In the Pacific Time Zone, the New Moon will occur at 9:45 p.m. on Monday, January 31. This New Moon finds the Moon and Sun conjunct (0°) at 13° of Aquarius. To further clarify how this New Moon will impact you on a personal level, locate 13° of Aquarius in your birth/natal chart. The issues associated with that house are going to be most influenced by this New Moon’s presence.
New Moons always provide us with an opportunity for a new emotional start in the areas associated with the sign. This time, we are focused on Aquarius. The higher expression of this sign includes being independent, inventive, humanistic, social, tolerant, and intuitive. The lower expression can include being rebellious, eccentric, stubborn, or feeling responsible for everyone and everything . . . including feeling responsible for the world!
The symbol associated with Aquarius is the water bearer, which has several interpretations. It is often described as representing a healer who provides water (and therefore life) to the land (which represents humanity). The water can also be cleansing, especially clearing out the past to make way for something new. Another interpretation is that the water represents our unique gifts that we give freely to others and to the world. Given Aquarius is an air sign, those gifts often involve the dissemination of knowledge to the human community. This information is given in a nonjudgmental manner, and it focuses on equality and individuality.
This Aquarius New Moon is involved in several aspects that color its interpretation and provide insights about how best to consciously access its amazing potential:
- The Sun and Moon are both conjunction (0°) Saturn. The ringed planet insists that the Aquarian energy be applied in a structured, ordered, disciplined, and responsible way. It’s also telling us that we need to “get real,” put our proverbial “nose to the grindstone,” and manifest tangible results. But we also see elements of the ongoing theme that we have discussed for the past few months; namely, finding ways to integrate the past and the future. The Sun and Moon are in progressive, forward-looking Aquarius, but Saturn focuses primarily on the past. We need to continue to find a balance between integrating past wisdom into the new structures that we create in our lives. Saturn also tells us that before we dive head-long into a new beginning, we need to make sure that we have cleaned up old commitments and responsibilities.
- The Sun, Moon, and Saturn are all in very tight squares (90°) to Uranus. Uranus is the planet representing change, and a square aspect always indicates that a change of some type is needed. In other words, it’s time for change to happen! But when Uranus is involved, we need to keep in mind that those changes often come in unexpected ways. Just when we think we know what we need to do, Uranus will make sure something happens that will disrupt our plans. Given the Moon is involved, all this unpredictable energy could leave some of us feeling a bit out of control. But we may find it easier than usual to approach our feelings with more objectivity and detachment due to the Moon being in the air sign Aquarius. It’s also important to know that with Uranus involved and Saturn located in the progressive sign of Aquarius, we will need to find ways to balance our needs (a) for structure and stability (Saturn) and (b) for freedom and independence (Aquarius & its ruler Uranus).
- Luckily, the changes being brought into our lives by Uranus are support by trines (120°) to both Venus and Mars, which are conjunct (0°) each other in Capricorn. These supportive aspects will help us to feel emboldened to take risks that we might not normally even consider. We also are more willing to experiment or try something very new and different. Mars provides us with an extra dose of courage and energy, which will very likely help us cope with all the unexpected events that Uranus brings. The presence of Venus makes us want to go after what we desire or value.
- Additionally, Venus, Mars, and Uranus are all in sweet sextiles (60°) to Jupiter. I always jokingly refer to Jupiter as the “happy-happy planet.” Yes, Jupiter can sometimes cause us to go to extremes, but these supportive sextiles make that outcome less likely. We may find we are more open to new adventures and ready to try new approaches. Jupiter brings a positive, optimistic attitude to the party. There may even be a feeling of luck in the air, which means that those unexpected changes that come into our lives may lead us in surprisingly fortuitous directions. We need to be open to the magic!
- Further support is provided by sextiles (60°) between the Sun-Moon and Chiron. These sextiles will likely increase our feelings of self-confidence and decrease our usual sense of vulnerability when trying new or “out of the box” solutions to our problems. We feel ready to take actions that will help us learn, heal, and grow on our spiritual path. We may also find solutions that take into account everyone’s needs given Aquarius is dedicated to serving humanity.
- However, working together with others may be challenging during the time of this New Moon due to Venus and Mars being in squares (90°) to Chiron. We may feel confident when we are on our own and acting independently; but interpersonally, our old insecurities and even defensiveness may rear their ugly heads. In fact, squares between Mars and Chiron often trigger angry reactions. Therefore, it might be best to focus on working alone on important projects, at least for the days around the New Moon.
- One final note: Around the time of the New Moon, solutions may come through our intuition rather than logic. Mercury is in a tight conjunction (0°) to Pluto, and this can reveal important information (see more on this in the next paragraph). However, it is important to recognize that both planets are in sextiles (60°) to Neptune. Neptune is highly intuitive and sextiles mean that this ability should be easy to access. If things have been a bit foggy lately, we may suddenly have the Neptunian fog lift and see the shore very clearly. Also, solutions may allow us to integrate our ideals into reality, and words can be the source of inspiration and used creatively.
In addition to all of these aspects, we should not forget that we are currently engaged in an ongoing “dance” between Mercury and Pluto. Although already impacting us at the time of the New Moon, the conjunction (0°) between Mercury and Pluto will be exact on Friday, January 28. After Mercury ends its retrograde phase on Thursday, February 3, it will backtrack over Pluto again, with the final exact conjunction occurring on Friday, February 11.
How will this impact us? Some of us may have intuitively sensed that something wasn’t right, and this aspect is likely to bring the truth to the surface. This can happen within our personal interactions and within society, and this new information may suddenly help us understanding something that we’ve been struggling with lately. This Mercury-Pluto conjunction means we are more than willing to probe the depths in order to find that “truth.” Our thinking and our words will likely be pretty intense during this time, and we do need to be careful not use words to manipulate others. There is also the potential to become suspicious or obsessive, which are not effective uses of this energy. Pluto always asks us to think about the use of personal power versus force, so we need to let things evolve and not try to force anything to be revealed. If it’s meant to happen, we need to trust that Spirit will handle it.
On Saturday, January 29, Venus ends its 6-week retrograde phase and begins moving direct again. As we have discussed before, Venus only goes retrograde every 18 months, so this has been an important astrological influence. The last time Venus was in retrograde was in May 2020, which is when we were in the thick of the pandemic. I think we can all agree that a great deal has changed in our lives since then. If we’ve done the work of this recent retrograde phase, we have new insights into what we desire and value in our lives. Venus oversees our relationships, money, values, and desires. It’s likely we have been reevaluating these areas in terms of the structures in our lives and our responsibilities to them. Now, as we ease into Venus moving direct again, we are ready to start taking actions that reflect our new values and desires. However, Venus and Mars (the action planet) are both in Capricorn, which tells us to take our time in making any changes.
And as mentioned above, Mercury does begin moving direct again on Thursday, February 3. As was explained in the Moon Update covering the insights for the upcoming year, once Mercury goes direct, this begins a 2.5 month period of time no planets will be in retrograde. Although it may take a few weeks for all planets to be back up to speed, many of us will feel that we are being given a BIG green light on making some important changes in our lives and starting new projects. Things may slow down a bit once Pluto goes retrograde toward the very end of April, so we should take advantage of this time period. Having no planets in retrograde also means that when dealing with others, it’s more than likely that “what we see is what we get” because there will be less energy “running below the surface.”
Overall, the current New Moon in Aquarius is continuing the imperative that change needs to happen. This will require navigating the seemingly conflicting needs between the desire to continue things in a traditional, familiar way versus the pull to try new things, take risks, and move into a new and ever-expanding future. We are all about to enter a 2.5-month period when all 10 planets in our solar system will be moving direct. Many of us know that it is time to change, and we are being given a green light to move forward on our path. The ongoing involvement of Uranus means that we can either “change or be changed.” Although the Law of Free Will often supports us in resisting something changing in our lives, we need to remember that sometimes the Universe knows better than we do what our soul needs in order to grow. In cases like this, “resistance is futile” and flowing with the shifts will make the change process much easier. But the good news is that Mars is in Capricorn all the way through the beginning of March, so we can be assured that even small steps are still steps toward a new future. Remember, the key phrase with Mars in Cap is “slow and steady wins the race”!
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THIS BLOG POST WAS WRITTEN BY
- Anne Reith, Ph.D. (AnneReith.com)
- For information about Dr. Reith’s downloadable eBooks and meditations, feel free to visit her online Store
SOME INFORMATION TAKEN FROM
- The Mountain Astrologer (magazine)
- Various online sources (e.g., www.cafeastrology.com)
REMINDER
- New Moons and Full Moons often influence us for the 3 days before and 3 days after the actual event.
FULL MOON
Full Moon at 13° of Aquarius
- Monday, January 31, 2022, 9:45 p.m. PST
- Tuesday, February 1, 2022, 12:45 a.m. EST
- Tuesday, February 1, 2022, 5:45 a.m. GMT
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By Anne Reith, Ph.D.