Aries is the first sign on the Zodiac. From a Western Astrological perspective, Aries reflects the energies of both the new beginnings of a new year, as well as a New Moon on April 1, 2022. Feelings of uncertainty make it tempting to run the hurry up offense by trying to solve problems faster than is natural. Do not rush as if there was a deadline. It is wise for the Ram to try to slow down their steps so that they can decide what they want to do and proceed at their own chosen speed. In the heat of the moment, remember the cool, wintry transitional shoreline tides of Pisces to take a deep breath, relax and go with the flow. May this be a gentle letting go of the heavy blanket of Winter, including any judgements you have been carrying in your backpack. The mystical, soulful travels of other dimensions are as important as the practicality of knowing how to live on this Earth. We all go through ages and stages in our life cycles. As humans, we all get insecure and suffer. We have neglected and even discounted our spirits. Vanity and glorifying youth culture can become a barrier to embracing our cosmetic imperfections. No, we can’t turn back the clock. With meditation, the aging process can be slowed down and even reversed. But meditation isn’t a cure nor is it a cosmetic approach. Developing a regular meditation practice is an inside-out approach to nurture our spirits (as well as our bodies and minds) that can have a meaningful and sustainable impact on our everyday lives. As we change the way we look at ourselves in the mirror of the mind, the way we look in the mirror changes.

Aries the Ram brings the element of fire and is a life force to be reckoned with because they can be fiercely deliberate in their approach. Aries is the part of our personality that embodies the power of our will, which is masculine or yang. Keep in mind that all women have masculine energy in them, while all men have feminine energy in them. So as the yin and yang, these energies flow within all of us and have a natural desire to be expressed. The Billy Joel classic song, My Life, captures the self determination of Aries to do whatever it wants. An intentional selection of crisis reflects the mountains we choose to climb. This writer remembers tapping into his inner ram during some radical hiking adventures, where being present with secure footing and listening to the elements could literally mean the difference between avoiding serious injury, or even life or death on any given moment. There were times that he lost his way, ran out of water and had to pull from resources that he didn’t even know were there. But the spirit of Aries is an intense and direct warrior and they will be sure to bring fire to their target. It won’t be a question of how to avoid stress because Aries attract stress like a magnet. The question is what form will it take. It’s as if the Aries positive self talk mantra asserts: pick your battles, as its signpost. Energy is energy. It’s what we do with it that counts and our approach that matters. We do not need to draw our swords or go to war with each other. Nobody likes feeling like they’ve been thrown under the bus or ambushed in relationship with each other. Remember that anger is the bodyguard of our fears, which explains why most, if not all emotional reactions come from a place of anxiety. Like the yin and yang, order and chaos are always at play with each other.

Check out this Civil Rights oriented video that captures the intersection between the powerful energies of Aries and feminine youth poetry in motion:

A Full Pink Moon, which gets its name from vegetation known as moss pink, arrives on April 16. The Cree Indigenous People called this Full Moon the Frog Moon. It is also known as the Paschal Full Moon because it is the first Full Moon of Spring. Easter is always celebrated on the Sunday after the first Full Moon of Spring, following the Spring Equinox, which was on March 20. This year, Easter falls on Sunday, April 17th. Like humans, flora and fauna; traditions have been mixing since creation. The light rises till its climax on the Summer Solstice on June 21, 2022. After that, the sunlight will slowly start waning until light and dark energies are equal again on the Autumn Equinox in September.

Artwork by Barbara Merlotti

When Frog sings in the torrential downpours of rain falling onto your Being . . .

No need to let it dampen your spirits!

Soak up the cleansing shower of Heavenly tears

by letting yourself bathe in a colorful

rainbow that shines on your golden soul.

What does Frog have to say to you about cleaning up

your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors?

Is there something you need to release or let go of?

How are you weathering the spirits of your daily routine?

A Full Pink Moon reflects an early arrival of spring vegetation in our outer world.

Let Frog guide you into an internal spring cleaning.

Clean, purify, detox and release any dirty, stagnant energies

that muddy the waters your soul wants to set free.

The winds of change are in the air!

Here we are hopping further along into Spring . . .

Frog showers us with purifying songs of April rains!

We branch out of a wintery coffin after a soulful energetic spring cleaning.

Rainbows reflect colorful flowers blossoming with clean care;

A Full Pink Moon signals an early arrival spring of flowers spreading outside –

Abundance and fertility are in the air!

Time to clear away the internal clutter . . .

Are you remembering to take deep, cleansing breaths to stay grounded?

Might as well transform the way we hop through life.

Call on the positive vibrations to reverberate in your soul’s acoustics.

Metamorphosis abounds as May flowers whisper in the winds of change.

Frog awakens magical elemental forces of water and land;

What needs to be released from your mind-body-spirit?

Picture a Frog to help you develop a deeper respect for boundaries.

Visualize transformative travels through powerful conductors of water and sound;

Your creative powers want to spring forth!

Now is the time to let go of stale, stuck energies

that want to uproot your soul’s impetus to evolve and grow!

Commentary:

Showers in April are a good reminder that it is time a good Spring clean-up. Time for cleansing, purification, detoxification and release. Nature reflects our inner world for us to examine. The beauty of a rainbow could not exist without the storm that preceded it. It’s when we feel lost and alone that a rainbow appears that brightens our spirits. Otherwise, we would not be able to differentiate a dark sky from a clear day. From a spiritual perspective, we are living in a time of transition, where there is the death of an old world and rebirth of a New Earth. We are literally taking our first quantum leap onto the lily pad of the Aquarian Age. In this process, we need to let go of divisive us and them, stale, boxed in thinking, old ways of being sacrificial lambs, dog eat dog, you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours, male dominating female, fear of feminine power and unbalance of power by subjugating Black Indigenous People of Color and Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer people. The awakening New Age of Aquarius is a time where we can find our way in our own uniqueness by aligning who we are as individuals that mixes with group consciousness. Diversity within Unity. We are moving into a time period where the ego does not dominate the playing field anymore. It is about us becoming what is in tune with our Higher Selves or our Better Angels, as President Lincoln said. We can be aligned in our heads and our hearts with each other and come from a place of authentic soulful recognition. Yes, we have our prewired and learned fears, negative self talk and voices of trauma. But we don’t have to be seduced or submerged by them. Sitting with the Lotus flower out in Nature will help show you the way by becoming the change you want to see in the world. Observe this transformative process unfolding within yourself.

Take care of yourselves everyone,

Ari