The last eclipse of 2024 is a New Moon Solar Eclipse in Libra, exact on October 2nd. Not only is it a fresh start for relationships of all kinds, there’s an emphasis on emotional stability through communication… So enjoy this burst of energy for connecting with others and moving forward and don’t overthink it: Just say yes.
Read moreAries Solar Eclipse 2023: Selfishly Self-Aware →
Where are we being too selfish? Where are we not being selfish enough? This Solar Eclipse in Aries is extreme—but stopping to pause & answer these questions honestly is key, if you want to channel the impulsivity & restlessness of this New Beginning wisely. Otherwise you risk being like Tracy Flick—riding roughshod over others at the expense of doing/getting what we want for ourselves—or, if we convince ourselves our lives are perfect, ending up like Mr. M, rushing unwittingly toward self-destruction.
Read moreSolar Eclipse in Scorpio 2022: Transformation →
The Scorpio Solar Eclipse on October 25 is a powerful one for starting fresh when it comes to love and intimacy. But just because love can feel breezy it doesn’t mean it’s easy; and while Intimacy is familiar, it isn’t a guarantee. Can Intimacy exist without Love? And if so, how high is too high a price to pay to trade Love for Intimacy altogether? Is comfort and familiarity better than the superficiality of inorganic interaction; or are we deliberating mistaking Intimacy for Love to meet our Life Goals more expediently?
Read moreTotal Solar Eclipse in Sagittarius 2021: Impulse Control, Adventurousness & Relationship Tests →
Sagittarius has confidence, enabling them to envision clearly what they want their long-term future to look like. The only hitch with this Eclipse? To quiet our minds in the weeks and months following it, so that we can overcome the impulse control (Mars) and nervous tension (Sagittarius) of this period, as it takes time to commit to one vision—let alone get to work making whatever that is a reality.
Read moreTaurus New Moon 2021: Sleeping Beauty →
On 5.11 at 3:00 pm (ET), there’s a beautiful New Moon @ 21° of Taurus, offering us a crucial opportunity not necessarily to manifest, but to introspect. So do yourself a Prince Valiant-sized favor and figure out the difference between Avoidance and Introspection. Because at the end of the day, running away is just another way of avoiding yourself.
Libra New Moon 2020: Sharp Objects →
Libra is known as the Zodiac sign with the most affinity for building Significant Relationships. But don’t expect to begin any new ones—at least not right now, anyhow. Why? This Libra New Moon, exact on October 16, occurs immediately following Mercury’s Retrograde in Scorpio, landing it smack dab in the middle of the Mars-Mercury Double Retrograde Madness this Fall of 2020.
So brace yourself. Because when it comes to Relationships? Thorns and Landmines Abound.
Read moreVirgo New Moon 2020: Cruel Intentions →
The best advice I can give with this backdrop is not to fall prey to the aggrandized visions (fantasies?) of a Certain Relationship you might be entertaining as a “way out” now, as Frustration isn’t exactly known to pair well with Damsel in Distress. The key to this New Moon? For once, it’s not the time to be cruel (there’s too much of that out there already). So just cool it and be kind.
Read moreLeo New Moon 2020: Shooting for the Stars, or Shooting Yourself in the Foot? →
The key to not setting yourself up for failure? Setting small, achievable goals and not giving away our energy in a whole-hog pursuit of capitulating to the needs of others, as this will only lead to seething resentment or outright rebellion is the way to avoid the many booby traps of this New Moon.
Read moreCancer New Moon 2020 (#2): Shape Up or Ship Out →
Saturn's potent influence on this Cancer New Moon chart has a stark “shape up or ship out” feel to it, pressing us to make amends, pay your dues or avoid “pushing your luck” while you’re ahead (or whatever). Plus, there’s a whole boatload of planets in Cardinal signs, hungry for Action & New Beginnings—especially on the Home & Family Front. Many will decide (or be forced) to move house with this New Moon, as its uncomfortably tight opposition to Saturn in Capricorn shines a light on whatever’s is or isn’t working for you anymore.
Read moreSolar Eclipse in Cancer 2020: Manifestation Nation →
With the Solar Eclipse in Cancer on June 21st in the midst of Mercury’s stationary Retrograde and Venus’ stationary Direct period, plus the impending Jupiter-Pluto conjunction in Capricorn? It’s a lot to process, and much is occurring underneath the surface.. But yes—the grass is on its way to growing greener once again…
Read moreGemini New Moon 2020: Dreamland and Ponies →
So being Peter Pan for a bit might just be the spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down, as there’s a push to identify and relinquish whatever (emotional) baggage has been holding us back from acting on our latest & greatest romantic reverie…But can you (or anyone?) Maintain Self-Awareness in the Midst of a Full-Blown Fantasy? We’ll see.
Read moreTaurus New Moon 2020: Springtime For Hitler →
It’s Springtime for Hitler on April 22nd, as the Taurus New Moon at 10:46 pm (EDT) ushers in a need to appreciate the absurd. Yes that’s right: Combine “Dictator” with “Flower Child” and out pops a Taurus. Add the demands of Saturn in Aquarius? You might be so overwhelmed with Absurdity now might be a fine time for a chill pill (or five).
Read moreAries New Moon 2020: Love in the Time of Coronavirus →
Have we been living for ourselves, or for others? If the answer is “yeah/sorta/kinda,” then it’s time to confront whatever futile efforts, insecurities or fears we’ve allowed to hold us back and focus on what we need to not only survive but thrive…
Read morePisces New Moon 2020: Escaping Gilded Cages
On Sunday February 23rd at 10:32 AM (EST), there’s a rare New Moon in Pisces. New Moons, as I’ve said before, mark the beginning of each monthly Lunar cycle, and consequently signal Fresh Starts and periods of initiation and action in the two weeks leading up to the Full Moon, when we realize whatever flaws or obstacles to our plans and adjust accordingly, in preparation for the next New Moon. And so on.
This New Moon in Pisces Decan 1, however, occurs smack in the middle of the first Mercury Retrograde period of 2020, with the Sun, Moon and Mercury all in the imaginative, dreamy Water sign of Pisces—typically not the best time to start new projects or make major moves. And with Mercury in its Detriment, we’re fully awash in the Brain Fog & Escapism characteristic of Pisces. In other words, we’re not thinking clearly now, not only due to Mercury Retrograde but due to the heavy concentration of planets in Pisces (in this case, the Sun, Moon, Mercury and Neptune), as well as in the 9th and 12th houses of the chart.
Similarly, there’s a potent contradiction that underlies this particular New Moon chart—namely, while it denotes a cycle best used for cultivating receptivity, paying attention to how we react to certain situations or people that “trigger” us and reflecting on recent events, the chart depicts an equally powerful, almost desperate, compulsive desire for external validation.
Jupiter Square Venus + Mars Square Chiron: Desire for Validation
Jupiter in its Fall in Capricorn lands in the 9th house of the New Moon chart. On its own, this placement is much like the combination of Sagittarius and Capricorn, embodying the vision of Sagittarius grounded by Capricorn’s signature Practicality. Yet Jupiter forms a tight square aspect to Venus in Aries—the sign of its Detriment—in the 12th house of the Pisces New Moon chart.
In Astrology, each house is associated with a particular zodiac sign. The 12th house corresponds to the sign of Pisces, representing secrets, the unconscious mind, endings and all that’s hidden. With Venus in its detriment by sign, trapped in the 12th house of the chart, our ability to love ourselves (Venus in Aries) is undermined by our excessive, unquenchable need to feel accepted, loved by, or attraction from others. Jupiter in Capricorn and Venus in Aries are both poorly placed by sign, as both planets are about attraction, while Cardinal signs Aries and Cap are interested in goal achievement, action and acquiring of accolades—even if only on a superficial level.
Mars, the planet of drive and motivation, is in Capricorn, and though it’s exalted in the sign of Capricorn, it’s similarly undermined both by its tight conjunction to the South Node in Cap and its equally tight square to asteroid Chiron in Aries. With these aspects, our powers of Action—of Productivity and Manifestation—are just as blurry as our thinking now, as Mars conjunct the South Node in Capricorn indicates action motivated by deeply-rooted, unconscious habit patterns acquired through early life conditioning. Mars conjunct the South Node in any chart is often indicative of someone who’s likely to “shoot himself in the foot,” so to speak—a tendency that’s even more likely when Mars is tightly square Chiron, compelling us to act not out of pure intentions out of fear of rejection.
Consequently, we might become so deeply mired in (or afraid to leave) our comfort zones that we either go deeper into solitude or self-imposed isolation. Or, alternatively, we go embark upon a continual, compulsive quest to seek self-esteem through validation or approval from others. Think notches on bedposts, constant checking of emails ignored or messages left on “read,” or focusing too heavily not on real feeling but on whether the other person (seems) to “like” us or not.
Jupiter Sextile Neptune: Learning From Loss
The recent Cancer/Capricorn Eclipses—both Cardinal signs—have drained us, demanding Action both on the home front and in terms of building our Careers. This has left us exhausted, having either moved house or changed jobs, vacillating constantly between the demands of Home and Family (Cancer) and those of Career (Capricorn).
Jupiter in Capricorn sextile Neptune in Pisces—sign of its Rulership—in the 11th house of the chart increases the potential for Disappointment or Delusion when it comes to our relationships and finances. That said, this New Moon chart above is loaded with potential—though the potential of this New Moon comes not through outward achievements or alliances but through our capacity to embrace our gut feelings and reflect clearly on what parts of our lives are—and aren’t—working.
Not to get morbid here, but there’s one scene in the BBC film Sylvia, the biopic of Poet Sylvia Plath, when Gwyneth Paltrow (Sylvia) finally finds evidence of Ted’s affair. He returns home to find all his papers and letters burned and torn to shreds. But as he screams asking “what happened here” (or something to that effect), she simply looks at him as she delivers one of the most iconic lines in the film: “The Truth comes to me. The Truth loves me.” And with that, he swiftly leaves the house.
In the film, this scene marks the beginning of her self-imposed solitude, during which she suffers as she reels from Ted’s abandonment and the painful reality of her marriage yet channels her suffering to the creative work that became the stuff of legend. Aside from the real-life tragedy of Plath’s life, this one fictional scene is a powerful example of the consequences we face when we bank our entirely identities on validation from sources outside ourselves, from the perceived public or significant others.
The Grand Sextile: Golden Opportunity
This New Moon offers a powerful burst of creativity when it comes to coming up with new ways to approach long-held beliefs and blockages that have been preventing us from feeling fulfilled, shining a light on the depths of our unconscious and giving us a rare glimpse into the Truth about our deepest fears and conditioned behavior patterns—should we choose to look.
Sagittarius New Moon 2019: Breaking Free
Whoever we lash out at now is someone we perceive as a direct threat to our independence. But before we unleash any Scorpionic tongue-lashings on anyone we suspect of infringing on our civil liberties (how very dare they), we might want to consider our own role in the conflict…
Read moreScorpio New Moon 2019: Electroshock Therapy
Give yourself a much-needed reprieve in which to process deep psychological realizations, formulate a plan and allow the dust to settle on any discordant power dynamics—if only we can relinquish control without giving up (on ourselves) altogether…
Read moreLibra New Moon 2019: Let Them Eat Cake
With the Libra New Moon, Luck may be a Lady, but this New Moon is an opportunity to act (not just attract). And why would you want to brood? Especially when you’d do far better to light a candle (maybe two?) and go get your Lover in the mood…
Read moreVirgo New Moon 2019: All Work And No Play
On August 30, 2019, we usher in the Dog Days of Summer with a powerful New Moon in Virgo. With a number of planets in the first 10° of Virgo, all forming Trines to Uranus in Taurus, there is a heightened, almost blind focus on WORK. But are we falling into that old Virgo trap of pushing ourselves to work harder, faster, only to be missing the Forest for the Trees?
Read morePisces New Moon 2019: Rolling in the Deep
The paradox of recent months—and of 2019—involves the acknowledgment of the need to slow down in order to speed up…It’s a process that involves reflection, learning and cultivation of the awareness of not only what it is we want, but why we want it.
Read moreCancer Solar Eclipse 2018: Retreat →
On July 12, 2018 at 10:48 pm (EDT), there will be a Partial Solar Eclipse in the sign of Cancer. All Solar Eclipses act as intensified New Moons, symbolizing a “fresh start” pertaining to the themes associated with the sign Cancer…
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