Tarot University ArkLetters: New Moon Notes, April 8 2005

...Some reflections on the impetus imparted by the Eclipse that kicks off our launch

Eclipse of the Moon, April 8 2005,

In the run-up to this month's New Moon, I have received several calls from friends and clients asking me -- what the heck is going on these days?

I am used to these kinds of calls coming in around Full Moon rather than New Moon. Mostly likely the trend has shifted because this New Moon and the Full Moon following are accompanied by an eclipse cycle and therefore have a special "kick" to them. (And believe me friends, I am not immune to these things either!) The good news is, by the time you are reading this, the energy will be breaking up and on the wane. The challenge has been that we've all been bobbing in its wake for several days leading into the blessed event, and it will feel this way again, from about the 20th of April till the eclipse on Sunday the 24th, very early in the day.

The recipients of this newsletter are scattered all over the globe. This means that the way the event hits me in the Seattle area will be different than the same event hitting someone in Boston, Lahore, Darfur, or Chiapas. To find the relevance of these remarks for your own personal life, you have to ask yourself "where in my own life do I see these trends playing out?" I'll try to take the widest view as I write, so I don't pre-determine your understanding with my own slant.

The Moon and Sun occupying the same degree of the Zodiac is the signature of a New Moon. This one is happening at 19+ degrees of Aries (Tropical zodiac), with Mercury retrograde in the early degrees of the sign and then Venus and the North Node a few degrees beyond. That bundle is the gravity-center of the action, but opposed it in the heavens is the largest planet in the solar system, Jupiter in Libra, going retrograde. Viewed simply, without regard to sign or angle, Jupiter's usual geniality and abundant sense of entitlement are under questioning from the greater good (Libra). The natural self-centeredness of that big bundle in Aries -- especially with Venus tucked in close, to enhance one's sense of preference, appetite and and attraction to the very best -- is being skeptically scrutinized by a Jupiter who wonders "Why doesn't having everything we need and want feel like enough yet?"

This is certainly the question for all of us here on Planet Earth at the outset of the 21st century. "Why isn't having it all good enough for us?" Jupiter is poking his finger of doubt into the inflationary Aries eclipse, wherein *my* sense of things and *my* judgment of events, *my* pleasure and *my* self-interest feels bold to dominate. This throws a kink into the "divine right of kings" that Aries, and indeed all Fire signs, feel justified to claim. Therefore wherever this New Moon falls in your chart or in your skies, notice the tension that is created by trying to balance the forces of self-directedness against those of other-directedness. The thrust towards greater individuation must be countered by a corresponding thrust towards community and belonging, or else the eccentricities of the individual will run the Greater Good off the tracks. Therefore we must waste no energy trying to resist the claim of the "we" on the "I", but instead recognize that our best interests are served when we share ourselves into the Greater Good to a generous measure.

Another challenge set by this chart is the Neptune/Mars conjunction in Aquarius, standing at sextile to the Sun/Moon and trine to the Jupiter. This is a figure called a "mediated trine/sextile", and it represents easy learning and the chance to increase in objectivity through meditation. I see no problem with this configuration in itself. The part that is a challenge is the general incompatibility of Mars and Neptune. Mars is all ambition, will power, drive and assertiveness, whereas Neptune is trancy, shape-shifting, contemplative and dreamy, saturated in the Collective Unconscious. The combination could produce an ungrounded attempt at spiritual cultivation which increases one's spiritual egotism without imparting greater wisdom or depth of comprehension. One must wrestle with the athletic strength of Mars, in order not to fall into the mass-mind waking dream projected by our media, so that a disinterested objectivity can rule the mind in the place of predetermined, herd reflexes.

Again the question of the retrograde Jupiter comes to the fore -- "why is having it all not enough for us even now?" Another way to ask this question is -- "how can I streamline my satisfactions in this life, so that others may enjoy what I am no longer compulsed to consume?" There's a challenge to accept a bit more austerity, exercise a bit more self-discipline and question the appetites a bit more rigorously. Saturn squaring the Moon's nodes only adds karmic poignancy to the question. At this point nobody should be ignorant of the fact that the excess takings of the few increases the misery of the many, and all the children of future generations are going to foot the bill in degraded Nature and health, as well as the loss of priceless wildness of soul.

All in all, this Eclipse calls to our egalitarian sensibilities to recognize the Other beyond the Self. Support the future by not letting the now consume more than it gives back. Voluntarily accept limits, asking only so much sacrifice from others as we have already made within ourselves. This is the safest and straightest path through this Aries Eclipse season of undifferentiated arousal, excitement, passion and self-expression.

Christine Payne-Towler
Research: Esoteric Tarot, Literature and Practice;
Bishop, Gnostic Church of St. Mary Magdalene
Founder: Tarot University;
Author: The Underground Stream;

The Tarot ArkLetters are a publication of Christine Payne-Towler, founder of Tarot University Online. Christine offers classes, readings, and private sessions.