Aries III: Afterparty

Written By Laura Joyce

Cardinal fire: intimacy, pleasure, excess

  • Atmosphere: Afterparty

  • Plant: Lilac

  • Dates: 11-20 April

  • Tarot: 4 of Wands

  • Planet: Jupiter + Venus

One doesn’t just rock up to the afterparty. You have to go to the party itself, push through the introductions, the pleasantries, and the harsh overhead lights—before you finally get to meet the same people with their guard down, and in softer lighting this time.

– Prasi, ‘The Afterparty is Sacred’

The afterparty is a temporary zone, a place that exists in relation to the party, but that has its own rarefied atmosphere.

The afterparty is for the introvert who has survived the sensory overload of the party itself and is rewarded with the soft, dreamy cloud of the inner circle, low light, and blissful music.

It is for the drama queen who wants to wear their glitteriest looks and perform for their closest friends as dawn breaks.

It is for the person who has spent all night dancing up a sweat, and creeps away to throw on sweatpants and have an ice cream party with their animal familiars.

Or it is for the witch who heads to the graveyard to share a bottle with their spirit friends after a festival.

Austin Coppock calls this place the ‘Burning Rose’ and calls attention to the excessive pleasure, the romantic abandon, of Jupiter + Venus that can happen at the afterparty.

The rose shines most brightly when it is on fire. It is thus the burning rose which exemplifies this decan’s power.

There are deep Venusian pleasures at the afterparty – the outfit change, the extra glitter, the expensive candles, the exchange of secrets and erotic glances, the invented dance routines and perfect playlists. There are precious moments of intimacy with friends.

But there can be something a little unstable about the afterparty too. It can also be the place of drugs and altered states. Of loss of inhibition and even blackout.

T. Susan Chang reminds us that Venus is not fully at home in Martial Aries.

In Mars’ houses, she is also in detriment, her halo dimmed and her powers abated. In Scorpio she will self-medicate. Here in Aries, as my friend the astrologer Chris Warnock delightfully put it, she "spends like a drunken sailor". In other words, she may not be in her happy place, but she's gonna throw one hell of a party.

The afterparty can be heedlessly romantic and hedonistic. It can be seductive.

Lilacs, the plants that bloom briefly, and sweetly, are as delicate, precious and rare as the afterparty itself. Sarah Corbett writes that lilac is:

Notoriously difficult to extract as its flowers are too delicate for the distillation process used to create other perfumery products.

Most perfumers opt for the enfleurage method of extraction, which captures the delicate scent in a neutral fat. This process is very labor-intensive and, therefore, costly, meaning that it’s hard to find true lilac perfumes on the market.

Katy Kelleher, in her history of lilac, writes of the colour itself – ‘a shade darker than thistle and lighter than mulberry, a shade that is undeniably purple, even at dusk, even at dawn’ – that it has a specific connection to royalty because of the difficulty of extracting the snail mucus which produces the shade:

This mollusk-based color was so expensive and difficult to make that it naturally became associated with royalty and, later, clergy members.

ARIES III + THE FOUR OF WANDS

The Four of Wands picks up this theme of royal adornment, and T. Susan Chang reminds us that it portrays, a ‘ritual celebration that crowns and bedecks a sovereign's reign. We have moved a step up the hierarchy of needs, and our thoughts turn from survival and functionality to beauty and adornment.’

This is a card about the impulsive wedding that is more about the party and less about the long term labour and care of a marriage. We just don’t know what will happen in the future but it feels good to celebrate in the moment.

In their discussion of Aries III, Kira Ryberg and Chloe Margarita pick up this thread of this placement being a little over-the-top, a party that doesn’t want to end:

And I think that the desire to keep it going can be where there is, yeah, a little bit of struggle here, but I do think people with placements here, they tend to be very good at socializing, you know, like good at being in a crowd, good at being in a party.

The afterparty is by its nature for people who want to continue to hang out, have fun; who don’t want to miss out or leave their friends.

It is a place of gowns dyed with rare purples.

Of garlands, blossoms, and candlelight.

Of lilacs and burning roses.

Creative Spell for Aries III  – Afterparty

Ritual for Afterparty

(adapted from Diana Rose Harper’s ritual for planetary prayers)

  • Bring a lilac, or something dyed purple, to guide the ritual. You can use an imaginary object if you prefer.

  • Get the body present via some gentle movement.

  • Let your thoughts do whatever they want for one minute.

  • Attend to your breath, deepening it and expanding it.

  • Imagine you, or your characters, are hosting an afterparty. What is the party after?

  • What is the atmosphere?

  • Is it excessive or cosy?

  • Calm or dramatic?

  • Who is there? Any gatecrashers? Any crushes?

  • Is there drama? Jealousy? Joyful secrets? New projects?

  • Are the attendees human, plant, animal, or spirit?

  • Is it a cosy room with records or are there animal familiars? Glittery costumes or champagne served in fine china?

  • When you are ready, come back out of the space, and feel into your own body once more.

  • Note down any images or messages that came through during the ritual.

Creative Invitations

Rewilding:

Using afterparty as a guide, consider a place in your current work-in-progress where someone who was previously excluded from the inner circle is given exclusive access to a group, situation, or piece of knowledge. Why now? How does it affect the existing piece?

Generating:

Continue the work from the ritual. Imagine you, or your characters, are hosting an afterparty. What is the atmosphere? Is it excessive or cosy? Calm or dramatic? Who is there? Any gatecrashers? Any crushes? Is there drama? Jealousy? Joyful secrets? New projects? Are the attendees human, plant, animal, or spirit?

Process

Research lilac (the plant and the colour) and its connection to folklore, literature and history in order to prepare an artwork, research project, audio essay or other form of creative work.

Rituals

Create a cosy den out of chairs, blankets, and bedding inside, or if you can find outdoor space and some branches, twigs, or wood, create a portal. Entwine it with flowers, leaves, and strands of your hair. Spend ten minutes inside the portal or the den and see what cosmic messaging emerges as you inhabit the boundary between worlds.

Light a candle, burn incense, or create a (responsible) outdoor fire. Pay close attention to the colours, light, smell, and sound of the flame, or embers. Write a description of the fire in as much detail as you can.

🜁🜃🜂🜄


Afterparty syllabus

Aries III writing

Aries III scholarship

Laura Joyce
Next

Aries II: Prism