Crescent Moon: Careful Nurturing

Crescent Moon: May 24, 2012

First, my apologies for getting behind with the posts. My return trip from Scotland was a bit harrowing and I've been in the grip of jet lag. Without further delay, let's get on with this amazing lunar cycle and see where we are:

The Gemini New Moon and accompanying eclipse dubbed "The Ring of Fire" initiated a cascade of new somethings that will be popping up for a long time to come.

Wherever this New Moon touched your chart, you may already have experienced synchronicity, surprise, communication, connection, youth, sudden shifts, newness––or not quite yet.

The thing about the New Moon is, it's dark. Masked by the Sun, we can't see the Moon at all for about three days. The night is dark as the earth, where seeds wait to germinate, dark as the womb in which new life stirs.

At the New Moon, we note where energy is flowing and allow our energies to flow with it, in the form of wishes and intentions. But until seeds begin emerging, we can't see what we might be growing. Yes, we wished for roses, but are those sunflowers growing there? Or stinging nettle?

The Crescent Moon arrived on Thursday evening (in the Eastern Tome Zone) with the Moon in her home sign of Cancer. Semisquare to the Sun in bright Gemini, the Cancer Moon felt protective of those newly emerging seedlings, knowing full well Gemini may have completely lost interest by now, drawn to the latest shiny thing. Or remembering the seedlings, Gemini would want to see, right now, how they were doing, examining them so exhaustively the attention alone could wilt them.

So, the Cancer Moon hid the seedlings a bit longer, nurturing them. It's a harsh world out there. The Crescent Moon placed the Moon at the apex of an unusual aspect pattern called the Finger of the World, which is a broad isoceles triangle of challenging aspects.

As the North Node (the point of unfolding fate) and Chiron (the wounded healer) squared each other, the Moon formed a sesquiquadrate (a square and a half) to each. This places the Moon in the hot seat, driven to solve the problem presented by the North Node–Chiron square. In a contest between fate and wounding, a Cancer Moon will choose to protect.

Even though the Crescent Moon usually offers the first glimpse of our emerging seedlings, I'm wondering if, for many of us, we're still feeling a bit in the dark about what this New Moon will actually bring into our lives.

Now, the Moon is in bright and sturdy Leo. Early this morning, the Moon and Sun formed a sextile, and we look to the playful Leo Moon to give our seedlings the support and care they need without too much swaddling. Now we look to see what's growing in our gardens, in the energy of Air and Fire.

Challenges are still out there, though. At the moment of the Sun–Moon sextile, the Moon was also in the hot seat of a yod, in which Chiron the wounded healer sextiled Pluto the transformer, who each are inconjunct the Moon.

But wait ... the Sun–Moon sextile itself forms the base of another yod with Pluto at its apex. And, if that weren't enough, the Moon is part of a Grand Trine in Fire with the North Node and Uranus.

It's time to check in: How committed are we to those New Moon wishes? We're on our way to the First Quarter Moon, the square that will put that question right in front of us. Our seedling wishes are already on the receiving end of powerful energies, so it's good to be sure this is really what we want.

The thing is, New Moon eclipses carry power. Events, patterns, stuff reach back and forward in ways difficult to discern. The aspects we see at the Crescent Moon and this morning's Sun–Moon sextile remind us that transformation is afoot. Continue to watch the parts of your chart touched by the New Moon, and take care of your wish garden.