AstroWriting: Write the Arian Way - Fight For Your Right

Two writers competing for a slot to have their book published.

One writes about their life, their struggles, hopes, dreams, love and loss being a member of black community. Their work is sharp and critical, proven by countless times he challenges the authority and requests a change.

The other is a self-help author. They’re charismatic. Very good with words. Actually, they’re elastic when it comes to words. Love to bend and stretch them to fit whatever shape suits them best.

—

In theory, the publishing pie is large. If not today, there’s always another time. The world is wide enough. There will be space for them.

But there are moments—moments like this—that demand a fight. A fight for the right of your work to exist.

In these moments, you can feel a breath of hot air infiltrate the room. It’s raw, bold, and aggressive. It feels urgent.

In these moments, you can feel the breath of hot air infiltrate the room. It feels raw, bold, and aggressive even. It feels urgent.

And that’s when you know the energy of Aries has entered the room.

Spring, War and The Right to Exist.

Aries is the first of the twelve horoscope sign, starting on March 21. And if that rings any bell then yes, it’s the Vernal Equinox, marking the beginning of Spring.

When we think about Spring, we often picture flowers blossoming, seeds sprouting, trees thriving — We associate these processes with easy and joy. The words ‘blossoming’, ‘sprouting’, and ‘thriving’ also have their positive intonations.

Those words never mean War.

But they should. There should be certain notions of War creeping underneath them. Mars, the God of War, rules Aries.

Here’s why:

Of all the seeds scattered on the ground, only some will sprout while others won’t. It’s tempting to see this as mere chance, but what if it isn’t? What if it’s a battle for survival, a fight to break through the soil and reach the light? Growth, as beautiful as it seems, is not without conflict.

The energy that Aries brings to the table is not a jolly, bright, chill spring energy. It’s the dark side about life - the one that requires us accept that there is winning and losing in life.

Just as flowers fighting for their survival in spring time, writers must fight for the space to share their stories.

Writers, once there’s a desire to put yourself out there in the public (meaning if you want your work to be seen by a group of audience, however big or small that is), whether you like it or not, there is going to be competitiveness circling in the air.

And you will need to fight for your right to exist.

source: Pinterest

The good side of Competitiveness.

Competitiveness, carried out in the right way, brings forth the best people in the room. There are groups where people with good manipulation skills thrive (ie. name a government). Having conflicts, controversies, and challenges helps reduce that. Having the Arian energy helps reduce that.

Aries competes. But it’s not to soothe the ego, neither just for fun. There is a primal urge to excel, to be the best. And the strategy for that is to join in ‘competitions’ so that Aries’ ideas get challenged, disagreed, and tossed away. And with that, it continues learning and honing the skills to be better and better.

For writers, this means celebrating competition without inflatịng the ego, but refining ideas and producing work that is truly quality.

Here’s the good news: When the best one wins, they’re not the only winner. The whole community benefits from it.

When the best writer wins, the whole community benefits from it.

Back to the story at the beginning.

I hope we all agree to root for the first author in this battle. But assuming he gives in, the voice of the community that it represents may never be shed light on. The reward goes to the second author — cliché self-help gurus.

But there have been cases when people like our author fought for the right to exist. The reward? The world is gifted with Maya Angelou (Her Sun Sign? — Of course it’s Aries).

When Maya Angelou wins, the world benefits from that victory.

Be careful. The heat can burn.

For Aries, the heat can burn them down in 2 ways:

• It gets too hot that they win every argument, even when they’re wrong

• It gets suppressed. In this case, what consumes them is lingering resentment over a victory they let slip away.

When we welcome the Arian energy, we open our arms to debate and disagreement. We’re open to fighting. But that’s very different from wrecking someone just to protect your ego, just to prove that you’re right. I think to truly embrace the essence of Aries, we need to let the best idea in the room to win, not one’s self or one’s ego.

So, how can we channel this Arian energy into our craft as writers?

1. Publish the ideas we believe are worth sharing.

2. Fight for the right for those ideas to exist

3. Celebrate debate and disagreements. Take the helpful. Toss away the shallow.

4. Refine your ideas and messages. Make them better (remember, for Aries, the primal urge is to be the best).

5. Shake hands with your ‘opponents’ for a good conversation.

—

On the other hand, when the Arian energy is misdirected, resentment will take place.

This happens often when we know that we have something really good to offer, yet, we let the chance slip away. We don’t even bother to fight for it. Or we fight half-heartedly, walking on egg shells.

Then we resent those who have bravery to fight for their rights.

It’s important for Aries to express their fire directly and healthily. If not, that fire will turn in ward, meaning instead of ‘burning’ what it believes unnecessarily takes up too much space in this word (ie. self-help books), it burns internally. It burns our life force down. And we become more unbothered, liveless, ‘dead’ than ever.

So, how can we channel this Arian energy into our craft as writers?

1. If something’s burning, urging you to take actions, express an idea or write a piece, try it out.

2. Take a deep breathe in. As you’re ready, spit out an honest message.

3. Repeat the mantra: “Just say it” until you actually do.

To support the Arian energy:

Imagine a world without bold voices like Maya Angelou. Now imagine a world dominated by bold voices like… Trump.

Boldness, when channeled correctly, can uplift and inspire. But when it veers into unchecked ego or recklessness, it can harm and divide. With its primal urge to assert and compete, Aries energy has the potential to go either way.

Not every writer (or person) has a strong Arian influence in their birth chart. But as the planets move through the twelve signs, all of us will taste the fiery, bold energy of Aries at some point. Whether you’re a writer navigating this energy, or you know someone embodying it, we can always be each other’s best teachers by (summarized by the teachings of my favorite astrologer, Steven Forrest).

Not being afraid to confront our/their defenses and opinions directly

Not hiding behind diplomacy

When one’s skull is thick, we know how to penetrate it.

Introducing this AstroWriting series is my very first Arian move. Debate and disagreement will be celebrated.

May the best one win!
🤝

---

Big thanks to Tô Ngọc for being an accountable, non-paid (hic, sorry) editor for almost all of my blogs.

This blog draws heavy inspiration from my favorite author, Steven Forrest, particularly his works The Inner Sky and The Book of Fire. If I were to break it down, about 80% of the ideas here are his, while the remaining 20% are my own interpretations and refinements tailored to the theme of Writing and Creativity. For anyone passionate about astrology, his books are an excellent place to begin. A special thanks to Kitty for introducing me to his transformative work!