Category Archives: current events in the sky

New Moon 18 January 2026 Reality Check

16 Friday Jan 2026

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‘Reading Tea Leaves’ By Harry Roseland 1906 {{PD}}

We exit the Dark of the Moon when the New Moon perfects on 18 January 2026 at 28 Capricorn 43; it does so with both Luna and Sol having just passed over Mercury and Mars, and on their way toward Venus and Pluto. It may feel like stepping out of the darkness directly into a fully-formed scenario that reads as a current status quo that is exactly what we’d expect from recent thinking, actions, and choices–not only ours, but everyone’s, a Capricornian stage set, a predetermined structure, a set of rules and boundaries presented with the assumption that we’re all players with assigned roles and scripts–but will we play the parts into which we’ve been slotted, and more importantly, should we?

First we need to understand what that stage is populated with and by, and that starts with recognizing what happens when we’re dealing with energies very closely conjoined or in very tight aspect. Typically that means we can’t tell the difference between them, or in the case of a non-conjoined aspect, we find them working in concert, each abetting the influence of the other, and again, difficult to sort. A New Moon has something of this character anyway: what draws our attention at the time of the event (represented by the Sun) is seen through an emotional or intuitive lens (the Moon) with all of it, both what’s spotlighted and the emotional atmosphere, reflecting the sign in which the meeting occurs.

For this New Moon we have that Capricorn structure, that framework and those rules, recognizable as they issue from the status quo, current authorities, and our own lives, and we see Merc and Mars tightly configured and just having influenced what shows at the New Moon. That influence was one where we thought we were acting and thinking, choosing and reasoning, practically, according to what is–but here we need to note: what we were seeing was what we expected to see, with the Moon in Capricorn and the involved energies all converging there, as well–and that suggests we’ve been seeing our expectations as reality, rather than taking in what’s around us in a more dispassionate light.

Other contacts are tight, but the closest is the Saturn-Uranus sextile, with Saturn conjoined Neptune (which itself is in crisis at 29 degrees of its own sign) and both in contact to the New Moon. Confusion reigns–or maybe personal illusion does–as we (continue) to try to sort reality from fantasy from lies from wishful thinking. Two additional things exert their influence here: the way our creative and imaginative energies, and the ideals we carry, are at a point where they’re so stressed that we may succumb to zoning out (not even trying to determine where they stand, anymore) or confusion may settle in such that it seems like a permanent state; and the unexpected, unanticipated, the shocking, especially as it pertains to material and asset situations and our place within the group, may quite suddenly exert a significant effect. Something we didn’t see coming changes the picture–flexibility and adaptability will help us deal.

In fact, all major aspects the New Moon forms are contained within 120 degrees (here’s where I’ll say they’re well past opposition to Jupiter in Cancer, making that, symbolically at least, ‘last week’s news’–we’re not exaggerating now, not basing our views and reactions on philosophy or beliefs or what we’ve learned–and optimism has dropped away, dreams of our own furthering of plans having dropped away, for now–we’re just trying to keep the ground we have, under this Capricorn influence).

Within that wedge we also find, conjoined the New Moon with Sun and Moon yet to make direct contact, a conjunction of Venus and Pluto in Aquarius. This may describe that sudden influence that changes the landscape, since Uranus rules these two: something love/ relationship and/ or asset related that threatens (at least, this change may feel threatening, with Pluto) to destroy, alter, resurrect, or remake that Venusian reality–or the Venusian facet itself may be the agent of change or destruction, and we react to that. This may involve our Higher Mind concepts around relationships, assets, or love, so that the challenge may be as much to how we think of and assess these things as it is to their existence–but of course, if we change how we think of things, that changes our reality, doesn’t it? This comes in the immediate future, and may pile on the stress or act as a distraction from determining the real-world situation and the constraints and limits it’s putting on us.

Really, this New Moon asks us to see the world in which we’re operating clearly but then throws lots of confusion and distraction and doubt, both internal and delivered by externals, into the mix. Outside that tight trine of New Moon to Uranus we see, besides the already discussed Jupiter, are the South Node, and Black Moon Lilith in Sagittarius, suggesting that the two factors we may miss/ ignore/ undervalue are the past and all it can tell us, and those facts and knowledge that we’ve buried or devalued, dismissed out of anger or a desire to forget, to look away. Keep those things in mind, especially what we’ve learned from the past (perhaps most especially what we’ve learned from parts of the past we’ve long forgotten or disowned or dismissed as not relevant).

The Sabian for the New Moon is, ‘A Woman Reading Tea Leaves’. We’re all looking for signs, for indications of what’s coming, of what we should do, of how we should react. That’s understandable, and often provides a new perspective, a clarity that allows us to step to the side and observe more accurately; don’t, however, let shopping for omens or explanations detract from the reality around us–it’s not only in our surroundings, the involved facts, and the practical effects of previous choices where the important signs will appear, it’s the place to respond and remedy things, if we want to be successful, which I define as having an impact that takes us in the direction we want to go. This New Moon offers a point of clarity about where we actually stand, if we can avoid succumbing to fear, confusion, delusion, or distraction by the unexpected, and if we can look at the structures, boundaries, and restrictions that confine us and shape our world, and see them in the context of how they do, or don’t, support our safety, security, prosperity, and overall wellness. Intimidation comes in the form of being judged, or via those who assume authority (whether that’s legitimate or not). We have to ask ourselves, Whose structures, whose rules, do I want to live by? Despite appearances, it’s up to us, not a Saturnian ‘Them’. Choosing our own life structure brings important questions of autonomy and dominion at any time, but especially now–don’t be afraid to answer them.

Have a wonderful New Moon, everyone!

Full Moon 3 January 2026 Anticipation

02 Friday Jan 2026

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The Full Moon perfects at 2:02 AM PST at 13 Cancer 01, with the opposing Sun conjoined Venus and Mars and with Merc chasing from behind, all in Capricorn. The most startling thing about this opposition to the Lunar light is that these contacts are all in the future: the Sun has yet to reach Mars, and Venus and Mercury have yet to recently catch either of the others. It brings a sense of anticipation, a feeling of possibility–but the possibility of what? Since these energies are in Capricorn, we might be sensing a reorganization, new rules or strictures, changes in form and requirements and what is asked for from us to be part of the establishment or to find our niche within a soon-to-be-extant status quo. Alterations to the Capricornian scaffolding of our lives is inherently scary, even when we desperately want that change; add to that in this instance we are sensing/ feeling/ intuiting this change through the full, complete, flooding emotion of Cancerian perception, and we may feel as if our world is falling apart–but it’s not.

What we also may sense is the way the fast moving Moon will in only about half a day contact Jupiter. This makes our feeling seem immense, overwhelming, un-ignorable, and implies we may not be able to handle what’s coming, at least not emotionally. The energy may feel earth-shaking (Capricorn) and as if we’re drowning in emotional perception (Cancer)–but our reality is otherwise.

How would you feel if I said what we’re sensing as anticipation of things to come is really an echo of what’s already been? Would that remove some of the fear, some of the worry that things are out of control? The Sabian for the Full Moon is, ‘A Very Old Man Facing A Vast Dark Space To The Northeast’. The image suggests immediacy, all our experience in life (a very old man) confronted by the unknown (a vast dark space) I don’t know why the northeast, though these symbols were created/ channeled by two North Americans, and to me that says a kind of permanent cold (a nor’ easter)–so, tough conditions.

But, here’s our clue we aren’t standing at the edge of a frightful abyss: the Sun’s Sabian, which we always look at for a Full Moon, as it provides that Lunar light: ‘An Ancient Bas-Relief Carved In Granite Remains A Witness To A Long-Forgotten Culture’. Both the circumstances forming now, and our current fears, were created long ago, in a different environment, from a different way of thinking, and they surface now in a form of witness: to the past, to what we (as a Collective) have made, to who we were, and who we have become. This has lasted through time, and we are at a point of completion, appropriate for a Full Moon.

We are in a moment of acknowledgment, of recognition of the results of the past, good and bad, and the anticipation we actually feel is rooted in the amazing opportunity for a genuinely clean slate. That’s a rare thing, to bear witness to our past and then truly let it go–but that’s what we’re being offered with this Full Moon in Cancer–a chance to re-order our lives, and to commit to what we really care about.

I’m looking for a new blogging venue, after WP disappeared my links (and I’ve spent hours trying to reassemble them, to no avail), told me I have no more storage space, allowed Chinese bots to overrun stats, and just generally is more difficult to use with each ‘improvement’, so watch here for notice if I’m successful in finding a platform. I hope your 2026 is stellar–Happy New Year to All!

New Moon 19 December 2025 It’s In Our Hands

16 Tuesday Dec 2025

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Jacopo Guarana
‘Three Studies of Hands Clasped in Prayer’ {{PD}}

The Sun and Moon meet at 5:42 PM PST of the 19th at 28 Sagittarius 24, and what we find is that the formation of the New Moon proceeds from the recent contact of both bodies to Venus, with each on its way to soon conjoin Mars in Capricorn (the Moon in just under a day, the Sun in about 5 days). What begins now is something arising from the experience of Love (or the awareness of its lack) that we felt (and perhaps had a big ol’ spotlight shined on) as first Sun (awareness) and then Moon (feeling and intuition) touched base with Venusian ideals–and this has a Sagittarian flavor, offering perceptions based on the kind of knowing that arises from sorting belief from fact, at experiencing emotional realities that point out how our ideas of the world differ from (or support) the way we see the Universe and our concepts of what it is, how it treats us, and how it works. It’s a genuine reality check that makes the facts prominent and will show the shortcomings of every institution, belief system, and academic argument we may try to hide behind or use to justify our choices.

We should expect new approaches to present themselves, based on what we discover, what we learn–and after almost a week post-New Moon to consider how we feel, should be ready to take action, serious, controlled, constructive action, when the Sun reaches Mars–or we’ll be faced with a choice, a big one, at least in terms of how this will channel our energy and efforts in the near future. Our awareness may center on what we’ll be turning away from, but we’d do better to base our choice in what we want, and avoid mourning things that, let’s be honest, we may not really want in the first place. We’ll already know how we feel–we’ll have sat with that revelation for several days–and if we aren’t avoiding the world in general (because we’re overwhelmed, tired, or just plain afraid of what we might find), we’ll choose, embrace our choice and all its implications, and know what to do from there.

The New Moon is semi-sextile the Black Moon Lilith point, quincunx Uranus, and square Saturn-Neptune, with Neptune and the BML point at 29 stressful degrees. This suggests that what’s born at the New Moon is forged from imagination, creative efforts, and/ or ideals under stress–the good news is, that stress is Self-created, rooted in anger we’ve not yet dealt with, or in what we are denying or hiding from ourselves–so, though not necessarily easily handled, we hold the keys, and that means no matter what, we could address it. Uncomfortable circumstances bring surprises–or is it that our own discomfort at what’s happening draws erratic responses, unexpected reactions, and revelations that may make us squirm but will also be a treasure-trove of information? We can be the leader in our own lives–don’t squander this chance to call your own shots.

All this finding out, this new knowledge, comes at the expense of living in the reality we’re imagining we’re in–that is, we learn things that prevent us going on telling ourselves fairy tales about our own real-world circumstances. Painful, possibly, disillusioning, definitely–but only the unhealthy among us would seek to live within delusion, so count yourself both healthy and lucky if the veil is lifted. Knowing where we are in life and who we are is the only way to create the world we want to live in; it’s like having a map, knowing where you want to go, but the only way to get there, to plot a course, is to know where you stand now. Connect to reality–it wants to speak to you.

A word about a Cardinal square between Jupiter and Chiron, and a semi-sextile between Mars and Pluto. The square could persuade us our wounds are bigger and more important in the scheme of things than they are; the temptation may be to put on an aggressive armor of optimism and forced positivity. We may mistakenly believe this will shield us from further hurt, but it’s really a guise for our own desire to destroy, punish, or impose our Will, as expressed through Mars-Pluto synergy with no immediate outlet. Beware in ourselves (or in anyone you deal with) the hard smile, the pretense of positive energy wielded like a club, the demand for a happy facade that in reality denies the spectrum of feeling. An easy trap to fall into, if we tell ourselves we’re being cheerful, enforcing the holiday spirit, when we are in fact living in our heads, in our theories about life (Pluto in Aquarius) and angry that things are clearly out of control–or at least, out of our control (Mars in Cappy). The New Moon changes this, puts things in our hands. Merc square the Nodal axis guarantees we’ll be getting a lot of messages in this period, and understanding them will be instrumental in navigating our Path. All we can do is our best.

The Sabian for the New Moon is, ‘A Fat Boy Mowing The Lawn Of His House On An Elegant Suburban Street’. I take this as an image of privilege, comfort, plenty, but where the boy is doing his part to care for his surroundings. I think it’s a symbol of appreciation for what we have, no matter what that is–and yet we can’t deny there’s a hint of the spoiled and indulged, in calling the boy “fat” and the street both “elegant” and “suburban”. I’m not fond of that kind of built-in judgment that certain things are inherently inferior because of their origins, their lifestyle implications, or the privileges they convey. What amounts to a moral pronouncement in the minds of some is just that: it’s within them, not in the scene or the people observed, necessarily. Celebrate what you have, and care for it–gratitude is never wasted.

It’s time to think about astro calendars for the new year! Have a wonderful, wonderful New Moon!

The Current Weather

11 Thursday Dec 2025

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Did you feel that? Over the last 8 hours or so, the Virgo Moon slid over its own South Node point, sending us all on a nostalgia trip–or at least dredging up issues and feelings from the past and framing them in their current forms and contexts–and maybe making us think that now and then are unrelated–but oh they are. Ruler Mercury is poised at 29 stressful degrees of Scorpio, conjoined the Black Moon Lilith point, telling us that what we’ve recently been reminded of is, in some way, on the verge of explosion–or maybe implosion, with Scorpio taking us into a deep, intense, collapsing cave of our own denied or ignored emotions. Add that Neptune is also at 29, trine Mercury from its own sign of Pisces, and we likely feel like it was all a dream, an aberration, or an illusion, not related to the real world–and that would be wrong, too. This interlude has been a preview of major personal stuff that must be addressed. We may tell ourselves we’re done with it (especially if, as it appears we have, we’ve tried to bury it more than once before), but it won’t be put to rest until it’s done with us. Face it as it comes, to minimize trauma and rid ourselves of something that we genuinely need to release.

One other thing I’d like to mention: Mars square Saturn-Neptune and quincunx Uranus. Our energies are hard to handle at this point, as we are prone to both misperceptions and to misunderstandings about actual, real-world situations and circumstances–and it doesn’t help that at the moment we are hair-trigger in our responses. Right now reflexes are faster than brains–they even beat the intuitive and feeling capacities, currently–great for rescues and life-saving quick-thinking, but also priming us to overreact and definitely misinterpret. Take everything with a mountain-size grain of salt, just to be safe.

Full Moon 4 December 2025 A Fated Crossroad

03 Wednesday Dec 2025

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Maybe that’s stated too strongly; this is just a Full Moon, like we have every four weeks, but the way it precisely squares its own Nodal axis resonates and focuses through the Air (Moon in Gemini) and Fire (Sun in Sagittarius), that is, through thought and atmosphere, action and choice. This influence presents us with a compelling dynamic to act based on what we know; that compulsion becomes pressure, when we put it into a personal context of our past (SN) and where we’re headed (NN). In particular, our destined direction (NN in Pisces) calls to our imaginations, showing us every potential we can picture, every possibility we can create–and that means there’s room for tremendous creative efforts, launching things we’d otherwise never try, but also room for fears, for the worst we can imagine, and for confusion arising from not being able to sort real from unreal. The Full Moon may trigger this, through emotional networking, contacts, or knowledge shared (Gemini) that illuminates the facts of the situation, and/ or our own and others’ beliefs (Sagittarius).

The Full Moon perfects on the 4th at 3:13 PM PST at 13 Gemini 03, and makes sparse contact. There’s a rough sesquiquadrate between Pluto and the Moon, and the Sun is loosely conjoined Venus; other than that, it’s all about the Cross. The Sun-Venus pairing suggests the spotlight is on relationships, finances, or our values and again, the facts of the matter (Sagittarius), while Pluto disturbs the emotional equation with the dark, dirty, and threatening disguised as Higher Mind or as a mere academic exercise (Aquarius). Even change and necessary evolution can be perceived as disturbing when delivered through the emotions by Pluto–so, something to remember, the doom scenarios may be exaggerated or merely fears seeping through cracks in the psyche, through the uncertainty of our world as it exists right now.

The Moon’s Sabian symbol is, ‘Bridging Physical Space And Social Distinctions, Two Men Communicate Telepathically’. This certainly fits the atmospheric nature of the Full Moon influence, and keys us in to extent of our own connectedness: we can hear one another think, perhaps whether we want to or not! For the Sun we see this: ‘The Great Pyramid And The Sphinx’. There’s wisdom to be had in this moment, some of it long lost to us, buried under the sands of time. Listen carefully, since it does factor in to our own life direction, and to our own emotional life.

One other thing I’d like to note. We’ve had that ongoing Grand Trine, but currently there’s a very tight one within that larger scenario made up of Water-placed Saturn, Jupiter, and the Part of Fortune. I know, I know–not everyone is okay with use of a Part within a configuration. As Ripley famously said, They can bill me. What I’m seeing is an influence that frames, within the larger reality/ world (Saturn) something of a Scorpionic nature that is fortuitous (Jupiter). I think this serves to warn us off overreacting to the shadowy Plutonic fears or changes we’re faced with; as Jung prompts us, when something bad happens, ask what good will come from it, and when something good happens, look for the bad that can follow. Asking the question alone can help stabilize our reactions, give us purchase on rough, uneven ground.

Water Water Everywhere

28 Friday Nov 2025

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Why aren’t we seeing more harmony, with this shifting but persisting Grand Water Trine that has been lingering and reforming for what seems like months? Currently it’s made up of Venus conjoined the Black Moon Lilith point in Scorpio, Saturn and anaretic degree Neptune in Pisces, and Jupiter in Cancer; in many ways, that could be a formula for Love applied to what is painful or buried, shaming or denied, healing it, releasing the pain, allowing dreams to become real-world solid and expanding what we care about. Certainly, the possibilities are there at a personal level. At least part of the issue might be that we start every thought with its darkest potentials, with fear, with trepidation at potential change or destruction, signified by the way Pluto is currently body of earliest degree. Casting such a grim shadow on our own thoughts, first thing as we look around, may prompt us to search for what’s wrong (and gods know, there’s plenty of that to be seen!) It doesn’t help that Taurean Uranus is also in an anaretic degree, opposing Venus and Black Moon Lilith, priming us to anticipate the nasty surprise, the shock, the unwelcome revolution, the riot, the group imposing its Will on our own. And the fact that the Trine itself is in Water (along with Merc still retro in liquidy Scorpio) encourages us to use emotion to feel our way forward–and an emotional lens is a notoriously distorting one–for every accurate intuition we perceive we also get a dozen feeling-interpretations that are doubtlessly, even if only moderately, skewed by our own prejudices. Awareness that this is our current perceptual state will go a long way toward calming those crashing inner waves. Today we joked about opening a store that would be filled with nothing but white boxes with something soft in them, no prices or writing on them, and the store would be called ‘Calm Down’. Had a good laugh, but right now I’m thinking a great many of us could use a little something soft–we might have to pull back from the world a little, and offer that relief to ourselves.

New Moon in Scorpio 19 November 2025: The Truth Will Out

18 Tuesday Nov 2025

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‘By the Waters of Babylon’ By Arthur Hacker 1888 {{PD}}

The New Moon of 19 November perfects at 10:46 PM PST at 28 Scorpio 11, poised to perfect the Inferior Conjunction with Mercury in hours, and clustered with the Black Moon Lilith point that both Sun and Moon have just passed over. A New Moon is a point of discovery, of revelation, and in Scorpio the energy is one of uncovering the Truth–but as always, we must be careful to parse objective truths (agreed-upon facts or points of shared reality) from what resonates as true to us (which may be both subjective and entirely valid, or may only apply to us). The Inferior Conjunction is a starting point within a minor cycle where the Sun and Mercury ‘converse’–their Inferior meeting birthing and allowing the remaining retrograde to incubate something, typically an idea or way of thinking related to the sign where they meet, with the finished initiative delivered at the Superior Conjunction, when the Sun and Mercury direct meet. Under the Scorpion those ideas may consist of what’s hidden, even from ourselves, things mysterious or primal–but the finished idea, delivered around 19 January, will be Capricornian: crisp, controlled, definitive, consisting of the rules or framework we think necessary as we move forward. That carries the potential for a lot of judgment of the Scorpionic, perhaps rejected out of the belief that it’s in boundaries and institutions, in listening to authorities, our best future lies–which sounds to me like an aberration, desperate, and temporary, at best, arising from fear of what we don’t know, or what we don’t understand, the kinds of things we think linger in the shadows.

Consider how passage over and, at the moment of New Moon, still conjoined, Black Moon Lilith affects our emotional experience. We’ve just been exposed to/ reminded of/ or faced with things we’d rather ignore or deny, or that enrage us–and now we are being given a glimpse of what those things might make us feel. And in Scorpio, those are dark feelings, even if they serve as revelation or purge. Magnified, by the Water trine to Jupiter in Cancer, in the form of imaginings made real, in the Water trine (and so forming a Grand Trine) with Saturn conjoined Neptune in Pisces, the latter at 29 stressed degrees=the dream is at a breaking point, the imagination taxed to its limit, the creative faculties at their peak.

Uranus at 29 Taurus sits in opposition to the New Moon complex=stress like a high-tension wire exposed throws electricity into the air, precipitating upset that forces innovation or a Higher Mind approach in the face of new, unusual, or more advanced intel. It presents as a crisis in identity, but whether that’s individual or in relation to the group is unique to each of us–in any case, our sense is that our stability, safety, prosperity, or well-being is endangered–and naturally, that may prompt any number of radical attempts to re-gain our footing–instability is the last thing the sure-footed bull can take for long.

The New Moon Sabian is, ‘An Indian Squaw Pleading To The Chief For The Lives Of Her Children’. The Moon in Scorpio is pleading with the Sun, bargaining for the emotional life and the things it makes possible, makes live; it reminds me of the way Mercury meets the Sun in Scorpio, then completes the cycle in Capricorn, as if the secrets, hidden matters, emotional truths we discover will be so overwrought, so deep, even taboo, that we may retreat to the clamped down and restrictive just to get a moment to collect ourselves, to get our bearings, so thoroughly will we be knocked out of our familiar emotional orbit. Oh, I hope that’s not the case.

The Current Mood: Late October 2025

27 Monday Oct 2025

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‘Owl on Grave’ By Caspar David Friedrich c1836

Let’s start with this little cluster in Scorpio, the Black Moon Lilith point and Mars, over which Mercury has just passed; by the time the Sun reaches this area, only the BML point will remain, suggesting that illumination of the meaning hidden in these placements will all be internal, a recognition of our own depths and secrets–but for now we concentrate on the group. BML in Scorpio points to all we’ve truly, deeply buried and all that we vehemently deny; Mars conjoined gives us the energy and the urge to dig. That can be a good thing, if we’re looking for the Truth, but a not-so-good thing if we aim that urge at OPB (Other Peoples’ Business). Mercury recently conjoined BML-Mars implies one of two things: we either ‘get the message’ during our excavations, or that our actions, motivated by what we’ve hidden from ourselves, change the way we’re thinking.

Mercury moves into Sagittarius 28-29 October, and at this point opposes Uranus–brace yourself for the shock, surprise, or revelation–it’s unavoidable and honestly, it looks to me like the level of stress will be so high we’ll barely note this lightning strike amid the high-tension wires. Merc into Sag focuses our minds on ‘the facts’ and their interaction with our philosophy and beliefs, then stations and retrogrades (10 November) with the general mission of causing us to examine what we believe and how that motivates us. During Merc’s retro in Sag we ask ourselves, ‘Are we happy with our actions, our choices, with ‘the facts’ as they exist?’ Overall, experiences over the next couple weeks are best used to be honest with ourselves, to get to the Truth and ‘get right’ with the world–and we’ll need to, considering that retro status and the opposition that will gel around the 31st between Venus in her own sign of Libra and Chiron in Aries.

The opposition pits two kinds of predominant attitudes against each other: those who value others and put others first (sometimes to their own detriment, or even out of selfish reasons, knowing they will receive credit for it), and those who, out of their own woundedness, find they must put themselves first, no matter the effect on others. There’s no side in this equation that’s superior; we all carry a mix of altruistic and Self-oriented intention–it’s just that this opposition requires us to find our dominant viewpoint. Why? Because of the T-square created as the opposing bodies align with Jupiter in Cancer. There’s going to be a lot more of something we care about (in itself this may carry its own connotation of positive or negative–sometimes too much is a kind of curse), and we’ll be challenged to respond to this situation of abundance, or ‘too much’ (and this might be a flood of emotion, considering it’s in Cancer).

There’s been an ongoing Water Grand Trine that sees influences (like fast-moving Moon or Mercury) come and go, but the basic frame has been Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn-Neptune–and we must note Neptune is in the stress-loaded anaretic degree (29) of Pisces. This is the source of the persistent sense of intense emotion and a feeling of being ‘on the verge’ permeating the atmosphere. Knowing the strong possibility that things are not what they seem (Neptune 29 Pisces obscuring Saturn=reality) and that Mars and Jupiter are currently entangled in the previously mentioned scenario, just being aware of the preponderance of illusion (and the potential for deception) should be enough to keep us from assuming what we see is what we get, and so know the score–we don’t–but Merc’s dip into Sag may help, as may the retrograde, which will get our minds out of the way and let our feelings, intuition, and extrasensory perceptions speak.

The Word Image is an owl standing on the shoulder of a fast-traveled highway. The owl is Athena’s animal, a symbol of wisdom and Warrior-courage; a highway is a conduit to take us from one place to another–but we need the right vehicle. To travel a highway on roller skates or a bicycle is to take one’s life in one’s hands, and we’re in an appropriate conveyance (a car). So what smart thing, what knowledge, or courageous action or approach, are we speeding past, in our hurry to get from one point to the next? What wisdom would be accessible to us, if we’d only slow down for a minute?

New Moon in Libra 21 October 2025 Sensitive Change

20 Monday Oct 2025

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The New Moon perfects at 5:24 AM PDT of the 21st, filling in a T-square with Moon-Sun opposed Chiron in Aries and all squared by Jupiter in Cancer; with generous assessment, we could even call this a Grand Square by including Pluto from its spot very early in Aquarius–and maybe we should, considering Pluto and the New Moon both occupy Air signs. It’s a statement: what begins here brings conflict between personal hurt and expanded sensitivities (especially on the social front) and results in transformation or destruction of a way of thinking, and possibly of a way into the future that we’d anticipated–that is, our wounds and our caring about the wider world require change, and that change may alter both our thinking and our tomorrows.

A New Moon in Libra urges us to look at whom and what we partner with, prompting awareness of both cooperative circumstances and aesthetic ones; Luna’s contacts tell us that the ways in which we are injured will be front and center as we assess our emotional state (the Libra Moon) and our identity (the Libra Sun) in relationships. The Other looms large, and we’re likely to be hyper-focused on how we feel about others–and they will be looking at us through the same, Self-focused lens. That should give us pause; we’re not the only one feeling alone in the midst of all those closest to us.

Remember too that Chiron is also our unique gift, something original and useful we’ve synthesized from all our knowledge and experience, something that literally no one else can do, see, or understand in quite the same way we do. If we can manage to avoid being distracted with our own deep hurts, we could bring that gift forward with the New Moon, likely to help others (Libra) or to heal our own relationships, or to create necessary change in thought or theory (Pluto in Aquarius) or within the social arena or in faith or philosophy, specifically in how these guide us to care for others (Jupiter in Cancer). As usual, it’s a choice: use our energy to make things better, or distract ourselves reviewing a litany of our wounds.

The Moon and Sun are also apex to a Finger of God with base of Neptune in early Aries and Uranus in early Gemini. This suggests that if we can get our uniquely original ideas to mesh with our individual ideals (these are creative, pioneering, in some way), we can apply that to our New Moon fresh start with others. A Finger is all about making the best of the base energies; the apex describes what we get, if we get it right.

The New Moon is also sesquiquadrate the North Node in Pisces=we’ll need to adjust our vision of the Path forward, and that’s whether we use the NM energy positively or negatively (I hate to use those words–I’d rather think of them as electrical charges, with the energy either pushing out, or pulling in, the difference between engagement with others, so important under a Libra Moon, and stubbornly remaining focused on the Self, despite what’s around us).

Also of note, and probably the most prominent thing in our consciousness at present, is a Water Grand Trine, Mars, Mercury, and the Black Moon Lilith point all together in Scorpio, Saturn in Pisces, and Jupiter in Cancer=hidden anger and ‘buried’ realities motivate us and drive our reasoning; we believe we and others should care about the wider world, and we think reality is as we imagine it to be–we mistake feelings for facts. Wow, the possibility of missteps in those combined factors is huge. Traps lie in the Trine’s components each carrying a high degree of subjectivity, a propensity to be viewed through one’s inner reality rather than through fact or real world-based perceptions. This is certainly what I’ve been seeing around me for a while now, and I bet you are, too: people charging forward in the belief that they see things correctly, and you need to agree. Let’s redefine this Trine, substituting externals for that inner reality. What we get then is Self-awareness that understands our own aggressive tendencies and those ways we can deceive ourselves by refusing what we’re uncomfortable with (Mars, Merc, BML), a way to look at how ideals can shape the real world, as well as spot them when we come across circumstances that meet those ideals (Saturn), and a viewpoint that centers not on feelings but facts, and the ways we can be sensitive to these realities and so can move to expand both our understanding and our efforts to help (Jupiter).

The New Moon Sabian is, ‘Mankind’s Vast And Enduring Effort To Reach For Knowledge Transferable From Generation To Generation’. If we don’t learn from the past, then we’re doomed to repeat it–and doomed is the word specifically because there’s something truly awful about retracing our steps when we should know better. Understand what came before–look at how it turned out–don’t think you’re the exception for whom a repeat of choices will somehow magically end differently than they did before.

What Fresh Hell Is This? Full Moon in Aries 6 October 2025

04 Saturday Oct 2025

Posted by in astrology, current events in the sky, Full Moon, Sabian Symbols

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Believe me, the last thing I want to do is add to the current stressful atmosphere, but I have to acknowledge the axiom ‘As Above, So Below’; the Zeitgeist is reflected in the Full Moon situation, and the Lunar picture conveys some specifics about what’s coming at us–and we may find out the disturbing factors aren’t necessarily what we think they are. Just being alive means we can’t avoid the mess of modern life; might as well check the skies for guidance (and if we’re really connecting with the Universe, inspiration).

The Full Moon perfects on 6 October 2025 at 8:47 PM PDT at 14 Aries 08 and makes no major contacts–so let’s start with the atmosphere into which the Aries Full Moon makes its statement. Notable will be Mercury’s quincunx to Neptune and Uranus, forming a Finger of God; Mercury’s also square Pluto. This can take many forms, but the essence will be sudden revelation about hard Truths or reality vs deception that reveals what’s beneath the surface (Merc in Scorpio)–and we likely won’t like what we hear, especially as it might create power struggles. Uranus is trine Pluto=change, transformation, or destruction may be (relatively) easy, because of its sudden or surprising nature, or because it’s relentlessly modern, crowding out the old. And Venus, current ruler of the Sun, sits at the midpoint of Jupiter and the Black Moon Lilith point=what stands in the way of getting to the good stuff? Requirements levied by the current social order, as well as those matters we’ve buried, ignored, denied. As long as we worry what others will think, and as long as we lie to ourselves, we won’t reach the payoff–it’s both that difficult, and that straightforward. Remember that Jupiter is on its way to trine with Saturn, in about one month; that means we’re heading toward reaping the results (‘the facts’) around reality and manifestation of what’s at present ethereal rather than material. We’re (probably overly) optimistic at this point–it would be better to see reality unvarnished and truly be willing to examine where the current path actually leads.

Now to the Lunar event itself. The Moon is semi-square Uranus, and is apex to a loose Finger of God with base of South Node and Mars (though the latter is very wide–4 degrees–we’re dealing with the fast-moving Moon, so I’m willing to count this). So we get an emotional shock or surprise, too, a personal one, that stems from a mixture of the past and our own actions and choices. The Sun, giver of light and author of this entire show, is sesquiquadrate Uranus and quincunx the Moon’s North Node, reinforcing the difficulty of the shock/ surprise/ modern times energy and also pointing to the adjustments that will need to be made in future, if we stay the present course.

Now let’s look to contact with smaller bodies; these help define the Moon’s contacts to major players, as well as help describe the character of the energies involved. In this case I think they fall into two broad categories: Power expression, and Trouble. On the positive side, we have the Moon’s trine to Vesta=no matter what the Full Moon brings, we know our priorities and values, what we honor, and we stick to it. That’s reassuring, descriptive of a strong core that won’t be overly swayed by externals. The Moon is also trine a pairing of Amor and Icarus in Sagittarius=uh-oh, our first trouble spot: Love, in its purest and least ‘judgmental’ state (not romantic, but encompassing of many kinds of regard and affection), will tempt us not to respect realities, such as boundaries, limits, our own vulnerabilities, and what’s wise in the moment.

Then there are two squares the Moon makes to bodies in Cancer, one consisting of Hades and Kronos, one of Circe and Isis (though these pairings are about 5 degrees from each other). The first two are ‘hellish’ in nature, representing torments of the individual, and with Kronos’ attempts to control the future arising out of fear; the latter two are energies of controlling others, to the point of reassembling them! That, as we know, can make for a Frankenstein. These suggest tough interactions, with everybody believing they know what everyone else deserves, and an extreme lack of boundaries within those interactions, such that we may feel subject to others’ choices no matter what. And finally, there’s the Moon’s quincunx to Nemesis, which only reinforces the confrontational energies in play–and that others don’t necessarily have our best interests at heart.

The Sabian symbol for the Full Moon is, ‘An Indian Weaving A Ceremonial Blanket’. The Sun’s Sabian, which should help illuminate the Moon meaning, is ‘Circular Paths’. This suggests to me that too much distance from what’s happening (that is, trying to treat it objectively, rather than personally) might make our actions nothing but ceremonial–that is, not having an impact on the real world picture, but instead sending us in circles–in effect, distracting us. And that’s the last thing we need to be to navigate what’s ahead.

A Full Moon in Aries is about bringing to full power who we are, what we choose, and how we act, and this one may prove exceptionally challenging, as what we accept and support now gives shape and contours to our future. As long as we remember that, we’ll choose and act in ways that are best for us–and that’s what counts. Yes, the Lunar event may bring us a fresh hell, but it’ll be our fresh hell, unique to our situation, but ultimately solvable by us, too, as we remember our values, our priorities, and what we truly care about.