Tomorrow morning’s New Moon in Libra will not be a quiet celebration of charm and diplomacy. We might expect this with a Libra New Moon. We might hope for it, in these challenging times. We’re getting something else entirely.
This New Moon is tightly conjunct Mars, which means Mars is about to have their “New Mars.”
Mercury is also conjunct the Sun, Moon, and Mars while being retrograde. Yes, Mercury too is heading toward the Sun.
This lineup of Sun, Moon, Mars, and Mercury means all these energies are merged, or will feel merged. Moon, Mars, and Mercury are invisible, their light hidden by the overpowering fire of the Sun.
The Moon is invisible at every New Moon so this feels normal.
Mercury moves quickly and stays close to the Sun, so conjunctions are frequent. We might not think of Mercury being New or Full but in fact this does happen, just not with the regularity we love in the Moon.
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The cycles of this closest planet to the Sun vary for two reasons. Mercury has retrogrades, so we experience both direct and retrograde conjunctions. Also, Mercury has an eccentric orbit, much closer to the Sun on one side than the other, causing its speed to vary quite a bit.
Mars is on a much longer cycle, about two years, so this is the unusual and more impactful event happening with the New Moon. The Sun-Mars conjunction will be a “New Mars,” the start of a new cycle.
Mars is the one upsetting the usual expectations we have for a Libra New Moon. Mars is not the diplomat of the universe. Mars is the energy of doing and damning the consequences, of frustration when no action is possible, of cutting through words and emotions and even logic to reach a goal.
Mars is not thrilled to be in Libra. This place of relationships and creativity and collaboration is not how Mars prefers to get things done.
Maybe since Mars is weak here, we can ignore his presence?
Not really. No.
To learn why, let’s take a digression to talk about Venus. Astrologically, Venus and Mars are typically at odds. Venus longs to brings things together. Mars enjoys separation. Venus loves beauty for its own sake, as well as the feelings it brings to us. Mars only cares about reaching the current goal. Anything else gets in the way.
Venus, as the ruler of Libra, rules this New Moon. She is also ruling Mars and Mercury, as well as Uranus in Taurus.
But Venus is herself not at her best. Currently in Scorpio, she is unusually intense, possibly obsessive, and more likely than usual to get angry.
Mars is the ancient ruler of Scorpio. It might seem odd to think of fiery Mars as ruling a Water sign. But Scorpio, fixed water, is like ice, and ice can be as sharp as fire.
Situations like this are called mutual reception. Mars receives Venus into Scorpio. Venus receives Mars into Libra. This strengthens each.
Each planet is visiting the other’s house, where things are not as they would prefer. Each also has access to benefits, at least potentially, if they choose to explore them.
Imagine a tale about a lovely queen and a battle-hardened knight.
The queen has moved in a milieu where charm and diplomacy are the norm. She can reach her goals through her strengths. The knight lives in a hard-scrabble world where force or guile are the only guarantees of survival. This is how he pursues success. He’s skilled and strong.
Of course the knight arriving in the queen’s palace will feel out of his depth. He might be more brusque than usual, more frustrated at having to make nice when he just wants to do his job and get out of there.
The queen, needing to stay in the knight’s keep, feels awkward. She smiles at people and they glare back, clearly mistrusting her motives. Everything is rough, edgy, and strong. She dislikes being at a disadvantage.
But let’s say each is traveling on behalf of the other. Each carries letters asking the staff to treat this guest very well. The queen and knight had a chance to talk before setting out. They share information on how to manage things and what not to worry about.
This is mutual reception. Which does not smooth over the difficulties we might face this lunar cycle. But it does connect Mars and Venus in ways that strengthens each.
This New Moon and really this entire lunar cycle will be a time for consciously practicing Libran values. Compassion. Justice. Harmony. Creativity. Balance.
What comes naturally to Libra will call for deliberate focus now because Mars wants to engage, act, and quite possibly, act out.
Emotions will be heightened for all of us. Avoid fights. If you must have a difficult conversation, prepare carefully. Consider where the pitfalls might be. Decide to stay calm and listen. Really, really listen.
It may be difficult to do this.
The Libra group sits at the apex of a yod with Neptune and Uranus at its base. So Neptunian fantasies and Uranian demands for change will complicate the New Moon.
It may be genuinely difficult to get clarity on important things unfolding in your life. And once you think you are clear, something could change. The result is frustration.
Again, I’m suggesting focus.
Stay focused on your goals. Not only the Mars goals of achievement but also the Libran–Venusian goals of how you want to be in the world. How you want others to feel as they interact with you.
Yods point to tricky, awkward situations. The answer to a yod is said to be opposite the apex, between the two planets at the base.
At the New Moon we find Chiron in Aries right there, Chiron the wounded healer.
This means if we can stay focused, we may have opportunities for healing. Chiron in Aries is expert at triggering us in sharp ways.
Often, we feel that sense of being cut and turn our hurt and anger on others. Or turn it on ourselves in the form of negative self talk or all the other ways we abandon ourselves.
Instead, focus on how you feel and notice if this is a pattern. When we can see the patterns, we can begin to unravel them. Once they’re no longer hidden, they begin to lose their power.
Chiron wants us to heal. This is not about letting everyone else off the hook for their behavior. Instead, it’s about seeing where we are triggered and taking control of that pattern, so we can address the real situation without getting sidetracked by our own issues.
It takes focus.
Lots of changes will unfold during this lunar cycle, and even during the New Moon phase.
About seven hours after the New Moon, Pluto turns direct. If you’ve been feeling a lot of Plutonian pressure recently, know that tomorrow he will oh, so slowly begin to move again. This is a positive.
Within the New Moon phase, both Mars and Mercury will reach cazimi, having their moments in the throne of the Sun. These are also turning points, although we won’t see the impacts until each planet is again visible.
Before we reach the Aries Full Moon, Jupiter and Mercury will station direct. These changes will begin to put some wind back into sails that have been slack for some time. Where we’ve felt stalled, we can begin to feel movement. More positives.
The shifts toward movement and progress are welcome. Yet the challenges of the New Moon made it impossible for me to recommend an electional chart for setting intentions and making wishes.
I am cautious about what I recommend and it was too difficult to find a chart that separated the Moon from Mars, put the Moon in a good house, and enhanced connections to Venus or Jupiter.
As an example, the best chart I was able to find was just before the Crescent Moon with the Moon applying to conjunct Venus in the first Whole Sign house. This sounds great except Venus and the Moon will be conjunct the South Node and opposite the North. The Nodes are unpredictable in their influence, so I chose not to bring a chart forward.
Does this mean we can’t make wishes or set intentions? Not at all. There are still reasonable times to do this, even without the extra oomph a good electional chart can offer.
Since the New Moon is on a Wednesday, we won’t reach the Moon’s Day, which is Monday, until the Crescent phase. But every day includes planetary hours, times dedicated to each of the seven traditional planets.
If you’re new to planetary hours, consult the Lunarium website (https://www.lunarium.co.uk/planets/hours.jsp). This site lists the planetary hours (once you enter your location and the date you want). It also offers simple explanations of what planetary hours are and how they’re calculated.
You can also continue with whatever approaches you’re used to and not worry about electing an appropriate time. Or choose to forego your New Moon intention rituals and instead focus in on what comes your way to be experienced.
There will be plenty going on.
The astrological charts are my own. The images in this post include the title,
adapted from an osprey by Jeremy Hynes,
and the following images:
Mars by NASA,
the fighter by Lorenzo Fattò Offidani,
and a queen by Honey Yanibel Minaya Cruz