FULL MOON IN ARIES - BELIEVE IN YOURSELF
by Francesca Filippa October 20th 2021
Aries mantra is I AM so I’m choosing to write a lot in the 1st person as my work is also my own storytelling medicine and I really love to show the astrological archetypes are not something outside of us. They are us. Everything is connected. The planets and luminaries are not separate from us. We are literally made of recycled star particles. What happens in the sky is mirrored on earth. As above so below.
As we journey towards the end of Libra season which is all about our relationships with other. Aries is all about the mirror of other- our relationship with our SELF.
Aries is the first sign of zodiac, the creative first spark, confident, brave, a passionate pioneering leader who goes for what it wants, says what it means, the spiritual warrior that lives its radical truth.
Unlike libra who will always put other before self, Aries is a mirror that will put itself first.
They work well together when in balance. When out of balance this is when we lose connection to our self and this creates disharmony in relationships.
The shadow of Aries can be selfishness when disregarding how its behaviour may impact another. A deeper shadow of this is that Aries becomes less of itself when it gives more weight to others opinions and ideas than it does its own.
Another mantra of Aries is TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE.
TRUE SELF
Enlightened Aries is a fire sign that represents our spiritual self. The purest essence of Aries teaches us to burn away anything that is not in service to our inner most truth.
True selflessness is to lessen what is not self to reveal the true self.
Aries rules the head where our ego lives. We all need a healthy relationship to our ego to have an affirmed sense of self.
The shadow of Aries illuminates where the we get caught up in the unconscious not self ego stories of mind like limiting beliefs, negative judgements, unconscious projections, societal expectations.
The Aries archetype calls us forward to get to know our deep self underneath the shadow.
Aries is like an arrow that shoots straight into the heart of things.
The core essence of Aries is COURAGE AND TRUTH.
Aries says it at it sees it and wants us to bravely SELF SEE
I invite you to courageously contemplate: WHERE ARE YOU NOT BEING TRUE TO YOURSELF AND YOUR NEEDS OR DISHONEST WITH ANOTHER RIGHT NOW?
DO YOU KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HEALTHY COMPROMISE AND UNHEALTHY SELF SACRIFICE?
Sit with these beloved. There is gold that your true self wants to communicate with you, don’t be afraid to have the hard conversations and face confronting truths with yourself and another. Direct communication is the medicine of this moon and a healing tool of repair as you evolve your consciousness to become an even more honest and expressed version of yourself. Don’t we all want to relate and create from that place?
Another major Aries theme I want to speak to is something that cuts to the core of our humanity:
SELF BELIEF
If there was ever an archetype to use to represent self belief it is Aries.
Aries is the embodiment of UNAPOLOGETIC SELF BELIEF, SELF RECOGNITION AND SELF VALUE.
Hunter And Her’s philosophy is to look at life through a tantric non-binary lens of everything existing in an ever-shifting spectrum so when I speak to self belief I must too include the other side -SELF DOUBT.
This came to me through my own soul as a download a few years ago:
SELF DOUBT AND SELF BELIEF ARE NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE- THEY CAN CO-EXIST.
As someone who has suffered from at times paralysing chronic self doubt from a young age, the only tried and tested way I have managed to be where I am today is my innate human ability to hold these two states of being simultaneously.
To hold self doubt and self belief at the same time and still be able to create an aligned life.
This is not easy. It is a life long practice. It takes nervous system work, shadow work, self esteem work and lots of conscious intentional action to expand my range and embodied capacity to hold the inherent tension between two seemingly opposing truths.
But can you also see that they aren’t opposites? They are two sides of the same coin.
Because everything is a mirror.
To know self doubt is to know self belief.
One does not exist without the other- they affirm each other in relationship. (Libra)
They may seem like polar opposites but when looking through a non dual and non binary lens they exist on a spectrum.
And the space between these two states of being is soooo interesting.
The space between the two is where the richness of a SHIFT in consciousness lives.
Aries rules the mind and has incredible intellectual discernment skills to invite and integrate higher perspectives into its conscious awareness.
Self doubt can shapeshift into self belief as self doubt is like a torch; it not only illuminates the existence of doubt but WHY there is a doubt.
This is where shadow work and alchemy come in.
SELF DOUBT IS AN ARROW DIRECTING YOU TOWARDS WHAT NEEDS TO BE SEEN
I used to think I was doomed to be a chronic self doubter. But I turned 21 and London and musician-hood came calling, then in my early 30s yoga teaching came calling, both were flaming arrows in my belly that I could no longer ignore.
Self doubt was a door asking me to become MORE.
So I had to turn the volume of self doubt (the not self) down just enough, to listen to the voice of self belief (true self) and the space between was key.
SELF BELIEF AND TAKING A LEAP
This is where another key theme of Aries comes in- its incredible propensity to take a leap without second guessing or endless questioning. (libra shadow)
Libra thinks and deliberates before it acts.
Aries acts before it thinks.
Again we need both to be in balance to make aligned shifts.
THE LEVEL OF YOUR SELF BELIEF IS INEXTRICABLY LINKED TO YOUR ABILITY TO TAKE A LEAP
THE GAP BETWEEN YOUR SELF DOUBT AND SELF BELIEF IS YOUR GOD GIVEN ABILITY TO TAKE A LEAP
The inherent discomfort of going for something and believing in yourself is like a bow and arrow; self doubt will pull and hold you back in order to create enough tension, or depression or second guessing that the only way forward is to take a step towards self belief.
In order to take the leap I had to not only admit the doubt, I had to investigate the limiting belief behind it which was fear of not being good enough then transmute the felt sense of that self doubt in my body to let it form self belief. That’s the nervous system work I spoke of earlier and I share ways to do this in The Cocoon membership moon workshops and recorded practice archives.
It doesn’t have to a be a big leap, it can be a baby leap.
The leap is to take an action. Aries is a doer. Aries teaches us blind faith and its intellect helps it discern the risks worth taking. Some of my leaps of faith have included walking away from a relationship and job and having no goal. Holding the tension of that is a whole other level of nervous system work.
With each leap I have taken in my life as a serial second guesser, my capacity to hold both at the same time has expanded because something in me pervasively demands it. Something deep calls it forth and I can only know this as my spirit. My spirit longs for me to evolve. My mind has held me back but my spirit has my back.
When the head and spirit consciously collide with the deep truth inside action feels ALIGNED.
This is key before taking a leap. Make sure your goal has soul and not just coming from impatience or instant gratification or lack of regard for others. Is it your true self you are listening to?
TAKING A BABY OR A BIG LEAP BUILDS SELF TRUST AND SELF BELIEF
Acting in acceptance of self doubt and seeing results as you moving towards holding more self belief strengthens the muscle of self trust.
The more I leap in little ways the more inbuilt confidence I have in myself.
Confidence means ‘inner faith’, how does it feel to know that? This shifted so much for me.
I truly believe that courage comes before confidence. When I think of it I really do have a brave spirit. I believe it is within us all.
Take courage beloved.
Self confidence can be learned with practice.
To operate from a fully integrated self we cannot fake it til we make it.
Instead of seeing self doubt as an imposter.
I see self doubt as a teacher. An ally. Accepting it as part of me instead of letting it hold me back has taken shadow work, endless self compassion, major self esteem work, and SOOOOO much support.
SELF BELIEF DOESN’T EXIST IN A VACUUM.
We live in a hyper-individualist culture that tells us you must love yourself before you can love another or do for everything yourself and never ask for help. These two things got in my way for years. They are just not fucking true and rob of us self acceptance and relational intimacy.
Let the fire of this moon burn the not self stories to the ground. Fire burns away illusion.
SELF BELIEF UNDOUBTEDLY EXPANDS WITHIN A SUPPORT NETWORK.
Everything is relationship. A solid healthy sense of self is co-created with others who want us to do well. Be around people who prioritise your mental and emotional health.
Self belief takes a village of supportive friends, family, neighbours, therapy, mentors, like-minded community spaces and self practice. Even one person who believes in us can create monumental shifts in our self perception.
I am an embodied ecosystem of all the people who have believed in me.
And I want to pay this forward as it is the most rewarding act of service to lift others up the way I have been lifted.
There is truly nothing like being cheerleaded by me and having my fire, truth and love in your corner.
I am a self belief, self expression and creative purpose mentor.
If you feel the call that is your soul speaking.
Reach out at the contact page or the email address in the last slide so we can have a chat and it would be an honour to tell you more about the 1:1 and group mentoring containers I offer.
In deep respect to you on your soul’s path wherever you are at,
I believe in you.
Francesca Filippa x