The New Moon heralds a new beginning in the house in which it falls. At New Moon, the Moon lies between the Earth and the Sun and she is closest in her orbit to the Sun. The face she shows us is hidden. It is a time to turn inwards, to meditate on the dark, to become comfortable with it. Whenever I think of New Moon I feel heat on my back like the Moon herself. Whilst she is secreted away from our eyes on earth, the other side of her blazes with the light of the sun.
In a way, the Sun stands as the symbol for divine light, the creator: our solar system a macrocosm of the universe as a whole. At New Moon, the Moon is imbued with this life force unhindered by watchful human eyes. The Moon rests, soaking up the divine light of the Sun ready to feed it back to the earth. It is like the Moon herself is in deep secluded meditation, withdrawing her energy from the earth in order to receive instruction from the cosmos. The sliver of the crescent Moon when her first light appears is called ‘Diana’s Bow’. This is the moment when Diana takes up her bow and fires an arrow towards us which carries the instruction received by the Moon during her time of rest. The New Moon chart is like a cosmic lesson plan for the next two weeks until the full moon. The house in which the New Moon occurs in your natal chart indicates which area of life the lesson affects, together with any aspects the New Moon makes to natal planets or angles.
The next New Moon occurs at 15.41 degrees Virgo on the 8th September 2010 at 11.30am BST.
The Sabian Symbol associated with this degree is: –
In The Zoo, Children Are Brought Face To Face With An Orangutan.
In Marc Edmund Jones original book of Sabian Symbols the degree is simply listed as An Orangutan.
The name ‘orangutan’ comes from Malay and means ‘man of the forest’. When we look into the face of this great ape we cannot help but notice our similarities as well as our differences. We see the intelligence in their eyes, their opposable thumbs which like us give them the unique ability to use tools. We note their emotional responses and ability to reason and think. Facing the ape we are brought face to face with the subtleties of creation and human kind’s ancient history. We too once lived in the deep forest and the forest still lies within. Can you see the wood for the trees?
This Virgo Moon encourages us to marvel at our own dexterity (traditonally this comes under the domain of Gemini but is ruled by Mercury who rules both Virgo and Gemini). In other words this New Moon encourages us to look at the details of life to see what needs tweaking and turning. What tools are we using to get through our everyday life? This can be everything from your iphone or Google planner to exploring the routines that you practice. Are these routines still working – do they need to be changed? Would yoga in the morning help you to face the day serenely or yoga in the evening help you sleep at night? This New Moon helps us to make intelligent decisions in our everyday lives that also benefit the wider world (in the New Moon chart the Moon sits in the 11th house). Virgo is traditionally associated with the act of service and the practice of humility.
Virgo also makes order from chaos. It is precisely because Virgo understands that there is a wildness within that she insists on order. In the forest the health and safety conscious Virgo would most likely be found clearing the paths from potential hazards and putting up suitable lighting so no-one gets lost at night. Whilst we should never forget our connection to the past and our fellow creatures, this New Moon reminds us of what is necessary to survive on a day to day basis in the ‘civilised’ society we have created. There is a need for us to work together and in order to work together we need to have order. A critical eye is required that is not afraid to make changes that improve the functioning of things. Perhaps too, it is important that we act and react with refinement and not give in to our baser instincts. Fight or flight is necessary for survival in the forest but in everyday life in the city, such extreme reactions have serious consequences – road rage and panic attacks just being two examples. Virgo may seem to ‘nit-pick’ but it can also be incredibily focused on the task at hand. It doesn’t let the ego take over and get an upper hand, Virgo simply serves.
The New Moon is semi-sextile to Saturn and semi-square Venus. Saturn sits in the 11th house with the Sun and Moon, Venus is in the 12th. This configuration suggests to me that we need to look for very practical solutions to any problems we have and be patient whilst we wait for the results. It may feel a little slower to manifest than normal. The semi-square to Venus in the 12th house suggests that it may be necessary to sacrifice some comfort in order to get the job done.
This New Moon will occur in my second house and with Mercury also retrograde here, I have been focusing on getting my finances in order. Whilst my spending habits tend to be generally frugal (Virgo on the cusp of this house suggests a certain caution with money), there were some areas that needed tightening up. Mercury retrograde threw an extremely serious spanner in the works when out of the blue I received a notice to begin legal proceedings to evict me from my home! You can imagine how this security loving Taurean felt about that! In the end, it turned out that due to some changes in ownership of the property I rent, the rent I had paid had been seriously delayed, making my account look severely in the red! With Pluto and Uranus in my 2nd house and Pluto ruling my 4th house, retrograde Mercury certainly gave me the shock of my life after living in this property some 19 years or so. Thankfully the situation was resolved just as quickly but it brought my attention straight back to earth and made me aware of what I value. Oddly enough, despite the sudden overwhelming fear of being homeless, the situation also forced me to consider that maybe it is indeed time to move on from where I live. The New Moon gives me the opportunity to reflect upon what I really value and (being 5 degrees away from my Pluto) forces me to consider what needs to be changed to bring life into order.
Part of me lives in a run down hut in the middle of the forest, at one with the trees and the creatures of the earth. My gypsy blood sees me running barefoot in the grass eating blackberries from the bushes, picking blood red apples from the trees. Inside, part of me knows that I am never tamed, acting on instinct from moment to moment.
But this Virgo Moon reminds me that there are bills to pay, work to do and a service to offer to others. She may seem like no fun Betty but really she is providing me with an order to my life. With order comes space. Space in which I can indulge my wild spirit, kick off my shoes, muddy my face and squish blackberries between my fingers.
Then I’ll wash my hands and get back to work…
Orangutan by just4u2009’s on Flickr
