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.
    

Balsamic Moon: What's in the Way?

on the way

Balsamic Moon in Sagittarius
January 8, 2013

OK, this Balsamic Moon time is going to feel edgy. This is a good thing. Really, it is. This is the lunar phase for cleaning out what no longer works, and this time the cleansing could be very thorough indeed, if we're willing to go with the energy.

Of course, the cleansing could be pretty thorough if we don't go with the flow, too, which is a good reason to work with what shows up, as best we can.

The Moon will be in optimistic, adventurous Sagittarius, offering a can-do attitude for busting through challenges. The Sun is in down-to-earth Capricorn. These two are in semisquare, which isn't the easiest aspect we could have, but comes with Balsamic territory.

This Sun and Moon share a commitment to moving ahead and getting stuff taken care of. The Moon's optimism offset by the Sun's Capricornian realism, saying things like "get real!" and "let me tell you how is really is." How much of this kind of realism is helpful to you, is your call.

On to the edgy part: The square between Saturn and Mars is really tight at this Balsamic Moon, and since both are in fixed signs, this signals strong feelings of stuckness. Mars in Aquarius is certain he's got the answers and ready to implement his Big Plan. Now. Saturn in Scorpio is holding out for more study, because we don't actually have the full picture yet, and what's missing is important.

Mars and Saturn is this aspect bring the experience of seeing the way clearly and so wanting to go there, but something behind us, something we can't see, grabs our jacket and we can't move. Just swatting at that hand without looking will not work––this is Saturn, and he wants our attention.

So, what's holding us back? At this Balsamic Moon, we need to know. It's time to take a hard look in the dark corners and see what's there.

Maybe it's something we can acknowledge and release. Maybe we've left something out of the Big Plan. Whatever ... Saturn will not let go until we look.

Meanwhile, Aquarian Mars is tantalizing us with beautiful visions of what could be if only we act, which we can experience as frustration or promise––up to us.

Whatever Saturn is insisting we look at relates to our healing, mentorship, creativity and visioning. The Moon is part of a T-square as she opposes Jupiter and both square Chiron, who's still hanging out with Neptune. This T-square adds more edge, while forcing us to consider how healing and creativity are also held back by whatever Saturn wants us to take care of.

If we need a clearer set of pointers, Jupiter the philsopher, who remains retrograde in Gemini for just a bit longer, sits at the apex of that same Finger of Fate he's been under––Saturn and Pluto are pointing at him, insisting we re-examine our certainties, and now Mercury stands with Pluto so the messages are actually getting through to our brains.

"Oh, that!" we might find ourselves saying, "That's the issue??" Yes, that's the one.

The asteroid goddesses are also part of this conference: Vesta, keeper of home, hearth and tradition, stands with Jupiter, perhaps to remind us not to toss babies out with bathwater. Ceres, also retrograde in Gemini, sits at the apex of her own Finger of Fate, with the North Node and the Sun pointing at her––we forget the fierce face of the mother at our own peril. Athena forms creative quintiles to Ceres and the Sun, saying, look for unexpected solutions.

Change is (still) in the air. The Moon trines Uranus the revolutionary, ready to move and move quickly when the time is right. In fact, the message is, the time is right now. 

The phrase "in the way" is a curious one. What exactly is "the way"? Folklorist Ari Berk links the phrase to ancient beliefs in fairies who lived in the same places people did, and had their own paths which needed to be respected. When a new road or barn was built, or a field plowed, it was vital to check that the new structure wasn't "in the way"––blocking the flow of Fae energy.

The Moon in Sagittarius loves stories like these... but are they stories? Whether real or metaphoric, when we put something in the way of natural flows of energy, bad stuff happens. At this Balsamic Moon, look around to see what's in the way for you, and get those energies flowing again.
    

Last Quarter Moon: Thinking Again

Last Quarter Moon in Libra
January 4, 2013

The Last Quarter Moon arrives tonight, just before 11pm EST, turning us around the corner to the coming Full Moon in Capricorn.

January 4 itself is an intriguing day, before we reach the Last Quarter: Tem Tarrikar of The Mountain Astrologer chose this day as his Featured Chart (which you can read for free in the sample forecast section currently available online here).

The day offers a Grand Trine in Air of the Libra Moon (charming and diplomatic), Mars in Aquarius (quirky, opinionated, stubborn) and Jupiter retrograde in Gemini (reflective, philosophical, less certain than usual for Jupiter).

There's also a T-square of the Moon, Uranus in Aries and Mercury–Juno–Pluto in Capricorn, a challenging mix of let's-do-it-now vs. have-we-got-this-right?

Then we reach the Last Quarter, when the Moon is still holding on to the Grand Air Trine, and just barely to the T-square, and we're going ... whew! what was that?

This Last Quarter is about thinking again, in all the ways we can interpret the phrase. The Libra Moon is ready to find creative solutions to all problems, while making sure everyone is represented at the table and has their say. With Jupiter retrograde, we're still in the process of rethinking our personal philosophies, sorting the wheat from the chaff.

So, thinking again as in, rethinking, checking in with ourselves, our assumptions, our plans, our beliefs. Uranus and Mars want to act now, and are also interested in entertaining really radical, revolutionary ideas. We might do well to remember the tight connection between thought and action, and give the thinking process the time it deserves.

We've also come through a time of intense emotion. The Full Moon in Cancer came with a Grand Trine in Water, so we've been swimming in some pretty deep seas. Now we move into more airy territory, where we can pull back, gain perspective, consider other points of view, and make plans.

So, thinking again as in, maybe we haven't been thinking too clearly lately.

This thinking time is not about maintaining the status quo. Saturn and Pluto are still in their mutually receptive, highly transformative sextile. Plus, the prominence of Uranus and Mars in current aspects points to shifts, possibly major, possibly sudden. This thinking time is about really getting into what our thoughts actually are, what we focus on, what we attend to, and what we say to ourselves. Is this mental territory the one we want to be in? Or not?

With the Last Quarter Moon, we're heading into the days of letting go. Beginning the night of January 4, we enter the part of the lunar cycle when we're releasing, composting, and preparing the ground.

The New Moon in Capricorn of January 11 will be a no-nonsense, hands-on, rock-solid Moon when we can plant seeds for the physical reality we hope for. Now we strengthen patterns of thought that are working, locate patterns getting in the way, and prepare to let the latter go.