Tag Archives: New Moon in Aquarius

New Moon in Aquarius 21 January 2023 The Prison of the Mind

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A new moon setting over Gåseberg, Lysekil Municipality, Sweden, 2016

Photo courtesy of W.carter

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0

That’s a little dramatic, isn’t it? Maybe it should be something like, ‘Isolated in (or by) our own minds’, or in its most benign form, ‘Alone with our thoughts’. The Moon in the sign of the intellect is always a little uncomfortable (though more easily tolerated by those who live with a natal meld of Water/ Air or who have the Moon in an Air sign); there’s a quite natural struggle to parse feeling from thinking, and knowing the difference depends almost entirely on how clear we are about our own feelings.

We shouldn’t forget that the ancient ruler of Aquarius is Saturn, suggesting the potential for fear or depression to arise from emotional discomfort. It’s a mistranslation of feeling, the emotions taking a negative form of Aquarian shape, and probably taking a form that distracts you and so prevents you knowing what that true feeling is. That means you miss how you feel about something important, or vital, or simply right in front of you, because the mind is too busy looking out for what you fear will appear, or what you fear will oppress you. It’s a way of protecting yourself from being uncomfortably clear on reality–which says you’re hiding from some facts or situation you desperately need to be aware of.

New Moons are new beginnings, and with this New Moon in Aquarius we can plant a seed of awareness, begin to embrace intellectual understanding of some issue, or lay plans to take a chance, rebel, revolutionize ‘the system’. The NM is widely conjoined Pluto in Capricorn, and opposed the Black Moon Lilith point, suggesting that what we may see is new thought or understanding (NM in AQ) springing from the termination, destruction, or resurgence of a framework, system, or set of standards or rules (PL in CAP). This shift, whether it’s obliteration or a re-birth, allows us to uncover what’s been ignored, denied, or has enraged many in material matters (BML-Earth), and in so acknowledging make the first steps toward true change. We can’t change what we don’t see and admit the existence of; that’s a painful part of the energy of transformation that can then lead to healing.

We might also experience this New Moon as a time to shake things up, to be the rebel–but don’t fool yourself, even if it seems the group is behind you, you’ll end up going it alone–and again, any unusual stir may be camouflaging genuine feeling, re-directing the energy that should go to processing this emotion into a ’cause’ or a sense of righteousness that will totally distract from the actual emotional issue at hand.

There’s also a wide out-of-element trine to Sedna and a sextile to Jupiter-Juno in Aries, both of which suggest, in the most general terms, that efforts must be made to sort instinct from social conditioning, personal autonomy from the need to parent or supervise, and to sort out who holds authority, who’s in charge, in any situation–and this is so even if you’re someone who’s not looking to boss anyone around. The aloneness we may find ourselves trying to go beyond will either be an emotional and mental ‘prison’, tormenting us as we fail to reach others, or can become a chance at quiet introspection, making the mind a meditation chamber instead of a torture one.

Now, that struggle for the Moon in Aquarius in knowing what’s a feeling, what’s a thought, is ongoing, though it becomes the environment for all of us each time Luna passes through the sign. A New Moon here promises us the chance to hold something in the mind in a clear, new light. With the current dearth of New Moon aspects, though, we may feel a potential sense of isolation, even confinement–the ‘prison’ of the title–with no easy means of reaching out to or communing with others–even as those tussles over who holds authority blossom. Growing awareness of the new means we are that much more focused on the fact that we are discovering, learning the facts, on our own, in a way that makes it difficult to share our experience, and so alleviate any unsteadiness or doubt or fear. Awareness of the social sphere (Jupiter) and any power struggles that may come along (Jupiter-Juno) only enhances our sense of separation from others. It’s a wee bit strange, a wee bit uncomfortable, but the process is one that is meant to spark reform and help us learn to trust our own instincts and those things we, deep inside, ‘know but don’t know’ (Sedna).

The Sabian for the New Moon is, ‘An Unexpected Thunderstorm’. There’s Uranus, ruler of Aquarius, in both the unexpected nature of what will occur, and in the symbol of the thunderstorm–so a bit of rough weather, the kind that’s a little dangerous but that energizes, that brings a cleansing, healing rain. No flood here (unless it’s a flash flood, which has a Plutonian nature, of wipeout that leaves nothing behind), as thunderstorms are typically volatile but brief, a discharge of energy that ‘clears the air’–and so this New Moon can be for us.

New Moon in Aquarius 31 January 2022 Time and Tide

28 Friday Jan 2022

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

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‘Low Tide’ By Avery F. Johnson {{PD}}

What’s your first thought, as the New Moon forms just in the lee of Saturn? And I say ‘thought’, rather than ‘feeling’, deliberately, even though we might expect the information to come in feeling form; that’s in part because Aquarius is the sign of Higher Mind, and in part because Saturn, which both Moon and Sun will conjoin soon after their meeting, is the ancient ruler of Aquarius. They’re in his territory, a place that Saturn relates to in a primordial, ancient roots way, and their post-New Moon meeting with him will be the key to what happens at the New Moon–take notes, so you’re ready for the manifestation, the barrier, the delay, the detour, or the sense of rock-solid surety that will come, appearing through Higher Mind, through the group and especially your place in it, through innovation, invention, and the imposition of ‘the modern’ on existing realities.

The New Moon arrives at 9:45 PM PST of the 31st, Moon and Sun meeting at 12 Aquarius 19. The Lunar event forms very few aspects, and they’re all past perfection, aside from the approaching conjunction with Saturn, suggesting that the New Moon new start is more of a cumulative build-up than a single moment; with the Saturn contact being the only future one, we can guess that as the Moon hits Saturn we’ll feel the emotional reaction to the built-up energies, then as the Sun hits a couple days later, we’ll see precisely the effects it has all had on our world. In Aquarius this likely involves shifts in the Zeitgeist that turn our attention with what feels like turns in the tides of time and development; the ‘new’ thing takes on prominence, brings responses from groups (and often entails individuals leaving, taking a leadership role, or joining, so that the group itself takes on a new form), shows us the inevitability of some life factor (likely something ruled by Saturn or sitting in Aquarius or Capricorn or related to their Houses in the natal chart), shows us what time and/ or rules or delays have resulted in, and may alter our personal relationship to authorities or ‘the system’. We might rebel, we might take action to stand out from the crowd, we might present something original to our milieu, but no matter what, our response will be singularly ours, even if this is part of or in response to a group.

The past aspects include a sextile to Chiron, as the arm of a T-square with the Uranus-Hygeia opposition, and receding contacts of a semi-square to Pallas in Pisces and a semi-sextile to Vesta, which also happens to be very close to a stationary Venus in Capricorn (Saturn again!) Now, I only pay attention to Hygeia when it announces its presence, as it does here, alerting us to the Lunar ‘statement’ on accidents, surprises, and shocks, and their effects on our well-being. The sextile to Chiron lets us know that the focus may come in an area we feel we’ve recently made healing progress in, or in a wound we’ve lately been trying to address. The Pallas contact says we may not have handled things in the near past in as wise or skillful a way as we could, and the Vesta-Venus contact suggests the recent Venus retro period has helped us re-evaluate where we want to invest our energies, and into what–and so links the New Moon to this adjustment to values and what we honor in our lives in a deep way, one that affects our relationships, finances, and expenditures of time and Love.

With this New Moon, we’ll in some way be required to recognize the effects of time and tide, the way the waters of simply being alive have shaped us. We’ll become acutely aware of the minutes (or hours, or years) passage and the inevitable shifts to the larger social order–and we’ll have to recognize the ways in which those larger currents shifting in the outer have made incursions on our inner world, especially on our own Higher Mind. Our attitudes toward our most unique traits may also come into focus, and we may see just how accepting we actually are of our own need to be responsive, flexible, and to honor our own most original ideas. This period may be particularly challenging for those who resist the idea of responsibilities or obligations; those who define freedom as doing whatever they want may be in for a shock.

The New Moon Sabian is, ‘A Barometer’. Yes! We are taking measure, through a particularly Aquarian lens, but one that requires we bring our observations and conclusions down to earth; barometers measure air pressure and its changes, a perfect illustration for the Air of Aquarius, and pointing to the way the sign’s Fixed nature may resist what the New Moon reveals.

And a note on the Dark of the Moon leading up to this New Moon: lay low, don’t expect too much from yourself, those around you, or the environment. It’s a time for introspection, with all energies having a natural tendency to turn inward. Rest, recover, and don’t require accomplishment right now–even if you complete something, it may have an underwhelming quality that requires a fresh look and approach later–so save your strength.

New Moon in Aquarius 11 February 2021 What Are We Waiting For?

07 Sunday Feb 2021

Posted by in astrology, current events in the sky, Dark of the Moon, forecast, Inferior Conjunction, New Moon, Sabian Symbols

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‘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.

Have a lovely week, everyone!

New Moon in Aquarius 2016 Higher Understanding

07 Sunday Feb 2016

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

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Dante Gabriel Rossetti 'Holy Grail' 1873 {{PD}}

Dante Gabriel Rossetti ‘Holy Grail’ 1873 {{PD}}

The New Moon in Aquarius (also known as Lunar New Year) falls on the 8th at 6:38 AM Pacific time at 19 Aquarius 15. The NM forms close semi-sextiles to Venus and Chiron, with only 9 and 5 minutes difference, respectively, and so falls at the midpoint of their sextile; this on its own suggests the New Moon brings the healing power (Chiron) of Love (Venus) through intellectual understanding or through a greater knowledge of the reasons behind the facts (Aquarius). What’s born here can heal, can be a conduit for Love at its most pristine and potent, and can offer an elevated level of comprehension in terms of the ‘higher function’ of events–but that’s not the entire story.

The New Moon is also sextile Vesta, in wide quincunx to Jupiter, trines Black Moon Lilith-Zeus, and squares Mars. So, we may have two general scenarios: either the higher understanding and Love are reached through a negatively-perceived event, or through a positively perceived one. That is, we may act in reaction to some aggression, or as the conflict-initiating entity ourselves, or in reaction to a restrictive or demanding social or fact-based situation (likely in trying to fulfill ambitions or to rectify an injustice, with our choices guided by our highest values or the needs of the mate or home front), and this either flows from the NM healing event, or creates it.

That’s the difficult thing: the NM event may soothe us, or it may offer that healing and in the process create a stressful circumstance in reaction. There’s no way to know ahead of time, but we can look to the House in the natal chart where this NM falls; knowing the current circumstances of House matters will clue you in to what might be involved, and whether the initiating event is a negative or positive one.

The Sabian goes right along with the healing nature of the New Moon, ‘A Large White Dove Bearing A Message’ Expect to learn something; expect to gain an appreciation of the circumstances of peace (and this may come through war). In particular, we can heal a relationship that may be suffering. This comes through our own willingness to expand our understanding, to apply Love to all our connections, to accept peace–and that latter may be difficult for some of us to do.