Three Misconceptions of the Zodiac Sign: Aries

Transcript:

0:01
Hey everyone, this is Acyuta-bhava from nightlight astrology. And today I'm beginning a new series, a 12 part series on the misconceptions of the zodiac. So I'm going to be going through all 12 signs and talking about three common misconceptions that people have about the 12 signs, and hopefully correct them and offers us some deeper context or understanding about all the 12 signs. I think that this will be mostly an exercise in talking about some of the psychological characteristics associated with the 12 signs, when they are applied to say your Ascendant or when they're applied to your Sun or your Moon in your birth chart. Anything that could be more personally descriptive of behaviour, psychology, personality and character. Because these misconceptions, they may not have exactly existed in the ancient world, because astrologers weren't putting the same emphasis on the signs in relation to psychology that we do now. Nonetheless, these misconceptions run very deep within the signs even you could say that they're there and the potential for the misconceptions, or they're due to the planets that are associated with each of the 12 signs. So you could say that these are misconceptions that people often have about the planets that rule each of the 12 signs we're going to go through, for example, we're going to start today with Aries, you could easily say that these are misconceptions that people have about Mars or people who have a strong or dominant Mars placement in their birth chart. So we'll we'll make sure to mention that as we go, because it's it really is the way that ancient astrologers understood, the signs had a lot to do with the deity whose home that sign was. So again, Aries is the home temple of Mars and the exaltation of the Sun. Taurus is the home temple of Venus and exaltation of the Moon. So we'll be accessing some of those dignities as we go to also help explain where some of these misconceptions come from. And you could again, by extension, even say that some of these misconceptions just have to do with people's misunderstanding about planets. Anyway, I thought this would make for a great series. This was something that came up for me as I was on vacation the past two weeks, I always try to do some brainstorming on, you know, like, what am I excited about? What can I share with other people that I have some enthusiasm about in my studies. And, you know, my vacation is always the time where I can actually finally take some time to study for myself, too. So one of the books that I want to point you to that informs this series, I brushed up on this book, and yeah, I got a lot of inspiration from it. It is the Astrology of Fate by Liz Greene. And there's a particular chapter in here on the myths of the zodiac. And that chapter in particular has informed this series, I would like to give a shout out to the you know, to the teachers or people who inspire me, you know, when it's appropriate. So today, I'm going to talk about three misconceptions that people have about the sign of Aries, which you could say, by extension people might have about the sign of Mars, or, or the planet Mars, or even the sun because the sun is exalted in the sign of Aries.

3:25
So when you talk about Aries in a way, the sign itself is unique, but you're also you're talking about the temple of Mars, the temple that exalts the Sun. And so very important to understand that again, these misconceptions we're going to talk about today with Aries have a lot to do with Mars and the sun. So let's dive in. I put three for every sign in this series, we're going to look at three misconceptions that people have about the sign. This is a series that I hope, even if it's not your sun, moon or rising sign that you're tuning into, it's a great series for people who just want to understand more about the signs in general and the planets. Okay, so one of the things that I hear most and this is primarily where all of the content in this series comes from: what do I hear most from my students or from my clients, or even on social media, about the signs, maybe about the planets and kind of the the most common misconceptions that I hear. So I'm going to start with Aries, which you know, let's let's just review Aries is what we call a tropical or in modern astrology and call it a cardinal sign, which means it comes at the start of the the spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. And that makes it also in this case that makes it one of a turning for turning points in the solar year.

4:57
The signs that start at the equinox or solstice. So we have the we have a tropical or Cardinal sign, it is a fire sign. Fire signs are masculine, it's also a masculine sign. And remember, in ancient astrology, masculine and feminine are not, you know, there's one expression of which might be literal gender, or like literal sex or something like that. But these are terms that were used metaphysically, you know, in very similar ways to the way in which, you know, Taoists might talk about the yin and the yang. So, if you think about this, you've got a tropical Turning Point sign at the beginning of spring, it's fiery, it's masculine. And it is also the home Temple of Mars, God of War, and it is the exaltation of the Sun. Okay, so here are, here's the first most common misconception that I hear. Aries are all about physical activities, like sports or anything that's really aggressive. That may be until like, the physical activities like asserting themselves all the time being aggressive, combat sports, physical exercise, and activity always have to be doing something. So this is a misconception. There are tonnes of, you know, people who have strong Aries signatures in their birth charts as a sun moon rising, something like that, who are not necessarily the world's sporty and they're not like sporty spices running around out there just constantly doing push ups or something. So this to me is one of them. Of course, there's some truth to it. It's a Mars ruled sign, it's a spring sign, it's a youthful sign, it's a fire sign, one manifestation could be someone who's very active, aggressive, like sports likes being out there doing things, you know, likes adrenaline, okay, those are some of the things that you know, they fit but there's definitely it's a, it's a kind of misconception that people have. So, where does this come from? That's the important thing is to understand where it comes from.

7:20
Now, I did a little digging, because I think it's important, what is a misconception mean? Well, if you take the idea of to, you know, misconceive, something, it would be basically to, to misunderstand something through faulty reasoning or logic. But also, if you look at the word conceive itself, of course, it means to take in and hold, to take in and hold as in to become pregnant or just more generally speaking to, to grasp something, to take in and hold or to grasp. So we're taking in and we're holding or grasping one small little piece of what Aries is about when we say something like that. It's important to understand why it's true, and also why it's only one little sliver of truth, because otherwise we'll hold it, we'll take it in and we'll think we've grasped the whole thing. So one thing that's really important is okay, Mars as a planet clearly can be associated with any of those activities. But remember, this is one key way that you can differentiate the sign of Aries a little bit more and understand, understood understand a kind of a broader vision of the sign. Aries is also the exaltation of the sun. exaltation ruler is just as important a planet for understanding the sign as is the domicile ruler. So what is the sun all about? Well, in ancient astrology, the sun was associated with the daimon or spirit. The daimon was a spirit that you know, might guide the soul through a lifetime. And it stirs up images and desires and longings, ideals in the mind's eye toward which we intend toward which we move with the idea that if we obtain this thing, that we will have achieved something that we were born for, and that's the daimon. The sun was related to that idea overall, that we are moved by images of beauty, truth, goodness, and then of course, they can get distorted in this world. Our idea of beauty, truth and goodness might be filtered through, you know, sort of a materialistic, selfish, vain, lustful lens and we might think money, dominance, fame, whatever.

9:50
So, but still, the ideal that we move toward in life is a part of what the sun represents. It's exalted in this sign, because it's youthful, it's spring like, and Mars is going to be accompanying the sun in the sign. And essentially, you're getting kind of the combination of an ideal that we move toward with youthful enthusiasm, an ideal that we move toward with vigour. And sometimes with a kind of naive or childlike optimism that we move toward with the sense of newness and discovery. So that's, in a sense, that's a broader and much more appropriate definition of the combination of the sun and Mars in Aries. That is, some of which can result in you know, physical activity, asserting ourselves doing really active sporty things. But actually, the broader definition you could say, is the kind of youthful enthusiasm for discovering something that makes us feel utterly unique, and individual, in a sense of individual, you know, virility, or potency that each of us need, in order to feel that we're that we're living for a reason, that we're living toward an exciting end or an exciting destiny. You know, Aries loves the word destiny – doesn't so much love the word fate. Because, you know, they're both words that are in many ways, they're just synonyms, but destiny has that feeling of moving towards something that we will or desire. So, in a much broader sense, you know, Aries people can be people that that pursue education that pursue jobs, marriages, relationships, business, anything in life, it doesn't have to be just physical activities, muscular or jockey kinds of things. And the broader mission being to realise an ideal or to move towards something with again, a kind of youthful exuberance. And there is a kind of a quality of needing to take a risk or having to find some courage in order to do so. But yeah, this is a very kind of unfortunate misconception that it just boils down to kind of muscular, physical, aggressive, sporty types of things.

12:23
Now, for some of you, these misconceptions are, you're probably well beyond them already. But for a lot of people out there that have these misconceptions, they're grasping just a little portion of the full story. And so it's, it's important to go over these things together, and kind of remember these broader philosophical archetypal context. Okay, so the second misconception is that Arien are selfish, Arien types - sun, moon or rising, typically are selfish. So again, we are grasping, we're conceiving of something, it's there, there's, there's something to that it's not entirely false want to sort of validate this idea, but also show why it's really a misconception, if we don't learn to hold a lot more. So one of the things that that one of the reasons that you'll find this selfishness is because if you again, go back to the sun and Mars, if you have the exaltation of the sun, one of the things that astrologers have said about excitations, in general, is that the planet gets its best and most attractive qualities get amplified. It's almost like an Instagram filter. You know, how Instagram filters can make you look like. I don't know, I think any way that Instagram filters can make people look significantly better than they actually look in person. And I don't mean any offence to anyone by that it's fun to play with the filters and everything like that too. But like you can, you can make yourself look really different with an Instagram filter. So, you know, when we are when we're thinking about an exalted planet, like the sun, it's like, oh, my God, the sun, you know, it's noble, it's royal. It's dignified, you know, it's heroic. It has this sense of the hero's quest and the mission. And the, you know, it's like Joan of Arc, looking up through a beam of light. Oh, you know, the angels are singing the mission is coming down. She blazes her sword out in front of her, like, and we're, you know, so Doug in his basement is feeling that way, you know about whatever. You know what I mean? Like, that's an and so, a planet exalted can bring out the most amplified sort of dramatic Shakespearean qualities of the planet. I remember Robert Schmidt, a famous Hellenistic astrologer saying that an exalted planet is like, when the violin hits that super high note. It's just like, there's so high and it's like, oh my god, how can we hold this forever? Well, we can't. So an exalted planet is like reaching the peak of it like intense, beautiful, vivid energy around the planet. Okay, so there's something a little exaggerated about suns stuff when it comes to Aries. Well, that exaggeration is necessary, paired with Mars to go and pursue with youthful enthusiasm, our own individuality, something that makes our life unique a calling a quest, a mission, a sense of purpose, to individuate as Carl Jung would say. We need some sense of the goal being like lofty and, you know, sort of absurdly bright and compelling.

15:57
But the flip side of that, of course, is that it can be agrandizing. And so someone will pursue with the Mars like qualities, the sense of the ideal quest or mission, it's very much about India's individuality and individuation. And when people do that, with such intensity, it can feel agrandizing, and it can feel like people get this kind of tunnel focus and tunnel vision and, and you know, they may exclude other things or other people. So selfishness, with Aries is definitely a thing. It's not to dismiss it. But it's a small part of what Arien people are, like, I honestly would say probably two out of 10, Aries clients that I have demonstrate like the stereotypical, you know, selfishness. So it's really an unfortunate misconception that people have. Now, let's broaden this out a little bit. Why is this archetype so important? Well, one of the things that Liz Greene says in her book that I really love, it's always stuck with me, it's one of my favourite things that she wrote about Aries, and I've read all of her books, as far as I know. She says that in many different places, she says that Ariens, in order to find themselves have to go out into the world, and also face the manifestation of something out there, that's telling them, you aren't unique, you can't be an individual, you're not strong, you're not powerful. You don't belong here, you don't, you don't deserve to exist. Like that. And often, that'll take the that'll become their father, or God, or the universe, or some kind of authority, and they will need to challenge fight, and, and sort of push back and assert themselves and struggle with whatever the, you know, the, whatever the, whatever shape the complex takes. And as they do, so, they have to, there's this integrity, this loyalty to myself, and to this struggle or conflict with forces that are trying to make me feel like I can't exist, or I'm not strong, or I'm not independent, and that there's this constant wrestling or struggle with those qualities that they have to engage with. And if you can understand that, that's where an arien person is coming from, then it really changes your perception that they're struggling with you personally, or that they're ignoring you or that they are totally selfish. It's selfish from a certain point of view, but from within the complex itself, it's necessary, right? It's a necessary part of what has to happen. Remember that Aries is the fall of Saturn. And so that idea of there being like real conflict at the core of the sign with the Saturn stuff, rules, authority figures, abuses of power and authority, and arion people are like working with that, what is the appropriate use of will? What is the appropriate degree of physical strength of inner inner independence or individuality?

19:29
You may think, Oh, this person's selfish, but actually, what they're trying to figure out a lot of the times is how to be strong without being a doormat, or you know, how to be strong without, you know, dominating other people making other people my doormat, or how to be considerate and noble without becoming someone else's. So those are those are real tensions that area and people are working with and that doesn't mean that they aren't deeply sensitive, deeply caring, deeply concerned with others. It's just That's their, that's their curriculum. You know? So Ariens are selfish, pretty big misconception most of the time, if you understand the the kind of mythos so the archetype, it's a lot easier to have compassion, and to see that, you know, a thing that goes a huge distance with air and people don't take it personally. Don't take things personally with areas and you'll find that areas are excited to be your like their loyal, good, solid, caring companions in life. My wife has three planets in Aries, my I would say one of my best friends in the whole world is an Aries Sun. And as a Cancer, interesting thing you'll often find that Cancerian people in area and people have this magnetic connection between them. And one of the reasons for that is that they're often mirrors of what each person needs, okay? You need a little bit more softness, a little bit more care, a little bit more nurturing qualities, oh, you need a little bit more independence, individuality, you need to overcome some kind of neediness. Remember, Mars is in its fall in the sign of Cancer. Aries of course, being a place where Mars is quite comfortable. So there's there's lots of signs are like that to where if you really want to understand why signs tend to get along in the ways that they do when we're talking about personality descriptions, a lot of it comes down to really deeply understanding some of the core archetypal signatures because if you only operate on the level of these common misconceptions, you know, it's fun for memes. You know what I mean? Like it's it's fun meme activity, but it doesn't get to the heart of what's really going on.

21:38
Okay, so the last one is that ariens are domineering, so you've got their only physical, they're selfish, and they like to just dominate and win, okay, they like to dominate, or they like to win or something like that, but kind of with a, like a negative connotation. Well, we're going back to some of the exact same themes. One of the things that this is a shadow side for ariens. But it doesn't usually start that way. So let's go back to this idea that an arien has to engage with the projected, you know, the complex of a nasty or powerful authority figure that's domineering, that wants to put their heel on you and tell you, you don't have the right to exist. You're not powerful, you're not important, you're not relevant, you don't have your own individual spirit. And a lot of the times, it's not that an Aries is born with like, power and courage and risk taking and you know, strength and assertiveness in spades. No, they're they're born having to develop or cultivate those things specifically, because they don't have them. One of the big misconceptions in general that people have about astrology is that your chart tells you how you are, your chart can tell you how you are but it can also depending on how the context of a chart it can tell you specifically what you are not. And what what there is some call to face or deal with or become. There's always a tension between that in terms of how we read charts, because it's not always clear which one is which, oh, someone's born with a Mars in the first house, and they'll be the most timid person you've ever met. You're one What's this? Well, when they turn 35 when they turn 40 you know, suddenly they it's like a light goes on and they have to suddenly they're really grappling with Mars and incorporating it into their personality before then it was projected out into the world somewhere as a fear. So you'll you'll you know, in other times a person born with Mars in the first house will come out just you know, ready to fence people in the streets or something, you know, so you're gonna it's not always easy to tell, but a lot of the times the arion person needs to develop the courage fight off the monsters, whoever they might be oftentimes for areas it will indeed take the role of a Saturn nine figure, a Saturday a fallen Saturday nine figure like a bad father or a tyrannical religious authority or, you know, some something, that it's kind of unjust expression of power and authority, okay, so that the arion person is is often going out and kind of learning to overcome or face those things, develop a sense of individual potency and a sense of individual calling or mission. Okay, but as they overcome challenge after challenge and develop a sense of confidence, strength, they can become prone to,

24:28
it's not that it's like a guarantee, but one of the shadows is that they can become prone to becoming the very fallen picture of authority that they had to fight or overcome. And some people are born with that karma already in place so that it's not that they're developing, you know, courage and, you know, kind of individuating it's that they come in with a, you know, like a overly developed sense of power and strength that needs To be humbled. So sometimes you will encounter that or a person after succeeding a lot will develop a kind of haughtiness. Or they'll, they'll, they'll become the very, you know, tyrannical picture of the same tyrannical force that they had to face and meet in on a way to becoming more confident in themselves. So that's always a danger. But remember that generally speaking, the idea that Aries are domineering is a it's not true. And B, it only tends to be the case, if someone you know, well, here's the secret, in my opinion, this is this is something that Liz Greene says in a lot of her books, too, and I have noticed it with, you know, a lot of Arien clients over my years of doing astrology is long as an Arien person is, the more that they succeed, and the more that they grow strong and confident through facing challenges in life, and so forth. If they're able to do that, while still maintaining a healthy reverence for authority outside of themselves or bigger than themselves, the universe, the gods, wise teachers, a family member that embodies wisdom on some level, even being able to look at your own child and say, You are my teacher, you know, on some days, you're my teacher, if they're not, in other words, as an Aries can rise up and become individually potent, and face different kinds of oppressive forces. While not thinking well, I'm the only authority or or I have no reverence or respect for authority, or my power is only solid, so long as I stay kind of, you know, in you know, like punching distance from anyone in anything that could be an authority trying to tell me who I am or what to do. The best Arien people that I know are people that as they grow as they individuate, there, the the initial kind of youthful resistance to authority, which is archetypally, natural matures, and it also develops the capacity to have a healthy respect for healthy authority or healthy strength or power outside of oneself. And actually, most of the Arien clients that I work with develop that it's like, it's not a problem. So this idea that Aries are domineering or always out to win or something like that is true in very few cases. Because, you know, in my opinion, people are good, like they mean, I'm so fortunate to work with people who are just good souls. And I see more often than not that people learn these lessons. And that life has a way of really helping us learn these lessons too.

27:47
So, at any rate, I hope you enjoyed this talk today about you know, the three misconceptions about the sign of Aries, I'll be going into these somewhat regularly throwing them in the mix. So we'll do Taurus next, and we'll go all the way through, I hope that you enjoy them feel free to talk about the sign of Aries and your experience of it, what are their what other kinds of misconceptions or stereotypes, have you heard of remember the word misconceive this would mean to grasp in completely due to faulty reasoning or logic. So and you know, if we if we hold on to only partial truths, these then their misconceptions like this, it can really dumb down I mean, when you explain things like this, or at least when they've been explained like this to me by other tip by teachers and so forth. Like, isn't it just so satisfying to go when you hear this, you just go like, yeah, like, these are some deep truths about Aries. And so the little misconceptions are just like little decor at the top, you're getting into the essence of the thing and realising there's so much more there and it's so satisfying and people will like to learn astrology so much more if they learn these kinds of things about the signs as opposed to you know, quick snappy things like Aries like sports they like to when they're selfish, or whatever the case might be so props to all my Aries people out there. Love you. Hope you guys are having a good week. We'll be back for the astrology of August tomorrow and horoscopes on Friday. Take it easy, everyone. Bye.