the new moon in aries for writers
with writing prompt horoscopes
Lil Nas X pole dancing to hell, killing the devil, and igniting a firestorm of memes and purportedly religious concern. Taylor Swift releasing a completely re-recorded album as part of a years-long battle to obtain ownership over her original masters. Right now, the cultural conversation around art is dominated by decidedly Aries-inflected battles.
These are fights of consciousness, fights of independence, fights to self-express, fights to be oneself and retain full autonomy and ownership over oneself and one’s production —
You really don’t get any more Aries than that.
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There is a New Moon in Aries tonight at 10:31pm ET. Occurring at 22 degrees of Aries, it’ll particularly impact folks with placements and points in the cardinal signs (Cancer, Capricorn, Libra, and, of course, Aries) around that degree, but it’s a New Moon — we all feel it.
New moons are a birth, an opportunity, a chance to break fresh ground on something new. They are not, as Aries William Wordsworth once wrote of birth, “a sleep and a forgetting”; they are not wiping a slate clean. They present the chance to bring the full force of our intention and our being, in this moment, to whatever it is we are seeding. The moon cycle — every planetary cycle — still deals in consequence and ramification; this is not to be fatalistic, but simply to offer a human corrective to the New Age mystics who would claim that merely wishing something away makes it so.
This is Aries season, after all. That can mean war, as Taylor Swift and Lil Nas (himself an Aries) have shown us. Sometimes, showing up for your art means being willing to fight for it. Showing up for yourself as an artist means defending your integrity. There are many forms that can take.
Generally, the advice to artists is eyes on your own page. Ignore the critics and the trolls. Don’t engage. There is much wisdom in this, to be sure, but a lot of the well-meaning advice is also often coded to women and queers, such as,
“Don’t be difficult.”
“Don’t cause a scene.”
“Accept criticism graciously.”
“You don’t want to be branded difficult to work with.”
At a certain point, silence serves oppressive systems. Our individual discernment becomes an essential safeguard in the maintenance of our own artistic integrity, in the sovereignty of our own personhood.
Taylor Swift speaking out against exploitative artist contracts and raising public awareness of ongoing industry practices — and using her considerable power to block the use of her back catalogue — is bold. It breaks with the tradition of artists (particularly women) not speaking out about contract negotiation and exploitation. Her refusal to be silent (or, as Oprah might point out, silenced) is some decidedly purposeful don’t-give-a-fuck-if-I’m-too-distasteful-for-you “Mad Woman” energy.
Lil Nas X publicly speaking about his history with Christianity and pointing out the irony of conservative Christian critics who have, for years, publicly said gays are going to hell feigning offense when he actually does so is the kind of clapback that potentially saves lives. It is peak Aries warrior energy — a willingness to fight for his work, but also for his younger, closeted 14-year-old self who he also wrote public letters to. The closeted teenage boy who he said once promised he’d never come out. This is courage, and not just the artistic kind.
So today, we aren’t just considering what bold, courageous new intentions we might be setting down. What battles we might be willing to engage in. We are also considering our relationship to what we value. Almost immediately after the New Moon, Venus (the planet of love, beauty, and value) squares off with Pluto (underworld transformations). What are we excavating around aesthetics, around what we’ve been taught to understand is beautiful or valuable in this world? What standards do we hold ourselves to that might be in need of a good old-fashioned demolition?
It’s a good day to light a candle on your desk and envision all the things you want to burn down. Let that Aries fire cleanse, purify, and renew.
Writing Prompt Horoscopes for the New Moon in Aries
Aries & Aries Rising
What new version of yourself are you embracing? What aesthetics, fashion statements, or modes of self-presentation feel relevant to you in this moment? What are you working to become?
How are you learning to fight for yourself? What words and modes of communication feel best when you do so? What are you learning about listening? About speaking to yourself and others with compassion while maintaining boundaries?
Taurus & Taurus Rising
What seeds are you planting in your behind-the-scenes projects? What alone time are you perhaps having to fight for? How are you defending your boundaries in order to initiate a new season of solitude?
What are you learning about embracing courage when it comes to your finances? What parts of the subconscious are being made conscious when it comes to understanding what you value and why?
Gemini & Gemini Rising
What new beginnings are you planting seeds for in your communities, networks, organizations, and/or groups? How are you being inspired to gather and share communally and responsibly, with respect to access and health, in this moment? What conversations are you facilitating?
How are you learning to stick up for yourself, especially in group settings? What are you coming to understand about the boundaries you need to safeguard in order for your own well being, in order to be your best self around others?
Cancer & Cancer Rising
What are you initiating in your career or public life in this moment? What are you looking forward to starting in the months to come? What new projects, people, and opportunities are exciting you?
How are you learning to reckon with buried or repressed anger or conflict, particularly as it impacts your professional life? How does this arise in relationship to authority — your own or others’?
Leo & Leo Rising
What seeds are you planting when it comes to publishing projects? Are you getting ready to go back to school or start teaching? Are you renewing a new study of wisdom traditions? How is this edifying you? What about this feels especially bold?
How are you channeling courage when it comes to community and friendship — particularly if learning, spirituality, or publishing is involved? What are you learning about conflict resolution in this moment?
Virgo & Virgo Rising
What are you initiating in your creative collaborations? What resources are you beginning to share and develop with others? What about this feels energizing?
How are you being challenged to address conflict in your career and public roles, particularly around authority (your own or others’)? How does this connect to your collaborative professional efforts? What conversations may need to be had?
Libra & Libra Rising
What new seeds are you planting in your committed partnerships? Are you agent shopping or looking for a new editor? Are you expanding your client roster or deepening existing relationships? How are you thinking about your career in terms of important relationships and the people who support you?
How are you fighting for or otherwise channeling courage around your education, teaching, publishing, or spirituality right now? Is conflict — exterior or interior to you — arising in these areas of life right now? How are you addressing it?
Scorpio & Scorpio Rising
What kinds of daily work routines are you committing to with this moon? What habits for the care and keeping of your physical body feel important to plant seeds around? How can you hydrate, rest, and move in ways that help guard against burnout?
How are you addressing conflict, boundaries, and communication in your collaborations and shared resources? Is this impacting your daily work environment?
Sagittarius & Sagittarius Rising
How are you inviting play and pleasure into your life in new ways? What bold, don’t-give-a-fuck seeds are you planting for your creativity?
How are you being invited to address conflict and courage in your committed partnerships, romantic and professional alike? How is this impacting or encouraging your creative and erotic life?
Capricorn & Capricorn Rising
What new projects are you beginning on the domestic front? What ideas are you inviting to take root when it comes to reimagining and reenvisioning home, family, and heritage in a bold new way?
What aspects of your daily work environment are being challenged in this moment? Does this connect to your home life? How is conflict arising in a way that feels potentially productive?
Aquarius & Aquarius Rising
What seeds are you planting when it comes to your writing projects and routines? What daily rituals are you recommitting to in a way that feels energizing?
What conflict or motivation is arising in your creative and erotic life? Does this connect to your writing, or to the topics that are being unearthed in your work?
Pisces & Pisces Rising
What are you beginning when it comes to your personal finances? Are you starting a new job or developing new sources of revenue? Are you reevaluating what you value and why? This is a time to make bold moves.
What is arising around conflict and even courage when it comes to your domestic, private life? How are you being challenged to think about how your family patterns and dynamics connect to your financial life?
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