Winter Solstice / New Moon in Capricorn / Saturn into Sagittarius

From the Madonna del Parto by Piero della Francesca

“but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.”


As of today (20th December), we have 3 planets in Capricorn: Venus, Mercury and Pluto, all conjunct and squaring Uranus in Aries and the north node in Libra. We also have Capricorn's ruler, Saturn, on the last minutes of the last degree of Scorpio.

This is intense heaviness and seriousness. A profound reckoning is coming due. Capricorn and Saturn are about commitment to earthly reality, perseverance, work. Sobriety and absolute realism. What's before you may not be easy, but the path will be coming clear now...

Venus conjuncts Pluto exactly later today, and squares Uranus. The sextile between Mars in Aquarius and Uranus in Aries is also nearly exact.... This stuff is about endings, final ruptures – also commitments. Breaking with the past and starting anew.

The Venus-Pluto conjunction is difficult, and might involve the ghost of Christmas past rising from the grave and shimmying around in front of you beguilingly. Dead loves come back to fuck with us under Venus-Pluto aspects, and you have to beware – remember what's dead is dead for a reason. “The best indicator of future behaviour is past behaviour”, per Dr Phil.

But there is such a counterbalancing push for the new at work - I don't think the ghosts are going to be able to do much damage. This looks more like a summation or final reckoning than a scenario where you get pulled back into past patterns.

The death-and-rebirth symbolism of the next few days is extraordinary. One door is closing forever, another door is opening. It's profound and it may be very painful - but it must be accepted. We are dealing with reality here, which is as it is, not as we might wish it to be.

Tomorrow (21st December) is the winter solstice: the darkest day of the year, but also the moment when the light begins to return. It's marked by the moment the sun enters Capricorn, which this year happens at around 11 pm (GMT). At around the same time we have Uranus (revolution and liberation) going direct in Aries, a sign representative of birth and new beginnings. This is a big jolt of light amid darkness – a significator of intense change. It's really beautiful and hopeful.

Then we have the new moon a few hours later, as the moon enters Capricorn. 22nd December, around 1:30 am GMT, 0 degrees Capricorn. New moons represent new beginnings – in Capricorn, we see the beginning of something austere, true, reliable. The symbolism here couldn't be clearer or more stark – or more beautiful. Like the face of the Madonna del Parto above: she looks like she knows exactly what she's getting into.

This is the 3rd in a series of 0 degree new moons – we are moving from possibilities (Sagittarius) to realities (Capricorn) here. This is the door opening into a new world. It might not be the life you've dreamed of, but it will be something you can trust – it will be credible.

Hope and change we can believe in. (Ha. Black humour. Black humour is very Capricorn.)

Then, the next day (23rd December), Saturn changes signs – from Scorpio, where he has been for the past 2 years, to Sagittarius. Because Saturn moves so slowly, a sign-shift is a momentous occasion.

Saturn is about limits, karma, duty, responsibility. He rules Capricorn, and we will have a total of 5 planets in Capricorn as he shifts signs. And this is all about the concrete solidifying on the road ahead.

Saturn in Scorpio was about dealing with our psychological shit, and it was not an easy transit. Many of us have been to some very dark places over the past two years. Hopefully we've come out of it with a lot of our garbage and dross burned away.

Saturn in Sagittarius is not as psychologically heavy at all – it's more about grounding (Saturn) a vision of the future (Sagittarius). So again, we are looking at a death-and-rebirth scenario with Saturn's sign shift - from purgation (Scorpio) to building a future (Sagittarius) - and this is fully in keeping with the symbolism of the winter solstice and the new moon in Capricorn.

There are some difficulties to be expected of this transit, though. For one thing, Saturn in Scorpio has been in a mutual reception with Pluto in Capricorn over the past two years. Pluto in Capricorn is about the rot underlying the old order – the process of unearthing that rot (Scorpio) has been relatively measured and grounded during Saturn's transit of Scorpio. But with the end of that beneficial relationship, we may see accelerated societal breakdown, and extremism spreading like wildfire.

Another difficulty is that Saturn will be squaring Neptune in Pisces for much of his transit of Sagittarius. This is about reality dissolving, and it reinforces the theme of societal breakdown that the end of the mutual reception portends.

“All fixed, fast-frozen relations, with their train of ancient and venerable prejudices and opinions, are swept away; all new-formed ones become antiquated before they can ossify. All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses his real conditions of life and his relations with his kind.”- per Marx.

How do you build a new reality when the ground keeps dissolving underneath your feet? That's a question we'll probably be looking at in detail over the next few years.

But for now I am not going to speculate - we have enough to be dealing with over the next few days, and into Christmas (as detailed in the post below as well). Happy solstice to all.

Full Moon in Gemini / Runup to Christmas

The weeks ahead look brilliant for inspired thinking and communication – very exciting and energetic. Things envisaged or imagined begin to come into focus, and all kinds of new possibilities open up. Inspiration will be sparking like crazy, and socializing should be more fun than usual.

It's very lively. That said, this December will not be the most comfortable month –  as we move toward the holidays, things start to look fairly challenging. But unless you've been living under a rock, you'll be well used to this state of affairs by now. 'Challenging' is the new normal.

Keep in mind, it's not all bad! A lot of it is lovely looking: exciting and revolutionary. But the whole month is coloured by the 6th exact square between Uranus and Pluto on the 15th December – and this is about radical, wrenching change. We are saying goodbye to the old order, prying ourselves out from under the wreckage of our old lives in many cases... and trying to dream a new world into being. Needless to say, this isn't easy.

Ok, let's start with the day before the full moon: today, the 5th of December. What happens today is Mars (energy, will, drive) shifts signs. He's moving from Capricorn, which is solid, grounded, cautious – to Aquarius, which is all idealism, revolutionary fervor, jolts of electrical brilliance.

This is a major energy shift, and it's made more intense by the fact that Uranus - the ruling planet of Aquarius - is in Aries, which Mars rules. This is called a mutual reception: two planets holding a dialogue with each other via each other's signs. It speaks of a sparky, combustible mental energy – suddenly we're live wires. Brains on fire, synapses glowing like fairy lights.

(neural fairy lights)

So things are all jumpy and electrical and lit up.  And then we have the full moon on Saturday the 6th December (around 12:30 pm GMT), sparking everything up a notch!

This is a full moon in Gemini, a light, dexterous, communicative sign – so communication takes center stage. And the moon is facing off against the sun and Mercury (Gemini's ruling planet) in Sagittarius, which can talk as well! For hours, and about everything under the sun.

This is a hell of a lot of air and fire stuff going on, and it looks brilliant. Zingy, revolutionary mental energy, courtesy of some beneficial aspects to Uranus. What is your new status quo gonna be? What's your vision of the future; what are you dreaming up? There'll be plenty of new ideas on hand – people will be mentally and verbally on fire.

But it won't be the kind of idle, skittering, value-free thought and communication Gemini is known for - this is far more profound. The sun, moon and Mercury will be squaring Chiron in Pisces, which is about a deep and painful awareness of loss. So it's not your run-of-the-mill bullshit conversational stuff at all.

If you have any difficult conversations to be had, this should help a lot. It should be possible to go deep and to work on new approaches to existing problems without things getting too emotionally heavy or fraught. If you do run into any ugly topics, you can disarm the situation with humour and emotional generosity. Sagittarius and Jupiter are involved – we have another mutual reception between the sun in Sagittarius and Jupiter in Leo, active till the 22nd December – and this is a very good-natured, buoyant influence. It should be easy to keep things upbeat.

I really like the way this full moon looks. On a day like this you can take all your rotten past issues, understand them deeply, tie 'em up in a bag and leave them in the trash... then do a beautiful 180 degree turnaround and face into a different kind of future – something more appropriate to who you are now. It's the kind of scenario where you can look at life in all its pain and absurdity and laugh about it through your tears.

It's the sort of thing that brings out the best in people – the deepest humanity. And it is very welcome, because the rest of the month becomes considerably more fraught.

In the interests of helping you navigate the holiday season, let's do an overview of how things go down as we move toward Christmas:

8th December - Fairly tense afternoon as the moon moves through cardinal cross territory in Cancer, setting off the Uranus-Pluto square. Then in the evening, Jupiter stations retrograde in Leo. This is the start of a 4-month retrograde period – till the 8th of April 2015. It will carry through to the end of the Uranus-Pluto squares in March, and I think the message here is about having some faith in the larger design and in yourself, however emotionally charged and difficult things may get.

10th December - Venus (love, money, relationships) moves from happy-go-lucky Sagittarius into sober Capricorn – and this means she is also heading into a conjunction with Pluto in Capricorn and a square with Uranus in Aries, exact on the 20th December. Love and money matters will start feeling a lot more weighty and serious. The dreaming and planning phase initiated at the new moon in Sagittarius is coming to an end over the next few weeks – we are moving from possibilities into commitments and responsibilities.

11th December - Grand fire trine involving Uranus in Aries, the moon and Jupiter in Leo, and the Sun and Mercury in Sagittarius. This is absolutely brilliant for future-oriented thinking and communication. It also looks like a really fun day.

15th December – This is the big one: the sixth exact Uranus-Pluto square. The next (and final) exact square in this series is on the 16th March 2015. But from now till March, this square is going to be really tight...a final cranking up of the big wrecking machine this aspect represents. The imperative of radical change won't be denied – the landscape is undergoing intensive demolition and restructuring. You can work with this energy by embracing radical change in your life. Do not attempt to resist or block it.

16th December - The moon in Libra will be in cardinal t-square zone. This drives home the themes of the Uranus-Pluto square the day before, especially in regard to love, money and matters of social justice and right relationship. Pretty tense.

17th December - Mercury moves into Capricorn. Communication takes on a subdued, businesslike, pragmatic tone. Plans are beginning to solidify now. Things will be looking less theoretical and fanciful, more stark and realistic. Whatever cannot work in the real world will have to fall away.

Over the next week, we'll have Venus and Mercury heading into conjunction with Pluto in Capricorn. Mercury will conjunct Pluto on Christmas eve, squaring Uranus. This does not bode well for holiday jollity...It looks like quite a stressful time, and full of potential losses and relationship breakups.

19th December – In line with this building seriousness, the moon conjuncts Saturn in Scorpio today. Saturn will revisit Scorpio for a brief revision session next year, from the 15th June to the 18th Sept 2015, before moving on for the next 30 years. But this is nearly the end of the main part of this transit, and it's an emotional summing-up. Try to feel what the past two years of Saturn's transit through Scorpio have meant to you. What deep dark crap has been churned up? What deeply ingrained patterns have you purged yourself of? What have you learned about Scorpio issues (power, emotional intensity, shared resources, trust, your shadow)?

20th December - Venus conjuncts Pluto in Capricorn, squaring Uranus. Also, Mars in Aquarius sextiles Uranus in Aries exactly. Deep, radical, seismic changes (Uranus-Pluto) involving relationships, money, values (Venus)...and the will and energy (Mars) to be true to ourselves and as unconventional as we like (Uranus). Chiron in Pisces also sextiles Venus and Pluto: this is depth work, involving an awareness of the pain we carry, and a willingness to engage with it.

It's very stark and beautiful, and it encapsulates the themes we are dealing with for the latter part of December. If you are still clinging to behaviour patterns or relationships that don't work in the real world – time to let go. Something old has to die so that something new can be born.

21st December - Driving this theme home, we have Uranus (the liberator) going direct on the solstice. The symbolism of this is amazing: the solstice is the darkest day of the year, but also the point where the light begins to take hold again. It's like the tarot card for the 10 of swords. Something has reached the end of the line; it's utterly dead....but dawn is breaking over the corpse. One door shuts permanently, another opens.

22nd December - Here is the new door opening: a zero degree new moon in Capricorn. There'll be five planets in Capricorn: Venus, Mercury, Pluto, the sun and the moon. There'll be a big cardinal t-square involving the north node in Libra. And Saturn will be at the last minutes of the last degree of Scorpio, just about to switch signs.

I'll write more about this closer to the time, but it is intense. So serious. Time to get down to business now – no more fucking around. It's like growing up overnight – your possibilities narrow into a definite path.

23rd December - Saturn moves into Sagittarius. I'll write about this closer to the time as well, but in relation to the new moon, it reinforces the theme of the solidification of a definite path.

24th December - Christmas eve. We'll have Mercury (mind and communication) conjunct Pluto (death) and squaring Uranus (shock); also the moon moving into an emotionally jagged conjunction with Mars in the evening. This does not bode well for family peace and contentment. If you can do something mentally engaging and exciting with your family, that's a way of using this energy in a good way. Otherwise it could be arguments, slammed doors, flying crockery and exploding Christmas trees.

It's probably better not to expect everything to run smoothly and be super-fun. That way you won't be disappointed. And whatever you do, try to avoid piling any extra holiday stress on yourself. NO you don't have to drive yourself nuts with the fancy cooking, or the presents, or the attempts to please everyone. It's ok to schlump your way through this and just try to have a decent time – you don't have to enforce holiday spirit on yourself or anyone else if it ain't happening. That'll only make things more stressful.

25th December - Christmas day. Again we are looking at great mental and emotional tension. It's not an easy day, but a profound one.

I think the key to dealing with this tension is: it'll help if you can do something DIFFERENT, with or without your family, this Christmas. Create a new tradition. The old traditions will likely be fraying at the seams and ready to fall apart, and it's not going to be pleasant trying to uphold them. Or feasible! It'll be like sitting at a festive holiday table with a black hole as the centerpiece.

New moon in Sagittarius

This is on Saturday, the 22nd November, around 12:30 pm (GMT).

The sun and moon will be conjunct at 0 degrees Sagittarius – this is the second in our series of four new moons at zero degrees of their signs. It should be a bit of a jolt!

We're moving from Scorpionic depth, intensity and psychodrama to the sign of freedom and open vistas... So it might feel like walking out of a dark, hot, stifling little room and finding yourself on the open range with the wind in your hair.

As the sun and moon will be conjunct Venus in Sagittarius, the new terrain we are headed into likely has to do with relationships, money, personal values, art. And really it's a wild frontier, uncharted and free. Very exhilarating – but this is the kind of freedom that can make you feel dizzy and dazed - or lost. There are no signposts in a wild frontier. There are no roads to follow - you have to make your own. You may have no pre-existing model for what you're trying to create in your life now, and this can feel disorienting and dangerous. And it can be hard to tell if what you're envisioning is real or a mirage...

“I'm set free to find a new illusion...”

Overall, the tone of this new moon is exuberant and exciting - but the scenario it describes doesn't look particularly easy or light. Saturn and Mercury in Scorpio are also conjunct the sun and moon, holding us in thrall to the past. Jupiter in Leo is squaring these planets, magnifying the tension and intensity of this backward pull. And Neptune, newly direct in Pisces, is squaring Venus, the sun and moon, and Saturn – and this is about siren songs and disorientation.

It's like: OK, you've left your stifling little room and you're walking on the open prairie, dazed by all this sudden light and air. Everything seems perfect and magical, and you're utterly amazed. But your mind is still preoccupied with whatever happened back in the room. You haven't quite left it yet, however giddy with new freedom you may feel.

And therefore, you're in a somewhat dangerous and vulnerable situation – unsteady as a newborn foal. It's going to take some time to settle into the new reality, and you'd better not go galloping off after any exciting possibilities until you've adjusted properly. You could easily trip and hurt yourself.

OK, so how long is this shaky foal stage going to last? What kind of adjustment period are we looking at?

Saturn, lord of time and form, will take another month to grind his way through the last degrees of Scorpio. The last part of this transit could be fairly tough and wrenching, coinciding with the 6th exact square between Uranus and Pluto on the 15th December. He moves into Sagittarius on the 23rd December, the day after the new moon in Capricorn, which is Saturn's own sign. Capricorn is about structure and stability – so this is when you should see your dreams taking on a concrete form. Plans and possibilities should begin to solidify into something real.

Until that solidification begins, hold your horses and don't rush into anything, however much you might want to. People can be very vulnerable to hotheadedness and delusion under these influences - so much Jupiter (inflation) and Neptune (delusion) action going on - and it is imperative to COOL IT and stay grounded.

I think the weeks ahead are for weighing possibilities and dreaming up new ones, and also for working through past issues. It's a good time for drawing blueprints and making sure the designs are workable in the real world. There'll be plenty of inspiration and energy on tap... But the actual construction phase starts later, with the new moon in Capricorn on the 22nd December.

On dreams and plans: we've had two years of sifting through our psychological garbage with Saturn in Scorpio, culminating in an intensely purgative Scorpio season this past month...and with all this behind us, plus these transformative Uranus-Pluto squares going on, you must understand that your old status quo just will not cut it anymore. There is absolutely no point in trying to make it work, or in re-creating scenarios that used to work for you in the past. These times are about radical change, so you have to try something new – maybe something you might never have dreamed of doing.

Dreaming up something new is the best way to roll with this new moon, I think. Sagittarius is about future possibilities, inspiration, conviction, enthusiasm. It's not a pragmatic sign, but a visionary one.  It can easily be misled by enthusiasm, and that is something this new moon is clearly warning against – don't go overboard! Step carefully! Look at where you're putting your feet!

OK, speaking of folly, I want to talk about Neptune for a bit, because Neptune is very caught up with this new moon.  And also he just went direct on the 16th November, after a retrograde period that started in June. With Neptune, it can be hard to tell the difference between forward and retrograde motion, because Neptunian energy is so dreamy and unclear and diffuse. It is inherently deceptive. And as Neptune is in his own sign (Pisces) – well it's a headfuck on multiple shimmering levels.

Neptune is about high delusion – fairy realms and castles in the air - and the disappointment that follows the return to reality. Addiction is also a useful metaphor for how Neptune works – you have the experience of something intensely sweet and blissful, and diminishing returns as you attempt to recapture that state over and over again.

In everyday life, I think Neptune is mostly about disappointment. But it's the kind of disappointment that leads you to the divine, when you realize that nothing earthly – nothing – is going to satisfy your discontent. You hit some rock bottom of degradation trying to fill up this hole in your heart...and then you give up; you give your life over to the Higher Power like they say in AA.

So anyway, Neptune is all caught up with the new moon and with Venus and Saturn also, and in light of this, it's important to really be careful about over-idealizing any romantic or financial prospects, because the kind of disillusionment that can follow idealization is potentially crushing right now. It's also important to keep your ego in check: to restrain your delusions about how much you're capable of. Look at the fool in the picture above. He's so delighted with himself, he doesn't even notice he's walking off a cliff.

Also, be very careful about alcohol and drugs, because they can throw you way off course about now and for the next couple of weeks.

--One other thing: these squares from Jupiter in Leo to the sun, moon, Saturn and Mercury look potentially pretty ugly. Inflated egos, overboard emotions, death-dealing words. Be careful of what comes out of your mouth and try not to be drawn into disputes, because that stuff is liable to drag you back into the claustrophobic Scorpio territory we're trying to exit.

Full Moon in Taurus

Hasui Kawase - Winter Moon over Toyama Plain

This is the 6th November, 10:15 pm GMT.

The moon in Taurus will be facing off against a stellium of planets in Scorpio: the sun, Venus, and Saturn. Taurus-Scorpio axis issues will be all lit up.

Taurus-Scorpio issues have to do with money, sex, power, personal and shared resources, possessions, values. Taurus is about holding onto things in order to create security and stability, and Scorpio is about letting go of what has become dead or outworn. Acquisition vs. purgation. Or anabolism (the processes that build and grow body tissues in an organism) vs. catabolism (the processes that break tissues down).

Obviously, these polarities require each other. Taurus can become overly materialistic and complacent without Scorpio's drive toward transformation. And Scorpio can be all perpetual upheaval and crisis without a bit of Taurean calm and stoicism to ground it.

The scenario we are looking at with this full moon puts me in mind of clearing a space with a bulldozer and then building something new there, from the ground up. We are nearing the 6th exact Uranus-Pluto square, and this is part of a protracted cycle of change and upheaval. And we just had a new moon at zero degrees Scorpio a couple of weeks back, opening up a focused opportunity for purgation and transformation.

By now if you've been doing your work, you are hopefully opening up a space in your life where all your old shit and garbage used to be. What are you going to grow or build there? That's the question this full moon shines a bright light on. What do you want this open space to become? How do you develop it?

Because Venus is tied up with the full moon, new developments likely have to do with relationships. They could also be about money, investments, possessions, personal values – or art. But relationships really are a big focus right now with the north node in Libra.

Anyway, the message here is: there's no need to rush into anything. Taurus is slow and steady...and realistic. Keep your feet on the ground. Invest your resources carefully and cautiously.

There's definitely a danger of going kinda overboard: the full moon will be forming a t-square with Jupiter in Leo, and Jupiter magnifies anything he's involved with. So beware of drama and over-the-top emotional bombast. Stay calm and let things develop slowly, no matter how urgent it all might feel. Try to curb your enthusiasm.

Here are some I Ching hexagrams relevant to these themes: 53 ('Gradual Development') is about the steadiness and patience you need to build something lasting. The next hexagram (54 – 'the Concubine'), is its opposite: it's about rushing things, skipping stages, letting desire lead you into situations where your integrity is compromised. Becoming a slave to desire. Needless to say, you want to avoid that scenario.

There is a real builder's vibe going on with this full moon - solid and deliberate. We have a Mars-Pluto conjunction in Capricorn harmoniously aspecting the moon and the sun, and this represents an intense drive to construct something step by step, and to get it right. I really like the way it looks – absolute determination to build something real and true.

Mars and Pluto rule Scorpio, and are in a mutual reception with Saturn (Capricorn's ruler) in Scorpio – and I think you could conceivably build the Great Pyramid of Giza in your backyard with this stuff going on.

Or a viable new business, or a relationship that isn't as fucked up as all the others have been...

Or the Death Star...

Kidding! What I mean is, you can use this to really challenge and surpass yourself.

That said, Mars-Pluto can be very violent and destructive - it can be the Death Star all right. War (Mars) plus death (Pluto)... and this conjunction is presently squaring Uranus (shock). Please be very careful and mindful of sudden accidents over the next two weeks – especially around the 11th November, which looks like a really tense day.

Drive defensively. If you start feeling full of murderous rage, try to translate it into physical activity – go run 10 miles or hit a punching bag or break dishes or something. Don't kill anybody if you can avoid it, and try to avoid angry people and sharks and rabid dogs etc.

We have Mercury moving into Scorpio on the 8th November, and heading into a square with Jupiter – and with this aspect, you can blowtorch people with your words. So maybe try to be mindful of what comes out of your mouth.

There's a lot of heaviness and intensity over the next two weeks - the stinging tail end of Scorpio season. It doesn't look like the easiest fortnight ever. But it's definitely a huge amount of energy, and I think if you can channel it into constructive activity, you'll be doing well.

We have a new moon at 0 degrees Sagittarius on the 22nd November, and this should lighten things up considerably. It'll be the second in a series of four new moons at 0 degrees of their signs, which is really kind of amazing and exciting. Like a series of magical portals, or phase shifts.

We are doing some focused work in the context of these four successive signs (Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn and Aquarius) over the next few months - moving stepwise from psychological purgation and clearing-out (Scorpio) toward the establishment of a new status quo - something radically new and hopeful (Aquarius).

The overall theme echoes the theme of this full moon: catabolism (breakdown) and anabolism (building). Getting rid of what's outworn, dreaming up a new kind of life, building it in stages. Razed earth and the blueprint for something new, and the will to make it a reality.

I would advise going as deeply as possible into the themes of these signs while each is in ascendancy. Doing your Scorpio work as fully as possible over the next two weeks - however heavy and dark it might feel - will clear the ground for the next phase.

(That means dealing with your shit in a ruthless, focused way. Getting rid of whatever drains and devitalises you.)

New Moon in Scorpio

(Hokusai Dragon)

From “October” by Louise Gluck:

"Summer after summer has ended,
balm after violence:
it does me no good
to be good to me now;
violence has changed me."


This is tonight, Thursday 23rd October, around 11 pm (GMT). Sun, moon and Venus conjunct at 0 degrees Scorpio, the very start of the sign.

Kind of an amazing new moon – and partial solar eclipse - in the sign of intensity and extremes. Death and rebirth – that is Scorpio's terrain. Transformation.

And new moons represent new beginnings. So all told, this is about a radical change. A rebirth of sorts. Or a death... but it's the same thing.

As we have the sun, the moon and Venus all crossing from Libra into Scorpio, I think it will feel like a fast phase-shift... especially as regards relational and money matters. We shift from Libran pleasantry into Scorpionic depth and intensity in the course of a day.

I think people will feel this shift pretty clearly. Either a relationship is OVER or it's for the long haul. Either your money situation is solid or you're cleaned out. Either your values and commitments can go the distance, or they're a house of sand. You'll be in no doubt.

Let what has to die, die. There's no room for wishful thinking or sentimentality here – it's about the bottom line. Scorpio can be ruthless. You cut away the deadwood and rot so that new life can grow. The point is regeneration and healing.

It is also about conserving your resources - you can't throw good money after bad, or carry the past around with you forever. You can't waste energy on things that are not viable.

Scary and hardcore as Scorpio can be, the situation looks very positive overall. The sun–moon–Venus conjunction is supported by a sextile to Mars in the late degrees of Sagittarius (energy and enthusiasm) and a trine to Neptune in Pisces (compassion and faith). Those are the only aspects the new moon makes, and both are pretty nice.

So it's definitely a good time to get clear of the past and to start something new. To be reborn or transformed in some way.

Maybe it's a shift or transformation in your thinking that's required – a mental breakthrough. Mercury, planet of mind and communication, is currently retrograde in Libra, getting set to go direct a few days after the new moon (26th October). He is in range of the Uranus-Pluto square and conjunct the north node in Libra, making a cardinal t-square.

All this speaks of an internal mental shift or rebalancing – one that can blow the lid right off your usual mental habits. It looks liberating – an epiphany that there's no going back from maybe, or a new point of view. Satori, even.

I am emphasising the positives here, because to me this new moon looks like a tremendous opportunity to slough off the past like an old skin. But keep in mind, we are in the thick of Uranus square Pluto, which is fairly wrenching stuff. Plus, Scorpio is about extremes. It's either the best or the worst that is in us - no middle ground.

And Venus and the moon are not particularly comfortable in this sign. Venus is in detriment, meaning she can't function too well here. She likes peace and harmony, but the kind of peace you get in Scorpio is nothing like what peace means to Libra (the preceding sign, which Venus rules). In Libra, everyone's at a party being polite and making small talk and pretending to like each other, and Venus is quite ok with that! In Scorpio, things are only peaceful because the party has been nuked into submission and everyone is fucking dead.

And the moon is in her fall in Scorpio, meaning she's really kind of messed up by the emotional intensities of the sign. The moon has to do with comfort, nurturance and emotional fulfillment...but Scorpio is an inherently uncomfortable and extreme energy, and about as easy to fulfill as a black hole.

So these gentle 'feminine' energies go all edgy and femme fatale in Scorpio, and it's very magnetic and intense...but there's nothing light or fun about it. Everything is life-or-death.

A moon in Scorpio looks a bit like this:

Erzulie Danto, vodou madonna

And here is Venus in Scorpio.

'Poison' by Yumiko Kayukawa

If you can give this stuff the depth it requires, you'll benefit and be transformed. If you can't do depth and transformation, death and rebirth - you get the cheapest substitute, which is drama. Plenty of people prefer drama and keep going back for more.

Anyway, the skies are getting simpler and clearer as we head into Scorpio season, which is fitting. Stark and intense, but in a good way. By Halloween we'll have planets in Scorpio, Capricorn and Pisces all beneficially aspecting each other, which looks really helpful. Especially as we're heading into the ugly tensions of the Uranus-Pluto square on the 15th December... There'll be plenty of emotional strength and grounding to draw on, and it will be needed.

I hate to be harping on about the same themes all the time, but we have two more months before Saturn leaves Scorpio, and Saturn in Scorpio is all about getting the rotten garbage out of your life. So if you're still clinging to an addiction, a bad relationship, a fantasy, an ideology - anything draining or false or rotten - stop it already. Purge yourself of that shit while you can. That's what this time is for.

Saturn rewards effort. You have to put in the work, dig deep, excise the rottenness...whatever form it takes. If you don't do this now, you will likely have some psychological gangrene to deal with further down the line.

Happy Halloween, fellow legions of the undead. Hope it's fun!

Chinnamasta party

Full Moon in Aries

This is tomorrow, the 8th October, around noon (GMT). It's a big one.

The sun and moon are in line with the lunar nodes, meaning we have entered eclipse season: a roughly month-long period that happens twice a year, in which we have 2 or 3 eclipses.

This full moon will be a total lunar eclipse (or 'blood moon') – a supercharged significator of culminations and endings. But even leaving aside the fact that it's an eclipse, it is incredibly intense.

The moon, meaning the emotional tone, will be in Aries and conjunct Uranus (shock). This is amped-up fury: warlike, impatient, unpredictable, explosive. Moods on a hair-trigger. People are going to be feeling edgy, no question.

Opposing the moon we have the sun in calm, peace-seeking Libra, conjunct Libra's ruler Venus. We also have the north node (the imperative or 'direction' of the story) in Libra, loosely conjunct the sun. All this represents a huge drive for peace, harmony, love, beauty, fairness and right relationship.

So we have war and upheaval (Aries) vs. peace and reconciliation (Libra)... and these two drives are as stark and as opposed as you can get. And then squaring these poles, we have Pluto, Lord of Death – moving forward once again in Capricorn, sign of the old order. Radical changes to the status quo are afoot, for good or ill.

Reminds me of this, from the Rodney King riots:

Anyway, we have a cardinal t-square again: the same Uranus-Pluto theme we've been dealing with for the past few years. It's a story of the demand for radical change coming up against entrenched authority, with explosive results. The people vs. the System. The Rebel Alliance vs the Empire.

Hong Kong democracy protesters

Except, you know – with all due respect to “Star Wars” - this is real life, not a movie. And in real life, good and evil are far more complex and intertwined than they can ever be in the movies.

In the movies, the idealistic young rebels prevail and that's the end of the story. But look at what's happening in the Middle East after the Arab Spring. Look at the situation in Ukraine following their revolution earlier this year. War and chaos have followed these hopeful popular uprisings. The mostly well-intentioned protesters got more than they bargained for – what they wanted were simple, reasonable changes to the systems they lived under. More government accountability, more transparency, more equality, a better life. I doubt anyone wanted this:

Aleppo, Syria

It's like, you light a little fire in the woods because you're cold, or you want to make some s'mores or whatever. And the forest is so full of deadwood, you accidentally start a forest fire that consumes...the whole world. Suddenly the whole world is on fire. And you've lost everything, when all you wanted was a stupid little s'more.

That's Uranus (shock, the unexpected) and Pluto (destruction and regeneration) for you. On a collective level, the Uranus-Pluto squares demand intense change - & that demand will be fulfilled. But for good or ill - who knows? With Uranus involved, there's no calling or controlling the outcome. With Pluto involved, it will be extreme. All anyone can say is that there'll be no going back.

It's easy enough to see these themes at work on the world stage – but look to your own life and relationships as well. What's happening on your own personal stage?

-What has changed radically for you since 2010?
-What has to change in the interests of fairness and balance and decency?
-What (or who) is blocking that necessary change? (Maybe it's you?)
-What are you afraid of? What are you trying to control, to your detriment?
-What's over and dead; what do you need to cut yourself free of already?
-What is the price you have to pay for what you want? Is it worth it?

Complex questions of value are at work here, and they demand some introspection.

Well as it happens, we have a Mercury retrograde underway (4th- 25th October) which should be helpful for deep introspection over the next few weeks. Mercury is in Scorpio for the full moon, which lends a very deep, investigative, penetrating mental focus. He'll be moving backward into Libra on the 10th of October - this is a rational and balanced mental energy, which should be useful. Mercury in Libra is about being able to see multiple sides to a situation, and to communicate diplomatically and fairly.

The issues being dealt with here are weighty – there are important decisions to be made. Probably best to hold off from making them until Mercury resumes direct motion on the 25th October - and maybe hold off from signing important documents or finalizing plans as well.

Mercury will end his retrograde at 16 degrees Libra, the same cardinal t-square territory of tomorrow's full moon. It's pretty fucking fraught. Whatever issues came up for you around the new moon in Libra on the 24th September – look at how these matters stand at the full moon tomorrow. There will probably be some kind of illumination or resolution available – but you will likely be processing it all until Mercury goes direct in a few weeks time. Pay attention.

I think internal resolution is the way to go with this stuff, in keeping with the themes opened up to us at the new moon a couple of weeks ago. If you can deal with your own issues internally instead of projecting them outside yourself, blaming others and gunning for a fight...you'll be doing well.

Easier said than done, ha. This is a sharp, violent full moon, and you may feel like biting someone's head off. There will be plenty of provocation. But remember that conflict can escalate and get out of control very quickly right now. Pick your battles carefully. You don't want this on your hands:

And lay off the self-righteous rage, please! You are not some knight on a white horse fighting the forces of evil. You are just another schmuck trying to get through the day in one piece, like everyone else.

Remember the north node or direction of the story, is in Libra – sign of harmony and balance. Try to keep the focus on relationship and peace, not war.

Maybe war on the world stage can't be prevented... and what happens on the world stage isn't up to any of us individually anyway. But you can certainly quit perpetuating war in your own life and psyche. Just paying attention to yourself is enough – and as we've seen, we have a Mercury retrograde facilitating deep introspection at this time. You don't have to go on a mission to rid yourself of your own darkness...just being aware of it is enough. Coexistence is possible.

Something really nice: we have our grand fire trine in full effect now, forming a kite pattern with the full moon. Jupiter in Leo, Mars in Sagittarius and Uranus in Aries all burning together like a fireworks display – beautiful. Hope, optimism, energy, courage, faith, expansion, liberation.

This is all on tap if you want it, however nasty things might get. The high road / larger view is available. If you're faced with conflict, you can be the bigger person and rise above it.

On a deeper level, the whole setup is making me think of what Joyce wrote about history: “History is the nightmare from which I am trying to awake”.

Reading the papers or watching the news these days has become so frightening. History is a nightmare that is ongoing... It is the story of the way power in the world has always worked. The Rebel Alliance overthrows the Empire, then becomes the new Empire, giving rise to new Rebel Alliances...ad infinitum.

It's easy to get all fired up about everything that's wrong with the world, to take sides, to go off on moral crusades. And sometimes taking a stand is necessary. Sometimes you have to play your part in the great drama - there's no other option.

Kurdish Peshmerga fighter

But playing your part in the great drama, taking a side, fighting for a cause - these things have nothing to do with freedom. Real freedom is something very rare, and it can't be reduced to a political slogan. It is altogether outside of politics and outside of the carnival of brutality we call history - it is personal and internal. Nobody gets it by marching behind a banner or a slogan or an ideology. You have to win it for yourself, and by yourself - and it's hard work.

Anyway, if you're so inclined, you can internalize the symbolism of this full moon – you can use it to look at how this struggle for change and liberation plays out in yourself. To "work with diligence on your own salvation", as the Buddha is supposed to have said. I think that's a brilliant use of all this tension – and it will get you a lot further than external conflict will.

New Moon in Libra

This is on the 24th Sept around 7 am (GMT). The sun and moon will be conjunct at 1 degree Libra.

Libra is about balancing multiple perspectives; creating a harmony between different viewpoints. It's an inherently social sign – it has to do with the relationship between self and other. Specifically one-on-one relationships, partnerships, marriages. It's an air sign: concerned with thinky stuff, not particularly emotional. Which comes in handy when you're trying to balance different viewpoints in the interests of keeping the party polite. It's about diplomacy.

Here's Frank Sinatra on how to be a lady. He's talking about luck, but this song is very Libra:

 

"A lady never leaves her escort
It isn't fair, it isn't nice
A lady doesn't wander all over the room
And blow on some other guys dice"

Social decorum and politeness are pretty important in Libra-land. It can get kinda Jane Austen. There is a big drive to be 'fair' and 'nice' – even to one's own detriment.

That said, Libra has been particularly stressed under the Uranus-Pluto squares of the past few years, and a lot of people with planets or chart angles in this sign may be feeling pretty shook up, and disinclined to be 'nice' where it isn't being reciprocated. The famous Libran composure and tolerance and civility may be just about at breaking point.

There are more rapids ahead in October as the moon, sun, Venus, retrograde Mercury and the north node swing into cardinal t-square zone with Uranus and Pluto. It is likely to be stressful.

So if you should meet formerly polite and civilised Librans running around acting like the zombies from “28 Days Later”... well please try to remember that these people are getting hit by stressors you wouldn't believe, and they probably no longer give a fuck. The same goes for the other cardinal signs: Aries, Cancer and Capricorn.

Actually, the same kinda goes for everyone. The Uranus-Pluto squares are about intense collective change, and no one comes out of this period the same as they went in. But people with planets or angles in the cardinal signs are more likely to be hit in a personal way – right where they live.

OK, so the day before this new moon (September 23rd) is a very big day. Two important things happen. First we have Pluto, King of Hell, going direct after a retrograde period that started in April of this year. Then a few hours later, we have the autumn equinox as the sun enters Libra. This is the start of autumn in the Northern hemisphere and spring in the Southern – the day when daylight and dark hours are equal.

With Pluto direct, it's time to let go of whatever rotten bullshit you're still hanging onto. Your pathology, your addictions, your ideology, your ego...whatever. Just drop it if you can. Pluto will now be moving into the 6th square with Uranus, exact on the 15th December – more shock and awe ahead for the rest of this year, and you'd better be getting ready to turn on a dime.

Which means... stop maintaining your ossified stance toward existence, whatever form it may take. Take that pole OUT of your ass already. Get loose.

Can you dance? No?! Why not?!

Who told you you couldn't?

Lao Tzu:

“A man is born gentle and weak; at his death he is hard and stiff. All things, including the grass and trees, are soft and pliable in life; dry and brittle in death. Stiffness is thus a companion of death; flexibility a companion of life. An army that cannot yield will be defeated. A tree that cannot bend will crack in the wind. The hard and stiff will be broken; the soft and supple will prevail.”


Well I don't know about 'prevailing' under these skies, but you can hopefully avoid getting your head beaten in... by being ready for change, and embracing it. However upsetting the change may be. Remember, you do not get to 'manage' the way this stuff goes down: these are outer planet transits, and the most you can do is be prepared for change, and ready to shift with it.

And as for the equinox, this is a time of eerie balance...light and dark in accord, like a yin-yang symbol.

Polarities creating a whole, requiring each other... accommodating each other. It's a tango, which we all know takes two.

It makes perfect sense that the very next day, we have the new moon in Libra: sun and moon (which are contextualized as opposite polarities) conjunct in the sign of marriage and balance.

On an everyday level, a new moon in Libra is about beginning new social enterprises and interactions, or fine-tuning existing relationships. It's a good time to go on a first date, or to try to work out an existing conflict. As Libra is associated with justice and the law, it is also a good time to deal with legal matters.

Or you could just set an intention to dress really well or to be a nicer person or to beautify your surroundings or to hang out with your friends more – Libra has to do with harmony and beauty and social interaction. Look at all the people in the “Soul Train” video above: that's Libra. They are dressed so sharp! And they're dancing at the best damn party, and with such finesse! It adds something nice to the world.

Ok, so you could do that sort of thing, whatever form it takes in your life - and you will have the backup for it. Libra's ruler, Venus, will be in Virgo, loosely conjunct the new moon and in a mutual reception with Mercury in Libra. What this means is you'll have discrimination, attention to detail and fair-minded, diplomatic communication at your disposal.

--But enough about the mundane level. I am interested in what this new moon means on a deeper level. It's great for networking and partying and starting projects and resolving disputes...and that stuff is all necessary! But there are deeper things you can do with this energy, should you be that way inclined.

On a deeper level I think this is a good time to come to terms with your shadow. To 'marry' the light and dark aspects of your own psyche, as in the yin-yang symbol.

The shadow  is a concept originated by Freud but refined by Karl Jung. It's basically everything we can't accept as part of us, and would prefer to believe is 'out there'. All our socially unacceptable qualities, our 'negative' emotions and drives.

When we're not aware of our own shadow we are likely to project it onto the world outside us, and to become crusaders against it. Often with very harmful results: look at those IS guys in Iraq and Syria for instance: zealots and true believers all, convinced they are carrying out the will of Allah. They are the 'good guys' in their story – everyone else is a 'bad guy' and marked for destruction.

It's not just insane Islamists who do this. We all do, in our everyday lives...even well-intentioned, progressive-thinking people. Whenever you hear yourself or someone else referring to a nefarious 'they' who are responsible for the world's ills, you can be sure there's shadow projection going on.

No one is all light or all dark – we are made up of both polarities. We are all Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. Anyone who thinks they're solely one or the other is deluding themselves – and perpetuating war. The task of a free human being is to withdraw these projections from the outside world and come to terms with them internally. To 'own' our own darkness.

This is not to say that external evil doesn't exist. There is no shortage of it out there, wherever you look. The more focused you are on it, the more you'll find.

But if you try to fight it without having done the difficult work of integrating your own shadow side, you risk becoming a crusader, and just as bad as what you're trying to fight. None of us are innocent or pure. And the world's evil is not always as straightforwardly 'evil' as it seems.

I mean, there are plenty of instances where it is. IS seem pretty damn evil to me. But their kind of cruelty is not the norm – most of the evil in this world is not the unmitigated kind. It's a lot more complex, and it may even have good in it – as in the yin yang symbol, where each polarity contains a spot of its opposite.

Anyway, we have Pluto, which represents the shadow, going direct. We have sunlight and shadow hanging in balance at the equinox. And we have a new moon in Libra, the only zodiac sign represented by an inanimate object: the scales. I think this is probably the best time ever for looking carefully at your own shadow and coming to terms with it.

(Cover of Blake's "Marriage of Heaven and Hell")

Ok, so this might seem pretty heavy, but I'll leave you with something nice: Mars (drive, energy, will) is in happy-go-lucky Sagittarius now, which is fun! & he is heading into a grand fire trine involving Uranus in Aries & Jupiter in Leo. This fire trine is going be active into mid-October.

It's about blazing energy and enthusiasm, lucky breaks, excitement! If you've been feeling stuck & exhausted, this should provide a big lift.

To use it properly though, you have to get out and run with it – maybe even literally. Jumping headlong into something new, taking risks, being fearless and active... these things are all supported.

To sum up: it's a tough month ahead overall, and the rest of 2014 is no picnic either. But we have enthusiasm, energy and the potential for exciting breakthroughs on offer as well. 

Full Moon in Pisces

(Detail from Van der Weyden's Descent From the Cross)

This is exact on Tuesday, the 9th September around 2:30 am (GMT).

The moon will be at 16 degrees Pisces, conjunct Chiron and opposing the sun in Virgo.

A Pisces moon is sensitive and empathetic, with a lack of clear boundaries between self and other... and Chiron represents a wound that will not heal. So the emotional tone described by this full moon is one of painful sensitivity for the suffering of all existence. Boundless empathy.

We are also moving into an opposition between Venus and Neptune, exact on the 10th September. It's an aspect known for romantic delusion, pining, unrequited love. Also spiritual longing and artistic creativity.

The emotional tone of these skies is very idealistic, sensitive, dreamy and wounded overall.

The nice thing is, there are practical, helpful things you can DO with all this sensitivity and empathy. The sun in in Virgo, sign of the dedicated nurse, the selfless servant. Virgo is happiest when there's a job to be done, a problem to be solved, a bandage to be applied, someone to be helped.

The themes here are the classic Virgo-Pisces ones of compassion, service, sacrifice and healing. “Serve or suffer”, the motto of this axis, applies. If you're feeling bad, focusing your energy on something you can do for others is the quickest way to feel better.

That said, suffering may be hard to avoid. with the moon conjunct Chiron and also a cardinal t-square between Uranus, Pluto, and Mercury in Libra. Situations are weighty and difficult, on a mental level as well as an emotional one. Remember last month's new moon in Virgo? We are still clearing out the Augean stables - there is still plenty of work to be done.

I'm thinking of the Ebola health workers again...

Or of the old concept of the sin-eater, a person who ritually absolved the dead of their sins.

These are forms of human sacrifice. Or compassion (the word comes for the Latin for “suffering with”).

From Vivre sa Vie.

Beware of what the Buddhist teacher Chogyam Trungpa called “idiot compassion” (another word for which is “enabling”). What's required here is a very sharp, pragmatic, purposeful kind of compassion. Like a “cordon sanitaire”.

Bearing this out, we have Saturn in Scorpio sextiling the Virgo sun and trining the Pisces moon. Saturn in Scorpio is a no-bullshit, surgical energy that is best used for removing what's rotten or diseased from your life.

The whole setup reminds me of a line from T.S. Eliot about “the sharp compassion of the healer's art”:

"The wounded surgeon plies the steel
That questions the distempered part;
Beneath the bleeding hands we feel
The sharp compassion of the healer's art
Resolving the enigma of the fever chart."

Chiron is often referred to as the 'wounded healer'. In the mythology, he was a healer and a teacher of heroes. But he was hit by a poisoned arrow during one of Hercules' escapades and proved unable to heal himself, for all his knowledge.

The archetype of the wounded healer goes back a long way. In classical shamanism, initiates were called to healing via trauma and illness. The explanation was that the spirits tormented people until they accepted the calling to become a healer.

Accepting the call meant the death of the ego – 'shamanic sickness' often ends with the sick person's vision of death and physical dismemberment, which is experienced as literal. And there follows the acceptance of a new mode of living, and a liminal social position – one foot in the everyday world, one foot in the otherworld. Your life doesn't really belong to you anymore – you become a channel between the worlds, an instrument. Not an easy position.

This pattern of initiation holds across cultures. The Buddha was so traumatized by his apprehension of the truth of suffering that he left his comfortable life and entered into austerities that nearly killed him – and his final realization was a kind of death. Jesus was an itinerant faith healer who was literally tortured to death before attaining god-status. Odin hung himself from a tree for nine days and nights in order to gain knowledge. Muhammed nearly killed himself after his initial revelation...and then he spent three years in a deep depression. Inanna went down to hell and was stripped of her finery and even her skin, hung for dead on a meat-hook. Etc, etc...

The message of all these traditions is: there's no real power or wisdom without the acceptance of suffering. You gain the ability to help others only by making your own wounds conscious. But bringing those wounds to consciousness can be very painful and difficult, and there's no going back to your old life... no 'healing' of what has been broken. It stays broken.

But that brokenness, that loss...is also the source of the ability to empathise with others, and to help them.

Chogyam Trungpa again:
"To be a spiritual warrior, one must have a broken heart; without a broken heart and the sense of tenderness and vulnerability, your warriorship is untrustworthy."

Ok, enough writing. Let's just play some videos. Under these skies, music and art make more sense than any amount of  talking or explaining...

Making art is a good use of this energy, by the way. Art is a form of catharsis or purgation, and can heal.

Another by Nina Nastasia:

And here are a few for Venus-Neptune. Bollywood has always been great at portraying Venus-Neptune (unreachable glamour, impossible love, spiritual longing).

--Worth noting: the actresses in these films were dying in real life. Madhubala of a hole in her heart, Meena Kumari of alcoholic cirrhosis. Very fitting, for Moon-Chiron in Pisces: they were tragedy queens. The boundary between life and art was very porous for these women.

--And here is one that is just kinda silly. I don't get what is happening in this video at all, but it's fun...

Anyway, "a heart that hurts is a heart that works" is a good slogan for this full moon.

New Moon in Virgo

Toilet roll art by Anasstasia Elias

This is on Monday the 25th August, around 3 pm (GMT).

New moons represent new beginnings -  you feel out what an energy (in this case, Virgo) means for you, and you set your intentions for the month ahead in relation to that energy. New moons are also great for initiating projects.

Here, we are looking at the sun and moon conjunct in the early degrees of Virgo. Virgo's ruler, Mercury, is also in the sign.

Virgo represents clarity, order, service, perfectionism, problem-solving, craftsmanship, fine-tuning. It's an analytical, fiddly sign, concerned with getting the details right.

It's also about day-to-day routine, health, work, cleanliness, simplicity, purity. So a Virgo new moon means it's house-cleaning time, back-to-school time, end-of-vacation time. A good time to start new health regimens and to organize your life.

In the Northern hemisphere, you can feel autumn in the air as Virgo season takes hold – that crispness, like a ripe apple. Summer's big showy party (culminating under the happy-go-lucky sign of Leo) is over. The flowers are finished and the harvest has to be gathered... Time to get back to reality and make provisions for the winter.

This particular Virgo new moon opposes dreamy, delusive Neptune in Pisces, which underscores the theme of 'back to reality'. We bring the clarity, focus and pragmatism of Virgo to bear on our swirly dreams and fantasies, and on our destructive habits and addictions.

We also have Mars exactly conjuncting Saturn in Scorpio later on the 25th, and this reinforces the "reality" theme and deepens it. Intense energy is going to be available for getting rid of whatever in your life no longer serves you – and this goes deep. It's a surgical focus.

It seems to me like an absolutely great set-up for anyone trying to kick an addiction or deal with an intractable problem. Really, the best possible set-up. You will be able to see through the bullshit and denial – your own or whoever's - and do what needs to be done.

The amount of bullshit and denial involved – well we are potentially looking at the Augean stables here.

From wikipedia:

“The fifth Labour of Heracles (Hercules in Latin) was to clean the Augean stables. This assignment was intended to be both humiliating (rather than impressive, as had the previous labours) and impossible, since the livestock were divinely healthy (immortal) and therefore produced an enormous quantity of dung. These stables had not been cleaned in over 30 years, and over 1,000 cattle lived there. However, Heracles succeeded by rerouting the rivers Alpheus and Peneus to wash out the filth.”

So if you are dealing with a massive stable full of shit, take heart! You can use the energy of this new moon to re-route a river or two and clear it out. It's entirely do-able and you don't have to be Hercules.

Please take note, though: the clear-out of the Augean stables was meant to be humiliating. And the kinds of scenarios we are looking at with this new moon are potentially very humbling. Venus is still in Leo, and she'll be squaring the Mars-Saturn conjunction - along with Jupiter in Leo, which magnifies the ego insult involved.

Venus in Leo is proud: a prima donna, a queen. She wants the best of everything. Needless to say, she is not going to enjoy shovelling shit in the Augean stables. But it doesn't matter whether she enjoys it or not – it has to be done.

So if you're confronted with a situation that needs fixing but is uncomfortable for your ego, it's best to swallow your pride and get to work. Virgo is about humility – being a good behind-the-scenes worker, a good servant and helper. It doesn't demand the spotlight; it gets to work quietly and efficiently, without needing much recognition for its efforts.

--I keep thinking of Ebola health workers in West Africa in relation to this new moon. Quietly, humbly dealing with a horrible situation that few people would voluntarily take on. They do it because it's their job, because somebody has to, because they care. They sure aren't doing it for glory - it's dangerous and thankless work.

(Virgo is the sign of health workers, incidentally.)

Anyway, to sum up: the way to work with the energy of this new moon is to roll up your sleeves and do what needs doing, with a minimum of fuss.

Of course it's humbling to have to downsize financially, or to deal with your addictions and bad habits, or to confront ugly problems, or to clear out your junk. You are looking at your own imperfections and insecurities – your own shit. That's unpleasant.

But try to remember that the focus here is on order, healing, personal integrity and well-being. It's about what's really best for you and everyone...as opposed to what you'd like best.

(PS: here is a depressing article about the ongoing Fukushima crisis. Another Augean stables situation - one that we're not hearing much about these days. It hasn't gone away.)