This New Moon in Aquarius presents us with a contrast in worldviews.
In difficult times, how do we get through? How do we orient ourselves? In the dark of this New Moon, we are offered two paths, each quite different.
The New Moon is in early Aquarius conjunct Mercury and Pluto. Here in the realm of fixed Air, we find ourselves confronting Truth.
Aquarius has an austere energy. Clear-eyed, dedicated, unafraid to face reality at it is. Here, we feel we must choose cleanly and decisively, in alignment with our core values.
Aquarius can be unflinching in showing us what is right, what is wrong, and where our path lies.
This New Moon is ready to choose exile from all we have known, if that is the right way, the best way, to reach a better future.
We also see in this chart an equally strong and seductive group in Pisces. Neptune at the very end of Pisces is conjunct the North Node of the Moon and Venus.
Here we feel the strength of our dreams. What good is it to look a harsh reality in the face, without a vision of what could be, what might be, what we hope for? We need magic, beauty, and hope.
Balancing these two approaches can be tricky. In the current news cycle, there are so many voices pulling us to one side or the other.
In the Aquarius camp, we hear about the risks involved in minimizing the dangers of our current situation.
How long before we cross even more flashpoints that leave us at greater and greater risk of disasters and loss? How much bigger can storms get? How much more of the natural world can we afford to put at risk?
In politics, too, how close are we to losing the institutions and traditions on which our way of life depends?
Similar questions can be asked about issues of health, food and water, global conflicts, long-standing injustice.
And yet, just reading through that list is daunting, potentially depressing, Just the sort of feelings that send us right into the arms of Pisces to find magic, mystery, and hope.
Our dreams and visions, Pisces would say, are not false, not delusional, not a distraction. In fact, it is our dreams that hold us up, keep us going, and help create the world anew.
An interesting thing about Aquarius and Pisces, according to the tenets of Hellenistic astrology, is that these two signs are in aversion. They are too close to see each other.
“Averse” originally meant turned away from, in the sense of, not in sight of, and only later came to mean something we turn from because we dislike it, or find it repugnant.
Certainly, current discussions criticize both Aquarian and Piscean views.
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Aquarius can seem too harsh, a deliberate attempt to paint such a dire picture of the future that we lose hope, falling either into despair or disconnection, saying we just don’t care.
The shadow side of Aquarius is fanaticism, in which we become so convinced of our rightness that we cannot tolerate disagreement. If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
Pisces can be seen as false, fake, or delusional. A way to paint pretty pictures that distract us from the real issues.
The shadow side of Pisces is addiction, reaching for anything that gives solace or pleasure because our reality feels intolerable.
These views, opposite as they seem, are easy to find in essays, opinion pieces, and commentary right now. Each is presented as the Truth, the other dismissed as wrong and damaging.
The path through this difficult maze is ultimately unique for each of us.
We all have Aquarius and Pisces somewhere in our birth charts, and yet how strong each one is, how clearly it shows up, will vary tremendously.
This is a great time to remember that our chart is the one we’re meant to live, in this lifetime.
Some of us are clear-eyed thinkers who are most comfortable in the bright cold Air of high mountains. We need clarity and the surety of our core principles. Our lives are built on what we know to be right and true.
Some of us are mystics, dreamers who connect to the incredibly various forms that life can take, the rich mysteries of how one thing, one way of being, can transmute and evolve into something else entirely. We have principles that are strong and enduring, while also recognizing that no one point of view can begin to encompass all that is.
Most of us are somewhere in between. In times of great change, it can be difficult to keep our balance. What are our touchstones? How do we know what is best to do and how to do it?
Whether we feel ourselves aligning more with an Aquarian or a Piscean worldview, we still find ourselves confronting change.
The first task this New Moon presents us with, therefore, is to reconnect with our roots. What, for each of us, is our bedrock? Our fundamentals? These are what we need going forward.
The cosmos offers us multiple opportunities to explore this in the time ahead.
We are already in the midst of a Mars retrograde that remains in force through late April. Transiting through late Cancer and early Leo, this Mars contrasts the unique life force of the Sun (Leo) with the nurturing and deeply caring emotions of the Moon (Cancer). Where do we find ourselves in this space?
We’re entering a Venus retrograde in late Pisces and early Aries. In fact, Venus enters her preview period January 28, less than a day before the New Moon.
In working with retrogrades, we want to include the preview and review periods as well as the backwards, retrograde motion itself, because this triple pass over the same degrees of the zodiac is a big part of what creates the emphasis and the learning opportunities.
We’ll be working with this Venus retrograde though mid May.
It’s intriguing to note that within this Venus retrograde period, we will also enter a Mercury retrograde from mid March to late April, in which Mercury travels over late Pisces and early Aries in a path almost identical to Venus’s.
This New Moon brings us into a space of reflection that aligns with retrogrades for three of the personal planets, Mars, Venus, and Mercury. It’s time to dive into reflection, review, and revision.
There are more transition points here.
At this New Moon, we enter a new year in the Chinese calendar, a year of the Wood Snake. Snakes in this tradition are transformative and deep, similar to Scorpio, but also graceful, elegant, creative, and calm, bringing in characteristics associated with Virgo, Libra, or Pisces.
We’re also about to reach an important turning point in the ancient Celtic calendar, the feast of Imbolc, which falls astrologically on February 3, when the Sun reaches 15º Aquarius. In the Christian calendar, this is the feast of Candlemas.
While the precise etymology of the ancient word ‘Imbolc’ is unclear, it’s associated with words like cleansing, milk, and belly, bringing ideas of spring. Outwardly, we remain in the cold stillness of winter, but within, we feel the deep stirrings of new life.
At Imbolc, we reach the light half of the dark half of the year, still in the dark half we entered at Samhain, but now turning toward the light that will reach its zenith at Bealtaine.
With this New Moon, we can, we are invited to, be still at this turning of the year.
The world is roaring around us. We’re inundated with news pointing to dire things about to happen. During the quiet of the New Moon, we can choose to step away from all that, not running away, but instead seeking discernment, peace, and a new clarity.
For each of us, this path will look different. Clear-eyed, fact-based, with a straightforward path ahead. Or, mystical, wrapped in mystery and magic, connecting and creating.
For most, our way will include aspects of both, melding into something that uniquely represents who we are and what we want.
Finding that unique path is, after all, the ultimate Aquarian goal.
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