Full Moon in Aries: Invite Your Shadow to the Ball
We must squarely face those parts of self we try to ignore; otherwise, they act out, wreak havoc, create problems small and large until we are conscious of them.
Tomorrow, we welcome the Full Moon in the cardinal fire sign of Aries, the headstrong Ram. Aries is a warrior, going for what it wants, and willing to fight for what it believes in. At the time of this lunation, the Moon is conjunct the dwarf planet Eris, also in Aries, in a tight square to Pluto in Capricorn. Mars, Aries’ ruler, is conjunct the Sun opposing the Moon to top it all off in a challenging t-square aspect.
With Eris and Pluto in a tight square since 2020 and onward into 2022, we are implored to look more deeply at the shadow within ourselves and within our society, our world. It’s crucial to be honest – painstakingly so – about the truth of our disowned parts of self. We must squarely face those parts we try to ignore; otherwise, they act out, wreak havoc, create problems small and large until we are conscious of them. This is what our Full Aries Moon brings out for us to see, and all of this is highlighted by the strong presence of Eris, who has come into our conscious awareness within our lifetime.
Eris is a dwarf planet discovered in 2005. Andrea Michelle Haeckel and other evolutionary astrologers have done an excellent job discussing the origin (discovery) chart of Eris, and what it is likely to represent for us. Eris is related to Pluto in her energy – she heralds the need to go into the dark material, to uncover that which is buried far beneath the surface. Eris has an orbit of 558 years; she will remain in Aries until 2044. As mentioned, she is currently squaring Pluto, giving us a collective transformational jolt, forcing us to face and reconcile so many hidden parts of ourselves and the world we live in.
Invite Your Shadow to the Ball
If you’re afraid of your own shadow, or keep denying it in the other (person, partner, friend, nation, leader, media, culture, etc.), you will notice recurring, unpleasant themes that are increasingly uncomfortable and persistent in our lives. Hallmark themes include victim, perpetrator; blaming, shaming. Repeated questioning of “Why does this keep happening (to me, to them, because of them)?” There are obvious examples of this when we experience repetitive themes of disappointment in relationships, for example, we are not honest about a secret desire to be rescued by a partner. It’s buried way deep under the surface of our psyche, and a relationship falls apart through seemingly no clear reason. Yet, if you were to dig deep and uncover the truth, you’d see that you were harboring something inside that blocked you from meeting the other person from a position of health and strength and fullness of your being. Perhaps it was a secret motivation. Perhaps it was a hidden bucket of low self-worth. It was a setup for failure from the beginning.
(I recommend the Jungian Robert Johnson’s book Owning Your Own Shadow as a great starting point for this material.)
In mythology, which offers us the archetypes present in astrology, the goddess Eris was the sister of Aries, god of war. Known for her chaotic, discordant ways, Eris was snubbed, shut out, and not invited to a wedding on Mount Olympus. Eris came to the party anyway, of her own accord, and brought a golden apple as an offering. The apple was inscribed, “For the Fairest.” When the other highfalutin goddess guests got wind of the treasure, they started bickering and fighting to take possession of it.
Aphrodite (Venus), Athena (Pallas), and Hera (Juno) all wanted the apple. They tried to get the great Zeus (Jupiter) to make the decision, to judge who was the “fairest.” Zeus wanted no part of the goddesses’ bickering, and thus sent them to Paris, a young prince of Troy who was tending sheep at the time, to make the choice. They all implored Paris (“Choose me! Choose me!”) and tried to bribe him. Athena promised Paris a great army, Hera promised him rulership of many lands. But Aphrodite tempted him with the hand of the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen of Sparta. Helen was already married, nevertheless, Aphrodite’s bait was taken – Paris proclaimed her “the fairest,” and the seizing of Helen’s already taken hand set off the entire Trojan War, which cost countless deaths and lasted over ten years. All for the sake of lust, vanity, and greed.
(I recommend The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller for an alternative and lovely literary account of the Trojan War story.)
And so we see the golden apple of Eris – the goddess of chaos and discord – had the power to reveal character traits in these gods and mortals that were hardly esteemable and in fact, were deadly to thousands of others.
What is needed at this time of Eris so prominent in our collective psyche, is to look at the unsavory parts of ourselves we are denying. Yes, the ugly parts. The parts we are hiding, or covering up with some nice packaging. Eris is front and center now, here to flush out and expose anything nefarious that is hidden in a person, setup, or scenario.
With shadow work, if we are aware of those parts, they don’t generally cause much damage. We don’t carelessly bandy them about, and we don’t use them to gain traction with others, to posture, to gain status, to unfairly win. A fuller consciousness comes into play – we integrate our shadow, alchemize it, digest it – and it is transformed into true wisdom or power. Not power over, but power that comes from knowing oneself, intimately and fearlessly.
Controlling Others As Shadow Enactment
One of the key ways that shadow shows up in relationships and in societies or organizations is through attempting to control the actions and behaviors of others. This is ripe terrain for Eris to enter the scene, bringing chaos and discord to reveal the unsavory motivations of others. In the book, Principia Discordia (1963), a modern treatise of Eris written as a religious discourse, she is described as “a foil to the preoccupation of western philosophy in attempting to find order in the chaos of reality, in prescribing order to be synonymous with Truth.”
Here we uncover the fatal flaw of impinging order upon others. If we look at the principle of duality, of opposites, an unconscious imposition of order only invites more discord, more chaos, more Eris. The Principia gives voice to Eris as follows:
I am chaos. I am the substance from which your artists and scientist build rhythms. I am the spirit with which your children and clowns laugh in happy anarchy. I am chaos. I am alive, and I tell you that you are free.
Imposition of structure or morals in the name of order is shadow material, dressed up in a fancy way that makes it look like we are only trying to “help” or aid others. It arises out of fear or the need to gain power over another. We see it in attempting to tell others what to do, how to live, how to behave, think, express. This is a way of denying life, the healthy aspect of Chaos, the Void, Existence. It is a way to attempt to usurp the magic of the Universe. This shadow is the ultimate hubris, false pride – the attempt to control Life Itself. This control is an attempt to force from the fearful ego. True Power works with Reality, with Nature, and what is naturally occurring. False power (force) attempts to hijack that which can never be contained. The result is wreaking havoc and creating an avoidable living hell, the equivalent of a Trojan War within and without.
With the strong influence of Mars, Aries, Pluto and Eris at this lunation, we can look within and around us to notice:
Where are you or others attempting to control by imposing values on another? How is this going to backlash? We can expect shadow material to reveal itself, so why not do it consciously for ourselves? Why not be honest at what we are afraid of, or trying to control, or how we notice it happening around us? Ask, what is the golden apple you are most tempted by, or that you notice occurring on the global stage? Image, reputation, control, fame, money, security?
See that props for the ego can never lead to ultimate satisfaction, or lasting contentment. See Eris’ flushing out of shadow qualities as a necessary and welcome part of evolution. Do not be afraid of her – this dark feminine – let her do her job of revealing any lies. Let her presence at the wedding reveal the truth. If there are imposters, control freaks, tyrants or posers in the mix, they’ll be exposed. If the marriage and its guests are solid, worthy, self-examined and wise, rest easy and enjoy the party. Eris is one deity who surely knows how to let it rip. So have courage, revel in the truth, and get down like a goddess on the dance floor. For you are free.
Eris, my darling...you are currently square my natal Sun. Yes, where Pluto also currently sits. Erinn's description of your charms and purpose give me great insights to how blessed I am to have your assistance in pressuring my shadows into the Light. Thank You!