The Ides of March (Pisces New Moon)

Eric Francis has an additional commentary on today’s Pisces New Moon.

By Len Wallick

“The fault..is not in our stars but in ourselves, that we are underlings.”
— Shakespeare

On this day in 44 BC, Julius Caesar met his end at the hands of his fellow patrician thugs in the Roman Senate. Thus was a perfectly good day’s reputation forever ruined. Perhaps only second to a Friday the 13th, the Ides of March has carried connotations of dread. It does not help that today is also a Monday when many of us in the United States had to get out of bed an hour earlier because of daylight savings time. A determination not to be underlings to fear, time or negative interpretations of astrology however, will allow us to see and to take advantage of the full promise of this moment unlike any other.

For today you see, is the New Moon at 25+ degrees Pisces at approximately 21:01 UTC (5:01 pm EDT). This is a longitudinal conjunction between the Moon and Sun. If were also a latitudinal conjunction (with the Moon in the lunar node) it would also be a solar eclipse; that is not for a few months. Because the Moon’s orbit around the Earth is not in the same plane as the Earth’s orbit around the Sun, most Sun-Moon conjunctions are not eclipses.

Conjunctions are interesting because every school of astrology seems to be in agreement as regards to the interpretation. They represent a new beginning, a seminal moment, a germination. As such, hope is implied for all except those who would seek to freeze the status quo or hold on to the past.

Every New Moon is different because the context in which it takes place is unique. In 2009, for example, the Pisces New Moon took place earlier in the sign on February 24th and was accompanied by very different planetary positions than are present today.

One of those differences is that the luminaries are not alone in this Pisces conjunction. At 26+ Pisces are Mercury and Uranus. That’s four bodies with less than two degrees separation, a quad conjunction. Sound familiar? Four weeks ago to the day, the Aquarius New Moon was also a four-way conjunction, except the other two players for that event were Neptune and Chiron. As a matter of fact, the “new” conjunctions and “full” oppositions of the Sun and Moon have had a lot of company lately, eventually involving all the major planets except for that square dancing duo of Pluto and Saturn. Coincidence? No such thing. When the luminaries potentiate the peaks of their monthly cycles with the concurrent conjunction or opposition to planetary bodies, there is a synchronicity to be interpreted. For now, however, let us focus on today’s rich aspects, leaving a pattern view for another time. After all, nothing says “now” like a new Moon, right?

In addition to the conjunction with Mercury and Uranus, today’s Pisces New Moon is square the Galactic center in Sagittarius, opposing the dwarf planet Makemake in Virgo, trine the the centaur planet Echelus in Scorpio, and square the asteroid Nemesis in Gemini. And those are just the major aspects. Let’s take `em apart and put `em back together, shall we?

The conjunction of Mercury and Uranus in Pisces would imply exciting, creative, new ideas. A square to the Galactic Center would seem to indicate that the time has not yet come for those ideas to find acceptance. This does not mean waiting. This means action. Conscious contemplation followed by action. A lot of this action will be internal.

Editing, tinkering, re-formatting all with an eye towards presentation. Part of this will be the use of an open mind. To what extent does our inspiration contain prejudice and imply judgment? How can we release attachment to the final form and put ourselves in the place of another? It could be that the final result is an inner reconstruction as opposed to an outer expression. Have patience and work the angles as they come along. By the time Mercury enters Gemini and sextiles Uranus on the Aries point this coming June, you will be glad you stuck with your idea.

In the quad conjunction’s opposition to Makemake in Virgo (which is itself also squaring the Galactic Center) there is the opportunity to integrate the past as a way of gaining insight on the present. The Pisces-Virgo axis is where the last two oppositions between Saturn and Uranus have taken place. In the mid-1960’s Saturn was in Pisces and Uranus was in Virgo. In November 2008 and February 2009 they traded places. Makemake in a chart seems to pose a question of how things got to be the way they are. Think about the mid-1960’s and hold them up to a mirror, what do you see? Could it be the last quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009? How do they look a year down the road?

The Sun/Moon/Mercury/Uranus trine to the centaur Echelus may serve as an example of how to look in that mirror. Philip Sedgwick characterizes Echelus as being about the balanced use of the left and right hemispheres of our brain. Big picture vs. detail. Abstract vs. linear thinking. What do you do that incorporates both types of reasoning? How can you bring those practices to bear on the exciting new ideas emerging in such a way as to integrate long term perspectives?

Finally to bring us full circle, the four-way conjunction’s square to the asteroid Nemesis in Gemini, which itself is opposing the Galactic Center. Most directly this connects to the story of Julius Caesar but there may be a less obvious implication. Go back to the blog of February 25, 2010. At that time the Sun was square to the asteroid Hybris, also known as hubris. Nemesis is the result of hubris.

Julius Caesar was a capable leader but he was also arrogant and insufferably willful. It was his way or the highway. The Roman Senate was intended to be a safe place where the diverse and sometimes conflicting interests of the ruling patricians could be mediated (as in a square) and integrated (as in an opposition) so that the empire could avoid dysfunction and hence perpetuate itself to the gain of all the rich dudes.

When Caesar attempted to make all the gain and glory his own, that was hubris. It made the rest of the rich and privileged feel like underlings which was not agreeable. When the members of the senate chose to murder him in the chamber of their meeting, they committed their own hubris. No longer was that chamber a safe place. Hence the dysfunction and fall of the empire was made inevitable.

The promise or peril in today’s aspects is to emulate or avoid the mistake of those ancient statesmen gone wrong. Be open to inspiration but let it be subject to contemplation. Be willing to look at the past from both the past and the present. Be capable of allowing a balanced perspective to flow by giving as much weight to the big picture as you would to essential details. Admit your mistakes and forget the transgressions of others made and observed. If enough of us can do this it just might catch on that astrology is not destiny, it is opportunity.

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