A Positive, Demanding and Confusing New Moon

The New Moon of Saturday, July 26th, takes us on a very special ride. The Sun and Moon are conjunct positive and optimistic Jupiter, and yet also inconjunct nebulous Neptune, indicating that in spite of an unbridled sense of optimism that can move mountains, things might not be entirely what they appear. With a prominent Saturn-Uranus aspect also triggered by the event of this lunation, there is always looming as well the downside to simple goal orientation, consisting of unexpected limitations that could prevent unadulterated success. Mercury is finally past its retrograde shadow, moving through the last third of the feeling-toned sign of Cancer, with Venus nearby, provoking a thoughtful view of life and love that is emotionally depth-oriented as well as full of intellectual awareness. This is especially so because Venus is almost exactly opposite to Pluto in the timing of Saturday afternoon's New Moon. Our ongoing transformation takes on a relationship orientation as we move through these summer months and head into further profound change in the autumn of the year.

Mars is also featured in the configuration of this New Moon. Having only recently ended his long sojourn in the relationship sign of Libra, Mars is now located in the first degree of Scorpio, the sign that he co-rules with Pluto, and is greatly highlighted at the time of the New Moon, since the Sun, Moon and Jupiter closely square the Mars degree. This Mars emphasis is an indication of an active, athletic and sexy energy for connection of a deeper kind, and in all our dealings with each other for getting to the heart of the matter. We are actively engaged in our lives, and in the goals that we would like to see fulfilled. Because of the Neptune emphasis, there is also a tendency for misinterpretation, illusion and outright self-deception that can creep into the picture of our inner world and the impression that we have of others.

This weekend and especially the week that follows is a therefore a time when everyone is likely to be enthusiastic over possibilities and yet find that "the devil is in the details." We must remember to also take into account the Trickster God — as symbolized by a prominent Uranus — also present in this New Moon configuration, as well as Saturn, representing boundAries and limitations, which is also greatly emphasized. It is more than possible that all the optimism and forward-going energy of the Sun and Moon conjunct Jupiter and in square with Mars will turn out to be muted by the potentiality of sudden changes in direction or obstacles that unexpectedly come up and side-track forward momentum.

The Sabian Symbol for this New Moon is worth mentioning. It is, for the fourth degree of Leo: "A man, formally dressed, and a deer with its horns folded" which is usually interpreted as a trophy, a deer head on a wall. Marc Edmond Jones refers to "a symbol of self-assertion at a point of effective impact on the world... achievements become evident in the trophies by which he makes his consistent contribution of [his] real essence... winning and holding the esteem of men." This is a symbol that was created in a very different time; the idea of a hunting trophy as an appropriate symbol of achievement might not be as readily accepted by today's standards. Nonetheless we can see in this symbol both the attraction of ego esteem and its final lack of substance, and this idea makes an important chime with the Mars emphasis in Saturday's New Moon astrology. We are drawn to compete, and to reap the rewards of all our striving, and we have a terrific push for that level of success that is currently at hand. All the while, a deeper impulse is driving us to question whither we are headed, and to what end. It is this faint, almost secondary level of consciousness that we need to pay our closest attention to, perhaps now more than ever.

A Positive, Demanding and Confusing New Moon

What is in store for you in the next few months?

Chart for the New Moon on July 26, 2014

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