All About Aries in Astrology

If you were born between March 20th and April 20th you have the Sun in Aries (if you were born on the first or last day of the sign, though, or 24 hours either side, please do double-check your chart. There are many different kinds of Aries. You may also have Mercury, Mars or Venus in Aries, for example, so you are far less patient, more assertive and more physically energetic than others born under your sign. You’re a supercharged version of the archetypal ‘head first, butt heads’ ram. Again, the easiest way to check is to use your time, place and date of birth to become a premium member and create your birth chart. If you were born on a New Moon you will have both the Sun and Moon in Aries. A double whammy.

ARIES WITH PLANETS IN PISCES – LOOKING FOR THE GREAT ESCAPE

Astrology is just as complex as human beings. Consequently, you can have a couple of horoscope factors in competitive, driven Aries (or more) but also have a dreamy Pisces chart signature. The more Pisces in your chart, as a rule, the more you escape from the real world. Damon Albarn (pictured below on the cover of Q Magazine) was born with Mercury, Venus and Chiron in Pisces. Aretha Franklin has Mercury in Pisces. One of Blur’s best-loved albums is The Great Escape. Aretha is well known for the pushy, punchy anthem R.E.S.P.E.C.T. but she also got her career started with Somewhere Over the Rainbow. The Piscean type of Aries spends a great deal of his or her time pursuing dreams, beaches, cruises and sometimes the pure escapism of good wine.

HOW PLUTO IN SAGITTARIUS CHANGED ARIES PEOPLE FOREVER

Astrology is not static and neither is your Aries horoscope. If you were born with this Sun Sign then you spent the second half of the 1990’s and first half of the 2000’s living with the Pluto in Sagittarius cycle. This has permanently changed the way you see the world as one country and culture in particular had a powerful impact. This cycle was about the most intense travel experiments for Aries people. If you could not afford the time or money to travel, or even emigrate, you would have travelled in the mind instead, so the connection to another part of the world would have come via the internet.

Travel broadens the mind. And of course, head-trips are just as influential as literal trips, with passport and luggage in hand. The Aries person today is a very different creature to the pre 1990’s model and as Saturn goes into Sagittarius in 2015 and 2016 your experiences with that country and culture, years ago, are about to be tested.

ARIES WITH AQUARIUS HOROSCOPE FACTORS – TRIBAL MINDS

Caitlin Moran and Dame Jane Goodall (pictured above) were both born with the Sun in Aries but have Aquarius horoscope factors. Do you also have Venus in Aquarius, perhaps, or Mars in Aquarius? You are intensely tribal and even though you have the ‘me first, head first’ characteristics of your sign, you are nothing without the group. It may be a rock band. It may be your Twitter tribe. It may be a family of chimpanzees. The important thing to remember is that no matter if you are a woman or a man, you are the alpha male of the tribe at all times. Highest ranking chimp, in effect. With your Aquarius chart signature you will be drawn to groups all your life and define yourself by them, but you are the silverback gorilla in the troop, taking charge and taking responsibility.

Dame Vivienne Westwood (pictured below) is a good example of an Aries who has a healthy dose of that sign, plus Pisces and Aquarius in her horoscope. The world’s most famous fashion dame was born with the Sun in Aries, Venus in Aries, Mercury in Pisces and Mars in Aquarius. She became famous because of her involvement with The Sex Pistols and the Kings Road, Chelsea punk tribe. Her fashion is pure escapism – it has nothing to do with the real world. She also has all the oomph, energy and self-interest that is associated with the sign of the ram. It can be a heady and unforgettable combination.

THE ARIES EYEBROWS, THE ARIES SYMBOL AND THE ALPHA STARE

Note the typical Aries look in the expressions of some of these famous faces – Damon Albarn, Aretha Franklin, Caitlin Moran, Dame Vivienne Westwood. It is direct. It is fearless. The eyebrows are either raised or heavily made up, or brushed down. Why? Because the eyes, in nature, are windows of alpha male aggression. Strong eyebrows, or arched eyebrows, emphasise the ‘Come  and have a go, if you think you’re hard enough’ nature of the stare. You will come across many Aries people (including the late Linda Goodman, the world’s most famous astrologer) whose brows are so angular they actually look like the Aries glyph.

THE NEED TO COMPETE AND THE ARIES LUST FOR FIRST PLACE

Why do strongly Aries types choose professions or interests which involve fierce competition with other people? It helps to remember that this is the first sign of the zodiac. Aries also rules the first house of the natural horoscope. This sign likes to be number one, so it is extremely common to find an Aries plunging headlong into careers or weekend hobbies which involve tremendous rivalry. Aries gravitates towards fields where only a handful of people make it to the top. Sport is a natural outlet for many of them; there is only one premier league in football; there can be only one winner at the Olympics. However, you also find Aries people in the glamour industries (ego wars ahoy) and, typically, in the trophy professions. Any business or industry where gongs are handed out, or bonuses, is a drawcard for this sign. Aries wants to be top. If you have a stellium – more than three factors in Aries in your First House – the word ‘front’ may be important in describing who you are, and how you live your life. So, you may be an upfront person, or perhaps the frontman or frontwoman in any operation. You ‘front up’ to difficult people and situations and in England, people might say you have ‘a lot of front.’. The word ‘head’ is also a good one to think of in terms of your character. You go headlong and headfirst into situations, and head off difficulties, or head towards conflicts. This idea of being headfirst and headlong, is partly down to the Aries rulership of the face and head. Aries types also ‘butt heads’.

If you have an Aries stellium – and the more planets, points, asteroids and angles you have in this sign, the more upfront you will be – then your Mars sign becomes very important in the chart. Mars rules Aries. Mars is a symbol of assertiveness, competitiveness, energy, vitality, pioneering spirit, fearlessness and often – aggression. By sign and house, Mars will show you where you strut your stuff, as a strongly Aries person. In Gemini and the Third House, for example, you may be an angry Twitter user, or a furious letter-writer. You may use language (Gemini) and your way with words (the Third House) to ‘fight the good fight’ whatever it is that happens to be. Your vocabulary may be hard and fast. Where is your Mars sign and house? You can look up the house on Search, immediately, to find out the arena of life where you play gladiator. Actor Russell Crowe, by the way, is strongly Aries. (And I met him when were both in our twenties, so I know!)

ARIES ATTACK AND DEFENCE

The final thing to say about Aries is that people born with the Sun in this sign are drawn to attack and defence. They can be furious football supporters or players for this reason. They may also be drawn to careers, interests or causes which invite fierce fighting. The most controversial political game in town is usually the one Aries is drawn to; he may be the lone voice in the wilderness protesting a war. She may be a fearless feminist, shouting ‘Game on!’ against misogyny.

Aries is the ‘versus’ sign as much as Libra is the ‘and’ sign. So, for example, Damon Albarn found himself in an Oasis versus Blur contest – which even made the news – when the two Britpop bands were competing to be number one in the British music charts. A couple of prominent feminists, Caitlin Moran and Gloria Steinem, have joined the women versus sexism crusade which in 2017 manifested in the Me Too movement. I am sure you can see that the abbreviation for ‘versus’ is V which even looks like the Aries logo! Libra is about ‘and’ (the ampersand) so Sun Libra people tend to fall into ‘and’ partnerships. French and Saunders. Thatcher and Reagan. If you turn an ampersand & on its side you can see a set of scales. Libra is the opposite sign to Aries in astrology.

Some very well-known astrologers were born with the Sun in Aries – Howard Sasportas and Babs Kirby, alongside Linda Goodman. Perhaps it is because astrology itself invites attack from sceptics. Astrology V prejudice! This is a game that Aries people know how to play extremely well, and intellectual or philosophical football appeals to them quite as much as the other, muddy kind. Linda Goodman, author of Sun Signs fought for equality (as did her Aries stablemates Billie Holliday and Aretha Franklin). Not a lot of people know that Goodman wrote speeches for black American civil rights leader Whitney Young, who served for several years as president of the National Urban League.

A SHORT LIST OF THE WORLD’S MOST INTERESTING SUN IN ARIES PEOPLE

Vivienne Westwood April 8 1941
Linda Goodman April 10 1925
Christopher Walken March 31 1943
Aretha Franklin March 25 1942
Billie Holliday April 7 1915
Damon Albarn March 23 1968
Joseph Campbell March 26 1904
Howard Sasportas April 12 1948
Jane Goodall April 3 1934
Gloria Steinem March 25 1934
Eric Idle March 29 1943
Brian Setzer April 10 1959
Babs Kirby April 10 1946
Caitlin Moran April 5 1975

Chart data Astrotheme and Solar Fire. Aries glyph and staring illustrations: Wikimedia Commons.