New Moon Time: Exploring Power

lightning!

Pluto stations, turning retrograde
April 12, 2013 3:35 pm EDT
Mercury enters Aries
April 13, 2013 10:37 pm EDT
Crescent Moon in Gemini
April 14, 2013 5:29 am EDT

The New Moon power surge arrived on the wings of yet another winter storm sweeping across the center of North America bringing snow, rain, lightning and tornadoes from Texas to the Great Lakes. This wild storm heads east, marked by temperature shifts of up to 60 degrees in ten hours.

Our dials are set to eleven.

In this heady rush of energy, where do we find ourselves? How do we find ourselves? And what can we look forward to as this lunar cycle grows?

This lunar cycle is about power––where we find it, what it feels like, how we use it, and what happens after that. When it comes to power, this cycle is the full monty: the light and the shadow.

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. ––Abraham Lincoln

We're in a lunar pattern right now in which the New Moon is followed not by its opposite Full Moon, but by the next one on. We just had the Aries New Moon. Libra is opposite Aries, but we already had our Libra Full Moon. The fullness we're moving into now, arriving April 25, is the Full Moon in Scorpio.

Aries and Scorpio are the light and shadow of power. Mars rules Aries in the daytime, and Scorpio at night. This entire cycle constantly brings these two energies, which do not play well together, into juxtaposition. The cosmos as given us a test: Write an essay about the positive and negative aspects of power. Compare and contrast. Use examples.

The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse. ––Edmund Burke

Ninety-five percent of the people in the world need to be told what to do and how to behave. ––Arnold Schwarzenegger

Pluto, the modern ruler of Scorpio and power lord in his own right, stations tomorrow, April12, for a five-month retrograde. He is emphasizing his role, and Scorpio's, in our lives. This turning moves us toward the next exact Pluto–Uranus square on May 20––which, because Pluto moves soooooo slowly, will happen at the same degree he stations in now, 11 Capricorn. Uranus will scoot up a few degrees to 11 Aries.

Meanwhile, Saturn, retrograde in Scorpio, is inconjunct Uranus. Saturn tries to rein in the overweening optimism of unbridled fire by pointing to the Shadow, showing the dark side, tossing events into the mix that remind us what happens when people in power overreach. Saturn in this position talks to us about hubris.

Never allow a person to tell you no who doesn't have the power to say yes. ––Eleanor Roosevelt

I was now resolved to do everything in my power to defeat the system. ––Oskar Schindler

April 13, Mercury slips into fiery Aries, joining the bonfire continuing there. It could be harder to keep silent, which can be a good thing and also brings consequences. Saturn's presences and Pluto's gravitas become important.

At the Crescent Moon on April 14, the entire span of Aries is covered. Mercury sits at 0, Venus at 28.

Are we owning our power? Are we growing it, flowing with it, bringing our light and life and creative gifts wholeheartedly into the world? Are we in the arena, daring greatly?

This Crescent Moon invites us, entices us, dares us to join the great game. Stop sitting on the sidelines, stop letting the parade pass by. It's time to step up, step in and dance.

I cured with the power that came through me. ––Black Elk

And yet ... Saturn in Scorpio sits at the apex of a yod, that finger of fate, with Uranus and the Crescent Gemini Moon at its base. It's not all sweetness and light. Shadow is always present.

This is, in a deeply truthful way, a key element of owning our power and using it responsibly: The willingness to look at the Shadow of power, our Shadow, to become aware of it and bring it into consciousness. Only then can we maintain balance. Only then can we flow power in creative, productive, loving ways.

When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace. ––Jimi Hendrix

Over the next few weeks, we're invited to dance in the flames. We can sense strong energies around and inside us. We can channel those energies into creative work and play. And. And. We can see where we're tempted to overstep, where we lose touch with our values, where we fall into inflation or fear. Only by holding both together can we move into our best selves.