Every month the moon and the sun align, blackening the night sky. For a moment the moon disappears entirely, only to re-emerge looking liked a clipped, finger nail hanging in the sky.
New moons are considered the most auspicious time to plant new seeds and set new intentions, start new endeavours, new projects, or manifest more energy into your life. This fresh-start vibe, is like a monthly, cosmic re-boot, but to best take advantage of this moment, first we need to consider what sign it is occurring in.
This month the New Moon is in forward thinking Aquarius. Aquarius is renowned for its unique, rebellious energy, and thinking outside the box. A humanitarian at heart, with a larger worldview, Aquarius can offer innovative ideas, advances in technology and moments of breakthrough, or just plain genius. But more than that, the deeper essence of Aquarius wants us to be authentic. We are meant to be humans “being,” not humans “doing”. So how can we connect more deeply and embrace more of our authentic self.
Before we explore the themes of this Aquarian New Moon more deeply, we also need to look at the other planetary patterns in the sky. The last few years have been somewhat intense and the start of this year has been no exception. We started the new year with Jupiter moving into Pisces, Venus retrograde, Mercury turning retrograde and a Sun-Pluto conjunction. On top of this, most of this intense planetary traffic has been travelling through Capricorn, over the same locations as the super-intense 2020 activity.
The frustrating energy of the Saturn-Uranus square that marked most of 2021, is still holding within five degrees and this New Moon has decided to join them, smack bang in the middle, at 12 degrees Aquarius. Both of these planets rule Aquarius, Saturn the traditional ruler and Uranus the modern ruler.
Saturn’s territory is structure, hard work, habits and dedication, whilst Uranus’s territory is freedom, breakthrough, rebellion and sudden change. This is a most uncomfortable conversation, and can cause an awful lot of tension and irritability. I describe this energy as holding on, whilst letting go.
To better understand what gifts, or opportunities this New Moon brings, requires reading and assessing all these planetary signatures. Venus has been retrograde since the middle of December, going direct only a couple of days before the New Moon. Venus retrograde asks us to go inward and review, revisit, reevaluate and reset our values. This timing feels significant, as the New Moon asks us to connect with its rulers and the Saturn-Uranus square.
Square energy asks us which side of the equation have we been on. These two planets and signs are at odds with one another, and there is ongoing friction, or a lack of mutual understanding. As a result, we often find ourselves sitting more comfortably on one side of the equation. Have you been more on the Saturn side and been focused on hard work, determination, structure, routines and daily habits, or have you been more on the Uranian side, more independent, free thinking, questioning authority and breaking the rules to follow your own path. One is not better than the other and both need integration.
The New Moon occurs on Tuesday, February 1st at 5.00pm, marking the beginning of a new, yearly lunation cycle; also celebrated as Chinese New Year (Year of the Water Tiger.) Inviting us to dream big and lay down our intentions for what we wish to manifest in 2022, the Saturn conjunction to the New Moon may bring a sense of heaviness, also offering both practicality and responsibility to the future plans and goals developed at this time. Mercury is still retrograde for a few days, hovering beside Pluto, and may bring some wisdom, or clarity surrounding some past period you’ve been reflecting upon.
After reassessing our values with the Venus retrograde, we are now asked “what do we want to hold onto and what do we want to let go?” Is it time to be conservative, or time to take risks. After time spent developing individuality and questioning authority, is it time to buckle down, work, and develop structures that will support your vision or dreams for the future, or perhaps you have been working hard in a set routine and structured situation and it’s time to let go and explore your unique identity, becoming more of who you were born to be. This is a time for breaking out of comfort zones, breaking away from the old, inviting in the new, and building foundations that are more aligned with who you are becoming.
