Sun in Aries

"Determine never to be idle.  No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any.  It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing."     —Thomas Jefferson, born April 13, 1743

An Overview of Sun Sign Characteristics for Aries

   Aries is the first sign of the zodiac, ruled by Mars.  It represents offensive power and begins at the spring equinox.  In Aries we move from the potential to the actual; from dormant to active participation. Desire, initiative, courage and action are words which best describe Aries.

Personal traits of an Aries person are openness, enthusiasm and individualism.  They are outspoken, alert, quick to act and speak.  They prefer to speak than listen.  Arians are ambitious, with lots of drive and a strong desire to lead.  They make poor followers. Fiercely independent, they usually take the side of the underdog in any controversy.  They are champions of lost causes and losing battles.  This trait is due to a strong belief in their own abilities to turn any situation around.

                        Clay lies still, but blood's a rover;
                        Breath's a ware that will not keep.
                        Up, lad: when the journey's over
                        There'll be time enough to sleep.

                        From: Reveillé by A. E. Houseman, born March 26, 1859

Arian values are more intellectual than spiritual.  Primarily people of action, they demonstrate little subtlety or cunning.  Frank and amiable, they make quick decisions, and grasp ideas just as quickly.  Quick of mind, and just as quick to anger, Arians are known for their impatience, and are prone to be arrogant.

Aries have a strong self image, the ability to think fast and size up most situations in an instant.  Arians calculate risks with lightning speed and make decisions accordingly.  An adage that fits the Arian well is 'A straight line is the shortest distance between two points'.  Arians don't waste time and energy beating around the bush, they come straight to the point, and leave the bodies where they fall.

Symbolic representation of the constellation Aries,
European manuscript, sixteenth century.

Where is the Planet Mercury in Your Birth Horoscope?

Of all the planets within our solar system, Mercury is nearest to the Sun.  There is a direct correspondence to this fact in the mapping of an individual's birth chart.  With the exception of the Moon, Mercury revolves through the zodiac faster than any other planet; yet its proximity to the Sun insures that its placement will always be near to or on par with the subject's Solar sign.

It is likely that you will be able to determine where Mercury was at the time of your birth without consulting an astrologer.  By reading the three potential profiles, it is often uncanny how clearly one of them will fit to us.  I thought you would enjoy trying this out for yourself.  You can explore the three positions of Mercury through the following links:
      Mercury in Pisces      Mercury in Aries      Mercury in Taurus

I am always interested to know what you think and discover. Feel welcome to write! Material is currently being developed on the other planets. If you are interested, we would be pleased to keep you updated on their progress.  Just send me a brief request!

Sun Sign Personality Traits for Aries

Some of the negative traits of Arians come from what can be labeled 'a tragic flaw' in their makeup.  A high energy output is cause for great anxiety in some Arians. Sometimes, this anxiety is so intense and unmanageable that it becomes cause to abandon a venture out of fear of failure.  They then redirect their energy into something new. Another flaw in the Arian makeup is a fear of rejection.  Rejection is near the top of their list of fears.  If the Arian is not certain of acceptance, to avoid rejection, they do the rejecting first.  The best defense is a good offense.

"There is a time for departure even when there's no certain place to go."
      —Tennessee Williams, born March 26, 1911

On the more positive side, Arians are known to be generous people.  They give of their time, effort, money and sympathies. They have both moral and physical courage and will give support to anyone they believe is being treated unfairly, or to any cause they deem worthy.  Such traits can be recognized in the actions of famous Arians William Morris, Charlie Chaplin and Paul Robeson.  The Pre-Raphaelite artist and designer Morris dedicated much of his life to illuminating the social inequalities of Victorian England.  The films produced and stared in by Chaplin bear a near universal theme of the underdog getting back at a system which treated him unjustly.  Robeson put his career as an actor and singer, even his life, on the line to speak out against the racial iniquities of his time.  There's a calling to crusade running through the veins of every red-blooded Aries.

Artistic Interpretation of Constellation Aries.

Vocational Interests Suited to Aries Tendencies

In their professions, Arians need to take charge.  The routine or monotonous was not meant for you.  Your originality, imagination and great mental and physical energy require work where you can utilize all of these traits.  You prefer to work on your own or direct others.  You are in your element in a position where you can communicate and form public opinion.  Journalism, publicity, advertising, publishing, radio and TV are natural professions for you to prevail in.

The military is another field that is ripe for Arians with its many leadership possibilities.  Law enforcement is another commanding vocation that is attractive to Arians.  In a similar capacity Aries make excellent surgeons and surgical nurses.  In the arts and entertainment field, Aries also does very well.  You are endowed with so many valuable assets; a keen intellect, initiative, intuition, inventiveness, energy, leadership qualities and enthusiasm that you'll shine in any profession that you set your sites on.

The symbolic representation of Aries
Astrological atlas, seventeenth century.

Arians have to watch their impatience, lack of thrift, and a domineering attitude.  Your ego also requires more than a fair share of continual approval and acclaim.  Without this approval, your effectiveness can take a nosedive.  Aries thrive on challenge, and they truly believe they can do anything - so they have a tendency to bite off more than they can chew.  Acquiring patience, persistence and perseverance will go a long way in helping you to make the most advantage of your great gifts.

In summation, Arians are spontaneous people.  They never ponder, they act.  They are frank, open and not prone to be devious.  The Arian takes definite steps, achieves definite results, is of help and benefit to those who need it, and attacks before waiting to be attacked.

Aries - Taurus - Gemini - Cancer - Leo
Virgo - Libra - Scorpio - Sagittarius
Capricorn - Aquarius - Pisces

"Aries the Ram is Ariete in Italy, Bélier in France and Widder in Germany—Bayer's Wider; in the Anglo-Saxon tongue it is Ramm, and in the Anglo-Norman of the 12th century, Multuns. The constellation is marked by the noticeable triangle to the west of the Pleiades, 6° north of the ecliptic, 20° north of the celestial equator and 20° due south from γ Andromedae.

With the Greeks it was Κριός, and sometimes Αιγόκερως, although this last was more usual for Capricorn.

It always was Aries with the Romans; but Ovid called it Phrixea Ovis; and Columella, Pecus Athamantidos Helles, Phrixus, and Portitor Phrixi; others, Phrixeum Pecus and Phrixi Vector. Phrixus being the hero-son of Athamas who fled on the back of this Ram with his sister Helle to Colchis to escape the wrath of his stepmother Ino."

—Richard Hinckley Allen; Star-Names and Their Meanings, 1899

The Lore of Aries in Mythology

Mythology is closely interwoven with Astrology.  Despite all that we do not know about the origins of either lore it is certain that starwatching began with passion on humanity's first night beneath the open sky.  Somewhere in time, shapes were perceived, figures imagined, names given and stories were told about the densely populated tapestry of the heavens.  All elder cultures throughout the world developed tales of the constellations which over time were imbued with meaning to explain various phenomena of our existence within the cosmos.

Mythology in general is far more than a collection of "make believe" fantasies created by primitive societies to explain away what they could not understand.  The role of Myth in a society was to set the abstract complexities of Nature within a context of story that the human mind could comprehend.  Wondering long on what keeps the world from falling through space or whether the dawn will follow night is a costly distraction when there is hunting to do and crops to tend.  Story sets cosmic ideas in a scale we can relate to, human scale, which establishes a sense of accord and instills a faith that all is well with the universe.

Astrology and Mythology serve a similar function in this regard.  We benefit from Astrology not so much as a tool of fortune-telling but as a directional guide to understanding who we are individually and what our unique role ought to be in this life.  As Carl Jung stated, Astrology claims only that we each possess the qualities of the year and of the season in which we were born.  To discern just what those qualities are ... is as fascinating to each of us as the night sky.

'Mars disarmed by Venus and the Graces.'
Nineteenth century oil, by Jacques-Louis David.

Throughout the ancient Mediterranean region, the ram figure was associated with the constellation Aries or Arietis to the Greeks, Kriya and to the Egyptians, Arnum.

Ares was the Greek god of war and pestilence.  He was the son of Zeus and Hera, consort of Aphrodite.  The Romans associated Ares with Mars, the enemy of the tyrants and defender of the just.  Originally an agricultural god associated with the affairs of spring, Mars assimilated many of the characteristics of Ares since battles were often coordinated at this same time of year.

The Greek myths tell that the son of Nepele, Phrixus, was falsely accused of ravishing Biadice and condemned to death.  In a variant tale, Phrixus was to be sacrificed to assure a bountiful harvest based upon a false oracle.  In either version Phrixus is rescued, hastened to safety on the back of a golden ram sent by the god Mercury.  At the ram's request, Phrixus sacrificed the animal to the god Zeus to honor the initial ritual offering.  For his courage, the ram's likeness was set into the heavens.  The ram's brilliant fleece, set within a temple, was later to play a central role in the tale of Jason and the Argonauts.

Traditional Cultural Translations of Aries
Arabic: Al Hamal    Egyptian: Arnum   French: Bélier
German: Widder   Greek: Kriya   Hebrew: Telï
Hindu: Aja     Italian: Ariete     Portuguese: Aries 
Spanish: Aries      Syrian: Amru    Turkish: Kuzi

"It should be evident to every sane mind that we are indeed living in a period of intense and apparently relentless transition—a "critical state" between two conditions of human existence, or at least of social organization.  And this transition may be as marked as that of the solid to the liquid state of matter.  It is not merely a quantitative change in the size and scope of social institutions; for an extension of our human environment and field of communication from the localized provincial-national to the global, planet-wide level implies also a change in the quality of interpersonal and inter-group relationships."

—Dane Rudhyar, Born: March 23, 1895

Leonardo Da Vinci (April 15, 1452)
   Italian Architect, Painter, Sculptor
Jean-Honoré Fragonard (April 5, 1732)
   French Rococo Painter
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743)
   American Patriot, Essayist, Inventor; Third President of the United States
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (March 30, 1746)
   Spanish Painter, 'Last of the Old Masters, first of the Moderns'
William Wordsworth (April 7, 1770)
   English Poet, Forerunner of the Romantic Age
Washington Irving (April 3, 1783)
   American Author: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Hans Christian Andersen (April 2, 1805)
   Danish Fairy Tale Author and Poet
Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck (April 1, 1815)
   Minister-President of Prussia, 1862–90
Charles Baudelaire (April 9, 1821)
   French Poet, Social Critic
William Morris (March 24, 1834)
   English Pre-Raphaelite Painter, Designer, Poet, Social Critic;
Emile Zola (April 2, 1840)
   French Author
Andrew Lang (March 31, 1844)
   Scottish Poet & Literary Critic; Caretaker of Fairy Tales, Folklore & Legends
Vincent van Gogh (March 30, 1853)
   Dutch Painter
A. E. Housman (March 26, 1859)
   English Poet: A Shropshire Lad
Robert Frost (March 26, 1874)
   American Poet: A Boy’s Will
Harry Houdini (Ehrich Weiss) (April 6, 1874)
   Hungarian/American Magician, Escape Artist
Lon Chaney, Sr. "The Man of a Thousand Faces" (April 1, 1883)
   American Character Actor of Early Cinema
Charles Spencer Chaplin (April 16, 1889)
   English Comedy Actor, Director
Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889)
   Leader of Germany from 1934-1945, Instigator of the Second World War
Joan Miró (April 20, 1893)
   Spanish Surrealist Painter
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (April 17, 1894)
   Russian Leader of the Soviet Union following Stalin
Dane Rudhyar (March 23, 1895)
   French Astrologer; Proponent of Modern or Humanistic Astrology
Paul Robeson (April 9, 1898)
   American Actor, Singer, Civil Rights Proponent
Spencer Tracy (April 5, 1900)
   American Actor
Joan Crawford (March 23, 1903)
   American Actress
John Gielgud (April 14, 1904)
   English Actor
Joseph Campbell (March 26, 1906)
   American Teacher, Author: The Power of Myth
Samuel Beckett (April 13, 1906)
   Irish Novelist, Playwright: Waiting for Godot
Bette Davis (April 5, 1908)
   American Actress
Akira Kurosawa (March 23, 1910)
   Japanese Film Director
Tennessee Williams (March 26, 1911)
   American Novelist, Playwright: The Glass Menagerie
Sir Alec Guinness (April 12, 1914)
   English Actor
Billie Holiday (April 7, 1915)
   American Jazz Singer
Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916)
   American Actor
William Holden (April 17, 1918)
   American Actor
Sarah Vaughan (March 27, 1924)
   American Jazz Singer
Marlon Brando (April 3, 1924)
   American Actor
Hugh Hefner (April 9, 1926)
   American Publisher: Playboy Magazine
Maya Angelou (April 4, 1928)
   American Poet
Max Von Sydow (April 10, 1929)
   Swedish Actor
Steve McQueen (March 24, 1930)
   American Actor
William Shatner (March 22, 1931)
   American Actor
Leonard Nimoy (March 26, 1931)
   American Actor
Omar Sharif (April 10, 1932)
   Egyptian Actor
Warren Beatty (March 30, 1937)
   American Film Actor, Director
Colin Powell (April 5, 1937)
   U.S. General; Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Secretary of State
Francis Ford Coppola (April 7, 1939)
   American Film Director
David Frost (April 7, 1939)
   English Journalist, Author, Television Talk Show Host
James Caan (March 26, 1940)
   American Actor
Eric Clapton (March 30, 1945)
   English Blues Guitarist, Singer, Songwriter
Sir Elton John (March 25, 1947)
   English Singer, Songwriter
Emmylou Harris (April 2, 1947)
   American Singer, Songwriter
Camille Paglia (April 2, 1947)
   American Psychologist, Author: Sexual Personae
Albert Gore, Jr (March 31, 1948)
   U.S. Vice President; 1993-2001, Proponent of Environmental Awareness
Agnetha Åse Fältskog (April 5, 1950)
   Swedish Pop Singer, Songwriter, Producer, Vocalist for ABBA; Waterloo, Knowing Me, Knowing You, The Heat is On
Chan Kong-Sang: 'Jackie Chan' (April 7, 1954)
   Chinese Martial Artist, Actor, Director
Alec Baldwin (April 3, 1958)
   American Actor
Emma Thompson (April 15, 1959)
   English Actress and Screenwriter
Ayrton Senna (March 21, 1960)
   Brazilian Formula One Triple World Champion
Eddie Murphy (April 3, 1961)
   American Comedian, Actor
Quentin Tarantino (March 27, 1963)
   American Film Director
Russell Crowe (April 7, 1964)
   New Zealand Actor
Robert Downey, Jr. (April 4, 1965)
   American Actor
Celine Dion (March 30, 1968)
   Canadian Singer
Mariah Carey (March 27, 1970)
   American Singer
Luis Miguel 'El Sol' (April 19, 1970)
   Mexican Singer
Ewan McGregor (March 31, 1971)
   Scottish Actor
Heath Ledger (April 4, 1979)
   Australian Actor
Keira Knightley (March 26, 1985)
   English Actress

                 You  may write me down in history
                 With your bitter, twisted lies,
                 You may trod me in the very dirt
                 But still, like dust, I'll rise.
                 
                 Just like moons and like suns,
                 With the certainty of tides,
                 Just like hopes springing high,
                 Still I'll rise.
                 
                 —Still I Rise, Maya Angelou  (Born April 4, 1928)

Learn more about the Earthlore story, upcoming web features
and future cultural projects.
Ask to receive your free newsletter

Your questions or comments are always welcome!
Aries E-mail