Welcoming the Aquarius New Moon, T-Square and all, with open arms

This afternoon, I received the shocking news of the demise of a relative.  My heart goes out to her family at this time.  May you rest in peace.

Every time when I hear of such losses, particularly of people I had personally interacted with, however transient, it feels as if the Universe is giving me a hard slap on the face, saying 'Life is too short, ANYTHING can happen.  Do what you need to do before it's too late.'

Today, even before hearing this piece of sad news, I felt like I was being trapped in a pressure cooker.  Well, transiting Mercury is exactly square my Pluto and transiting Sun is now exactly oppose my Jupiter.  

My poor Jupiter in Cancer, hiding away in the 12th house.  It wants to stay there, but it's being pushed and shoved about by the current Jupiter-Saturn opposition and soon the Aquarius New Moon will march right across it, hands on hips.  This afternoon, I suddenly realised that one of the personal influences this opposition has on me is to balance the need to distribute my time.  With the Jupiter-Saturn opposition falling in my 3rd/4th house cusp and 9th/10th cusp, I want to retreat into the safety of my home but I need to be 'out there' as culturally expected of me during this festive season (imagine feeling the need to isolate oneself during Christmas!).  But to be fair, I do want to be out there too (it is an opposition after all, so one does tend to flit from one side to the other).   As they're both ruled by Venus, I should balance both sides as amicably as possible and not allow my fiery Mercury in Aries to run amok - it won't because it's trapped deep down in my 8th house, it'll just seethe with anger, keeping the irritation boiling at the bottom of my psyche.  Luckily, transiting Mars is slowing down, getting ready for its retrograde on Tuesday 24th.  That sounds great to me.  Switch down a gear, slowly does it...

How are you feeling as we approach the Aquarius New Moon?

Image: Danilo Rizzuti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

New Moon in Aquarius 2012

Time to get down on your knees and pray - we have a New Moon in Aquarius on 23rd January, which coincides with the first day of the Chinese New Year in 2012 - Year of the Dragon.

This New Moon falls on 2 degrees 42 minutes Aquarius.  Pinpoint this in your chart to see which area of your life is being highlighted and make your wish accordingly.  Embellish it further by finding Uranus in your chart (as Uranus rules Aquarius), and the 11th house (Aquarius' natural home), which is associated with friends, community groups, charities, long term wishes and goals.

The Jupiter-Saturn opposition forms a T-Square with this New Moon in fixed signs.  The challenge here is to balance the need to make your plans practical and achievable yet still supporting your heart's desires and personal beliefs. Interestingly, Jupiter in Taurus and Saturn in Libra are both ruled by Venus.  Harmony is the ultimate aim of any opposition/T-Square, but here, the Love Goddess has made herself present in this tug of war, wanting the two giant planets to see each other's point of view and to focus on society as a whole (Aquarius New Moon being the apex planet).

Mars in Virgo goes retrograde the next day, which helps us to be even more thorough and methodical in our actions, and to go through any small print with a fine-toothed comb before commitment.

Mercury entering Aquarius on 27th January continues the humanitarian theme from the Aquarian New Moon, inspiring the mind to wander into unexplored terrains for a worthy cause.

So to sum up, whatever your wish might be, make it realistic, adopt an optimistic outlook, be open to new ideas and think outside the box.  Take the focus off 'me' and concentrate on reaching out to the masses by connecting with the 'group mind'.

From the perspective of Chinese astrology, the word 'expression' colours the first day of this Lunar New Year where people are generally more expressive with their hostile thoughts and feelings, e.g. public demonstrations, debates.  There is a slight melancholic tone where people review the previous year and arrive at the conclusion that they have underachieved, despite having exerted a lot of effort towards their goals. This is especially relevant for the younger generations and employees.  2012 is a wood year (but with Water Dragon) representing growth and learning.  However, this comes at a price - competition.  Wood and water are very strong in 2012 so wood- and water-related industries will prosper, e.g. education, fashion, transportation.  Fire industry may not do as well in comparison, e.g. IT, electronics.  I want to thank my friend Jason for his Chinese astrology input.

So where is this Aquarius New Moon in your chart?  What aspects does it make with your other planets?