Aries New Moon: Saddle Up!
- Liv Woodford
- Apr 17
- 9 min read
Saddle your dreams before you ride 'em.
Mary Webb
The New Moon on April 17, 2026, at 27° Aries focuses attention on what is new and ready to take off.
We are to harness the drive, passion, and courage rising within us, like sap pushing upward. Embracing a pioneering spirit, we can take the reins and make the next move that gives shape to a dream. New understandings have fortified our inner strength; as fears surface, we can face them and move beyond the ways we have kept ourselves small, allowing us to step into a larger version of ourselves.
If we are unconscious or unharnessed with the intense energy catalyzing change across the planet, we may find ourselves picking a fight, having an accident, or letting frustration get the better of us. We may be moving through disillusionment or disappointment as structures, roles, relationships, and conditions we invested in disappear, leaving an emptiness waiting for what is next. As we listen for what to do next, we can trust that the cosmic unfolding of things has our best interests at heart.
Old stories we tell ourselves about our own worth or deservingness may rear their ugly heads presenting an opportunity to unhook from the power they once over us. We are being supported to exist, take up space, have a voice, dream, love, create and stand up for what matters to us.
In a year of unraveling and uncertainty, the New Moon brings our attention back to our self and to what strengthens our vitality. It is beneficial to question the beliefs, practices, stories and commitments that drain or limit us. With so much Aries energy pulsing through the collective, it’s easy to feel on edge or under attack. The raw, transformative momentum is building, and we are shaping the future with every thought we contribute - not having it shaped for us. The choice is whether we feed fear and the narratives amplified around us, or bring a clearer, more expanded vision. The first step is to ground ourselves and seek balance, and from there, to imagine not only the future we want for our own lives but the future we want for a world capable of working together to care for the earth and all life it supports.
Boot, saddle, to horse, and away!
Robert Browning
Eight planets in Aries!
Chiron and Eris conjunct the New Moon
New Moon Ruler: Mars conjunct Saturn, Mercury, Neptune and sextile Pluto
Venus conjunct Uranus
Jupiter Unaspected in Cancer
Pluto sextile Aries planets
The house in our natal chart where 27° Aries resides lights up the area of life where we are seeding a new dream and get current on what is changing. It is beneficial to make concrete, actionable plans for how to move our inspiration forward
The New Moon is the optimal time each month to set an intention for what we want to see manifest over the next four weeks of the lunar cycle that is beginning. We are to plant this seed intention in the 24-hour window after the exact moment of the New Moon, when the Moon is still dark and not yet visible again in the night sky.
Sit tall in the saddle
and hold your head up high.
Keep your eyes fixed where the trail
meets the sky, and live
like you ain't afraid to die.
Don't be scared...
just enjoy the ride.
Chris LeDoux
The Lead Players – 8 Planets in Aries
Aries is that first spark that emerges from the primordial womb of potentiality that brings new life into the world. We feel this spark when we are spontaneous, move from our gut and trust what we desire.
Locating the house or houses in our natal chart where Aries resides will show us the area of our life we are undergoing transformative change. Eight planets in Aries at the New Moon point to multiple new beginnings happening simultaneously. Beginnings are accompanied by endings, and we may be feeling the loss a dream or something that was an integral part of our life and identity, If there is more fatigue and confusion than inspiration (which is perfectly normal and being felt by many), create he intention to move on and find the courage to release what is leaving our life so that our attention can turn to the new growth ready to spring forth.
A glimpse into what each of the planets in Aries, and its ruler Mars reflects to us
Neptune in Aries (until 2035) shows us that there is a new dream emerging that will reshape how we define our life and identity. We may still be grappling with what is ending or is not to continue in our personal or collective lives. To face the fears that our dreams stir when we think of acting on them, we will most likely find there is a new level of courage emerging to feed what we love and not what we fear.
Saturn in Aries (until April 2028) gives tremendous discipline and focus to see something through. We have a new level of maturity born from learned experience. This lends itself to a more expansive perspective on what gives our life meaning, and a reality check around behavior patterns that we need to address so we can move forward in a good way. There is increased vitality to take responsibility to ground our dream. We begin by declaring it to others, opening to collaboration and support, creating a plan, and identifying resources needed move from inspiration into creative action.
Mercury in Aries (April 15 – May 1) fuels our tendencies to think quickly, make decisions on the spot and speak with candor. It is advisable to so our thkinking down on the days surrounding the New Moon to discover what we have missed or overlooked. This gives us added space to utilize our intuition to better understand what we are visioning for ourselves (Mercury conjunct Neptune).
Our mind is a powerful tool for focusing our thoughts and conversations away from fear and towards love, away from war and destruction, and more towards magical synchronicities and awakening. There are two distinct directions we can move towards, and we can be mindful as to what future our thoughts are generating.
The New Moon Ruler, Mars in Aries (April 10 – May 18) is activating and amplifying what each planet in Aries has instigated. As the ruler of each of the 8 planets in Aries, we are compelled to take the lead, to move forward to act on what inspires us and to launch ourselves onto a new hero's journey.
Mars conjunct Neptune (April 12), The desire to do something about our dreams was further activated along with the fears we are to address so we can move beyond our self-imposed limitations.
Mars conjunct Saturn (April 19), initiates a two-year challenge to channel inspiration into concrete actions and results. We are to be disciplined and strategic as we assert what we want and to claim an inner authority to shape the future we want.
With Mars in Aries, we may feel resistant to the restraints of Saturn's need for a long-range plan, preferring to simply follow our gut and act on impulse. We are being challenged to better work with creativity and passion by prioritizing what matters, knowing when we are doing too much, not getting distracted by details or opportunities that have us stray from our the goal, and how to have better boundaries so we don’t say yes to whatever opportunity comes our way. In other words, we are to keep our eye on the ball and have a plan with enough structure to let the creative movement flow towards the desired result.
Mars conjunct Mercury and Saturn is a excellent time to define or refine the plan. With Mercury in Aries supported by Mars and Saturn, we have greater agency to focus our thinking and be eloquent in how we describe what is exciting us. We can also curb the tendency to talk too much or too fast or make decisions rashly. We can find ways to channel our anger or frustration.
Sun, Eris and Chiron conjunct in Aries brings attention old wounds and beliefs stirred up by venturing into new territory in our lives. There is potential here to reshape the stories we have told ourself. For instance, if we were abandoned in the past, we are prepared to not abandon ourselves moving forward. If we have been rejected by others, we can assure ourselves that we will not reject ourselves or our dreams moving forward.
Our relationship to a wound changes as we feel a surge of new life accompanied by the feeling that we have the right to exist, to want what we want, and to feel that there is a place in the world for what we have to offer. We may have a pattern of silencing ourselves out of a need for self-preservation and yet we have turned a corner and have the courage to speak up and speak about what matters to us. We are willing to disrupt the status quo if it is keeping us small or compliant. There is a deeper inner strength emerging from Chiron and Eris’ journey in Aries that has us acting more and from self-awareness and intentionality and less from fear or projection.
The shadow side of Sun, Eris and Chiron conjunction. We may experience others acting from their wounded state, or we may be triggered by something that has us project onto others. For each of us, our healing story is activated, and we have the choice to reinforce or reframe our narrative of it and the old it has on us. The healing work we have done has granted us the agency to move beyond feeling of woundedness. And, if we are still in the grips of it, we can imagine how we would move forward if we were healed and act accordingly.
Our consciousness rarely
registers the beginning
of a growth within us
any more than without us;
there have been many
circulations of the sap
before we detect
the smallest sign of the bud.
George Eliot
The Supporting Cast is Truly a Support
Surging Forth
Pluto in Aquarius sextile 4 planets in Aries (Mercury, Neptune, Mars and Saturn)
As each planet enters Aries, it is juiced with power and agency to expand our vision and help us connect with the people and resources that will give it legs. We are creating something new in our lives, but are to also connect with how what we want to create is part of the weave of a larger collective design. And just so we don’t get too overwhelmed or get a big head, we are to understand that we did not come up with the dream. It came to us. We are a vessel for a dream that has been gifted us, resonant with our soul’s longing. And with the gift of the new dream, we are to receive what we need to help realize it.
Pluto's presence is pushing us forward, pushing us to grow, like a seed is pushed to sprout and break ground. We are to claim what is newly emerging from deep within us and to let ourselves be pushed forward.
Our Values in Flux
Venus conjunct Uranus
Venus in Taurus values stability. Yet, what we value and what defines our stability is undergoing change. We may be set free from something that was once an anchor, but is now holding us back. We are to roll with disruptions, awakenings, and shifts in relationships. It is beneficial to identify what mattered to us at one time that is no longer not resonant with who we are becoming and where our life is going. A good spring cleaning can help us to discard, sell or let go of possessions that keep us tied to the past.
Ways to Cool Off
Jupiter in Cancer (June 9, 2025 – June 30, 2026)
Jupiter in a water sign offers a way to cool off from the inferno of fire energy of so many planets in Aries. We can lower the temperature and pressure by being mindful of our feelings and moving at a pace that keeps us connected to our body.
Cancer is the planet of Nurturance and what happens at home. Jupiter is the planet of Growth. Until the end of June, we are encouraged to grow our ability to be gentle with ourselves and to uplevel our daily self-care habits. So, no matter what is going on, we are encouraged to not backburner or set aside the activities that nurture and care for our body and soul. Aries is dry and hot, so we can look at remedies that deal with excessive dryness and overheating. if we take this literally, we can experiment with immersing ourselves in a body of water, drinking plenty of liquids, or taking a long shower. If it is raining, let us stand in the rain and enjoy the refreshing and lifegiving energies that can appear and benefit us without any effort on our part.
The Astrology of 2026 Part 2
The next four months
A 90- Minute Webinar
Sunday, April 19, 2026
7:00 pm EST / 4:00 pm PST
The webinar provides:
a review of the year's core themes
an in-depth look at May - August 2026
ways to harness the potential of the upcoming eclipses, retrogrades and the big movements of the transformative outer planets.
When Registering: You MUST select April 19 in the calendar on the booking page.
If you enjoyed this newsletter, press 'Like' or leave a comment at the bottom of the post.
Comments