At the Moulin Rouge, two women waltzing, 1892, By Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec {{PD}}

I want to talk about the New Moon, at 5 Libra 20 that perfects at 11:26 AM Pacific time, but I also want to discuss how many pairs there are in the heavens right now! Some are paired by conjunction at the same degree, while others are paired by parallel standing, but the extraordinary number of these duos screams their importance at the time of a New Moon, as if Luna is crowd surfing the Universe–or maybe it’s that the Moon is opening an energy door, ushering the various combinations into new expression, putting new push behind them with the spirit of Libran cooperation.

Moon in Libra can be paralyzing, as we compulsively (and maybe unendingly) consider all sides, and too much emotional focus on partners or others, on the social sphere or on aesthetics, on fairness and ‘balance’, may in the end distort our perceptions. When this is the New Moon, it can mean new thoughts or concepts (Libra is an Air sign) in regard to others, the Arts, or what we are willing to do in cooperation with others. It may seem our feelings are fickle at this time, but it’s more like we’re having feelings that are just occurring to us! These are emotional responses we haven’t realized we were having, until now. With this New Moon that’s even more pronounced, due to the pull of that black hole duo, South Node-Saturn, and the relationship scenario of the Sun-Moon combination vis-a-vis Mars and Venus. Both leave us feeling a little stretched, a little tattered, as if we’ve lost our mojo just as our goal is within reach. Don’t take this too seriously, as the New Moon specifically offers a new start, ‘fresh meat’, or whatever image you come up with to signal an uptick in energy and optimism.

The New Moon in Libra is caught between Venus and Mars, but not quite at the midpoint; it’s closer to Mars, but if we see it in straightforward symbolic terms, the Sun and Moon are both moving away from Mars, even as Venus has already passed them and is herself moving away. That is, the New Moon event sees our conscious attention (the Sun) and unconscious mind (the Moon) turning away from deliberate action and choice, away from taking the initiative, possibly in pursuit of feeling, assets, or rewards, but even as our attention turns what we find desirable gets farther away from us. It may be that we are ‘waking up’ too late to some feeling situation, and the New Moon is delivering notice of this.

The New Moon is also quincunx Uranus in Taurus, with Moon and Sun only 24 minutes from exact, suggesting that the big shock or surprise or revelation is yet to come, and in some way we’ll have to adjust to it. It’s as well squine Pluto. That’s a 105 degree aspect that’s a cross between a square and a trine, implying some of the ease of the trine but with all the conflict or problems of the square. Such a minor contact takes on greater resonance by being one of the few close aspects Luna is making. We might want to think of it this way: the Moon-Sun are, at New lunation time, taking the same point of view, having the same perspective on all the other energies, and in the case of Pluto there may be a deep desire for change and a simultaneous deep fear of it–or maybe that’s power, or death, or transformation, or a desire to burn it all down and rise again, re-made.

In this case, the aspect manifests as the force that makes us consider, perhaps just for a moment, jumping from a great height that we’re actually petrified by, or tempting us with a primal pull toward a thing we believe consciously we’d do anything to avoid–with the implied result that this is destructive/ transformative in a permanent way.

The New Moon is also opposed Chiron, and though this is a separating aspect, it suggests that it’s matters related to injuries to the Will, or to the current material reality, that are being re-made. The Sabian symbol is, ‘A Man Watches His Ideals Taking A Concrete Form Before His Inner Vision’. Here a human concentrates on the mental picture, the inner eye, as it gives form, face, and function to one or more of his/ her/ their ideals. This can be many things, but the image first and foremost suggests the energy of an ideal gathering manifestable shape, the vision being a precursor to physical possibility, to literal creation. The surprise, as shown by the close aspect of Uranus to the New Moon, is that unless we have thorough Self-knowledge we may not be able to anticipate our vision. Perhaps it’s a little of what we fear, what we believe, that controls the shape and intensity of New Moon events–so take things, at the very least, as being representative of the inner reality, and be aware that the new lunar cycle offers the inspiration to take off in a new direction.

Now to the pairs in the sky: we start, of course, with South Node-Saturn in Capricorn, which we’ve been feeling like a weight around our necks for some time. It’s the restrictions we’ve built coming forward from the past, to be lived now. Ouch. Then there’s Black Moon Lilith-Neptune in Pisces. What can you say about those things ignored or denied that are obscured from our view, hidden in the fog, or that we’re being lied to about? The imagination is as likely to work for us as against us. This may or may not be a fog of our own choosing, but it definitely makes knowing what’s happening difficult, with the big danger being we’ll be misled–and that’s only enhanced by the Mercury-Black Moon Lilith parallel, bedeviling the mind (consciously or not) with all it’s tried to forget (and the result of that may be that even if there’s nothing to be worried about, we worry!)

Vesta and Sedna sit together in Taurus and reinforce that unseen/ values connection, marrying both the willingness to commit and the instincts to material well-being and surroundings–‘comfort levels’ may be the most obvious measure of this. Venus parallels Neptune, again bringing forward familiar themes, but this time linking values and that Neptunian influence, pointing toward the New Moon values/ ideals thread, or toward a kind of ‘wildest dreams’ payoff, and this is echoed by a Venus-Jupiter sextile–we’ll call it the ‘more/ better aspect’. Taking a chance in order to win love or money could be a good idea–but only if your ideals/ beliefs are real-life aligned with what you truly love.

Bonus! A soon-to-perfect (the 30th) Pallas-North Node Water Trine: Smart emotions, practicality, and skills shape the future. Git you some.