## The Full Moon in Aries Is Asking: Where Have You Called Yourself Selfish? *On language, boundaries, and the courage to include yourself in the "we".*
### I. Words that no longer fit I have often thought about the importance that the meaning we give to words has in each person's life. And even this thought feels difficult for me to explain.
I remember that the first time this little light switched on in my head was in adolescence, probably following a conversation about **free will**. I remember thinking:
**"We talk so much about freedom, but does it actually exist? Or is it just a utopia?"**
Because the truth is: we're all conditioned from the start.
By the family we're born into. By the culture, the language, the economic reality. By the simple fact of being born at all.
So one of two things must be true:
Either **there is no word for this concept** — because the thing itself doesn't exist as we imagine it.
Or we're using the word **"freedom"** to describe something else entirely.
From then on, I started to pay more attention to the words we use to describe our lives. Words that seem simple because they are part of our everyday vocabulary, but that, when we stop to think about them, become too big, too complex, or even insufficient.
**Freedom** is one of those words.
So is **selfishness**.
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### II. Selfishness, or self-preservation? I identify strongly with individuality.
There's a deep sense — even a need — for my own space, my own logic, my own way of processing things.
But at the same time, I increasingly feel that I have a mission, or an obligation, towards the collective.
Not in a vague, inspirational way. But in a very concrete sense: I notice patterns, I analyse structures, I want to understand how things fit together — and then I feel responsible for saying something about it.
This creates tension.
Because the more I honour my individuality, the more I feel pulled towards the collective.
And the more I engage with the collective, the more I need to protect my individuality.
Finding my voice again has been a beautiful, challenging and revealing mission over the past few months.
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### III. The Full Moon in Aries: self vs. other This **Full Moon in Aries (26 September 2026)** arrives exactly in this tension.
Astrologically, it's an opposition between:
- **Moon in Aries** → "What do I feel? What do I want?"
- **Sun in Libra** → "What does this do to the other? How do we keep the balance?"
It's the axis of **self and other**, brought into sharp emotional focus.
Under this lunation, you may notice:
- Situations where you've been **over-compromising** to keep the peace.
- Agreements that are no longer reciprocal in time, energy or care.
- A sudden urge to **say no**, leave, change, assert yourself — even if it disrupts the harmony.
This is the **Harvest Moon** — the full moon closest to the autumn equinox. Traditionally, it's a time of gathering what you've grown and deciding what to carry forward.
In this context, the question isn't "me or us".
It's: **"How do I include myself in the 'us'?"**
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### IV. Neptune, fog, and the language of boundaries This Full Moon is conjunct **Neptune**, which adds a layer of fog to the emotional landscape.
Things feel intense, but not always clear.
You may have vivid dreams, symbolic insights, or a strong urge to escape certain situations — without being able to articulate exactly why.
Language itself starts to blur.
Words like **freedom**, **selfishness**, **individuality**, **care** — they all begin to feel slippery, insufficient, or too heavy to carry.
And maybe that's the point: not to define them perfectly, but to **feel where they no longer fit**.
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### V. A personal harvest For me, this lunation is highlighting a few specific questions:
- Where have I called myself "selfish" simply for honouring my need for individuality?
- If I put my individuality first in one area this week, what would actually shift in my relationship to the collective?
- What small action could I take that honours both my individuality and my sense of mission?
I don't have clean answers yet.
But I'm noticing that the word "selfish" still carries a weight I'm not sure it deserves.
Under this Aries Moon, I'm experimenting with a different question:
**"Is this selfishness — or is this alignment?"**
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### VI. An invitation (not a prescription) If you're working with this Full Moon, you might try:
- Writing down **one situation** where you've been labelled (or have labelled yourself) as selfish.
- Next to it, writing: **"What would it look like to reframe this as an act of self-honesty?"**
- Then, asking: **"What small action could I take in the next 48 hours that honours this?"**
No grand declarations. No dramatic exits.
Just a small, concrete movement towards including yourself in the equation.
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### VII. To close (for now) Perhaps my voice wasn't lost.
Perhaps it was just covered by many definitions that weren't truly mine.
And perhaps that's what happens when we start to question the words we use to define ourselves: we stop accepting concepts just because they're familiar, and we begin, slowly, to build a more honest language for what we feel.
**Freedom. Selfishness. Individuality. Care.**
Perhaps none of these words is enough on its own.
But continuing to ask questions seems like a good place to start.