November 29, 2016 – 12:18 UTC

Healthy transcendence is supported by truthfulness

What disappoints us redefines our expectations and ideals  

The general backdrop:

The New Moon in Sagittarius every year brings our focus and needs to seeking meaning, vision and truthfulness, so that a better understanding can be gained in this process. Sagittarius and its themes is the area of life that is highly activated since 2015 until December 2017, as Saturn travels through the sign, and basically asks us to block out peripheral vision and set boundaries so that we can invest our time and “build” in meaningful ways. When the planet that signifies restriction is in this far reaching sign, the outcome of this transit may point to a restructuring of belief systems, which would be tested through ideological battles, conservatism or a lack of tolerance to the ‘foreign’ element. This may have felt like lack of hope, lack of perspective, even lack of inspiration as Saturn squared Neptune for most of 2015 and especially 2016, but gave an opportunity for a leap of consciousness regarding ideals. The mutable signs represent the end of seasons. This intense celestial activity on this modality via eclipses in the Virgo/Pisces axis and Jupiter/Saturn/Neptune in the mutable signs especially until September 2016, signified the end of an era, that has mostly to do with a need for a collective shift in consciousness. Our mental GPS needs to re-orient itself, and as Jupiter has changed signs since September and entered Libra expansion expressed  through the lens of fairness and equal sharing, brings an opportunity to get an overview and also experience a shift in our alliances and relationships.  

The New Moon and its Messages:

This specific lunar cycle has a certain poignant specialness to do with this shift cause it seems to herald the critical timing for examining the alignment of our life’s plan with our belief system, the truths we profess or seek from contacts with others. Within this framework we should make a note that a Mercury Retrograde period in Capricorn and late degrees of Sagittarius, as well as the yearly Sun-Saturn synodic cycle @ 18 Sagittarius begin during this lunar cycle. So, the reality and structures of our lives, will be re-examined to address questions and inform decision making, especially to do with past goals and visions. We may question our commitments and structures on an ethical, ideological or philosophical  basis.

We are at a crossroad between two eclipses and Sun squaring Neptune and the Nodes of the Moon (Moon Wobble), so self-will may be clouded and the choices elusive, as reality may have fallen short of our expectations.  On another level this is a spiritual or creative aspect that still calls for independence from contacts with others. Mercury’s last retrograde in Capricorn was in January 2016 where he had a lengthier meeting with Pluto, (it will meet Pluto  once this time round after the Rx period in late January). The previous Sun-Saturn cycle on November 30, 2015, started exactly @ 07 degrees Sagittarius right on this New Moon degree. Themes to do with life choices, plans and commitments that were generated at that time, can be re-examined during the two following  lunar cycles, for their effectiveness and truthfulness in relation to accessing “power” and “wealth” (Mercury-Pluto) and perhaps start forming a kind of “bridge” that will tighten the fabric between wisdom gained from experience and efficacy of goals. It is important to keep in mind that the next Sun-Saturn cycle will begin at the critical degree of 00 Capricorn on December 21, 2017. So we have another year before we see prior experience, belief systems and avenues of exploration actualise into a tangible reality, an appreciable form, or a realisation of a new beginning. On a personal level this process takes place in the realm of life represented by the houses that Sagittarius and Capricorn occupy in your individual natal chart.

The notion of the “right” relationships becomes part of this equation as asteroid Juno conjoins the New Moon, in the sign ruled by Jupiter (her mythological husband). The marriage of Hera and Zeus, was not a happy one, but it endured and was the “right” one, as both gained through this “contract”. Hera was the patroness of marriage and women’s rights, and even though tormented by her husband’s infidelity she plotted and schemed, fought hard and endured for what was rightfully hers. Through exploring the myth we will be reminded of the significance of our “rights” and all those things that are offered or denied within our contractual relationships with others, and we may become more truthful, philosophical or dogmatic in disseminating the message, depending on the situation . The New Moon speaks about the need to reflect on whether we wander aimlessly for the sake of our beliefs and freedom, or cultivate an understanding that will  be tolerant to different viewpoints. Sagittarius is represented by a centaur holding an arch aiming at the sky, so it is half horse and half man which reminds us there is a need for balance between our material and spiritual aims, experiences and appetites, and gaining more ground on one creates a sense of atrophy on the other.

This lunar month communication will be critical as the last aspect the Moon makes before it leaves the sign of Sagittarius is a conjunction with Mercury. The collective messages and feelings will spread fast and cross boundaries through Moon in Sagittarius, as this is a placement that needs space. While expressing the need to understand and clarify feelings of entrapment, collective “wounds”, disappointment, toxic situations, visions and expectations (Neptune/SN) the way we profess our truths and communicate with one another is crucial, and a shift in values and alliances takes place. The need to set healthy boundaries is now expressed in search for ‘truths’ through the realm of communication and understanding. With the emphasis on Fire and Air, Mutable and Cardinal and the scarcity of Fixed placements in the New Moon chart, we can expect an active and communicative month, with a fiery inconsistent dynamic that has a tendency to sprawl.

Jupiter the dispositor of the New Moon, is in its own terms, so it does set the “rules” so to speak , and rising before the Sun, heralds something that precedes our mundane activities: The need to support our own truth, our vision and understand how we are going to expand in a balanced and fair way in every relationship through this vintage point.  Our dreams can be prophetic. It is important even in the midst of ‘darkness’  to grasp a larger view that will offer personal growth. This mood precedes all other conventional obligations that define the context of our lives.

If this means detachment from relationships, or a new start we are entering a period that claiming equal give and take in relationships becomes more apparent. Uranus in Aries is a liberating catalyst affecting unions, values and social life through the partile square aspect with Venus in Capricorn. It intensifies the desire for change and more independence in relationships. We may realise that some unions feel restrictive or values do not serve change. This is a time that can bring others into our lives in unexpected ways, or a time that we distance ourselves from others.  Generally the 3/4 square is a crisis in consciousness that will promote unconventional relationships or solutions to unions and money matters through alternative ways.

This Lunar Cycle has a more personal feel to you:

If you are a Sagittarius born between November 27 – December 03, a Gemini born between May 28 – June 03, a Pisces born between February 27 – March 04 and a Virgo born between August 20 – September 04, and/or if your Ascendant and personal planets are at 07 (+/-3 degrees) of mutable signs.

© Eleni Kostika 2016