AQUARIUS NEW MOON - 24 January 2020

Exact at 9.42pm GMT

This New Moon has a slightly lighter, liberating feeling to it in contrast to the heavy nature of the past couple of moons with their preponderance of Capricorn energy. It is also the beginning of the year of the Yang Metal Rat on 25 Jan, which feels very much like a new start as the Rat is the first animal in the Chinese zodiac. This could be a year to use the force of Yang Metal and really get things done! There is a certain cunning ruthlessness to this combination but also a feeling of no nonsense and “enough is enough”! This might help us to draw a line in the sand with our “swords”, creating better boundaries, and to strategise a better way forward for ourselves. The Rat is quite a clever and resourceful creature who managed to be the first in the zodiac by sitting on the hard working Ox’s back on the way to see Buddha and then jumping off at the last minute, thereby pipping the Ox to the post. We might need to keep our wits about us this year and be clever with whatever resources we have at our disposal. A little can go a long way, as the Rat clearly shows us! We are invited to work with what comes naturally to us to create the new beginning that this year promises.

And now we have a creative, visionary Aquarius New Moon to start us off!  Aquarius energy is a reaction to the dutiful, responsible, authoritarian energy of Capricorn, as this is the sign of the rule breaker, the rebel, the revolutionary! During this New Moon, which is a time of new beginnings, we have the Sun, Moon and Mercury all residing in Aquarius, which gives us the chance to take a step back and see everything a bit more objectively. Aquarius helps us to see outside of the box and liberate ourselves from the heavy conditioning that we have been subjected to in our lifetime.  We are invited to break out of the mould. Aquarius can help us to be objective and envision another way of doing things, releasing ourselves from the weight of the past and writing a new story for ourselves. Aquarius is a bright, visionary, humanitarian sign that can help us to come up with some left field, ingenious solutions to problems that are too old and heavy to carry anymore.

We still have Jupiter, Saturn, Pluto, Ceres and the South Node in Capricorn, so the Capricorn party certainly isn’t over yet, as the slower moving planets spend a long time in each sign. Pluto will finally leave Capricorn in 2024, having been there since 2008, during which time we will have been exposed to the dark underbelly of all things Capricorn, such as our governments, political structures, the patriarchy, corporations and “the system”. The Saturn Pluto conjunction, which peaked on 12 January, is still very prevalent, albeit the energy is gradually starting to wane. This has brought a very heavy dose of reality to whatever area of life that the conjunction is found in our charts, and has certainly highlighted issues around power, control, corruption, as well as showing us just how destructive and divisive fear can be.

The Nodes of the Moon have another four months left in the Cancer Capricorn axis, which emphasises issues around our conditioning patterns, where home is, our work/life balance, patriarchal versus matriarchal values, control versus vulnerability, and government versus grassroots movements and community. This energy has been prevalent since November 2018 and will end in June this year. As such, we only have a little more time to work on the issues brought up by Capricorn and Cancer, the Father and the Mother. And this is important work! One of the big lessons of this Nodal combination is recognising when we are reacting from fear. Capricorn is that part of us that tends to withdraw or put up the walls when we are upset, fearful or overwhelmed. The Capricorn part of ourselves may tend to suppress emotions, keeping it all tightly under control and reacting with old, outworn patterns that come from the conditioning we received from the authority figures in our lives.

However, Cancer invites us to let down our walls and dare to admit that we are scared and need help. It takes a certain amount of bravery to actually share our fears and allow ourselves to be vulnerable. It takes great strength to relinquish control, let down the walls and admit that we don’t have all the answers. We have been taught to believe that vulnerability is somehow negative or weak, when really it actually requires great inner strength and can greatly help our relationships and lives. Showing how we really feel gives us a far greater chance for resolution of conflict than holding it all in and pushing each other away.  

This Moon can help us undo some of that conditioning, loosening the knot and liberating ourselves from some of the more entrenched patterns that tend to sabotage us. We have the opportunity to harness the energy of Aquarius in order to step back and see ourselves more objectively so that we can choose another way. It is so easy to remain stuck in old, familiar patterns that don’t actually serve us anymore, but the energy of this Moon can help bust us out, helping us to write a new story altogether. We have just come out of Eclipse season, which signifies a new chapter starting, and now we have this hopeful, visionary, pattern busting energy of an Aquarian New Moon to help us to break out of our bondage and start fresh. This sign stands for Liberty, Equality and Brother/Sisterhood. It is time to break the rules and to somehow find ways to navigate the system.

Uranus, the ruler of this Aquarius New Moon, is also forming a dynamic square aspect to the Sun and Moon. The challenging energy of the square can create sudden upheavals, unexpected curveballs and events or situations that seem to force change upon us. However, as unpredictable and potentially unsettling is this energy may be, it can also be incredibly liberating, causing us to somehow “wake up” and see the way out of our comfortable ruts, recognising where and how we may be stuck or stagnating. Uranus helps us to break the rules and find who we really are versus the version or ourselves that we have been taught to present to the world in order to somehow “fit in” and not rock the boat. Uranus helps us to stand up to authority, to question any rules that quite simply don’t make sense to us and to recognise exactly what need to change and why. This is the Great Awakener, so whatever happens during this time could help us to wake up liberate ourselves from the chains that bind us, both personally and collectively. Anyone who has personal planets or angles between 0 and 4 degrees of a sign, especially Taurus, Leo, Aquarius and Scorpio, will be feeling this energy most acutely.

During this Moon the cosmic lovers, Venus and Mars will be squaring off against each other, potentially causing some friction in our relationships. Passions could run high and any problems that might have been simmering could now come to the foreground to be dealt with. However, ultimately this could help to clear the air and get things out into the open so that we can see the truth of the matter, and combined with the Uranus and Aquarius energy we have the chance to liberate ourselves from old ways of relating that might actually be doing us harm and/or sabotaging our relationships. It is time to write a new story and throw out the rulebook. The old way doesn’t exist anymore.

The good news is that Venus is currently in Pisces and is also joining forces with Pisces’ ruler Neptune, so we have the potential for relating to one another in an empathetic, compassionate, kind and loving way that leaves our egos out of the picture. This combination is a recipe for unconditional love, whereby we put the wellbeing of the relationship itself first, over and above our own needs and wishes. However, Neptune can also cause us to be somewhat vague, elusive and even deceitful about our feelings, leading to confusion, mixed messages and even disillusionment. This energy peaks on Monday 27 Jan, so it will be building during the New Moon and the weekend. Anybody with personal planets or angles between 14 and 18 degrees of a sign, especially Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces, will feel this energy the most.

The Sabian symbol for this New Moon, at 5° Aquarius, is: “A council of ancestors is seen implementing the efforts of a young leader”, which Dane Rudyar describes as: “Every individual is far more dependent upon the strength of his ancestors’ achievements – or oppressed by their failures and lack of vision – than he usually believes. This can mean a hidden foundation of individual strength, or the inertia of a tradition unable to transcend its limited origins.” This symbol speaks for itself, really, as we are both helped and hindered by the past. On the one hand, history and the elders can aid us with the wisdom of the tried and tested, not to mention learning from history. On the other hand the old way, with all its conservatism and stuckness can hold us back as we walk towards the new order. However, this symbol gives the sense that the ancestors are on our side, helping the young leader to move forward and make the changes that we so desperately need at this time. The key is to learn from the past and tap into the wisdom of our roots but to ultimately forge our own path, unique to us alone.

Change is in the air during this Moon, that’s for sure! This is an ideal opportunity to focus on breaking out of any stuck, limiting patterns, learning from the past while striding towards a new way of being. We have a chance to liberate ourselves from oppression and suppression, whether internally in the form of our old conditioned patterns or externally in the form of situations or relationships. Or more likely both! We may experience a bit of a shock as we “wake up” to what needs to change, but ultimately this Moon holds the promise of a breath of fresh air to blow away some cobwebs.  Things may feel a bit uncertain, unsettled and even unstable, but at least we know we’re alive! This Moon can certainly help us to find new solutions to old problems and to envision a better way to move forward. Aquarius invites us to take a step back and look at things with new eyes. There is always a way forward that we might not have been able to see previously. It all depends on our perspective!

Much Love

Amy

xoxo

Picture: Set Me Free by Mahyat Tehrany

My website: www.amybirdartandastrology.com