SAGITTARIUS NEW MOON – 22 November 2014

Exact at 12.53pm GMT, 7.53am EST

This is a powerful New Moon because it is in the very first degree of Sagittarius which is a very powerful and potent degree, symbolising a brand new rush of Sagittarian energy as we enter the sign. It strengthens the sense of new beginnings that the New Moon brings. At the same time we are still very much feeling the effects of intense, emotional and transformative Scorpio, so the Sagittarius party hasn’t quite started yet! Sagittarius wants to rush ahead and go on a grand adventure, while Scorpio still has us in it grips, making us all too aware of our fears, vulnerabilities and shadows. This week we have had the Sun and Saturn coming together in Scorpio, making everything quite heavy and restrictive and bringing our fears and the darker aspects of existence into our consciousness. This aspect was exact on Tuesday and its effects will linger throughout the week. This means that while we might be more than ready to make big plans, we will be very aware of what holds us back from achieving our dreams. The Sabian symbol for the first degree of Sagittarius is “Army veterans gather to re-awaken old memories”. This gives a sense that we need to deliberately bring our wounds and patterns into our conscious awareness in order to move on with our lives. While this New Moon is about new beginnings and planting seeds for new adventures, it seems that we have to honour the past and hurt part of ourselves in order to do so.

The Sun and Moon are forming their monthly union in optimistic and adventurous Sagittarius. Sagittarius is bold and daring and has absolute faith that if he takes a chance he will somehow be rewarded, even if it isn’t quite in the way he expected! The symbol of Sagittarius is a centaur; half man, half beast, aiming his bow high into the heavens. This makes him quite physical, instinctual and nature loving, while at the same time very intuitive and forward looking. He is the visionary, who isn’t afraid to follow his dreams and most definitely makes his own luck. He literally shoots for the stars! Sagittarius sees the bigger picture and doesn’t get bogged down in petty details. His aim is to expand our consciousness. He is also the seeker of the truth, and will travel far and wide to find it. He also speaks the truth, sometimes without a filter! Sometimes the truth hurts! He wants to find higher meaning in life; something to believe in beyond the mundane. He demands the freedom to roam and will walk the road less travelled, ever alert for omens which will show him which path he should take next. Sagittarius’s ruler is Jupiter, who is currently in Leo, encouraging us to express ourselves joyfully and with confidence and to not be afraid to follow our hearts.

It is interesting that Scorpio comes before Sagittarius, forcing us to confront our fears and darker emotions, while Sagittarius then helps us make a leap of faith, moving past our fears and trusting that we will somehow land on our feet. Faith is such a big part of the Sagittarian picture; trusting that we are somehow guided by forces far bigger than us that seek to help us grow and evolve. This helps us through the hardest times; the faith that there is a higher purpose to all that happens to us. The Sagittarian optimist within us realises that the most challenging experiences are amazing opportunities for growth, as painful as they may be. We are now entering Sagittarius season, which is jovial, jolly, joyful, fun and sociable, but just for now we are caught between the emotional intensity of Scorpio and Sagittarius’s desire to move forward and expand. For this Moon it seems that we are being asked to honour our fears and consciously move past them and as we do so the universe will rise up to meet us half way, rewarding us for our bravery.

As I said, Saturn in Scorpio is rather big part of the overall picture at the moment. The Sun and Moon are moving away from Saturn in Scorpio, who is heavy, dark and restrictive and moving towards Venus in Sagittarius, who just wants to have a good time, hang out with like-minded people and laugh a lot! We’ll get there, but first we might have to be really honest about what we are afraid of and what is holding us back from all that we want so much. We might also be forced to be completely honest about what it is we truly want, deep down in our hearts. First the Sun, then Mercury is joining up with Saturn over the course of this week, exact on Wednesday 26^th. This has the potential to cause us to face our shadows and go to all the dark places we would rather not have to venture into. Saturn’s influence could make us all too aware of where we feel limited or restricted in our lives. There is an air of melancholy to this picture and the possibility of having some quite heavy, dark, pessimistic thoughts. Saturn is shining the harsh light of reality onto our lives and thought patterns which could cause considerable anxiety as some very old and irrational fears rise up into our consciousness. This is an opportunity to rise up and meet these fears, acknowledging and honouring them so that they begin to lose their power over us. Then we will be ready to make a big leap forward, in true Sagittarian style!

Neptune in Pisces is forming a challenging aspect to the Sun and Moon, which could well add to the air of melancholy and will also bring the desire to escape this heavy dose of reality that Saturn is bringing at the moment. Neptune is the dreamer and can be overly idealistic, creating illusions which can then lead to disappointment. We could be a bit confused about where we are going, as if there is a smoke screen in front of us. In aspect to the Sun and Moon it brings the potential for us to feel a bit more sensitive than usual, as if our skins are somehow thinner and we absorb more from the environment than usual. It could be easy to slip into feeling like a victim. Neptune has a very vivid imagination which could make us imagine things that aren’t real, bringing more possibility of irrational fears surfacing in us. There is a certain wistfulness to this combination and a sense of it being a little harder to cope with the reality of our lives. Neptune is the master of finding ways to avoid facing reality, like sleeping too much, drinking, doing drugs, watching television, playing computer games; the list goes on and on!

The positive side of this aspect is that Neptune will challenge us to think creatively and see the bigger picture. With his help we can dream a better future for ourselves. While Saturn may be narrowing our focus and making us all too aware of what isn’t working for us, Neptune urges us to keep the faith that we are heading in the right direction, even if it is hard to see at times. Neptune doesn’t make sense logically, but even though we may feel like we have somehow taken the wrong path we must trust that there is a reason for going there. Any fears, wounds or painful memories that may be dredged up at this time will be for good reason, even though we may not be able to see why for a while. We may feel more sensitive and porous than usual but sometimes it is important to feel things more acutely so we can become more aware of what needs to change. It is very important to remember to treat ourselves with as much compassion and forgiveness as we would other people. We are so very hard on ourselves sometimes and Neptune reminds us that we are all beautiful souls who are doing their best here on earth!

In the background we hear the rumble of the Uranus Pluto square, which is now building in intensity and will be exact on the 15^th of December. We are no stranger to this energy as this is the sixth of seven squares since 2012. The Pluto Uranus square is a sign of the times and has been creating breakdowns which lead to breakthroughs in the structure of our lives and in the patriarchal system we live in. It has been highlighting where we are stuck or limited and forcing us to move beyond it, which of course can be rather uncomfortable! Capricorn represents societal structure and patriarchal authority and the square between these two powerful planets have been slowing exposing the rot and showing what is quite simply no longer working in our lives, our society and the world power structures. I sense that we have got to the point where it is glaringly obvious what isn’t working, both in the structure of our own lives and in the world, but now the question is what to create in its place? We are now in the new paradigm that was promised when the squares began and it is a bit like finding our way in the dark because it is nowhere we have ever been before.

This next square could shake things up a bit more and make us aware of what needs to change in order to stand completely and utterly in our truth, with absolute integrity. As the square gets closer to being exact we can expect a bit of turbulence, both within our own lives as we are forced to step outside of our comfort zones and uproot age old patterns and globally as people rise up and challenge the powers that be and antiquated systems that are simply no longer serving us. The question now is what to replace them with? After five squares  in the space of two years we know what is wrong and are now at the point where we think about what should replace anything that has rotted away or been destroyed. Pluto and Uranus also rule natural and manmade disasters, such as volcanoes, oils spills and earthquakes, so don’t be surprised if the weather is a bit whacky as well around this time. Here is a post I wrote about the Pluto Uranus square back in 2012: Pluto Uranus Square

This Moon definitely seems to be asking us to take a leap of faith, but not without acknowledging and honouring our weaknesses, vulnerabilities and fears and being very honest with ourselves about what is holding us back and restricting us from growing. This is a time to delve into the darkness and bring any old, outworn patterns completely out into the light so we can have a really good look at them before we move forward. Success comes from overcoming and transcending fears and anxieties rather than the absence of them and there is no person in this world that doesn’t experience fear at some point or other. It’s what we do with it that makes the difference. We either drown in our fears and allow them to immobilise us or we face them head on, accepting that we are just human and recognising that they are merely constructed by our own imaginations. It is so very important to remember that what we can come up with in our own heads is often so much worse than the reality of anything we are facing!

Sagittarius aims his bow high and shoots for the stars and so should our intentions for this New Moon. Whatever we set for our intentions should evoke a feeling of joy in us. We must let the arrow pierce through any illusion or fear and trust that it will land exactly where it needs in order to support our growth at this time. This New Moon is asking for us to have faith in the universe and belief in ourselves. Once we set off there is no looking back!

Much love

Amy

Xoxo

www.amybirdartandastrology.com

Artwork: When you Wish upon a Star by Sabine Rich