New Quickening Moon in Aquarius
The New Moon begins at 1:39am CST on January 23rd. The Quickening Moon phase is a good time to slough off the lethargy that often ensues after the holiday season. As if your body, and everything around you, is trying to ‘quicken’ to spring…there is often an urge to really follow through with actions that are ‘out with the old, in with the new’. During the daytime, this New Moon in Aquarius is the time to initiate those early spring cleanings. Like the water bearer, it’s time to wash the world anew.
The New Moon meets the Sun in the 3rd degree of Aquarius, which is a particularly rebellious degree. The Sabian Symbol for this degree is ‘a deserter from the navy’. There is an urge toward defiance under this influence. In its highest expression, this energy gives us the collective courage to turn our backs on what doesn’t resonate with the greatest good…and support humanitarian challenges. This kind of rebellion proposes ethical opposition, freedom of choice, and champions diversity. At the very core of this energy is an urge to be free from unnecessary control…whether that is from the oppression of a hierarchical patriarchy or, on an inner level, freedom from your own self-limiting thought patterns and bad habits. The desire to be different, to change ourselves for the better, will be bursting at our seams during this moon phase. New life is stirring, preparing for the thaw into the coming season of new growth.
The Year of the Water Dragon Begins
So maybe 2012 started off with the wrong kind of bang. You were expecting immediate changes, possibly, because of all the hype surrounding the year? Government is still the same old shadowy institution, cranking out needless power plays rather than giving focus to what will really change the world to a better place. Corruption is still a driving force in our mainstream. People are still playing the same old game that keeps them numb, dumb, and complacent…ignoring the periphery that screams for them to wake up. But before you spiral down into hopelessness or defeat, take another look. Everything has been waking up…and still is. Don’t expect everything to be drastic this year (though, like in recent years, there will be plenty that causes the whole world to take notice). Many of the positive changes are happening (and have been) gradually, blossoming gently in the tumult surrounding global change. This is new growth at its finest...it starts small, but it just keeps growing without being a threat, in fact it enriches lives rather than destroying them. While the old foundations are cracking and crumbling, new life grows within the cracks...almost unnoticeable until a whole garden grows where an old business was.
The 2012 New Moon of the Water Bearer ushers in the Year of the Water Dragon. The luckiest of all of the Chinese Astrology signs, the Dragon is creative and powerful. The element of water abounds this year as Neptune enters Pisces (the sign it rules) on February 3rd…giving further strength to the awesome power of water that has been showering the world by storm. This will likely manifest both literally in some ways and also symbolically. Water is not only an element that represents emotion, it also has memory and intellect. If you are not yet familiar with Dr. Masaru Emoto’s studies of water crystals…this may be a good time to look into it. It will give you a better understanding and appreciation for the water around and inside us.
In October of last year, my friend (Dan Furst) and I co-created an event here in Omaha called ‘Water Rites: A Ceremony of Communal Intention to Heal Our Waters’…he is another of many of us who understands the importance of water, and writes a flood of information about calendars, astrology, and global happenings that correlate with the Age of Aquarius. For more information on the Water Dragon and some celestial dynamics of 2012, check out his website: http://www.hermes3.net/jan112.htm
Mars Retrograde in Virgo
All of that being said about the New Quickening Moon of the Water Dragon, another astrological event occurs the same day that may have an opposite effect on momentum for getting things going. At 6:54pm CST, Mars goes retrograde in Virgo and stays in this direction until April 14th when it turns direct again. Mars stations and retrogrades in the 24th degree of Virgo. The sabian symbol for this degree is ‘Mary and her white lamb’. This retrograde clearly starts with the intention of purifying something that has gotten too complicated and muddied to see the divine that is illuminated in simplicity. Mars Retrogrades, even when they begin on the same day of a New Moon and a New Year, aren’t really known for being a good time to initiate new projects. It’s a time to reinforce something you already began…something that needs to be scaled down and simplified now.
In GOOD DAYS ACTION PLANNING GUIDE, Mary Shea describes an ideal way to handle Mars retrograde. “You go back over situations (either in your mind or in reality), doing things again and again while making corrections in the way you handle events. While Mars is retrograde, you will be reviewing the way you handle anger, self-defense, self-motivation and sexual relationships… outward anger or conflicts may not be appropriate. If you are normally non-assertive, you may be forced to defend yourself. Whatever your tactics, you must give thought to what you are doing. If your tactics do not work or they are inappropriate to the situation, your anger will continue to build while Mars is retrograde. You can expect the anger to manifest full-blown by the time Mars turns direct. If you have seriously wronged or angered another with…acts of aggression, you can expect the backlash as Mars turns direct.”
Now all of this raises the question, what kind of beginning includes a warning to not start anything new? A beginning of the most important kind…the kind that makes you take a long hard look at what you keep saying you should have done or should be doing, and re-work the details. Virgo is a very detail-oriented sign and our actions during this retrograde will be geared toward separating the wheat from the chaff (an appropriate Virgo phrase). What self-imposed limitation no longer serves your best interests? Get rid of it, finally, so you can focus on what’s really important. What did you start but fail to finish that now plagues you like you can’t do anything right? Pick it up again and work through the difficulties. Especially since this retrograde is in Virgo, anything that relates to cleaning and organizing, purifying and healing, will be especially beneficial right now. Detoxing, sticking to your exercise routine, cleaning the house, reorganizing and getting rid of excess, eating better, analyzing old projects and re-working them….all of this comes with the energy of Mars in Virgo. It’s best to take advantage of the good things about this retrograde instead of getting stuck in the frustrated aggressions and impatience of its negative side.
Love and Gratitude,
Felina Lune Kavi
P.S. Listen to this beautiful song that resonates with the energy of this time: 'Scale Down' by Rising Appalachia
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