CAPRICORN NEW MOON - 9 / 10 January 2016

Sunday 10 January, exact at 1.30am GMT, Saturday 9 January, exact at 8.30pm EST.

The first New Moon of 2016 is packed with intensity and the potential for making profound breakthroughs in our lives and relationships. New Moons are extremely potent and whatever happens around this time has the potential to take seed and grow as the month progresses. It is a time of new beginnings, and the seeds that we sow now and the intentions we set have the potential to blossom and grow until they reach full bloom around the time of the Full Moon. While the New Moon may not have the emotional intensity of the Full Moon, one must not underestimate its power. This particular New Moon holds amazing potential for recognising what is no longer serving us and leaving it behind in the dark of the Moon, moving forward with truth and integrity. It is a Moon of profound transformation, where we have the opportunity to really break down old, outworn patterns and structures and achieve profound change and breakthroughs. This does not come without the willingness to do some serious soul searching, however.

The Sun and Moon are forming their monthly union in earthy Capricorn, the sign of discipline, structure, commitment and integrity. Capricorn is the mountain goat, who sets his sights on a goal and slowly and surefootedly makes his way to the top of the mountain, never taking his eyes off the goal. Capricorn is the ruler of the 10^th house, which represents the role we play in the outer world, our purpose in this lifetime and our capacity to find achievement and success in the societal sense. Capricorn asks that we truly take responsibility for ourselves and act with integrity. During this New Moon Pluto is conjunct the Sun and Moon, urging us to commit to a path of emotional honesty and a willingness to work on ourselves. While Pluto has been in Capricorn, since 2008, we have all been through a process of aligning our soul purpose with our outer purpose. This New Moon will deepen that, asking us to dig deep and have the courage to be who we really, truly are. This is a time of empowerment in the truest sense of the word. The process may not be easy, but at least we will know that we are on the path that is right for us.

There is a lot going on during this Moon that signifies that we are at a very important time in our development. We are literally being forced to live our truth. The Pluto Uranus square is activated during this Moon and it is also joined by Black Moon Lilith in Libra, the sign of relationships. This is a time of reckoning, when we are really being asked to live our truth. Following our truth is more important than keeping the peace within our relationships. We are entering a new paradigm and the rules are changing. The old way of relating is rapidly disappearing and so it seems almost impossible to compromise our higher selves merely for the sake of security in relationship. The relationship must be a reflection of our inner truth. The Pluto Uranus square is having its last hurrah before the two planets move their separate ways for good. This is a time of breaking down patterns, blasting through blocks and liberating ourselves from whatever isn’t serving us. We have the opportunity for amazing breakthroughs and it seems as if we have no choice but to go along for the ride!

Pluto in Capricorn encourages truth and integrity and has the capacity to strip us to the core in order to make sure that the structure we are standing on is real and resonates with us on a deeper level. He forces us to dig deep and find our buried treasure and also to find a place of absolute authenticity. His is a deeply transforming and metamorphic energy. Uranus in Aries is asking us to be absolutely true to ourselves and break down any patterns that are sabotaging us. It feels like this is the time for us to truly face and let go of them. Enough already! The energy of these two planets can sometimes make it feel as if forces are operating that are outside of our control, and this is only because they are realigning us with our truth. Black Moon Lilith is incredibly visceral and in Libra she forces us to listen to our gut instincts about our relationships. She is forcing us to go deeper and face the shadows so that we are truly operating from our emotional core, which will make our relationships deeper, truer and far more fulfilling.

These three very intense energies have been dancing with each other since Christmas and the energy is peaking during this Full Moon. It is quite likely that we will have had very visceral feelings about whatever isn’t quite right in our lives and a feeling of being driven by forces out of our control. However, this force actually comes from within, as it is our own soul driving us to live up to our full potential and showing us where things are out of whack. Saturn, the ruler of the Capricorn Moon, is sitting right on top of Venus, asking us to take full responsibility for our part in relationships and to be willing to work through any issues that come up. It is quite likely, as these two are in Sagittarius, that issues around freedom will come up and that our beliefs surrounding relationships and relating may be deeply challenged. Saturn and Venus are a good addition to the mix, because while Saturn may shine the harsh light of reality on our relationships and our patterns, he will also help us to have the willingness to really work on ourselves and achieve mastery of our relationships.

In the meantime we have retrograde Jupiter sitting right on top of the North Node of the Moon, indicating that this is a very important time in our evolution. The North Node represents where we need to move towards on a soul level in order to grow and Jupiter is there, helping pull us forward at the moment. This is certainly a time for taking responsibility for the part we play in our own lives instead of passing the responsibility and blame onto others and playing victim. It is so easily done, but it serves no-one. When we were children we were not in control of what happened to us. Now we are. With the nodes on the Virgo/Pisces healing axis and Jupiter and the nodes forming positive aspects to this Moon, we have the capacity for some amazing healing to occur, as long as we are willing to face ourselves and accept the part we play in creating our own story. This certainly does feel like an amazingly powerful time for releasing old patterns.

Meanwhile we have Mercury retrograde from 5 January and from the day he turns direct, on 25 January, until around the 30^th, he will be right on top of Pluto, activating the Pluto Uranus square! That could be a time of reckoning, for sure! It is very likely that we will experience profound realisations, breakdowns of thought processes leading to amazing breakthroughs and shocking truths revealed. I should imagine that it will be hard to hide from the truth during this time. Mercury will be interacting positively with retrograde Jupiter throughout this month as well, which can really help us see the bigger picture and bring helpful messages if we are open to hearing them. This is definitely a time to listen to our intuition and gut instinct rather than trying to figure things out in our heads.

Mercury Retrograde is a time for looking back and reflecting and reviewing rather than making concrete decisions or commitments. It is a retrospective time, and in Capricorn it represents a time to make absolutely sure the structure of our life is sound and that we are on the right path. Sometime people come back from the past or we have to revisit something in order to learn something crucial for us to move forward. It is of course important to remember that misunderstandings and miscommunications can easy happen during Mercury retrograde. As such, we should make sure that we are very clear indeed, for damage control!

There’s a lot going on right now, that’s for sure! This is definitely a time of new beginnings and releasing old habits and patterns, and the Capricorn energy is asking us to take personal responsibility for our “stuff”. Unless we face our own shadows we will continue to see them in others.  There is definitely a sense of us having to operate from a place of integrity and truth and to make sure that we are on the right path. If there is something awry we will be feeling it acutely and will have no choice but to make the necessary changes to make ourselves feel comfortable again. It is very important that we align with our truth and be prepared to face ourselves and our patterns with open hearts and the willingness to stretch and grow. This may not be a comfortable process, but who knows what rewards might await us on the other side! We are definitely moving into unknown territory now, with old ways of relating falling away and patterns and beliefs dissolving. It is exciting, scary, uncomfortable, and exhilarating all at the same time!

Much love

Amy

xoxo

Photo:  Unknown