” in front of that you can think of, lol and that pertains to your specific situation.)    Get used to it, as we’ll experience a lot of it! However, during this period if your hopes, dreams, and wishes appear to be stagnating or moving in the wrong direction, hang tight…    When these planets begin to move direct, one by one, as well as at six months form this Aries New Moon, you’ll begin to feel yourself once again on terra firma, or solid ground.    So go forth and prosper, I say…don’t mistake all of this retrograde energy for true stagnation. Instead, utilize the energy of this Aries New Moon, especially the 48-hour period between now and 7:24 a.m. ET on April 9, to make a list of your intentions.    Then meditate on them, pray if you are so inclined, and get out the shovel and spade and plant that metaphorical seed.    When the Sun moves into Taurus on April 19, he may well help gestate that seed with tender loving care. And six months from now you may be singing a different tune–one that bursts forth from inside instinctually!    Life is a continuum, and so it goes… Another little blast from the past that seemed fitting for this Aries New Moon (complete with retro roller disco dancing!)  “At first I was afraid, I was petrified Kept thinking I could never live Without you by my side…  Watch I WILL SURVIVE Here!  Gloria Gaynor, I Will Survive …Did you think I’d crumble Did you think I’d lay down and die? Oh no, not I I will survive As long as I know how to love I know I’ll stay alive I’ve got all my life to live I’ve got all my love to give And I’ll survive I will survive… More Astro News Your Can Use! Click Here For Saturn Retro Video!