New Moon in Pisces: Opening to our depths

Big Sur Coastline and Bixby Bridge                                                                                                    Catherine Al-Meten

New Moon in Pisces on March 1, 2014 sets the tone for the final weeks of winter. Conjunct the imaginative Neptune in Pisces, trine  Jupiter in Cancer, and sextile Pluto in Capricorn, this New Moon inspires, motivates, and fills us with creative energy and ideas. We begin this week with the Pisces Sun in exact conjunction with Neptune. Our intuition, imagination, and instincts are sharp today, and we feel a strong infusion of enlightening spiritual and creative energy.  Listening to the stronger inner urgings, spotting signs and symbols pointing toward your true north, and feeling very much in touch with what you know to be right and perfect about who you are, where you are, and what you want characterize the powerful aspect.  Pay attention to whatever rises to the surface of your consciousness at this time.

On Monday, February 25, the Moon changes signs, going from Sagittarius into Capricorn. Throughout Monday the Moon makes aspects, in the late-afternoon and early evening  forming sextiles first to Neptune and then to the Sun, and then semi-square Saturn just before Venus forms a sextile to Saturn just before bedtime. Venus in the third decant of Capricorn forms an exact sextile to Saturn in Capricorn. This aspect tends to smooth out any wrinkles in relationships, helping us connect with the stronger elements that bind us in our intimate connections. Rather than living in unrealistic expectations, we recognize what drives us and what keeps us energized in our relationships and partnerships. A good time to consider some of the sound advice and reasonable opportunities that are within our reach now. Assistance now comes in tangible form, and we are aware of what what our needs and drives are.  We reconnect with those we may have lost touch with, and we discover the deeper ties that nourish and sustain us through love, compassion, and strength.

Also on Monday, Pluto, the Great Transformer in Capricorn, sextiles Chiron, the Wounded Healer, delivers great strength and deep healing by allowing us to see what means we have for coping with residual trauma and chronic problems that we have been dealing with for quite some time. Because of much of the hard work we have been forced to deal with during Pluto’s transit through whatever area of our life Capricorn has been moving, we have a better idea of what attitudes, habits, expectations, and patterns of behavior and thinking block our good. It is not that we have been able to change everything, but we are much better able to see what we are doing and when we tend to react in unhealthy ways. Chiron helps us heal through our woundedness. Rather than living out of our past traumas, pain, depression, illnesses, or anger, we are more consciously able to identify what no longer serves us in all areas of our lives, but particularly in the area of life the Capricorn transit of Pluto is. We have gained a greater sense of our own authority and power, and have become more willing and able to release what needs to be released as we appreciate trying on some new ways of behaving, perceiving, and responding to issues related to places where we feel vulnerable and receptive. Healing requires that we face the reality of who we are, and this aspect allows us a golden opportunity for making  breakthroughs in our own growth and healing. 

During the night on Wednesday, Jupiter forms a square to Uranus. While we may not all be awake for this aspect, we will certainly feel the powerful impact of paying attention to what needs to be changed in our lives. We all reach a point when the areas that need to change and transform force a decision.  One of my favorite analogies of how we relate to the process of change is the card table and the jigsaw.  We live our lives as if we were sitting at a card table putting together a huge jigsaw puzzle. Just at the point when we think we have almost completed the puzzle, someone walks by and kicks the leg of the table. The result is, our puzzle flies apart, and we either have to start over or we give up. Sometimes we get to a point in some area of our lives where we resist change or we sit too long on a decision, and something external happens that forces us to resolve an unresolved issue.  We don’t make a decision or choice, so we are at the mercy of someone else’s decision or choice. 

According to Professor Emeritus, Frank L. Lambert of Occidental College (Chemistry), “The second law of thermodynamics says that energy of all kinds in our material world disperses or spreads out if it is not hindered from doing so.” In other words, change happens, constantly.  It is the nature of the Universe in which we all live. We, humans, work very hard sometimes, to find our ‘balance’ or keep things the way they are, when in fact nothing stays the same. We live and work and have our being in the constant process and cycle of growth, development, breakdown, and rebirth.  This week, we may see that some area of our life (look to see where Uranus in 10 degrees of Aries and Jupiter in 10 degrees of Cancer are. This should be a significant area of your life for a major change.  Listen for those inner messages and watch to see how unexpected, sudden, and perhaps shocking actions and events bring about the change you need, make the signs clear, or force you into making changes you may have been resisting.

What we seek is freedom from something, and what we need is to discern the change that has already taken place energetically.  We want to avoid making changes in the mistaken idea that we have control over or the information necessary for changing the course of our lives right now. Change and energy evolve to meet the needs, the stages of development, and the desires that we have expressed.  Pay attention to the kinds of messages you are sending out and/or telling yourself about who you are, what you want, and what your story is. Our thoughts and words hold energy and the power. Now is the time to be discerning about what we are being called to do/be, what and who is guiding and protecting us, and how we are in alignment with the Divine’s energy and plans for us. Time to discern how we have attracted to us the circumstances, relationships, opportunities to help us grow, develop, serve, and live out our highest good.

The North Node retrograde in 29 degrees of Libra until March 14, is transiting in the anaretic degree. This is a period of time when we are reviewing what we have left behind and moving to complete and release whatever we do not want to take with us on the journey that lies ahead.   The shift last week from the axis of Scorpio/Taurus, now releases us to move in new directions. However, as in the case with all new periods of time, relationships, projects/jobs, roles we take on, there is a period where we may need to spend some time letting go of old viewpoints, habits, perspectives, beliefs, or patterns of thinking and behavior. This is one of those times. A good way to use this period of time is by releasing the ‘stuff’ around you. One of my yoga buddies told me how she and a friend were decluttering together, and how ‘all of a sudden’ they were discovering more time available.  I woke up yesterday at dawn and immediately cleaned out the refrigerator. Now I have to tell you, this is not my usual morning routine. Don’t think I have ever done that, but was compelled to get it done.  Working on cleaning and clearing your space is a good way to use this North Node energy. 

On Friday, February 28, the Sun in Pisces is trine Jupiter in Cancer.  Jupiter the planet that represents abundance, growth, good fortune, and the fullness of life makes this very favorable trine to the Sun in Pisces the constellation that represents imagination, intuition, creativity, fertility, children, pleasure, and art and artists.  Use this very creative energy to create, connect, flourish, and discover beauty within and around you. Nourish yourself, body, mind, and spirit, with the best use of this energy, and avoid squandering your energy and good will through addictive, extreme, or delusional behavior and thinking.  Discover the essences of this beautiful connection in using your time and energy to love and serve others, to create beauty, to nourish and feed your soul, and to communicate and express yourself from the place within your that connects to the Divine nature of all that is.

Also a major shift occurs today as Mercury stations direct. Ruler of communications, contracts, negotiations, and business, this shift opens the doors for movement forward that has been delayed since the last New Moon. The New Year of the Horse now begins in full force. Coming just before the New Moon in Pisces, we feel a release and surge of energy and clarity. 

On Saturday, the New Moon in Pisces is exact at 3:00 AM EST/12:00 midnight PDT. Completing the Aquarius lunar cycle, the Pisces New Moon brings us to the portal of an beautiful and mystical inner journey. The loose stellenium of water signs energy: Sun in Pisces, 10 degrees, Jupiter in Cancer at 10 degrees, Neptune and Chiron in Pisces 5 degrees for Neptune/12 degrees for Chiron, and Saturn  in 23 degrees of Scorpio, brings us a flood of gifts of energy, consciousness, and opportunities to become richer in compassion, empathy, humility, service, and creative discovery. Also, with the connection to Chiron, we can heal from whatever wounds are still keeping us from our highest good. An excellent time for meditating, retreating, praying, and for engaging in healthy, enriching practices and activities (yoga, hiking, kayaking, playing sports). Embrace the water in whatever forms it takes, and let yourself be cleansed, nourished, and enriched for growth and greater abundance.  

Within 24 hours of this New Moon. four major planets that have been retrograde, go direct. Just the day before the New Moon, Mercury in Aquarius goes direct.  Saturn and Mars  turn retrograde shortly after the New Moon, and Jupiter is slowing down to go direct on March 6. Four planets changing direction within 24 hours of the New Moon, make this a period of time when we may feel as if everything is coming to a screeching halt. This is a time to practice patience and seek inner calm amid whatever chaos is going on. With such major energy shifts, it is the time to discern, set intentions, and prepare yourself for major movement.  A square between Jupiter at 10 degree s of Cancer and Uranus at 10 degrees of Aries, has been pushing us to get things done, make major changes, and prepare ourselves for movement and clarity about what we truly desire and need.  This slow-down period caused by this square, is also part of a growing Grand Cardinal Cross in April. Between now and then, the energy is growing stronger and pushing us through internal speculation and discernment and external relationships and circumstances, to prepare for major change.  The planets moving toward that include: Mars now in Libra until March 11, Saturn in Scorpio until March 22, Jupiter at 10 Cancer until  March 24.

Venus in Capricorn’s waning sextile with Saturn in Scorpio finds us moving with grace, beauty, and intention. All this is done within the privacy and intimacy of our closest partnerships. We honor and respect the sanctity and privacy of our closest relationships, now more than ever. Mercury’s transit through Aquarius provides us with clarity of thought and mind. We gain the gifts of perspective and  discerning detachment with this transit. Allow yourself time to reflect, appreciate, and honor those aspects of yourself, your relationships, your roles and your work, your art and your calling that bring you into the deepest understanding of who you are and what you are here to experience in this life.

“Real intimacy is a sacred experience. It never exposes its secret trust and belonging to the voyeuristic eye of a neon culture. Real intimacy is of the soul, and the soul is reserved.”  From Anam Cara by John O’Donohue