Thinking is generally thought of as doing nothing in a production-oriented culture, and doing nothing is hard to do. It’s best done by disguising it as doing something, and the something closest to doing nothing is walking. Walking itself is the intentional act closest to the unwilled rhythms of the body, to breathing and the beating of the heart. It strikes a delicate balance between working and idling, being and doing. It is a bodily labor that produces nothing but thoughts, experiences, arrivals.
~Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust: A History of Walking
The Aquarius New Moon happens at 19 degrees 16 minutes of Aquarius at 9:39 AM February 8, 2016.
New Moons are times of initiating new beginnings. The classic astrological metaphor is that we sow seeds at the New Moon to grow with the strength and thrust of the fresh Moon cycle.
The theme of this New Moon is an opportunity to innovate advanced structures. These are structures that improve on the established rules to create new and forward looking ways of being in the Aquarius part of your chart. Innovating, detaching from trends, and going against the grain to apply unique concepts that advance the status quo are all also themes present at this New Moon.
There are cardinal planets in this chart. Planets in cardinal signs are those that express the quality of initiative. On top of that, the sextile the Sun and Moon make to Uranus indicate that by putting in a bit of effort to lead — ourselves, a group, a group of friends, a project– to think in a way that acknowledges that there is some benefit to be gained from pushing our edge, together we can all disrupt the personal and collective trance acceptance of the way things are and apply our individual strengths to create new structures of being that will better serve and benefit all beings, including the earth.
Collected Reflections on this New Moon
* Water is a real element. It took some time for me to accept this, probably largely because I was educated in a system that really loves to worship Science as the best way of discovering truth about the world. The whole purpose of the scientific method is to bleach out any subjective influence that could interfere with the results of the experiment, like emotion. Guess what, there are 3 water signs and they make up a quarter of the zodiacal wheel, most of the observable matter on earth, and most of the contents of the human body. Water is a valid element. In an otherwise outstanding e-mail from Paul Jarvis this morning, he describes feelings as “woo woo”. If you are reading this, you’re into it. Tell your friends.
* Aquarius’ symbol of the zig zag flowing water waves appears to me as the invisible crown on the heads of Aquarius people, and I like to imagine that these are antennae that enable them to receive the electric and strikingly perceptive insights they come up with. Think of Aquarius people you know and see if they dont have big fat mops of wiry curly hair hanging off their scalps. If there’s no curl mop, just talk to them for a bit. You’ll see it.
* THE ROBOT: Otherwise known as the machines we are all communicating through. Scorpio squares to Aquarius with earth in the chart is an invitation to ponder what is actually real. Our identities are not fully expressible in full fleshy technicolor glory through machines. It’s wise to reflect on our online personae and then touch ourselves and recognize that we are flesh and blood and that our brains and bodies are much better computers than phones and desktops.
* Sun and Moon in Air sign Aquarius square Mars in Water sign Scorpio: Thinking counts as doing something. Especially in the United States, we really like to keep busy, and that often means moving, tinkering, fiddling, working on something. In many ways we are a very Virgoan nation. Taken to the extreme, not allowing proper time to think can actually be the opposite of effective and productive. The power of consciously addressing individual thought-streams brings things into awareness for assessment and allows for re-writing of thoughts and beliefs that don’t serve your personal good and frees up space in the mind. When we give ourselves spacious time to think deeply we liberate ourselves. We stop making decisions from accumulated past history that needs to be processed and burned away. We are able to live in the now 😉 Rebecca Solnit wrote a book in which she discusses this idea, called Wanderlust: A History of Walking. See the quotation at the beginning of this article for her abbreviated thoughts on this.
Further Thoughts on the Sun in Aquarius square Mars : a waning influence at the New Moon
In this chart, the Sun has just separated from a square to Mars when the Moon comes along and translates light from Mars to the Sun again.
This is a story about navigating personal and collective emotional convictions. This is a good time to remember that aggression is a natural part of life, and we should find healthy ways of expressing it. If you are angry, this is a reminder to detach and objectively observe what you are really angry about.
With cardinal earth sign Capricorn making trines to Jupiter in Virgo in this chart, once objective clarity is achieved, it’s time to do something practical about it. That practical action is likely to be a long term strategy to address this particular issue.
To symbolically re-direct the qualities of Mars in Scorpio and Sun and Moon in Aquarius, you could for example, conjure up the radical honesty both of these signs are capable of and lovingly, assertively confront the issue directly. Again, it would be good to think of addressing the issue directly in a structured and committed way over time, even if it is removed from the immediate location of the issue. That would be a reflection of Saturn’s rulership of Aquarius. Whereas Saturn’s rulership of Capricorn is about honoring tradition, Saturn’s ruler ship of Aquarius is about advancing time honored tradition.
Also on a separate note, notice if you are having the same issue across many areas of life, or with many people in your life. That’s a good sign that there is a kernel essence there that wants your attention and needs to be addressed.
We tend to believe our own stories. Then, if we’re particularly stubborn, we tend to really invest in carrying out the stories we have in our minds, even if have the choice to process, transcend, and change them. Scorpio is interested in emotional control, while Aquarius is about doing things in their own way, and both of these signs together indicate deeply entrenched positions.
Not so entrenched though that a bit of initiative can’t come up with a way out. Thinking along with trusted others is a great way to come up with new ideas and innovative solutions.
Fresh and liberated energy is present at this New Moon owing to the majorly Plutonic January we’re now on the other side of. We know where we’re going, we know what needs changing, and this New Moon is a set of greased wheels and a vision worth sustaining.
Wishing you a Happy New Moon and Chinese New Year,
Warmly,
Ichrak
