By Genevieve Hathaway
As the first New Moon of 2013 arrives today at 2:43 pm EST we come into contact with an opportunity to leave behind what hasn’t worked and begin anew for the coming year. Desires are strong at the beginning of a year to let go of what isn’t working; new and old resolutions get made. And when the Sun and Moon align today in Capricorn, the sign of the past, they also form a conjunction to an asteroid called Requiem — a minor planet associated with acceptance of the past.
New Moons are excellent times to begin projects, make desired changes, and set intentions for what we would like to create. Letting go of the old is just as important as embracing the new. Moving forward involves both accepting that the past happened and holding the intention that we can live differently in the coming months and years. With this conjunction occurring in Capricorn, there is a message to remain grounded in what is real and genuine throughout this process.
Turning over the calendar from one year to the next can be thought of as a definitive, if arbitrary line — a point beyond which we can’t retrace our steps into the past year. Like this structured date change, the Capricorn New Moon is also providing us with a solid doorway between the past and future.
Think of this New Moon as a threshold out of past habits, a door that we can close and lock, and then leave the contents within that room separate from the rest of our space. Letting go of the past clears us up mentally and emotionally to re-invent ourselves and build new patterns. This movement through the New Moon’s doorway requires what Requiem reminds us of: acceptance — acceptance that the past happened, but does not dictate the future.
Moving beyond the past can raise new questions — what is it we wish to leave behind? How many of our new intentions stem from our authentic selves and how many stem from what others want for us? As Stephen Colbert often says on his show The Colbert Report, look for the answers in your gut.
This New Moon comes with a sense of not being able to afford to give any ground in regards to fulfilling our highest creative passion. We are being called to be unrepentantly creative, unabashedly who we are, and to step away from past patterns of denial.
Eris, and another minor planet called Bienor, are helping make it clear what we can’t go back on as they are squareed the New Moon. With Eris, there always comes a sense of being unrepentantly who we are. Bienor, a centaur associated with the strength of mankind, offers a reminder of the necessity of creative spirit and the importance of belief in, as Philip Sedgwick calls it, “the urge of the soul.” Drawing attention to the need to firmly own our creative spirit, these minor planets in Aries trine the New Moon are providing plenty of resources in the form of conviction to help move through the open doorway.
Over the past few weeks, Saturn and Mars have been in a square, which is still in effect through the New Moon. Saturn is also conjunct a trans-Neptunian minor planet called Poseidon and sextile Pluto. For some, these aspects will feel frustrating, stuck, and a bit slippery to get traction on. Others will be able to harness the energy to drive deeper into their inner wisdom of how to align with authenticity.
The New Moon overlapping with this transit could bring greater volatile emotions to the surface. A stick of dynamite can be used in a destructive capacity to decimate a road, or used constructively to tunnel through an obstruction. How we communicate is key for using this transit constructively. Placing our energy into observing and understanding information arising within us, rather than responding reactively, will help lay desired groundwork.
There is the potential during this New Moon for greater understanding of ourselves and a deeper connection to our creativity, in addition to a release from the need to hold onto the past. Yet there’s also a lot of pressure and energy that has been building through Friday, so stay grounded on the facts rather than quickly changing emotions.
Ultimately, the Capricorn New Moon is asking us to investigate what is authentic and real for us regarding where we’ve been, where we are going and how we use our creativity. It’s pushing for us to draw a line in the sand, leaving past habits behind. Can you imagine a life where each day you get be authentically creative in the work that you do? Now is a good time to start holding that vision.
Apropos bkoehler’s mention of ‘this water influenced period we are in now,’ we are about to enter the Chinese Year of the Water Snake on Feb 10th….
I remember Requiem Eric thanks for this highlighting
This is an article on Requiem that I had written in September 2012 (the link with the recent past) => http://lunesoleil23.wordpress.com/2012/09/04/pour-un-requiem-ou-une-priere-pour-les-ames-en-peine/#comment-1041
The music of the film is poignant and captivates you to the heart of our cells which has the deepest within us even
Good Weekend to all 🙂
Genevieve,
I’m glad you noted Saturn’s conjunction to Poseidon, a son of Saturn (aka Cronus) and brother to Pluto (Hades) and Jupiter (Zeus). He is one of three astral bodies whose myths revolve around water that have been tightly bonded in early Scorpio ever since President Obama was sworn in about this time in 2009. I believe they are subtle forerunners of this water influenced period we are in now. About the time we elected Barack Obama for the first time, Pluto entered Capricorn for the last time, as told by Len Wallick in his offering yesterday. That was the start of the series of our three slow moving outer planets changing signs in which they would remain for many, many years.
Poseidon’s companions are Ceto the Sea Monster and Deucalion, whose story is similar to Noah’s in that he survived the Great Flood that put an end to humanity for a time. As Neptune has moved into Pisces, he too will eventually aspect these three; Poseidon, Ceto and Deucalion. Saturn will return to Poseidon when he retrogrades and when he goes direct again he will conjunct all three. This August when Jupiter enters Cancer he will also trine all three, as will Chiron from Pisces – starting in March – go forward, retreat, then again trine the 3 water-related mythologically-named bodies in Scorpio.
We really must become aware through their aspects and their myths of how they are affecting this transformation of our societies, and our individual lives, in order to understand their purpose for being together. They have traveled together for so long and will do so for a while longer. I believe they are meant to help us get through the difficulties that change always brings.
be
Yes, thank you Genevieve, for your lovely and helpful piece, and so good to see your writing here!
Genevieve: Thank you, Genevieve, and welcome. Your invocation of Eris and Bienor was certainly welcome (and helpful) for me.
Things came to a sharp threshold in my life yesterday. I cannot go back. I can only move forward. Am taking encouragement from the insights above.
Thank you, Genevieve! 🙂