by Robert Wilkinson
Over the next 4 weeks, the New Moon in Aquarius indicates we need to renounce old social roles, and step into a new individuality by reclaiming something of ourselves we lost while trying to play those roles. We can still get a tremendous amount of work done, as well as embrace "a cosmic visitation" that shows us the way to greater practical effectiveness and stability. This could describe the coming Year of the Water Dragon!
This New Moon in Aquarius will help us see a greater way to contribute to our society or culture, and provide power, even if it seems a bit unbalanced. This can help us figure out what the recent Sagittarius Eclipses and the follow up Capricorn period were all about, and shows us things to come in as we resume our path to a greater stability, harmony, and understanding of the new standards we aspire to live. Based in what decans the planets are in, it'll be a time of very action oriented spiritualizing and harmonizing understanding.
The Light of this New Moon shines on a greater ideal of group work or larger service, with tremendous growth through seeing how the past has fed this future, and reclaiming the power of timeless knowledge and wisdom as conditioning forces giving us a vaster perspective on what we're here to do. There is tremendous potential for coming to a clear understanding of how to make things work on practical levels, so keep it organized and balanced and you'll receive rewards for your courage in seeing the broader context of your life mission and executing what it takes to move toward that vision, or move that vision forward.
The New Moon occurs at 3 Aquarius on 11:39 pm PST January 22, 2012, and January 23, 2:39 am EST and 7:39 am Greenwich. 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 in Pakistan and India, setting in Tokyo, Brisbane, and Wellington, on the nadir on the west coast of North America, and rising in Rio, Lisbon, London, Amsterdam, and Berlin.
The Lunation finds 24 Libra rising in Santa Monica, 18 Libra in Vancouver, 26 Scorpio in Montreal, 26 Scorpio in Washington DC, 22 Capricorn in Rio, 29 Capricorn in Lisbon, 26 Capricorn in London, 2 Aquarius in Amsterdam, 16 Aquarius in Berlin, 28 Aquarius in Tallinn, 13 Pisces in Sofia, 28 Pisces in Cairo, and 26 Pisces rising in Johannesburg.
Moving into Asia and Oceana, we find Ascendants at 27 Taurus in Abbottabad, 28 Taurus in New Delhi, 19 Taurus in Trivandrum, 15 Gemini in Bangkok, 2 Cancer in Hong Kong, 30 Cancer in Tokyo, 10 Gemini in Perth, 2 Cancer in Melbourne, 17 Cancer in Brisbane, 1 Leo in Wellington, and 22 Virgo rising on Maui (22 January.)
This is the seventeenth 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 New Moon at 3 Aquarius jumpstarts Aquarius energy wherever it falls in our chart. As I mentioned earlier, this period involves stepping outside of old social roles and reclaiming a part of ourselves that is more a part of our true nature than anything we're leaving behind. Here we can synthesize our vision to a greater way to contribute to our world as a result of some cosmic challenge that created developments in our life that mobilized us to act.
This Lunation puts the focus on harvesting what we need to move into a new reality. It opens a different integrated view of the established truths in our life connected to the initiatives and new beginnings opened by the inner planet conjunctions with Jupiter in Aries last Spring. These began to be substantiated and solidified during the time Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Mars transited Taurus in May, and began to be established as a potential when Jupiter entered Taurus in June.
Since August, we've been tending our "garden of life and personality" (or not!) What we have cared for since then is moving swiftly forward now that Jupiter in Taurus is direct in motion.
Here's more backstory on Jupiter this past year. Jupiter entered Aries in January, ending an old vision and quest forever while setting the tone for the new initiatives since then. In 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. These different perspectives have assisted the past to give way to the present which is rapidly blossoming into radical new futures.
This New Moon has an actional, material plane focus. As it falls in Aquarius, Saturn and Uranus are the worldly and spiritual ruler of this New Moon. That makes the Saturn triseptile Uranus in this chart - (more here) - especially powerful, as are the other aspects to both of these from the other planets.
So the backdrop to this Lunation is irrational, cooperative-collective, destiny-producing, and liberates the energy of new identities, new initiatives, new approaches to recent manifestations of personal archetypes, and offers everyone a new direction. Be responsible in your choices, since this one sprouts some seeds of power!
Neptune and Chiron at the Cusp of the Age:
This is the final New Moon with Neptune in Aquarius for the next 150 years. 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. Since August, we've been given one last look back at a greater ideal, and been given many changes to break out of our "chrysalis" and transform how we live and all our relationships. That is now established in the collective consciousness, as well as a growing sense of the larger light field in which all sentient Beings live and love.
If you want to know what's coming for many years to come, take a look back at the intuitions and sense of belonging to a vaster interrelated whole you were shown in May, June, and July. It may help to give a sense of our collective lesson in 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 that both Neptune and Chiron were in early Pisces, we were offered chances to learn about bargaining and trade-offs, with the ultimate payoff a deeper and larger feeling of being connected to others. During the last half of 2011, Neptune retrograded back to 29 Aquarius, the degree where humanity was forced to emerge from its "chrysalis" as a new world is being born.
Chiron retrograded back to 1 Pisces. So those two dancing together have kept us attuned to elements of this transitional span of experience for all of 2011 as we prepared to cut loose into the Neptune in Pisces era for many years to come.
Over the past year both both Neptune and Chiron have shown us our unique part to play within a larger light/life field. These planets, at the beginning of Pisces and end of Aquarius, occupy degrees representing "the Cusp of the Age," the span where the Age of Pisces and the Age of Aquarius meet. From one point of view, where we've been collectively since February 2011 has shown us what the period of (approximately) 1990-2140 is all about in the broader context of human evolution. I suspect that future generations will look back at 2011 as being crucial in showing long range patterns of larger evolutionary necessities.
Neptune and Chiron dancing between signs on "the Cusp of the Age" has had the effect of making it seem like we're all occupying a very weird dreamscape which we'll be navigating for years to come. The trick for us is to 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.
During the year they have danced together in this critical degree span, they have provided us a bridge to understanding the global lessons we all must embrace, and helped us 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.
More About Saturn's Universally Important Influence
Though not as prominent as when it was the nozzle for all the other planetary energies (returning for the last time December 2012 through February 2013, but in Scorpio), we'll continue to put a spotlight on Saturn in Libra, the cosmic timekeeper, since it does rule this Lunation in worldly affairs. In general, Saturn shows us the ongoing lessons and limitations within the larger field of existence. Saturn will continue to be in Libra through early October 2012.
Saturn 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.
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 continued to be prominent through Summer 2011, when we began a time of finishing paying dues and move into repairing or restoring something.
Saturn got to 18 Libra in January 2011 before it went retrograde. It retraced its path between 18 and 11 Libra from January through June, when it went direct, and re-traced its path between 11 and 18 Libra for the third time through September. So Saturn more or less finished the lessons based in the duties, responsibilities, and sense of limits set into motion in January by October. These were 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.
Due to 28 Libra becoming a hot zone when Venus went stationary direct on that degree in November 2010, many have been through various points of feeling isolated, alone, or cut off from friendly energies since then. That began to give way in December 2011 to seeing the life that's surrounds us, and finding ways to recognize our connectedness with the friendly energies around us. Here our ability to open ourselves to a greater Spiritual Destiny has offered sustainment and revelations, so see how things have been or are getting better, if gradually. If offered help, it's a good thing not to refuse!
The past several weeks began a 9 month process of feeling like we "belong," and know a sense of inner assurance we haven't known up to now. I spoke extensively about Saturn's influence in the recent past in Happy Winter Solstice 2011 so check it out, since those planetary influences are still in full force through the next 8 weeks. We'll prove how adept we have been at learning these Saturn lessons in March and April, getting ready to cut loose into a full embrace of our willingness to embrace conscious community by September-October 2012.
It is now at 30 Libra, and we are now in a new phase of Saturn in Libra lessons we'll be dealing with through October 2012. Saturn in this Lunation chart indicates we are coming to a form of philosophical completion and an ability to see things holistically.
Many will be able to read meanings in symbols and things, and will move beyond knowledge into true balanced understanding. We can recognize a cosmic order in things, and use that to reorder our world. Here we perfect our integrity, and in doing so find a gift for furthering what we want in the way of a more ideal reality.
As Saturn is the worldly ruler of this New Moon, it shows that when we are 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.
So as you open to the first New Moon of 2012, take stock of what you've been learning and put it together in a larger holistic understanding. In 2011 we learned about karmic consequences from a wider angle of view, while playing by the rules of whatever system we've been dealing with, or acting within, showing as much balance, grace, and equipoise as we could, 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 complete our understanding of our connectedness with our inner Self and the supportive life energies around us to find a greater assurance and the other qualities I spoke of a few paragraphs back.
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 27 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.
A Little More About the Recent Past As Prologue
While not exactly related to this New Moon, it's still within the long wave influence of the Gemini Solar Eclipse in June which triggered the Grand Irrationality. Between that intense activation showing as hectic intense bursts that often made no sense during the past 8 months and the current off and on patterns of other planets in irrational relationships, choose wisely, since the past months and current weeks challenge us to find ways to liberate ourselves from unhelpful views and attitudes while staying on track with the new elements that have presented themselves over the past 8 months.
As noted, Autumn was a time to cultivate the "plants in our garden of personality and life" that will be what we draw on in 2012. At this point in the process many have experienced one or two "cosmic visitations" that have changed their lives in big ways. As Jupiter strengthens that theme in this New Moon, it continues to be a major transformation time that will have wide-reaching ripples throughout the first half of 2012!
Last August put us all through "a liberating ordeal," leading us to be freed from old social rigidities and finding joy in fellowship with new associates with whom we can work and play. We've now been practicing skills we learned in August, being efficient so that much could move forward in mid-November. This wave will last through mid-April 2012.
Over the past 7 months Jupiter has shown us a greater life dedication, how to find hope and/or happiness in the face of coldness or barrenness, and how to cultivate purity of heart and faith in a transformed future. We were also shown how to use knowledge and skill to anticipate the future, allow a new quality of being to supersede an old lesser order, and through releasing elements of the past, find our "pot of gold at the end of the rainbow" where we have accepted the Divine workings that show us who we are and who we aren't.
Now that Jupiter is direct in motion, we are launched into our 2012 Jupiterian adventure. Through early June, open to larger ideas, larger opportunities, larger understanding, larger ways to look at resources and values, and larger futures.
We originally entered this phase of concretizing a better life between early June and late August 2011. We got a different perspective from August through December, and have now commenced a third pass across the first 11 degrees of Taurus.
This helps us demonstrate mastery of what Jupiter's been teaching us through the coming Vernal Equinox on March 19, 2012. We've now had opportunities to enter into a creative partnership with Nature Herself, and could see where we can naturally "pour ourselves out" into some way to manifest our Soul.
So contemplate the wreckage of 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. From here it all becomes much more solid and stable, and leads to numerous new discoveries beginning June 2012.
Overall, due to the mix of Virgo, Libra, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, and Taurus energies, this will be a very naturally grounded, practical, and inventive New Moon period. As the energies are almost completely in the signs representing the "not-self," we will open to other possibilities and views rather than merely reference our own.
We have some fairly heavy aspects forming in this Lunation, which I'll speak about in the next part of this series. To whet your appetite, the major influences are Mercury trine Mars and square Saturn, Venus opposed Mars, Jupiter trine Pluto, Saturn triseptile Uranus (spoken of earlier) and trine Neptune, and the ever ominous Uranus square Pluto. Jupiter trine Pluto and Saturn trine Neptune both bring understanding and harmony to what anchors the Grand Irrationality, and with the other aspects, there will be some very important forks in the road of destiny we will confront over the next few weeks that cast the die for years to come.
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 4 weeks to come.
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 2012 Robert Wilkinson
Great article as always and thanks for the links to the older posts. I am part of a generation that has Saturn soon retrograding to conjunct natal Neptune (people born in the early 1950's). I notice a lot of insights and feelings. It's interesting. I had this experience in my late twenties also. Top it all off with this, Saturn is about to make his second return in 2 degrees Scorpio 9th house. Any comments?
Ever your biggest fan, Valerie :)
Posted by: Valerie | January 23, 2012 at 10:43 AM
Thank you for sharing your work..
Posted by: Chrissie | January 23, 2012 at 11:40 AM