The Capricorn New Moon

The Moon at dawn

(Mike Lewinski, December 2012)

This little blog piece is being posted on January 10th at 1 a.m. Pacific Time (I'm in California). And as these words magically appear on a computer (or tablet or smart phone) near you, as discussed just yesterday (i.e., in the last post) Mercury is catching up with the Sun. It's within orb of conjuction...that being (for standard astrological purposes) defined as five degrees.

As is Sun/Mercury orb grows tighter, we all will tend to focus. Maybe over-focus. Sun/Mercury conjunctions are pretty much famous (even infamous) for their lack of perspective. With this one happening in Capricorn, the subject is reality and how things really are. For you that may mean 'how things really are as opposed to how I've been wishing they were, or thinking they were.' Or you may just be thinking about the whole of the world (or your world) situation.

Or one little thing may 'become' your whole world - at least for the moment.

One other thing happens on January 10th: Jupiter retrogrades back into 6 Gemini, the degree it will be in when Jupiter goes direct on January 30th.

After going direct, Jupiter will remain at 6 Gemini until February 19th.

So that's more than a month of Jupiter at 6 Gemini, a degree known for separation of mental church and state, (which is to say emotions and intellectuality) and a certain dispassionate perspective which CAN be very shallow or 'all surface, no depth' and CAN be very productive or very unproductive, depending on what you're doing.

All of this is part of the global ambiance which heralds the January New Moon, a New Moon which will occur on January 11th (UT/+0 time) at 21 Capricorn.

And the details certainly don't stop there - not even for a moment! For one, asteroid Atropos (endings) is going direct with this New Moon. And for another, asteroid Eos (instinct, ‘dawning’) is going retrograde with the New Moon.

As the Sun clocks the whole of the year and thus the greater ‘chapter of our life,’ so each lunar cycle (or ‘lunation’) marks a ‘phase’ in our life cycle. Call it a sequence or scene in the chapter of that ‘book of our life’…or lifetime, if you prefer.

This particular New Moon, being positioned at 21 Capricorn is about what we do in the world. It’s worldly in the sense that Capricorn directs us to understand how our life operates in the greater context of the world, and how that world affects us, sees us, limits us, will support us, operates, or maybe even judges us. Hence we come to the idea of Capricorn as our ‘status’ in the world. Or our ‘status’ as the world sees us (i.e., ‘social status’ and achievements).

By being a third decanate degree (that is, a degree in the last third of Capricorn as a sign), this New Moon speaks to things which are ‘out of our hands.’ They may have left our hands prior to now, or they may just be things which it would be useful for us to be aware of. Typically, third decanate degrees are all about reactions. Or input from others. In the Capricorn sense, this may be rules you need to follow. Or what you would need to do in order to take some idea or project to fruition. This could be critique on what you have done which may be just a reaction and then again may be an indicator that you really don’t know what you’re getting into!

Whatever that is, this New Moon begins a cycle which goes from New (in Capricorn) to Full (in Leo), which is similar to the December lunation in that it describes an 8th sign harmonic (counting Capricorn as “1” it’s eight signs from Capricorn to Leo).

This is a particularly interesting sort of 8th house harmonic as it would seem to offer opportunities to us where we can motivate or interest others, or where we can free ourselves up to do more by completing some sort of (Capricorn) task or process.

That Atropos is going direct here speaks to some ‘cut off’ or ‘stoppage’ which we have felt inside, which now we can do something about. This may be something you know needs to be stopped (as in, ‘cut that out!’) or maybe more literally – as we might see with budget cuts or even surgery. This could also be some sort of situation where in finishing some obligation, you get to get rid of “that” and therefore ‘cut off’ the amount of energy, money, time, or attention you’ve needed to devote to something.

With Leo as the “fulfillment” phase of this lunar cycle, the challenge is to free ourselves up while not cutting ourselves short just because we’re restless or bored or irritated or in some need of being ‘right’ or self aggrandizement. Those who do what they do for grandstanding purposes may get their moment in the spotlight, yes. But in the long run that’s not likely to play out…UNLESS you are dealing with something which could come to fruition by the end of this lunar cycle.

And we’ll call that date straight out of the lunar tables as February 10th.

 The sun begins to dawn over Jubilee Campus

(Mattbuck, January 2012)

Yes, there is a form of ‘put up or shut up!’ going on. Those who assert without being able to produce are going to lose not points of the moment, but respect if or where they try to ‘put one over’ on others this month.

And part of that goes to Eos. If you’re not familiar with Eos, you might want to read this…

Link to “EOS Direct: Instinct as Awareness” post

How well we deal with our own instincts is what is like as not the bottom line here. And that will prove true whether you’re the one giving someone the ‘go ahead’ or you’re the person wanting to prove your capacity.

Warning: there is a tendency to think you can do something which will work only because it fits your definition of “working.”

That’s a big Leo challenge. Any time we see Leo in any astrological equation the challenge is about perspective. Is it possible that how you see things may not take a broad enough set of ‘variations on a theme’ into account? Leo always asks us about whether we have conviction…against whether we’re right, with ‘rightness’ (in the Leo sense) being about our ability to see beyond our own nose, tastes, preferences or priorities.

This month’s themes and details, especially those which are colored by or affect us emotionally (lunar-ly, if you will) connect these outer and inner ‘dots.’ Are the world’s directions and directives working for us? Are our choices working in the worldly sense?

Eighth house/sign harmonic call on our power and bring out the weaknesses. The temptation is always…which here would be “on all sides”…to try to impose your will on others. There’s far more to be gained by recognizing where and how the priorities of others differ from yours, but…

Let’s face it. People like having their own way!

Unfortunately, that’s not the way to any lasting sense of victory – which would be the other side of eighth house/sign harmonics. The thing we don’t really want to have to consider (namely that we don’t know everything, may be insecure, aren’t always right and – shock of shock – that other people have different priorities, needs, preferences and likes)…understanding those things and investing the time and effort to find solutions which if nothing else work equally well (or equally badly, sometimes!) for all are what gains respect.

And when it comes to respect and eighth house/sign harmonics, that means power potential which will lead to greater opportunities in the long run.

The fact that so many lunar cycle are constructed along this New-to-Full eighth sign harmonic isn’t stressed enough, I think. But it’s well worth considering.

With Eos going retrograde in Virgo, our instincts are all about how well things work. And if they're healthy. Errors, ideas, recognitions may now 'dawn' on us...and inspire new instinctual understandings about how life works and why things are as they are.

On the other hand, Atropos, on the other hand, is going direct in Taurus - a sign all about security, most of all that security we need in order to life a productive and happy (healthy) life living inside our own skin.

Moreover, together with the New Moon, Atropos at 24 Taurus and Eos at 21 Virgo describe a grand trine - one which evidently points to areas of 'fluctuation,' testing and change.

  
That the New Moon is posed with Europa speaks of getting 'carried away'...Sedna-Atropos-South Node tells us that it's easy to stick to our own concerns, our own group, our own beliefs, our own priorities. It's also easy to move beyond them, and the private discussion about whether that's the right thing to do goes on. With Eos positioned so close to Sabine/Lust, we know that we have the capacity to hold ourselves (Sabine) apart, or to a worthy task, or perhaps that we feel held captive by some notion, some idea which may or may not be true. 

Remembering also that Venus has just moved into Capricorn (see the previous post for info on that) tells us that this is a time which favors the pragmatic and the practical. This is a time when focusing on the Big Picture and long-term goals, aims and situational dynamics, developments or issues is prime emotional territory. We’re likely to see and hear of a lot of purges and changes this lunar (January/February) month. People are recognizing the difference between ‘good enough’ and truly functional. Gaps have been opened where quantity has outstripped quality and for many that means doubling back or cutting back or finding those weak links in the chain.

As a degree, 21 Capricorn directs us to a greater understanding that though we need or what what we need or want, that we don’t exist in a vacuum. The health, productivity, functionality and convictions of a society we want to support us or support our aims has to be part of our personal equations. We can’t just ‘take’ without caring about how that whole functions and the job of fixing whatever may be wrong isn’t just up to ‘them.’

The Sabian Symbol for this degree is BY ACCEPTING DEFEAT GRACEFULLY, A GENERAL REVEALS NOBILITY OF CHARACTER. On the surface, that may well be echoed by certain people in our personal lives or the public arena stepping aside, whether out of true nobility, because their ‘time’ doing something is over…or because they have been forced to recognize some level of decency demanded by the world at large.

But on a personal level – and all lunar cycles are personal, whatever else they may be, this Sabian recalls that old saw ‘the burned hand teaches best.’ Sometimes those really hard lessons are the only way we learn. Sometimes we have to lose something or someone before we realize how dearly we love them or how much they have given to our life.

This lunation may be the moment of realization, it may be when something happens. Whether it’s one or another in your life would depend in where this point falls in your chart and individual nuances.
The one thing we can all trust is that by the end of this cycle we will all know a bit more about reality and what really matters.

When I started this post, I thought to entitle it 'Our January New Moon: Looking Ahead, Looking Back, Holding On and Letting Go.' That struck me as apt, though it was obviously far too long for a blog title.

This New Moon moment is likely to stay with us as a notion in our minds, in our heart, in our days...not just because of the process of a lunation and not just because this particular New Moon is emblazoned with that very particular mark of the grand trine.

All those are apt. All those things are important. Yet beyond that, one of the emblems in that grand trine - Sabine - is about to go retrograde. That happens next week, and you'll hear about it in different post. But to have this idea of 'being held captive' against 'being held to' our better notions, spirit or standards of willingness amidst all else suggests this is a time when decisions and choices can get made. When changes may become necessary or apt. When we can acknowledge our mistakes, weaknesses and errors as well as our strengths, wisdom and caring...and in doing so, convert negatives to positives through recognizing our own humanity and that of others.

Where there is life, there is indeed hope.

There's also opportunity. So here's to the best in all things. May much good and inspiration come from your efforts, your thoughts and your caring.  
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