Before we brace ourselves for October Eclipse Season, the Aries Harvest Moon illuminates altered angles on creativity, communication and beyond, inviting us to align before we reach further into the Autumnal haze.
The Harvest Moon’s longevity as an important phase spans centuries of festivities and lore for a universal reason. Harvest’s significance in all agricultural societies hallmarks gratitude for the nourishment that will stretch into the colder months, praying for robust health and sustenance in the possible scarcity in Winter. Harvest spiritually represents more than a physical gather and preparation for Darker Days; we contemplate our hard work, progress, happiness and also our loss, grief and hardship. The Full Moon closest to the Autumn Equinox is the coming to a close and yet also a beginning, a New Adventure.
At the Aries Harvest Moon, beholding where we’ve been and where we’re going, sparking serendipitous ideas that may lead into action or quell what we wish to no longer hold onto, will support us in attaining more balance, the bread and butter of Libra Season.
THE LUNAR NODES IN ARIES-LIBRA
I should clarify that the typical “face-off” posts re: the Polarity, Duality and Axis of an Astro pair tends to be fairly pointed in the caustic or avoidant aspects of “opposite” signs. And many Full Moons DO tend to bring out broody, moody behavior. Thus far, Capricorn-Cancer, Aqua-Leo, and Pisces-Virgo have been quite the challenges! We’re straying from our usual modus operandi to focus on the extra sprinkle of cosmic spice that the Lunar Nodes bring to this abundant Harvest Full Moon in Aries, full of promise and potential. This portal is more than a moment… it can carry us through the rest of this year and all of next… with a little thought and focus.
In mid-July, the Lunar Nodes changed guards, a major moon movement dictating Eclipse Seasons and the texture to our paths for the next year and a half.
The Nodes are not bodies but “two points calculated in space that lie between the ecliptic of the Sun and the orbit of the Moon”. For us Earthlings, the Astro Signs that the North Node and South Node inhabit will persist within personal aspects of our forward movement and needed resolution. Whether it be in harmony or unrest between dreams or past issues, the Lunar Nodes notify pieces of our own Astro make-up, inciting conditionals that need to deal and heal. Where Aries and Libra lie in your own natal chart or associated Houses will give insight to themes ahead.
From July 2023 to January 2025, the Lunar Nodes will dwell in Cardinal signs: the North Node in Aries and South Node in Libra.
The North Node, the Head of the Dragon, represents growth and the South Node, the Tail of the Dragon, represents our experiences. North looks ahead and South is what’s to be processed and left behind.
The North Node in Aries has the possibility to be extremely positive, if that’s your wish. North Node in Aries exudes confidence, which stokes our creative selves and passions and can be helpful for those looking to make improvements in the personal, professional, social and activism sectors. However, the North Node as the Dragon’s Head can be full of flame, speaking before thinking, double-dangerous in Aries. Being mindful of impulsivity and egoic extremes will be key, as is the advice for the Full Moon weekend, too.
The South Node in Libra will spotlight relationships and how we communicate in general. Our entire foundation for learning to relate, show love and show up may become foreign to us. We may have growing pains about our wants and needs. We also must give ourselves grace when looking at our familial and romantic shortcomings. Difficult turns of severance or learning to speak up may be pressing, but what is needed to balance our energy and emotions will be topics of exploration in processing the past.
Led by action-and-aggression Mars, Cardinal Fire Aries rules the 1st House of Self. When centered and calm, Aries is a Catalyst of Great Change.
Led by beauty-and-values Venus, Cardinal Air Libra rules the 7th House of Partnerships. When freed of being “perceived”, Libra learns to “Just Be”, instead of “People-Please”.
In transition from the previous Fixed Signs of North Node in Taurus (ruled by Venus) and South Node in Scorpio (ruled by Mars and Pluto), there was immense focus on security, safety and the material vs spiritual world. These newest Lunar Nodes will still have a touch of Venus and Mars and are the very essence of “new beginnings”. (Lunar Nodes “retrograde”, which is why the sequence moves backwards through the Signs.)
Being “back to the start” of the Zodiac and its' halfway counterpart, we will see more focus on Aries’ “me” vs Libra’s “we”. The Aries North Node and Libra South Node will teach us much about standing our ground AND learning to compromise. Instead of against each other, we may choose to see them as Lovers, teaching each other to grow with their specific set of gifts.
9/29 HARVEST FULL MOON IN ARIES
Tomorrow’s Full Moon will be an ideal time to consider our identity: how we define ourselves, what roles we’ve outgrown, how to accept our multi-faceted contradictions and dance into Grace and Growth.
The Harvest Moon in Aries flavors this Nodal Cycle with its headstrong North Node heat, all the while waxing poetic on the duality in the fresh fancy of Libra Season. The youthful energy of Aries can be sparky and when overwhelmed, combustible. However, when ideas around projects or doing something we’ve longed to do but have been too afraid to… if all is ethically considered (aglow with Libra’s love-shine of logic and heart), an Aries Full Moon is an amazing time to burst out of our confinements. Arriving September 29th around 6AM EST, the Harvest Moon will carry into the weekend and help us come to terms with how we want to live our lives and appreciate the multi-faceted people that we are becoming.
It’s true that situations change us, whether by occupying our time, energy, effort… and most of all, the burden of expectation. Responsibility is important; so are acts of art, love, experimentation.
Identity is a given: it shapes our generational, cultural, communal roots. Identity carries into specific upbringing, barriers, abilities, sexualities (yes, we can have many) and on. Identity will always be important to honor. Roles, on the other hand, can confine and in some cases stifle. When we enter careers and relationships, become parents and community counterparts, we learn to shape ourselves in our duties. Even in pursuing our own wishful fields of interests and procuring more serious presentations of our labors of love, we make sure to market ourselves in a neat little package. Art becomes work, we become the brand, and it leaves our dreams feeling lackluster at times.
Social and networking settings commonly convince us to hide so much of ourselves, self-imposed thru a game of shame about how we find ourselves to be brash or embarrassing. Sometimes we even bury aspects of our lives that bring us joy altogether in order to commit to the bit. Though a complicated and very individual and personal topic, Aries’ sector of Identity and Self has a great power to cut through the bullshit and remind us that it is most important to be comfortable with who we are, whoever that may be.
Who we are is constantly changing. That can make us uncomfortable, especially in this society where we literally procure items to build up our presentation to the world. It’s also okay to be amorphous in this exploration. The Harvest Aries Full Moon is shining right now to say no more strict bullshit or masking malarkey! The Warrior Princess will continue to persist in her battle of truth and acceptance as the Lunar Nodes move through their year and half long cycle. Yes, our comfort zones can be challenged. Libra’s gentle encouragement can allow us to find space to do this bit by bit.
Though this is a hard pill to swallow, it is best to see it as an idea to ponder. The 2023 Full Moon in Aries is luckily not an Eclipse and projects a relatively refreshing energy if we are not too hard on ourselves… which is the point of being comfortable in our own skin and with our own selves in the first place. Though Aries in overflow could always be utilized for the superfluous and petty, I find Aries Moon time to be reaffirming as long as it is balanced by kinder reflection (the grace of Libra Season). Once the ultra-energetic Aries energy is centered, it is a Fire that can cleanse and clear. Going back to Virgo Season, we must be kind to our child-selves. In Libra Season, we learn to make decisions while being open-minded.
Can we remember our situations and stories but walk away without having to burn it all to the ground?
There is a way to cut ties with the Past or do so in the Present without bringing Resentment with us into the Future. The absolute unforgiving Dark Side of Aries can be destructive but as long as emotion is accepted and able to be felt and processed, there is potential to break curses (therapy immensely helps). We spoke at length about the explosive time-bomb that can be scary Aries Moon energy in 2022’s Fire, Walk With Me post, a nod to cyclical abuse through generational trauma as it relates to Twin Peaks. Themes around past addiction, alcoholism and toxic love behaviors can become inflamed in Fire Moon Fullness as well. Take care at this time.
Any way in which fantasy is sought for escapism, entertainment as an extension of suspension in disbelief, a wonderment of adventure that stimulates and/or recharges our own frazzled brain capacities, can quickly sour especially when we become too attached to the high it provides. Chasing that high is no longer sustainable. Maybe the validation we seek can come from within us. Maybe there are connections to be made that will actually challenge us to become better versions of ourselves. Maybe we need to accept that the messy stumbly unglamourous parts of our daily lives do not mean that we are failing at anything. We are human.
It’s time to also look at the systems that place TOO MUCH EMPHASIS ON OUTWARD PRESENTATION AND BEING PUT TOGETHER ALL THE TIME. It’s time to protect our peace from the profit-hungry thieves of society that make us want to buy, buy, buy in order to feel like we are doing the damn thing “right”, giving us dopamine but only leading to disappointment. Our value does not hinge on the way we look, our resumes, social status, abilities.
It’s normal to get to a point where perhaps we’ve outgrown something (or someone) that is not serving our health and happiness, but we may be afraid to let go because we believe it defines us in some way.
Some period of our life that we endured pain becomes so sacred that we can not let it go. Some narrative that made sense to us for so long may not work as well as it did before, but it is the only one we’ve got. Some person did not love us as we needed *uh-hm, parent* that we search endlessly on this Earth looking to fulfill achievements, make money, be praised in its stead. We’ve worked hard at these motivations and people and places. Who are we if we venture outside of them? In many ways, we have FOUGHT to protect these versions of ourselves, only to realize the dead-end of the definition.
Could it be an adventure to try to give ourselves kindness? To tiptoe out of the “shoulds” and “could have”s and let ourselves explore other arenas? What will we find on the other side of fear? Who will we let ourselves be if we don’t try so hard at staying the same?
All images in this post by Yoshitaka Amano.