Welcome to New Millennium Being

Inner Aries - The Journey of Self

by Guru Rattana, Ph.D. - Issue #117 - March 24, 2006

The next few weeks are an ideal time to pay attention to the influence of planetary energies, on our state of mind and emotions, energy level and events in our lives. Pisces energy and Mercury retrograde in Pisces dominated the energy scene until Monday the 20th of March, when the Sun entered Aries.  The 20th was also the spring equinox.  The shifting of the planet at the equinoxes and solstices often make us feel tired for a day or two, but the energy level definitely picked up after the 21st.  Did you feel it?  While the Sun is in Aries through April 19th, we will have a lot of energy available to light our fires and make things happen.

So if you have been feeling spacey lately, had a hard time getting motivated or making decisions, experienced low energy, or felt frustrated by the lack of activity, good news is on the way!  In addition to the Aries fiery spirit, MERCURY GOES DIRECT MARCH 25th, giving us a sense of relief that things can finally move forward.  We will have even more directed mental and physical energy when Mercury enters Aries on April 16th.

If you still feel like you are on a holding pattern, get ready to take off March 29th when the Moon, Sun and North Node join in a NEW MOON SOLAR ECLIPSE.

Planetary Alignments
Aries New Moon/Solar Eclipse - March 29th – Ready for Something New

Aries is the first sign of the Zodiac and the first fire sign. The first sign of an element initiates us into a one of four foundations of human life. Fire signs express the dynamic spirit of our soul. Aries covets independence and appreciates individuality.  The Ram enthusiastically takes charge of his life and asserts himself to make things happen.  He teaches us that courage is the fire that lights the way to our future.

Aries loves to explore new ground.  The Ram reminds us that every moment is new, and that human life is about experimentation and discovery.  It is through our experiences that we develop and mature.  We are here on planet Earth to advance our soul growth.  We are not here to find a static, comfortable situation.  We are here to go for the gold, and to answer the call of our soul.  We are engaged in an on-going process to release our resistance, and to transmute all forms of fear into courage and compassion.

A solar eclipse intensifies this Aries New Moon, launching us into a deeper awareness of ourselves – our Soul.  Many factors coalesce to spur us to move forward in our lives, and to raise our self-awareness level a notch.  It is time to extricate ourselves from old ruts, to free our minds of outdated beliefs, and to jump to the next octave of our expression of Self.

Where 8° Aries falls in our birth chart indicates the area of life where we are being supported in making a dramatic change in our life.  To do so, we must be willing to take risks, leave the past behind, and step into the unknown future today.  To create new situations, we have to be willing to try new things, to move into uncharted territory, and to accept the “trial and error" nature of human life.

North Mode in Aries - Our Collective Lesson

The North Node of the Moon is a point on the ecliptic and not a celestial body. It symbolizes the direction of our soul evolution.  The North Node in our birth chart indicates the focal point and purpose of our soul’s journey this lifetime.  It defines the essential theme that we are striving for. It is the core motivating factor for our human development, as well as the touchstone for the evolution of our soul.  Our personal North Node remains the same during this lifetime, while the collective North Node changes every 1½ years.  The position of the North Node at any point in time indicates where the individuals of the collective need to focus for their attention.  As we take responsibility for our personal growth, we contribute to our collective evolution.

The North Node is very close to (conjunct) the Sun and the Moon at the Aries Solar Eclipse March 29th.   The North Node is in Aries from December 13th, 2004 through June 21, 2006.  (The North Node moves from 29 to 0° and backward in the Zodiac.)  So the North Node at 4° at this Solar Eclipse means that it is about to complete its journey in Aries.  This Aries New Moon/Solar Eclipse is a strong statement, directing us to learn this round of our Aries lessons NOW.

The whole human race is being urged to address the Aries issues of identity, personal responsibility and freedom.  We are being asked to further develop a sense of our own self, and to be accountable in compassionate, heart-centered relationships.

Aries' Evolutionary Journey

To address Aries’ evolutionary message, we must understand the nature of Aries’ journey.   Immature Aries is ignorant of the impact of his actions on others.  His self-centeredness makes him oblivious to the needs and boundaries of others.  When his fire energy is not directed toward his soul growth, he is restless, distracted, impatient and often frustrated or angry.

The Aries soul path is to our established individuality, originality, independence, and self-consciousness.  The Aries archetype teaches us to be an individual and not an extension of someone else.  It teaches us the importance of being alone, so we can find our own center and gather our own strength.  In doing so, we can overcome the root of Aries’ fear, which comes from feeling that our identity is threatened.  Self-preservation is a primal instinct and goal for Aries.

A major goal of the Aries archetype is to develop a one-pointed mind, which makes it possible to transcend conflict and confusion.  In our Aries power, we are in touch with our higher self/heart, where we can take a stand for ourselves from our own truth.  We are not tempted by relationship security, flattery or attention.  When our identity is firmly established, we can cultivate relationships without being codependent, victimized or unavailable. Logic, not fantasy or manipulation, must rule.

As we learn our Aries lessons, we claim the gifts of self-confidence, decisiveness, self-love and the ability to live life fully and passionately.

Get Real - Lighten Your Load

Other planetary interactions near, and at, this New Moon assist us in taking a giant step forward in our soul’s evolutionary journey.

Mars in Gemini Opposes Pluto in Sagittarius (exact April 8th). At lower vibrations (immature developmental stages), Mars, the ruling planet of Aries, is expressed as aggression, defensiveness and war-mongering.  At higher frequencies (more mature behavior) Mars is simply the fuel of our soul.  The position and sign of Mars in our birth chart indicates where, and how, we express our vital energy to pursue our life goals.  Mars in Gemini (February 18th through April 29th) does not use its energy and resources to fight wars.  In Gemini, Mars invites everyone to have a party, to get to know each other, and to honestly communicate our needs and desires.  We are urged, by Mars in Gemini, to keep our minds open to fun possibilities that tickle our souls.

Pluto in Sagittarius keeps us cognizant of the fact that our spiritual transformation is the foundation for lightening our load. The more we disassociate from assumptions, beliefs, and programming imposed upon us by external authorities, the more authentic we become.  Aries Sun, Moon and North Node offer an encouraging theme – the more we embrace, express and enjoy our authentic selves, the happier we will be.

Pluto Stations Retrograde very near the galactic center a few minutes before the solar eclipse.(1) When a planet is stationary (moving either retrograde or direct), its energy is amplified.  Pluto’s message WILL get our attention.  We MUST recognize how our beliefs limit our progress and keep us stuck.  We MUST think beyond our social, family, religious and political conditioning.  We can increase our understanding of who we are, and the purpose of our lives, by expanding our ability to perceive non-physical reality.  The determining universal rules, the direction of our lives, and a view of the bigger picture, are available to us only through our sensitive inner knowing.

Creativity Happens Outside the Box

Saturn goes direct on April 5th, after being retrograde since November 22nd, 2005.  Saturn retrograde in Leo has given us time to reflect on the direction we wish to take in expressing our creative self.  Our creative endeavors can now be launched.  It is time to set specific goals and to define practical strategies.  Deep within we each desire to live our truth. Living our truth requires identifying the modes and means that match our soul essence.  Living our truth also requires defining the forms that best express our soul’s gifts.  The more we take responsibility for following the guidance of our soul, and offering our gifts to the world, the greater the levels of satisfaction we achieve.

Mercury Conjunct Uranus (March 24th - March 29th) stimulates us to think outside the box of convention, and to follow our inner guidance.  Our heart always knows.  How else can we really know?  Our soul is always communicating with us.  Our job is to LISTEN, and then to cultivate the Self-confidence and the courage to forge our own path.  If what we do with our lives has been tried and proven, it is not our unique path.  This year we have the opportunity to open our hearts and minds to new frontiers.  Expansion of our inner reality is the foundation for moving to the next level of physical manifestation.

When we begin a new journey, we must prepare wisely, and be attentive to the messages that direct us to adjust our course of action as we proceed.  As we set off into the unknown, we need to understand and accept that the nature of our journey is exploration - we will learn as we go.  We have to be alert, so we can alter our course as needed, and respond to unforeseen circumstances.  We are designing, not following, the map of our lives.

Libra Full Moon - April 13th

If we desire predictability and guarantees in life, we might as well stay on the couch in front of the TV.  The problem with choosing the couch option, however, is that our energy implodes.  Change is the underlying dynamic of the Universe.  Our souls have come to Planet Earth to evolve, not to conform or to take time out.  We are here to play the game called LIFE! Our energy WILL move.  When we let fear keep us from taking action, when we refuse to move forward in our lives, when we repress our creative urges, the energy that could be used to learn, develop and manifest, gets expressed in stress, depression and illness.  Many mental and physical problems could be avoided simply by embracing the challenges of life, instead of finding excuses to avoid them.

The highest internal expression of Libra is the neutral mind.  The optimal way to engage the energy of this Full Moon is to find the neutral channel inside your mind, and to go deeply into the experience of balance, non-judgment and peace, that this channel affords.  In the neutral channel we are offered a place of reprieve from the conflicts of our dualistic mind.  In the neutral channel we have access to our intuition, to pure knowing and to guidance from our soul.

Aries teaches us that, only if we listen to ourselves can we truly know who we are and what to do.  When we are able to listen to and follow our own heart, we can establish our own individuality, exercise healthy independence, and be calmly (non-aggressively) assertive.  Our self-confidence is found deep in our neutral channel.  If we wisely use the energies of this Full Moon, to use our neutral channel to bypass the conflict channel and listen to our heart, we will be able to move forward with confidence and courage.  Our fears, neuroses and illusions will wilt into paper tigers before our inner eye, as we see the awesome power of our soul.  We will tap dormant abilities that make it possible to access greater abundance and happiness in our lives.  In neutral, we have access to the universal power that is expressed through our soul.  We can emerge from this Full Moon with an experience of the greater “I" that is directing our lives.

From Personality to Soul Identity

The compass of our lives is pointed in the direction of peace, wholeness and satisfaction.  As we confront and deal with our challenges, we evolve into higher states of empowerment and awareness.  We each have a soul blueprint that determines our natural harmonic.  When we walk on our life's path, our life experiences interweave to bring our soul harmonic into alignment with our human beingness.

Aries symbolizes our inner drive to explore our soul’s purpose, and to eventually find the inner beauty of our soul.  We are each designed according to the sacred formula of our soul.  Our soul is a unique vibration of the divine dynamics of the Universe.  When we experience the purity of our divine essence, we discover the awesome reality that we are one with the One.

The identity challenges we face in life, lead us from the disconnected extremes of self-negation and narcissism, to a mature understanding of our spiritual identity.  Our evolution takes us through many phases of self-definition. These include social and group definitions, and identification with our body, personality and emotions.  The closer we get to experiencing ourselves as the vibration that we feel, the closer we get to our soul reality.  As we move through the layers of negative emotional imprints, and embrace our emotional body through self-love, we begin to experience the essence of our soul.  The more attuned we become to the dance of our own energies, the happier we are.

Here on Planet Earth, our body is the instrument of our soul.  Our body is designed so that we can experience our soul, but this does not just automatically happen. That is why we have spiritual technology – yoga, meditation and the martial arts.  Our body must be activated and aligned by us.  We have to do the work to fully assimilate our souls into our physical form. If we are not mentally, emotionally and spiritually in harmony with our body, we feel detached from it. The more we achieve alignment, the more we feel at home inside our skin.

Who am I?

Aries confronts us with the most basic human question – Who am I?  To be or not to be - THAT is a life long question for Aries. In the Piscean age we found our identity in group identification. I am a (insert name of religion, nationality, race, profession).  Our association with others in the same category gave us a sense of meaning and security.

However, if we look for validation and self-worth in an identity that is a group category, we run into several problems. One is that we may not search deep enough to find our individual identity, where we eventually experience our soul and oneness with the Universe. Another problem is that we want others to have the same belief system, i.e. identity, so that we feel validated and confirmed. The superiority, exclusivity and self-righteousness resulting from this human tendency, is one of the principle causes of war.  Collectives that exist to defend and impose their religious and political ideologies (supported by economic greed), keep the planet in conflict, darkness and fear.

In the Aquarian Age we can find our identity within ourselves.  The closer we get to our soul, the more we realize that we are all connected and created from the same Source.  The urge to control and dominate others is replaced by the desire to honor and support all human beings.  The relevant identity questions become - Am I me?  Do I live in the light of my soul?  Am I at one with the One?

As these questions begin to resonate, we are motivated to practice technologies that help us achieve this state of consciousness. Classifications that once seemed to be important become irrelevant, in relationship to our goals of personal happiness and collective peace.

My Voice - The Aries/Libra Dynamic

As our self-awareness expands, we begin to hear our own inner voice.  We realize that we have our own needs, preferences and desires.  We also realize that only we can speak for ourselves.

As we learn to trust our inner voice, we can start making more supportive and loving choices for ourselves. The critical point is to listen to our soul voice, and not to the voice of our inner critic, which takes its cues from external authorities.  It is a very useful exercise to monitor our inner critic, and investigate the source of this destructive self-judgment.

The pairing of Aries and Libra helps us realize the dynamic between individuality and relationship.  Claiming back our free will, and establishing an honest relationship with ourselves, requires that we investigate how and why we learned to listen, and to respond to the desires and demands of others above our own needs and guidance.  We must become aware of our codependent emotional habits in order to change them. The self/relationship dance is an on-going process of self-discovery and empowerment.  We reclaim our free will by getting to know, value, listen to and take care of ourselves.

The bottom line is that we have to be totally honest with ourselves.  If we lie to ourselves, we are an open target to be manipulated and exploited by others.  Both abusive and loving relationships are a dynamic that involve both partners.  Our job is to create a relationship with ourselves that makes supportive relationships with others possible.  Aries gives us the fire energy to develop inner strength, self love and self-confidence, so that we can maintain our own identity in our interactions with others.  When we have our own anchor, we can hold steady.  When we listen to our own voice, we can follow it.  When we define our own path, we find peace and joy within.(2)

Kundalini Yoga - Self-Assessment

The ability to assess our choices and their consequences is an essential requirement for reclaiming our free will. The problem for most of us is that, at some level, our self-evaluation process has been usurped by a destructive, overly-critical self-judgment.  The goal is not to condemn or prosecute ourselves.  The goal is to honestly access our desires and figure out how to get them met.  Self-evaluation should help us develop self-esteem, not reduce it.  We should be empowered by our ability to figure out and evaluate what works for us and what doesn’t.

The trick, of course, is that we have to be authentic.  We have to listen to the messages of our soul, which are communicated through our intuition, emotions and instincts.  We also have to be willing to be accountable, i.e. we can’t blame anyone else for our choices, or for our actions and their consequences.

To make appropriate choices and to evaluate their efficacy, we have to be able to reach far enough inside ourselves to connect with our soul center, that knows our original intent for incarnating this lifetime. The more we stick with our original commitment, and the less we get distracted, the more our self-evaluation will result in a deep sense of satisfaction.

Aries' Touchstones

“It is not the life that matters.  It is the courage you bring to it."  Yogi Bhajan.
The cornerstone of self-love is to KNOW AND BELIEVE IN YOUR OWN BEING!

Relax and Renew, 2nd Edition, by Guru Rattana, Ph.D.

 
Relax and Renew by Guru Rattana, Ph.D. takes stress reduction to the level of spiritual resolution. The techniques offered in this book don't just cover up the symptoms, they completely cure the problem!

• New, fully revised and expanded 2nd Edition

• Over 100 Yoga Sets & Meditations

• 240 information-packed pages

• Relax & Release stress in 2-11 minutes

• Rejuvenate your Body

Meditation on the Self - Access Your Neutral Channel

While the Sun is in Aries, be with yourself in the following ways:

  1. Focus your attention on your breath in your body and your energy in your body.
  2. Listen for our own voice.
  3. Monitor your inner critic, and investigate the source of any destructive self-judgment.
  4. Pay attention to your self-assessment process, and shift it to a constructive evaluation that makes you accountable for your actions, and supports you in achieving your goals.

Cultivating your neutral mind is essential for this self-examination.  The practice of any Kundalini Yoga kriya or meditation shifts your inner space.  The important thing is to take the time, between exercises and after each set and meditation, to be with yourself in this expanded awareness. There are many, many Kundalini Yoga exercises and meditations that make it possible to quickly access our neutral mind.(3)  All the exercises, with the hands out to the sides, balance the brain and bring it into a neutral state.  Here is one such exercise.

Meditation to Access Your Neutral Channel

Do this exercise when you need to get into a neutral space.  Afterwards notice how your mental state changes.  Use this clear space to focus on yourself in the above 4 ways.

Each day conduct your life with the knowing that, your soul walks with you and communicates with you, every step of the way.

References and Footnotes

"Aries New Moon", by Stephanie Austin, The Mountain Astrologer, Issue #125, Feb/March 2006, p. 105.

"Virgo Full Moon", by Stephanie Austin, The Mountain Astrologer, Issue #126, April/May 2006, p. 95.

1. Austin, p. 105.
2. Here are some ways to investigate how we deceive ourselves.  They were offered by Ovasoul on the old Kundalini Yoga Yahoo Groups list:
“What is your lie?

It is our own desires that make people appear charismatic to us. For example, these abusive people would not appear emotionally attractive to people with a healthier sense of self love, and conversely a healthy loving gentle person will not appear dynamic, exciting, attractive and 'charismatic' to someone with a damaged sense of self worth."

3. Relax and Renew 2nd Edition by Guru Rattana, Ph.D. has a whole section on “Relax and Renew in 2-11 Minutes."  Every one of these exercises and meditations will quickly alter your state of mind. It is both useful and empowering to be able to shift from a stressed to a more relaxed state of being. Life works so much better in neutral!!

Top of Page

spacer

For news of all the latest astrological events, check out Guru Rattana Blog