A New Moon of Major Shifts and Dark Blessings

Sunday evening’s New Moon in Aries tells an interesting story, on several levels. For one thing, this lunation in Aries reflects the drama of the Spring Equinox, when the earth is awakening from her deep winter slumbers. As the sap begins to flow again and the flowers to blossom, we humans share in the resurgence and the fundamental optimism of the burgeoning springtime. We hope to stir new life from the ashes of the old cycle, and to be able to forge new pathways toward our ultimate purpose. Coincidentally, as they say, this New Moon also takes place on Mercury’s station to direct motion, which we should take as one peak moment of the Mercury Retrograde cycle, rather than its cessation. Mercury, standing dead still in the sky, is thus behaving more like an outer planet than its normal mercurial self. Just for this one day, thoughts become ponderous, and mental faculties struggle to express themselves. There is a lot on our minds at this timing as well. With transformational Pluto very much emphasized we are all going through the mill of vast change, and because Pluto is also in connection with the relationship energy of Venus, we are looking beneath the covers of all of our interpersonal connections, in search of the underlying motivation and the deeper meaning. Furthermore, because the New Moon closely conjuncts Uranus, the trickster planet is once again featured in this mid-month timing, with the same tendencies as in past New Moons for surprise, even perhaps bizarre, events coming down, plus the enlightenment that such encounters in your own personal life can unexpectedly bring. Of course this applies as well to the current political situation where, if you are not continually startled you are just not paying attention.

It is indeed time for each and every individual to be alert to whatever action they feel called to, as the cultural disintegration which we can see all around us becomes ever more stark. This is in fact one clear message that is brought forward by the archetypal configurations of this powerful New Moon, with its degree in late Aries located precisely between that of Eris, Feminine Warrior for deep soul intention, and Uranus, the Awakener. Time is up – for everyone to stand up and be counted, according to those values they have that are uniquely held, at depth, whatever these might be; and whatever consensus thinking might have to say about it. It is a truism that no prophet is popular in his or her own time. With Uranus and Pluto both accentuated in this New Moon timing, major societal change is upon us, and this involves profound personal transformation at individual levels. The opening square of Uranus with Pluto lasts until the end of the decade, when (in January of 2020) Saturn with Pluto will also become exact in Capricorn, squared by Eris. Great social changes are presaged, especially considering the fact that Saturn, Pluto and Jupiter will join in a triple conjunction by the end of that year, just before Jupiter and Saturn meet in the perfection of their 20-year conjunction, interestingly this time at the 0 degree mark of Aquarius.

Dropping back into the current month, it is important to recognize as well, that in the timing of this New Moon, Venus in Taurus is closing in on Pluto, in forming trine alignment. This strong aspect, signifying challenging relationship matters coming to the fore, is also bolstered by Venus being directly opposed to Jupiter in Scorpio, which echoes the Pluto-Venus theme. It is nothing short of miraculous, the way that events have followed Jupiter’s entrance into Scorpio, with the October advent of the #MeToo movement. Now, with this potent late evening Sunday New Moon, we will very likely see more of the same in the weeks to come.

The Sabian Symbol for this New Moon has something to add. It is, for the twenty-seventh degree of Aries, “Lost opportunity regained in the imagination.” This might remind us of the importance of attitude in assessing the inherent disaster posed by any situation; as Shakespeare puts it, “nothing is either good or bad but thinking makes it so.” Marc Edmund Jones states that, “experience [shows up] as a means by which one may become the author of their own destiny, rather than a pawn of purely superficial events.” Indeed, when we take charge of ourselves we can make attitude really count. Setbacks become temporary. We have our sense of mission, and once we do, nothing can deter us for very long from accomplishing whatever it is that we set out to do. The human soul is that powerful, as is each one of us, once we can truly understand what we most deeply desire.