New Moon in Pisces

There are a lot of things happening in the sky heading into the new moon in Pisces tomorrow (1^st of March - 8 am GMT). It's potentially a very magical, compassionate and idealistic new moon...but it could be very draining and disillusioning for some. Neptune (dreams and illusions) and Chiron (wounding) are involved with the sun and moon in sensitive Pisces, and this is tough. Furthermore, there is still a very jagged, raw cardinal t-square in effect: Uranus vs. Pluto vs. Jupiter. So there is always the possibility of emotional shock and upheaval, and this is a long-term influence which shouldn't be minimized.

(lightning scars: see here)

First, a word on Pisces. Pisces is the last sign of the zodiac, a mutable water sign signifying the undifferentiated sea we (and all forms) originated out of and will return to. It is about the dissolution of the personal, the dissolution of ego. Self-sacrifice, self-transcendence, spirituality. Compassion: because if we are all one, then anyone's pain is my pain as well.

But there is a fine line between egoless self-sacrifice and abject masochism. Pisces can be very dark. The imperative to transcend the self can translate into self-destruction and an inability to cope with mundane reality. Addictions are the characteristic mechanism of shadow Pisces: they represent the need to blur out reality because it's too painful otherwise. There can be a real difficulty with personal boundaries...an inability to maintain them. A lack of emotional security or grounding.

(Pisces cake)

The planet Neptune is the modern ruler of Pisces - the ancient ruler was Jupiter. Neptune was discovered in 1846, during an era of romantic artistic and literary movements, and also the development of modern anaesthesia. It is the 8^th furthest planet from the sun, a gas giant. Here's a picture of it taken by the Voyager 2 space probe. They named it after the god of the sea before anyone knew it was colored deep blue by methane clouds.

The sun in Pisces was conjunct Neptune all last weekend, and this was a double whammy of Pisces energy...like being deep, deep underwater. Neptune dissolves boundaries. Conjunct the sun, energy and drive gets dissipated and physical boundaries are weakened, rendering people more sensitive and impressionable... and also more confused and illness-prone. The words 'dissipation' and 'dissolution' are used to describe self-dissipation via drunkenness and drug use, and this is another facet of Neptune you may have been exposed to last weekend.

Thankfully, that influence has waned as the sun has moved on through Pisces...but it's still in effect and will remain so for the new moon. There is a lot of emotional and bodily sensitivity involved, so we should all probably try to go easy on the drink and the drugs, yo... and generally avoid influences that we know to be harmful. Our defenses are low at the moment. And as stated, there is a cardinal t-square in effect and things are tense.

Mercury is currently stationing at 18 degrees Aquarius, getting ready to go direct later today (28^th February), ahead of the new moon tomorrow. This lends intellectual clarity and detachment to the proceedings...and we will need this, with all the dreamy Piscean influence. It is a great gift to be able to think and communicate clearly, especially when our life energy and emotions are underwater.

(by Ivan Bilibin)

Ok, new moons are supposed to be about new beginnings...so what is this one representative of? In the best-case scenario, this is a situation where you find the inner strength to cut free of crappy old conditioning and to forgive others... and yourself. To wipe the slate clean, dissolve hard feelings, and forgive the fallible human beings who've wounded you.

Maybe you'll have a chance to really offer aid or support to someone who needs it, or to commit to a spiritual path. Jupiter in Cancer is trining the sun and moon exactly. This means the kind of attitude supported by the sky is one of compassion and generosity. If you set an intention to aid and nourish others in whatever way you can and to be bigger than your petty little grievances, you should be protected.

There is a wrong way to approach this as well, though, and it involves the shadow side of Pisces. This is like, get really drunk and collapse weeping on the floor like a wet noodle. “Look what so-and-so has done to me!! They ruined my life!! I'll never get over it!”

Victim shit. It's not all that supportable at the best of times, but certainly not now.

That said, there's an aspect of falling apart that can be necessary and beautiful – because it breaks us open. And compassion comes out of our own experience of suffering. It is through our brokenness that we relate to others on the deepest levels...

(This song pretty much ends at 7 minutes; Leonard is just schmoozing around after that. Couldn't find a shorter live version though!)

“Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.”

I found out the other day that there's a Hindu goddess of being a complete mess: her name is Akhilanda, meaning “never not broken”. She rides around on a freaking crocodile. More here:

I nominate Akhilanda the patroness of this new moon. Power and resilience coming out of brokenness.

Feeling the suffering of existence and resolving to act with compassion for all beings because of it...That's the highest expression of Pisces, and that's the theme here. It's like the bodhisattva vow:

“However innumerable sentient beings are, I vow to save them. However inexhaustible the defilements are, I vow to extinguish them. However immeasurable the dharmas are, I vow to master them. However incomparable enlightenment is, I vow to attain it.”

Absurd, impossible vow! But it's the sentiment behind those declarations that is the important thing: the intention to serve and to help. “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”

I think in practice it would probably be OK to just vow to make cookies for a few sentient beings this new moon, or to resolve to be a better friend, or to give money to charity or donate some time to a good cause....etc. There are plenty of people stressed to breaking point under these skies, and if you find yourself in a position to help anyone, you're pretty fortunate. 

Something quite amazing: the new moon is bookended by big planetary shifts. Mercury goes direct (sudden clarity and mental illumination) the day before, and Mars goes retrograde (action and initiative withheld) the day after. And Saturn goes retrograde (karma delayed) on the 3rd of March – until July.

It's like...you will probably be able to see and feel and communicate your plan for the way forward; you'll know what's wrong, what needs to change...but it's probably going to be hard to actually initiate the changes that must be made until after Mars goes direct again. In freaking May. Expect delays and setbacks, blockages and reconsiderations. Don't go on the warpath or the offensive...review and solidify your tactics. You probably won't have much choice.

I'll try to write some more on the Mars and Saturn retrogrades later...it is crazy stuff. Very aggravating. But you can save yourself from complete exasperation if you accept that your plans are not likely to go off without a hitch for the next while. Don't get too hung up on having things go your way.

Another amazing planetary shift in the works: right now we also have Jupiter stationing at 10 degrees Cancer, getting ready to go direct on the 6^th of March. This should be nice! A big jolt of faith and luck. Venus enters Aquarius the same day, and this is another zingy influence – electrical and brilliant.

It's like, all of a sudden it's spring! Time to step clear of the past...it's really finally OVER. Time for something radically new.

This changeover is not without potential jolts and difficulty: Jupiter is stationing and will go direct exactly square to Uranus in Aries (personal revolt) and opposite Pluto in Capricorn (rotten power heirarchies). This is some shock and awe all right. Look to what just happened in Ukraine for an example of what these energies might mean on a collective scale...

(Kiev protests)

The Mars and Saturn retrogrades mean there will be likely be long, exhausting rounds of negotiation, behind-the-scenes diplomacy and passive-aggressive posturing before the new order takes hold. The ghosts of the past are going to take a while to let go, and karma is going to take a while to be the ruthless bitch we need her to be...Justice will have to wait a while before being served, most likely.

But overall, things are shifting, however stuck they may feel. You can have faith in that.

You know how in AA they say “let go and let God” or something like that? It's cheesy, but with Mars and Saturn going backward till the 20^th of goddamn May and the 20^th of freaking July respectively, that's exactly what we have to do. Just replace “God” with “Jupiter” in that sentence. With Jupiter direct and Mars going backwards, matters will really be in heaven's hands, not ours. There's a surrender of will involved for the time being.

Surrender is another theme of Pisces, so here's another idea for the kind of intention you'd do well to set this new moon: the intention to have some faith in the grand scheme of things, even when your personal progress seems stalled and you can't push forward toward what you want. Know that you are part of everything, and the grand scheme is unfolding exactly as it has to, even when it feels inimical to your personal goals. Try to go with the flow of things instead of wasting your energy by fighting against it...however frustrating this might feel.   

Full Moon in Leo

This one is just in time for freaking Valentine's Day, brilliant! Around 11:50 pm (GMT) on the 14th February. By that time of night everybody should be all liquored up and ready for some drama. 

And it looks pretty dramatic all right! I think we should listen to some L7 to get in the right mood for this one. 

"So you wanna have some fun? Well break out the big guns!" 

"DON'T CROSS MY LINE!"

It looks like that kind of full moon. Lines could get crossed. People could flip out and break out the big guns. Especially if they feel slighted or unappreciated...things could get ugly. 

Of course, it could also be this kind of full moon, if you're lucky:

Or this:

But I think this is equally likely:

Anyway, what's the story here?

The sun in cold, rational Aquarius is facing off against a romantic, fiery, attention-hungry full moon in Leo. Like so:

Well, what do you think the dialogue here is going to be like? Probably a little stilted, it's safe to assume. Plenty of mutual incomprehension.

Wires could get crossed, with a retrograde Mercury in Aquarius conjunct the sun - this is real glitchy, communications-wise. Expect your phone to conk out just before you text to say where you're gonna meet your hot date. Or you meet your hot date even though your car's radiator just exploded and then you start hiccuping too hard to hold a conversation...or the lights go out in the cinema, mid awkward romcom. Or you realize he/she is actually from another planet and it's time to beam back up to the starship but your transponder is on the blink...

Yep. If you are actually able to sit and converse like a normal human (whatever the hell that means), uninterrupted by glitchy tech shit and shocks and general weirdness... you'll be doing pretty well.

But then you get to the real hurdles.

A moon in Leo craves attention, romance and fun. It's a party moon. But this Leo moon is disposited (and opposed) by the sun in Aquarius, which is not exactly a party sun.

And Saturn in Scorpio is involved, squaring the sun, Mercury and the moon. This means it's actually NO GODDAMN FUN at all. Everything feels too heavy for fun. Emotions are heavy, communication is heavy (and difficult), intentions are heavy, the weight of the past is heavy...

And Venus is still conjunct Pluto in Capricorn; still in cardinal t-square formation with Jupiter in Cancer and Uranus in Aries. Love is heavy. Building a viable future is heavy. Relating honestly is heavy. Being true to yourself and trying to be true to the demands of a relationship at the same time is heavy. Unexpressed rage is heavy. All the shitty things we've done to each other are heavy; our collective baggage around relationships is heavy. The imbalances and injustices that go along with traditional gender relations are heavy.

More L7 - I feel like we need them for this. (Off "Bricks Are Heavy", ha.)

People are likely to be feeling blocked-off, unseen, unheard and undervalued in their relationships, and liable to vent explosively.

(More fight music!)

A defining feature of this full moon: the north node (an eclipse-point signifying the 'slant' of the whole story) will be at 0 degrees Scorpio. This is the last lunation we'll have with the north node in Scorpio for 18 years or so. And Saturn in Scorpio will be squaring the moon and the sun, as we've seen.

So there is a heavy, fateful, Scorpionic emphasis to this full moon. Scorpio, remember, is about death and rebirth. Transformation. Amputation of what's dead or rotten so that new life can grow.

And bearing in mind that full moons are about things coming to light, culminations, endings...and we have Saturn (karma) aspecting this one...this full moon is actually very serious. No matter how many silly Spock pix I may post, please bear in mind that this is actually a big deal!

We've had a year and a half of the north node in Scorpio. A year and a half to examine the energy imbalances in our lives, the power games, the decayed rotten collective patterns of relating. A year and a half to focus on the dark shadow stuff that we'd all rather pretend doesn't exist...but with Saturn in Scorpio as well, there's no sweeping the dirt back under the rug. If we've done our work, we know the worst now, about ourselves and others and the kind of world we live in...and there's no way back.

No way back... I mean, it's actually impossible, once you've seen the corruption inherent in a particular dynamic (whether it's a family, relationship, job, political system or whatever) to go back and relate to it in the same old way. You transform it if you can; you walk away from it and create something new if you can. But once you've really seen into what's happening and how deep the rot goes...you have to act upon that knowledge. The imperative of Scorpio is survival. You do not hang around and allow yourself to be poisoned.

If the rotten dynamic is something happening in yourself, it's just as stark. You have to cut it out already. Addictions, toxic relationships, destructive delusions. Fears and insecurities, unquestioned assumptions, culturally mandated attitudes, ego games....

You know what form the rot takes in you and you know what you have to do.

The north node shifts to Libra - sign of relationship, social harmony and justice - on the 18th February, straight into a conjunction with Mars in Libra. There is a tremendous drive for right relationship embodied in this shift.

But before you can move towards fairness and balance in your relationships, you have to get rid of what's rotten. That means weeding out your own self-destructive behaviours and attitudes, and not putting up with crap from others. Refusing to carry other peoples' garbage for them. Refusing to stay in dynamics in which you're not being met halfway.

Mars in Libra will be harmoniously aspecting the sun, Mercury and the moon for this full moon, which is nice. If you remember that your goal is ultimately to relate with fairness and decency and to have balanced, just relationships...it should give you the energy and drive to stop doing what you know is no good for you.

And the sun and Mercury in Aquarius, disposited by Uranus in Aries, mean that there is clarity and mental detachment available here, as well as a burning drive for personal authenticity at any cost.

On personal authenticity at any cost: this person is an object lesson. And the song fits these skies...