🌕 Full Moon in Aries
What Makes Choosing Myself Difficult?
September 26 at 12:49 PM EDT at 3°37'
Aries We are only a few days into Libra season when the Full Moon in Aries shows up, which I actually love for us.
We just spent the majority of Virgo season trying to get ourselves together. Virgo filled our calendars with lists, plans, errands, and routines. Now Libra has us in motion. We are seeing people, shopping, connecting, making decisions, and settling into the rhythms of our lives. We are considering what everyone needs and finding our balance. Figuring out how all the pieces of our lives work together.
Then Aries comes in with a reminder that feels perfectly timed:
Who am I when nobody else gets a vote?
Sit with that for a minute.
Aries is the first sign of the zodiac and rules our first house of self. Its mantra is I AM, and its energy is unapologetically self-serving. Aries wants us to think about what I want, what I need, who I am and where I am going. Which may be exactly the kind of interruption we need during Libra season.
How much of what you do day in and day out is centered around or decided by other people? We spend years collecting identities. The dependable one. The accommodating one. The ambitious one. The strong one. Some come from our families and relationships. Some are rewarded by our careers or collectives. And some are expectations placed upon us by ourselves or others so long ago that we stopped questioning whether we still want to be this version of ourselves anymore.
Our lives change all the time. We are meant to evolve, not simply adapt.
This Full Moon gives us an opportunity to shed some skin. To release the performance obligations, identities, roles, expectations, and even desires that no longer fit. Not because the people around us suddenly don't matter, but because we matter too.
You deserve equal weight on the scales.
And maybe that is where Aries and Libra can teach each other something about balance. Balance doesn't require us to remove anyone else from the scale. It requires us to remember that we belong on it.
There is balance in knowing what belongs to you and what belongs to everyone else. In making decisions from your own heart rather than allowing other people to decide what those choices should be. There is balance in boundaries.
Libra season puts us in the mood to accommodate and consider others. It reminds us why “people need people.” But Libra can get lost in accommodating everyone else, and its sister sign Aries reminds us that fairness is a core value of Libra too. And fairness means turning some of that consideration back toward ourselves.
Not your partner. Not your family. Not your friends. Not your job. Not the people who depend on you. Not even the version of you who made decisions five or ten years ago that you've somehow decided you still have to live by.
Just you.
What do you want now?
And once we know what we want, Aries isn't particularly interested in letting us sit around talking about it.
🔥 Understanding Aries
There is something about a fire moon that makes us want to do something.
Each element moves us in a different way. Air gets us thinking. Water gets us feeling. Earth helps us make the plan and get organized. But fire wants action. Fire moons can make us feel a little bolder, more confident, more passionate and maybe even a little impatient with the things we've been talking ourselves in circles about. Sometimes they give us just enough audacity to finally do something about all the things we've been thinking, feeling and planning.
Aries brings a very particular kind of fire. It's instinctive. It's the confidence to go first, try something, change direction or make a decision before we know exactly how everything is going to work out.
And maybe we don't need another plan right now.
We've spent plenty of time thinking about what we want. We've questioned things, changed our minds, tried new routines, dropped some old ones and learned a few things about ourselves along the way. Now we get to see what happens when we put some of that into practice.
What did I say I wanted? How did that work when put into practice? Am I actually doing it?
Because knowing ourselves and choosing ourselves are two different things. We can know the relationship isn't working. Know the job isn't who we are anymore. Know we need a boundary. Know we've outgrown something and keep making room for it anyway.
Sometimes we aren't waiting for clarity. We already know. We're waiting for the nerve.
So, let's borrow a little from Aries.
🪄 Working With This Energy
Vibe Check
You might have a little less patience for bullshit under this moon.
Aries energy can make us feel energized, confident and ready to move. Things we've been sitting on suddenly feel more urgent. Decisions can come easier. We may feel more independent, more willing to trust our instincts and a lot less interested in asking for permission.
This can feel really good. Especially if you've been stuck in your head lately.
But all that fire needs somewhere to go.
We can also be more impatient, reactive and easily frustrated. Aries isn't exactly known for waiting its turn, choosing its words carefully or considering seventeen different perspectives before responding. Add Libra season into the mix and we may find ourselves bouncing between I need to consider everyone and you know what, f*ck everybody.
Neither extreme is really the assignment.
You may feel: energized, motivated, confident, independent, restless, decisive.
You may be drawn to: movement, making decisions, changing something, saying what you mean, doing something you've been putting off.
Watch for: impulsive decisions, unnecessary arguments, impatience, defensiveness and mistaking a strong reaction for a clear answer.
The fire is useful. The trick is to stop centering everyone else and see what happens when you become the source of your own warmth. Light your own fire and let everyone else decide if they want to gather around it.
Activities & Rituals
Move the fire.
Aries is physical energy. Take a walk, dance, stretch, exercise, clean the house, work in the yard or have sex. It doesn't matter how you move, and it doesn't have to be strenuous. Work with the body you have today and give some of that fire somewhere to go.
Give your head some love.
Aries rules the head and face, so spend a little extra time there. Wash your hair, massage your scalp or temples, do a face mask, rest your eyes, get a haircut or take a long shower and let the hot water run over your head.
Do something just for you.
Take yourself to lunch. Watch what you want to watch. Cook your favorite meal. Spend an afternoon doing something you enjoy. Go somewhere alone. It doesn't need to be productive or meaningful. Let yourself be the only person you're considering for a little while.
Play with your appearance.
Aries rules the first house and how we present ourselves to the world. Wear something that makes you feel good. Try a different hairstyle. Put on the outfit you've been saving. Change something simply because you feel like seeing yourself differently.
Burn it.
Full Moons are for release, and a fire moon gives us the perfect excuse to actually use some fire. After you've done your reflection work, choose something you're ready to put down. Write it on a piece of paper, safely burn it and let the ritual mark the ending.
♈ Aries + Libra Energy to Bring In ♎
Full Moons always bring two energies to the table. With the Moon in Aries opposite the Sun in Libra, we can pull from both.
♈ Aries Moon
Colors: Red, scarlet, orange
Crystals: Carnelian, red jasper, bloodstone, garnet
Scents & Herbs: Rosemary, ginger, cinnamon, peppermint
Element: Fire
Metal: Iron
Body: Head, face, eyes
Foods: Peppers, garlic, onions, ginger, warming spices, grilled or roasted foods, anything with a little heat
♎ Libra Sun
Colors: Pink, soft blue, cream
Crystals: Rose quartz, opal, lapis lazuli
Scents & Herbs: Rose, lavender, vanilla, thyme
Element: Air
Metal: Copper
Body: Kidneys, lower back, skin
Foods: Apples, berries, leafy greens, beautifully plated foods and anything that feels a little indulgent
You don't need to use all of this. Pick what appeals to you. Light a red candle and wear rose quartz. Make something spicy and serve it on the good plates. Burn rosemary while you take a bath. Put on something beautiful, open the windows and let some air into the room.
Aries brings the heat. Libra makes it pretty.
✍️ Journal + Reflection
🌌 Cosmic Weather
🌊 Neptune Conjunct the Aries Full Moon
Neptune rules dreams, intuition and imagination, but also illusion, projection and blurred boundaries. Sitting beside this Full Moon, it may make the line between who we were, who others believe we are and who we're becoming a little harder to see. Nostalgia and idealization can creep into our reflection too. Something can be ready to dissolve even when we don't know what will take its place.
⚡ Uranus in Gemini + Pluto in Aquarius
Uranus brings change, freedom and awakening. Pluto brings transformation and pulls what's buried to the surface. Both support this Full Moon, which is helpful for the work we're doing. Uranus gives us permission to become someone different. Pluto gives us the courage to be honest about why we need to.
🪐 Saturn Retrograde in Aries
Saturn rules responsibility, boundaries and commitment. Retrograde in Aries, it asks us to reconsider what we're actually responsible for. As we shed old roles and expectations, Saturn can help us separate the burdens we've accumulated from the commitments that are genuinely ours. Choosing yourself also means choosing what you're willing to be responsible for.
🔥 Mars Moves into Leo
Mars rules action, desire and courage, and it also rules Aries, making its movement especially relevant here. The day after this Full Moon, Mars enters expressive, confident Leo. After all this reflection about who we are becoming, Mars gives us some fire to actually show up that way. Aries gives us the nerve to choose ourselves. Mars in Leo gives us the courage to live that choice out loud.
🌕 Until Next Time
There are versions of ourselves we fight hard to become. And then one day, sometimes without even noticing it, we outgrow them.
That doesn't make the old version wrong. It doesn't make the choices we made then mistakes. And it doesn't mean we owe anyone an apology for changing our minds. Maybe that's what I want us to remember under this Full Moon.
You are allowed to become unfamiliar.
To want something different. To put something down. To admit that something you once loved doesn't fit anymore. To disappoint someone. To surprise yourself. To make a choice without already knowing how everyone else is going to adjust to it.
The people in our lives get to respond to who we become. They don't get to decide who that is.
So light your fire. Give yourself an equal place on the scale. And when you're ready, let the old skin fall where it falls.
Thank you, as always, for spending a little time under the moon with me. I hope something here gave you a reason to pause, reflect and maybe see yourself a little differently. If you'd like to explore more of my work, you can find the full Moonletter catalog and more at Moonbeam Counsel: https://www.moonbeamcounsel.com/. Not every Moonletter makes it to Substack, so the website will always be the best place to find the full collection.
Until the next moon. 🌙
Rae