By Len Wallick
The Moon conjoins with the Leo Sun on Saturday at about 2:40 in the afternoon EDT. That, by definition, is a New Moon. It and its symbolic message come at a good time. There has been more than enough stress to go around lately. A lot of people are feeling helpless. An even greater number people are in pain. Most of all, there is fear and uncertainty. None of those things are new and they have nothing to do with things that are. This particular conjunction of the luminaries, more than any in recent memory, perhaps more than any before, is a symbolic reminder of one simple fact. If the objects in our sky can start over, we can see them as archetypes of our own action and timing and see our own way clear to do the same.
A conjunction is exact when two objects occupy the same degree of the zodiac; that is, the same spot along the wheel. It is probably the most fundamental aspect in astrology. There are three things to remember about all conjunctions. First, it is the beginning of a new cycle.
The archetypes of astrology appear to move at different speeds. The most fundamental examples are the two brightest, biggest lights in our sky. Sol takes a year to complete a circuit of the signs. It takes about a month for Luna to do the same. Therefore, every 29 days or so, the Moon overtakes the Sun just like the minute hand on an analog clock periodically laps the hour hand and is, in turn, regularly overtaken by the second hand. The moment of catching up is the beginning of a new cycle. Symbolically, everything that transpired since the previous conjunction is brought to closure so that something new can begin.
That does not mean that what happened in the previous cycle is destroyed. It does mean that it is left behind, relegated to what was. When heeded, the cycles that begin and end with astrological conjunctions are an opportunity to do the same. It is as simple as flipping the page on a calendar or changing to a new one altogether.
The second thing to remember about conjunctions is that they represent a symbolic merger of energy. In the words of astrologer Robert Hand, the Sun is quite simply “light, consciousness and day.” It is so simple, we take it for granted. The profound fact is that everything we are and everything we do, including astrology, begins with the source of energy at the center of our solar system.