‘Ulysses and the Sirens’ By Herbert James Draper 1679 {{PD}}
The New Moon perfects at 2:21 AM PST on the 13th at 23 Pisces 03, after recent passage of both the Sun and Moon over Neptune. That puts a haze on everything, a siren song with no clear origin: what are we seeing? what are we feeling? Also past but still in orb: a square to Juno and a quincunx to Zeus, suggesting that just lately we’ve faced some conflict over the legitimacy of our ambitions and our own autonomy. And what lies ahead, within orb now, are a sextile to Pluto (the impulse to burn it all down, out of shaken convictions around the ambitions, desires, and our ability to act on them), and a sextile to Sedna (the impulse to listen to the instincts, to trust what we ‘know but don’t know’, and proceed as planned). Which will we choose? Right now that depends on your relationship to Piscean energies in general, and to transiting Neptune in particular.
Pisces is singing to us right now, of ideals and dreams, of our practicality, skills, and wisdom, of the payoffs awaiting us in Love or Money or maybe just companionship (Pallas, Venus, Neptune transiting there), and the New Moon offers a starting point: face what we want, and either purge it and ourselves (if we find the dream inadequate), or trust ourselves and follow instinctual prompts and the inner knowing. Not a difficult choice, if we know ourselves, if we are not deluded, if we know our dreams, and if we are brave enough to go forward and create, unafraid of what others might say or think. And of course, that little bit at the end may be the hardest part.
The New Moon also falls at the midpoint of the Saturn-Uranus square. That’s reality pushing against the radical, the established pushing against precipitous change, tradition butting up against the modern, authorities clashing with the individual, or with advancement in general. It’s natural for What Is to resist and resent innovation, unless how that improvement is good for all is made obvious from the start–and even then there may be issues. Expect the New Moon to present a point of tension over this kind of revolution, a preview of the coming, just forming Cosmic dream, a glimpse of the future, and look for the positive that will come from letting go and accepting new developments. What’s happening is inevitable; better to have some say in and control over change (by willingly going along), than have it overwhelm when upset and resistance builds too high. Don’t let the siren song of ‘We’ve always done it that way’ stop a good thing.
The New Moon Sabian is, ‘On A Small Island Surrounded By The Vast Expanse Of The Sea, People Are Seen Living In Close Interaction’. I’m seeing this in something of an unusual way: Pisces is the sea, the House of the natal chart an island in the horoscope, with the people in close interaction those we love (Venus), those we idealize or connect with spiritually (Neptune), and those from whose wisdom or practicality we benefit (Pallas). Getting all the human components to mesh in positive ways is something we strive for–and the new start of the New Moon offers a moment when the way to that harmony might be apparent, through the matters of the natal House where Pisces sits. And right now, everybody could use just a little more harmony.
‘Waiting’ By Henri de Toulouse Lautrec 1887 {{PD}}
The New Moon perfects at 11:05 AM PST on the 11th at 23 Aquarius 16, but before it does, we pass through the pre-New Moon three day period known as The Dark of the Moon, notable for its absence of Lunar light. This is a period when forward momentum can be sidetracked or stalled, and new projects will sputter, fail to get off the ground, or later require a rehaul or restart–and that’s doubly so during Mercury retrograde, currently in effect.
What can we do during this period? Normally we’d do best to drift and dream, meditate and relax, to connect through silence or dreams to the non-verbal perceptions, but during this Dark period we have a slightly different mandate: it starts with the Inferior Conjunction of Sun and Mercury on the 8th, an inception point for development related to matters of the House where the contact occurs, specifically around shifts in thought, plans, and where we’re putting our attention–and it continues as later that day the Sun meets Pallas, with the Moon to pass over Pallas just over two hours before the New Moon perfects. All this speaks to reconsideration of Mercurial subjects that leads to a wiser take on things, and to a smart or more practical new beginning shown by the New Moon event.
Otherwise, this New Moon doesn’t make much notable contact at all. Its closest aspect is a trine to Zeus in Libra, suggesting that Higher Mind revelations (Aquarius) in relationships and their role in ambition and desire fulfillment (Zeus in Libra) will lead to greater understanding–but understanding of what? For some this might be revelation in relationships themselves, a more accurate view of how they work on a daily basis, and what each party gets out of them, but for many of us the emphasis will be on how our interactions with others color, constrict, shape, or curtail our own efforts toward ambition realization. We may become acutely aware of how we modify our efforts to accommodate relationships, and how we modify relationships so we can pursue our goals, and we’re very likely to see where we need a re-think on the whole thing, with this re-consideration informing the latter half of the Merc retro cycle.
Too, Zeus speaks of the power balance within any relationship, the ways in which we get our needs met but must accept that others, too, have needs, and that the clash between these two sets of wants can be chaotic, a contest between our desire for the relationship and our desire for, well, just about anything else that creates an appetite. With Juno, the asteroid of empowerment, and signifier of Zeus’ partner, placed sextile Mercury from her spot in Sagittarius and conjoined the South Node at the time of the New Moon, we definitely see a rise of smoke from smoldering relationship issues, and between the New Moon of revelation and understanding (Aquarius) and the Merc retro cycle, we are likely to find these issues cropping up, many of them as direct power issues and some as an outright clash of wants between partners.
We might also want to count a very loose square to Sedna, only in contention because Sun and Moon are approaching rather than retreating from the aspect. This might give just the barest hint, the vaguest echo, a mere wisp of an idea that trouble may be on the horizon. This might take the shape of Self-sabotaging instincts or an insistence on not admitting that everyone, including ourselves, has a blind spot–and this might be just the time when we need some reflection (the Moon) from those with whom we’re in relationship (that Libran Zeus)–because that’s exactly what we’re offering them, too.
The New Moon Sabian is, ‘A Man, Having Overcome His Passions, Teaches Deep Wisdom In Terms Of His Experience’. I’ve not much to add to that since it seems we’ve already covered this same message via aspects, but will point out that the symbol strikes a hopeful note, as the messiness that is natural to relationships will show us what we need to know, and make us wiser in the process.
Usually we get that ‘wipe out’ feeling/ energy from an eclipse, when the old patterns are disrupted by new ones; this time, we get the same experience from a New Moon as it meets the god of the Underworld. The Lunar event of the 12th falls at 23 Capricorn 13 at 9 PM PST, closely conjoined Pluto–in just over two hours the Moon will perfect contact, while the Sun will take a tad longer, a little more than twenty-four. This suggests the dawning of new emotions or intuitive perceptions that transform our Beingness, or that change what we pay attention to; we are plunged down, to the depths, perhaps in the birth pangs of a new world order arising from the institutions, rules, and constraints of the old order a la Capricorn, and we’re given a clear insight into what this change means for us as individuals.
A New Moon in Capricorn promises two things: new rules, and efforts at ‘building’, whether that’s something intangible, within the psyche, or an actual, literal structure or figurative framework within the social order, but when the Sun-Moon meeting is on the way to conjoin Pluto, we are effectively stunned by the energy–hence the similarity to the eclipse ‘wipe out’. In this particular case, the new feelings, followed by a new sense of ‘I Am’ or ‘I See’, then gets the Plutonian treatment. We can’t be sure if the emotions and changed efforts are undertaken in anticipation of serious, inevitable, even extreme change that is before us, or if they’re the result of such thorough, deep, and irrevocable developments–all we can know is that this New Moon is the first glimpse of an ever-growing light shining at the bottom of the bottomless fissure that opens up beneath us: the New Moon shows us a way out, a new way of structuring or processing, or the resurrection of something, as it delivers an inspiring and instructional glimmer of not only what’s to come, but what we can build from it, that will culminate with the Full Moon two weeks from now.
How much this New Moon will bring change to the individual is dependent on the contacts the event makes to the natal chart. This is precisely why general forecasts aren’t ‘one size fits all’. That said, see below for a brief lesson on reading a configuration filled in by the New Moon event. What all of us will be influenced by: the New Moon semi-square Juno=we see our own relationship to pure Power, and see just where out limits are (but that also means we’ll get some idea of what we’re missing, and so how to go about getting more); New Moon square Zeus=we see where our ambitions, relationships, or desires are making it difficult to start anew, or to make the changes we really want to, or what we learn at the New Moon creates tension or conflict with those ambitions currently on our agenda; and lastly, the New Moon forms an Earth Grand Trine with Vesta and Sedna=I’m counting this despite Vesta being more than six degrees from perfection to Sedna 1) because Sedna is in apparent retrograde right now, so moving back toward Vesta, and 2) because trines are major aspects, and 3) because this configuration is in Earth, same element as the New Moon, and 4) because the presence of Pluto and the Sun together gives a big energy ‘punch’ that I see as carrying farther than I normally would accept. Ties of the placement together make up for the looseness of the orbs, particularly the way the NM and Pluto ‘bridge’ the degrees between Vesta and Sedna. The Grand Trine suggests that what changes/ evolves/ is forced/ transforms/ resurrects at the New Moon is in harmony with our actual highest values, and with our instincts and what we ‘know but don’t consciously know’. We may not see the benefits of the GT energies right away, because they have a good chance of emerging from our own ‘blind spot’, and so carry the feeling that they’re coming from external events, rather than that they’ve been orchestrated by our own intents, even though they have.
The New Moon Sabian is, ‘A Woman Entering A Convent’. This implies that though what occurs seems excessively restrictive or that it requires an inordinate degree of discipline or supplication, it’s actually based on what we’ve chosen to dedicate our life energies to (Vesta). A look at your Vesta will help tell you the intent behind what manifests, and may give you a greater understanding of the nature of what you genuinely care about in life.
A Little Something on Configurations, as Demonstrated with the New Moon
When judging whether a configuration is formed, we need to keep in mind the various strengths of the aspects. The loose Grand Trine I describe above is allowable at least in part because a trine is a major aspect, and that allows for a greater orb; in the Fist I describe below, we have a square between NM and Zeus, which is a major aspect and so can take a greater orb, but in order to form the Fist, we need both bodies to sesquiquadrate (135 degrees) a third body, and since this is a more minor contact, we need a closer orb, something around no more than two degrees from exact in either direction, which in the following example would be 8 Gemini. In this case, anyone with a natal placement 6-10 Gemini will find their natal energy at the apex of a Fist of God with base of New Moon-Pluto square Zeus. This suggests the New Moon will bring change that arises from conflict over or forces change to the ambitions or desires, particularly as this applies to relationships (Zeus is in Libra). What happens or is revealed by the light of the New Moon shows how the current ambition picture contrasts, and requires modification of, what you’re aiming for, and this is because of what you learn now–and this will affect the natal apex planet, either through expression of its characteristic energies or through something it rules, House or other bodies, in the natal chart. (And just a reminder: please don’t write and ask if the aspect, for instance, applies to your Ascendant at 12 degrees Gemini, or your Sun at 5–I’ve told you the range of things already: anything between 6 and up to but not past 10). Keeping in mind what aspects any configuration contains, and then keeping orbs crisp, will insure you not only get a clear picture, but also that you don’t lead yourself astray or distract with an inaccurate or exaggerated picture, though there are exceptions, as I describe using the example of the Grand Trine aspect, above. Thus endeth the lesson!
This New Moon of the 14th occurs at 8:17 AM PST and is also an eclipse, falling at 23 Sagittarius 08, preceding the Superior Conjunction of the Sun and Mercury at 29 degrees in just about a week. This adds an element of building tension to what is normally with a New Moon a ‘fresh start’ energetically, a clean slate that typically signals the origins of a new beginning. That means new circumstances arrange themselves around an already-tense situation, lending things a ‘jumped into the fire’ quality, and this is even more noticeable because an eclipse on its own signals a wipe-out of previous arrangements–and that means we may find ourselves in the midst of a conflagration (Sag is a Fire sign) that we absolutely have not anticipated–and that quite possibly interferes with manifestation of the new start.
The eclipse doesn’t make many aspects–the major ones are loose, so it’s to the minor ones my attention goes first, as this implies a subtle and nuanced eclipse picture. The eclipse is closely semi-sextile Pluto, suggesting that small discomforts or inconveniences create big change, while the New Moon also noviles Pallas in Aquarius and sesquiquadrates Uranus. This combo implies the influence of the Higher Mind and/ or ‘the group’ in events, with those influences arriving through difficult Uranian means: an accident, a troublesome or unanticipated serendipity, the crashing down of a larger spiritual Truth, the exercise of and surprise brought forward by one’s own originality, or the spotlight on one’s position in (or perhaps alienation from) the group. However, the novile tells us that this spurs or is spurred by something smart, motivated by wisdom or practicality, maybe by the way the Universe presents a set of trying events and then asks, ‘What will you do?’.
Pluto and Uranus both aspecting the eclipse could imply a spark-to-flame destructive event that clears the way for something entirely new–in any case, what happens may be disturbing, upsetting, unsettling, even traumatic, or just unexpected, surprising, but will be for the good (see the Sabian symbol, below).
The square to Neptune is too wide, for my taste, suggesting that we may think that misleading information, the creative urge, the dream, or a mirage, any or all related to the emotional state, is a motivation when it’s really not. Zeus in Libra is sextile the New Moon, suggesting that ambitions involving relationships we want, or the way relationships affect us going after ambitions, is on the agenda. There is a trine to Mars in his own sign of Aries, telling us how easily we may act, based on a relatively sketchy picture or our own hair-trigger temper; the sense is of being profoundly aware that we are all alone, that we must do something, and this may come from events or be the agent of them, and is probably the driver in the relationship scenario: we must act to make a reality of the desired relationship, or we must act in order to fix a situation where a relationship is precluding our ability to go after what we want.
A New Moon in Sagittarius is typically a Moon where we learn something, are exposed to something foreign, or see the origins of new beliefs or philosophies coalesce; the Sabian is, ‘A Bluebird Perched On The Gate Of A Cottage’. Well that’s idyllic, isn’t it? A bluebird is a symbol for happiness, the ‘bursting out in song’ kind, and its position, at ease on a garden gate, suggests a peaceful environment where the bird feels safe, an ‘in its element’ sensibility. As the Sabian for a New Moon eclipse, this might imply we learn or are exposed to something that brings happiness in the way of feeling ‘at home’ in some situation, or with some change or new start that occurs. It’s a reassuring symbol that tells us in spite of any indications to the contrary within the scenario or related to the initial upset, we’ll be happier with our new circumstances than we were with our old ones.
Special note: those with a natal placement between 21 and 24 of Taurus may find the eclipse brings a real ‘do-or-die’ point in matters of ambition and desire fulfillment, relative to the natal energy, which will act as apex to a Finger of God with base of the eclipse and Zeus. What you’ve been aiming for, wanting, even lusting for will be addressed through the energy of the eclipse, and the result will funnel through the natal point. Good luck with that!
‘The birth of Aphrodite’ By Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky 1887 {{PD}}
The New Moon perfects at 9:07 PM PST of the 14th at 23 Scorpio 17; this meeting takes place after both bodies have, relatively recently, conjoined Juno (the Moon within hours, the Sun about 5 days before). This suggests that the New Moon new start follows on an illumination of our own empowerment situation, the extent of our reach, and how effective we are in impacting our world. We looked beneath, or even through, x-ray-like, circumstances (Scorpio) and likely found one of two things: that we are much more powerful than we thought, or that we don’t hold power in the ways, or over what, we previously believed.
So this New Moon offers a point of re-birth, a re-making that allows us to rise again empowered–and a single set of sextiles tells the story. These are to the Capricorn-located energies of Pluto, Jupiter, and Pallas–and the New Moon has no other contacts. A sextile is a cooperative aspect, one that encourages the entities to work together, but it does require some effort, the kind shown by active intention.
We must choose to re-make, re-form, according to the Truth we find beneath the surface (Scorpio), and we do it by transforming structures, rules, restraints, and the framework upon which we hang our identity (Capricorn). The energies at our disposal are powerful ones: the Plutonian spark of the Universe, intense as life and death, a generative essence that can create or destroy; Jupiterian confidence, opportunity, and largesse, a bold belief in what we can build, and also that we know the material facts, and so can judge our best endeavors; and Pallas, offering a Warrior-spirit, a mature wisdom and understanding, a brave countenance with which to face challenges, and a practicality that informs our best use of already-developed skills.
That sounds like a lot, but the reality will be very individualized, very specific to your own personal transformation story. We’re likely to experience the chance at re-birth in matters of the House in the natal chart where the NM occurs. Though the contours of the situation will be highly unique to each individual, the general areas affected may be encompassed by the House where it falls: the 1st–the Self and the way you ‘present’ to the world; the 2nd–talents, assets, or Self-concept; the 3rd–communications, thinking, agreements, siblings; the 4th–family or core beliefs about identity; the 5th–creative efforts, romance, one’s children, risks; the 6th–the everyday circumstances, obligations and duties, the job, work colleagues, health; the 7th–your partner, your audience, your Art, or the world at large; the 8th–others’ assets, what you share and they share with you, sex, death; the 9th–things at a distance, education, religion, in-laws, travel, publications; the 10th–the career, the public image, business, your boss; the 11th–group affiliations, friendships, hopes wishes and goals; the 12th–the wider Universe, large institutions, those things we may be hiding from ourselves, spirituality. Not a definitive list, by any means, but one meant to give you some idea of where the action will be. There’s plenty of overlap, as well, as anyone who works with astrological concepts for long will know, so use your best intuitive sense of how this translates to your world.
So what’s the Sabian for this transformative Moon? ‘After Having Heard An Inspired Individual Deliver His “Sermon On The Mount,” Crowds Are Returning Home’. We’ve already ‘received’ the message delivered by spirit, or via someone inspired in their offering–now we need to take it ‘home’ with us, into ourselves and our everyday lives. What that message is will depend on who you are–what we know is that we’ve already got the needed information, and now just have to implement it.
Like Dorothy, we already have what we need to get ‘home’, we just have to access it, and the New Moon offers an ‘entry point’ that can kick-start a next-step inspiration.
The New Moon perfects at 12:31 PM PDT on the 16th at 23 Libra 53, after just recently passing Zeus at 21 Libra and so still conjoined, and still within opposition of Mars, which recently conjoined Earth as the Warrior continued apparent backward motion. Immediately the New Moon takes on the tone of the near-past, where emotional aspirations and attentions toward ambitions and passions have been faced with the effectiveness (or not) of choices and actions meant to bring those goals into concrete realization. What dawns here may derive from recent choices and interactions, and let us know who will help us, who has hindered us, and who we must cooperate with or accept support (or even criticism) from, in order to make ‘it’ happen. With whom do we want to bond, with whom partner or share, in whom are we interested romantically, with whom are we aligned? This New Moon brings forward these important questions–but do we get an answer, during Merc retrograde?
Merc in Scorpio is prone to dig, and that doesn’t always sit well within Libran relationships–too, our Mercury cycle may focus our thinking in directions other than those brought forward by the New Moon, so it may be highly individual whether these two tie together in any way. If we don’t learn who is vital to our efforts and our happiness at the New Moon, we’ll definitely get an inkling at the Inferior Conjunction–simply because our excavations will naturally have at least some effect on our relationships, and vice versa.
This time the Lunar event forms one end of an opposition (the other end being the Earth and Mars), with both ends squared by Capricorn residents Jupiter (yes, we’ll give the orb a little more than usual, this time, because this body touches the two that have closer aspects to the NM), Pluto, and Saturn–and of course, that makes a Cardinal T-square. That’s a configuration of tension, stretching all energy components to their extremes within the situation, but it promises us something: we can resolve the basic opposition if we can resolve the conflict the ‘arm’ introduces to the general dynamic.
That presents a picture of ambition and desire fulfillment, and who or what is helping (or hindering) with that, as it stands in relation to our own actions and choices, and how these have affected the material situation. We’ll be seeing the disparities between enacting our Will (Aries) and our desires (Zeus–which naturally involve others, even if only in the form of an audience or witness, because we might ask if we really find satisfaction in a totally unnoticed act–even with an anonymous one, we want to see it affect others–Libra).
We sort through these disparities between getting our way and getting what we desire by recognizing what we’re doing that works, and what is impeding us–and this New Moon says we do so using the three energies of the square in a disciplined and controlled (Capricorn) way. There is a strong element of responsibility in all this, via both the need to assess our own behavior and its effectiveness, and in the ways to modify that in order to get what we truly want.
Jupiter says we need to face the facts, especially those that are restraining us or hemming us in, or it suggests that it’s our relationship to (or perhaps subjugation to) the social order that is causing problems, or that our expansion attempts are poorly engineered, or that our faith is somehow misplaced (probably invested in an unworthy authority figure). Saturn says we just need to stop! or that authorities have deemed we must, or that we are failing to follow ‘the rules’ or to discipline ourselves–and so we miss at least some of our marks. With Pluto the idea of power struggle is introduced, again possibly with authorities, or we either fail to recognize that change has occurred, or that changes need to be made. We underestimate the force behind the social order, the inevitability of evolution, and the march of time, and this New Moon allows us to re-calibrate, in terms of our own efforts.
Remember, it’s natural to weigh things, with this Libra New Moon–we’re meant to assess one thing against another–so don’t succumb to internal critics that may confuse discernment in matters that directly affect you with judging things that have nothing to do with you. Right now, weighing your own choices, actions, and goals is what it’s all about.
Though I don’t typically talk about other aspects in a New or Full Moon picture, because I prefer to keep the energies discussed Lunar-relevant, I want to mention a close square currently in place: Ceres in Aquarius square Sedna in Taurus, both late in the sign but not so late that they demand our attention (right now, at mid-28 degrees, they’re just whining and pulling on our sleeves!) This may bring an entirely different tension that we could mistake for New Moon conflict; in reality this shows more as our own intellectually held concepts of our personal authority as they clash with those matters that either sit in our ‘blind spot’ or that we ‘know but don’t know’. Here the clash is internal, and likely highly distracting, stirring all kinds of feeling–but not the same ones stirred by the Lunar need to measure our actions, and our effectiveness, as it applies to goals and the World.
Too, Black Moon Lilith at this time is found at 29 Aries 29, placing those things we’d like to ignore or that enrage us at a precarious, hard-to-maintain position that could become explosive–and that means this tension might factor in, as well.
This New Moon really is about knowing ourselves (Mars in Aries, retrograde, and so going over territory we’ve already seen but need to reassess), and this knowing must be in the context of our relationships with others. New interactions or bonds can be born at this time, just as long as we face what we need to. This NM may feel a lot more like a Full Moon because of the Mars opposition–so don’t be surprised if it brings as many endings as beginnings.
The Sabian for the New Moon is, ‘ A Butterfly With A Third Wing On Its Left Side’. This New Moon seems to be about discovery, specifically about our own assets and what we can do with them. An extraneous ‘third wing’ may at first appear useless, random, even in the way of our successful ‘flight’, but on a butterfly a wing is an object of delicacy and beauty, with location on the left suggesting a spiritual purpose or meaning to it. It may be that with this New Moon we find something, in the course of all our other weighing and measuring, that offers a profound spiritual connection to our own beauty and ability–do your best to accept it as genuine, and to incorporate it in your idea of You.
Feel like Saturn’s giving you a hard time lately? Are you near a Return? You may want to visit (or re-visit) this real-life Saturn advice.
Honestly, this doesn’t look too bad–which may just go to show that hell is a personal, internal creation. ‘A Soul in Hell’ By Evelyn De Morgan 1902 {{PD}}
The New Moon perfects at 4:00 AM PDT at 25 Virgo–those are some nice round numbers, aren’t they? (And as an aside, don’t read anything into that–numbers are a human-created system–there’s no mystical meaning in neither having minutes.) The NM noviles Vesta, right away telling us that what begins at this time is something that carries a spark of genius, in terms of the way it can instigate important commitments, can dedicate our energies to what really matters to us, and can bring the spiritual into interactions. What is birthed right now matters, to the Soul, to the psyche, and to the manifestations of these in the life, as they arise from our own accounting and critique (Virgo) of who we are (the Sun) and how we feel (the Moon).
The New Moon, which is of course conjoined the Sun and opposed the Earth, also happens to square the Nodal axis. The Nodes are not bodies but ‘markers’, in a sense, of the points at any one time when the Moon’s orbit crosses the ecliptic, and so can be thought of as energetic placeholders, adding depth to analysis of the Moon’s situation at any particular point, and indicating the direction of a general energy stream moving from South Node to North. Since this Grand Cross consists of the event bodies (New Moon-Sun), one that’s always linked to the Sun anyway (the ever-opposing Earth), and these extremity markers (the Nodes), no one could be faulted for thinking this isn’t truly relevant to the event–but it is, simply because this likely signals the kind of ongoing tension typical to a GC that is kicked off by the New Moon event. That is, what starts at the NM simultaneously brings forward questions of identity and role (the Sun), the past (South Node), and the direction we’re headed in life (North Node), and this happens as a logical matter of course, and again marking the depth of meaning behind the NM itself and giving events the sense that decisions and choices must be made.
The New Moon trines Pluto and is in close trine to Saturn, suggesting just how easily profound change may occur, particularly in ways that change the material reality or that create structure or limit restraints. Further, Sedna could be considered to fill in a loose Earth Grand Trine with Saturn, indicating that either our instincts and intuitive faculties, or those matters we carry in our ‘blind spot’, become instrumental in events. Do we have a choice here as to whether we get a leg up with accurate instinctual perceptions or suffer at the hands of matters we just aren’t conscious of? No, probably not, though we can do our best to stay open to change, and so to Truth–a willingness to see and know may be our most important asset.
The New Moon in Virgo forms quincunxes to the Black Moon Lilith point and to Mars, the latter of which is still stationary in Aries, poised to break backward in apparent motion. The light dawning with the New Moon may slowly begin to illuminate what we need to do about matters we’ve ignored or denied–but whether that comes as a flash of knowledge all at once, or seeps in over the coming days, can’t be known, and considering that Mars is technically already retrograde, may imply that we don’t do anything, but instead learn what must be done, and then reserve action for a later date.
The NM also makes a sesquiquadrate to Uranus. This points out to us the need to ‘make peace’ with our own uniqueness. Too often we seek to subdue, distort for acceptability’s sake, or otherwise hide what is most true to ourselves, partly out of fear: to be known and seen is to be vulnerable, and partly out of a desire to be accepted. But, this Moon event will help us see, even if it’s only in some small way, how embracing a unique part of ourselves will make us truer to who we are at a Soul level. Special note: if you have something 8 and 12 degrees Aquarius, then that natal placement fills in the base of a Fist of God with Uranus and New Moon as apex. The suggestion is that Moon events might come directly from a clash between your most unusual qualities and the natal energy as they try to ‘get along’. For you the ‘recipe’ for making the most of New Moon events very firmly rests in the need to accept something you up until now may have seen as too ‘out there’ to be incorporated as a part of the identity–but now you must find a way.
The Sabian symbol for the New Moon is, ‘A Flag At Half-Mast In Front Of A Public Building’. The editor in me wants to correct that to say ‘half-staff’ as half-mast is only shipboard–and then I wonder, is that ‘mistake’ part of the message itself? Is it meant to convey that the mourning of loss and show of respect shown by lowering a flag is actually, in some strange way, misplaced? Maybe it draws our attention to an area we have been mourning, something that brings us sadness, only to point out to us that we are sad either about the ‘wrong’ component of the situation, or that we are misunderstanding our own mourning, either the need to or the need not to (which in some circles could be seen as unacceptable and so punished). In any case, this sadness has a public component, a public ‘face’, so that we may be challenged to examine whether what we are told we should be mourning really matters to us, or whether we are mourning something else entirely in private, participating in group sadness as a way to find ‘cover’ for our real feelings. Whatever happens at the New Moon, it may involve the loss of a feeling state (real or pretend) that moves us by its subtraction closer to living a most genuine life.
‘Chicago, Illinois. In the waiting room of the Union Station’ Photo By Jack Delano – Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, reproduction number LC-USZ62-130260 {{PD}}
A New Moon forms at 7:42 PM PDT of the 18th at 26 Leo 35, and we know that New Moons foster beginnings; in Leo this can take the shape of a ‘New You’, a new image within one’s own mind or visible on the outside with changes to behavior, efforts, or style, or a fresh approach to one or more of the subjects of the House where this falls in your natal chart. Leo asks us to look at our own effectiveness, the roles we are playing: are we having an impact? Do we shine? Are we drawing the kinds of attention we actually want? The New Moon situation gives us a chance to assess this, or sends us on a quest to find our answers, should the need for review feel new to us.
In this instance the NM comes right after the Superior Conjunction of the Sun and Mercury, suggesting that something related to the Leo energy has reached a peak or conclusion, the message received concerning ourselves and our activities or presentation. Then the NM Fire arrives and sparks new ideas–what arose from the SC leads us to the necessity of a Leonine new beginning, new venture, new Self, that realization or even the launch of the new effort coming with the NM.
Lunar crater Aristarchus {{PD}}
We see the New Moon fill in a Fire Grand Trine with Mars and the South Node. Our actions and choices at this juncture may be aimed at correcting, re-working, or trying again something from the past. It takes a new form, of course, one more in keeping with who we are right now, appropriate to our individual evolutionary point (Leo). The Sun-Moon/ Earth axis also forms a T-square with Sedna, implying tension around our ‘blind spot’ and/ or our instinctual nature; in this case the world may be telling us we’re one thing, but what we don’t see but carry within may contradict that, typically on a non-verbal level. That could lead to rejection of the New You presented, a crisis as the individual doesn’t accept what’s reflected back to them. If this occurs it likely means that there’s something we don’t see about ourselves that we are now required to recognize–and likely as not this is a good thing, a talent or ability, something secure or steadfast (Sedna in Taurus) that we have failed to see as our own.
There’s also a semi-square to Venus, which suggests the state we find ourselves in may make for small difficulties or an uncomfortable time in relationships or even financially, not surprising if we find ourselves re-vamping our Self-image. But the closest aspect made by the New Moon is the quincunx to Saturn. This frames the New Moon revelations as needed adjustment to the reality picture. Saturn stands for both reality itself (a cold, unadorned version) and a principle of measurement–more repression or less, stricter rules or more lenient, more Self-discipline or a loosening of strictures? What happens at the New Moon makes clear the need to make this adjustment, specific to the Leonine personal need that’s revealed. Overall, the real-world feedback we receive must be accommodated, but it’s up to each of us to discern how this best can be addressed.
The New Moon is involved with one more configuration, as it forms a base with the North Node to a Finger of God with apex Saturn. This is notable aside from the quincunx alone as it tells us that the adjustments we make will require adjustments to the life direction. Simple as that: as we change, so does our Path.
The Sabian for the New Moon needs no explanation: ‘The Luminescence Of Dawn In The Eastern Sky’. It’s a new day, a new dawn, and each of us gets both a fresh understanding of ourselves and a fresh start, or even a do-over. Embrace it with gratitude.
I don’t normally discuss other factors at the time of a New or Full Moon, as I believe that the event typically exerts a strong but temporary influence that predominates. This time, though, I want to point out a very close quincunx between Neptune in Pisces and Zeus-Juno in Libra, as they’re all within just a handful of minutes from exact and so possibly as prominent in the equation as the New Moon itself. The effect is one of laser-like attention trained on ambitions, goals, and desires, the need for the kind of empowerment that can make them happen. We may become acutely aware of the adjustments needed to open the space (probably emotional or mental) for expression of the creative urge, or of a need to create a means of ridding the Self of deceptive others or misconceptions, or possibly both. It’s a sort of closet cleaning meant to facilitate autonomy, creativity, and the confidence to pursue our goals, particularly to pursue them without having to acquiesce to others.
Oh, and Pluto is retrograding to perfect (by the next day) an opposition to Hygeia–don’t gamble with your health.
The New Moon perfects at 10:31 AM PDT at 28 Cancer 26, sesquiquadrate Ceres, opposed Saturn which is closely conjoined the Earth, and forming the base to a Finger of God by sextile to Sedna in Taurus with an apex of the South Node in Sagittarius. We’re offered a fresh emotional slate with this event, but the question is, is it a clean emotional slate? That is, is the viewpoint and agenda devoid of baggage, free of old aversions and biases, and so truly based in what we care about at this moment, at this point in time?
Well, we’re human, so gaining such a blank, unburdened emotional outlook as adults is unlikely. Instead, we are probably going to discover we care about one or more ‘new’ things or areas in life related to matters of the natal House that contains Cancer or that holds the natal Moon. What we care about, though, will be inextricably linked to the actual current reality picture and material situation (probably as it relates to those natal Cancer/ Moon placements). With the involvement of both Ceres and the Moon, the theme of mother or nurturing will likely be prominent, specifically through a lens of the kinds of power that accrue to someone who carries responsibilities, or who becomes responsible for someone or something else. Our interest may arise from or show us the difficulty of our own or someone in authority’s power position, and out of this, triggered by this Moon event, we’ll see our own instinctual responses and/ or our ‘blind spot’ material brought forward in such a way that we create a version of the past.
Often when we see something referring to the past being re-created in the present, we’re inclined to freak out. We don’t want to go ‘backward’, or at least don’t want to move toward something we think is regressive. This time, though, there’s no need. The past in this instance refers to something learned from experience, something that spurred the widening of our world or our viewpoint, that introduced us to something ‘foreign’ but exciting and expansive, something that helped us reach out and become a part of the wider world. The experience we had then can inform the experience we have now, and that’s a good thing, a refresher directly from the Universe that shows us how we’ve grown, and re-asserts the means by which we did–and in the process challenges us now to use a similar experience or method to foster growth once again.
The Sabian for this Moon event features an odd cross between Libran and Gemini-themed symbology: ‘A Greek Muse Weighing Newborn Twins In Golden Scales’. What do those astro symbols relate back to? The Air element, Gemini the twins and Libra the scales, which is essentially missing from the active Cardinal energies of the current sky in the form of a relatively empty Libra. Major energies fill the other Cardinal signs, but Libra holds only Juno and Zeus–and though Juno is precisely opposed Mars in his own sign of Aries, formidable as she is, the Queen of Olympus is no match for the Warrior, at least as they represent major energies within the psychic pantheon for the individual. The Mars-Juno match-up shows us how our Will, Self-interest, choices, and actions (Mars in Aries) have put us into specific empowerment venues and roles, ones that involve cooperation or aesthetics (Juno in Libra), but these aren’t integrated into the New Moon picture, leaving the energies to ‘dangle’ without potential for resolution.
Too, the fact that those scales are described as “Golden” implies a certain purity or high value–that is, what’s missing is as important as what’s present and active, in reading this image.
There is also the matter of ‘A Greek Muse’. I’m inclined to see that in this instance (in the New Moon snapshot of the sky) as pointing us toward Libra once again–in this case, toward the only body I’m currently using that carries a Greek, as opposed to Roman, name: Zeus, which sits at 19 Libra 58, closely opposed the Black Moon Lilith point in Aries and square the midpoint and each of Pallas-Jupiter in Capricorn, and also square Vesta in Cancer–creating a completed Cardinal Cross (as opposed to the Cardinal opposition formed by the New Moon-Sun opposite Earth-Saturn).
The Cardinal opposition emphasized the material/ physical experience, especially the barriers we face or the issues that limit us (Earth-Saturn) that will be illuminated/ triggered/ will generate new attitudes of caring, nurture, and concern (NM in Cancer). The factor of Time (Saturn), and what we’ve learned in the past or from its passage, is also vital to the equation.
The Sabian, then, may provide information that the initial aspect picture only hinted at. A Cardinal Cross is an action plan, a dynamic roadmap of what is in play–and knowing what’s in play automatically offers us answers about how to handle it. Our ambition and desire picture, particularly as it’s expressed through cooperative arrangements, partnerships, and the Arts (Zeus in Libra) is triggered by the friction provided by all that we’ve ignored, denied, or that has enraged us about ourselves (Black Moon Lilith in Aries), and this in turn prompts application of our highest standards and values, an assessment of and re-affirmation of our commitments and what we honor (Vesta in Cancer), and what comes from this tension are smart and practical opportunities to make solid, concrete responses (Pallas-Jupiter in Capricorn) to the issues before us.
The New Moon picture turns out, after careful consideration, to be much more personal, and much more focused on the individual initiative and perceptions, than it seemed at first glance. The action, then, is largely on the inside, though certainly, how we feel (Cancer) about our surroundings and material circumstances (Earth-Saturn) and the ways they restrict, hedge us in, help us build, or restrain us (Capricorn) will be the trigger for it all.
‘Le jardin des Tuileries en automne (The Tuileries in Autumn)’ By Paul de Castro 1921 {{PD}}
The New Moon perfects at 2 Gemini 04 at 10:37 AM PDT on the 22nd and makes just a few close aspects; if we stretch a little, what we get is an Air Grand Trine with arms of Juno in Libra and Saturn-Pallas Aquarius with the conjunction of Sun and Moon making this GT temporary but potent. What’s clear is that we have an opportunity to achieve mental balance, to find a harmonious relationship between how we intellectualize the real world, how we see our own power or lack within it, and the role our relationships play in the actual empowerment equation. What forms here tests our capacity for practicality and calls forth our skills, specifically requiring us to collaborate or otherwise draw on our network of contacts in order to achieve effective mental balance–that is, an effective way of processing and expressing ourselves in the world.
If this New Moon could talk, it might make these statements: cooperation facilitates getting what you want and opens avenues to Self-expression; what we think of the physical and material is as important as what those material circumstances actually are; what’s solid, real, and possibly seen as a barrier is in actuality offering you a receptacle that will give shape to your mental energy as it takes physical form. The sooner you see that Saturnian walls, restrictions, and rules don’t deny nearly as much as they show you practical parameters to enhance and define creative energy expressed through skills, the more quickly you’ll be able to make a reality of the new ways of thinking and networking the New Moon brings.
‘Music in the Tuileries’ By Édouard Manet 1862 {{PD}}
The Sabian for the New Moon is, ‘The Garden Of The Tuileries In Paris’. The Tuileries are an expression of the human Saturnian urge to order, contain, and capture as it applies to Nature herself. This image tells us that if we cooperate and collaborate, by recognizing the true inclinations of the energies we seek to mold, we can create something that has the best elements of humanity’s interventions and Nature’s spontaneous (but in its own way planned) growth, outreach, and expression. And how is this achieved? By finding the balance between control and growth. The Tuileries are an example of the longevity creations with this kind of balance can attain, and encourages the idea of peaceful co-habitation in any number of ways.
Julie Demboski's ASTROLOGY 
You must be logged in to post a comment.