Here we are, at long last… Spring has officially sprung!
I’m writing from a rainy cottage in a Fern Gully-esque forest near Sebastopol, where my family and I are visiting some dear ones for spring break. We left Santa Fe to 8 inches of freshly fallen snow, which fully covered the crocuses and daffodils that had just popped out of the cold earth. Here in California, the rain has been nonstop for weeks, and the hillsides around the Bay Area are looking like the moors of Ireland, perfectly matching the emerald St. Patrick’s day lighting on San Francisco’s city hall.
Yesterday, Aries season began, welcoming the Spring Equinox and the Astrological New Year. Today, the moon is meeting the sun for a catalytic new moon at 0 degrees of Aries. Pluto, Saturn, and Mars have also just changed signs, or will be doing so in the next couple of days, so this current period of time is feeling energetically supercharged.
Breathing in the New
I told myself back in January that I wanted to start offering simple guided breath and somatic practices on this platform starting with the Spring Equinox, so here’s my first go at it. It’s (most definitely) not perfect, but in the spirit of Aries season I’m gonna go ahead and put myself out there. I did a one-take recording yesterday, inspired by the Cali sunshine peeking into the lush garden of my Airbnb. I planned it as a practice run, but the rains rolled in again, and it’s just too wet outside for another take! Being on-camera is a little out of my comfort zone, so pardon the ums and ahs and general awkwardness… and thanks for being part of this budding project. (I have so much appreciation for all of those content creators out there who make it look so easy!) :)
Click the image of the ram above to watch the video.
It’s about 18 minutes long, a guided breath practice with the intention of bringing in freshness for a new year and exhaling anything that isn’t serving you from the past cycle. It’s a little sampler platter of 3 different breath practices:
Physiological sighing
Oceanic ujayi breathing with some simple movement
Box breathing
You can sit in your chair or on a cushion on the floor for the practice. Part of it involves standing and moving arms above your head, so make sure you’re in a space that accommodates that. Feel free to follow along with me in the video now, or save it for later!
Read ahead for some insights on Aries season, the astrological new year, and a story of the Wheel of Life from the perspective of the Zodiac. Big big love to you on this first new moon of spring!
- Alison
Aries is a sprout bursting out of her seed
Today’s new moon is special because it is the first of 2 new moons in Aries this year, giving us an extra dose of that igniting spark as we begin this season. The symbol for Aries is a 2-pronged glyph, representing horns of the ram. To me, it has always looked like a dicot sprout - a seed cracking open after a long winter and shooting upward through the earth into the spring air.
Aries is the energy of the confident ram, horns forward, bravely bursting out into new, unfamiliar territory. Aries is the energy it takes to break a hard seed open and push through the soil into the air for the first time, after being contained in the dark inwardness of winter. It’s a great season to think about how a seed establishes roots before growing upward (if you still need some time to root into the ground, don’t let the external urgency of spring force you above ground too soon!) You’ll know when it’s time to peek out, look around with curiosity courage, and take note of what inspires you with fresh eyes.
The Astrological New Year?
Across the globe, the “New Year” is celebrated at very different points of the Earth’s trip around the Sun. Within the Gregorian calendar, we all know to pop bottles on January first. Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish new year, falls in September or October. The Witches new year is celebrated on Samhain, aka Halloween, at the end of October. The Lunar New Year, celebrated across Asia, begins on the second new moon after the Winter Solstice.
The astrological new year begins with the March Equinox (Spring in the northern hemisphere and Fall in the south) - the day when daylight and night are the same length. Equinox = equal night. The March equinox historically occurred when the sun appeared to be entering the constellation Aries, and all the other Zodiac signs was marked from that time forward as the sun cycled the elliptic throughout the year. Aries mythology is all about new beginnings- it’s the sign of the pioneer, the entrepreneur, the self-starter. To me, this season is the perfect time to start the year in earnest.
The Zodiac: the Circle of Little Animals
I love the Astrological calendar- the Zodiac- because of how it syncs up with the equinoxes and solstices.
The word zodiac comes from the Ancient Greek zōdiakòs kýklos, or “circle of little animals”. Technically, the Zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky (as perceived from earth). It extends approximately 8° north and south of the ecliptic, which is the path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. (The ecliptic is also the path of sky that the planets move through-Mars takes 2 years to cycle through the Zodiac and Pluto takes 248 years, for example).
Sources vary on the origin of the Zodiac, but the constellations around the elliptic were likely first named in Sumeria as far back as 3200 BC. The Sumerians called the twelve major zodiacal constellations the 'Shiny herd'.
By 1500 BC in Babylon, the 365-degree circle of this highway for the orbiting Sun and planets was divided into 12 equal sections. Each of these 30-degree sections are called Zodiac signs. The first section, starting with the Spring Equinox, is Aries. The second is Taurus, the third is Gemini, and so on through the year. Summer solstice, the longest day of the year, initiates Cancer season, and Leo and Virgo follow as the other summer signs. Fall equinox is the first day of Libra season, and Scorpio and Sagittarius are the other signs of autumn. Finally, the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, begins Capricorn season, and Aquarius and Pisces are the other signs that complete winter, before Aries season brings spring again.
Zodiac Signs don’t equal constellations, exactly
To clear up any confusion (because I was once quite confused on this): Zodiac signs are not the same as constellations. They are simply 30 degree sections of sky, beginning with Aries at the point where the the Sun is at the Spring Equinox and moving onward through the year.
The constellations that generally fell within those sections of sky 3500+ years ago, in the era of Mesopotamian civilizations, corresponded with these sections fairly well- but not perfectly even then. This is because each of the constellations are vastly different sizes from each other (Virgo is the largest Zodiac constellation, taking up 3.1% area of the sky, while Capricornus is the smallest, taking up a 1.0% area of the celestial heavens).
Also, in the time elapsed since the Western Zodiac constellations were named, there has been a gradual “precession of the equinoxes”, where the constellations have shifted slightly (1 degree every 72 years) from our perspective on Earth (see the diagram below). Considering the precession of the equinoxes, the signs that mark the movement of the planets, sun, and moon through the elliptic have shifted a bit from the time the constellations were named and associated myths were created. But the dates of the onset of the seasons have not shifted.
The Seasons of Life through the Zodiac
I look at Zodiac signs predominantly as symbolic markers of the seasons here on earth. The story that is told by the order of Zodiac signs as the sun travels through the ecliptic’s constellations is a beautiful one. It is the myth of a life cycle, an eternal cycle of seasons of life and death. As different as one Zodiac sign may appear from the sign before it or the sign after it, they are a continuum of the same story, the story of the ever-changing wheel of life. The Spring equinox is a visible, earthly reminder of this constant change, as we here in the northern hemisphere palpably witness the small buds of emerging life out of the seeming stagnancy of the season of death.
It wasn’t until fairly recently that I learned about how Zodiac signs tell this story of the ongoing cycles of life and death. I had read a lot about the Wheel of Life in various traditions, as well as the story of how the Chinese astrological signs got their order, but I had not encountered astrology with the cycle of life in mind. Ever since I heard it told this way, I wondered why I hadn’t been introduced to it sooner, and why more people didn’t know this story.
So, here’s a story of the Zodiac as a life cycle - from Aries to Pisces, and round and round again:
SPRING : BIRTH & YOUTH
ARIES
Aries is birth - ram horns, a seed bursting into a sprout out of the dormant ground into the Spring. A new year, a new life. A cardinal fire sign, Aries is like a spark from a match, igniting new beginnings.
TAURUS
Taurus is toddlerhood - a bull sitting in a meadow learning about the world through the 5 senses - sensuality, and what’s theirs, what belongs to them, what they value. A fixed earth sign, Taurus is like a grassy valley, still and verdant, blooming with the scent of flowers.
GEMINI
Gemini is childhood- two twins chatting with each other, babbling, learning about the perspective of another for the first time. A mutable air sign, Gemini is like the wind, carrying voices back and forth in conversation.
SUMMER : ADOLESCENCE
CANCER
Cancer is early adolescence- withdrawing into the shell of the crab, closing the door to their room, to learn about the watery nature of emotions from within. A cardinal water sign, Cancer is like a spring bubbling up from the ground, the way emotions bubble up from deep inside us.
LEO
Leo is late adolescence -the early 20s in our modern lifespans- when the lion moves away from the den, leaning into their unique identity, and proudly shows it off to the world. A fixed fire sign, Leo is like a burning campfire, drawing people to its heat, radiating out its light without even trying.
VIRGO
Virgo is early-adulthood, late 20s- a time to be like the Vestal Virgin of Roman times and belong to yourself. Get your shit together, harvest and analyze and organize what you know and who you are. A mutable earth sign, Virgo is like a field being dug up after the harvest, aerated and filled with nutrients.
AUTUMN : MATURITY
LIBRA
Libra is mid-adulthood, 30s- meeting others with the desire for union, partnership, community, and balance of the scales. A cardinal air sign, Libra is like the first exhale, the first breath, bringing union between a body and the external environment around it.
SCORPIO
Scorpio is mid to late adulthood, 40s - the transmutation from the scorpion to the eagle to the phoenix, a focus on transformation through intimacy with self and others- shared resources, collaboration, and getting deep with the unknowns of existence. A fixed water sign, Scorpio is like a still, deep lake, glassy and reflective with so much going on beneath the surface, beyond first sight.
SAGITTARIUS
Sagittarius is established adulthood, 50s- the archer sets out to learn about the wisdom of the larger world. A mutable fire sign, Sagittarius is like the embers of a flame that are transferred to a torch, able to move and spread warmth and light throughout the lands, as well as start new fires.
WINTER : ELDERHOOD & DEATH
CAPRICORN
Capricorn is late adulthood (60s-70s), a person at the top of their game, the sea-goat connecting wisdom from the depths of the sea and carrying them to the peaks of the mountain. A cardinal earth sign, Capricorn is a volcanic eruption, creating new, hardened earth that only the toughest plants can survive in, before it turns into the most fertile soil throughout time.
AQUARIUS
Aquarius is end of life (80s-90s) - the eccentric old water-bearer pouring wisdom out to the world, nourishing humanity with their stories and ideas for the future. A fixed air sign, Aquarius is the atmosphere, a constancy of knowledge, holding the existence of the potentials future above the changing weather patterns below.
PISCES
Pisces is the time of death, the space after death, before life begins again. Two fish swim in opposite directions in the eternal, etherial sea of dreams, connected by a rope. A mutable water sign, Pisces is a waterfall, is the mist from a waterfall becoming vapor, becoming gas, enveloping everything, everywhere, nourishing the rich soil where the seed of Aries will sprout once again.
Beautiful story, isn’t it?
This Astrological Wheel of Life is one of many wheels of life told across space and time. From Mongolia to China to North and South America to Africa, the Wheel of Life is a universal symbolism that reveres the changing and ever-renewing beauty of life.
As we enter Spring 2023 and all this new-ness, it’s helpful to remember that there is no real beginning or end. We are in a continually moving cycle of time, and we must respond in kind. I love the visual of a person walking to the top of a globe: whenever they seem to reach the top, the globe rotates so that they have to take another step forward, or else they will fall over, and fall off the top of the world.
As Einstein said, “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep our balance, we have to keep moving.”
Happy Equinox new moon, babes. May your Aries season be filled with balance, fueled by forward motion, curiosity, experimentation, and of course, breath.
As always, thanks for reading and listening. I always welcome comments and DMs to learn what you’d like to hear more about, so don’t hesitate to reach out! xoxo
Alison
((Side-hustle side-note: if you like my Zodiac watercolor illustrations, part of my new-year burst of energy included creating a new Zodiac-themed collection of clothes and accessories for Cosmic Odyssey, my boutique clothing company. Check it out here!))
