Waning Moon in Scorpio Moving into Sagittarius

The Moon makes her final aspects in Scorpio this morning. She's already moving through her squares to Neptune and Chiron in Aquarius, and he trine with Uranus in Pisces, connecting the deep psyche with the outer messengers of healing, visions, and revolutionary change.

As I write this at 8am EST, the Moon is technically already in her void-of-course time, resting and reflecting. And yet she's moving into one final aspect that speaks to the energetic quality of the New Moon: She is semi-sextile Mars in Sagittarius, creating an energetic, edgy connection with the adventurer already on the Sagittarian quest.

The Moon embarks on her own Sagittarian journey at 12:59pm EST, opening the door to wonder-filled exploration. The Mountain Astrologer website offers a video of Kathy Rose discussing the New Moon, emphasizing the optimism and in-the-moment qualities we celebrate in Sagittarius.

At 5pm EST, the Moon connects back to Venus, still in Scorpio, via the energetic semi-sextile. Just before 7:30pm, she connects with semi-sextiles to Mercury, the North Node and Pluto, all in Capricorn. Like a compass of spirit, the Moon knows that both the deeply hidden realms of Scorpio, and the steady effort in the world of Capricorn, are needed for the journey to continue. The Sagittarian Moon balances these two heavy hitters with merriment, exuberance, and joy.

Dana Gerhardt offers her ideas for invoking Sagittarius, including buying helium balloons, visiting a really big library and pulling random books off the shelves for messages from the library angels, or climbing to a high place for a new perspective.

Dana's essay includes a link to a wonderful flash mob performance of the Hallelujah Chorus in a mall food court, and what could be more Sagittarian than flash mobs? Dancing in the streets, taking the urge to sing and dance and making it BIG, bringing fun into public spaces ... the Centaur applauds!

Waning Moon in Scorpio

Today, the Scorpio Moon flows energy in trine with Jupiter in Pisces, sharing messages from the depths of the psyche to the farthest reaches of the cosmos, connecting psychology, spirituality, and intuition. Since Jupiter rules Sagittarius, sign of the coming New Moon, we're also invited to look toward that seed time.

Mars in Sagittarius challenges Uranus in Pisces in square today, another push to get moving on our journeys and expect big shifts.

What are we preparing for?

Sunday's New Moon is a time for Sagittarian wishes and intentions. Sagittarius, mutable Fire, is warm, inclusive, and tolerant, reaching across history and culture to explore anything new and different, whatever expands the mind and spirit.

Auntie Moon reminds us that Sagittarian explorations are not mapped every step of the way ... we need to meander, follow the path where it leads, and open our minds and hearts to whatever shows up. Like Bilbo, we recognize that anything can happen when we step outside our doors. We can be swept away to who knows where, landing in wonderfully unexpected places.

Sagittarius loves life, and is alive to its meanings. Simone Butler offers as her December theme, Find the Higher Meaning, and suggests we see our lives as mythic adventures, which of course they are. As we explore, we are drawn especially to images, ideas and themes that have deep meaning for us.

And deeper meanings certainly seem to be present with this New Moon! Its Sabian symbol, explored by Linda Hill, is Sagittarius 14: A Vast Panorama Of Sand And Time Is Unfolding: The Pyramids And Sphinx In Their Glory Rise Before The Eye. Sagittarian indeed, this symbol reaches deep into the past, reminding us not to forget what has gone before, or that powerful ideas and images endure.

Stephanie Austin, in the current print edition of The Mountain Astrologer, points our attention to the far future. She notes that the New Moon is aligned with the Great Attractor, an anomaly in deep space that appears to be drawing our Milky Way galaxy, along with our neighbor galaxies, towards it. 

Yet the Dark flow carrying our galaxy may actually be drawing us toward something beyond the Great Attractor, a dense cluster of galaxies called the Shapley Supercluster ... much as the mountain we think we are hiking toward proves to be the first stop on the way to the greater mountain range beyond it.

Today, let the Scorpio Moon carry you in her own Dark flow, into explorations of your own deep feelings that will help clear the way for the powerful seed time of the coming New Moon.

Waning Moon in Scorpio

The waning Moon disappears into Scorpio's depths today, but her connections with other planets are strong. As we near the end of this lunar cycle, and this calendar year, the Scorpio Moon unflinchingly tells it like it is.

Door opening, Gallarus Oratory

The Moon enters Scorpio at 9:43am EST, and joins Venus exactly two hours later. If any additional emphasis were needed for this intense Venus transit through Scorpio direct, retro and direct again, the Moon's depth of feeling creates it. Sunday's New Moon in Sagittarius will focus on new directions, adventures, the quest. What unhealthy, unproductive attachments can we release now, to be ready then?

The Scorpio Moon flows energy in sextile Mercury (12:40pm), the North Node (4:14pm) and Pluto (5:00pm), clustered in Capricorn. Again, the question is asked, in slightly different form: Look, the Moon says, here is the path of transformation before you. What needs to be released so you can step onto the path with a clear and open mind?

Mars in Sagittarius sextiles Neptune (2:39pm) and Chiron (2:06am Friday), both in Aquarius. The planet of motivation and action flows energy with the planets of vision and healing. What can we do, right now, today, to support our own healing and create a positive vision for the future?

Scorpio is sometimes seen as hanging back, suspicious, lacking in trust, unable to move. Scorpio at its best gathers vital information, then waits for the strategic moment to act with greatest impact. Wherever we've been hanging back, knowing in our hearts what needs to be done but somehow stuck, today's Scorpio Moon urges us to act.