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 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,
    

Our Place: The New Moon in Cancer

group hug!

New Moon in Cancer
July 8, 2013 3:14 am EDT

We're swimming in deep waters these days, wondering whether our water wings will keep us afloat.

As the New Moon draws near, it's time to take a breather, float a moment, and check in.

Mercury retrograde's weird challenges are showing up with a murky, where-did-that-come-from? quality. In the midst of strong emotions and mixed messages, remember that Mercury retro's main message is to sloooooow down.

When odd things come up, asking "Where did that come from?" is actually a good idea, especially when we focus less on the event and more on our reaction. Something unexpected happened ... where did my anger/ fear/ sadness/ irritation come from? (Probably not primarily from the unexpected something.)

As we roll into the Balsamic Moon, the waning Crescent, we have the chance to let go, let go, let go.

The Balsamic Moon sits close to the end of patient, careful, and sometimes stubborn Taurus. We can hold on to the past for dear life, or we can relinquish what's over and done, secure in the bone-deep knowing that change is inevitable and right.

Vesta, goddess of renewal, is poised at the very end of nurturing and tribal Cancer. A fierce protector of home and hearth, she also knows that cycles of time and chance keep spiraling. We can all be made new, again and again.

As we are about to be––made new, that is––with the New Moon in the Moon's home sign of Cancer.

The sign of Cancer is all about family love, in all its forms: the tender love of a mother nursing her baby, overprotective love that keeps the toddler away from mess and dirt, controlling love that wants to create safety where none can be guaranteed, sacrificial love that works two jobs and goes without so others can have, heart-burstingly-proud love that lets someone grow into new roles and ways of being even when it means they also grow farther away.

This is the place of nurturing, where families form and break, where tribes create unbreakable bonds.

We cannot be human and wholly alone. Even hermits in their caves relate to the world left behind. We grow up in tribes, big and small, groups that shape us, protect us, define us, and sometimes send us into exile. Who we perceive ourselves to be is created in the the context of the groups we inhabit.

Am I saying we are nothing more than our group memberships? Not at all. We have our own personalities, predispositions, histories, and experiences. But how we interpret who we are on the inside is shaped by how we are seen by others on the outside.

This is tough for us to see clearly. Like fish, we can't see the water we're swimming in. At this New Moon, we'll have the chance to see the water.

The New Moon in Cancer arrives with not one, but two Grand Trines in Water. The first is the Saturn–Neptune trine that's been around for a few weeks now, activated into "Grand" as different planets moved into early Cancer. At the New Moon, this first trine will be Saturn–Jupiter–Neptune.

finding family

Saturn and Jupiter are the "social planets," bridging from the inner personality to the outer world. Neptune is the dreamer, the mystic, the poet, and (of course) the ocean.

This first Grand Water Trine lets us know we're in waters that connect the social and the cosmic, the ability to dream and to make it real.

The second Grand Water Trine includes the New Moon itself plus Mercury, trining the North Node of the Moon in shadowy Scorpio, and also Chiron the wounded healer in visionary Pisces. This Grand Trine makes the social into something very, very personal. Here we have the two lights in the sky, plus the planet of mind and communication, flowing energy with a powerful healer and mentor, and the arrow pointing to our karmic path.

At this New Moon, we get a new view of our emotional, familial and tribal waters. At the same time, we're offered a path of healing that also creates meaning.

This is a New Moon for making wishes and setting intentions in the arenas of family, tribe, relationships, and how we experience and manage the complex emotional landscapes that accompany them.

Just in case we're missing the importance of relationship, Venus in passionate Leo holds a key position at the New Moon.

Venus sits at the apex of a yod (also known as a Finger of Fate) ready to balance pushy energies from transformative Pluto and Chiron the wounded healer. She's also receiving a flow of fiery trine energy from revolutionary Uranus. Last but not least, she's squaring the Nodes of the Moon.

So making the most of this New Moon is not all about endless sacrifice (a Cancerian specialty often accompanied by extra helpings of guilt). This New Moon is also and importantly about our own passionate and creative hearts.

friends forever

At this New Moon we might wish (for example) to find our tribe, the people who will support our creative gifts and the place where we can be who we truly, uniquely are.

We might set the intention to begin shining within the family we already have, to bring our creativity and passion into play in ways that strengthen and enliven the ones we love.

We might set intentions for healing old family and tribal wounds, and releasing old emotional patterns that get in the way.

We are social animals. All of our complexity––body, mind, soul, spirit––exists in relation to others. At this New Moon, we have a window in time through which we can see how we are held in relationships, and then act on what we learn. May our actions support all of us in loving ways.
    
    

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.
    

Happy New Moon in Pisces!

New Moon in Pisces
March 11, 2013
3:51 pm EDT

PLEASE NOTE: In my earlier post, I got the time change wrong ... I fell back when I should have sprung forward. The New Moon doesn't arrive until almost 4:00 pm this afternoon. Very Piscean of me ... my apologies!

Everything I said about the New Moon still fits; nothing has changed except the time it arrives.

On this hinge day, author and neoshaman Kelley Harrell offers the rune Ingwaz, and her message about this rune is perfect for where we are:

We tend to look for progress as this steady jaunt to some expected outcome, marking completes items off a list along the way. Ingwaz reminds us that true progress is measured not by our ability to reach the finish line first, but to reach it in a way that supports and fosters our integrity, shares our truth, and inspires others to hold to theirs.

We're not in control, and that's really, really ok, because it means (among other things) that we can let go off the intense self criticism that maintains the message "perfection is possible, it's just me who's screwing up" ... it's not, and we're not, it's the way things are.

If you'd like more on self acceptance, sign on for Sounds True's Self Acceptance Project (which is free). I listened to the first two sessions over the weekend, both were good, and Kristin Neff's talk on self compassion was also perfect for today's Pisces New Moon (and me).

So, enjoy, flow, connect, love, be at peace. Make wishes once the New Moon has arrived.

We're all in this together!
    

New Moon in Pisces: Perspective

Earth from space (and a neat essay)

New Moon in Pisces
March 11, 2013
1:51 pm EDT

Remember how I pledged not to use the word "intense" for a while? Well, I need it for Monday's New Moon in Pisces, which is, yes, intense.

The potential challenges of this much Pisces in the sky, accompanied by Mercury and Saturn retrogrades, include feeling lost in a fog, not knowing what's real, drifting, losing all sense of boundaries, spiritual emergency, falling into overwhelming emotion or addiction, feeling wounded and wounded again.

OK, that's what to look out for––those are the patterns, behaviors, complexes and whatever we intend to let go of during this New Moon.

Now let's go on to the completely amazing opportunities this Pisces rebirth can offer.

One of the first things to greet me this morning online was a post from Upworthy with a link to the trailer for a film called Continuum, about the Overview effect, or what happens to our brains when we see the Earth from space.

This 20-minute film clip features images and interviews with astronauts and philosophers and others about what it means to realize we live on Spaceship Earth, heartbreakingly beautiful, miraculously strong, and breathtakingly fragile.

When we really feel our way into that sense of the Earth as a living community within the huge community of space, we've achieved the perspective of the Pisces New Moon.

We're not alone. We never were.

This New Moon happens within a conclave of Piscean planets. The Sun and Moon are flanked by Mars and Venus. Mercury and Chiron are conjunct nearby, and Neptune rests in the Piscean doorway. ALL of the personal planets are in Pisces. Our focus is RIGHT THERE.

There are no oppositions at this New Moon. We are one Earth, one people, one cosmos.

There are some interesting squares: Jupiter in Gemini squares the Mercury–Chiron conjunction, pushing us to expand our thinking in healing ways. Look out the spaceship window, embrace the new perspective.

Vesta in Gemini, goddess of home and hearth, squares Venus in Pisces. Ceres in Gemini, fierce protective mother, squares the New Moon. The Earth is our Mother, they tell us. See how beautiful she is, how she nurtures and cares for us.

There are lovely flowing aspects: Saturn in Scorpio trines the Mercury–Chiron conjunction, as Pluto sextiles them both. When we really see how we're all together in this life, then transformation flows easily––we simply can't go back to seeing things the old way.

The North Node, our path in this life, sextiles the New Moon. We are offered rebirth, realignment, renewal.

There's a yod, a finger of fate, from Saturn and Pluto pointed at Jupiter: This is important, it says. There's a lot at stake here. How we think, how we feel, how we act all work together synergistically to co-create our experience of life. Pay attention!

Last but not least, Jupiter sextiles revolutionary Uranus is Aries: This New Moon opens the door to a time of change. Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Venus will soon leave Pisces for bright and passionate Aries. The Spring Equinox is coming.

New Moons are time to make wishes and set intentions. Check your birth chart. Where does 21 Pisces fall? Which planets and points will be touched? These will help you tailor your wishes to your circumstances.

For all of us, everywhere, I will be including wishes that we open our hearts. This life, this Earth, are precious gifts. At this Pisces New Moon, hands are reaching out to us in many dimensions to say, we're all in this together. This is a New Moon for compassion, and for awakening.
    

New Moon in Aquarius: Answer the Call

Druidcraft Tarot ... reborn!

New Moon in Aquarius
February 10, 2013 –– 2:20 am EST

Overnight Saturday, the New Moon in Aquarius arrives.

Herald of Spring, beginning to the new year for the Chinese and the Tibetan people, the year of the Water Snake ... a magical doorway!

Each New Moon invites us to set intentions and make wishes, and in Aquarius, we're called into a new vision. The new year brings rebirth, a theme sounding loudly with this New Moon.

Sun and Moon meet at 21 Aquarius, in a very tight square to the Nodes of the Moon, the karmic pathway in the chart. Squares to the Nodes can be read as a challenge, or a missed step, on our life path. At this New Moon, we're checking in:

Are we feeling clear on where we're headed? If not, this is a wonderful New Moon to ask for clarity.

If our vision is clear, but commitment is lacking, set intentions to follow through, to take the steps we know we need to take.

The Nodes of the Moon mark places where eclipses occur, and the Solar Eclipse back on November 13, 2012, fell at 21 Scorpio, where the North Node still resides. There may be a special resonance between this New Moon and whatever emerged for you back in mid November.

Look in your birth chart to see where this New Moon falls. The house of the New Moon indicated the area of life in which renewed visions and clarity can be expected––or where they will be welcome. What planets or points do you have around 21 degrees? These will be touched, and also drawn into the influence of this New Moon.

For me, this New Moon is complex. Appearing in my 6th house very close to the 7th, the Sun and Moon will conjunct my Descendant, oppose my Ascendant-Pluto-Moon conjunction, square my Midheaven, trine my Mercury-Neptune conjunction, inconjunct my Uranus-Jupiter conjunction, and sextile Eris. Someone's got their finger on my reset button!

If this New Moon makes complicated aspects to your chart too, fall back on asking for clear sight, straightforward guidance, and the long view.

Aquarius is masculine and yang, fixed Air, stubborn, committed, objective, far-seeing. So it's interesting this is the year of the Water Snake, feminine and chthonic.

Goddess energy is strong with this New Moon: Venus, also in Aquarius, squares Saturn in Scorpio, an archetypal challenge of masculine and feminine.

The asteroid goddesses create a series of intricate patterns around Saturn as well: There are three yods forming. Ceres is at the apex of a yod with the North Node and Juno at the base; Vesta is at the apex of another with Saturn and Venus at the base; and Saturn is at the apex of the third with Vesta and Pallas Athena at the base.

Yods, also called fingers of God or fingers of fate, emphasize places where energy is concentrated and something is happening. One area of polarization in the world today focuses on the role of women and girls––our health, our freedom of action and freedom from violence, our education.

Authoritarian forces (one role Saturn can play) try to keep women down, but again and again, women rise up. Perhaps this New Moon will bring a re-envisioning of men and women, boys and girls, living together in equality, compassion and Aquarian freedom. This, too, is something we can wish for.

Remember to wait until after the New Moon arrives to make wishes and set intentions. Until then, we continue in the waning cycle of release and preparation. I will be wishing for clarity, as I think I'll need it just to understand all the messages this Moon will bring me!

Remember too to allow the Moon leeway to do as she will. The New Moon arrives in darkness, and it can take time to see the new shoots emerge. Wish, intend, breathe, let go. A new day dawns.
    

Crescent Moon: The Power of the Mother

Earth and Water in Costa Rica ... Pacific dawn

Crescent Moon
January 14, 2013

Tomorrow, as midnight approaches, we reach the Crescent Moon, the semisquare between the Sun and Moon marking the emergence of whatever we wished for with Friday's powerfully grounded New Moon.

It's not too late to make wishes! Today's Aquarius Moon is a far-sighted visionary, whose just-past conjunction with action-planet Mars want to do something now.

I'm in Costa Rica at the beautiful Blue Spirit resort, and lucky enough to have made my wishes at the Pacific Ocean this morning.

Howler monkeys woke me up at 5 am, and I let them call me up and out to the ocean, where I wrote my intentions in the wet sand and watched them merge with the waves. I don't have this kind of chance every month, and each time, I find a way to make wishes that aligns with the energy of the Moon and where my life is at that point.

Find your best way to let the universe know what you're hoping for––then let the energies help you reach your goals. Stay fluid and open-ended, because the universe is more creative and imaginative than we are, and we don't want to hem her in.

The challenge of the coming Crescent Moon continues the theme of groundedness and practicality finding balance with visionary change.

The Sun and Mercury are conjunct in pragmatic Capricorn, semisquare the Moon and Chiron in visionary Pisces. This is where we come to grips the steps we need to take, to bring our dreams into reality.

The Moon is tightly trining Saturn in Scorpio, the magician who knows how to do exactly that. Between Mercury and Saturn, sextiling them both, are Pluto and Venus together in Capricorn. More magical, more transformation, more power.

Pluto–Venus and Saturn are each inconjunct Ceres, a reminder that everything manifests for us here on Earth. Ceres is the goddess of growth and abundance, who asks for respect and proper boundaries. We can't get what we want by taking what isn't ours––not without consequences, anyway.

This is a very yin Crescent Moon, lots of Earth and Water. There is plenty of power here too, a continuing of the strong feminine power we saw in the New Moon. Never underestimate the power of a mother.

Uranus in Aries sparks quick change and masculine Fire in his square to Pluto and Venus. Still, the overall feeling tone of this Crescent Moon is slow, steady and reflective. There is deep insight here, and relentless power where we know for sure what we're moving toward.

Feel the power; take it slowly; enjoy the journey.
    

New Moon in Capricorn: The Power of Reality

Minoan goddess or priestess

New Moon in Capricorn
January 11, 2013

Tomorrow's New Moon in Capricorn arrives with an intense concentration of Capricorn energy that includes not just the Sun–Moon conjunction, but also Mercury conjunct the New Moon, a Pluto–Juno conjunction, and Venus newly arrived in Capricorn.

Babies born under this New Moon will have birth charts full of purpose, determination, pragmatism and practicality, and are likely to be hard workers, persistent, patient and traditional. As so will we be, as we set wishes and intentions at this first New Moon of the new year.

This is a New Moon for coming to grips with what's real. It's also a New Moon for making our dreams come true––if we're prepared to commit to the work needed to get it done. With Capricorn, there's no "easy" or "quick." This is the sign that understands putting one foot in front of the other, and climbing the mountain.

Capricorn is also the sign of the leader, the ruler, the CEO, of stepping into our own authority and owning our vision. Saturn, Capricorn's ruler, continues his trek through mysterious, powerful and intuitive Scorpio, so this is insightful leadership with a finger on hidden pulses.

With Pluto in the mix, and Uranus continuing his trek through Aries, change is definitely in the air. Capricorn feels most comfortable with the ways things have always been, but when the land is shifting under your feet, that just isn't enough.

Pluto and Saturn continue their mutually-receptive sextile, and the goddess Vesta now sits at the apex of the yod they form. Tranformation is reaching into home and hearth, shaking up our most secure and private places.

Venus is squaring Uranus now too, challenging the fiery revolutionary to make it real: What change? When? How? What are the concrete steps that need to happen. Uranus pushes back, upsetting apple carts in our creative and financial lives, and in relationships.

The New Moon sextiles the North Node in Scorpio, and together they form another yod with the goddess Ceres at the apex––we see the strong feminine again at the point of change.

Which is a reminder: We tend to think of practical, Saturn-ruled Capricorn as very male, the traditional father, the authority figure in the hierarchical sense and yet, as an earth sign, Capricorn is feminine and yin.

Women have tremendous endurance. In fact, there's evidence women have more muscle endurance (on average) than men, who tend to excel in strength. Women are the slow-but-steady engines keeping societies going. This is Capricorn energy.

Capricorn is, symbolically, doubly feminine. This is the sign of the water goat, combining water and earth. Zeus was fostered by the goat goddess Almathea, thought to represent a more ancient and nurturing goddess replaced by the Olympic pantheon. The Roman Juno had a goat form: Juno Caprotina, a fertility goddess associated with figs and the fig harvest.

So this New Moon speaks of the resurgence of feminine power, of goddess energy. Juno and Pluto are conjunct, sextiling Saturn, inconjunct Vesta, the Finger of Fate. Can we consciously and deliberately shift our understanding of women's roles from home and hearth to the wide world? Can we all, no matter our gender, embrace feminine forms of power as a balance to the masculine models dominating the world today?

This is the New Moon to set intentions for this, to embrace women as powerful, to value feminine approaches to power. Look for powerful women in the news, and in your world: How do such women embody and model power? What can we learn from them, to emulate or to avoid? How do they align with our own values?

One of the most intriguing aspect patterns for this New Moon is a series of five quintiles. The quintile is an unusual aspect that invites creativity: Mozart had seven in his chart. This New Moon forms quintiles from the Sun and Moon to Uranus and Saturn, and from Mercury to Pallas Athena.

Could we ask for a clearer signal to look beyond the obvious? Creative solutions to our challenges will be on offer at this New Moon, if we're ready to plant the seeds and nurture the shoots that emerge, even if they look a bit different. This might be a great time for wishing without too many strings attached, for allowing the universe to point the way.

The New Moon brings a tremendous amount of energy that will last a long time, if we join in and commit to making our dreams into reality.