New Moon Time: Exploring Power

lightning!

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

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

Our dials are set to eleven.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!
    

Chart Layout: What Are We Looking At?

The chart as a map ... feel free to download!

As the New Moon in Aries draws near, we've got some space for learning a bit more about charts and how they work. This fiery New Moon will be one to prepare for, so let's dive in:

It's helpful to know what you're looking at when you look at an astrological chart. Basically, charts are maps. They're real maps in one way, and symbolic maps in other (and perhaps more important) ways.

Charts are a map of the sky from our perspective here on Earth.

The sky overhead looks like a great sphere, around which the stars and planets move. The Sun, Moon and other visible planets rise and set, and the wheel of the zodiac moves through the seasons.

The horizon cuts through the middle of the chart. Any planets above the horizon are in the visible, public part of the sky––whether we can actually see them with the naked eye or not, they're considered "visible." Planets below the horizon are in the hidden, private part of the sky.

One simple rule of thumb that reflects this is, people with most of their planets, especially the personal ones (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars) above the horizon will tend to be extroverts. Those with most planets below the horizon will tend to be introverts.

Each of the cardinal directions has a place on the chart, and each direction has multiple meanings. South is at the top, which puts East to the left (the opposite of typical land maps). East is associated with the dawn, which explains why that point on the chart is the Rising Sign: Your Rising Sign is literally the sign of the zodiac that was rising at the moment of your birth, which is, symbolically, your dawn.

Here's another example chart, this one for Marlon Brando, whose birthday is today.

Checking out the East point on this chart tells us Brando had Sagittarius rising, the expansive, generous, liberal-minded sign ruled by Jupiter.

Looking around, we see that Brando's Sun and Moon are in Aries, together close to the bottom of his chart. Sun and Moon together tells us he was born at a New Moon, and the bottom of the chart placement tells us he was born around midnight (11:00 pm, actually).

Marlon Brando's Moon is at 13 Aries and his Sun at 14, so today's Last Quarter Moon is square his Sun, which is conjunct today's Sun. 

We could also notice how many of his planets are below the horizon, including all his personal planets, and say, hmmm, this is an introvert's chart.

It might seem odd to think of someone as well known as Brando as an introvert, but many actors are surprisingly private people––they hide in their roles. And anyone who buys a Polynesian island as a refuge as a strong need to get away from things.

Here's one more example for today, Brando's birth chart done with actual house sizes instead of the equal-appearing houses I prefer.

Technically, this version is more accurate because it places the chart angles and house cusps in exact positions around the 360 degree circle of the zodiac. Maybe I will grow to prefer this format, but for now, I like to see the Midheaven straight up, reflecting the symbolic positions.

Looking at the same chart in two formats, you can see what's emphasized in each chart, and which format you might prefer.

Let me emphasize that both charts are accurate, and both provide exactly the same information. The difference is in how they're presented, how they're drawn.

I'm hoping this additional background will make it that much easier to look at your chart and tease out the details you need. Look for more on the New Moon in the next few days!