Tarot University ArkLetters: New Moon Notes, March 2008

By Christine Payne-Towler
ArkLetter 36
NewMoon Chart, March 7, 2008

It has been quite a powerful period between last NewMoon and this one, including that stunner of an eclipse at FullMoon February 20. I'm sure that most of us have been feeling that special thrill that comes when the days grow appreciably longer, even though those new afternoons are still filled with drizzle and grey skies. We northern-hemisphere folks can't help but feel the steady up tick of the temperature too, as inexorable as the returning light. The old year is leaving us! Are we really ready to let it go?

In this NewMoon chart we see over half a chart's worth of planets in the winter signs. However, in just a few hours the Moon, and in a few days the Sun, will have completed their conjunction with Uranus and broken free from the pack mentality that has shadowed us all through winter. Hopefully, the tide will have turned on the surging emotional chaos that such a conjunction can easily engender. After this we will no longer be beholden to any of the Outer Planets, which have loomed like monoliths over the last few months. In a few weeks we'll cross the Spring Equinox and will leave this watery, mutable, dissolving state behind for the cardinal push and fiery excitement that Aries brings. Gradually we will leave behind that memory of being manhandled by forces so huge and impersonal that our unique reality seems like a mote of dust in the wind. Once this clutch of intensities is well and truly past, we might begin to envision brighter times coming our way after all.

This month the winter bundle has distilled itself into two discreet clumps -- the Pisces clump, and the Aquarius clump. The Pisces clump, consisting of NewMoon and Uranus, has nothing sparking it by opposition (though the opposite point is 17+ Virgo, for those who are watching). NewMoon's conjunction with Uranus is the wake-up, shake-up aspect this month. Uranus has been giving real snap to the otherwise kinder and gentler sign of Pisces during the years of his stay here, so with the near-exact rebirth conjunction happening right in his face, he's fully enlivened and showing his stuff!

The position of Pisces in the sequence is that of "the last, who shall be first", a phrase which has much in common with "the meek who will inherit the Earth". Some people speak about this sign as if it was weak and victim-prone, but that's an old stereotype that doesn't hold up to the test of experience. Pisces holds the position that the Fool has in the sequence of the Trumps -- the very last element that gets welded to the first element to close the circle and make the cycle. Since a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, it's time to admit that Pisces' power of endurance belies its humble and low profile demeanor. Think of all the mutable water people there are in this world, arguably 1/12th of the population. If those who have been directly affected by this Uranus transit have not been shocked and awed into the idiot-savant state by now, then we have to grant that Pisces energies possess special powers of neutralization, damping and diffusing whatever they touch. (... Perhaps the rest of us ought to be taking notes!)

From the point of view of the signs, the Pisces premise is that of the World Servant and "last one standing" at the end of the passing cycle. The Pisces thinks like this -- "if I go out in a blaze of glory, who is going to be here to clean up the mess and turn out the lights?" Pisces is utterly clear that there is no need for a fight. The great gift of the Pisces energy is that of stillness, unblinking witnessing, and compassionate acceptance in the face of those possessed by desire, greed, and contention. Pisces presides over the final solution, be that dissolution or a resolution. Here at the time beyond the end and before the beginning, there is nothing to do and nowhere to go. Consciousness alone remains after all the plots and all the dramas have played out. Pisces knows that there is nothing but the turning of the Wheel. Everything created is eventually devoured by time, and Pisces provides the stage or blank slate upon which the whole cycle is played out.

Today, from this blank-slate state of Pisces, the NewMoon offers us rebirth in the virgin waters of transformation. And right beside the NewMoon, a mere one-degree away, is the outer planet Uranus, the electrical swizzler and intensifier of the zodiac. Anything touched by Uranus goes into overdrive instantly, which leads either to genius or chaos, depending on the constitution of the conjuncting body. I have no fear for the integrity of the Sun or the Moon in dealing with Uranian energies -- all the energy of the solar system comes from the Sun in the first place. Meanwhile, the Moon's job around the Earth is to digest and harmonize the solar system and cosmic energies that are bombarding the planet from every direction. In truth, it's our fragile human psyches that I am concerned with, so recently dunked in the Neptunian ocean of dreamtime lethargy, then zapped by the FullMoon Eclipse, all while still trying to sort out the huge Pluto event that has been playing out on the cusp of Capricorn the last few months. Do we really need a direct hit from Uranus right at NewMoon?

Ah, well, I guess it's during sequences like this that we learn what is real for us, and what powers we have to make a difference in our own manner of living. As you look around your current reality, take note of the truly permanent objects that remain standing after all the 'shake, rattle and roll' of the last few months. What you are looking at are the naked bones of the landscape of your life. Take note of what you are working with here, because whatever else grows over the top of this in the coming year will perforce be anchored in the scene before you right now.

The only other traditional aspect the NewMoon has is the sextile to Jupiter in Capricorn, joining a triangle of sorts that's completed by Mars down in Cancer. Ordinarily we would not bother ourselves with this mismatched triangle, but the presence of NewMoon brings the figure forward and challenges us to think about it. Plus, Mars is all powered-up via his direct and very exact opposition to Pluto in earliest Capricorn. Mars ends up with an aspect with nearly every planet in this chart, so whenever he joins into a conversation he swings a lot of weight. Meanwhile, Jupiter is the ruler of the NewMoon, as it's happening in his sign of Pisces (a fact that is strengthened for those of us living in Pacific Time, where NewMoon's in the 12th house). It's clear that the conversation between NewMoon, Jupiter and Mars will have an issue of some kind, even if the triangle is oddly shaped and the third side is "just" an enabling 5/11th. Think of this as a "sneaker wave" and watch your flanks!

The aspects we are dealing with here are a biseptile from Mars and a sextile from Jupiter. The contribution of Mars to the NewMoon rebirth is a lot of vitality added to the growth cycle (Cancer), from the point of the new theme's conception to its point of independence. Mars' high energy is moving through a septile-family aspect (AKA a 7th harmonic), implying that there's a karmic dimension that might need to be dealt with later if that vitality is not trained and handled properly at its first manifestation. Meanwhile, the Jupiter sextile (a half-trine) contributes stability, ease of flow and substantiation, something that Pisces energies welcome happily. The septile/sextile convergence of highly energized Mars and bountiful and abundant Jupiter, ruler of the NewMoon, should provide a lovely boost for whatever wants to come through, as long as we are ready for the responsibility that will come along too.

Meanwhile, the Aquarius clump -- consisting of first Mercury, then Neptune/Venus in the same degree, then the North Node -- is also at the convergence-point of a septile-family aspect and a trine, interestingly enough. The two outlying planets triangulating with the Capricorn clump in this case are Mars and Pluto, staring each other down across the summer/fall solstice signs. What a roiling, boiling exchange of energies this is! Mars pecks and pushes with all the vehemence of a mother defending her children (Cancer), while Pluto bears down implacably from the patriarchal throne of ownership and material control (Capricorn). This configuration creates a chance to review the left-hemisphere/right-hemisphere argument that goes on within each of us about the difficulty of prioritizing "feelings" versus "things".

This time it's Mars that throws the trine to the North Node, while Pluto throws the septiles to Venus/Neptune and Mercury. In this context Mars is the 'good guy', the booster of evolution and broadened horizons, staunch supporter of the infinite potential of the future. Pluto, however, seems to have a somewhat challenging stance towards Mercury, Neptune and Venus, if for no other reason than he's in an earth sign now and doesn't trust all that Aquarian visionary questing. Pluto is of the "show me now" persuasion these days, so he's testing the Aquarius kids to see if they are just smoke and mirrors. If the power of the Group Mind is going to come together and get something done, we had better use this Pluto septile to Mercury/Neptune/Venus just the way a kid uses that little plastic lens to ignite an ant on the sidewalk. It's time to concentrate, snap out of the herd trance and take action on those good ideas! Pluto will prod and Mars will pull, and maybe we'll find ourselves coming awake, collectively, to our power as a people.

What I haven't mentioned yet is that Saturn is placed at the handle of a bucket, the edges of which are Pluto and Mars. He's also retrograde, which generally means "grouchy and touchy". Simultaneously, as ruler of both Capricorn and Aquarius, Saturn is directly affecting the five planets occupying those two signs, even though he makes no aspects other than to Pluto. When we strip off the house cusps and the fancy 'modern' aspects, looking only at the overall planetary relationships and Essential Dignities, there's no missing that Saturn is the silent master of the chart. He's 13 degrees ahead of the opposition-point of the NewMoon, but being the only planet in the heavens for multiple signs in either direction, we probably ought to be viewing that entire area -- from 3 to 18 Virgo -- as an avalanche waiting to be triggered. For anybody who is strong in the Earth signs, this could provide a dramatic opportunity to advance oneself amidst the general shakeup. For those who have strong holdings in the mutable signs, it might feel more like a tough exam with an unsympathetic teacher. For the rest of us, it's a reminder that one should never allow one's accounts to run on too long without checking up on them.

As noted, the Aquarius clump abuts the North Node, who’s opposite part contacts the Saturn in Virgo (weakly right now, but it'll be active for several months). Saturn is also making a trine with Pluto that will be getting stronger till the beginning of May. Each of these items -- Saturn, Pluto, and the Nodes -- are slow moving, and all of them are hovering near the cusps between their respective signs for an extended period. The oppositions between the North Node and Saturn (and by extension, Mars and Pluto) imply a struggle for objectivity and self-determinism while facing a headwind, challenging convention, or testing your ideas against others with different objectives. I'm guessing that the Pluto-Saturn trine will lobby from both earth signs to challenge any Aquarian utopianism that dares to hope for a grass roots uprising.

In a perfect world, the crossed oppositions of the Nodes and the Mars/Pluto would produce a Mystical Rectangle: the long sides of the rectangle comprised of the Saturn/Pluto and the Mars/North Node trines, and the short sides comprised of sextiles between Mars/Saturn and Pluto/Aquarian triplets. That type of figure might help us arrive at the collective "aha" that we need so very badly right now. But, alas, such perfection is not meant to be. We have the trines and the oppositions, but the sextiles that would grease the wheels and make everything seem easy are just beyond our reach. We can hold enlightened ideals like harmony, mutual understanding and commitment to a shared future, but those dreams and visions don't translate easily into structures on the ground, in time and space among our millions worldwide. This chart encourages us to become very philosophical, to retreat down into the safety of our Pisces root-mats, and to cede our desired outcomes to those karmic minders of natural consequences, the septile family.

If there were anything I want to say to wrap this up, it would be that we are within two weeks of being tossed up out of the Piscean dreamtime, that oceanic and infinite matrix of possibility. This "place" holds everything that ever happened, ever could or will happen, even things that can't happen in the literal sense. In the Dreamtime we can experience all the things that are too risky to envision in the material plane. We have a few more weeks of it, so we shouldn't just waste it. Remember, once the Wheel of the Year drops us on those fiery Aries shores, we'll have to shed our fins, close our gills, stand up and walk like humans again!

Now is the moment, the very last moment, to "work" untrammeled in the Inner Planes. If there are things about your inner life that you want to rearrange, things that need to be edited, retrained, enhanced, or just explored, this is the time to plant your flag and set your intention. Do something willfully different with your meditations, your reverie, and your eyes-closed feet-up moments. Step out of your resting body and then look back at yourself -- what does that body waste too much time/energy doing? Spend not enough time/energy doing? Make the necessary adjustment suggested by your deep-interior intuitions, and you will watch the whole upcoming year unfold in a new and better way.

During the month of Pisces we have free access to the Subconscious, the staging area wherein we deconstruct the episodes of the past and dream up the future. Nature arranges everything so that we will be highly motivated to take more time out when it's cold and miserable outside, but many of us ignore that and carry on with our electrified and over stimulated lives heedless of the signals. For the next two weeks we will still be technically in the season of winter, and the doors to the Dreamtime will still be wide open. Go within! Know thyself! Whatever you find will serve you as a lodestone for the whole next year.

_______________________________

CURRENT STAGE OF THE MOON - March 7, 2008:

NewMoon is on March 7 at 17+ Pisces on Friday March 7th, 12:15 PM (ET) - 9:15 AM
(PT) From this moment, the Moon begins to wax, or increase.

FUTURE STAGES:

1st Quarter, Waxing Half Moon at 24+ Gemini, on Friday, March 14th,
6:47 AM(ET) -- 3:47 AM(PT).
Full Moon at 1+ Libra on Friday March 21, at 2:41 PM (ET) -- 11:41 AM
(PT). At this point the Moon begins to wane, or decrease.
4th Quarter, Waning Half Moon at 9+ Capricorn on Saturday, March 29th
at 5:48 PM (ET) - 2:48 PM (PT).
Next NewMoon 16+ Aries , on Saturday April 5, 11:56 PM (ET) - 8:56
PM (PT). From this moment, the Moon begins to wax, or increase.

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