Category Archives: New Moon

New Moon 30 December 2024 A New Year Takes Shape

29 Sunday Dec 2024

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Credit: NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio – Paul Morris, Aaron E. Lepsch, Hubble Telescope {{PD}}

The New Moon perfects at 2:26 PM PST of the 30th at 9 Capricorn 43. New Moons are fresh beginnings, and in Capricorn the implication is that a new structure, new rules or boundaries, or a new container for life energies is forming–the question becomes, how conscious are we of this construct, how deliberately are we controlling its shape, and how can we make this serve us, rather than restrain us? Too, we’ll either likely see some previous (and probably no longer functioning) system removed, with the Capricorn New Moon system proposed in its place, or we see a lack in or even an ’empty’ life area suddenly alive with the promise of both order and meaning. That’s really the thing with Capricorn: it brings order to things and in so doing provides meaning that’s in great part due to the shape those things have been given–a matter of the medium both containing and itself being the message.

If we’re aware that the meaning is in many ways contained within the structure, we’ll see a much more accurate and nuanced picture of the situation. Too often we’re inclined to ignore the shape in which something arrives, and focus on the words or ideas or images themselves, but with Capricorn that’s not a good idea; even the most seemingly blatant message (‘you’re getting a million dollars!’) will contain further meaning when the goat is the messenger (‘And it’s all in pennies!’)

The New Moon coming on the eve of New Year’s Eve is its own message: we’re on the cusp of something brand new, never before lived, on territory that, at least symbolically, allows us to renew ourselves and our approach to life. A Capricorn New Moon at this point offers a kind of prelude: choose a new shape, form, or structure by which to organize your life, and the New Year will bring fresh energies, opportunities, and problems with which to fill that structure. So, choose the shape you give things with care; when in the midst of humans a cage is more appropriate for a tiger than is cradling it in your arms, no matter how soft that pretty fur is.

Considering the possible aspects made by the New Moon, the orbs are just too great to ‘click’ with the New Moon moment. That suggests the freedom with which we can approach this organizing Capricorn force, allowing us to tailor our methods to fit our goals (or our madness!) Here on the West coast of the United States, Jupiter, though retro, will be rising, suggesting an atmosphere of opportunity, good fortune, ‘luck’, and the potential to exaggerate or overdo–sounds like the spirit of the New Year to me!

Also of note is the way the New Moon perfects conjoined two notable bodies: Pallas and the asteroid Lilith (not to be confused with the Black Moon Lilith point, also known as the mean apogee). This says wisdom and practicality are available to those who are Self-possessed, independent, not afraid of what others might say about their choices. It’s a ‘go your own way’ energy; also one that requires we trust ourselves and what we know to be right and true. This may feel a bit lonely to those of us who’re more socially inclined, but this is necessary ‘alone time’, so that the shape things take truly reflects your own needs, attitude, and situation.

The New Moon Sabian is, ‘An Albatross Feeding From The Hand Of A Sailor’. This symbol is interesting in that there’s a poem (Coleridge’s ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’) that talks about the psychological burden created when a sailor kills an albatross. His regret and sorrow is a kind of Self-punishment, and an albatross has more generally come to mean a burden one can’t rid oneself of. The thing is, the albatross has long been a symbol of both good and bad luck to sailors–so perhaps the fact that one is feeding the bird in this image implies a sort of mutual respect, a truce, if you will, wherein a sailor that once might’ve harmed the bird is now nurturing it. What in your life has been a burden that you now have a chance to see in an entirely new way, a way that will allow a ‘re-set’ and a lifting of guilt or the expiration of a long, old rivalry or antagonism?

For further illumination, examine Saturn in your natal chart, both by placement and situation at birth and as the energy transits your chart right now (what House is it moving through? That probably describes life areas where you’re feeling some restriction, shortage, or stress right now); include any contacts being made by transiting bodies to your Saturn; these will modify your perceptions of what’s holding you back, what offers you support, and what in your own mind the realities of the world consist of. This should give you some idea what shape those Capricornian influences will take and where they will likely be felt. Even if it doesn’t create a cohesive picture, it will give you the basic building blocks you’re likely to have access to/ be presented with in sorting out your New Moon, real-world scenario.

Dear Readers, Here’s wishing you all the best for a happy, safe, and adventurous New Year! Many thanks for all the kind support you’ve offered over the years. I’m looking forward to finishing my Moon book soon, and hope you’ll continue to visit here in 2025!

New Moon 30 November 2024 A Difficult Reality

30 Saturday Nov 2024

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The quintessential Sagittarian pastime. ‘Archers’ By Ferenczy, Károly 1911 {{PD}}

The New Moon perfects at 10:21 PM PST of the 30th at 9 Sagittarius 32, forming a square to Saturn and a very loose Fire Grand Trine with the North Node and Mars–but what my attention is drawn to is something that doesn’t even figure in to the New Moon picture, but which I have the feeling will be the major influence behind anything that goes wrong: a Fire trine between retro Mercury and Chiron. This suggests that if we’re primed to receive hurtful information or communications, then that’s exactly what we’ll get; we won’t understand what’s actually being said, but we’ll overreact, blow our tops, get indignant, or lash out, trying to hurt others as they’ve hurt us. In the instant of decompression, we’ll forget that we should be listening for the meaning behind the words, the message buried in what we misread as a jab at us–and because this happens in Fire signs, we’re likely to act on it, way before we realize what it all means.

With that in mind, let’s look at what’s born with the New Moon: knowledge, a fresh life philosophy, a burgeoning belief, a desire to get the word out or share what we learn. The problem is that our impulse meets a difficult reality, one that we are bound to misinterpret, see as insurmountable, or that we imagine to be other than it is (Saturn in Pisces). We feel blocked creatively, and have an emotional reaction to it, one that we draw fundamentally incorrect conclusions from–and then we are prone to act on this (the Grand Trine) in ways that affect our path forward or our future prospects–so all in all, a precarious point when we’d do well to hesitate rather than leap.

There is a positive here, one that can light a fire under us, pulling best efforts out of us, if we formulated our plan well before Mercury went retrograde. If that’s the case, the Fire Grand Trine can assist us in moving forward under our own steam–but it won’t necessarily bring others to our aid, and still exists with all the caveats about perception and intention.

As with all things, this is a temporary condition, and will pass soon enough; it’s just holding ourselves together in the moment that’s required to keep from causing damage to ourselves or others. The Sabian for the New Moon is telling: ‘A Theatrical Representation Of A Golden-Haired Goddess Of Opportunity’. What we see play out before us looks like an opportunity, specifically to redress something unjust (the information or communication we find offensive or wrong), but what we’re seeing is a kind of illusion, a play, not reality, a fiction that tells us a story that exists in all its particulars only in our own minds–and those minds are under Merc retro at the moment, ready to innocently but significantly mislead us. Remember this and you’ll have little trouble using the New Moon energy to learn something important for later, once the influence to indulge temper or misunderstand passes.

If we need any confirmation about the nature of the New Moon, we note that Kassandra is sextile in Aquarius, suggesting that even accurate info won’t be believed–again, an inability to see reality as it genuinely exists. We also see a Mystic Rectangle at this time, made up of Jupiter, Chiron, Black Moon Lilith, and Mercury, that points out the possibilities of exaggerated perceptions, hurt, especially that arising from buried or denied material, and yet again, a mind susceptible to misperception. The New Moon is also widely conjoined Eros, implying misdirected passions, or a projection of desirability on a misperceived object. None of it’s your fault, but it is important to know.

New Moon in Scorpio 1 November 2024: The Nature of the Beast

23 Wednesday Oct 2024

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I don’t think we’re this far down the road, do you? The Horned Beast from the Bamberg Apocalypse Folio c1000 {{PD}}

The New Moon perfects at 5:47 AM Pacific time at 9 Scorpio 35 on the 1st, and makes only one major aspect, a trine to Saturn at 12 Pisces. The new starts of a New Moon in Scorpio may look more like endings, or rather, re-workings, or even transformations; inherent in that perception is the idea that we’re losing something even as the new thing emerges, and we may not notice just what it is that’s gone until the whole thing is past. Something’s contained, cut off, limited, denied, given shape, or made manifest, and that may be just as you imagined, but a little deeper, a little darker.

It’s the nature of the beast right now that emotions run high and our attention is half beyond the veil anyway–and that makes for distortion to the worldly perceptions and yet a much greater understanding through the feeling faculties and intuition–and this New Moon is a new beginning in terms of what we know with all our senses, especially the intangible ones. We intuit below the surface, our minds feeling around, so to speak, and there’s some urgency to it; we see this in the Water Grand Trine of Mars at the crisis degree of 29 of Moon-ruled Cancer, trine both Mercury in Scorpio and Neptune in Pisces, and this is given emphasis and even more urgency with Pluto still at 29 Capricorn opposed this Mars. We’re likely inundated with feeling that may precipitate action, destruction, or choices, before we know what we’ve actually decided, or thought it through much. What we do or choose is in service to our ideals, our dreams, and what we see as the Truth, and yet . . . that urgent feeling leads to overdoing, in an attempt to make sure what we do ‘sticks’, or to inadvertent destruction, arising from too much seriousness, too much intensity, focused on what might better be approached with nuance, with finesse, with gentle acceptance for ‘What Is’ even as we seek to change it.

Help in reconciling these energies may be found in the Jupiter in Gemini sextile to Chiron in Aries. Optimism, hope, and the chance to get more or do better comes through understanding and accepting hurts, and then acting to heal them. It’s in knowing that our wounds aren’t fatal, but instead make us more sensitive to this very hurt in others, that we find mastery of some of the most difficult challenges we’ll face–and also provides the antidote to a too-emotional read of the current landscape, and helps us understand that, though action is desirable, unthinking action, or desperate action, can ruin what we’ve so carefully constructed.

The Sabian for the New Moon is, ‘A Fellowship Supper Reunites Old Comrades’. The past is part of the Scorpio energy; it has to be, since regeneration must acknowledge the something that was, before it can become something else. This image may speak to that way we will lose something in the process of birthing the new, but that if we’re attentive, we’ll have time to remind ourselves of the way it was, and all the good, all the contacts and rewards and knowledge and experience we gained, the companions who, no matter the passage of time, we are still as close to as ever. Even when we only want to leave the past behind, we must see that we were there for a reason, and that we touched many lives, and they touched ours, and that’s still a resonant and worthwhile thing for us all.

The dream is within reach, but we’re all so nerved up we can blow it if we succumb to tension or fear. This New Moon in Scorpio says, ‘A cycle is beginning, and a cycle is falling away, and what starts now must flow with existing energies even as it refuses to embrace extremes’. If you can carry forward the spirit of Libran balance so recently experienced, and apply it to the now, you’ll have the needed control, and the foresight, to choose wisely.

I’ll be stepping away from the computer for a much needed break, and will return just after the New Moon. All comments, inquiries, and purchases through the Press will be processed when I return to work. Thank you all, and have a wonderful couple of weeks!

Solar Eclipse 2 October 2024 Harmony In Confrontation

25 Wednesday Sep 2024

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‘Harmony in Blue’ By James Ensor 1919 {{PD}}

Yes, I’m aware that’s contradictory; how can we find accord in the midst of conflict? It seems impossible, but that’s exactly what we do, with this eclipse, first perfecting at 11:48 AM PDT of the 2nd at 10 Libra 03: we find our new beginnings, after the event wipes the slate clean, through the New Moon and a pair of components of the Sun-Moon conjunction, the Black Moon Lilith point and Mercury, all in Libra, with a less than 1.5 degree spread. This describes a seminal point in relationships (especially intimate or partner-oriented ones), in the Arts, and/ or in matters of diplomacy and fairness (judgment as objective as possible, and the attempt to allocate resources or energies as deserved). The conflict or confrontation may be internal or external (with another), but in either case involves something ignored, denied, or that enrages (BML), while harmony comes from effective, open communication (Mercury, in Air sign Libra) that puts caring and considerate interaction (Libra, a Cardinal, and so action-oriented, sign) ahead of Self-interest or one’s own feelings (the Sun-Moon conjunction=the Self/ Sun meets the emotions or intuition/ Moon). Important to note, if the conflict is an internal one, we will essentially be wrestling with something we’ve set to the side or tried to ignore, and now must face how this affects our relationships or interaction overall; communicating honestly with ourselves becomes the New Moon eclipse necessity.

There’s a loose T-square formed with the opposition of Ceres in Capricorn to Mars in Cancer, with the eclipse, BML, and Mercury as the handle, with the Superior (direct) conjunction of the Sun and Mercury just a day away; this last event will bring some conclusion or revelation planted during the Inferior conjunction, when the Sun met retrograde Mercury back on August 19. Now it’s a realization about us in relationship, what is and should be communicated, that delivers a truce in the tension between what’s natural, real, observable (Ceres in Capricorn) and what we need as an individual to assert, express, attack, or make happen according to our Will, because we care (Mars in Cancer). The eclipse offers a way to resolve the gap between what is and what we want–not a bad influence, at all.

The eclipse and friends also form a loose semi-sextile to ruler Venus in Scorpio; This may provide the oomph to investigate, to look below the surface of things, that might otherwise be missing with so much Libran consoling, cooperating, and smoothing over in the air. Also in the air is an Air Grand Trine with the eclipse/ Merc/ BML and Psyche at 8 Aquarius and Hera at 8 Gemini. This suggests that mental balance may be achieved when we know our roles in relation to others, particularly partners. Both these mythical figures dealt with a great deal of friction in intimate relationships (mate, children, mother-in-law) that forced them to discover who they are, and how best to exert their own power. We could say that both of these women have stories that eventually connect them with their own power in the same way Juno does–and Juno just so happens to be at 18 Libra, pointing us back toward right now finding one’s best expression within interaction, especially with those close to us.

Also of note is the way 29 degree Pluto has effectively stationed and is poised to resume forward motion on October 11, though it will still carry stationary status until about a week later. This may either impart a sense to everything (as Pluto sits in the final degree of reality-focused Capricorn) that it’s a general state of emergency, where nothing seems stable and everything is threatening, or it will make us feel the only way to gain a sense of security and freedom is via elimination or destruction. The sextile to Neptune, which obscures or makes our imaginations run wild, doesn’t help. Be aware this feeling of threat is, in some important ways, an illusion, one that may cause us to react to what’s not there, or to overreact to what is there. Note too that Chiron is sextile Jupiter=exaggerated hurt, and Mars is trine Saturn in Water=we may act on feelings in the real world, or suppress action because of hurt feelings, and either reaction actually stands outside what’s really needed now. Mars-Saturn can offer us stability in the emotional perceptions, if we can acknowledge that feeling isolated or insisting on having our way (both dangers when our Martian energies feel sorry for themselves) arise from tender and over sensitive (that is, too Self-focused) ways of interpreting the world.

The Sabian for the Solar eclipse is, ‘A Professor Peering Over His Glasses At His Students’. So much of what we’re dealing with at this time is rooted in the matter of authority: who holds it over us, how we handle it ourselves, how we exert it over others, and how we measure authority in every interaction we have. We might think of it as this: do we assess others essentially as equals, or are we always weighing to see who holds more power? Do we act differently in the presence of those we see as holding authority over us? Do we respect others because they are people, or do we respect those who hold an advantage, and disdain those who don’t? These can be deeply unconscious attitudes, but worth exploring, as you may believe no one can tell how you’re judging them–but oh, they really can.

The only way to find harmony in relationship, really, the only way to feel safe and so able to be open with and to others, is to know ourselves, what we require, and to feel our own sense of empowerment, a sense that is not dependent on the sanction or support of another, and that does not rest on judging oneself superior or inferior, in some way. This eclipse seems to offer us a chance to correct this, with the event a launching pad for better relationships, simply because we stand within our own power, unafraid of what others might say, do, or feel, which makes us truly free, able to handle whatever comes at us.

Have a safe and happy Solar eclipse!

New Moon 2 September 2024 Realm of the Gods

22 Thursday Aug 2024

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‘Following the Example of the Gods’ By Henryk Siemiradzki 1879 {{PD}}

The New Moon perfects at 6:56 PM of the 2nd at 11 Virgo 04. Long-time readers know I like to keep aspects tight, in order to get a crisp, unmuddied picture of the event and what it means; in this case, the New Moon makes only a single, wide aspect to other major transiting bodies: a loose opposition to Saturn in Pisces. This is epic, in its own way. A New Moon in Virgo means new beginnings in matters of accountability and the results of our efforts, a ‘clean sweep’ of old methods and previous allotment of assets. Our intentions turn toward getting a clear accounting of responsibilities, what we have, distribution of ‘the harvest’, and accurate critique that focuses on details, especially around the practical and material (Earth sign). Saturn in Pisces has been a trip on its own: fantasies brought to life, delusions shut down, materialization of ideals, and uncertainty about the future, rooted in the inability to see the present clearly. Now, these energies face new and revelatory emotional perceptions, with feeling applying a critical eye to What Is.

These sets of energy, Sun-New Moon and Saturn, oppose each other, and what we might see is a denial of reality, even as one inspects things intently, sifting through circumstances with a fine-toothed comb; we could also see an end (for now) to attempts at meeting the real world with creativity (or, for some, unrealistically), supplanted by a commitment to sort responsibility and reward and distribute these among appropriate parties. One way or another, the emotions that come forward interfere with making dreams real; if you find yourself being hyper-critical (especially if this isn’t your usual MO), you can be sure that the feeling nature is trying to speak, to get your attention, to re-balance what you see as possible, and what you imagine as ideal.

With such a generalized picture, I naturally wanted to see what asteroids where involved with this event, how contacts from the realm of the gods might shape the reassessment of reality. The New Moon is conjoined Apollo, suggesting the power of solar energies like identity and Self-expression, and perhaps a hyper-focus on the Self and the personal feelings (and especially of being critical of them–Virgo)–which can, Saturn-like, limit ones ability to take in information and/ or be relatively objective. Apollo is a figure who’s fairly insistent on having his own way, so keep that potential for too narrow processing/ too constricted attention in mind.

Sisyphus and Narcissus are conjoined in Scorpio, with both sextile the New Moon. Here again we see insistent focus on the Self, to the point of being mesmerized by one’s own Beingness (Narcissus) and/ or persisting in tasks better re-evaluated or abandoned (Sisyphus). This is complimented by a sextile from Dionysus in Cancer, a god known for granting a sense of freedom through pleasure and indulgence. Maybe we end up needing a break from scrutiny of ourselves; Dionysian escapes include religious ecstasy, insanity, attendance at festivals, sex and other expressions linked to fertility (including tending one’s garden), and drinking a lot of wine–so choose carefully. Are these a good idea? Could be, if such license helps us accept the reality we’re seeing. The danger would lie in letting the escape disconnect us from what we need to see, evaluate, and feel.

Then there’s Persephone square to the New Moon (and so forming a T-square with Sun-Moon at one end of the opposition and the Earth widely conjoined Saturn at the other) and Aphrodite quincunx the New Moon. The T-square suggests we have a choice: will we remain above-ground, so to speak, dealing with the surface world (and possibly experiencing the interference of someone nurturing and controlling, as Persephone did with her mother, Demeter, also known as Ceres), enmeshed with material productivity and ‘the harvest’, or will we choose to delve into the Underworld, committing to the experience of learning about ourselves? In either case we are, if not subservient to, then certainly ‘partnered’ with others of great power, which can be both an impediment to what we need and a distraction.

Pluto, planet of power, is retro at 29 Capricorn, implying that our involvement with and awareness of the power of others is at a crisis point (and may be what drives us to concentrate on ourselves, on what we actually can control), though our ability to understand those exerting their power is obscured, and so not necessarily accurate (Neptune at 29 Pisces, sextiling Pluto and so facilitating a perceptual or creative crisis). The contact to Aphrodite, the Greek counterpart to Venus, implies we must continually re-adjust (the quincunx) the relationship and/ or asset picture at this time–and considering how difficult parsing out our attention could be, we just might want to pour that drink or pick up a trowel, and try to maintain enough perceptual distance that our judgement isn’t completely out of whack.

The Sabian for the New Moon is, ‘After The Wedding, The Groom Snatches The Veil Away From His Bride’. First of all, rude. But, this may give us a glimpse into the kind of aggressive energy we’ll have to deal with; even as we want to assess ourselves and our situation, we get some entitled goon grabbing at us, in an attempt to ‘reveal’ us. Whatever point they think they’re making, the only result is they fail to look at themselves, and succeed in distracting us from whatever new tack the New Moon shows us we need to take. A fresh way to measure ourselves and our accomplishments is the New Moon in Virgo goal; how we get there will be a lesson in focus and Self-control, and how much of that is too much.

New Moon 4 August 2024 I Am, I Said

01 Thursday Aug 2024

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‘The Tight-Rope Walker’ By Jean-Louis Forain c1885 {{PD}}

If you read this title and automatically heard the words that follow this line from an old Neil Diamond song (‘I am I said/ to no one there’) then you’ve just grasped the essence of this Leo New Moon: we may end up feeling like we’re shouting into the Void, or at the crowd, or we may simply realize we are speaking, putting out info, sharing ourselves, to an empty room. The New Moon forms on the 4th at 4:12 AM PDT at 12 Leo 33. It doesn’t make a lot of aspects; that emphasizes the sense of Leo as a singular energy, one that sees the Self as spreading out into the Universe, with the Universe reflecting the Self, rather than the individual reflecting the Universe. The Leo energy glories in expression of the unique sensibilities, aware that its opposite (Aquarius) signifies the groups to which one belongs and one’s place in those groups, making for a kind of ‘othering’ of the individual’s obligations to everyone else, freeing Leo New Moon energy to be concerned only with the Self.

It’s important to note that between now and the New Moon, we’re in the Dark period, which calls for its own variation on low-key energy and a more contemplative-than-usual mindset. Rest and relax–not as easily done as it is said, but a good thing to aim for, anyway.

The New Moon prompts us to communicate assertively, to lay out the facts, to broadcast our ideas to the world (NM in wide sextile to Mars and Jupiter, widely conjoined in Gemini) and potentially to act on them–but there are some crisis energies in play right now that could distract, to the point where pronouncements are made but not effectively received by the intended audience—and yet what happens still shapes the future, whether we mean it to or not (NM trine NN/ sextile SN). Mars and Jupiter together in a Mercury-ruled sign could make for a racing mind, exaggerated Will, anger, or appetites, and may inflate our perceptions of the aggression or transgressions of others–we see a bullet coming toward us, propelled by angry words, rather than the tossed pebble it actually is.

What’s worse, our intuitive perceptions, and our experience of our own emotions (Lunar energies), may suffer as the mind (Gemini) insists on inserting itself–and we can’t get away from the ‘me’ focus of the the Leo Moon, which only encourages us to see ourselves as right, even perfect, despite any feedback to the contrary.

The energies in crisis are creative and relationship ones, ones where we are unsure of the value of things, ones where we are either worried that what exists will be destroyed, or that what exists isn’t what we think it is—both valid worries with Venus at 29 degrees of Leo, quincunx Pluto at 00 Aquarius, and quincunx Neptune at 29 Pisces. This draws a Finger of God in the sky; the apex (Venus) centers the effects on interaction, assets, and what we care about, while the base of Neptune sextile Pluto speaks of the power inherent in new knowledge, innovation, invention, or radical events (Pluto in Aquarius) combined with crises in the creative, inventive, spiritual, or in manifestation of the Universe itself (Neptune in Pisces–with this latter, think climate change, experiments or power generation that alters fundamental atomic structure, a shift in the magnetic poles, mutations, changes to the rotation of liquid layers near the Earth’s core, asteroids, comets, and space junk on a collision course with us–you get my drift). I have a totally irrational fear that gravity will stop working, right as I’m climbing a steep tower, counting on that downward pull to center me and keep me in place; this weekend would be just the kind of instance when that fear could come true. We must accept the stressful and inconclusive status of both creative and relationship matters at this time–walking a tightrope is tricky, but if we remain aware that the only way to resolve things is to get to the other side–that’s the beauty of not resolving these matters, right now.

One other thing I’d like to mention that’s not relevant to the Moon picture but will, for some of us, be distinctively, aggressively in the air: Eris and Chiron, conjoined in the latter third of Aries. Irritations and upsets we normally quash, ignore, bury, or otherwise have the Self-control to overlook come popping up, making for a kind of ‘instant anger’, and offering a fiery potential to hurt or be hurt. Try not to let anyone press your buttons if you can.

The Sabian for the New Moon is, ‘An Old Sea Captain Rocking Himself On The Porch Of His Cottage’. This is an image of someone who’s been through the storm, who knows the (sea=emotional) score, and now has retired his full interaction with the world in favor of enjoying a quieter existence. This suggests to me that a peaceful situation would be a smart one to surround ourselves with at this time. It’s not out of defeat, but out of care for our Souls and our own peace of mind, that we can embrace a calmer situation and participate in less assertive engagement–FOMO may try to panic you, or your own ego (Leo) may see a calmer demeanor as uncool, but remember, rest and a lower profile are only temporary, a necessary Self-nurturing that the Leo New Moon can be very good at delivering, once we can accept that gift.

New Moon 5 July 2024 Your Personal Banquet

02 Tuesday Jul 2024

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By Lucas Cranach the Elder and Workshop 1539 {{PD}}

The New Moon forms at 14 Cancer 2 at 3:57 PM PDT of the 5th, both Sun and Moon ostensibly on their way to meeting Venus, roughly 8.5 degrees ahead in Cancer. Within hours Luna will perfect conjunction to the goddess, but the Sun chases and chases her yet never arrives, their next meeting months away. So, can they be considered conjoined Venus for the purposes of understanding the New Moon? My vote is: yes and no.

A New Moon in Cancer is about discovering what we care for–but what comes is twofold: Luna meets Venus, reflecting back to us the emotional meanings behind relationships, assets, and issues of fairness or equity; but Sol doesn’t complete contact anytime near this New Moon, suggesting that we focus our attention on Venusian matters (Love, finances, who has what, with whom to partner) and yet we are distracted from realities by the pure feeling of Luna and Venus meeting. That is, we want to see Venus’ subjects in a clear, realistic light, but find our emotions overwhelm and even obscure the ‘What Is’ picture. The feeling nature overtakes and swamps our connection to the objective state of things, and so keeps us from applying mind adeptly to material matters (which it seems that we can, encouraged by the Sun’s rulership of Mercury, currently in Leo). We want to be rational, to use the mind to decide what we care about–but our intuitive and feeling nature has other plans, and the placement of Mercury (the mind) in Leo says we are likely to tailor our perceptions and thoughts to things that serve our ego or paint us in a positive, shining light–that’s not a bad thing, just one that may skew our interpretations and conclusions.

The answer, I think, is to see with feeling, to use the intuitive and emotional as senses, as information collectors–like we typically have to do during a Mercury retrograde (maybe this is practice for the next retro period, in August, in Virgo and back into Sun-ruled Leo, mimicking the clear sight vs. feeling conundrum we’re facing now). We must put out feelers, read the room, trust the intuition, trust ourselves, but still maintain a sense that the mind is not really equipped right now to put what we perceive into words–so that the more generally and nebulously and calmly we incorporate what we ‘know’ into the psyche, the more successful we’ll be at choosing and acting correctly, without surrendering to the ego traps the mentality might present at this time.

The New Moon is in wide sextile and trine, respectively, to Mars and Saturn, which are themselves in a close sextile. This adds stability to the emotional perceptions as we cross-check our feelings with the reality picture (how closely does this adhere to our idea of the ideal–Saturn in Pisces), and tells us to act with that same sense of connection to the reality picture and to the comfort and stability of the material–if it enhances our security, our enjoyment, our well-being, then it’s the right choice (Mars in Taurus).

The New Moon also forms a Cardinal T-square with the Nodal axis; think of this as offering an energy lightning rod, the actions (Cardinal) that connect past and future (Nodes) prompted by the feeling picture of the Now (New Moon). Add to this that Ceres opposes the New Moon from Capricorn, and we suddenly have a Cardinal Cross, with the bonus placement of asteroid Hades conjoined the New Moon. Ceres introduces the concepts of autonomy, responsibility, and our relationship to the natural world to the feeling perceptions of the New Moon–with our feelings juxtaposed this, we learn how suited our personal authority is to the world in which we operate–and Hades paired with the New Moon may have a special message for us: we make our own hell, perhaps by allowing feelings to dictate too much (or for some, too little). Balance, then, between our personal responsibility (Ceres) and the indulgence of our own preferences and feelings (NM conj Hades) is very likely the thing we must achieve.

The New Moon Sabian is, ‘In A Sumptuous Dining Hall Guests Relax After Partaking Of A Huge Banquet’. This brings to mind a quote from an old stage play: “Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!” This suggests this Moon’s offering can clue us in to where our emotional abundance can be found. Do we really know where the potential satisfactions, the banquet in our own life, lies? Use our New Moon feelings to find it and partake; that’s what it’s there for.

New Moon 6 June 2024 In Love’s Pocket

04 Tuesday Jun 2024

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

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By Pieter Claesz c1632 {{PD}}

The New Moon occurs at 5:38 AM PDT at 16 Gemini 18 as the Moon, Sun, and Venus line up–and Venus is latest zodiacally, meaning the Moon and Sun have yet to perfect contact (though admittedly that will happen very soon after New Moon formation, as Venus is only 30 minutes ahead of the lights). The Sun in Gemini puts the spotlight on our thinking, on networking and the sharing and spread of information (or gossip), on the mentality with which we meet life, the messages we send and receive (as much below consciousness as overtly), and the lightning speed with which info is disseminated, including something that’s just ‘in the air’ or that dawns on us with a spark of recognition (whereas a lightning strike of revelation is Uranian, rather than Mercurial). The Moon introduces the emotions and intuition as conduits of this information, and Venus suggests either who’s involved (loved ones, partners, ‘the Other’) or what’s involved (assets, finances, values, treasured connections to others, Love itself). As the Sun and Moon move on, what we find is that Venus in some form is the subject of what we learn, communicate, or receive; in the best case scenario, we find ourselves in love’s pocket, soothed, appreciated, rewarded, the mind verifying what we feel under sunny emotional skies.

A square to Saturn in Pisces and a sesquiquadrate to Pluto in Aquarius may give us pause. In spite of that sunny atmosphere, we’re having a tough time getting a handle on reality and the consequences of current circumstances (Saturn, Pisces); we don’t see just how destructive things could be if they continue in their current form, or we may see that destructive potential but perceive it more as an intellectual exercise, something that won’t seriously affect our world (Pluto, Aquarius). That means we may not be as responsive as we need to be, and we may not take things as seriously as we should, lulled into complacency by the sparkling, love-enrobed energy of Venus, Sun, and Moon. The temptation is to embrace what feels good and ignore what doesn’t–and that’s never a good bet, especially when time is of the essence (Saturn square) and we may feel pressured to lash out and destroy (sesquiquadrate Pluto) trying to gain relief–and so miss that coming reward (Sun and Moon perfecting to Venus) as well as forgoing the power to make real change (Pluto). We can put the Saturn/ Pluto influences in a productive light if we are willing to acknowledge we can’t see everything clearly right now–that reality is unnerving, a little scary–but are still willing to go forward, trusting our ability to respond creatively (Pisces), aware that we can take that Plutonian upheaval and use it as transformative, rather than destructive, even though it’s bound to be difficult to handle (the sesquiquadrate).

So, we end up essentially with two flows of energy that may seem unrelated, but that actually connect through our emotional reality, our Venusian manifestations, and what currently draws our attention. It’s the loving emotions and feelings of prosperity, support, and emotional safety that allow us to tackle an uncertain present and attempt to transform it in positive, ‘modernizing’, even revolutionary ways. The Sabian for the New Moon is, ‘The Head Of A Robust Youth Changes Into That Of A Mature Thinker’. Keeping our heads (in the sense that we don’t insist on either denial of negatives–unwilling to see the darker side of things–or immersion in negatives–being willingly deluded and destructive) will mature our approach to what’s around us and so insure the results of our thinking will bring positive and rewarding outcomes rather than chaotic, uninformed, or destructive ones.

New Moon 7 May 2024 Genie in a Bottle

06 Monday May 2024

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

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‘Stories from the Arabian Nights’ By Laurence Housman and Edmund Dulac 1911 {{PD}}

The New Moon perfects at 8:22 PDT at 18 Taurus 02, cupped by Venus on one side (at 10 degrees) and Jupiter and Uranus on the other (at 25 and 22 degrees respectively). Both Jupiter and Uranus can be considered conjoined, simply because the fast-moving Sun and even quicker Moon will relatively soon meet them–it’s a building energy–but what about Venus? 8 degrees past is a wide margin–and yet, with a chart that stars the Moon, we can look at this well-past aspect and know it describes the recent past, the time just before the New Moon. That suggests that we’ve been immersed in Venusian matters in Taurean form, which include issues of comfort, sustainability, security, artisanal efforts and aesthetics, stubbornness, loving nurture, as applied to relationships, finances, and/ or values. Our focus there led us to the New Moon beginning; that fresh beginning offers a different perspective on the involved energies, a new outlook that sends us in a new direction in seeking emotional fulfillment in Venus matters. It’s like letting the genie out of the bottle: it promises power, it’s magical and exciting, we see the potential to have exactly what we want, but there’s an awful lot that’s unpredictable and uncontrollable about the situation.

Now the spark of the New Moon presents to us something optimistic, exciting, shocking, unexpected, in the form of opportunities, prosperity, or startlingly inventive ways of looking at things, engaging the Higher Mind, or even asking us to embrace chaos or anarchy, in order to reap the benefits. It’s a scenario that may cause alarm, and certainly may exaggerate the reality picture, but it also confers a great deal of positive, looking-forward-to-the-future energy–and that can be a rocket engine to accomplishment or the securing of one’s place in the world.

There’s also a trine to Ceres and a sextile to Saturn formed by this New Moon, suggesting we can build real-world personal authority or negotiation power out of these circumstances, and Saturn further promises, along with Taurus, material impacts, ones that we can see around us, or hold in our hands. The Sabian for the New Moon is, ‘A New Continent Rising Out Of The Ocean’. It’s an image of Taurean productivity–new land!–but it also prompts us toward the state of Neptune, which is at 29 degrees of its own sign of Pisces, and is sextile Sedna, another sea denizen, and in the other direction, Pluto. That implies that what’s birthed with the New Moon is a most basic kind of change, the creation of a new foothold, new territory (and this appearance was inevitable, pressured with that 29 degrees exclaiming how the energy must express), a kind of Truth or circumstance of Power that becomes visible and usable. And what accompanies, or even prompts, this? Emotion, the province of the Moon and every Water placement we have. Neptune says the dream, in some form, may be coming true, at last, and Sedna says that whatever appears to us, our instincts and what we ‘know but don’t know’ will tell us exactly what is happening, and more importantly, why it’s happening. We get the lay of the land through our own intuition and other senses–so we’ll understand, whether we’re truly open to, or happy about, what’s happening around us, or not.

Two other points: Jupiter-Uranus are trine the Black Moon Lilith point, and Chiron and Mercury are closely conjoined in Aries. With the first we may see New Moon energy arising at least in part from those matters we’ve ignored or denied, or that enrage us. Our optimism and the opportunities presented may stir up everything we’d hoped to forget–and yet, if we accept that even what we’re not proud of has had its role in making us who we are today, we’ll perhaps learn that to forgive ourselves is to free ourselves. With Chiron and Merc we see our biggest obstacle: a tendency to allow our hamster-wheel thoughts to wound us, to dig up those things we’ve buried and insist we must hurt over them. We don’t have to; that’s just our own aggressive energy looking for a place to light–and if we see that, we can refuse the Self-inflicted wound, and put that Aries pioneering energy to work for that Neptunian creative goal.

Total Solar Eclipse 8 April 2024 A Journey to the Underworld

02 Tuesday Apr 2024

Posted by in astrology, current events in the sky, eclipse, New Moon, Sabian Symbols, Solar Eclipse

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‘The Fate of Persephone’ By Walter Crane 1877 {{PD}}

A friend of mine is traveling from Seattle to Texas to observe the eclipse from the path of totality firsthand–and I can’t help but think it’s a pilgrimage, whether he’s conscious of it or not, meant to heal, with the meeting of Sun and Moon (at 19 Aries 23, 18:20 UT), the Moon throwing itself between us and the Sun, all bodies lined up along the plane of the ecliptic, also conjoined Chiron (only 1 minute apart), this body designating the primal wound, the deepest, farthest-from-consciousness hurt of all–and that says to me that we all may be engaged in a form of healing with this blending of Sol, Luna, and the Wounded Centaur, a chance through renewal of the ‘I Am’ and worth of Self (Aries) to restore at a personal level the vitality of the Sun, the unadulterated sensitivity of the Moon, and the sense of dedication and purpose behind both identity and the Soul’s intent. A resurrection for each of us, if you will.

It’s interesting that this eclipse wipe-out energy doesn’t involve the persistent, everyday obliterating energy of Pluto–there’s no Scorpio involved, and Pluto doesn’t hook in any way into the eclipse dynamic–and yet the event promises us a deep re-think about who we are and what we’re doing, courtesy of the wide conjunction to a retrograde Mercury in Aries (though Pluto is quincunx the Trans Neptunian Object (TNO) Chaos as well as major asteroid Vesta, suggesting anarchic upheaval in the home or in matters we are–or were, until the eclipse hit–dedicated to). The eclipse trines Persephone in Sagittarius, hinting at the journey to the Underworld we all, at least temporarily, must make, and emphasizing the way we will return to the light–even if it seems like we won’t. So, there’s plenty of dynamic (and potentially destructive, or maybe misleading) energy pinging around out there–and our job may be to know it when we see it, which can help us avoid responding unthinkingly, and so falling victim to it.

The eclipse energy represents a spiritual, rather than a cellular, anastasis–and as such may explain a sort of atmospheric fear swirling around right now–because who isn’t at least a little unsettled by the idea of death, or trepidatious confronting the unknown? And we are promised a surprise delivered by the vastness of the Universe, with the eclipse semi-sextile Jupiter in Taurus, which is itself conjoined by Uranus (though the eclipse is out of range). Jupiter is, among other things, a designator of that longest journey we take at the end of life, with Uranus introducing a version of the three-body problem, roughly explained as an inability to predict with any certainty the long-term path of any combination of objects. In Taurus this suggests material roots, and material effects, though it may manifest as changes in our sense of security, our comfort, or or our ability to provide for our own or others’ needs.

Do we even need to mention Black Moon Lilith in Virgo quincunx the eclipse? Something we’d rather ignore or deny, or that enrages us, is an uncomfortable trigger to events–and this discomfort is seated in criticism, or the need for an accounting, or perhaps is spurred by an unfair or inadequate sharing of ‘the harvest’. The Sabian for the eclipse is, ‘A Young Girl Feeding Birds In Winter’. A young girl is just beginning her life, while winter is the season of sleep, torpor, but a necessary step to renewal–and birds are wild things that struggle during periods of scarcity, suggesting that it’s the young, fresh, renewed part of us stimulated by the eclipse that can ‘feed’ those more spontaneous, wilder impulses within us that might not make it through tougher times without a little help. Self-help, then, in its most positive sense, an ability to act, but it’s important to note: timing tells us that winter comes at an expected time, and only lasts so long–remembering that this, too, shall pass, is an important part of dealing with what comes.