New Moon in Aquarius January 2017 – Out in the Cold

The New Moon in Aquarius occurs at 00:06 (UT) on the 28th January 2017 at 08°Aq15′.

At the New Moon in Aquarius, there’s a drive towards planting seeds for the future. Aquarius is a cool, objective sign, given to friendly detachment and occasionally downloads of cosmic inspiration. The focus is shaking free of restraints, upgrading, re-modelling and innovating. The shadow of Aquarius is that it can be rebellious to a fault, stubborn, unrepentant and AWOL!

Aquarius can be a breath of fresh air after staid and stuffy Capricorn but in order for there to be a new start, it’s first necessary to negotiate the discomfort of a Venus-Saturn square in this chart. The New Moon makes no major aspects to other planets but sits around the midpoint of Venus and Saturn’s square, semi-square to both.

Venus in Pisces is soft, dreamy, romantic, idealistic. She’s following her heart and sometimes a little sad and lost. Saturn in Sagittarius is constructing borders, narrowing vision, defining destinations and insisting on a realistic approach to expansion. The natural exuberance of Sagittarius is toned down. Venus in Pisces meeting Saturn in Sagittarius is rather like asking Venus to step aside of her cosy cottage into the dark, snowy woods wearing only her fluffy pajamas. Out there in reality, it’s cold and grim and we can’t fantasise away facts. You might be feeling poor of spirit, financially poor or lonely and unappreciated – but still the work has to be done. Saturn as the old ruler of Aquarius suggests we need a structural approach to change which can sometimes feel boring and difficult – but no more difficult than letting things stay the same because you’ve given up hope for something better.

Meanwhile, modern Aquarius ruler Uranus is still opposing Jupiter and squaring Pluto so the urge to develop and reform are powerful. The New Moon’s semi-square to shamanic Chiron indicates that there’s a need to start investigating alternatives. Aquarius loves to go off the beaten track. It experiments with possibilities. Yes, there may be some fears of being rejected for being different but this is one of those times to let your freak flag fly. Often when things don’t feel good in our lives, we want to change everything at once but all these semi-squares suggest that small adaptations and modifications may be the key to get the ball rolling. Most importantly, it may be a shift of perspective more than anything else that makes you interpret your experience differently, which in turn opens up alternative solutions.

The New Moon is conjunct asteroid Isis. Isis encourages us to bring together scattered parts of our lives into a unified whole. She’s a no nonsense, ‘get it together’ asteroid. Isis didn’t baulk at the challenge of recovering the missing pieces of her husband Osiris so neither should we feel that we have an impossible task ahead of us. Piece by piece is the way forward.

Another underlying theme in this New Moon is about how we deal with loneliness and being alone. Aquarius likes its space but with Venus square to Saturn, some may feel unsupported by loved ones, especially if you are looking to go in a significant new direction. Others don’t always understand, appreciate or even accept our perspective or the need for a fresh start. Sometimes, you have to be prepared to go it alone and support yourself through the process. Hold you own hand. Be your own friend. Loneliness and being alone are two very different things. Mars on the anaretic last degree of Pisces may feel like he’s drowning but the ingress into home sign Aries shortly after the New Moon occurs offers courage to forge ahead and follow that independent path.

The New Moon is on the Sabian symbol :-

A Flag Is Seen Turning Into An Eagle

The flag represents the standards that you adhere to, the beliefs you live by. Often we feel an allegiance towards certain ideologies but the transformation from flag to eagle represents the emergence of new and stronger ideas. Old standards are reviewed and seen from a higher perspective, both facilitating and necessitating change. Ascension takes great strength.

There’s an inherent toughness to this chart and whilst it’s uncomfortable, we all have a chance to embrace our own unique talents, views and ideas in order to open up fresh vistas for the year ahead. Cold winds are blowing but it’s just what you need to spur you on. Freedom is sometimes hard won.

Painting – ‘Snow And Mist’ by John Atkinson Grimshaw