New Moon in Capricorn — December 27, 2008, 12:22 UT
The New Moon is the time for new beginnings, and this New Moon is an important one. At the moment the sign of Capricorn is packed with planets and asteroids. Any planet in Capricorn tends to behave in a disciplined manner, and in the current setup this is favourable, because some of the planetary combinations can turn out unpredictable. The Capricornian traits like sense of responsibility and sense of order, patience, persistance, industriousness and practicality, should help us to concentrate at work after the holiday break.
Mars has just entered Capricorn and conjoined Pluto. These two planets can sometimes form an explosive combination. On the other hand, Mars can act very focused and courageous now. There is a lot of warrior energy in the chart. The Mars-Pluto conjunction squares the Aries Point, the point of public contact. All this may lead to some extraordinary work results.
Asteroid Bacchus is in conjunction with the Moon, indicating experiences with excesses, or fear of excess. Atlantis is in the stellium, too, referring to the use and abuse of technology.
Together with Mars and Pluto in early Capricorn are asteroids Pandora, Psyche and Photographica. This combination suggests heightened awareness to visual images, whether they well from our subconscious or some external source.
Asteroid Psyche has affinities to the Moon and Pluto. Pandora has an Uranian flavour and it can stir our curiosity and lead us to unexpected paths. She is an agent of change and opens up new possibilities. Demetra George has called asteroids Pandora and Icarus the Liberators. Also Icarus is now in Capricorn. Icarus represents the principle of risk taking, so maintaining your composure and avoiding any extremes is recommened.
The Sun and Moon are in a tight quincunx to asteroid Pallas in Gemini. In mythology Pallas Athene is a goddess of wisdom, the creative planner. According to Demetra George, Pallas Athene in Gemini is a warrior with words. In the air sign she is at home, but the irritating quincunx indicates a need for adjustment before we can put our feelings into words acceptable to others.
In the other Mercury ruled sign, Virgo, is asteroid Urania trining the Luminaries. In mythology Urania is one of the Nine Muses. She is associated with astrology, astronomy and mathematics. This heavenly thinker can inspire us to deep theorethical ponderings.
Mercury and Jupiter are in conjunction in the latter degrees of Capricorn. Mercury has already entered the echo phase, preparing to station retrograde in January. Now it is still approaching Jupiter, and the exact conjunction is going to take place on the last day of the year. Mercury, the planet of mentality and communication trines closely the trans-Neptunian planet Logos, described as “the soul of technology” by Eric.
For the counterbalance of all this heavy mental energy, the exact Venus-Neptune conjunction in the friendly and sociable sign Aquarius is providing us inspirational love and feelings of compassion to benefit our brothers and sisters.
Saturn, the ruler of Capricorn, is still in opposition to Uranus and conjunct Typhon. At the moment Saturn is doing something rare and beautiful. Just before Christmas the NASA Science News informed us about Saturn’s “startling metamorphosis.” According to the article, all year long, the rings of Saturn have been tilting toward Earth, and now they are almost perfectly edge-on. This happens once every 14 to 15 years. Because the rings are so thin, they can actually disappear from sight when viewed through a backyard telescope. The precise moment is not until Sept. 4, 2009, but then Saturn will be too close to the Sun for the observation. The best time to look is now!
References:
Sue Tompkins, The Contemporary Astrologer’s Handbook, 2006, Flare Publications
Eric Francis, The Personal is Political
Martha Lang-Wescott, Mechanics of the Future: Asteroids, 1996, Treehouse Mountain
Demetra George & Douglas Bloch, Asteroid Goddesses, 2003, Ibis Press
December 27th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Hi Kirsti…
Did you pick up on the Mars/Pluto conjunction last night? I woke up at exactly 1:30 a.m. vibrating like a bass string, from head to toe! As I felt out the energy of this Call, there was an uprushing GO! GO! GO! wave, lifting me out of the dreamstate.
I got out of bed, wandered around my house. The sky was a thick pall of smoky. low-lying clouds, the temperature of old bathwater. I sat outside for a while, listening into this urgency, quite unlike anything else.
When I got up to do the New Moon practice a few hours later, the fizzing and undulance was still active, though broken by long waves of clarity. This was one of the most psychically-active New Moons I’ve ever experienced. I hope others were able to ride out *consciously.* This strikes me as not being the best energy to sleep through.
Thanks for all of your hard work on the Moon News.
M
December 28th, 2008 at 1:07 am
Hi Mysti,
Thank you for sharing your New Moon experience with us. We are two hours ahead of the Universal Time in Finland, so the New Moon took place at 2:22 pm here. I was awake all night, although not able to focus myself on writing very well. Then after a couple of hours sleep in the morning I woke up to welcome the New Moon.
Kirsti