New Moon in Taurus: Good Stewardship

In the Garden by Childe Hassam

New Moon in Taurus
Annular Solar Eclipse
April 29, 2014
2:14 am EDT / 7:14 am BST

In the midst of our cosmic transformational program, we're about to experience a New Moon in Taurus with a solar eclipse––which means this is an especially strong New Moon, really powerful in the energy it carries, and with longer echoes forward than usual.

This is a good thing, because we've all been in this process long enough to have some clue (an inkling, at least) of what's emerging for us and what we may want to do about it. At this Taurus New Moon, we'll plant seeds for those new directions, and they'll have extra-potent eclipse fertilizer.

Now, it's true, Taurus can be a bit stodgy, loving the familiar and the comfortable, and letting anything upsetting just go right on by. But THIS Taurus New Moon won't be doing that. No, THIS Taurus New Moon breaks through to everything that is deep in us, what is truly fundamental, where our roots truly are.

This Taurus New Moon includes the utterly alchemical Cardinal Grand Cross of Pluto in Capricorn, Uranus in Aries, Jupiter in Cancer and Mars in Libra AND Pluto is sending energy via a trine to the New Moon itself with an especially strong link to Mercury. This is not couch-potato Taurus, this is get-out-there-and-till-that-ground-deep Taurus.

It's the Taurus that underlies Reject and Protect (are those Taurus words, or what?), an alliance of (yes!) cowboys and Indians to stop the Keystone Pipeline. This grassroots group of ranchers and native communities has been in Washington, D.C. this week, and they chose a Taurean style of action: riding in on horseback and setting up camp. This is stewardship of the land, of culture, and of the future.

This is a powerful time we're in, between the Full Moon and New Moon eclipses. Even if you don't usually check your birth chart, this time you really want to. Where does this New Moon eclipse fall for you? Which of your planets are involved?

One of the great posts I found this week is Molly Hall's discussion of how eclipse aspects to our natal planets can affect us. These two eclipses, lunar and solar, Full and New Moons, touch my birth chart in significant ways. My experience of these transformational times has led to a decision I'll share here, and then talk a bit about the astrology of this for me:

This is the last post I'll write for my blog Rising Moon Astrology. This decision became very clear for me yesterday, during the Balsamic Moon. And while I'm feeling sad and nostalgic in a balsmic-y way about it, I know it's the next step for me.

First, a look at how these eclipses have touched my birth chart. The Full Moon eclipse happened right on top of my Mercury–Neptune conjunction, trined my Pluto–Ascendant conjunction, and squared my Uranus–Neptune conjunction as well as my Chiron (who opposes Uranus–Jupiter while all square Mercury–Neptune).

Yes, it's true, that Full Moon eclipse was on one of the key aspect patterns in my chart that has to do with things like my creative work, my writing, how I think and communicate generally, what my core wound looks like (ouch), what my mission is in the world.

The New Moon eclipse is in my Ninth House of journeys (all kinds) and trines my Moon, is inconjunct my Sun, and trines my North Node–Mars conjunction. That same North Node–Mars conjunction is right under Pluto at the moment, and therefore part of the Grand Cardinal Cross.

Have things been shifting for me? You bet! Does that mean I know exactly what I'm doing now? Heck no! But I do have a wee bit of clarity on what needs to happen next, and that includes not writing the blog for now.

What do I know? ... For those of you interested in working with me, I will still offer readings. I am aware that stopping the blog will probably limit my ability to reach new clients and yet, this is the right thing for me now. I think I will be doing more writing, traveling, and shamanic exploration. I'll be interested to see what emerges ...

I began my journey with astrology back in 2004 when I was invited (told) in a shamanic journey to get to know Mercurius better. Turns out Mercury is absolutely central to my chart, and (as I said) strongly affected by these eclipses. Now it seems I'll be invited into new ways of learning about Mercurius.

A Fond Farewell

This is the 636rd post in this blog, the first of which was a Capricorn Moon on May 4, 2010. I began sharing New Moon updates earlier, in a virtual world, sometime in 2008––the oldest note I have there is for October, 2008. I have learned a tremendous amount from the writing, and even more from every chart I've explored.

There's one more echo here I want to mention. Eclipses come in loooong cycles, nineteen year cycles. I hadn't looked at the eclipse linked to this New Moon eclipse until this morning, and it turns out to be very significant for me.

The last eclipse that occurred close to the Taurus degree of this one happened on April 29, 1995, nineteen years ago.

Which for me is the time when I suddenly developed symptoms that completely changed my life. In a few weeks, that Spring, I went from completely healthy (if overly stressed) to flat on my back in bed, where I stayed for several months.

If you've met me, you know I am much healthier now, yet rheumatoid arthritis continues to be a struggle and a limiter. So now I'm wondering what this new horizon holds for me, and planting seeds for good stewardship of my own self, the life I have yet to live, and the planet I live it on.

So, more personal info than I usually share but then, these aren't usual times we live in, and this isn't my usual post. Thank you to all my readers, to everyone who's sent messages of support and hugs and thanks. I hope what I've shared has been interesting, and maybe helpful, as we all try to be the best caretakers of this one precious life.
    

New Moon in Aries: Singularity

New Moon, New Fire

New Moon in Aries
March 30, 2014
2:45 pm EST / 6:45 pm BST

One look at the chart for Sunday's New Moon in Aries tells the story: A strong point of focus on this New Moon of new beginnings, pioneering, stepping out and up into whatever is heading toward us.

This New Moon aligns with Uranus, the revolutionary trickster who shakes us and wakes us up. Squared by Jupiter and Pluto, there is no way we can miss the alchemical fire.

The Spring Equinox highlighted where we needed to clear out and clean up. Now, with the New Moon asks us to set our personal trajectory. Where are we heading? What's the direction? What's the goal? What do we WANT?

Detachment is a lovely value, and it is NOT Aries. With this energy of initiating Fire, we move directly into the heart of our own desires. This is the moment to connect with our true longings. Forget playing it cool, and turn up the heat.

Aries is passionate. Did you know we can't remember things we have no feelings about? Emotion is what moves us, what gets us going, what drives us.

So, at this New Moon, touch the core of what you feel most strongly about. How can you honor that in your life, infusing all you do with light, passion and fire?

As always, check you birth chart. The House in which the New Moon falls, and planets and points aspected by this Moon (anything in and around 0 to 19 degrees, especially if close to 9 degrees and in the cardinal signs of Aries, Cancer Libra, and Capricorn and the other two Fire signs, Leo and Sagittarius). Molly Hall offers a good overview of the impact of this New Moon through the Houses.

Our passions can definitely bring problems, so check in with those too. Here are some questions that might highlight Aries issues:

• Where am I letting my emotions rule my behavior, acting out, displaying anger inappropriately, or dominating others?

• Where am I letting my desires run the show? Where do I find myself unable to make good choices because I want something too much?

• Where am I taking unwise risks or acting impulsively in ways I later regret?

At this New Moon, we can set intentions and make wishes to channel our passions clearly and strongly toward heartfelt goals, while releasing tendencies to let anger or desire run amok and ruin our lives.

This New Moon wants its own banner saying THIS IS IMPORTANT. An Aries New Moon arrives every year around this time, so, what's the big deal?

The big deal is right there in the chart: All those triangles pointing at the New Moon, with all those transformational energies doing the pointing.

We live in unusual times, surrounded by heightened energies. The next Full Moon brings an eclipse, followed not long after by the Cardinal Grand Cross of Pluto, Uranus, Jupiter and Mars. These converging patterns bring us a singular energy, one we won't see again in our lifetimes (or for lifetimes after).

Singularities are crazy events. In mathematics, in the sciences, in technology, a singularity happens when limits are reached and we can no longer predict what might occur. This is interesting to study, but possibly unnerving to live through.

Aries, though, LOVES singularity. Aries represents the point focus of something new made manifest. At this New Moon, we align our personal energies with our own goals so we're ready to engage with whatever happens in the weeks to come.

This waning Moon time is the "READY." The New Moon will be the "AIM." The coming weeks will bring the "FIRE!". Let's make sure we've got the first two steps down, at this, the opportune moment.
    

New Moon in Pisces: Shiver Me Timbers

Dreaming of Pomegranates, Felice Casorati

New Moon in Pisces
March 1, 2014
3:00 am EST / 8:00 am GMT

We're in a time of dreams and while some may not be "good" ones, they all offer hope and healing. That's what needs to be said about the soon-to-arrive New Moon in Pisces, and if I were really cool like that I'd stop now and sail away ...

... but Mercury is implicated. As I write, the Moon and Mercury are conjunct in Aquarius, as Mercury slows, to stop, to turn back forward. (Back forward? Do I mean that? Well, I do, actually. A good subtitle for this New Moon is: The Myth of Straight Forward.)

Mercury does direct tomorrow. (Brief pause for cheers from everyone experiencing communications and technology issues.) You know, there's so much hoopla about what Mercury does, we forget all the planets are dancing in loopy circles. So as an aide-mémoire, allow me to mention that both Mars and Saturn are turning retrograde right after the New Moon.

Yes, we're trading one direct Mercury for two retrogrades, in Mars and Saturn. Well, a few days later, Jupiter turns direct, so maybe it's more like two-for-two, but you see me point, right? It's not about getting everyone lined up and heading in the same direction. That's not even on the menu. It's about learning to dance in the rain, wind, sunshine, and whatever ever else shows up.

At this New Moon, the paired luminaries are nestled between Neptune and Chiron. If you want to press reset buttons in areas of dreams, visions, lyricism, contemplation, spirituality, poetry, imagery, deep healing, empathy, and swimming, this would be the opportune moment.

If you need to ask for healing in areas of distraction, addiction, magical thinking (the not-so-good kind), sensitivity (as in, too much), and believing you need to sacrifice everything you are to help others, this New Moon is also really good for that.

The thing is, though, parts of this New Moon will be happening offstage and outside our conscious awareness. The New Moon is dark for a reason: We cannot see what's happening inside the chrysalis, inside the seed, inside the egg, without destroying the outcome.

This New Moon features a transformation T-square in which Jupiter retrograde in Cancer opposes Pluto in Capricorn while Uranus squares them both. The forces of tradition, the way things have been, the way we assume they would always be, are undergoing radically profound and surprising changes. 

Likewise, Venus in Capricorn is squaring the Nodes of the Moon in Taurus and Scorpio. She's pushing us to find a balance––a pragmatic, workable balance––between inner and outer, body and soul, the apparent and the hidden.

We're wrapped up in a package of who we think we are, who everyone else thinks we are, who we could be maybe someday, and lots of other selves. The question now, leading into this New Moon, is, how much can we let go of agendas and plans and lists and ... and ... and watch what wants to be born. 

I know, it's all very metaphysical. This New Moon is like that, though. Even the most hard-headed among us may be drawn to the beauty of a sunset, or caught in a memory. It's OK. Just go with it.
    

New Moon in Aquarius: Real Vision

fractal geometry

New Moon in Aquarius
Thursday, January 30, 2014
4:39 pm EST / 9:39 pm GMT

Today's the New Moon in Aquarius, sign of vision, community, our common being-ness with all that is. Aquarius is a formal sign, fixed Air, sometimes building castles in the air, always searching for the "Why not?"

That quote itself, dreaming things that never were and asking, why not? has a history: Often attributed to Robert Kennedy, it was first quoted by John F. Kennedy, from a play by George Bernard Shaw, where it was spoken by the Serpent. Interesting, no?

Here we are on a New Moon day about vision, and the real is so present, so unavoidably here, visions seem (perhaps) laughable if not irrelevant. This winter of biting cold and storms to shake foundations, of changes in air pressure and temperature so extreme we wonder which season it is at all, has triggered more discussions about vision and planning and projection and foresight than any airy debates could.

The charts for this New Moon show that pattern. Yes, the Sun and Moon sit in the 10th degree of Aquarius––check where this falls in your birth chart to see where clarity and new perspectives can enter your life––and yet another powerful pattern is here:

Venus and Pluto sit together in Capricorn, offering all the "real" we can handle. Opposite is Jupiter in Cancer, making it all bigger. These two, Capricorn and Cancer, are the tradition-holders of the zodiac, the places where we value what has been, how things are, and what needs to continue.

And yet ... and yet ... this opposition is squared by Uranus the revolutionary. The hard question posed by this T-Square is, our realities are changing. What are we going to do about it?

Change is happening all around us, on every level. Personal, professional, environmental, political––name a realm, an area of life, where huge changes are not the norm. What do we do?

There's the vision thing. Derided by some, this New Moon brings us back to that point. Life is uncertain. Our control over events is limited. Without a dream, a vision, a plan in some form of where we're headed and what we hope for––without something like that, how do we get anywhere at all?

That opposition of traditions, Pluto, Venus and Jupiter, is also linked in positive flows of energy to energies of dreaming and planning: There's a lovely rectangle of trines and sextiles connecting those three to Pallas Athena in Virgo (always clear-headed) and Chiron and Juno in Pisces, with Neptune nearby (open to the needs and wounding of others, looking for healing).

NB: For those of you looking at your birth charts, notice how much is happening in and around 10 degrees, especially in Capricorn, Cancer, Pisces and Aries. Anything in our charts in these degrees is being touched by these larger patterns.

There are also yods (fingers of fate), two of them, at this New Moon. The key yod points at the New Moon itself, with Jupiter and Pallas Athena at its base: In the contest between emotional connection to the past, and clear-eyed dedication to the best possible future, moving into a new vision is desperately needed.

We cannot, and should not, let go of what is best in the past. (This includes, by the way, our biosphere, which is our Cancerian home place at its most fundemental.) But the old ways alone will not bring us into the world we hope for.

This is not a comfortable time. This New Moon feels to me like that moment when an important deadline looms, the make-or-break presentation, and I suddenly realize my whole concept for the project is flawed. At the 11th hour, do I have the guts to tear up what I have and start over?

Over the last weeks, we've been brought face to face in some way with things that are and are not working in the realities of our lives. We've been asked to let go of something––beliefs, assumptions, convictions, relationships, tangible stuff, whatever. It hasn't been easy, although there has been some relief.

Now we're at the point of looking at what's in front of us and asking, what next? This is the "What next?" New Moon.

Keep in mind that Aquarius is also quirky, innovative, and iconoclastic. This is an outside-the-box New Moon. Also remember the New Moon is a dark time. We are looking for a vision, asking for one, hoping for one, but it won't be clear just yet.

This is the time to set intentions for where we want clarity, hope and commitment. Where we pledge to boldly go, and hold onto the dream. The choices we make and the directions we set are important.

Think about it.
     

There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?
Robert Kennedy
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/r/robert_kennedy.html#v4AWfKpfCwfzW8xL.99

New Moon in Capricorn: Stone and Bones

Ancient stones © MP Lynch 2013

New Moon in Capricorn
January 1, 2014
6:14 am EST / 11:14 am GMT

At New Year's, we confront the tradition of resolutions. We'll be asked what ours are, and how we did last year. Maybe we did alright, often not all that well. Oh, well ... time to try again.

Enter the Capricorn New Moon, aligned with transformative Pluto and sharp-eyed Mercury, squared by incendiary Uranus and hard-nosed Mars, widely opposite Jupiter and Lilith, both retrograde in Cancer. Chiron the wounded healer is also involved, exchanging energy with the new Moon. Oi vey!

This Moon looks like it's all about getting down to work, stop messing about, nose to the grindstone, should to the wheel. But when I think of it that way, I already feel tired. Let's look for other perspectives.

The presence of all these other planets, which include a mix of the outer message-bringers as well as the close-to-home personal planets, invites us to look more deeply into the meaning and message of Capricorn.

This is not only the sign of hard work and consequences, pragmatism and transactions. Capricorn is an initiator, a manifestor. Capricorn is connected deeply with the Earth. In Capricorn, we have the chance to know what we know because we feel it in our bones.

There are some excellent blogs out there diving deep into the meanings of this New Moon. Check out Molly Hall's post at About Astrology and Julie Dembowski's ASTROLOGY. Here, I want to focus on the idea of intentions and resolutions.

For some years now, my New Moon practice has focused on setting intentions at this time. As I've explored this, it's become clear to me there's a much deeper process going on than will-based affirmations, or the idea that I, solely, create my reality. New Moon intentions are about aligning with the universe, sensing into something deeper than what I want now.

The New Moon is a time of making wishes when we don't know it all, when we can't see the way clearly, when we realize we're not totally in charge. In no way am I suggesting we are weak, or unimportant. We are strong, and we are essential. At the same time, we're part of larger stories, including the lives of the people around us.

No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
~ John Donne

No being is an island, which makes it tricky to figure out what to do in complex, chaotic situations. Which we are living in today, and will be, for the foreseeable future. What do we do? Throw up our hands and throw in the towel?

This New Moon offers, I believe, an alternative. Capricorn is never one for giving up, and yet facile resolutions are not the answer either. Instead, we're invited to go deeper.

What do we know in our bones? When we reach our roots right down into the depths of the Earth, what do the stones tell us? 

This deep knowing is the source, not of individual resolutions, but of resolution itself. At this New Moon, we move past the idea of intentions to look at the process of intending.

As always, look to see where this New Moon falls in your birth chart. See what you have going on in Capricorn, and what else is happening in your chart in and around 10 degrees in any sign. 

These planets, points and houses will be the focus––areas where we may feel confronted with what isn't working in our lives and offered a chance to find a new way.

In general, though, we're all being invited to work together to find a new way for our world. The ways we are together, the ways we treat each other, how we get things done––is it what we really want? Is it what we know is right and just?

Capricorn is all about making. At this New Moon New Year, we have the opportunity to choose new ways of making the world better. Our personal worlds, definitely, and the wider world too.

The words "Be it resolved .." begin many official statements, or at least, official-sounding ones. At this New Moon, what will we resolve? What can we re-solve, solve again, in a new, more effective way? What solution can we apply to dissolve problems and distill a new elixir?

We're stepping into a new year, a new time, a new age perhaps ... with the pace of change surrounding us, it certainly feels like it. What do we know in our bones that offers the strength to face our challenges, succeed, and enjoy together the good things of this world?

Let those kinds of things be the bedrock of our resolutions.
    
 

New Moon in Sagittarius: On the Road Again

light in winter

New Moon in Sagittarius
December 2, 2013 7:22 pm EST
December 3, 2013 12:22 am GMT

A New Moon  day––this afternoon on the West Coast, this evening on the East, overnight in Europe. So much has been happening in this Balsamic time of release, I can't quite believe it's upon us, but so it it!

The Moon in Sagittarius is optimistic, generous, and open-hearted. As we enter the winter holidays (in the Northern hemisphere), hearts lift even as the longest night approaches. We light candles, hang tinsel, find the brightest berries, light the warmest fires. Songs are sung and tales told.

Yet this is not a happy-go-lucky time, no lighthearted romp. Sagittarius arrives with his Fire at the turning toward winter, when hard times are arriving. Food might be scare, and the cold bites deep. No, this is a time when we see what lies ahead, while celebrating all we have.

This New Moon at 10 Sagittarius invites us into celebration of abundance, both the abundance we have before us and the abundant potential of life itself. And yet, this optimism is fearless rather than naive, tempered by all that has happened and a knowledge of what may come.

This New Moon squares Chiron in Pisces, acknowledging that healing is needed and knowing it comes in song and dance and good fellowship.

The New Moon squares Pallas Athena in Virgo; all the details of what must be done are here before us, and yet we are strengthened by joy.

Of vital importance, the New Moon trines Uranus, the revolutionary, and is in a tight 30 degrees away from Pluto the alchemist. Yes, change is in the air, bright all around us. That, too, this New Moon celebrates.

Look to your chart. Which house does this New Moon fall in? Find what you have in and around 10 degrees, especially in the mutable signs of Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces. These points are ready for renewal.

As the turning happens and the New Moon arrives, make wishes and set intentions for where you wish to bring joy in your life, for where you are ready to journey farther and dive deeper. Wish for optimism. Set the intention to be of good heart.

In these last hours of the Balsamic Moon, let go of whatever holds you back. Let go of fear, resentment, and old pain.

We are all travelers on the road. We are heading into more adventures, no doubt about that. With this New Moon, we can know ourselves as troubadours, warriors of heart and spirit, intrepid explorers in distant lands. We look around us at the Inn, see who else might be going our way. Good company is always welcome.
    

New Moon in Scorpio: The Dark Forest

into the woods ...

Uranus–Pluto Square
November 1, 2013
6:30 am EDT / 11:30 am GMT

New Moon in Scorpio
November 3, 2013
7:50 am EST / 12:50 pm GMT

What to say about tomorrow's exact square between Uranus and Pluto, followed by Sunday's New Moon and solar eclipse? I think everything has pretty much been said.

On October 23, I wrote about the Mercury Retrograde. On October 23, I previewed the waning cycle leading up to the New Moon. And on October 27, I introduced the Last Quarter Moon and what was to come.

We know this is a deep time, a shadowed time––the ancient Celts saw this as a hallowed time, for honoring and communing with the ancestors, telling stories of times past, remembering old teachings, and using divination to look toward the future.

This year, the skies point to a time that will be far-reaching, having more than usual impact: Both the eclipse and the Uranus–Pluto square say this, and in addition, Venus in late Sagittarius will be conjunct the Galactic Center.

Despite these signs that this New Moon will be felt on the world stage, I'm struggling with what to say about this New Moon because this is an especially and deeply personal time.

In other words, I can't tell you what this New Moon will mean for you because I don't know you well enough.

Scorpio is the sign of the deep psyche, the sign that shows us where our greatest strengths and mightiest demons lie. Scorpio is about everything we keep secret, even from ourselves.

So how could I know what doors are opening for you? Where things are shifting, patterns are changing?

With this mysterious and powerful New Moon, I can't even fall back on advising you to check which house in your natal chart the Moon will appear––of course, the house placement will be important, and yes, please do check, but ...

This New Moon is conjunct the North Node, Mercury and Saturn; opposite the South Node; trined by Chiron, sextiled by Pluto on one side and Mars on the other (and Mars and Pluto are trining each other); squared by Juno; and inconjunt Uranus (who squares Pluto), so that Mars and the New Moon make a yod pointing at Uranus.

This means over half of any chart will automatically be touched in some way by this New Moon, so, a lot going on there.

By this time, so close to the square, the eclipse and the New Moon, you probably already know where big changes are stirring in your life. You won't know exactly what the results will be––the timetable unclear, the players not all chosen, the direction uncharted. Still, you're most likely at the starting place.

Wherever that place of change is, that's where our most powerful wishes and intentions will be.

It would be nice to have better maps, wouldn't it?

And yet, the not-knowing can be a source of great magic. Joseph Campbell saw individuality, following our own star, the promptings of our own hearts, as the signature strength of Western spirituality. He quoted from La Quete du San Graal:

They thought it would be a disgrace to go forth in a group. Each entered the forest that he had chosen where there was no path and where it was darkest.

And then added: Now, if there’s a way or path, it’s someone else’s way.

So we're each of us headed into the dark forest, from the place we have ourselves chosen. This doesn't mean we're always alone, not at all, but it does mean we're on our own paths.

Right now, for this New Moon, that's exactly as it should be. Bon voyage.
    

New Moon in Libra: Delicate Balance

New Moon in Libra
October 4, 8:35 pm EDT
October 5, 1:30 am GMD

Libra, ruled by Venus, bringer of balance, of harmony, of cooperation and diplomacy, oh, we need you now!

We find ourselves in the midst of transformational energy so intense the word "crisis" does not seem too strong:

This New Moon opposes revolutionary Uranus in impetuous Aries, and squares Pluto the alchemist in intransigent Capricorn.

Also squared by edgy Lililth, and widely squared by Jupiter, both in inflexible, needy Cancer.

Meanwhile, Venus in dark Scorpio and Mars in passionate Leo continue their square-off.

Which means there is a lot of take-no-prisoners energy around, insisting we change everything, completely, yesterday, and then change again. Relationships, especially, can feel hard-edge and downright unworkable at the moment.

So what do we reset at this New Moon? What new beginning do we hope for, what wishes do we make?

Libra, we're sometimes told, is wishy-washy, a people-pleaser, codependent. Surely we're not being asked to simply give in, give up, and follow along, are we?

No, we're not.

This Libra New Moon brings a very different energy––a path of brinksmanship, the ability (f needed) to tell someone to go to hell so he looks forward to the trip. Right now, that's the level of diplomacy we need, and Libra has it.

Sometimes, of course, we're mired in difficult inner dialogues. It's within ourselves where negotiation is needed, and a new balance needs to be found.

That's OK. Setting the intention to find a place of harmony and beauty within is perfect for this New Moon.

For those challenging outer world conversations... this is the New Moon to wish for understanding, new perspectives, creative problem solving, diplomatic skill, and balanced outcomes. If we don't need it in our own lives, we can send the energy toward our governments, whose skills in empathy, as well as cooperation, seem sadly lacking these days.

We're poised at a difficult time. Mercury has entered Scorpio, heading into his last and most shadowy retrograde. Another exact Uranus–Pluto square arrives in early November (previewed at this New Moon). Change is inevitable, not optional.

    Turning and turning in the widening gyre
    The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
    Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
    –– Yeats, The Second Coming

This Libra New Moon offers hope, which is more than Yeats does in his evocative poem. At this New Moon, we set our sights on a new center, a place where all voices are heard and, more, listened to. We make wishes for insight, for creativity on a grand scale, and for heart.
    

New Moon in Virgo: Grind, Grist, and Grit

harvest of grain ... grist for the mill

New Moon in Virgo
Thursday, September 5, 2013
7:36 am EDT / 12:36 pm GMD

Let's open with a few words about Virgo, sign of the New Moon. Often thought of as the clerk of the zodiac, the bookkeeper who never lifts his eyes from the page, the copyeditor who gleefully circles every error in bright red ink ... well, what do we wish for? A better eye for detail?

It's time to deepen our understanding of Virgo, look beyond the trees this sign loves so well and catch a glimpse of the forest.

It turns out this particular New Moon is a great time to do exactly that. Maybe the most important intention we can set for this New Moon is to develop a better, broader, more nuanced understanding of what Virgo brings to the table and how this energy influences our charts and our lives.

Check out the chart. There are so many planets located in same degree range as the New Moon, it's easier to list the ones who are not at the party. The Sun and Moon are together at 13 Virgo and

• opposite Chiron, the wounded healer, who astrologer Joyce Mason feels has a special and strong relationship with Virgo energy,

• trine Pluto in Capricorn and the South Node in Taurus,

• sextile the North Node and Saturn in Scorpio, and Jupiter in Cancer

• inconjunct Uranus in Aries––see what I mean?

This New Moon flows energy with Earth and Water in big ways. There is transformational energy here (nothing new these days) and also great strength and stamina. Astrologer Simone Butler has already linked Diana Nyad's epic swim from Cuba to Florida to Virgo's influence.

Virgo likes details. It's easy to make jokes about it, but nothing great is accomplished without that kind of attention. Virgo has commitment, as well as a good eye. Virgo can stay the course, not giving up in the face of opposition.

This is exactly the kind of grit Diana Nyad showed: The ability to keep going, one stroke at a time, until she reached her goal. We see headlines trumpeting her success, not reports of incremental failures––all the times a piece of equipment didn't work out, or somethings went amiss in training.

"The devil is in the details" we say, as well as "it's all grist for the mill." Grit and grist are tiny and powerful. A bit of grit in the wrong place can grind a huge machine to a halt. Grist is the basis of our daily bread, what remains after harvest, after separately out the chaff, after the hard work of grinding.

I visited the Herschel Museum in Bath England the other day and was fascinated with the reconstructed workshop. Herschel, who discovered the planet Uranus and thereby doubled the size of the solar system of his time, succeeded because of his meticulous attention to detail. Not satisfied with the telescope mirrors available, he learned to craft his own, a process tof casting special metal alloys and then carefully grinding the surface, polishing it with just the right kinds of grit, to make it highly reflective.

He never gave up in his quest for knowledge; nor did his sister Caroline, who began as her brother's assistant and became a noted astronomer in her own right, the discovered of right comets.

At this New Moon, we may want to pay some detailed attention to our own relationship to detail, to commitment, to grit. That Chiron opposition will focus us on where things haven't worked out in the past, and offer possibilities for healing.

Are we not reaching goals because we give up too easily? Are we missing important details because we're too busy, too distracted, or simply too cool to stay focused? Are we finding the right balance between acceptance and discernment?

There are tricky issues here. Virgo wants us to makes judgements, not to attach labels like good or evil, but to make good choices––is this the right situation for me? the right relationship? am I heading in a good direction? Answering these kinds of questions calls for attention to detail.

Virgo wants us to get it right. Sometimes in the quest for personal best, we beat ourselves up, falling into negative self talk, even self hatred, and then think the remedy is not making judgements at all. Virgo values discernment, yes, and success––and understands (or at least, can learn) that effectiveness often calls for compassion, not criticism.

The thing is, not choosing is also a choice. Sometimes standing on the sidelines is the worst thing we can do.

To echo the words of another expert in attending to detail: Watson, you know my methods: See where this New Moon will fall in your birth chart, where the middle of Virgo lives for you. Check to see which planets and points are involved.

These are the places we may have a history of avoiding detail (not reading the fine print) or focusing too much on it (missing the forest for the trees). At this New Moon, we can ask to understand our own patterns more clearly. We can wish for healing of any patterns getting in the way. We can set the intention to develop a healthier (and more discerning) relationship with Virgo.

The presence of Chiron suggests wounding, and the healing of wounds, related to Virgo issues. Facing our wounds is painful, as is beginning to shift away from self criticism. So I'd like to close with the words of the great poet Seamus Heaney, who we lost tragically this week.

Attention to detail is, after all, the poet's life blood. Capturing essence in a word or a phrase––this is Virgo at her most wonderful. In his work, Heaney gave us much beautiful detail, and offered acknowledgement and recognition as the beginning of healing of deep wounds.

His last words came in the form of a text message to his wife, simple and powerful, that we can carry into the dark of the New Moon, knowing we will come out into the light on the other side, illuminated.

Nolo timere, he typed. Do not be afraid.
    

In the Cradle of the New Moon

Infinite Dreams Tarot © Mary Pat Lynch 2013

New Moon in Leo
August 6, 2013 5:51 pm EDT

Lughnasadh (Sun at 15 Leo)
August 7, 2013 4:20 am EDT

It's time to prepare for the coming New Moon in Leo, and a passionate Moon this will be!

New Moons are always times of beginning, of planting seeds in the dark earth, of turning a corner away from the old and into the new.  

At this New Moon, we'll be in a special kind of cradle, a fiery crucible offering unique opportunities to get in touch with our creative depths.

Because the last Full Moon happened at 0 degrees of Aquarius (Sun at 0 Leo), the August Full Moon will also illuminate the Aquarius–Leo polarity, this time from the final degrees.

We were initiated into something at July's Full Moon. In August, what we've done with that initiation will be highlighted.

This New Moon, arriving on August 6, falls in the middle of Leo, the sign of the heart, passions, playfulness, creative expression, leadership, and shining our heart light into the world.

We have a chance to connect with our deepest longings and rededicate ourselves to our dearest goals––or joyfully commit to new goals.

This middle of Leo is also the time of Lughnasadh, one of the four ancient Celtic fire festivals celebrated in England as Lammas. This is a festival of first fruits, when the early results of the harvest could be gathered. Early grains were harvested, ground, and made into bread. Berries ripened. The hungry time of late summer ended.

In Ireland, Lugh held a great feast to honor his foster mother, Tailtiu, who sacrificed herself to create fertile fields. People gathered to celebrate, trade goods, race horses, and contract marriages. Although late storms were a risk, a good part of the growing season was now over, and people knew whether the harvest was liking to be good or bad. Plans were made accordingly.

By the calendar, Lughnasadh is celebrated on August 1 or 2. Astrologically, Lughnasad falls when the Sun reaches 15 Leo, which this year, is the day after the New Moon.

So this is a New Moon of our own "first fruits." Looking back through all that has happened in recent months, taking note of what was illuminated for us at the last Full Moon, where are we now?

To answer this question, we ask first:

How are we feeling? (We've still got two Grand Water Trines in the sky through today's Balsamic Moon. One will remain through the New Moon.)

What are we passionate about? What are we prepared to stand up for? (These Full and New Moons in Aquarius and Leo bring us to those issues. Aquarius is the larger vision, what will benefit the community. Leo is our heart's passion, what we bring to the table.)

Are we in the flow? Are we receiving and following our intuitive guidance? (Grand Water Trines carry intuitive insight as well as emotional energy. The New Moon is also trained by Uranus the revolutionary trickster.)

Where are we on our life path? Are we moving steadily toward goals we value and believe in? (The New Moon will square the Nodes of the Moon, all in the stubborn fixed signs. With focused insight, we could realize we are holding on to something that is blocking us; we could find we're standing in our own way. Conversely, we could work with the New Moon to create passionate commitments that can carry us over any obstacles, opening the way to joy.)

Are we willing to embrace transformation as needed? (Pluto and Jupiter are opposing each other, and will continue through the New Moon. Jupiter can take the stance "Everything's just perfect, thank you very much." Pluto will insist we acknowledge where change is needed. If Jupiter can get with the program, his expansive optimism can create an easier surrender.)

New Moon seeds are planted after the New Moon, 5:51 pm EDT, and in the days thereafter. This Balsamic time we're in right now is the preparation. What can we become aware of? What can we let go of? Where does the ground need to be made ready?

When the New Moon arrives––and Lughnasadh the next day––we make wishes and set intentions with creativity, passion and joy. In a few weeks, we'll leave the crucible and look around us to see where we've got to. It's bound to be someplace amazing,
    

New Moon in Gemini: The Council of Me

New Moon in Gemini
Today (June 8) 11:56 am EDT

When the noon siren goes off today in my town (yes, we still have one), it will welcome the New Gemini Moon.

Already, the tribe is gathering––the Moon's emerged from her long void-of-course time in Taurus, waking from her rest deep in the quiet Earth. She's connected with Pallas Athena and Mars, and draws near to the Sun.

With both luminaries, the Sun and the Moon, in Gemini, along with Mars and Jupiter, Pallas and Eris, attention focuses in on me. What am I connected to? Who and what are in my networks? What information is at my fingertips? Where can I find more?

On a national level, everyone in the US who uses a cell phone is wondering how they're connected to the NSA via their metadata.

On a global level, we're chapulling, connecting to the people of Turkey as they connect with each other to stand up against violence and tyranny, and fight for their rights.

This is also a very personal New Moon. We look to see where we're connected outward, even as we're drawn inward.

Mercury, ruler of the New Moon has moved into home-based Cancer, trining Chiron the wounded healer.

How do connections and networks become tribe and family? Does my time looking outward (cruising the internet, say) bring me more security, more nurturing? Or am I dissipating my energy in a search for novelty?

Venus, also in Cancer, activates a Grand Water Trine with Neptune and Saturn. Sometimes trines are so easy, we don't notice them.

But this one includes Saturn in Scorpio connecting to Neptune––together, these two carry strong manifestation mojo––connecting to Venus, goddess of relationships and creativity. I don't think we'll be able to ignore this amount of energy pouring in.

How do my networks support and nurture my creative passions? (Or maybe the first question is, do they ... ?) How does my style of relating and connecting foster deeper, more personal relationships? (Or maybe, does it ... ?)

Sitting with one foot in Gemini's world of bright and shiny, and Cancer's world of soft, safe, and secure, we look through both sets of eyes to see how each supports the other.

And (this is a BIG 'and'), our most vital connections and relationships are within.

The smallest amount of reflection quickly reveals the many voices within our psyches. Whether we think in terms of inner critic, inner child, inner parent; or balancing seven chakras and their various needs; or dialoging with archetypes; or using an astrological lens to connect to our Sun, Moon, Mercury, everyone, we experience ourselves as many.

At this New Moon, I will be setting an intention for a stronger, clearer, more balanced relationship with my own inner council. These last lunar cycles have showed me how impossible it is to ignore the reality of my own inner experience, the memories and patterns stored in my body, the stories (good and bad, true and not so true) that help define my experience of life.

Stepping into the life I want for myself, the one I hope for, calls me into connection with all that I am.

Ancestry, personal history, and life in all its dimensions and realities are within and around me. The strong Gemini energy helps me see my personal web of life, and how it connects to the whole.

Overwhelming? Kind of. And yet, there's power here. Opportunities. Movement. The resources to strength the present connections I wish to keep, and forge new ones as well.

As we move toward the New Moon, where are you feeling connected? Where are things lighting up for you? Look there for the new ideas that can carry you into the next bright shiny time of your life.
    

New Moon in Gemini: Seeing Through New Eyes

a scene from the film Small Change

New Moon in Gemini
June 8, 2013 11:56 am EDT

We've turned the corner, sliding home toward Saturday's New Moon in Gemini.

Tomorrow's Balsamic Moon (4:25 am EDT) in fiery Aries gives us the energy boost we need to keep going, letting go of whatever's in the way.

What will this New Moon be like? New ideas, new connections, new perspectives, lots of energy. Coming in at 18 Gemini, tightly conjunct Mars and widely conjunct Jupiter, the New Moon is also flanked by Pallas Athena and Eris at the beginning and end of Gemini.

Over these last weeks, our world's been turned upside down, more than once. If we're paying attention (as opposed to, say, keeping our heads in the sand), we can't possibly be seeing life exactly as we were before. This is a good thing!

You can never solve a problem at the level at which it was created. ––Albert Einstein

So, at this New Moon, wishes and intentions focused on seeing the world anew will be strongly supported. I encourage everyone to take a new look at your birth chart. Where is 18 Gemini? That's where you will see new ideas and connections popping up––or where you may be most in need of an update.

This New Moon falls in my Tenth House, which is career and who I am in public, and aspects my Mercury–Neptune conjunct in my Third House of communication.

Time for me to rethink how I present myself to the world (... as an introvert, marketing is not my strong suit).

Also time for new connections between my inner and outer worlds, where ideas and inspiration come from and how I communicate.

Gemini is also craft––our skills, how we work with our hands, sleight of hand magic. Gemini is youth and enthusiasm, puer rather than senex. Gemini is humor of the lightest, punniest kind, the trickster at work. Gemini is transactions, exchanges, and deals.

Any and all of these can become the focus of wishes and intentions. Where do we need a lighter touch? Where have we become stodgy, tired and out of date? Where do we have tricks up our sleeve we've been hiding, even from ourselves?

Gemini New Moon energy can point to anything from realizing it's time to get a new cell phone, to suddenly seeing the world in completely new ways. Either one. Or both.

Planets shifting into emotional territory

And ... there's something else important going on here, something we're already feeling, "feeling" being the key word.

Even as the New Moon energies focus strongly in light-hearted, playful Gemini, planets are shifting focus into the emotional territory of Cancer. Mercury led the way, entering Cancer on May 31. Venus joined him yesterday, June 2.

Already, our thoughts are turning toward home and hearth, tribe and ancestry, relationships. The shift brings our emotional connections into the mix, alone side our thoughts and ideas.

Emotions are heightened by Saturn's ongoing retrograde through Scorpio, and Neptune and Chiron in Pisces. Right now, in fact, Venus and Mercury are triggering a Grand Trine in Water with Saturn and Neptune, a pattern that continues through the New Moon and beyond, as planets continue shifting in the Moon's home sign.

So another aspect of this Gemini New Moon focuses attention on how we think about feelings.  Do we listen to our emotions? Do we heed their messages? Do we repress or deny them?

That Grand Trine, especially the presence of Saturn in Scorpio, will make repression and denial increasingly uncomfortable, if not outright impossible. Best to update our emotional life as needed, embracing any changes that are called for, however painful it might be in the short term. As I've written before, Karla McLaren is my go-to author on emotional stuff, check her out!

Emotional excess?

Although we're urged to 'live from the heart,' our modern culture doesn't tolerate emotions well. Tears are only permitted at certain occasions, and only from a few people, for a brief time. The modern pose tends to be detached, objective, ironic, cool. This New Moon will ask, how's that working for you?

In a letter to a young writer, Anaïs Nin championed emotion as a gateway to creativity (quoted in an essay by Maria Popova):

Permit yourself to flow and overflow, allow for the rise in temperature, all the expansions and intensifications. Something is always born of excess: great art was born of great terrors, great loneliness, great inhibitions, instabilities, and it always balances them. 

Check also where the sign of Cancer falls in your birth chart. This is a place where emotion is strong, and where the New Moon will also be pouring energy. We're not meant to live on the sidelines all the time. Sometimes we're called to wade into the depths and dive deeply.

When we see a confluence of Scorpio, Pisces and Cancer––all three Water signs––we're looking at all levels of emotion. In Cancer, we have personal emotions: Our connections to family, ancestry and tribe; our feelings about home, hearth, and personal security. We want to protect those we care about and feel responsible for. We want to nurture them, and be cared for in return. This is a sign of the personal mother, the one who loves us as individuals.

In Scorpio, we enter emotional depths. Scorpio is the place of the subconscious, the primitive, atavistic underpinnings of feeling. Scorpio is where we are deeply connected in ways we can't articulate, the place where we can be hurt the most. This is the Shadow, what we don't want to see or acknowledge.

In Pisces, we connect with all-that-is. This is unconditional love, the heart center, the teachings of the great spiritual traditions. Of course, Pisces is also a place of confusion and delusion, depending on how discerning we are. Getting to the high side of Pisces calls for discipline and honesty.

As the personal planets move through Cancer (with Mercury and Venus already leading the way), we'll have the chance to explore how we connect to the subconscious and the infinite through the personal. This is not always easy. No one pushes our buttons like family.

If you think you're enlightened go spend a week with your family. ––Ram Dass

The emphasis on Cancer's personal emotional sphere will be just as intense as the other zodiac gatherings we've experienced so far this year. Just before the New Moon, Neptune stations and turns retrograde in Pisces, an especially powerful position.

Later in June, Mercury begins his second retrograde of the year, in Cancer. Jupiter will also enter Cancer in late June, bringing his expansive emphasis into that sign. And Saturn continues his stately progress through Scorpio.

This New Moon initiates a process of emotional updates. We can accept with grace, or we can resist. I'd go with the grace option, myself.

The intersection of Gemini and Cancer

When these two energies interact, we can become childish. The eternal youth, the puer, does not handle feelings well. He wants what he wants when he wants it, dancing away from anything uncomfortable. Peter Pan is allergic to responsibility of all kinds.

Or, we can reawaken our childlike hearts through loving and protecting what is young, tender, and in need of care.

One of my favorite films of all time is Trouffaut's Small Change. It's French title, L'Argent de poche, means "pocket silver," a very Gemini kind of image for things that are small, close to hand, and vulnerable. 

This is a film about children and their lives, a series of short, poignant, sometime hilarious scenes that weave together families in a small French city. I was going to link to the Wikipedia article, but it gives too much of the plot away, and makes it sound like a rather boring documentary. Instead, I suggest you watch it––or watch again, if it's been awhile.

In the film, children live the lives of children, and the adults do the best they can to keep up. Towards the end of the film, a schoolteacher who has just become a father makes an impassioned speech about how the rights of children are vital for all of us. This is where family, personal emotion, and society come together.

Turkish emigres in London

In the news now, ordinary people in Istanbul march together by the tens of thousands against brutal police, an action that began to protect trees and grass––an open park slated to be bulldozed. A small action to protect what is tender, expanding into something the world is watching.

As in other people's actions in recent years, we see the importance of new connections (Gemini) between people fostered by new technologies that are not controlled from above, accompanied by an upwelling of feeling for what is near and dear, and the willingness to take protective action (Cancer).

At each New Moon, we're invitation to step into something new. This very Gemini New Moon, accompanied by emotional depths, offers new connections between thinking and feeling. Solving the immense problems facing our world will certainly require both. Perhaps now we can begin with the personal and expand beyond.
    

New Moon in Taurus and Solar Eclipse: Nourishing Earth

Gaia!

New Moon in Taurus
Solar Eclipse
May 9, 2013

The New Moon is on her way, bringing energy to transform our relationship to this world. Many parts of the northern hemisphere are (finally) experiencing Spring.

We're entranced by warm breezes, the scent of lilacs, the intoxication of forest paths lined with wildflowers, and birdsong. The idea of relating to this world seems wonderful, natural, and easy ... of course we want to!

Do we really? Maybe, maybe not. Let's look:

Taurus is the sign that celebrates Earth, the natural world, and the body. As in, our body, the one we live in. Taurus loves the ordinary things of life––food, drink, good company, and also dishes, laundry, and fixing the sink. The blooms on the lilac, also digging in compost.

This New Moon arrives in the middle of this year's eclipse season, bringing us a solar eclipse––which means the Nodes of the Moon are lined up with the New Moon herself. This is another powerhouse grouping, too, with Mars, Mercury and Pallas Athena also in Taurus.

The alignment of the Nodes means the North Node, the place we're meant to be heading toward, is opposite the New Moon in shadowy Scorpio. Which means this New Moon isn't limited to celebrating the natural world. We're also asked to look at the shadow side of that relationship.

At this New Moon, we're invited to set intentions and make wishes in areas like self-nurturing, abundance, sensuality, and healthy growth. These are lovely wishes to have:

• I wish to bring abundance into my life.
• I intend to find ways to care for myself in healthy ways.
• I wish to appreciate the beauties of the world, and bring colors, textures, sounds and tastes into my life that I love and that nourish me.

Bluebells in Spring

These are all good, wonderful, strong Taurus New Moon wishes.

And ... our journey with this New Moon will tell us something about whether we really mean it, and where we get hung up. Because, you know, that Scorpio North Node is part of the story too.

So, we all know we need to be grounded. What does that mean, though? We need to have our feet on the ground, not spend too much time in our heads, and find our center.

Yet when we're grounded, we can't fly. When we're rooted, we're rooted to the spot, frozen, unable to move. We have a long legacy of not liking earth very much, from the world's major religions through some Enlightenment thinking, and New Age ideas that focus on what is higher, lighter and transcendent. Descartes said, "I think, therefore I am" ... not "I have a body, therefore I am."

Today's media-mediated society delivers constant messages about not liking our bodies. Women get more, but men get it too: The need to look right, smell right, eat right, because if we don't, well, then we won't have love, money or health.

This Taurus New Moon says, let's calm waaaaaay down and just be. That Scorpio North Node eclipse point adds, let's notice what's really going on with all that messaging.

How can we really feel "grounded" if our goal is to transcend? How can we connect in healthy ways with the Earth who is the literal ground of our being, if we're constantly feeling not enough-ness?

That saying "We're not bodies that have a soul, we're souls that have a body" misses, I feel, an important point: We are embodied.

Our souls, our spirits, our minds, our emotions are all expressed in and through and with our bodies. Whatever happens before or after or elsewhere, while we're here in this life, it all happens with this body.

New research on mind-body relations makes it ever harder to tell the difference. Our minds are clearly not limited to our brains. Our minds exist throughout––some would say, in every cell of––our bodies. We are integral and whole. It would be really cool if we could embrace and love all of us.

At this New Moon, I'm proposing a change in language. Let's not get grounded, let's experience the nourishing qualities of Earth. This is a wonderful time to deeply feel the way the Earth feeds us, caresses us, supports us, energizes us. It's a great time to experience how our bodies are part and parcel of that feeding, caressing, supporting and energizing. Just the way we are.

Today is the Balsamic Moon, moving us into the last days of release and preparation. The strong Taurus presence is already in the sky, helping us find our way home. For the next few days, we're invited to let go of whatever gets in the way of our experience of this one precious life, on Earth, in a body.

Then, with the New Moon, we can say "ahhhhhhhhh ... I love this life!"
    

New Moon in Aries: Rebirth

Celebrate the New!

New Moon at 20' 40" Aries
April 10, 2013 5:35 am EDT

At this point, we should all be used to really concentrated energies, right?

Well, maybe it's not really something we can acclimate to, especially when the nature of the energy shifts so dramatically.

Wednesday's New Moon in Aries offers such a strong jolt of fiery libido, passionate life force, joie de vivre, intoxicating invulnerability, and, it must be said, anger, we are none of us likely to miss it. Take a peek at the chart. Notice that Sun, Moon, Eris (the goddess of discord, Ares' sister), Mars and Venus are all together within three degrees of each other.

This New Moon jabs the reset button in ... I was going to list some of the areas of life involved, but honestly, since this is the first sign, the beginning, the place where we race through the door, step off the cliff, and leap without looking for any nets, it's really everything.

If you're in a place where you want another life, this is the New Moon to wish for that. If you're in a place where you love the life you have, this is the New Moon to say Yes! in a big way and realize we're all made new every day anyway. It's a yes/and kind of thing.

Definitely look to see where this New Moon affects your birth chart. I've written two posts recently that can help, so if you haven't done this before, check here and here. Knowing where this New Moon is touching can help fine tune your wishes and intentions, and let you know where fiery energy might show up.

That said, this truly is a New Moon for beginnings of all kinds, in all arenas. Some things I'm thinking about:

The Sabian symbol for this New Moon is the fighter stepping into the ring. I don't work with Sabian symbols regularly, but this one is tough to ignore, especially since I just finished Brené Brown's Daring Greatly.

Brown drew the title of her book, a personal motto, from a speech Teddy Roosevelt gave in Paris in 1910. The key image is that of the man in the ring, bloodied, sometimes falling, who willingly enters again and again. Roosevelt dismisses the critics on the sidelines, who might applaud but often sneer, and gives the credit and glory to the one who steps in to achieve her personal best.

The idea that our lives are most meaningful, most connected, most loving, and most joyful when we are actually in the ring, ready to engage, ready to fail, ready to be the fool, is a perfect reflection of this New Moon.

Another thing: Aries is criticized for being self-seeking, ignoring the needs and wants of others. Is this New Moon going to turn us into a bunch of raging narcissists?

I am also deep into something called the Self Acceptance Project, a free, 12-week series of video (or audio as you prefer) interviews all focused on what it takes to stop beating ourselves up. Participants include counselors, psychologists, physicians, researchers, and spiritual teachers. The perspectives vary, making it interesting to note where agreement emerges.

It turns out it's tough to experience true empathy, accept love, or feel calm and centered if we're routinely talking to ourselves in a vicious undertone. And it turns out we all do it, unless we've already done some deep work around this.

by David Lazar in Eyes of a Child

Aries energy is really great for radical self acceptance. You've probably seen this viral video of Jessica as a kid, which is total Aries energy. It feels great in a child, but cringe-worthy or just impossible as an adult––ok, I'll own that, it feels that way to me, maybe you're farther along toward embracing your inner Aries.

So, this is a fabulous New Moon for self love. Not the entitlement, I'm-better-than-you kind. The healthy kind. The kind that says, I am a child of the universe, I am worthy of love and acceptance, I have much to offer, watch me roll up my sleeves and dig into life.

Now, the presence of anger at this New Moon cannot be ignored. Mars and Eris are conjunct the New Moon, and Mars rules Aries. In this arena, I offer Karla McLaren, who calls anger the Honorable Sentry.

McLaren sees all emotions, especially the difficult ones we often repress, ignore, or beat ourselves up about (see above), as healthy messengers with important jobs to do. Anger is about boundary maintenance, letting us know when something or someone is crossing the line. Working with anger in positive ways brings us to a place where we can calmly and compassionately stand our ground.

Step one is becoming aware of when we're angry and what we're angry about, which can be surprisingly difficult to tease out, especially if it's an emotion we don't allow in. This New Moon offers an excellent opportunity to take a good, clear look at anger in our lives. What's it doing? When's it doing it? Is that working for us? If not, what can we do about it?

Last but not least, this New Moon is about passion. Tremendous generative, creative energy will flow at this New Moon. This fire can enliven anything and everything we do. This is a time to connect with our courageous compassion, our great heart. You'll know best where new energy is needed in your life. Light the torch of this New Moon!