February 20 2:06 AM EST
This is a beautiful, gentle new moon that nonetheless urges us to tend to unfinished business. The new moon is at 1 degree of nebulous, mystical Pisces. And both of Pisces’ rulers, mysterious Neptune and optimistic Jupiter, are beautifully positioned. But the new moon is also conjunct disciplinarian Saturn at 28 degrees of Aquarius. On March 7th, Saturn will enter Pisces for the first time since 1996. This is its final new moon in its home turf of Aquarius, since Saturn is associated with both Capricorn and Aquarius. So this new moon is a very real urging to tend to what should be tended to, and we may have been avoiding, before Saturn begins its next chapter.
Pisces, after all, is extremely intuitive. So in all likelihood we have a fairly good idea what that niggling feeling is that we should address. As Saturn inches steadily towards Pisces it reminds us that procrastinating the inevitable will only create more work or headaches for us down the road. And if we want to be optimally positioned to ride the creative waves of Saturn in Pisces, we should position ourselves from a place of strength and clarity before that cycle begins. Saturn doesn’t like loose ends.
Jupiter, Pisces’ traditional ruler, is at 9 degrees of Aries, approaching conjunction with healer Chiron at 13 degrees of that sign. Jupiter in Aries, until mid-May, is giving us confidence in our vision for our next chapter. And along with Chiron, is helping to heal the wounds that may be stopping us from stepping into our power.
Pisces’ other ruler, mysterious Neptune, has been traveling through Pisces since 2012. Thus the transit of Neptune in Pisces is a long one which has had deep implications for us individually as well as for the collective. Our sense of connection to ‘something greater’ has been growing and during this new moon, Neptune is conjunct the planet of love and money, Venus.
A Venus/Neptune conjunction in Pisces can be something of a double edged sword. On the one hand it is incredibly creative, romantic, whimsical and compassionate. It is an especially brilliant aspect for artists. We may be feeling very strong feelings and impulses that defy the logic and rationale that Saturn (conjunct the new moon) is trying to impose on us. But that is in itself the very issue. Venus/Neptune in Pisces can be swept away by wishful thinking, rose colored glasses, blind delusion or even downright fraud in its ecstatic blissful state. Balancing the euphoria of heart connections or new visions with the sober assessments of Saturn must be a priority now, lest we are deceived in matters of love or money.
Mercury and Mars, both retrograde as recently as January, are both moving full speed ahead now. And they are both in air signs, forming a beautiful trine to each other. Mars in Gemini has been teaching us many lessons over the past 6 months about ideas, communication, information, news and narratives. And now that it is trine Mercury (who holds special significance here as the ruler of Gemini) in Aquarius, we have a much better sense of what really rings true for us. Making sure we have confidence in our positions and taking action from that place serves us well.
Mercury is, however, square to Uranus, still holding court in the mid degrees of Taurus. There is still no ‘consensus’ on many matters, and often things can seem more confusing and chaotic than ever. Uranus is, after all, associated with chaos and unpredictability. But the answer again lies in Mercury’s trine to Mars. When we can set aside what really matters to US, as far as what helps us take the right actions (Mars) that are necessary for us in the moment, we can release the need to get lost in all of the drama continuing to unfold around unpredictable (Uranus) news and information (Mercury).
Finally, we have Pluto, the planet of power and transformation in the critical 29th degree of Capricorn. Pluto has been in Capricorn since 2008 and on March 23rd will make its first transition in Aquarius since the time of the US Revolutionary War in the late 1700s. To say this is monumental would be an understatement! What’s fascinating too is that even though Pluto in Capricorn has been going strong now for 15 years, Pluto did not enter this final degree until February 10th. So it is only these final 6 weeks of the entire Pluto in Capricorn period that we have this energy. But, of course, Pluto retrogrades back into Capricorn in June and so for much of 2023 and 2024 as it dances between Capricorn and Aquarius (until it fully takes up residence in Aquarius in late 2024), we have Pluto activating 29 Aquarius.
The 29th degree, the final degree, of any sign is highly significant. It carries a kind of ‘hail mary’ energy – which in some ways shows up like anything and everything unresolved or buried from the entire cycle bursts through at the last moment seeking attention and resolution. This can be confusing and unsettling. And again with the other complicated aspects now such as Mars in Gemini and Mercury square Uranus, we may not be sure who we can trust as far as understanding these developments or situations.
The Sabian Symbol for this degree (30 Capricorn) proves especially instructive:
A SECRET MEETING OF MEN RESPONSIBLE FOR EXECUTIVE DECISIONS IN WORLD AFFAIRS.
The drama on the world stage now is very much in our faces, but we must not forget that most of it is actually playing out behind the scenes. The choices that are being made now, by politicians, business leaders and the media (so especially crucial with Mars in Gemini), have far reaching implications. It is very important not to take anything at face value and to truly follow our own intuitive senses about important matters rather than blind adherence to certain idealogues.
This becomes all the more important when we remember that this Pisces new moon conjunct Saturn is a bit of a foreshadowing of Saturn in Pisces and that the more we learn to trust our own perceptions now, the less challenging it will be to navigate the faltering institutions or narratives that may not hold up in the coming years or decades. Saturn in Pisces is ready to help us unite our discernment (Saturn) with our inner knowing and intuition (Pisces) so that we can maintain a steady equilibrium even throughs the storms and fluctuations around us. So keeping that focus front and center during this new moon cycle will aid us tremendously as we ready ourselves for the road ahead.
*art by @luna.lingua
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