To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven. — Ecclesiastes
Every year around the start of January, as I hear people stressing about resolutions and new goals, I remind them that January is not the right time of year for starting new things. It’s the middle of winter, and the energy is aligned for rest and reflection, not initiation.
Today the Sun moves into the sign of Aries and we mark the Spring Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere.
If you have been needing a restart, a refresh, or a new routine or habits, this is the time to get it started.
In any year, this week of the start of Aries season and the Spring Equinox is a time aligned with making changes. But in 2023, it’s an especially potent time for initiations. In fact, this week might be the best week of the year — or even a few years — for initiating new projects, habits, routines, and rituals.
Here are 5 reasons why this is the best week of the year for starting something new.
(1) Spring Equinox
The Equinox is one of four major “turnings of the wheel” in the Earth’s rotation.
It marks the midway point between the shortest and longest days of the year, where we reach equal day and night.
Earth slows down in its rotation and invites us to do the same, so we can bring our lives into balance. The energy of this moment supports us in coming back into balance with whatever new routines we need to incorporate, or with whatever activities and habits we need to release.
The Spring Equinox is particularly ripe energy for initiating new things. Spring is the dawn of the year, the season of planting new seeds, the initiation of potential and possibility. Spring energy is the energy of beginning new things.
(2) Aries Season Starts
The Equinox happens (on Monday, March 20, 2023 at 5:24 pm ET) as the sun moves into the sign of Aries, marking the start of Aries season.
Aries is a cardinal fire sign that is practically synonymous with initiating energy.
As a cardinal sign, it initiates a season. Of course, Aries is a special cardinal sign — it doesn’t only initiate a season; it is the first sign of the zodiac. Aries season marks the start of spring and the the start of the Zodiacal Year. Who doesn’t love a new year for a fresh start?
Aries is also a fire sign. In life, lighting a fire is the first step to survival. Fire gives us light and warmth. It enables us to cook food, boil water and generate steam that we can use to move things forward.
Aries season helps us light a fire under our butts, kick things into gear, and create momentum to move forward.
Ruled by Mars, the warrior planet, the energy of Aries is “go go go.” In Aries, we don’t wait for permission. Aries encourages us to move swiftly, to carve our own path, and take imperfect action.
(3) New Moon in Aries
The new moon in Aries will occur on Tuesday March 21, 2023 at 1:23 pm ET.
This is actually the first of two new moons we will get in Aries season in 2023, but the next one will be much different.
The new moon is when the sun and moon join together in the sky. This relationship, known as a conjunction, is a mark of a new beginning, the inception of a new cycle or chapter.
New moons are the spring of the moon cycles. In general, new moons are good times for setting intentions and planting seeds, although not all new moons are equal in this quality.
Planets, including the luminaries, work in the style of the sign where they are. The initiation energy of Aries gives a new moon in Aries extra initiation charge.
Although we get a new moon in Aries every year, we don’t always get the new moon in the same part of the sign. This new moon is happening on the heels of the sun’s entrance into the sign, at 0º49’ into Aries.
When a new moon occurs at the very early degrees of a sign, the energy of initiation feels stronger. It’s like they bless the entire journey forward into the sign. Getting a new moon in Aries within a day of the Equinox and the start of Aries season amps up the initiation energy.
This new moon in Aries also is the start of the month of Nissan on the Hebrew calendar, which is the first month of the Jewish year. Lots of new year energy with this one.
(4) Pluto Enters Aquarius
Anytime a planet or a luminary changes sign, it marks the start of a new chapter. That said, some planetary ingresses feel stronger than others.
The moon travels through the entire zodiac in a month — the word “month” comes from “moon.” It spends approximately 2.5 days in each sign, and it’s moves are more subtle.
In contrast, Pluto is the slowest moving planet in our solar system. Pluto takes 248 years to travel the zodiac, and spends decades in each sign. It’s energy defines generations, as everyone born within that time frame will have Pluto in the same sign.
Pluto has been in Capricorn since 2008. On March 23, it will move into Aquarius, marking the start of a new chapter in our collective and personal experiences. This move marks the beginning of the beginning. Because Pluto spends approximately half the year in retrograde, it won’t get past the first degree of the sign before it returns to Aquarius.
This is just the inception of the beginning; the dawn of the dawn, the first seeding of the story that will unfold during Pluto’s ultimate 20 year journey through Aquarius.
(5) Mars Enters Cancer
Remember how you felt when you first re-entered the world after the initial Covid lock down? If you’re a person who likes to be on the move, out-and-about, and you’re suddenly forced to spend a long time in one place, when you finally move out it feels like a new start to life.
This is the energy of Mars moving into Cancer.
As mentioned above, any time a planet enters a new sign, it marks the start of a new chapter. Mars has been in the sign of Gemini for the past 7 months, which included a few months in retrograde. For a planet that likes to move fast, 7 months in a sign is a long time.
On March 25, 2023, Mars will finally leave Gemini and move into Cancer. Although Mars typically does not do so well in Cancer, it is, at least, on the move.
The TL;DR
If you’ve been yearning for a restart, a renewal, a refresh, new routines, habits, or rituals, this is the best week of the year to turn the page and start a new chapter.
The energy of the universe is here to support you with
- a new nature season
- a new zodiac season
- a new Zodiacal year
- a new moon
- 2 planets entering new signs
What you do with this energy is up to you.