This is tonight, the 21st March, at about 1:45 am GMT.
It's a supermoon and a pretty big deal, as it coincides nearly exactly with the spring equinox.
The equinox happens as the sun moves from the end of Pisces into 0 degrees Aries. This is the kickoff point of the whole zodiac, the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere - so it's pretty intense. The symbolism is of rebirth. In this case, the sun is also conjunct Chiron in early Aries, which is about an unhealable wound to the sense of self. So it's kind of an existentially fraught rebirth – who are you, going forward? It's not who you've been, that's for sure.
Also, an equinox is a balance point between the hours of light and dark, the turning-point where the sun returns to the northern hemisphere and retreats from the southern. And few hours after the equinox, we have the moon hitting 0 degrees Libra, the sign of the scales.
Libra is rational and relationship-oriented, seeking justice and harmony between different viewpoints. As full moons symbolise culminations or endings, the symbolism here is of setting something decisively to rights, or finally deciding.
Would that it were so simple! We also have Mars and Venus, the rulers of Aries and Libra, squaring each other from fixed signs, so you can expect a bit of a standoff. And as Mercury is retrograde in Pisces and conjunct Neptune, it will be a confused, obfuscatory head-fuck of a standoff.
Still, something very important is being decided even if the lineaments of that decision are as yet unclear. I guess it's fitting that as I type this, the UK is asking the EU for an extension to Brexit, their national existential crisis. It's meant to happen in 9 days though there is still no plan in place for how, because the UK parliament is in nervous breakdown mode. And the EU is mulling over how to be fair to the UK without leaving the door open for further destabilisation and chaos. It fits the symbolism of this full moon pretty well.
In your life, expect to see plenty of tension around relationships especially – but not the usual kind. This is some breakaway stuff, with red lines being trashed and new lines being drawn, or associations ended altogether because people's values have suddenly changed completely. Uranus is in Venus-ruled Taurus, and Venus is in Uranus-ruled Aquarius – this is called a mutual reception and means these planets are working together. And what they are working for is the disruption, upending and re-balancing of old patterns of relationships. So if you think you can ride the turbulence out by sticking to your old patterns and habits, you're quite wrong - radical change and accountability are what's called for. And once you're “woke”, you can't go back to sleep. We are collectively leaving Neverland.
This is especially true with Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn conjunct the south node, laying bare the corruption underlying structures we took for granted.
The way through the turbulence at this time is via the moon in Libra: moral clarity, fairness and rationality. Don't get swamped by your sense of personal grievance. Think about what's best in the grand scheme of things, not what's only best for you. Have faith that what's best in the largest possible sense will turn out to be what's best for you personally, though it may be hard to see how at this time.
The sun and moon will be conjunct at 8 degrees Aquarius, and not strongly aspecting anything else. So this is kind of a jolt.
Aquarius is about newness, upheaval, shock, revolution. We are getting an overdose of that stuff these days. This new moon opens a month where we're set to get zapped some more.
I probably don't need to tell you that all this turbulence is more gut-churning than exhilarating. We're all feeling it. It is profoundly disorienting and destabilising.
Like this over and over...
But please remember - it is necessary. Change is demanded, and change is the opposite of being comfortable.
Anyway, this is another not-exactly-feel-good new moon. Venus is conjunct Chiron in Pisces, which is achy-breaky-heart stuff to the max. It looks like a deep sense of loss to me, or dreams that feel impossible to realise. And as Venus has to do with values and finances as well, we are also looking at broken ideals and money suckage.
Compounding these themes, Venus will be squaring Saturn exactly at the new moon. This is about harsh limitations in love and money matters – what you want may be blocked or delayed in some way, or denied outright. Or a relationship or financial situation may not live up to expectations.
So we are looking at deflation, depletion and a sense of let-down: our dreams and ideals don't match up to cold reality and it's painful. SAD.
(The Venus-Saturn square hits DT hard, by the way. I don't suppose he's feeling so great these days. The harsh realities of his new dream job are probably becoming clear to him...and I bet he's feeling more than a little unloved.)
On the plus side of Venus-Chiron-Saturn, it can be good to know exactly where you stand. It's reality, and it's something solid you can work with. Just don't expect it to feel good!
Troublingly, the collective mood is about to shift from disappointment, confusion and inertia – to action and rage. Mars is on the very last degree of Pisces at the time of this new moon – traditionally one of the most unlucky degrees of the zodiac, associated with death, permanent endings and self-destruction. Those associations will persist in phantom form through the month ahead, as this is happening at the kickoff point of the new moon.
But a few hours after it, Mars shifts signs and enters 0 degrees Aries – the Aries point, the explosive start of the whole zodiac. And this looks like an upwelling of energy and aggression to me – one that will intensify in the collective over the next month as Mars moves toward Uranus in Aries. The Mars-Uranus conjunction will be exact on the 26th February, and exactly opposing Jupiter in Libra as well, with both these poles squaring Pluto in Capricorn. We'll also have Venus in Aries as of the 3rd February.
So very soon and quite suddenly there will be a lot of cardinal fire in the sky – and this means energy and fury. I think we are bound to see some shocking expressions of collective rage here. Staying balanced, civil and nonviolent in an atmosphere of upheaval is going to be a major task.
Speaking of Uranus, Pluto and Jupiter – they have been in cardinal t-square formation since November, and this is not going away for a while. Jupiter stations retrograde in Libra on the 5th February, keeping him in hard aspect to Uranus and Pluto into April. Not only does this intensify the harshly transformative effects of Uranus and Pluto, it acts as a constant strain on our goodwill and our ability to be civil toward others.
A cardinal t-square is a stressful aspect pattern that demands change and adaptation – in this case, the changes are seismic, profound and explosive. That's obviously where we're at, at this new moon in the sign of revolution.
For this the new moon, Mercury in Capricorn will be involved in the t-square, conjunct Pluto. This conjunction will be exact on the 29th January, and it's about bedrock, ugly truths coming to light – despite people's attempts to pretend we are “post-truth” and facts no longer matter. Lies and liars will be outed this month, likely in shocking fashion.
We'll know more at the full moon in Leo on the 11th February – and the weeks leading up to that look very intense. But whatever happens or is revealed, be aware that we're in for a bumpy ride. Change is what people want, and change is what they'll get. But the pace and intensity of change is something no one can predict or control. February is a wild horse.
You'd do well to harness this energy in order to make necessary transformations in your life - in a very systematic, pragmatic way. Remember we'll have the north node in quiet, disciplined Virgo till May. The way through the chaos is still about humility, taking care of practical details and serving others.
So please keep doing your Virgo! And your Jupiter in Libra as well, which is about being generous, balanced, polite and fair in our dealings with others. Staying civilised in the midst of uncivility, in other words.
It will be hard, when all you want to do is punch a fascist.
Unfortunately, the sky does indicate that punching fascists is not the way forward right now. As ever, when dealing with Aquarius, it's worth asking yourself: "What would Spock do?" (Spock - calm, humanitarian, rational and detached - is my idea of the perfect avatar of Aquarian energy.)
This new moon is on the 18th February, around 11:50 pm (GMT).
It's a very important one. We are nearing the culmination of a cycle of accelerated change – and things are starting to shift in amazing, magical ways. It's a kind of metamorphosis.
The thing about metamorphosis is that it's so improbable it seems like magic. A visitor from another planet would never connect a caterpillar with the butterfly it becomes - the two stages look like two entirely different creatures. Something very mysterious has to happen to the caterpillar to turn it into a butterfly! And that mysterious place is where we're at.
Over the past four months we've had a series of new moons at zero degrees of their signs, starting with the new moon in Scorpio in October of 2014. This is not the usual run of things – it's very weird and special.
As new moons initiate new cycles, each of these new moons could be seen as opening a month-long period with an intense, sustained focus on the themes of its sign. So over the past four months, we've moved from an emphasis on Scorpio (psychological depth, purgation, transformation), to Sagittarius (new horizons and enthusiasm)....then Capricorn (solidity, realism, achievement)....and finally Aquarius (revolution, shock, the new order). Overall, it is a story of death and rebirth – the end of an old order, the birth of a new one.
The series of zero-degree new moons has coincided with the culmination of another extraordinary cycle: the historic series of seven exact squares between Uranus and Pluto, running from 2012 to 2015. The final exact square is coming up on the 16th of March, and the tension of this final looming square over the next month is just...kinda nuts.
Uranus is about revolutionary change and upheaval, and Pluto is a ruthless force of destruction and transformation. Put them together and you have a damn volcano. The last time these planets squared off was during the Great Depression, setting the stage for the second World War - and there were only five squares that time. The current series involves seven squares.
I am not going to talk about war now, because I think what happens on the world stage is out of anyone's hands – except to say that the level of intractable conflict going on globally right now really does not bode well.
I'm far more interested in what these squares mean for individual people trying to navigate their lives, because your personal stage is the place where you can have an influence. And what these squares mean, on a personal as well as a collective level, is a totally altered landscape. Again, the theme is death and rebirth. Nobody comes out of this time (2012-2015) the same as they went in.
Shock, traumatic loss and necessary transformation are the order of the day. It can feel excruciatingly painful and difficult. But there's just no way around radical change right now – it has to be faced head-on and accepted.
Pluto destroys what is rotten or outworn so that new life can grow. It's like a forest fire, consuming the deadwood and opening up space for something new. And Uranus is the spark igniting that fire – and also the new life pushing out of the scorched earth.
Another image for this is a crucible – the vessel where materials are cooked to a white heat and transformed. In alchemy, the object was to heat 'base metals' in a crucible until they were transformed into gold. In practice, no gold resulted from this process – but as a psychological metaphor it works. We are refined and transmuted by pressure and difficulty.
I know nobody wants to live inside a crucible, but that's what this time is. Resisting change and trying to cling to your old personal or psychological status quo will only intensify the suffering involved. It will do you no good now to go along with your old patterns... You have to let go of your control mechanisms and your conditioning and allow yourself to be transformed. That's how to work with this energy instead of being destroyed by it.
As if to hammer this theme home, our cycle of zero-degree new moons began last October with a new moon in Scorpio, a sign ruled by Pluto and having to do with purgation and transformation. We had the 6th exact Uranus-Pluto square on the 15th December, during the cycle. And the cycle is now ending with two new moons in Aquarius – on the first and last degrees of the sign, like bookends. We had a zero-degree Aquarius new moon last month on the 20th January, and tomorrow we have our new moon at the final degree of Aquarius – a degree known as the anarectic, where all the energy of the sign is concentrated.
Aquarius is about revolutionary change, and is ruled by Uranus...and tomorrow's new moon ushers in a 30-day cycle in which we'll see the final Uranus-Pluto square of most of our lifetimes on the 16th March.
So these zero-degree new moons over the past four months have been a re-iteration and acceleration of the main theme of this time: death (Pluto) and rebirth (Uranus). The symbolism is all about purging your life of what no longer serves you (Pluto), and embracing radical change (Uranus). The skies have been underlining this theme and pounding it home with a remarkable lack of subtlety for months...and now we see it coming to a crescendo.
--OK, so that was a long preamble on the significance of this new moon! But it's very special. We are looking at some crazy beautiful astrology here and I wish I could adequately convey how amazing and emphatic it all is...
By now, unless you're totally asleep, you know what has to change.
And if you refuse change – rest assured, you'll be forced into it regardless, and it will hurt worse. “The fates guide him who will; who won't, they drag”.
Anyway, let's look at this new moon:
It takes place at the very end of the final degree of Aquarius near midnight (GMT) on the 18th February... and less than ten minutes later, at the changeover to a new day, the moon and sun will be at 0 degrees of the next sign, Pisces. So it's very hard to tell whether this is a new moon at the very end of Aquarius or a new moon at zero degrees Pisces – but the symbolism is about the culmination and dissolution of a cycle however you look at it. Pisces is the last sign in the zodiac – the place where our personal boundaries come undone, where form dissolves back into the universal.
The day after the new moon, we'll have a big stellium in Pisces: sun, moon, Neptune, Chiron, Venus and Mars. This looks beautiful, and it sets the tone for the month to follow. Compassion, forgiveness, deep faith, spiritual longing, dreams, art, romance...
Here's some Pisces for ya:.
Please keep in mind that beautiful, dreamy Pisces has a very dark shadow. So along with the deep-sea fairy castles and romantic longing, we are also looking at self-pity, addiction, manipulation, delusion and martyr-complexes.
Beware (and this holds true for the rest of the month) drink and drugs, guilt trips and your own tendency to feel like an outraged victim. Outraged victimhood is never the healthiest of psychological stances. Neither is trying to rescue people, or waiting for Prince or Princess Charming to come along and rescue you. That shit will look increasingly stupid, going forward...because it IS stupid. Everyone's salvation is in their own hands, no one else's.
It's a good influence for making art or music...and Pisces is also great for dissolving hardened feelings, ego issues and anger. Remember we are coming to the end of a cycle...so it's good to let go of old baggage, release your old hurts, listen to Cure songs and have a good long cry if you need to.
(sigh)
Ok, so Pisces is about the end of something. But every ending is also a new beginning, and that is what we're approaching...fast! The new beginning in this case is a fiery, impatient, imperious one – very fierce and unambiguous. It comes on the 20th February, as Venus, Mars and the moon enter Aries, the first sign of the zodiac.
0 degrees Aries is called the Aries Point, and it's like the Big Bang – the kickoff, the blast that sets a whole new story in motion. And holy crap, we'll have Venus (love, money, values), Mars (sex, desire, aggression) and the moon (emotion, need) all passing over this point on the same day, from wishy-washy Pisces to warlike Aries...
It's just nuts. Whiplash-inducing. It's like a giant cosmic “reset” button gets pushed and things are different after that. How you feel, what you want, what you value, what you love, what you'll stand for – all suddenly transmuted and white-hot.
Venus, Mars and the moon are THE relationship planets. And right now the huge Uranus-Pluto-fueled impetus for collective change is being filtered largely through the context of close personal relationships, especially romantic ones. So the shifts in relationship structures we'll see this month have far-reaching effect – this stuff is not idle romantic nonsense right now. It is vitally important and deserves our full attention.
Relationships are our crucibles of transformation these days, with the north node in Libra. Libra (ruled by Venus) is the sign of balance, harmony, fairness, partnership and right relationship. It is about bridging polarities – 'marrying' them into a workable whole. So that is what we're trying to achieve in this story – balance, peace, workable relationships, justice. But the way things are set up, getting there involves a fierce fight.
The south node, representative of what we are trying to move away from, is in Mars-ruled Aries – and this is about self-will, anger, war, going it alone. Selfishness: 'me' as opposed to Libra's 'we'. This is the path of least resistance now, and it means self-sabotage is an ever-present danger.
For the past few months, we've had the Uranus-Pluto square mixed up in a cardinal t-square with the nodes of the moon in Aries and Libra. This is an aspect pattern forcing radical change and upheaval, in relationships especially. There is a definite gender theme to it – there are historical injustices and imbalances in relationships that need to be examined and addressed. We don't get to blindly continue the same old gender-based power dynamics and games, going forward – the rot underlying that stuff has become a lot more obvious than it used to be. People are just not having it anymore.
Because the north node is in Venus-ruled Libra, truth, justice and the impetus for constructive change are with the “feminine” (and historically suppressed and undervalued) side of the equation. I am not going to talk about the epically stupid ways the “masculine” is fucking itself up these days, because I don't want to generalise too much on the basis of gender...but look around you. It shouldn't be too hard to see.
Anyway, right now this polarized scenario also contains a lot of potential for forgiveness, mutual understanding and compassion, as Venus and Mars are conjunct in Pisces. This softens the tension and bathes everything in dreamy romanticism and longing.
But all bets are off after Venus, Mars and the moon move into Aries on the 20th! I think we are gonna see some fireworks. Things go from being all mushy and idealistic...to raw and urgent and explosive. We move from beautiful dreams to difficult realities. Mars in Aries is male energy on steroids, Venus in Aries is a warrior lady who goes after what she wants and takes no shit, and the moon in Aries is temper tantrums and an inability to delay physical gratification...And I guess you can probably see where this is heading. Yikes!
Anyway, it's real. And Saturn in Sagittarius is beneficially aspecting the conjunction, so whatever this big energy shift is about for you, it should stick. Our feet are really being held to the fire for the next month, but if you stick to your deeply-felt principles and your commitments, you should come through OK.
There will definitely be a lot of testing of said principles and commitments, as Venus and Mars get mixed up with the tightening Uranus-Pluto square in the first half of March. It looks really freaking intense. Hold the line.
--On commitments: with the relationship planets in Aries, a sign known for its self-focus - please don't neglect your commitment to yourself and to your own path. Being true to yourself is of primary importance, and it's the basis of right relationship. Whatever you have to do to get along with others, you should never compromise your self-respect.
Something I keep thinking of, with Venus (female energy) and Mars (male energy) conjunct – is that our gender issues don't necessarily have to be played out in the arena of relationships. It's probably a lot healthier to deal with them internally. I'm talking about androgyny – the balance of male and female energies in each of us. Connecting internally with the gender qualities you normally project onto people of the opposite sex is a way of becoming a whole, integrated human being – you 'marry' yourself. And you hopefully get to avoid horrible relationship drama in the bargain. (See Jung's work on the anima and the animus.)
