by Robert Wilkinson
New Moon tomorrow! This New Moon puts the focus on creative imagination revealing new realms of being, serving, working, health, and discernment. This is another very beneficial New Moon, even if it will be somewhat disruptive!
This Lunation features a major square between the Sun/Moon and Mars, but as I explained a few days ago in the Sun square Mars article, the Gemini energy is beneficial via the trine from Mercury, sextile to Jupiter, and quintile to Neptune, and the Virgo energy is beneficial through the tredecile to Uranus and biquintile to Pluto. So what is built in Gemini releases through Virgo, and what is built in Virgo releases in Gemini. Still, for the next few days, slow down and show caution, especially when driving or debating points of difference!
The next four weeks will open a lot of doors to a new spontaneity and creativity, so be willing to do whatever you need to do to receive a wisdom streaming into everyone via Jupiter. This month is highly inspired in terms of showing us the vast sweep of the evolutionary process, and promises a lot of favorable progress and stability as the cross currents swirl around, moving the future forward while putting the brakes on old stuff.
This Lunation introduces a new focus wherever we have 5 Virgo, which is an energy of “using imagination to dream a higher way.” While there may be disappointments in human relations, considering the multiple cross currents with a focus on curbing some things until this period passes, we should still have many opportunities to make progress in action if we know “the order of priority” of what needs to be done or postponed. We’re still directly dealing with the recent Taurus eclipses which are removing everything in our “garden of life and mind” past its expiration date while giving us ample opportunities to show we are qualified to occupy our “spiritual office.” We’re now in several months of learning how to utilize spiritual power effectively as a result of recent tests in managing our mind.
An Overview of the New Moon
Today we’ll do an overview of the Lunation and some of its primary qualities. In part 2 we’ll cover Sabian Symbols, aspects, distributions, and patterns.
This distributive, “corner turning,” idealistic and relational New Moon at 5 Virgo occurs at 1:17 am PDT, 9:17 am BST on August 27. We’re now in a time of the year when we have many oppositions to Saturn, Neptune, and Jupiter, with planets spread out among many signs. Because Virgo is a sign of adjustment and practical service, be willing to do whatever you need to do, whether to turn a corner, put the brakes on something, or find multiple angles of approach in dealing with corrections which need to be made.
The Aries energies set into motion when Mars conjuncted Jupiter in Aries has brought us to a more “here and now” action-oriented frame of expansion. When in doubt, have courage to take the initiative to get things in motion, since in the NOW there is no past or future to distract us. We’ve now stabilized those new beginnings, and have begun a time of discovery of new ideas and new ways of viewing how to enjoy ourselves within a new energy field dominated by Leo, Virgo, and Libra transits these next few weeks.
The Spring of 2022 ended a long wave cycle, bringing inspiration, depth, connectedness, and loss all at the same time. Things have opened which will catch fire in 2023. We’re in a time of learning how to manage our emotions and responses on a social level as we find ourselves on a spiritual mountaintop doing purification work. Our recent “reshuffling of the tribes” on a very deep level can now benefit us all through embracing diverse views and approaches.
This New Moon will jumpstart Virgo energy wherever it falls in our chart. Where we have Virgo will be a focus of activity, so open to a new way of serving, or be willing to do some form of practical adjustment which will help you move forward in 2023. As Virgo is a Mutable sign, this Lunation begins a month of practical adjustment which will allow our heart energy to be of greater service in the larger spiritual work.
A Look Back - The Great Compression of 2020 in Capricorn Still Affects Us
In the first 90 days of 2020, we had a “Great Compression” of planets involving Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto all making conjunctions in the last decan of Capricorn, setting off a number of Saturn cycles, one of which will last 33 years! We then began an accelerated phase of our collective spiritual evolution which will take us from the threshold of the Age of Aquarius into the Age itself.
You can find out more about the very powerful Sun, Mercury, and Saturn's conjunctions with Pluto by revisiting The Great Compression of January 2020 – Mercury, Sun, Saturn and Pluto all Conjunct in Capricorn. That lays out the long wave patterns set into motion then.
Because of the Capricorn conjunctions set in motion in 2020, we reorganized our lives wherever we have late Capricorn in our charts. These cycles will impact all of us for some time to come. Especially with three Jupiter conjunctions with Pluto that year, it’s easy to see that for better or worse things were “expansively purified.” All that was promised by these cycles was renewed in late February and early March 2022 as Venus and Mars transited all the conjunction points.
When Mars conjuncted Saturn at 1 Aquarius on March 31, 2020, it set a cycle into motion which began to expand into a global system at the December 2020 Grand Mutation. That Jupiter/Saturn conjunction launched both a new 20 year Aquarian cycle AND a new 200 year era of Jupiter/Saturn conjunctions in Air signs. That means no more of the materialism of the past 200 years, with more of a focus on our commonality and ability to share ideas over the next 200! All of this began a new expression when Venus and Mars made their conjunction on that point in early March.
Saturn in Aquarius is leading us to understand a more timeless role to play to help create a better world. What is your purpose? What structures and self-disciplines do you need to fulfill the ideal of that purpose? We began work on those structures in 2020 which led us to a greater vision in 2021. As Venus is now opposed Saturn and Mars is biseptile Saturn, we turn a corner as some things begin to surface which will show us even a disappointment can be turned to good.
Occupied Signs and Oppositions
This year’s inner planet transits have all made oppositions to Saturn, with oppositions to Neptune and Jupiter coming soon. Whatever was set into motion at the conjunctions back in February and March has now begun to surface, creating realizations that some things have to be clarified, some things need to be cut back, and we have to begin to prepare for a slowdown between now and January. This year’s oppositions to Pluto are done, and the oppositions to Uranus won’t happen for another two months.
In this Lunation, the opposition to Jupiter is very favorable because of the special evolutionary configuration created by Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter which we’ll discuss in part 2. And Venus’ opposition to Saturn should bring us an appreciation of what the oppositions from Mercury and the Sun brought last month and this one. As Venus occupies the same degree as last month’s Full Moon Sun, this should reveal the value and beauty of the Light we’ve experienced these past 2 weeks.
Of course, if we have planets in late Cancer, late Leo, late Virgo, or mid-Scorpio we are going through some VERY long wave outer planet oppositions, with potential for very high awareness of how to ground new ideals, new public expression, and new ways to related to your larger spiritual group. The various types of the “Tension of Opposites” involved in those signs will come to the fore as the recent Eclipses take away old Gemini, Cancer, Sagittarius, and Capricorn patterns, allowing newer ones to take shape.
The Sun/Moon Sequence and Its Shifts
There are two patterns: one with the Sun in the same sign as the Sun in the following Full Moon (New Moon between 1-15 degrees of a sign), and one with the Sun in a different sign than it’s in at the following Full Moon (New Moon between 16-30 degrees of a sign). I term these the “Natural” pattern and the “Alternate” pattern, since the Natural pattern shows a continuity of the Light, whereas the Alternate pattern bridges the Light across two signs.
Eleven months ago we began a new pattern of the New Moon Sun being in the same sign as the following Full Moon Sun. Each pattern has its importance in the Soli-Lunar sequence, and now we no longer “bridge the Light” across two different Light signs in the Lunation cycle. This month’s New Moon is at 5 Virgo, and the coming Full Moon will be at 18 Virgo/Pisces, indicating the Light of the seed forms of the New Moon will be illuminated in the same sign energy two weeks from now.
The New Moons and Full Moons are “God’s footprints in time.” Each shows 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 and made pleasing in Libra, purified and focused in Scorpio, expanded in Sagittarius, organized in Capricorn, solidified into a vision in Aquarius, and ended/perpetuated in Pisces.
Jupiter and Saturn
This is the twenty-first New Moon of the Saturn in Aquarius era which will last until the New Moon of February 2023. We are now midway in the third year of the cycle set into motion at its rare and very powerful conjunction with Pluto in Capricorn in January 2020, with a current Aquarian influence due to Saturn.
Taking a look back, 2020 brought us a “cosmic visitation” which “galvanized us into action” to “escape from adverse conditions.” That year Nature challenged us to listen, look, and learn that we are not separate from Her, and evaluate what parts of our Self-disciplines and duties work and which ones didn’t.
The lesson of 2021 involved learning a technique of spiritual acceleration by getting a vision, a plan, and a time to begin whatever will short cut the time needed for expanded awareness and effectiveness. Saturn has been teaching us “the way within to outer success,” with a promise of “direct accomplishment.” These began to be realized in January 2022. Its direct station in October 2021 indicates we’ve been in a period of “new mutations based in Cosmos” coming forth, unrelated to past or local conditions. In other words, it’s safe to say we have had a lot showing up since October which is a fresh “emanation” from Spirit.
One of Saturn’s divine qualities is understanding as a prelude to wisdom. With Jupiter’s transit through Aquarius leading the Saturn transit, Saturn is tracking what Jupiter opened. As Saturn traverses the span where Jupiter has danced, it will crystallize its understanding of what that span of experience is about, and how we can use it wisely if we find the right structure and discipline.
Having finished our experience of the Jupiter in Aquarius era, we took a deep dive into the vast Piscean ocean which Jupiter calls home. In late May it entered Aries, where it will stay until it slips back to the last two degrees of Pisces in November and December. Jupiter in Aquarius gave us a new level of awareness, which we learned to feel more deeply in Pisces so that we can launch new initiatives this Summer which will take off like rocket ships in 2023! We’re definitely on a 20 year journey into Aquarius experiences based in the two 2020 conjunctions of Mars/Saturn and Jupiter/Saturn at 1 Aquarius.
Also remember Jupiter conjuncted Pluto three times in 2020, setting long wave transformational energies into motion at 23 and 25 Capricorn which will be in play through 2033. These conjunction themes have been renewed by the transit of Venus and Mars over these degrees, and now that Venus and Mars conjuncted at 1 Aquarius and conjunct Saturn in late Aquarius, we’ve begun yet another set of global Aquarian energies which will come forth over the next year.
So What Rules the Lunation?
This New Moon in Virgo has Mercury as its ruler. As Virgo is in the axis of the Priest(ess), Healer, and Shaman, it adds an element of learning, guiding, and transitioning to the energy of the next month. This is the energy of learning to heal and be healed, serve and be served, willing to be of service to help self and others make a transition from an old way to a new way.
Mercury is in Libra, making Venus its ruler. Venus is in Leo, making the Sun its ruler. Mars in Gemini is ruled by Mercury, Jupiter is ruled by Mars, Saturn is in its home sign of Aquarius, making it the ruler of Pluto in Capricorn. Uranus is in Taurus, making Venus its ruler, and as usual, Neptune is still in its home sign, continuing as a longwave “standalone” dispositor of itself, ruling the fogs and mists of the current collective consciousness.
So we’re back to having two planets in their home signs, or “final dispositors,” this month, with most of the planets ruled by a “chain of dispositors” involving the Sun ruling Venus, Mercury ruling the Sun, and Mercury ruled by Venus. You can find out more about dispositors in general, chains of dispositors, and mutual reception by going to dispositors and Mutual Reception at the link.
Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend
Because Saturn is still a major force to be reckoned with this year and next, bringing “cosmic mutations” which now challenge our skill at managing and utilizing spiritual power, it plays a large part in ruling the social and cultural cycles in our lives. It will continue to dominate the stage of Life for many months and even years to come, so if you haven’t already gotten a copy, please give yourself the timeless gift of my book, Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend. We all need to make friends with our inner Saturn if we would claim our power to fulfill our higher purpose for being alive as Spirits in the material world.
This book shows you the way to take command of your power to steer your life in a conscious way, using Saturn’s strengths and skills to be led to mastering life on our own terms. As Saturn is such a dominant energy at this time, by owning our ability to manifest the best of Saturn's virtues in our world, we take command of our destiny and become the living purpose we were born to make manifest!
It was written for both astrologers and non-astrologers, and will assist your understanding of how your life experiences assisted your Soul growth and power to turn away from unhelpful karmic cause and effect patterns. Each time you re-read any part of it you’re sure to find undiscovered gems of insight helping you throw off attitudes which frustrate your ability to live your higher Purpose on your own terms.
Is the Grand Irrationality A Factor in this New Moon?
Because this section is so long, I created an article which explains what it is, how long it’s been in effect, and which signs have been most impacted and when. You can find all you need to know about this configuration associated with widespread irrationality and hard-edged “forks in the road of destiny” we’ve all confronted at various times by going to The Grand Irrationality. (I’ll be updating it soon.)
In this Lunation, the Grand Irrationality is in the background, as no planet makes any 7th harmonic aspect to either Uranus, Neptune, or Pluto. At this point, the next activation will happen when Venus moves through the Leo zone and the Sun moves through the late Libra zone.
The configuration is also activated when the Moon transits any of the 7 “hot zones,” as well as when planets make 7th harmonic angles to Uranus and Neptune. This configuration is associated with the 7-pointed “Star of Destiny” active at this hard edge in history. Because at this time Uranus septile Neptune is a constant factor in the configuration, it keeps non-rational energies in play for those with a planet or point in any of the 7 affected “hot zones” near 2-6 Aquarius, 24-28 Pisces, 16-20 Taurus, 7-11 Cancer, 28 Leo-2 Virgo, 20-24 Libra, and 11-15 Sagittarius.
Neptune in Pisces and Chiron in Aries
I have offered this segment each month for years to give you a broader perspective on the collective atmosphere, and the long wave changes humanity is going through. Because this section has gotten so large over the years, I’ve decided it deserves its own article, which I’ll update as needed.
If you’re wondering about why we’re all navigating the fogs and confusions in the collective atmosphere, or why we’re healing into our Higher Self in a different way that we used to, when you’re done here please check out Neptune and Chiron in 2022 – Long Wave Collective Healing and Mentoring.
In that article I go into detail about the Chiron-Neptune conjunction in late Aquarius, and how each of those planets have manifested in Pisces. Because Chiron is in Aries, we are mentoring and being mentored in a much different way than we were when Chiron was in Pisces. Please check out the article to know more.
In this chart, Chiron is at 16 Aries, retrograding back through the middle of that sign until it goes direct at 12 Aries in December. Then it moves forward again, finally hitting 20 Aries by next July. You can see how the dance Jupiter will do with Chiron this year and next will radically expand our healing and mentoring wherever we have 18-22 Aries.
Because it went SRX at 17 Aries, that means the themes of 17 Aries are extremely important at this time through next Spring. This means Chiron is mentoring and teaching us how to heal into our Higher Self through knowing when to withdraw from people and situations with dignity. This begins a period of reflecting on how we’ve understood the dance of the visible world with the invisible world, opened to a greater understanding of the “relationships between (the) conscious and unconscious sides of life,” seen a greater purpose, joined the inner male and inner female, and allowed a new identity to reveal itself. We now revisit the actional level of “potency” and the individual and spiritual level of “Is-Be-Ness.”
We are now solidly into Chiron’s healing and mentoring energies in the second decan of Aries. For the past 2 years, we’ve gotten a new understanding about how we’ve “reinterpreted old images in a new light of understanding” since the 2020 Mars/Chiron conjunction at 10 Aries. You can find out more about the themes of 10 Aries at Astrology Healing Cycles - Mars Conjunct Chiron Stationary Retrograde at 10 Aries. So Aries dominated the past Mars/Chiron cycle, and we just began a new one with the recent Mars Conjunct Chiron at 16 Aries which takes us into the future.
Neptune continues to take us deeper into Pisces, and now is beginning its long term stay in the last decan, ruled by Scorpio with an added dose of Mars. This is “the end of the end” of the 360 degree “Whole Cycle,” and so encompasses all of the ghosts and unfulfilled mysteries of this past 150 year cycle since it was last here. It also allows us to purify and forgive much of the past and move into a deeper compassion regarding suffering humanity.
Having heard our inner voice, “taken a walk with our wisdom,” and received our promised nourishment “at the end of our day of labor,” we’ve now learned entirely new ways to “touch and be touched,” whether physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. Since last Summer, we’ve all been awakened to an expanded tactile awareness, giving us more of a kinesthetic experience of learning. You can learn more about the primary and secondary methods of how we learn all we learn by going to The Seven Different Types of Learning Styles – Pt. 1 and The Seven Different Types of Learning and Teaching Styles – Pt. 2
This New Moon shows Neptune at 25 Pisces, a degree of purification so our Soul can shine forth. We’re still learning themes related to its retrograde station at 26 Pisces, a degree of “the poetry of inner being” where we can see the value of each Being dealing with a given thing in their own way. Rudhyar says this is a degree where we realize “the fallacy of totalitarianism,” learning that each of us gets to respond as we will to a generic event or experience. As this is the retrograde station, we’ll be dealing with this for many months to come. Remember too that the recent Jupiter conjunct Neptune has begun to open us to a sense of our interrelatedness with others in our spiritual field. This expanded “non-local knowing” was launched with that conjunction, and will be a focus for the next 13 years.
Summing Up - The Big Picture
The Capricorn conjunctions of early 2020 continue to condition the long wave cycles unfolding since then as we continue to use those structures to fulfill the emergent Aquarian energies. Jupiter has raced through Pisces after its time in Aquarius and opened infinite potentials which will be actualized over the next 20 years. What Jupiter opened in 2021, Saturn will crystallize in 2022 and 2023, with major transfigurations to come in 2023.
We are in a time of learning to spot “seed forms” to make our expression more precise and efficient. Having opened to a wider experience of life’s Oneness, concentrate to see the whole picture while allowing yourself to be transformed by the spiritual energy pouring out into the world since the Full Moon of Gemini/Sagittarius. Be efficient in your adaptations, and keep eliminating all in your “garden of life and mind” which you don’t want to deal with.
All of us are learning to listen to the inner voice, do our own thing, and embrace a new spontaneity by cleaning out our mind’s attachments to perceptions and interpretations. We continue our training to be more effective in utilizing forms of spiritual power during the second half of this year. The learning began at Jupiter’s direct station last September, and now Saturn is bringing structure and form to that training.
Since Jupiter is at the beginning of Aries and began a two year cycle with Mars when they conjuncted at 4 Aries, embrace the new with enthusiasm and courage! This is the time to jump into action with an eye to core principles and goals. It’s a great time to do our own thing in our own way as we demonstrate our capacity to use spiritual power effectively. We continue to be in a time of receiving rewards from Spirit for our courage and willingness to rise to some occasion as a prelude to events this Autumn of challenges and “exaggerations of our life problems” which will expand us.
Summing Up – The Immediate Picture
This Lunation brings the Light of imagination revealing new dimensions of self-adjustment within the larger group work currently unfolding. Cultivate your receptive mind, since Wisdom forms are in the air, influencing all of us whether we know it or not. The coming weeks will be a combination of moving forward with a sense that we’re reviewing ground we’ve already covered before now. Take a broad view, since glimpses of the larger sweep of evolution, personal and general, may be understood in ways which provide us inspiration.
This period is very dynamic, expressive, and conflicted, with breakthroughs, disappointments, and meltdowns showing the way to mastering discouragement by understanding life as a series of “give and take” circumstances. Allow spontaneity to come forth, but because of the dynamic square, at times remember to “curb your enthusiasm.” Be skilled in your focused activity, and don’t get distracted by things which aren’t the problem.
Many will turn away from old values and relationships while seeing unique ways to express an inner knowing. When confronted with going forward or standing still, part the veil and move into the unknown. Show courage, renounce egocentricity and fear, and move into the Mystery. We are now integrating what came to light 2 weeks ago at the Full Moon, and learning appreciation for the events which brought us to a deeper connection to Source and the strength and resilience we can use in our interactions.
Just remember to go slow and be a bit more cautious than usual since things could turn weird in unexpected ways due to the erratic volatility of the Lunation square Mars and Venus opposed Saturn with both square Uranus. Demonstrate good Scorpio skills to deal with fixed conflicts, and good Sag and Pisces skills to deal with friction coming in from multiple angles.
With Venus leading the Sun, people are important, and with Leo as the entry to the Great Light, look for the beauty in the heart strength indicated by Venus in that sign. With Venus activating the T-square, it is the driver for integrating the power of that configuration. Overall, the aspects are a mixed bag, which I’ll discuss in the next part.
This is a time to get a lot done, since Mercury will soon slow to go retrograde in early September. Put your energy into the new beginnings started by the Mars/Jupiter conjunction in Aries, since this is the natural time to let all of it expand in some creative or playful way. Open to the dynamic potential of this time, remembering that crosscurrents are in the air as a prelude to the coming Mars retrograde between October and December.
Final Thoughts
We’ve already hit a turning point in our tests of using spiritual power and/or magnetism wisely, with new heart strengths coming forth in Summer and Autumn via “spiritual linkage through emotional stress” and “the blessings which come forth after the death of useless things.” Accept the new roles, new realizations, and new duties which may seem like you’ve done them before. Continue to ride the waves of a gigantic future opening to you wherever you have Aquarius and Aries in your chart, welcoming the new, the promise, the protection, and the adventure. Remember enlightenment is a verb, not a noun, and our connection with the World Soul allows us to act in harmony with “All That Is.”
Even though the long term conflict between the old and the new is not yet completed, take heart, get focused, and continue to eliminate all you no longer need or which would block your happiness. Because of our total immersion in Aquarian energy in 2021, we’ve received innovative ideas and know who our spiritual allies are. In the past 19 months we’ve broken away, broken free, and broken through whatever used to block our flow. We approach a new cooperative era, and the next few weeks give opportunities to demonstrate our skill and mastery of process.
We’re still becoming more conscious of our interrelatedness within the spiritual field and moving through an immersion in a new sensitivity to the generic human condition. The new era dawning will show us that we are in fact individual sparks of Light within an infinite ocean of Light. We are not separate from any other thing, since all things are Light and therefore we are one with All.
This is the beginning of the beginning of a new 200 year era. The powerful forces being released at times may be chaotic, violent, intractable, and irrational, but there is power in our unified vision of a better future. Stay clear about what your vision is, and let go of all which prevents you from flying free with your Spiritual Brothers and Sisters into a better future. Keep the course steady despite the compressed tensions of this time, and know we’re on our way into the future together!
See you soon with part 2, which will cover Sabian Symbols, Jones patterns, element distribution, and a whole lot more!
© Copyright 2022 Robert Wilkinson
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