There is something wonderfully feral about an Aries Full Moon. After weeks of navigating the emotional complexities of eclipse season and the delicate negotiations of Libra season, the Moon arrives in the first sign of the zodiac and reminds us that we are allowed to take up space in our own lives.

Aries is the cardinal fire sign ruled by Mars, the planet associated with action, courage, desire, conflict and the instinct to survive. In mythology, Mars is the Roman god of war, although his significance extends beyond the battlefield into agriculture, protection and the preservation of community. His Greek counterpart, Ares, embodies a more volatile expression of warfare, reminding us that the same fire that gives us the courage to defend ourselves can become destructive when left unchecked.

I think this distinction is particularly important when working with Aries energy. We often hear that Aries is impulsive, aggressive or selfish, but these descriptions barely scratch the surface of its symbolism. Aries represents the instinct to exist as an individual, to recognize our own desires and to pursue a life that belongs to us. There is a certain innocence to its determination, even when that determination gets us into trouble.

The Full Moon in Aries occurs while the Sun travels through Libra, placing the two signs opposite one another. Libra is concerned with relationships, reciprocity and the compromises necessary to live alongside other people, while Aries asks us to consider whether we have maintained our own identity within those relationships. Neither sign is inherently more important than the other. Their opposition offers an opportunity to examine how we balance our personal needs with the expectations and responsibilities we share with others.

For those of us who spend much of our time caring for other people, this Full Moon can provide a particularly meaningful opportunity for reflection. It is easy to become so accustomed to being needed that we forget what it feels like to want something simply because it belongs to us. Sometimes we become so skilled at maintaining peace that we stop noticing how much of ourselves we've surrendered to preserve it.

This is the energy I want to explore through our Aries Full Moon ritual. Rather than encouraging impulsive decisions or dramatic confrontations, we're going to work with the symbolism of fire to acknowledge our anger, reconnect with our courage and make space for desires that may have been neglected.

The September 2026 Aries Full Moon 🌕♈

This Full Moon occurs at approximately 3° Aries, opposite the Sun in Libra at 11:50 a.m. Central Daylight Time. It is also the first Full Moon following the September eclipse season, making it a fitting symbolic opportunity to reflect on the changes that have unfolded over recent weeks.

I generally prefer not to perform rituals during eclipses, allowing that period to unfold without attempting to direct its energy. With eclipse season behind us, this Aries Full Moon offers a different kind of experience. We can begin considering what the previous weeks revealed about our relationships, personal ambitions and the responsibilities we've accumulated, particularly those that may no longer reflect what we actually want from our lives.

Aries Full Moon Fire Release Ritual 🔥🌕♈

Aries is cardinal fire, ruled by Mars, and this Full Moon is asking us to be a little less delicate with what we are ready to leave behind. This isn't necessarily a Moon for quietly folding a piece of paper and putting it beneath a crystal. Sometimes we need something more visceral. We need to watch the thing that has been taking up space in our lives turn to ash.

This ritual uses fire as an act of release, but also transformation. We aren't trying to destroy our anger, ambition or intensity. We're burning away what has been consuming that fire so we can reclaim it.

What You'll Need 🕯️

🔥 A candle. Black or red is ideal for Aries/Mars, but any candle will work
🥣 A fire safe bowl, cauldron or metal container
📄 A piece of paper
🖊️ A pen
💧 Water nearby for fire safety
🌿 Optional rosemary for protection
🪨 Optional carnelian, bloodstone, red jasper or another stone you associate with courage and strength

If you cannot safely burn something where you are, tear the paper into tiny pieces instead. The intention matters more than the spectacle.

1. Light Your Fire 🔥

Set your fire safe container in front of you and light your candle. Take a few slow breaths and think about everything that has been demanding your energy lately. Aries governs the self, and under this Moon we're paying attention to where our fire has been going.

What has been exhausting you?

What are you angry about?

What are you finished tolerating?

What keeps taking pieces of you without giving anything back?

Don't immediately judge the answers. Anger isn't always something that needs to be healed away. Sometimes anger is the part of us that finally realizes something isn't okay.

2. Name What You're Done Carrying ✍️

Take your piece of paper and write the things that you're ready to release.

It might be:

🔥 Resentment you've been carrying
🔥 Fear of disappointing someone
🔥 A relationship or dynamic you've outgrown
🔥 The need for someone else's approval
🔥 A habit that keeps pulling you backward
🔥 Anger that has already delivered its message
🔥 Self doubt
🔥 Procrastination
🔥 People pleasing
🔥 An old version of yourself you're tired of performing

Be specific if you can. Aries doesn't particularly care for dancing around the point.

3. Burn It 🔥

Take the piece of paper and read what you've written.

Then say:

I acknowledge what this taught me.
I acknowledge what this cost me.
I no longer give it my fire.

Carefully light the edge of the paper from your candle and immediately place it into your fire safe container. Watch it burn.

You don't have to immediately replace the experience with gratitude or forgiveness. You don't have to pretend you're grateful for every painful thing that has ever happened to you. You can simply be finished.

As they burn, imagine the energy you've been feeding these situations returning to you.

4. Call Your Fire Back 🔥

Once everything has burned safely, place your hands near your candle, at a safe distance, and look into the flame.

This part isn't about manifestation so much as reclamation.

Ask yourself:

What deserves my fire now?

Choose one thing.

A dream.
A boundary.
Your creativity.
Your body.
Your business.
Your family.
Your art.
Your pleasure.
Your future.
Yourself.

Then say:

I call my fire back to me.

From every place I have poured myself without return.
From every fear that kept me small.
From every expectation that was never mine to carry.
From every version of myself I have already outgrown.

What is finished may remain finished.
What is mine returns to me.
I move forward with courage, desire and intention.

My fire is mine again.

🔥

5. Sit With the Flame 🌕

Don't rush to extinguish your candle. Sit with it for a few minutes. You may feel emotional. You may feel powerful. You may feel absolutely nothing dramatic at all. All of those experiences are perfectly acceptable.

Think about what you chose when you asked yourself what deserves your fire now. You don't need an elaborate manifestation list.

Choose one action you can take during the next lunar cycle that gives some of your energy back to that part of yourself.

That's enough.

6. Close the Ritual 🖤

When you're ready, extinguish your candle.

Allow the ashes to cool completely before touching or disposing of them. Once cold, you can discard them. You don't need to bury them or scatter them outdoors; inks, coatings and other materials in paper may not belong in the soil.

Then do something physical if it feels good.

Shake out your hands. Dance. Stretch. Take a shower. Go outside. Scream into a pillow. Put on music that makes you feel powerful and stomp around your kitchen like you're personally declaring war on every inconvenience you've experienced since 2007. Aries energy likes movement. Let your body know the ritual is finished.

Fire Safety, Because We Are Witches, Not Arsonists 🕯️😂

Please use a genuinely fire safe container on a non flammable surface, burn only small pieces of plain paper at a time, keep water nearby, tie back long hair and keep loose sleeves, children and pets away from the flame. Don't perform this outside during dry or windy conditions or anywhere open burning is prohibited.

If burning isn't accessible or safe for you, tearing, shredding or dissolving your release papers can become the symbolic destruction instead.

The magic isn't dependent upon creating the biggest flame.

But when we can safely work with it, there is something beautifully primal about watching words become ash beneath a fire Moon.

Burn what is finished. Keep the lesson. Call your fire home. 🔥🌕♈