New Moon in Capricorn

This is tomorrow, the 29th December, around 7 am GMT.

We have a lot going on in the sky heading into this new moon. Today (the 28th) in particular, is an important day. Today Uranus stations direct in Aries in exact opposition to Jupiter in Libra, and in tight trine to Saturn in Sagittarius. Plus Saturn squares Chiron in Pisces. Plus retrograde Mercury conjuncts the sun in Capricorn.

This symbolism here is of illumination – hidden truth coming to light, or a flash of insight that lights up the road ahead. As Mercury is retrograde, you will not have all the information, so don't make the mistake of thinking you do. (That will come later, as Mercury stations direct and moves to conjunct Pluto in January.)

What you will have is something solid to go on – a hunch that'll lead in the right direction. There will be practical things you can do with it, and your next steps will probably be quite clear.

Because this Mercury retrograde is so tied up with Pluto, what's revealed might be uncomfortable and ugly. With Saturn squaring Chiron, it could bring hopelessness and a painful awareness of limitation. And with Mars conjunct Neptune on the south node, it might feel easier to get drunk or take refuge in fantasy than to deal with what's happening. This is not exactly a feel-good new moon.

But it's better to know the reality than to be left in the dark – because then you can start taking practical steps and figuring out how to work with the situation. We are not eating pie in the sky in cloud cuckoo land here. It's just a shit sandwich on Planet Earth and we have to try to make the best of it.

As Mercury is retrograde in cautious, sober Capricorn, the appropriate response to new ideas or information right now is not a headlong rush to action. It is calm and quiet and industrious – focused on pragmatic, strategic structural changes and adjustments.

The new moon trines the north node in Virgo, which helps!  Rome wasn't built in a day – it took a lot of little steps. Virgo is all about the little steps.

Here is hexagram 53 from the I Ching – it feels relevant to this new moon. It concerns the need for gradual progress in order to build something of lasting value.

Please don't be discouraged if the road ahead looks long and hard! “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice”, per Martin Luther King. It's a very Jupiter in Libra sentiment – faith (Jupiter) in balance and justice (Libra) – and it's the way to go right now.

We will need more than faith though; we will need effort. I think this new moon looks fantastic as a scenario where faith and committed effort come together, along with righteous anger and the desire for change.

We do have a Mars-Neptune conjunction at this new moon, exact on New Year's Day and very close to the south node. So discouragement is definitely an option – dissolution of energy and will. This can be about illness, exhaustion and vulnerability to drugs, alcohol and delusion. Careful with all these things, please. The boundary-dissolving substances are especially dangerous this month.

That said, the Mars-Neptune conjunction beneficially aspects this new moon. What this says to me is that disillusion and disappointment can act as a spur here, and not as a swamp you get stuck in. It's when our illusions drop away that we're most capable of working with reality as it is.

I think the key to this new moon – and to the month ahead – is Uranus, planet of shock and revolution, stationing direct NOW in Aries, sign of anger and individual will.

Change is demanded. We are not going back to the old realities; we are creating radically new ones. New models of relating, new ways of making a living, new values, new visions of the future, new political groupings, new modes of protest and collective action – everything has to change, and all the old tried-and-true stuff we took for granted is just not gonna work anymore.

This kind of structural change is not going to happen overnight. But here at this coldly realistic new moon in Capricorn is where we get a sense of the road ahead - an intuition of what's possible - and start plotting our next moves.

The time to start implementing changes will come soon, as Mercury stations direct on the 8th January.

We'll have a stomach-churning full moon in Cancer on the 12th January. It looks tense, and I'll write about it closer to the time. I don't think the month ahead looks emotionally easy at all! But it does look great for gaining clarity about the road ahead, putting necessary changes in place, and getting things done.

It's a good time to make your New Year's resolutions. I think, make them wilder and stranger this year than you've ever dared. Why the hell not? Happy new year to all!

Full Moon in Gemini

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This is tonight, the 14th November, around 12:05 am GMT.

The moon in Gemini will be facing off against the sun and Saturn in Sagittarius. Both these poles will be squaring Chiron in Pisces.

As Chiron is about wounding, this looks painful. As Saturn is involved, it looks harsh. As Gemini and Sagittarius are involved, this has to do with thought, information, communication and truth vs. fiction.

What do you really know? What's true? “Post-truth” has entered the lexicon this year. The idea that news is faked is no longer a conspiracy theory – it has become the news. People cherry-pick their sources to support their established opinions, social media has enabled us all to block out voices we don't agree with, and reality TV has supplanted reality.

Where do we go from here? The future looks grim. How does collective life operate, post truth? Is reality to be controlled by whoever or whatever we feel like believing (facts be damned)?

Joseph Goebbels:

“It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and a psychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a circle. They are mere words, and words can be molded until they clothe ideas and disguise.”

In a way I think it's a heartening development that the concept of “fake news” has become real news. At least we're all aware we're being flagrantly lied to.

The problem is, where do we go from here? What stories can we actually have faith in, when our sense of collective reality has been wounded to this extent? Planning for the future requires knowing where you're standing now – but who knows that anymore?

Leaving aside the collective, what does this dynamic look like in your own life? Where have you lost faith in the future, where do you no longer believe the story you're telling yourself or being told?

It's likely something will come to light at this full moon – some new information or revelation that helps you put things in proper perspective. Expect it to be a harsh reality check. Truth is not exactly a feel-good element in this scenario – it is sobering and painful.

Mercury (thought, information, communication) is the ruler of Gemini and dispositor of this full moon. He is currently in cold, sober, reality-based Capricorn, and edging toward Pluto – and this speaks of a drive to get to the bottom of things; to face the unvarnished truth.

Mercury is stationing retrograde on the 19th December - as if to underscore this theme of analysing the facts and getting the story straight. The retrograde runs till the 8th January and brings him back to the late degrees of Sagittarius, which is all about the stories we tell to make sense of the world. He will station direct as the sun conjuncts Pluto in Capricorn. Some harsh truths – especially relating to corrupt power dynamics in the collective, and in your own life – are likely to be illuminated.

It's not all grim though. We have Mars in Aquarius (the will to try something different) and Uranus in Aries (a fiery drive to be true to ourselves) in mutual reception, and helpfully aspecting each other right now. Both are also beneficially aspecting the sun, moon and Saturn this full moon. This speaks of paradigm shifts and revolutions - energy, anger and will being directed toward progressive channels. It's not a time for sitting on your hands and isolating yourself – there are new associations and realities to be built, to replace the stuff that is no longer credible. It's exciting and unpredictable!

Also, we have Venus in Aquarius, which is a drive for freedom and novelty in relationships. With Jupiter in Libra, relationships are a theme, but Venus in Aquarius abhors staying stuck in the same old relational ruts. She wants space, candour and equality, and she's into unusual, improbable pairings.

So we have a lot of Aquarian influences pushing us to find new modes of inhabiting reality, relating to others and envisioning the future right now. Be ready to embrace shock and upheaval this holiday season – change is in the air, and it's necessary.

Uranus, ruler of Aquarius, stations direct on the 28th December, in exact opposition to Jupiter in Libra and sextiling Venus in Aquarius. This is a big zap to relationships of all kinds – obviously we can't keep doing the same old shit and replaying the same old dynamics. This is about clearing the air, being radically honest and objective, striving to find a new kind of balance.

To sum up: this full moon looks like a bit of a drag – a bubble-burster for sure. You'd do well to work with this. Let your bubble be burst. Reality has to be faced, and there is work to be done to create the kind of future you want. That involves dropping your illusions and self-pity and getting out there, joining with others, forming new associations and embracing change. We are not really “post-truth” - but the old realities are torched and it's time to try something new.

Here is a crazy relevant article published just at the full moon: "The case for despair is made. Now let's start to get out of the mess we're in".

Please be aware that the north node is still in Virgo – keep your focus on what's practical and realistic. The south node is still conjunct Neptune in Pisces, and Mars will be moving to conjunct Neptune by the end of the month. I've been talking about the difficulty of knowing what's true these days – well it's sure to be extra-difficult for the rest of the month. So please try to stay grounded and be aware of the possibility of deception. That includes self-deception.

Plus: big substance alert! Take care with drink and drugs. Also with romantic idealism, delusion, self-pity, nostalgia, despair... All poisons under these circumstances. We are not going backward to the way things were - we are trying to forge a new paradigm here. Facing harsh reality is a necessary step toward this.