Aries Wounds and How to Heal Them
With this Aries Season blog post, I’m trying something new. I’d like to dive into some of the wounds that originate within Aries. These may show up in the form of
An Aries Chiron or Lilith placement
Opposing or square aspects with planets in Aries
Aries in your twelfth house, the house of the subconscious and shadow self
Aries as your South Node
These wounds may be activated during the Aries Sun Season, as well as when the current planets or placements transit your natal placements in Aries.
In this post, I’ll share how these wounds can show up and how to heal them.
However, before we jump into Aries wounds and how to heal them, we must first understand a bit about the Aries sign itself. Below are the characteristics associated with Aries.
Aries Stats
House: First, the house of the Self
Planetary ruler: Mars, also the God of War in Roman mythology
Symbol: The Ram
Element: Fire
Modality: Cardinal, which means it begins a season: spring
Chakra: Solar Plexus, the chakra associated with drive, motivation, and confidence
Wounds
This is not an exhaustive list of where wounds can appear in your birth chart, but these are some of the main ones. You can also look to the lower sides of the signs in your chart to see which wounds or shadows you may exhibit.
An Aries Chiron or Lilith placement
To start, Chiron and Lilith actually aren’t planets. Chiron is an asteroid and Lilith is a a point in the moon’s orbit. However, they can both signify a wound or shadow.
Aries Chiron
It’s the sign of the wounded healer, which comes from the story of Chiron, who was wounded by Hercules and decided to trade his immortality to take Prometheus’s place in his punishment. He’d always been tormented by his immortality, so he gave it up to heal himself.
The way this translates in astrology is that your Chiron placement is usually a wound that only you can heal. You may even know how to help others with this wound, but have a blind spot when it comes to healing yourself. As with all of your planetary placements, the house they’re located in within your birth chart will determine what area in your life they’ll likely show up in, but the sign gives the flavor of the wound.
Because Aries is the sign of the self, someone with an Aries Chiron will most likely have wounds related to the self. This could show up as having a blind spot for the self, not really knowing how they appear to the outside world or always questioning their outward appearance. When we think of the self in terms of Aries, we think of the self we project to the outside world. However, this self comes from within. You must first understand who you are before you decide who to project out to the world.
Aries is also associated with purpose. Someone with a Chiron Aries placement may struggle to find their purpose in life. They may feel lost or unsure of their path. Or they may lack the drive and motivation to pursue it. Aries is a warrior with a confident and fighting spirit. Oftentimes, we must fight for the things we’re passionate about. An Aries Chiron placement can cause someone to lack the passion or fire to fight and just let their dreams pass them by.
Aries Lilith
Lilith is a dark or black moon. It’s the apogee or the point in the moon’s orbit when it’s the farthest from everything else. It’s also known as the dark side of the moon.
The way this translates to your birth chart is that your Lilith placement indicates a behaviors you may only exhibit when you’re alone or isolated. It’s the side of you you don’t want to let the outer world see because you’re ashamed of it. In many ways, this is similar to your shadow.
One way to think about this is all of the stereotypical downsides to Aries. Think of any Aries meme you may have seen that pokes fun at the sign, and that’s a good indicator for what your Lilith may be hiding.
Some examples:
If you had never heard of Aries before and you read those memes, you probably think an Aries is:
Hot-tempered
Selfish
Obsessed with money so they can buy expensive things
Willing to jump into action without a plan
Brutally honest
Impatient
Now, kidding aside, these characteristics can be used for good. We’ll talk more about that in the healing section of this blog.
Opposing or square aspects with Aries planets
Aspects are the angles the planets make with each other in your birth chart.
An opposing aspect is when two planets are directly across or opposite (180 degrees) from each other in your chart. They form a line.
A square aspect is when two planets are 90 degrees from each other. They form a right angle in your chart.
Both of these aspects can create conflict between the planets within the opposition or square. If any of these planets are in Aries, there’s a good chance there will be an Aries-flavored wound or conflict. Of course, this will vary depending on the other planet or sign within the angle and the house where these aspects show up.
As a side note, you’ll notice all of the signs mentioned in this section are cardinal signs, meaning they begin a new season. This means that while they’re at odds with each other, they all have the same cardinal energy inherent in them. This energy signifies new beginnings and can give you the motivation to start things and become a trailblazer.
Libra, the opposing sign of Aries
Libra is opposite Aries. Where Aries is concerned with the self, Libra is concerned with others. Aries is the cardinal Fire sign that marks the beginning of spring and Libra is the cardinal air sign that marks the start of fall. Aries rules the house of the self and Libra rules the house of relationships. These signs have many opposites. However, opposing signs generally have similarities within their cores.
If you think about it, they’re both concerned with relationships. Aries is concerned with the relationship to the self and Libra is concerned with relationships to others. Aries may be a warrior in the traditional sense, but Libra is the peaceful warrior, concerned with maintaining balance at all costs. When balance is disturbed, Libra fights to right the scales.
Oppositions mean you’re constantly conflicted between which side of you to pick. And as I stated above, the planets you have in Aries and Libra will give you a complete picture of how this opposition may play out in your life. However, these are some wounds that may come from these conflicting oppositions:
Relationships: Perhaps you have a tendency to lose yourself in relationships. You may give all of your self to make your partner happy or refuse to stand up for yourself when your purpose is compromised by that of your partner’s. You may compromise everything to make your partner happy, but then realize you’ve lost your purpose in the process. This may create anger and an unwillingness to compromise in the future. The conflict you’re facing here is how much to put yourself in a relationship versus when to compromise.
Decision-making and action-taking: When living at his highest level, Aries knows what he wants. He’s a warrior that feel his purpose deeply and knows exactly what he needs to do to reach it. However, when contrasted with Libra, who weighs his options and take his time to decide which path will lead to the best outcome for everyone, this can create a wound that creates indecisiveness or inability to make decisions. You may know what your purpose is, but lack the confidence to decide which is the best route to take to accomplish it. Or you may oscillate between jumping into action with any plan because you’re impatient with the version of yourself that’s aways wavering in your decisions.
Unchecked ambition: When Fire and Air elements combine, what starts as a small and controlled fire can grow into a dangerous forest fire. Aries is a Fire sign, which is where the fiery ambition can come in. Libra is an Air sign, meaning it can have an untethered energy to it. Combined, this can create an ambitious person who loses sight of what’s holding them down in life.
Cancer and Capricorn, the square signs of Aries
Cancer and Capricorn are the other two cardinal signs of the zodiac. Cancer is the cardinal Water sign that marks the beginning of summer and Capricorn is the cardinal Earth sign that marks the beginning of winter.
These two signs create squares with Aries. A square or right angle feels awkward and uncomfortable, so if you have any Aries planets making squares with Cancer or Capricorn planets, it will feel uncomfortable. That’s another way to describe a wound: uncomfortable.
Here are some ways this discomfort may manifest itself:
The self vs. others: As mentioned in the Libra section, Aries is self-focused and Libra is others-focused. This is also true, but in different ways, for Cancer and Capricorn. Cancer is the nurturing mother of the zodiac. She cares for others and feels her joy when she can be a nurturing influence on another. Capricorn, like Aries, is very driven, but wants to put in the work to become a strong leader. Capricorn will do the right thing, even when it’s the hard thing, to be strong leader for others.
Emotions: Aries and Capricorn aren’t really known for being in touch with their emotions, but Cancer is very in touch with her own emotions as well as others’ emotions (the nurturing piece comes in here). However, because Capricorn is an Earth sign, it’s very grounded and can process emotions in a more calm and methodical manner. Aries is a Fire sign, meaning he doesn’t always have the patience or groundedness needed to process emotions, especially anger, and they can take over and cover up a wound. Unwanted or unaccepted emotions create discomfort, which is why our tendency is to cover them up with an emotion that might feel more comfortable to digest or understand, like anger for an Aries. Anger is like the Aries warrior’s shield against emotions he doesn’t want to process.
Ruling planets: Looking at the ruling planets of Aries, Cancer, and Capricorn can help us understand some of the discomfort that can result in these squares. Aries is ruled by Mars, the fiery planet known as the god of war in Roman mythology. Cancer is ruled by the Moon, known for her feminine intuition and association with emotions and is considered the mother of the planets. Capricorn is ruled by Saturn, who is associated with karma, responsibility, and commitments. He’s also known as the father figure in the zodiac. When we put all of these together, Cancer and Capricorn act like the nurturing, but stern parents of the idealistic and teenaged Mars, who wants to brazenly fight for everything he believes in. This paints a good picture of the discomfort and conflict someone with an Aries square with one of these signs may feel.
Aries in the Twelfth House
To start, the Twelfth House in a birth chart symbolizes the subconscious or shadow self and spirituality. It’s the last house in the chart before we dip into the lower half of the chart. The top half of the chart (houses Seven through Twelve) signifies the public and more outward-facing parts of your life while the bottom half of the chart (houses One through Six) signifies the more private part of your life.
So why does the twelfth house signify the unconscious? Wouldn’t it make sense for that to be in the bottom half of your chart? Yes and no. It’s the last house before you dip into the more private side of your life, so it’s the most private part of your public self.
So how does this relate to your wounds? It’s a place where your shadow self lives. It’s the part of you that’s no longer a part of your conscious, but it still very much a part of who you are. For a variety of reasons, it’s the part of you you no longer wish to associate with. It manifests as a wound that your conscious attempted to heal by hiding in your subconscious.
However, this isn’t true healing because your subconscious still acts out because it’s not properly healed. It’s similar to a bumb shoulder that never healed properly and is still messing up your pushup form.
If Aries rules your twelfth house and/or you have a planet in Aries in your twelfth house, you more than likely have some Aries in your shadow.
One way to think about this is to look at the Jungian archetype associated with Aries and its shadow archetype.
Aries is most closely associated with the Outlaw archetype. This archetype may also be known as the Rebel, Revolutionary, or Wild Man.
As the name suggests, this archetype is known for overturning things that are no longer working and believes rules are meant to be broken. The Robin Hood character comes to mind when I think of this: he steals from the rich and gives to the poor. In other words, he’s breaking a rule that no longer works for the greater good.
When the Outlaw archetype is its shadow self, you may find yourself complaining about things that you want to change, but lacking the drive, motivation, or perceived power to change them yourself. Or you may try to bring about change by doing something rash or not thought out, which then goes up in flames and burns in your face.
The Aries South Node
The Lunar Nodes are the points in the sky where the moon and sun’s paths cross. This happens twice a year, during the two eclipse seasons.
In astrology, the North Node represents where you’re going in this lifetime and your South Node represents the energies you’re meant to release in this lifetime. Many people in astrology believe the South Node represents your Sun sign in a previous life, meaning you’ve already come into this lifetime understanding the energies of this sign.
North and South Nodes are always opposites. Therefore, if you have an Aries South Node, you have a Libra North Node. You’re meant to let go of the lower sides of Aries and embrace the higher sides of Libra to do that.
We’ve talked about the lower sides of Aries throughout this post. After all, the lower sides are the ones that create the wounds. However, this section is a nice way to sum them up.
The lower sides of Aries include:
Selfishness: As the sign of the Self, it makes sense that when left unchecked, it can manifest into selfishness. There are times when selfishness is required, but if your default is to always put yourself before others, this may be a wound you need to heal.
Anger: Because Aries is the cardinal fire sign, it can take the fiery-ness too far, dipping into an angry predisposition. Left unchecked, this can cause anger issues and leave the person feeling triggered into anger quite often. Oftentimes, this anger is covering up a deeper emotion or wound.
Competitiveness: Ruled by the planet associated with war, it makes sense that one of the low sides of Aries would be to take this too far. This obsession with war can cause a person to pick a fit and turn everything into a competition (or war).
Impulsiveness: Because Aries is very driven and concerned with achieving purpose, this can create an impulsiveness to take action without a plan.
Each of these things is good to have in moderation, but when left unchecked, they can become lower side Aries wounds.
How to Heal Them
There are many ways to heal wounds. The right method to heal a wound usually depends on the wound and the person the wound belongs to.
For most of this blog post, I focused on psychological wounds. I mention one physical wound associated with Aries in this section, but for the most part, I’ll explain how to heal the psychological or mental wounds I mentioned earlier in the blog post.
I’ve organized this healing section by the following types of healing I recommend:
Aromatherapy
Crystals
Healing activities
Another way we can look at Aries wounds in two ways: those where Aries energy isn’t strongly present enough and those where Aries energy is too strongly present.
For those whose Aries energy isn’t strong enough, you can incorporate more Aries energy into your life by incorporating Aries elements.
For the ones where Aries energy is too strongly present, you can balance it out with energies from its opposing sign, Libra. This is why you’ll see other signs besides Aries listed in the healing sections below.
So let’s dive in and get healed!
Aromatherapy
I sell essential oil products; are you surprised this is first on the list?
The sense of smell has the strongest association with memory, which is where many of our wounds originate. They were a moment in time when we were hurt that we’ve never forgotten or hidden deep in our subconscious. Therefore, it makes sense that we would call on the sense of smell to heal ourselves.
The following essential oils are great pairings for Aries wounds. Don’t forget to check out my Aries products when you’re done. They’re a great way to incorporate some of these oils.
Peppermint
Peppermint has a cooling feel and scent, which is perfect to counteract the hot-headed and fiery Aries nature. Peppermint is also great for healing headaches, which is a common ailment for people with Aries placements. Aries rules the head, which is why headaches are a common Aries ailment.
Try meditating or shavasana with a drop of peppermint on your forehead to cool you down when you’re feeling some hot-headed Aries anger or frustration and seeing too much red. If you have a headache, mix some peppermint with carrier oil and lavender and rub it along your temples, back of the neck, and shoulders to bring some relief.
Check out my Aries oil roller, which features peppermint essential oil.
Rosemary
Rosemary is associated with the Solar Plexus chakra, which is the seat of your determination, will, and motivation. It’s where your confidence comes from and your drive to follow your purpose. If this is a chakra that needs to be healed our balanced, you can try rubbing Rosemary essential oil in this area of your body, which is located right below the rib cage in the abdomen area.
Rosemary also helps aid in concentration and rational thinking. If you feel some Aries impulsiveness coming on, try diffusing some Rosemary while you complete a household chore or meditate to slow yourself down. Or try dousing that fire with a cooling bath filled with Rosemary and Peppermint essential oil.
Rosemary is an oil featured in the Aries oil collection in my shop. Get yours today!
Ylang Ylang
Ylang Ylang essential oil is a balancing scent that can help with anger, rage, and low self-esteem. It promotes feelings of self-love, confidence, joy, and peace. When we think of balance, we think of Libra. Sometimes healing an Aries wound involves inviting in the energies of the opposite sign to help balance it out. Check out some of my Libra products for inspiration here.
Ylang Ylang, along with other floral scents like Violet, Rose, Lavender, and Geranium, promote peaceful thoughts lined with beauty. They exude spring-like energy, which is great for Aries, the first season of spring.
Capricorn and Cancer energies can have the same effect. The scents used in my Capricorn and Cancer products will promote the needed square aspects to help overcome any wounds or struggles.
Crystals
Because I also use crystals in my products, I had to list this one second. Check out my Aries products to see some of these crystals in action.
Carnelian
Carnelian is bright orange-red in color and brings you willpower and motivation. It gives you the courage and confidence to achieve your dreams by connecting you with your solar plexus chakra. Try carrying some with you throughout Aries season while repeating the mantra “I am confident” to yourself. See Carnelian as the roller ball in the Aries oil roller.
Howlite
Howlite is a marble-looking stone, white with white lines running through it. This stone is grounding, cooling, and calming, which is perfect when the Aries fire becomes too much. It removes anger and anxiety from your energy field, allowing you to make decisions with a cool head. If you feel your temper rising or the impulsive need to make a decision too early looming, grab a piece of Howlite and remind yourself that you’re calm, cool, and collected. Check out Howlite as the crystal pieces in the Aries oil roller.
Rainbow Fluorite
As the name suggests, Rainbow Fluorite comes in a variety of colors, ranging from green to purple to blue to white. This crystal brings focus, clear-thinking, and inspiration. It’s considered a cooling crystal because it decreases inflammation in both the mind and body. Carrying a piece with you helps you remain calm and cool-headed in daily life. You’ll can see Fluorite in my Capricorn oil roller (the crystal pieces in the roller).
Healing Activities
There are a variety of activities you can try to heal your Aries wounds. Here are some of my favorites.
Reiki
Reiki is an energy-healing practice that focuses on aligning the seven chakras, or energy centers, of the body. As I mentioned above, Aries is associated with the Solar Plexus chakra, the area in your abdomen that controls your willpower, confidence, and motivation. If you’re feeling like your wound resides in your Solar Plexus, you can get see a professional Reiki master to help heal and balance it out.
You can also try DIY Reiki by looking up Solar Plexus meditations, incorporating healing music for the Solar Plexus, or incorporating yellow crystals or other yellow objects into your life (yellow is the color associated with this chakra).
Meditation
Meditation forces you to slow down and be present with yourself, something a fast-paced, fiery Aries might have trouble with. Or it can help you uncover your purpose, drive, and motivation.
To slow down and focus, try an open-eyed meditation where you focus on one item at a time in your surroundings. Take five breaths on each object until you’ve seen everything in your space.
To light your inner fire, the breath of fire technique (you can also do this in yoga) or try lighting a candle or fire and staring at it until you have to blink.
Journaling
Write a journal entry or list of all the things you want to let go of to finally heal. Maybe it’s the need to always be moving toward something. Perhaps you’d like to make space for sitting still and allowing your purpose to find you.
When you’ve finished your list, rip the page out of your journal or notebook and burn it (safely). Allow watching the words go up in flame to cleanse you of the energies you no longer need. This is a great way to use the Fire of Aries to heal your wounds.
Movement
Since Aries is a fast-moving and fiery sign, it’s good to move your body. Going for a run, kickboxing, or biking to get out your anger and frustrations out is a great way to heal yourself. It allows these emotions to move through your body in a healthy way, and they leave you feeling exhausted and cleansed. Channeling the anger, frustration, or anxiety you’re feeling into movement is one of the best ways to heal your Aries wounds.
Music notes and colors
Each sign has a different music note and color associated with it.
The music note associated with Aries is C. This means listening to songs in the key of C will help you uncover the inner Aries within, giving you the drive, confidence, and fight to find and accomplish your purpose. For a list of songs in the key of C, check out this page. If you’re looking to balance out your Aries energy with that of Libra, listen to songs written in the key of F#.
You can do this same thing with colors. Aries is the color red while Libra is the opposing color green. You can apply the same idea to these colors: add red to your life to channel a strong Aries presence and incorporate more green into your life if you’d like to balance out a strong Aries presence with a peaceful Libra one.
I wish you luck in healing your Aries wounds. Remember, healing takes time and patience. Remind your Aries self that it’s okay to slow down and take the time you need to heal so that you can come back stronger and more aligned to your purpose than ever before.
Happy Aries Season!
P.S. Don’t forget to check out my Aries collection in my shop!
