A New Moon of Inner Initiative

Saturday’s New Moon has some very interesting astrological features, all pointing to it’s being time to begin doing some serious interior work. For one thing, this New Moon takes place in inner-oriented Pisces, and square to Mars in the last degree of Sagittarius, just before Mars enters Capricorn that same morning. This implies studied activity in pursuit of spiritual goals. The Sun and Moon of this New Moon are also found in close aspect to startling and revelatory Uranus, plus in conjunction there in Pisces with Chiron, the Wounded Healer, which speaks to the concept of unearthing old trauma for the purpose of moving beyond it. Finally, the new planet Eris, representing a Feminine Warrior energy in support of soul intention, is extremely activated in this timing also, being closely aspected by retrograde Jupiter in Scorpio to within a minute of a degree. This brings out the urgent desire to make something concretely happen in your life that is consistent with your deep-seated goals. All in all, you are being enjoined by the Universe to take a stand for yourself by coming to a more complete understanding of who you truly are, inside and out, and by better navigating the persistent presence in your life of ancient wounding, which until you can get a handle on can be crippling and disruptive to your natural arc of development.

The powerful Mars presence also suggests the possibility of anger coming to the fore in our interpersonal relationships. This “last-chance” degree of Mars in Sagittarius, in the very timing of the New Moon earlier on Saturday, suggests a final attempt at understanding where our inner anger lies. Just like other manifestations of unresolved childhood trauma, anger usually arises from somewhere deep inside ourselves, from feelings of lack, creating responses that might be triggered by certain aggravating situations but are not caused by them. Self-control and a more responsive attitude come to us when we can pay attention to the inner priority of thoroughly knowing ourselves, and our feelings of insufficiency in the deeper layers of our personalities. The struggle is difficult but well worth the effort, in terms of the inner peace that it may bring.

Venus is interesting too, in this New Moon configuration, because uncharacteristically overtaking Mercury ahead of her in Aries, as Mercury slows down. We are thoughtful in relationship attitudes now, and in our appreciation of our deepest values. Mercury is moving slowly because preparing for its prolonged retrograde for the remainder of this month – beginning on the 22nd – and all through the next, before finally regaining its lost zodiacal longitude in early May. The Mercury Retrograde period represents an introspective time, when you will be challenged to improve your comprehension of and your familiarity with your own depths.

The Sabian Symbol for this New Moon is also of interest. It is, for the twenty-seventh degree of Pisces, “A harvest Moon.” This symbol, referring to the Full Moon of September, relates to the gathering of the fruits of our deeds and our reflections upon them. If we have a difficult experience, and we do not learn from it, then our time and effort that we have been forced to give was indeed wasted. Marc Edmond Jones has this to say: “life’s moments of culmination [serve us] as the threshold of new achievement, rather than any canceling out of experience.” This idea sums up what we are after. The Universe is benevolent, always, and yet fully demands our conscious participation. When we can take our life experience through the mill of our studied attention to result in a new knowing, and then follow that up by acting in alignment with this hard-won inner wisdom, then we have in the highest sense done the deed we are being called upon to perform.