A Difficult and Enlightening New Moon

Wednesday morning's New Moon in Scorpio presents us with the passion and depth for which this intense Water sign is well-known, and makes a powerful chime with another compatible factor in the current astrological symbolism, namely Chiron, the Wounded Healer, currently residing in the Water sign of Pisces. This powerful configuration also features the highlighted and un-Scorpio-like presence of Uranus in Aries. As in other recent lunations, this New Moon degree closely matches that of Uranus, and also Eris, located in Aries, making an inconjunct or 150-degree aspect. Uranus corresponds to sudden flashes of enlightenment that can bring our inner awareness closer to conscious understanding.

It is important not to forget little, yet potent, Chiron, at the same degree of Pisces that Uranus occupies, one sign away, in Aries, and therefore in trine or 120-degree aspect with this New Moon degree. Chiron has been featured in recent lunations as well, meaning that we have been caught up in an important process of looking beneath the covers of our relationship interactions, and other reactivity, seeking the deeper meaning in terms of the inner wounding, and feelings of "not good enough," that we all carry, within hidden areas of our psyches. This is an especially thoughtful time for seeking answers to the questions that are raised in this way regarding our inner process, because Mercury, catching up to the Sun after its recent retrograde through Libra, is now only about four degrees behind, and the Sun/ Mercury and Moon/ Mercury midpoints for this New Moon closely trine Chiron, within a few minutes of a degree. Mercury, thus featured in the picture of these transiting positions, as well as Uranus, means that there is now a tremendous opportunity to bring greater consciousness to bear regarding ancient trauma as a contributing factor to the somewhat forbidden topic of our own inner wounding, which could be responsible to a surprising degree for sudden reactivity, in either anger or incomprehensible fear.

We might almost despair at times to ever solve these types of personal problems, of which we often have only very scant and subliminal knowledge, preferring instead to self-medicate through alcohol or other escapes. These are not limited to actual drugs, of course, and include the pervasive form of obsession known as being a 'workaholic.' We might even suffer a momentary cessation of all activity through depression or breakdown, rather than getting to the real root of our difficulties. We are reminded of those succinct words of one of our premier rock-poets, Paul Simon, who wrote, on Graceland, "well, breakdowns come and breakdowns go/ So what are you going to do about it? That's what I'd like to know/ You don't feel you could love [yourself] but I feel you could"

The presence of Uranus, aspected by this New Moon, in close semi-sextile aspect to Chiron, and in conjunction with Eris, implies that unexpected events and realizations become the norm, as well as surprising illumination that can clarify and help us to transcend these issues of old trauma that have resulted in buried wounding. This is especially so in the timing of the few days surrounding this potent mid-week New Moon. When we trust in our intuition, symbolized by Uranus and powerfully available to us now, we can understand quite a lot regarding our inner working, including those concealed complexes, symbolized by Chiron, that have the unfortunate power of being able to trip us up . By silently witnessing any form of reactive behavior, seeking its root cause somewhere within our unconscious, we might be able to come to a better response than rage or fear.

A look at the relevant Sabian Symbols for this New Moon might shed additional light. For the Sun and Moon, in the 20th degree of Scorpio, the symbol is, "A woman drawing two dark curtains aside," making a perfect chime to inner exploration, which Marc Edmund Jones summarizes as, "the enduring values" behind the outer façade of everyday existence." He goes on to refer to "the essential courage of the soul [in crossing] every threshold of common limitation." For the Sun/ Mercury and Moon/ Mercury midpoint, the 18th degree of the same sign, we have, "A woods rich in autumn coloring." This is another symbol of hidden value becoming evident, which Jones calls, "inevitable and universal consummations of order and beauty." For the degree that Chiron currently occupies, the same degree of Pisces, we find, "A gigantic tent." And this symbol Jones feels can be likened to a circus tent, and also represents "a symbol for the completeness with which man is able to see his experience both steadily and whole." He goes on to reference, "a total sharing of skills and risks [creating in] each individual " a renewed insight into their capacity for putting their world in order." Indeed, we have in each and every moment the chance to rise above difficult circumstances, and to see in these the opportunity to discover our true nature, alleviated from the burdens of the past and free to pursue our natural birthright as more fully evolved human beings. Thus we become of crucial value to ourselves, to each other, and to our emerging 21st Century society with all its challenges.