On Sunday, February 26, just before 10:00 am EST, the New Moon in Pisces arrives. Resting in the midst of large group of planets and points in Pisces, the Sun and Moon go very deep at this New Moon. This is a Moon for dreamers.
Pisces, last sign of the Zodiac, is the place of dissolution. Having made the journey from birth (in Aries) through each of the signs, gaining wisdom and experience along the way, we reach the place where we release it all back to the cosmos and prepare to start anew. So Pisces is a place of both loss and connection. Having absorbed all we can on our trip around the Wheel, we come down into the oceanic depths, join with All That Is, and let go.
The Sun and Moon, conjunct at 8 degrees of Pisces, sit between the South Node of the Moon and Neptune. Some months ago, Neptune was conjunct the South Node. I wrote then about how important it was to balance our relationship with the past (which the South Node represents).
With foggy, dreamy, glamorous Neptune sitting with the past, the temptation to look back to a Golden Age could be overwhelming. Whether we longed for a time when America was Great, or a time when civil society was actually (mostly) civil, or simply a time when things seemed less perilous, the past called to us with a siren song. This New Moon draws us back to that point. How do we feel about the past now? How has our context changed?
Remember New Moons are times for planting seeds. We make wishes and set intentions. Perhaps among our seeds this month we’ll include the intention to learn more about the real past, the parts we were not taught in school, the parts we don’t see because they don’t affect our lives, the parts powerful others would prefer to keep buried.
This is a time when we are able to look carefully at the past. On each side of the South Node and Neptune, we find Mercury and the asteroid Pallas Athena. Mercury has just left the lofty heights of Aquarius to enter the murkier waters of Pisces, but still brings his facile wit and quick perceptions to bear. Pallas Athena holds the cool intellectual stance of her namesake, ready to make a dispassionate assessment of any situation.
All of these–Mercury, South Node, Neptune, and Pallas Athena–are close enough to be considered conjunct this New Moon. This is a powerful cluster that sets the tone for a time of strong dreams that have the potential to create greater clarity.
Last but hardly least, we find Chiron the Wounded Healer in Pisces. Too far from the Sun and Moon to be conjunct, he still adds gravitas to the large group in Pisces. He lets us know that what we learn at this New Moon might feel painful, but has within it the seeds of healing. He also alerts us to the fact that what comes up for us now has links to our personal past as well as our collective past.
We know this New Moon has deep roots and a long reach because we will also experience an annular solar eclipse. This “ring of fire” eclipse will only be visible in the Southern Hemisphere, but that does nothing to reduce its astrological impact.
Eclipses extend the reach of any Moon they accompany for about six months, and also repeat over a longer cycle. Each belongs to a Saros cycle in which that eclipse, whether solar or lunar, returns to roughly the same part of the sky. That return happens on the metonic cycle of 19 years. This solar eclipse is part of Saros 140. Previous eclipses occurred February 16, 1999, February 4, 1981, and January 5, 1963 (and so on). If any of those dates are significant in your history, this eclipse could offer some kind of echo of whatever happened back then.
This is also the last of the current eclipses in Virgo and Pisces. By August, when the next pair of eclipses appear, the Nodes of the Moon will be firmly in Leo and Aquarius. The first eclipse in this round of Virgo–and–Pisces eclipses began in late March of 2015. It’s possible that this New Moon + eclipse could refer back to, reactivate, or bring to completion something that was happening for us then.
The New Moon links back to the past in many ways. And yet, we also look forward into the future. We are less than halfway through Saros 140, which continues until the year 2774. The future has its fiery fingers all over this Moon, and we look at those patterns now.
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Revolutionary Uranus still sits with chaotic Eris. At the New Moon, they are joined by Mars, all three in Aries, which Mars rules. This puts a lot of Fire smoldering right next to the large group in Water. Uranus is a strong, electric, pushy energy for change. He is radical, the first planet discovered when the telescope was invented, at a time in history when countries were overthrowing hereditary monarchs in favor of more democratic forms of government. At this time, the notion of inalienable human rights began to surface. The idea of the modern individual, a person with the ability to chart his own destiny, was born.
Uranus wants each of us to express who we truly are in the world, proud, out loud, and yesterday. Patience is not in his vocabulary; neither is calm. Eris is a chaos goddess who likes to stir things up. And Mars is a fighter and a trailblazer. At this New Moon, we may revisit the past but we will not stay there. The powerful dreams we have will be lit from within with images and impulses we recognize as messages from the future, or maybe from the now.
Another strong energy is present. Jupiter continues to oppose Uranus, Eris, and now, Mars, from the calmer, more harmonious shores of Libra. He had his work cut out for him to hold all that Fire in check, but at least he can introduce a creative vibe to whatever the three in Aries want to do.
My usual recommendations apply: Knowing where this New Moon falls in your birth chart will help you plan for the kinds of seed you might want to plant. The New Moon Wishes page and Astrology Resources page include guidelines on preparing for the New Moon and links for getting a copy of your chart if you don’t have one.
This is a time for making peace with the past. Not by shoving things under the rug, but by holding our experiences gently while seeing their context in a new light. With the help of this New Moon and solar eclipse, we can feel a strong release of what we are ready to let go, that allows us to follow the Uranian mandate to embrace our true self and let it shine.