The New Moon in Aquarius is today and I’ve been in a weird place as I try to sort out what best to say about it.
I don’t just mean I’ve been down some odd rabbit holes, although that is true. I mean, I’ve been considering questions of fate and fortune, humanity, souls, spirit, and life. These are weird topics.
“Weird” is an ancient word whose roots go all the way back to Proto-Indo-European. In the 14th century, it meant having the power to control fate, building on the Old English “wyrd,” which means fortune or destiny.
The three Weird Sisters of Shakespeare’s Scottish play are the Fates of the ancient Greeks, the Norns of Norse tradition. These sisters do not create Fate but rather seem to manage or tend it. They spin the threads and weave the tapestry of life, and cut threads when their pattern is complete.
I wound up here because this New Moon in Aquarius is the first since Pluto decisively entered this sign of fixed Air, and because the New Moon squares Uranus, the modern ruler of Aquarius.
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We are in a new world, a new era, a time in which changes will occur we cannot anticipate from where we stand now.
The classical ruler of Aquarius is Saturn and the modern ruler is Uranus. In some ways, these two planets seem like polar opposites. Saturn is structure, tradition, history, control, responsibility, hard work. Uranus is revolution, radical change, the quick, the unexpected.
It’s not so much that Uranus is irresponsible. It’s more that it can be difficult to sort out who or what Uranus is responsible to. Saturn prefers the already existing power structures. Uranus wants, it seems, to go both forward and back. Uranus seems to champion a devolution of power, deconstructing what is, in favor of what could be.
Uranus wants to refer back to original principles, which don’t seem to be the same original principles that Saturn favors.
Keep those thoughts in the back of your mind. Let’s take a look at the chart.
The Sun and Moon meet at 20º40’ Aquarius. Neither luminary has much strength in this sign. In the third decan, we reach the end of our journey of exile in Aquarius and end up disillusioned. We don’t much like where we are and can’t see what lies ahead.
Which is interesting because this is where we are in the world today.
The Age of Earth is over. The Age of Air began with the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius in 2020. Pluto’s arrival in Aquarius brings depth and power, along with the unsettling realization that we don’t know what lies ahead.
Uranus squares the New Moon. This modern ruler of Aquarius is a paradoxical figure.
The first of the outer planets to be discovered, Uranus might have been named George. William Herschel, the astronomer who realized Uranus was not just a star, first proposed naming it after King George III, his patron.
The name Uranus was eventually chosen because Uranus is the father of Cronus, who is Saturn. Yet does this name really capture its character? Astrologer Rick Tarnas proposed Prometheus as a better name, one suited to its revolutionary spirit. Many astrologers concur.
Prometheus himself is an enigmatic figure. A Titan who stole fire from the gods as a gift for humanity, who is also said to have brought the basics of culture to humans. For this he was punished cruelly by Zeus, until finally released through the intervention of Hercules and Chiron.
The meaning of the name Prometheus is usually said to be far seeing, or far knowing. One who looks ahead to the future. Yet this appears to be an incorrect etymology that fits who we want Prometheus to be.
A more accurate etymology links Prometheus back to a Sanskrit word for theft. When we connect Prometheus to other mythic figures who stole fire, like Raven, we realize Prometheus is a trickster.
And we’re back in weird territory.
But why all the philosophy and history and such? Don’t we just need to know what this New Moon is about?
Yes, we do. We are poised at the beginning of the Pluto-in-Aquarius decades within the new Age of Air. How we think and the ideas we think with are, in my view, what this New Moon is all about.
“An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.”
― Oscar Wilde
“No army can withstand the strength of an idea whose time has come.”
― Victor Hugo
“I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I’m frightened of the old ones.”
― John Cage
Aquarius is a mind palace. A place of beautiful concepts that link together like crystals to create something epic and beautiful.
At this New Moon, we’re invited to peer inside our own minds. To consider what thoughts we’re thinking with. To ask whether those thoughts might need updating, tweaking, or revolutionizing.
We might ask, what is the soul? Where does life come from? Is there a god, or gods, and what does it mean to believe that or not? What is the basis of freedom? Of justice? Of power?
We can consider whether our actions, speech, the way we live our lives are consistent with the ideas we think with. We can ask what does it matter if they are or are not? What does it mean to be authentic?
Something new is awakening. We’ve entered a time when information, ideas, and images will morph into forms we don’t recognize. The concept of authenticity becomes vitally important and harder than ever to know.
Self knowledge, understanding of our own ideas, our own philosophies and ethics, becomes more important. As it becomes easier to create words and images that have no basis in a shared reality, we need to rely on an internal compass to help sort out who and what we can trust.
Consistent with the trickster image for Prometheus, this involves questioning everything and somehow learning to recognize what is true. Snake oil salesmen abound, with more emerging every day. What are our touchstones? How do we know what is real?
Part of the answer involves staying grounded. In the New Moon chart, Mercury at 07ª25’ Aquarius squares Jupiter at 08º18’ Taurus. We need to stay practical, keep our feet on the ground, and take things slowly.
Yet the world has become too virtual to rely solely on the physical. Saturn, traditional ruler of Aquarius, is in Pisces, the sign of magic and mystery. Saturn sextiles Jupiter. Reality extends beyond our ordinary senses to include a wide cosmos. We’ll need to hone our skills in navigating these kinds of spaces.
Venus continues to square the Nodes of the Moon, a path linked to Fate. Venus is at the South Bending, focused on the past. She also rules the South Node in Libra, a reminder we do not need or want to discard all of the past as we move into the future.
So here I’d like to bring in dragons.
This New Moon is also the beginning of the lunar calendar used in China and many Asian countries. We’re entering the Year of the Dragon, a green Wood Dragon, who is well able to bridge past and future.
In the Chinese tradition, Wood Dragons are more amiable than dragons in some of the other elements. They excel in building and creating, including building wealth, but still share the temperamental fiery nature of all dragons.
It’s easy to imagine Prometheus, who stole Zeus’ fire to save humanity, as a dragon. Dragons can be tricksters too, wily and ancient, keepers of truth as well as treasure.
Venus is on a journey toward the future. She’s moving to conjunct Mars as both enter Aquarius to conjunct Pluto, perhaps the greatest, oldest, wiliest dragon of them all.
Venus and Mars follow Mercury, who met with Pluto a few days ago. This procession of the personal planets entering Aquarius and greeting Pluto brings us more individualized information about how Pluto may show up in our lives.
Because this is the first New Moon in Aquarius copresent with Pluto, and because of these personal planet transits, it’s a time to keep our minds and senses open.
What shows up for us? What new ideas? What surprising events? This is a time for open minds and an exploring spirit.
Find your dragon and travel well.
