by Robert Wilkinson
Over the next 4 weeks, the New Moon in Scorpio indicates we need to unite with other members of our Soul group, conscious fellowship, and/or those who share our Heart Fire. Expect culminations and radical shifts in direction as you find self confidence, discipline, and deep insights.
The New Moon occurs at 4 Scorpio on October 26, 2011, 12:56 pm PDT, 3:56 pm EDT, 8:56 pm Greenwich (27 October in Pakistan and points east.) When a Lunation is on one of the angles of a chart, it is said to be particularly powerful. This month the Lunation is culminating on the west coast of North America, setting in Rio, on the nadir in eastern Europe, Pakistan, and west India, and rising on a line from Tokyo to eastern Australia.
The Lunation finds 18 Capricorn rising in Santa Monica, 1 Capricorn in Vancouver, 3 Pisces in Toronto, 12 Pisces in Montreal, 9 Pisces in Washington DC, 19 Aries in Rio, 6 Cancer in London, 11 Cancer in Amsterdam, 18 Cancer in Berlin, 4 Leo in Tallinn, 18 Cancer in Sofia, 18 Cancer in Cairo, and 21 Gemini rising in Johannesburg.
Moving into Asia and Oceana, we find Ascendants at 25 Leo in Abbottabad, 26 Leo in New Delhi, 21 Leo in Trivandrum, 15 Virgo in Bangkok, 29 Virgo in Hong Kong, 20 Libra in Tokyo, 30 Virgo in Perth, 15 Scorpio in Melbourne, 19 Scorpio in Brisbane, 22 Sagittarius in Wellington, and 20 Sagittarius rising on Maui (26 October.)
This is the fourteenth in a sequence of New Moons that fall in the same sign as the following Full Moon. It is the next in the 12 phases of how things come to be each year. The cycle could be described as follows: Life energy is initiated in Aries, substantiated in Taurus, explored in Gemini, grounded in Cancer, renewed and creatively expressed in Leo, refined and ordered in Virgo, balanced in Libra, purified in Scorpio, expanded in Sagittarius, organized in Capricorn, solidified into a vision in Aquarius, and ended/perpetuated in Pisces.
This Lunation jumpstarts Scorpio energy wherever it falls in our chart. This period involves learning techniques of seeing things symbolically, and perfecting some specialized function through concentration of energy and elimination of outworn things and ways of doing things. Here we take a closer look at the conflicts from increasing pressure, and find a new way of serving our world and heart's creative needs.
Jupiter entered Aries in January, ending an old vision and quest forever while setting the tone for the new initiatives since then. In April and May we mobilized and acquired some of what we need to further those initiatives over the next year, and in June sorted out what we need to leave behind while asserting our rights in order to grow through new experiences, new situations, and new understanding.
We had opportunities to become more perfect in some way in July, and the eclipses of June and July have already shut some things down forever. These changes, along with the introduction of new ideas, values, and ways of doing our Being assisted the past to give way to the present which is rapidly blossoming into radical new futures.
As Libra is the sign through which Aries externalizes, last month was the first surfacing of forms of those new initiatives. Now comes the concentration of energy through eliminating all that is not necessary to substantiating those initiatives. As this Lunation falls in opposition to Jupiter in Taurus, it brings a very "bright focus" on the bridge building skills needed to move across obstacles.
This New Moon has an actional, material, physical level focus. As it falls in Scorpio, Mars is the ruler of this New Moon, and it's in Mutual Reception with the Sun. This makes it and the Sun the most powerful and influential backdrop energy to what all the other planets indicate is coming over these next 4 weeks.
Mars is in its "joy" in Leo, so you can bet the coming month will be about your heart's message striving to come forth, releasing your potential as a world servant. Leo tends to be generous and magnanimous in its expression, so during this time we will see highly productive specialized ways of expression released through a culmination and turning point in our relationships, values, and ways of seeing and/or understanding these. The extremely dynamic square of Mercury and Venus in Scorpio to Mars, along with the Lunation in Scorpio exactly quintile Mars, shows it's time to get a different view and way of expressing our magnetism.
This is the third of 6 New Moons with Neptune back at the end of Aquarius. We had Neptune in Pisces for the 3 New Moons for May, June, and July 2011 which gave us a front end look at how Neptune will function through 2025, so take a look back at the intuitions and sense of belonging to a vaster interrelated whole you were shown in those months. It may help to give a sense of our collective lessons dissolving our separateness as we finish this transition through "the Winter of the 21st Century" on our way to Spring, beginning in 2025!
During those months, Neptune and Chiron both in early Pisces offered us chances to learn about bargaining and trade-offs, with the ultimate payoff a deeper and larger feeling of being connected to others. Now Chiron has returned to 1 Pisces, approaching its station at "The Cusp of the Age," (the span where the Age of Pisces and the Age of Aquarius meet), and Neptune is at 29 Aquarius, its stationary degree where humanity is emerging from its "chrysalis" as a new world is being born.
Over the past year both of these planets have shown us our unique part to play within a larger light/life field. These planets, being on "the cusp of the Age," have shown us global lessons we all must embrace, and help us to graduate into a new view of how we are an essential part of a greater whole. I'll give you links to articles explaining more about "the cusp of the Age" at the end of this article.
Though not as prominent as when it was the nozzle for all the other planetary energies, we'll continue to put a spotlight on Saturn in Libra, the cosmic timekeeper. Saturn shows us the ongoing lessons and limitations within the larger field of existence. Saturn will continue to be in Libra through late 2012.
Saturn, though no longer the nozzle of prior Lunation Bucket Jones patterns, continues to be a very powerful influence since it is in its sign of "exaltation." That means Saturn's discipline and personal power focus is able to become very effective as it shows balance, rhythm, moderation, and reasonableness in how we demonstrate it. In this chart it is also the leading planet for the occupied half of the chart, showing it's how we'll approach our experience that we'll release through Mars in Leo, the current nozzle for all the other planetary energies.
What we learned from Saturn in Virgo in 2007-2009 got refined by Saturn in Libra between November 2009 and April 2010, which was a front end look at what we've been dealing with since August 2010 when our Libra archetypes got into gear at the Mars conjunct Saturn at 1 Libra. These early Libra lessons have continued to be prominent through Summer 2011.
It got to 18 Libra in January before it went retrograde. It retraced its path between 18 and 11 Libra from January through June, when it went direct, preparing to re-trace its path between 11 and 18 Libra for the third time. It is now at 22 Libra, and therefore we continue this new phase of Saturn in Libra lessons we'll be dealing with for the next year.
Saturn in this Lunation chart indicates we need to pay attention to issues concerning what we care about, and how we can bring what is needed to those who "thirst for it." Here we see what others need for a form of life renewal, and find what we have received from Spirit to offer to others. We can now reconstruct something on a social or emotional level that helps us understand the welfare of the individual is intertwined with the welfare of the whole.
It's a time to find a simple and "intuitive understanding" of something of Spiritual importance. We can get a "fresh grasp of the Soul's needs," as well as a "youthful life enjoyment" that can renew our willingness to serve in a creative way.
Saturn has now finished the lessons based in the duties, responsibilities, and sense of limits set into motion in January. These are related to understanding consequences from past actions and inactions, as well as the need to be aware of future consequences for our actions or the actions of another. Links to this at the bottom of this article.
Since Saturn leads the occupied span that focuses through Mars, when confronted with the need to deal with something or someone in a firm but fair manner, reference Saturn in Libra and the lessons of balance, justice, proportion, and moderation in judgment you've been learning. Naturally, the usual Saturn keywords will be crucial to effective behavior - patience, discipline, organization, patience, maturity, wisdom, patience, authority, responsibility, and of course, patience.
The Gemini Solar Eclipse in June triggered the Grand Irrationality, which is why there have been hectic intense bursts that often made no sense during the past 17 weeks. Since that Eclipse lasts for many months, keep finding ways to liberate yourself from unhelpful views and attitudes while staying on track with the new elements that have presented themselves over the past 5 months.
We've had to understand karmic consequences from a wider angle of view, while learning the rules of whatever system we've been dealing with, or acting within, showing as much balance, grace, and equipoise as you can, given Saturn's penchant for heaviness. We are all learning a lot about Dharma during Saturn's stay in Libra, as well as what we should not be trying to prop up through a misplaced sense of responsibility or obligation. If we run into roadblocks or delays, it should tell us a lot about patience, as well as what limitations and burdens we can live with and what we cannot.
As noted in previous articles, Saturn continues to usher in allies, friends, fellow truth-seekers, more balanced views, and corrective actions as techniques for community building or group awareness. Since January 2010, "greatness calling itself to itself" has been in the air, and we completed major lessons around that theme between January and September 2010.
All the transfigurations in our actions and relationships we've done since January 2011 have led us to do some "repair work," where we confronted the consequences of past actions, whether our own or another's. The repair work could as easily be in the realm of our inner self as in outer affairs.
We've had opportunities to retire from old dramas to free energy to reconstruct elements of our life that bring us joy. Summer 2011 set the foundations of how to express ourselves with understanding, patience, and kindness, and now is the time to see how we can begin a natural form of self expression to demonstrate caring and "solicitude."
Though not specifically related to this New Moon, as with recent New Moon articles, here's some backstory to what we've all been learning via Saturn these past 24 months.
Starting October 2009 Saturn began to show us new archetypes, perspectives, or roles, as well as larger cycles, larger possibilities, and the dawning of a new day in our lives. Between January and early April 2010, due to Saturn retrograde, we re-traced the ground of the "first run" of manifesting a new ideal, a new archetype, and a new sense of self within interpersonal and collective circumstances.
We revisited and finished up our Saturn in Virgo lessons between April and July 2010, at which time Saturn re-entered Libra and began to firm up our new archetypal expressions. This was activated in a powerful way in late July when Mars entered Libra and conjuncted Saturn at the critical first degree. Since then we've experienced a new set of life expressions. Once Mars conjuncted Uranus at 1 Aries in early April, those energies began to surface in new and individualized ways.
Taken together, we're all living a new archetype, and at the same time have been letting go of parts of our past that have no more place in our lives, freeing ourselves from old pressures and burdens we no longer need to bear, and slowly but surely stabilizing our understanding of our inner balance, or balanced perspectives.
Overall, due to the mix of Capricorn, Aquarius, Aries, Taurus, Leo, Libra, and Scorpio energies, this will be a very naturally creative-expressive New Moon period. The energies are fairly well balanced between self and others, inner and outer. The major squares between Mercury and Venus in Scorpio and Mars in Leo shows that it's a fairly important turning point in our ambitions and values, and for many it's a new day. Just look for the message from Spirit confirming your blessing at having made it through your crises with strength, courage, and determination to serve the highest.
This time is still one of looking back even as we move forward in the now toward the future we've already glimpsed. This time will show us a deeper symbolism to things, as well as a way to value cooperation to achieve a form of continuity in our evolution. Creative releases of energy will show us how to be creative and play at the same time as we deliver or receive a message.
This Autumn is a time to cultivate the "plants in our garden of personality and life" that will be what we draw on in 2012. Here we apply skill in solving some problem by linking up with others who have needed skills in that area. This period activates the Spiritual lessons set up at Mercury's stationary direct point in late August.
We're now having to apply those lessons, which involved being freed from old social rigidities and finding joy in fellowship with new associates with whom we can work and play. August was a "liberating ordeal" that led us to new insights and information. This is the time to express those lessons, insights, and ways of coordinating our life more effectively. By mid-November we'll know what skills we learned in August that we'll have to use efficiently between mid-November and mid-April 2012.
While September was a very solid and practical time that helped us stabilize the seeds of our future due to the very grounding and auspicious Grand Earth trine, October helped us curb certain seeds and cultivate those that offer the most promise of us getting what we need. Jupiter has now retrograded back to an exact trine to Pluto, The trine will hold through March 2012, so again, tend your garden!
Over the past three months Jupiter showed us how to find hope and/or happiness in the face of coldness or barrenness, cultivate purity of heart, and faith in a transformed future. We were shown through Jupiterian themes the way to "immortality through giving of self to the race." These were further developed in late September and early October, with a final practice to be demonstrated in March 2012.
In this chart Jupiter is at 6 Taurus, back from its late August stationary retrograde degree of 11 Taurus. That marked a threshold point, showing us the Jupiterian lessons we'll be dealing with through the coming Vernal Equinox on March 19, 2012. Those involved seeing how we can enter into a creative partnership with Nature Herself, and figure out where we can naturally "pour ourselves out" into some way to manifest our Soul.
Be generous of Spirit, show care, and the rewards will be great. Be a good steward, and build so that the good works will endure well into the future. This month we get new views on how we can join with others to conquer a form of "separativeness through group-cooperation." Through the projects we accept that truly help others, we can lose all sense of separateness.
This time should be fairly productive, even if there is a lot of tension and separations from illusions. Cooperation breeds evolution, and problems can be solved by applied cooperative intelligence and skills. Find projects that benefit the evolutionary needs of self and/or others, and this time of applied skill will yield rewards by late November and early December.
We went through some major turning points in June and July and major meltdowns and "liberating ordeals" in August! The June and July Eclipses set the Grand Irrationality into motion as well as an offset Grand Cardinal Cross. These are both in full force and will be for many months to come, so view this larger time frame as one where our choices set destiny in motion, coupled with major fragmentation of old structures forcing all to turn corners, whether they want to or not.
So contemplate the wreckage of the past months as necessary to make space for the future growth of the new initiatives and expansions originally set into motion between March and May 2011. As noted in other articles, at the current time a sense of order, discipline, self-reliance, and a pioneering attitude are the antidotes for any heaviness, resistance, or sense of being bogged down by lesser things even as greater things beckon.
As I've mentioned over the past several weeks, we're all in a very weird dreamscape and will be for years to come due to Neptune occupying "the Cusp of the Age." Now we can apply our new strengths and understanding freed from the ghosts of the past, and by riding the waves of intense (but curiously steady) pulses of spiritual energies shaping our minds, we can find techniques where our efforts will lead us to forms of good fortune.
In the next part of the series we'll discuss the various aspects at play in the chart, as well as some important degree symbols and other interesting elements affecting all of us for the next few weeks.
Here are two articles related to "the cusp of the Age."
Neptune Then, Neptune Now - The Cusp of the Age of Aquarius
Neptune Retrograde Into Aquarius - A New Look At the New Age This one has links to articles related to this theme, so enjoy following the breadcrumbs through the woods of time!
Here are the Saturn articles I promised you earlier:
Saturn Stationary Retrograde at 18 Libra Affecting All Through September 2011 Pt. 1
© Copyright 2011 Robert Wilkinson
Hi Robert!
Very well put the past few months have been a wild ride, indeed! I am just starting to feel the flow again, whew! Just in time. I hope lifeis treating you well, take care.
Peace and love, Nancy
Posted by: Nancy Hawkins | October 24, 2011 at 03:36 PM
These predictions are very interesting. I'm really looking forward on the month of November.
Posted by: Gemini Personality | October 24, 2011 at 07:13 PM
AS a Scorpio Sun and Ascendant, I particularly appreciated this. Last night I dreamt of Us All holding hands in a ring, concentrating the energy to the centre. And I finally stepped off the Atheist platform, as well.
Thank you, Robert.
Love,
Terri in Joburg
Posted by: Aquila ka Hecate | October 24, 2011 at 08:06 PM
It appears that the global financial crisis has come to a boiling point. Major announcements by the IMF, Secretary Geitner, and the Europeans are all set for this Wednesday, exactly on this New Moon. So let us intend that a new spirit of unity will come forth.
"This month we get new views on how we can join with others to conquer a form of "separativeness through group-cooperation." Through the projects we accept that truly help others, we can lose all sense of separateness."
May the World Leaders join together to lose all sense of separateness. Thank you Robert for your always thoughtful insights.
Posted by: dcu | October 24, 2011 at 09:31 PM
There's really nothing about the current astro climate that resonates with me other than the fact that Jupiter in Taurus is teaching me the greatest way forward.
Posted by: Damien | October 24, 2011 at 10:00 PM
Interesting summation...thank you.
So are we to "tend our gardens," (like that idea literally..fall always makes me want to garden and nest around the house) until say the eclipse of Nov? I see one coming...
Not to project ahead or anything..just asking since yesterday was such a crappy day. Wow..we were surrounded by bad news - near death experiences by several loved ones, a cancer diagnosis, mental health meltdowns..it was a storm of a day. Looking forward to a bright new moon and new month.
Posted by: Elizabeth | October 25, 2011 at 11:26 AM
"self confidence and discipline" . . . yup, and it seems like it's been forever since. Why does this state feel so alive and normal? Oooops. I am not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Posted by: caliban | October 25, 2011 at 08:03 PM
wow Robert, this is a more breathtaking report than usual, thank you!
It's definitely interesting times for me, as I've got a Saturn transit writ large, with my 22 Aquarius sun, my natal Uranus at 22 Libra, and Scorpio rising at 2.
Posted by: JP | October 26, 2011 at 01:45 PM