Full Moon in Aries :: Care becomes the aftermath of anger

October 9, 2022 at 3:54 pm Central—American novelist Louisa May Alcott once mused: “A little kingdom I possess, where thoughts and feelings dwell; And very hard the task I find of governing it well.”  Sunday’s Full Moon in Aries might accentuate the challenge of managing our own little kingdoms.

Finalizing agreements

The lunation occurs on the heels of Mercury turning direct. Still in its shadow phase, we’re in the process of finalizing the negotiations and compromises we made last month in the Libran domain of partnerships of all kinds. As the Moon in Aries opposes the Sun in Libra, Mercury is in the final stages of nitty-gritty analysis of Virgo, preparing to re-enter fair-minded Libra the following day. Some of us are wrapping up a personal audit as we move forward in hopes of implementing more harmony and balance in our relationships. As we do, we should tread lightly, knowing that our perspective may not be shared. Only with complete self-awareness and willingness to see another’s viewpoint, can we hope for sustainable results.

Self-advocacy with self-constraint

A Full Moon in Aries carries themes of self-advocacy. At the top of our agenda might be explaining our POV or where our needs have been ignored. Yet with a sextile to Saturn in Aquarius, this lunation advises cool constraint for constructive results.  In addition, self-control is especially important as the ruler of this lunation, Mars, is in the Air sign of Gemini. Mars in Gemini can decimate with words, speaking quickly and too freely (#uncensored). Once the flying daggers have stuck, they leave a scar. The advice here is to pick our words wisely and from a place of responsiveness, not reactiveness.

Another piece of advice: do not overpromise. With the Sun in Libra, some will offer to do too much in order to come to an agreement or to win someone over. Yet when Mars turns retrograde the end of the month, those promises might feel over-inflated and impossible to meet. Better to underpromise and overdeliver than the other way around.

Chiron underscores the potential for past wounding coming up now as it is conjunct the Full Moon. Past traumas and hurts that have been festering away behind closed doors can be revealed now.  Yet Chiron itself has two faces: one side carries the injury while the other holds the medicine. This is where Alcott might find the hardest task of all: how do we manage our thoughts and feelings in our little kingdom when ancient wounds are being triggered in a current setting? If we can remember in the heart of every wound lies the vital seed of wisdom, we can employ current challenges to cultivate that seed and discard its fleshy trauma as compost.

A Venusian lining

Venus can help us. The planet of love graces Sunday’s lunation as it conjuncts the Sun and advances towards a trine with stabilizing Saturn. Venus in Libra desires harmony, beauty and goodwill. Even though we might not see it right now as Venus is under the beams of the Sun, there’s a spirit of benevolence despite some of the sharp thoughts and self-centeredness in the little kingdom.

In Talk Easy, critically acclaimed Vietnamese American poet Ocean Vuong observes: “Care is tied to anger. It becomes the aftermath of anger.” Perhaps Vuong speaks a peace-making truth from his Libra Sun and Mercury. Yet it strikes me that the topic of care following anger is truly fitting for a lunation conjunct Chiron and ruled by hot headed Mars in an Air Sign. This Full Moon in Aries opposed Venus invites us to graciously inject reparative care into people and situations that matter to us. If we can approach important relationships at this time with Venusian ideals, with cool heads and with the willingness to see the other’s point of view, healing and equilibrium await in the wings.

Gummy castle images found on Twitter @darylanselmo