Tarot University ArkLetters: NewMoon Tarotlogy Report

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By Christine Payne-Towler
ArkLetter 97, April 10, 2013

For an introduction to Tarotlogy, see ArkLetter 62. Click the Master Tarotology Icon on the right for a BLANK tarotlogy chart (no dates) to work on for yourself.

NewMoon in Aries

Two months have gone by since I mentioned that the Sun had once again begun to slide down the dayside of the Zodiac, embarking on what is known as the Wet Way of Involution. This is the half of the year when all the energies of Nature are devoted to conception, gestation, birth, and manifestation. In the ancient habit of magical thinkers, the cycle of the year is tapped to provide energy for the various goals a practitioner might develop. Within that cycle, structures like the Ladder of Lights and the Monas are employed to make symbolic sense of the constantly changing tableau of the heavens.

This month there is such a profound confluence of Aries energies that fully half the Solar System appears there. Uranus is the stalwart at 9+ degrees, but right now we also have NewMoon in the 20th degree, as well as the just-separating conjunction of Mars and Venus (which started in the 19th degree and is currently shimmering between the 22nd and 23rd degrees).

This double Sacred Marriage imagery is very important to our spiritual understanding of this chart. Not only are the Sun and Moon meeting in Aries as a part of the inauguration of the new agricultural year, but this year the Aries’ ruler Mars is having a tryst with his compliment and spouse Venus within just a few degrees of NewMoon. It's as if a very famous and illustrious couple known for their cultural creativity (Mars and Venus) took a holiday with the President and his wife (Sun and Moon)! What a fascinating moment to investigate and be stimulated by, for all of us who can tune in and open ourselves to it!

If nothing else, we can understand from this commingling of symbolism that the Lights of Heaven distinctly approve and support the multidimensional conception that occurs in Nature when Mars and Venus get together. And there is no greater time than spring for a conjunction of Mars and Venus! Mars currently is glorying in the perambulation of his native sign, while gallantly escorting his mate Venus to her natural homeland in Taurus. These two spring signs, which Dee asserted stand at the foot of the Monas Hieroglyphica, are also the signs of the exaltation of the Sun and Moon, a fact that Dee emphasizes several times.

The whole Aries group together suggests an especially fertile and creative spring for the planet, even if that Saturn/Uranus/Pluto figure is inserting unpredictable energies into the Sun bundle. Perhaps the input from Saturn, Pluto and Uranus together actually ups the ante for that Aries congregation, saying, "Put up or shut up, illustrious conjunction in Aries! Show us the beef!" Traditionally, Aries loves a challenge, so this arrangement of planets might be just the stimulation that the Aries planets need to motivate them to excel.

Notice the formula I offered in this month's article on the Monas and the Ladder of Lights: The Mars/Venus pair catalyze Divine Creativity, the Jupiter/Mercury pair multiply astral conductivity, and the Saturn/Moon pair arrange the embodied results. Hence, if you want to know the essential causes of the current developments, think about the Mars/Venus pair. If you want to know the process by which invisibles work their way into visibility, look at the Jupiter/Mercury pair. If you want to know the manifestations that are due in the world of time and space, look at the Saturn/Moon pair. This rule would not only apply to this chart, but for any chart you are looking at in a magical, astro-alchemical manner.

Beyond the NewMoon Conjunction

The rest of the planets are scattered widely in this chart -- Jupiter in Gemini, Saturn and North Node in Scorpio, Pluto on the verge of going retrograde in Capricorn, and finally Neptune and Mercury at opposite ends of Pisces. The NewMoon and Mars/Venus clump represent the only planetary conjunctions in the whole chart. There are also very few other aspects to speak of either -- only a wide sextile between Saturn and Pluto, a square between Uranus and Pluto, and an inconjunct between Saturn and Uranus, linking the two Mars signs -- Scorpio and Aries.

Witnessing this inconjunct between planets in signs that are 'similars' (an expression for two signs affiliated with the same planet) makes us rethink the inconjunct aspect a little bit. I have mentioned before that an opposition is generally considered as offering direct resistance or an open challenge, whereas the inconjunct is more often experienced as an indirect and roundabout complication. In the ancient rules of astrology, back when the Ladder of Lights was used to rationalize the meanings of the aspects, the inconjunct was considered so baleful that it was banned. Were it to be included, Saturn would have ruled it.

It doesn't seem as if an inconjunct relationship between Uranus in Aries and Saturn in Scorpio would be so bad, as long as their co-ruler Mars isn't indisposed. Given Mars' temperament, if he didn't want to submit himself to a particular discipline, he wouldn't volunteer for it! At this moment, with Mars still in such a close conjunction with Venus, I think he is open-minded and flexible enough to embrace the unexpected (Uranus) along with all this Sacred Marriage symbolism innate to the conjunctions with NewMoon and Venus.

Mars knows that no relationship exists without its measure of challenge and a struggle, since he’s the expert in all the martial arts. Therefore he doesn't flinch when taking his vows, despite the fact Saturn is keeping accounts from over in Scorpio, Pluto is increasing the friction through his square aspect from Capricorn, and Uranus is practically breathing down Mars’ neck.

Optimistically stated, the beam of energy from Saturn to Uranus overlights Mars with transcendent courage, empowering him to make a full commitment and be ready to go all in during this upcoming cycle with Venus (which lasts until their next conjunction in late February of 2015). Pluto in Capricorn asks all the hard questions, so Mars is mentally prepared for the obstacle course he will be required to run. Meanwhile Saturn is warmly disposed towards the ruler of Libra. For all these reasons, Venus has good reason to feel optimistic as she steps forward to enter her other natural sign, Taurus. Her mate and the Zodiac’s heavy hitters are closing ranks behind her, to ensure that her prerogatives are respected and protected.

Those looking on might think this triad of slow-moving outer planets looks a little intense to be piercing into the NewMoon and Mars/Venus territory like that. But no matter the planetary combination or aspect pattern, it doesn't have to be a problem if all the parties have come to agreement about their roles. As happens in any important union, Saturn and Uranus are taking the role of guardians and legal counsel, to ensure that she will have a strong start with her volatile and forceful partner. Pluto adds a bit of enforcement muscle from practical Capricorn to help Mars get the message. For the upcoming cycle of Mars and Venus, the pressure will be on to refine Mars' militaristic responses so he can refrain from his usual self-centered style and offensive/defensive behavior when he’s under pressure. All things being equal, Saturn's strong sense of responsibility and Pluto’s “get real” imperative should influence Uranus to offer new mutual opportunities and creative combinations as gifts for our newlyweds. (And to the extent that this pattern might be influencing international politics and current events, let’s hope that the Uranus-Saturn-Pluto triumvirate refrains from unleashing chaos and unforeseen variables in a context of karmic payback!)

I don't see this triangle attached to Uranus as being present to punish any of the principals, far from it! I would rather interpret them as the wingmen and bouncers for the ceremony, to keep the unification process on track, and especially to support Mars for staying on top of his self-discipline. Hasty and uncensored Mars is getting a big lesson in proceeding with forethought. In the presence of all this top brass, Mars is challenged to take the long view while self-editing the passionate eruption of his short-term impulses. Mars and Venus are also being bathed in the dark light of NewMoon, which is humanity’s abiding symbol of two becoming one, the coincidentia oppositorum. Looking at Mars standing strong between the NewMoon and Venus, it's got to be coming home to the self-willed ego that this kind of privilege brings along its own burden of expectation and obligation. In the rebirth and recommitment that’s happening here, all parties need to proceed with full sobriety and sincerity.

Meanwhile, Saturn is communicating with the three outer planets through his current retrograde status. While he is backing away from a perfect sextile with Pluto, he's also heading towards a perfect inconjunct with Uranus. This implies that Saturn, the slow but steady karma-lord, is pulling public sentiment away from corporate or industrial-level proposals to solve our collective financial, political and ecological challenges (Pluto in Capricorn). Instead Saturn is motivating billions of individuals to work out their own unique solutions, without regard for conformity or remaining within hierarchical control (Uranus in Aries). In this case, the chaos potential that always travels with Uranus ensures that the cookie-cutter solutions proposed by the giant transnational corporations and media conglomerates (again, Pluto in Capricorn) will simply fail to muster the hypnotic spell that could force billions of "little guys" to settle down and conform to the plan in the ways we used to.

Furthermore, when Saturn is done backing across Uranus' degree, he'll slide into a trine with retrograde Neptune, an aspect that will be exact across the second half of June and into early July. Luckily, the tremendous potential for self-delusion and outright deception that was present earlier this year, when retrograde Mercury merged with Neptune in early Pisces, is now thankfully past. With luck we can look forward to a few months of relatively clear mental vision and sharp thinking, as Mercury rolls out of Pisces and into Aries on the 15th of this month. We may not enjoy what we are seeing, but at least we’ll be less burdened with illusions, denial, and hopelessness.

Until that time, the mutual reception of Mercury and Jupiter continues, meaning we get to continue with this through-the-looking-glass feeling of having our inner child touring the "land of the underworld", Pisces, while Jupiter camps out in the college dorms of Gemini. Mercury is now feeling empowered again, seeing the light at the end of the Pisces tunnel, so every day brings increasing relief from the sense of overwhelm and inundation Mercury was enduring in March. It is becoming clear that, no matter how miserable the winter was, there is a spring coming around the corner that can banish those heavy skies and restore our optimism for the future. We have only to stay on track now and our established momentum will carry us along.

If there is anything to be forewarned about, it is Pluto's incipient retrograde, which starts tomorrow. As I said, this bodes ill for corporate control and industrial/military solutions. I'm thinking that Pluto's retrograde is going to be just as devastating for the upper echelons of our country’s controllers, as this Saturn-retrograde hollowed-out economy has been for the grass-roots little guys. We all know that those Plutonian industries exist to manipulate the petrochemical stream, all the while protecting themselves within legal and literal exoskeletons of hardened plastic. So what will happen the day that cosmic forces pulverize those brittle shells, and expose all of their human workers to the naked light of reality? When the curtain opens to reveal all the puppeteers frantically working in the margins, where will they turn? Which puppets will we see falling to the floor, finally lacking those invisible hands to hold them up?

Anyone who has his or her future security staked on the Pluto-in-Capricorn economy needs to pay attention to that Uranus/Pluto Square. It started hammering in earnest this time last year, bouncing off each other during a wicked retrograde cycle during summer and fall of 2012. And after a hiatus over the first few months of 2013, the square has become critical again, and will be haunting our steps through another retrograde struggle this coming fall. The amazing thing is, the aspect itself won’t even culminate (become exact again) until mid-year of 2014! There will be a lot of bumptious, unpredictable, ramifying miss-steps taken as Pluto disciplines the transnational corporations about their appalling lack of conscience in safeguarding the planet for future generations. Our job as individuals is to seek our own solutions and cease funding these overweening monsters. Their job is to collapse as non-destructively as possible.

We’ll see who follows the cosmic road signs and serves the Creation best! Happy Spring all, let’s create our way into a new and better future.

Christine Payne-Towler

Christine Payne-Towler