By Len Wallick
Tonight at 11:08 pm EDT (overnight in the United Kingdom and Europe; Tuesday in Australia), the Moon will make a conjunction to the Sun in mid-Leo. A conjunction is two points at the same degree of the same sign on the wheel of the zodiac. Once every 29 days or so, that happens with Luna and Sol and it is what we call the New Moon. Today’s New Moon is close to the Leo midpoint, which is an especially sensitive point; the New Moon is talking to the cardinal T-square that we’ve been describing on these pages and can be seen as a precipitating event.
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What is unique about this New Moon is that it makes aspects to many different minor planets, and is a kind of grand cross of its own. For example, Damocles and Nessus are opposite the New Moon in Aquarius, and it’s square the very distant planet Sedna in Taurus. I’ll come back to these aspects, which are calling for extra attention in our relationships.
We do not see the Moon at the time of the New Moon. It is situated directly between Earth and the Sun longitudinally. As such, the side of the Moon facing Earth is in shadow and not visible in the sky. When the New Moon takes place at or near the same degree as one of its nodes it is also a latitudinal conjunction with the Sun and we see Luna as a shadow crossing in front of the Sun, known as a solar eclipse. That happened a month ago. So this is the first New Moon after a lunar eclipse.
The New Moon is the beginning of a new cycle. It takes place in the context of a cardinal T-square that we’ve been writing about pretty much nonstop. Uranus and Jupiter are currently both retrograde in early Aries. Pluto, is currently retrograde in early Capricorn. Saturn is in early Libra, where it will be till late 2012.
These are the slow-movers in the setup. They cover three points of the cardinal cross, with other subtle points completing the cross from Cancer. Then the fast-movers come along: for example, they are joined by Venus and Mars, all direct in early Libra. And, once a month, the Moon comes along and completes the cross from Cancer, joining those ‘subtle points’ just mentioned. This will hold in a dependable pattern for many months: slow movers moving along, and the fast movers coming through and picking up or emphasizing the dynamic.