4° Aries is characterized by the Sabian Symbol Two Lovers Strolling Through a Secluded Walk and for some reason I find very little interpretation of this from outside sources; which is probably a good thing because I’m feeling the need, today, to remove the training wheels and to employ my own spidey-sense, meditating on these symbols, to come up with my unadulterated interpretations. My strongest inkling about this symbol is a sense of repair and of promise. I believe that the lovers can represent the part of ourselves that longs for a flesh-and-blood other; but I think the imagery also points to a would-be love of self. In the zodiac there is the astrological first house of self and the seventh house of other; and we are bound to look up the house of other not only as it relates to another person, but also to one’s own personality, and the development of our character, in all senses of that word.

To me, the process of knowing oneself is accelerated in our significant one-on-one relationships. Those with whom we partner can be a mirror, or sometimes they can represent parts of ourselves, qualities, which we feel we lack. The adage that “wherever you go there you are” is brought into sharpest relief when we are faced with the constant presence of another invested party. We can actually avoid ourselves and our own issues more readily in solitude. In isolation, we aren’t necessarily reminded if or when we’re being irresponsible to ourselves. On the flip side, we do tend to bring our best selves to relationships with someone significant. As an evolution from 3° Aries, where we are part of, representative, of a group, collective or community, here we bond with a like-mind, a kindred-spirit. Perhaps we’ve singled out from the group someone we wish to pull away for a walk down a secluded lane, just we two, away from the rest. Whom would we do that with? Probably someone whom we feel is most like ourselves. So this symbol and, by extension, the perceived energy of this day, might be about recognizing our self in an other. In 3° we aimed to see our own personal divinity as being part of the larger divine—our Atman in the Brahman. Here we recognize the divinity, the likeness, the kind-red spirit in a fellow or a lover. And our ability to walk the same peaceful path.

But let’s again consider the figures as two parts of our one self, first, from the perspective of masculine and feminine energies. We are all walking-talking yin and yangs. A man has a feminine anima, a woman a masculine animus, trans or third gender people, perhaps, have it all together. We don’t want these energies to be polarized, we want them to be integral to our experience, moving us in the same direction. This is true not only of the masculine-feminine dialectic within us, but of any so-called opposite feelings or forces. We don’t want disassociation of self on any level. We want to be honest with ourselves and to find unity, harmony, literal integrity, especially wherever there might be internal division or schism. We want to have a good talking with ourselves. In fact we want a private inner dialogue going on all the time. We want to be honest with ourselves. We want to confide in ourselves. For, is that not the true definition of confidence?

If we see two people, presumed lovers in particular, strolling down a secluded path we might suspect they’re seeking to share some form of intimacy, sexual or otherwise. We sense they want to be alone. Perhaps they have something secret to discuss—the walkway is isolated for that very reason—they might need to hash out a problem, confront one another, and seek repair. There is always something to repair in life, with others and within ourselves. I promised I wouldn’t do this but I do see this Aries 4° as being akin, in many ways, to the fourth sign of the zodiac, Cancer, cardinal-water, associated with flood myths, the most famous of which involves (re)pairing animals two by two and putting them on an ark (synonymous for promise) and sending them on a journey toward deliverance, in reparation of a spoiled, broken world/experience. Perhaps these lovers on their path are making a promise to one another. Maybe that is the upshot to whatever subject they needed to privately discuss. If the goal was repair, the promise might be never again to do whatever caused the rift or damage. Perhaps the promise is one of deeper commitment, the seclusion providing the perfect setting to propose a marriage of sorts, or some new covenant, marrying intension, determination, goals, purpose. If the lovers are symbols of parts of our one self in conflict, would we not make a promise, a pact, with to ourself to do things differently moving forward on our life path? The two individuals might be our lower case self and our higher Self or power. Cue that song from Carousel.

I just perused a list of famous people born this day and it’s not a day of very showy Aries people. Indeed, those born this day seem uncharacteristic of the sign. Even the few super famous figures are distinguished as being rather retiring and private people. I will venture to say that I feel today has the energy of a time out, when we have a wee off-site meeting with ourself to regain our inner harmony and equilibrium. We might understand on this day that the most important relationship we have is that with ourself and we are taking time and space to get ourself together, examining where it is we might be coming apart, and making the necessary reparations to feel whole. Yes we recognize that we are made up of polarities, that we have two sides to our brain and to our personality and that they work better, and are larger than the sum of their parts, when we blend them into a singular Self. We are always/never alone. Wherever we go, there we are.

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