by Robert Wilkinson
New Moon coming soon! The next month will be a time when we recalibrate our sense of purpose, ways of relating and caring for others and things, and facing the consequences of energies set into motion in the distant past. This is a time of redeeming promises.
This Solar eclipse Lunation introduces a new focus wherever we have 22 Libra, bringing the elimination of old social and/or emotional ideals and standards while getting clear about our purpose. There will be a lot of connecting the dots when it comes to karmic returns, or consequences of previous actions which still have final results coming home to roost in a few weeks. This initiates a period of examining our life ideals, eliminating the ones we no longer care for or about, and getting ready to move forward into a more substantial enjoyment of life and relationships. We are now in a time of the Sun shining Light on all of us in our Libra sector (even if some of it will be blotted out for a brief period of time!)
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 idealistic, evaluative, balancing, judging, and releasing Annular Solar eclipse New Moon at 22 Libra occurs at 10:55 am PDT, 6:55 pm October 14. We’re now in full preparation mode to move forward in our Pisces lessons as Saturn is on its SD degree. We’ve spent 4 months of Saturn retrograde teaching us to “hear the call to renewal.” We now can view life as a marketplace, and move into a period of give and take as we deepen our connection with Self, others, and Source.
Recent eclipses have already removed parts of our lives where we have 30 Aries and 15 Taurus/Scorpio, and this inaugurates weeks (and years) of showing what we know in the way of how we care and who we care for. Take a chance if you can “win a prize,” and take a little time to “return to simpler joys for pleasure and revitalization.” Accept rewards, and let go of the past.
We now have reviewed and confirmed the standards we are willing to live by as we move into the main flow of a new life. With the Venus and Mercury retrogrades finished, we’ve now reviewed, rehearsed, re-thought and took new looks at a) how to externalize creativity and/or heart energy, maybe from looking back or remembering how to unlock the power of spiritual creativity, and b) “venerable standards” we’ve been living by to see if how we are living them still works, or if we need to make adjustments in our expression.
This has brought us strength to focus on our purpose, freed of old limitations and concerns. This is an eclipse where we must surrender to the new ways of life we’re already living. What is the purpose to what you leave behind and what you’re moving into? Because of Venus ruling the Lunation, what are you serving? Is your purpose directed toward worthy ends? Make incremental changes until it’s time to take a leap. Be reasonable and moderate as you continue to adapt to conditions to realign yourself with your highest standards, leaving behind all which would hinder your embrace of the new.
Jupiter is still retrograde, expanding on the major themes of 2023 involving the understanding that old answers can’t solve the current questions and old methods won’t get the job done. Still, as Jupiter brings its energy to the sign which enjoys life to the fullest, accept the expanded capacity for a greater joy taking birth, this month shaped by Venus in Virgo trine to Jupiter, with major turning points indicated by Venus biseptile Uranus!
This New Moon will jumpstart Libra energy wherever it falls in our chart. As Libra will be a focus of activity, refocus your archetypes, your sense of perspective or proportion, your ideals left over from the past, and make adjustments as needed, since “expansion through sacrifice” is one of the themes related to the Eclipse quincunx Uranus. See how to live a new standard, allow yourself to “make it so” by a sacrifice, and be optimistic while integrating the body, feelings, and mind in “the upper chamber of consciousness.”
So What Rules the Lunation?
This New Moon in Libra has Venus in Virgo as its ruler. As Libra is in the axis of the Archetype of the Lover/Relator, it puts the focus on relationships and how to be genuinely ourselves when interacting with others. So this begins a new dance of internal and external relating these next four weeks (as well as many years into the future).
Besides the planets we’ve discussed, Mercury is ruled by Venus and Mars in Scorpio is ruled by itself. Jupiter is ruled by Venus, Saturn is ruled by Jupiter, Uranus is ruled by Venus, and Pluto by Saturn. So this month Mercury and Venus form a powerful “Mutual Reception,” a very powerful “closed circuit” of self-reinforcing energies. As Mercury in Libra is somewhat conflicted, and Venus in Virgo tends to be a bit too narrow in its focus, the key will be to maintain equilibrium as we demonstrate some sort of skill while accepting the consequences which come with engaging life.
That leaves us with the Mutual Reception ruling all the planets except for Mars and Neptune, which still occupies its home sign continuing as a long wave “standalone” dispositor of itself, ruling the fogs and mists of the current collective consciousness. 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.
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.
23 months ago we began the pattern which just ended in April where the New Moon Sun was in the same sign as the following Full Moon Sun. Each pattern has its importance in the Soli-Lunar sequence, and with the end of the Natural pattern, we now shift into a pattern which “bridges the Light” across two different Light signs in the Lunation cycle.
The New Moon Solar eclipse at 30 Aries was the first in the new sequence, as the subsequent Full Moon Lunar eclipse was at 15 Taurus/Scorpio, indicating the Light of the seed forms of that New Moon was illuminated in the next sign energy two weeks later. This month the New Moon Sun is in Libra while the Full Moon Sun is in Scorpio. This indicates that while the seed forms of the New Moon are of a Libra nature, the fulfillment in form at the Full Moon illuminates Scorpio energy. This New Moon Solar eclipse falls at 22 Libra, and the Full Moon two weeks from now falls at 6 Scorpio/Taurus.
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 eighth New Moon of the Saturn in Pisces era. We are now moving toward the fifth year of the cycle set into motion at Saturn’s rare and very powerful conjunction with Pluto in Capricorn in January 2020, which I discuss a few paragraphs down.
Taking a look back, 2020 brought a “cosmic visitation” which mobilized us 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. 2021 involved learning techniques of spiritual acceleration by getting a vision and a plan, as well as “the way within to outer success.” “New mutations arising from Cosmos” came forth in late 2021 and all of 2022, unrelated to past or local conditions.
We hit a threshold in our emergent Aquarian work in June 2022, when we began to learn how to administer “spiritual power” effectively. That took us through the trials which forced us to "rise to some emergency" and overcome something which threatened "to burn out of control" between October 2022 and March 2023.
One of Saturn’s divine qualities is understanding as a prelude to wisdom. With Jupiter’s transit through Aquarius leading the Saturn transit, Saturn tracked 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. This year and next Saturn structures what opened when Jupiter was in Pisces.
Jupiter in Aquarius gave us a broader awareness which we’re learning to feel more deeply in Pisces. The new initiatives we’ve launched since May 2022 have taken flight by now. 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.
As Jupiter is now RX at 14 Taurus, we’ve hit a major turning point in the emergent Aquarian process which is stabilizing on the individual and spiritual levels of life. Jupiter is currently reviewing what it has already gathered what it will need to expand its focus next year in Gemini. It’s now in a highly actional phase relative to the larger Aquarian era launched in December 2020.
We’re now back to Mercury leading the Sun through the next Superior Conjunction on October 19/20. With Mercury stationary direct as the entry to the Light, take a new look at what you think is your purpose, and see how it’s brought you to where you are. This is a challenge to repair or reconstruct something which has produced the consequences in play.
Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend
Because Saturn now sails the open seas of Pisces, the part of us learning how to be spiritually mature and grateful for our understanding of healthy boundaries and self-disciplines is now in a seascape of the collective feelings of all humanity over all time. Though no longer dominating the stage of Life from its home signs of Capricorn and Aquarius, it’s still a powerful force wherever we have early Pisces in our chart. Saturn now leads us in a Master Class in compassion and forgiveness practices, and learning a sober view of the collective human condition.
As this is the eighth New Moon in 5 years where Saturn hasn’t ruled itself, Pluto, and sometimes all the other planets except Neptune, take a moment to reflect on what you’ve learned since 2018 and how you’re more spiritually effective than you were. Saturn is our wise friend and guide who brings us out of ignorance and fear into understanding and “response-ability.”
Making friends with our inner Saturn is the most important thing we can do to fulfill our spiritual destiny. If you want to know more about your power to throw off oppressive chains, limitations, and fears, 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.
A Look Back - The Great Compression of 2020 in Capricorn Still Affects Us
As I mentioned earlier, we’re now ending the fourth year of a long term focus wherever we have late Capricorn and early Aquarius in our charts. 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.”
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 on the same degree. 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 less materialism than the past 200 years, with more focus on our commonality and ability to share ideas over the next 200.
Saturn in Aquarius led 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.
Saturn in Pisces now brings a more compassionate set of lessons which affects how the 2020 conjunctions will express at this time. Saturn’s still a major player behind the scenes, which impacts all conjunctions in Capricorn and Aquarius, past and present.
Is the Grand Irrationality A Factor in this Full Moon?
No, and blessedly, will never be a factor activating the collective for the rest of our lives. This was a 30 year phenomenon which has now passed out of orb, and we are finally back to Neptune sextile Pluto and the coming Uranus sextile Neptune and trine Pluto. The spiritual field has shifted for the better!
If you want to know more about this hard edged Special Evolutionary configuration in play for three decades, I created an article which sums up the three versions of the Grand Irrationality in play during those years. I discuss what it is and which zones of the zodiac 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 is Over (1993-2023).
This evolutionary configuration has been activated over the years when any planet moved through any of the hot zones of the configuration. However, even though it’s ended remember that almost everyone on Earth born the past 30 years has this in their charts! And all the eclipses these past years have also had it, including the April and May eclipses. So we’ll still have it working in the background for years to come. I’ll speak more about the aspects when I cover the special configurations.
Neptune in Pisces and Chiron in Aries
In this chart, Chiron is retrograde at 18 Aries. We’re now in a Chironic review, so healing can be found in finding a healthy balance between inward-turned activity and outward-turned activity. Find a balanced response as you continue to heal through doing what you have to do in your own unique way. From here it retrogrades until it goes stationary direct in late December at 16 Aries. So from late March to late July Chiron transited from 16-20 Aries, and now we are reviewing that span.
In the bigger picture, Jupiter’s recent conjunction with Chiron began a very long wave healing and mentoring cycles wherever we have mid- Aries. Because Chiron’s last direct station was at 12 Aries, those themes will be extremely important through the Summer. This means Chiron is mentoring and teaching us how to heal into our Higher Self through seeing the trajectory of “the flight of our Soul” linked to other Souls sharing our flight path.
This continues our adventure related to Chiron’s healing and mentoring energies in the second decan of Aries. We now have two major Chironic themes in play: one was set into motion when Mars conjuncted Chiron in Aries last year, which I explained in Mars Conjunct Chiron at 16 Aries, and the other was set into motion when Chiron went stationary direct, which I wrote about in Astrology Healing Cycles - Chiron Stationary Direct at 12 Aries.
So Aries continues to dominate the Mars/Chiron cycle, with a new long wave Chironic pulse added at the recent Jupiter/Chiron cycle which began at 15 Aries on March 12. This began a new cycle of “the expansive healer,” “opportunities to mentor and be mentored,” and "healing and teaching through humor." The last Jupiter/Chiron conjunction happened in late Aquarius in 2009, and this one lasts through 2036 when they meet again at 17 Gemini. This is an important cycle which will help us “heal into our Higher Self” at crucial points over the next 13 years.
Neptune now approaches the end of its depth immersion in its home sign of Pisces, and now is in 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.
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 26 Pisces, giving us yet another look at how to bless ourselves and others to do our own thing in our own way, not expecting that others will conform to our methods nor expecting ourselves to conform to theirs. We’re now in a season of “abundance” and harvests which are perfect for our individual needs. Look at the “aliveness” in the world around you, as well as your “garden of Life and Mind,” and listen to the Earth – you could find a deep mystery which will lead you to abundance this Summer! The end of Pisces allows us expanded “non-local knowing.”
Summing Up - The Big Picture
The Capricorn conjunctions of early 2020 continue to condition the long wave cycles unfolding since then even as we simultaneously build a new Aquarian social-spiritual ideal. Jupiter raced through Pisces and Aries at perihelion after its time in Aquarius and opened infinite potentials which will be actualized over the next 20 years. What Jupiter opened in 2021, Saturn crystallized in 2022, and the promise of fortunate endings made when Jupiter was in early Pisces May through July 2021 and again in January 2022 is now being made real by Saturn.
We are now on a new adventure! Having set a lot into motion since 2020, we now get to settle into a somewhat comfortable groove as Jupiter sextiles and quintiles Saturn through the end of the year. This eases the pace as we anchor the dawning Plutonic seeds of the emerging Aquarian era, so things will be very “transitional” from now through 2025.
All of us are learning “to read the tea leaves” as we find our enduring “core of Being.” We’ve glimpsed the indestructible parts of who we are, and now stand in “the marketplace of life” where we can approach life from a different angle of bargaining. We’re still all in a year when the old answers will not be adequate “to confirm the new conditions of existence.” The old ways and explanations no long apply, and now that we’ve been challenged to rise to some occasion, we can follow what we’ve seen or heard and find a newer way of living life.
Summing Up – The Immediate Picture
Recent Solar and Lunar eclipses continue to remove old elements of our previous “field and focus” so we may move into new ways of doing our Being. This continues the shutting down of old ways of “doing our Being” in our late Aries and Libra sectors. This is a time to release, “let go, let god,” and see how to care for what you care about.
We’re still hearing Saturn’s “call to self-renewal,” with a need seeing our permanence, our mastery, our archetypal Self, and our part to play in the bigger picture of our spiritual journey. With Saturn in Pisces, while endings may feel heavy, the immediately lightness which follows will help us move easily into a new life adventure. This is a time to find allies in “the marketplace of life.”
We are revisiting the last echoes of the dying Pluto in Capricorn era, with new days dawning and new lands appearing. This is a turning point in our relationships, so express your heart, your play, your creativity, and see how all of these are related to relationships in the past. There is uniqueness and high specialization in the air, and those who use their creative imagination may catch glimpses of new dimensions of Being. Again, this period promises powerful inspiration and releases of heart energy, as well as illumination of things past by a new look at what comes up!
Because we have planets spread out with 5 clustered in Virgo, Libra, and Scorpio, the primary focus for the next month is in the 56+ degree span between Venus in early Virgo and Mars in early Scorpio. As per the Nodal positions, this is a new era with NN in Aries and SN in Libra. Aries wants to get it in gear, and Libra wants to look good doing it! As the North Node is in Aries, be willing “to boldly go where you’ve never gone before.” This is the time to move in new directions!
Final Thoughts
Due to our training in 2021-2022, we know how to use spiritual power and/or magnetism wisely. During that time we cultivated new heart strengths as a result of “spiritual linkage through emotional stress” and “the blessings which come forth after the death of useless things.” We’re now living new roles in new relationships as we play our part in the Aquarian energy field growing stronger by the month.
Continue to ride the waves of a gigantic future opening to you wherever you have Aquarius, Aries, Taurus and Libra in your chart, being flexible in your strength and humble in your service. There is stable Earth power, harmony, and understanding promised these next 4 weeks, with peace and genius in the air! Release the past, and 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.”
Because of our total immersion in Aquarian energy in 2021-2022, we’ve received innovative ideas and know who our spiritual allies are. In the past 2 years 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 substantiate the positives in play since December 2020!
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!
And now, a word from our sponsor!
Because Venus occupies 6 Virgo and rules the Lunation and 5 planets total, She has tremendous power behind the scenes. While She is a bit fussy and narrow in focus in Virgo, she has Mercury to bring balance to her via this chart’s “instant karma” Mercury degree. She’s very favorably aspected with the trine to Jupiter and biquintile to Pluto, with a special nod to Her biseptile to Uranus, bringing a turning point in rewards for skillful effort and precision of purpose in the past. All of this will show in the house where we have early Virgo.
If you want to know more about Venus in Virgo and all the other signs, as well as explore your ability to change what and who you attract to your lives, finding your heart’s desire and a lot of joyous relationships which fulfill your Soul, please consider getting your copy of my book, The Magic of Venus: Friendships, Soul Mates, and Twin Flames.
It’s the most comprehensive book on Venus ever written, and takes a deep dive into how our Venus shapes why we like or don’t like the people and things we do, and how we can change our patterns of attraction to make future relationships more fulfilling. It explains the world of relationship from the angle of psychology, astrology, spirituality, and worldly experience. I’ve heard it has helped people turn away from unhealthy relationships and understand how not to attract anything similar in the future. It examines the qualities in healthy relationships and friendships, and offers tips on how to create long lasting personal relationships and friendships, why Soul Mates come into our lives, and how to know the difference between a Soul Mate and our Twin Flame.
It has chapters on the qualities of each sign’s natural mate, the qualities of Venus in each sign, and when crucial choices and changes are made, affecting who we attract in the future. It was written for both astrologers and lay people, and as it has a thousand gems for better relationships, with self, others, and Source, please consider getting your copy by going to the link above! (And when you’re done, please leave a review on Amazon, since it helps the book and all other books on astrology as well!)
See you soon with part 3, which will cover Sabian Symbols, Jones patterns, element distribution, and a whole lot more!
© Copyright 2023 Robert Wilkinson
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