Birth of An Aries

I am an Aries Sun, born on the very first day of Aries season in 1994. My life began in the most Aries way I can imagine. During a wild blizzard, my mother sent my two older brothers to stay with a friend so she could bring me into the world in a quiet and peaceful house that I would call home for the first twelve years of my life.

My mother first went into labor in her own home on March 11th, squarely in Pisces season. My parents called the midwives, and everything but it turned out it was a false alarm. Despite contractions occurring just 7 minutes apart, my mom would continue to carry me for another 10 days. During the final day of Pisces season, my mother took things into her own hands and in a classically Aries assertion of will she initiated my birth by taking castor oil. She had already had two children and was confident in her birthing, leading her to choose to give birth quite independently. She had the support of my Dad, a physician, and two midwives, one of whom would later become the nurse at my school. (We’re nothing if not connected, integrated on a deep, karmic level.) Just as quickly as labor began, her contractions stopped.

Then, at midnight, on the 21st of March, her contractions began again, this time as fast and furious as the Cardinal Fire sign of the zodiacal new year. Only 12 minutes past midnight, I was born into my family on the Spring equinox.

As I was put on my mother’s chest, my father reached out to jostle my newborn body, encouraging me to cry and take my first breath, as his training had taught him. One of the midwives caught his hand, assuring him I would take my first breath independently. My Dad loves to tell this story, and it’s always helped me understand myself on a deep level that has been integral to my self-actualization. I took my first breath entirely of my own accord and in an instant, turned from blue to pink. Then, much to my mother’s surprise, I took a nap.

Napping is still an essential tool of well-being for me, it acts as a “turning it off and back on again.” Breathing techniques also provide me much comfort and serenity, as I feel the power of recognizing my own equilibrium through balancing the pressure of my lungs and calming my entire nervous system using my own body, my own life force, my own breath.

A sweet friend of mine, who shares the March 21st birthdate, calls us “blast off babies,” because…three…two…one BLAST OFF! This day is the ignition of a new zodiacal season, a new trip around the sun, a new season of growth, an initiation of action for all life on Earth (at least in the northern hemisphere.)

I have always considered my birthday to be special, given the peaceful nature of my birth, too often a traumatizing experience for everyone involved. The fact that it is on the Equinox and often the first day of Spring also gave me an obnoxious sense of originality. But it was only when I became a practicing astrologer that the power of my 0º Sun, exalted in the sign of Aries, became a signature that has supported my compassionate self-actualization and empowered sense of self.