Welcome to the Aries New Moon, a solar eclipse that is also a headlining astrological event for the year. Aries is the first sign of the zodiac, too. It brings us into the energies of new beginnings and renewal. It inspires us to take action, to head off in new directions. The Aries New Moon eclipse is exact on April 8, 2024 at 2:21 pm ET, 19 degrees. That’s 11:21 am Los Angeles, 7:21 pm London, 8:21 pm Johannesburg
11:51 pm New Delhi, 4:21 am Sydney (April 9), and 6:21 am Auckland (April 9).
New moons are new beginnings. They are a reset. They turn the page. They are a lens in which we experience life over the following four weeks. But a new moon that is also solar eclipse? Instead of a reset, it’s a punctuation mark that closes out a six month chapter and opens up another. We may see major personal milestones or events as a result. People can also come swiftly in and out of our lives.
While today’s Aries solar eclipse takes us into the next six months, it is part of a series of eclipses that most recently began on April 20, 2023 with another Aries solar eclipse. Then, on October 14, 2023, we saw the next chapter in the story with a Libra solar eclipse. Here we are, six months later, and the page turns again.
When there is an Aries New Moon solar eclipse, it’s not enough to welcome the symbolic energies of spring in our lives, regardless of where we are in the world. We need to find the courage to start over, the bravery to stand up for ourselves, the personal power to stand on our own two feet.
Aries and its opposing sign of Libra form a polarity, a set of signs that may seem at odds, but they fit within each other. They are the relationship axis. Aries is the “I”, the individual. Libra is the “We”, the partner. We can’t have one without the other.
As much as this new moon eclipse and the six months ahead is about finding our individuality, it’s also about the people in our lives and how we relate and connect to one another. It’s also about new people entering our lives, either bringing up themes from the past or urging us to make a very different type of connection.
What’s curious about this eclipse is that it forms a close formation with Chiron in Aries, a newer addition to astrology, but one that I’ve learned not to ignore. Chiron represents a personal and collective pain point, something that holds us to the past, like a knot. It can evoke the memories and past experiences where we struggled to take action or move forward, or where we failed to stand up for ourselves and go after our desires. Chiron is also healing and we may be doing our personal and collective work around these themes into the later half of the year. (Read more On Chiron, Suffering, and Knots.)
Another feature of this eclipse is that there are many planets in Pisces, including Mars, the ruler of the eclipse. It is as if Mars is pulling the energy of the eclipse over to Pisces, a sign that sits side by side with Aries, although like two different worlds — one real and tangible, the other ethereal and non-manifested.
As a result, we may feel these two worlds over the coming six months. A part of us may feel as though we have one foot in a new life and one foot in an old life. Or, we may be navigating spiritual or even deep emotional and existential themes, searching for meaning and purpose to our lives. How could we expect anything less from Pisces, especially with Saturn in Pisces, too.
Speaking of which, Mars and Saturn are conjunct in Pisces, a heavy-duty combination that proves exact on April 10. We may have major decisions to make. Or, we may make a choice to end something. Or, start a search for spirituality. Or, take steps to find peace within.
Finally, eclipses can manifest at different points after the date of the eclipse, even before the eclipse. It’s worth taking note that Mars will arrive in Aries on April 30, 2024, giving life to today’s eclipse and even the lunar eclipse of March 25. The month of May could be a month where all this energy of action and new beginnings really find its place in our lives.
Why are eclipses so important? Watch my 2.5 hour webinar, The Eclipses of March-April 2024. It’s your deep dive into eclipses and the stories they weave throughout different points of our lives. Learn more and get the replay.