Finding Clarity in Unclear Times - Co-operation’s the Name of the Game. New Moon February 23, 2020
On February 23rd we are presented with a New Moon in the sign of Pisces. New Moons are always an opportunity to re-start on a new and different level and to make new beginnings. Pisces is very much a sign that speaks of kindness, compassion, sacrifice, and possibly even self-sacrifice. It also speaks of the need to transcend to be able to see our ultimate goal of fulfilling our Soul’s purpose – and for that we first need to know who we really are.
There’s some interesting energy at this New Moon with four planets in Pisces – Sun, Moon, Mercury and Neptune – and four planets in Capricorn – Saturn, Pluto Jupiter, Mars and the South Node. Pisces and Capricorn are able to work together to bring opportunities, but they are very different in their natures and energy. Both signs at the New Moon also contain their own planetary ruler (Neptune in Pisces and Saturn in Capricorn) bringing a good deal of strength to achieve goals.
Capricorn embodies realism, whilst Pisces wants to escape from reality. Having said that, the Earth based Capricorn energy provides security, form and structure for the much more emotional Water energy of Pisces. Think of a river that wants to meander but is secure in the knowledge that the banks and the earth will contain it. Capricorn wants boundaries whilst Pisces is boundary less. Without direction and boundaries Pisces can’t actually do what it is good at –which is going with the flow as it seeks to transcend the mundane and the ordinary in search of the magic and truth of the Soul. Without the security of those riverbanks the energy becomes totally directionless and unfettered, bringing anxiety and confusion, and, in the case of the river and our emotions, flooding. Remember that the symbol for Pisces is two fish, each swimming in opposite directions – a recipe for chaos. But Pisces brings spirituality, compassion and intuition to the otherwise heavy ‘ought and should’ demands of Capricorn.
Communications may get messy with Mercury in Pisces. Mercury is also retrograde, but honestly don’t get too hung up on that one. If you have to make important decisions just make sure that you have double checked everything – Mercury’s retrograde period is a good time for going back over issues, for re-considering, re-assessing – in fact anything with a ‘re’ in front of it. Mercury is not a totally happy bunny in Pisces – his thoughts may become chaotic and without focus, but it is a good time to access intuition, gut feelings, psychic abilities and perhaps more importantly to just slow down and meditate.
Increasingly, we live in a ‘fake’ world hyped by the influence of social media (Neptune). There are no boundaries now in terms of connectedness – it is 365 days of 24/7 and we are paying for this in terms of high anxiety alongside the idealization of the ‘perfect’. In a world without boundaries it is considered okay to bombard others with projected views of criticism, opinions and abusive bullying. Abuse and bullying is never okay and it’s not okay to invade the space of others with one’s own projected unhappiness or opinion. Many years ago a section of a course I was doing was ‘assertiveness training’ which turned out to be mainly about boundaries. It helped me massively to understand the question of personal boundaries and how overstepping a boundary can be emotional blackmail, bullying or just an inappropriate invasion of someone’s personal space. The training helped me to understand that any overstepping of boundaries either by me to others or from them to me was never acceptable. And this was in the days before social media.
The problem with the idealization and yearning for the ‘perfect’ in everything is that we live in an imperfect world. As I write this I am learning the news of the suicide of Caroline Flack who has lived much of her life in the public eye and more recently presenting the ‘perfect’ scenario of so-called reality. Nothing for me could be more imperfect than the ‘perfect’ Love Island world. It’s ironic that the rise of reality shows demonstrates anything but the world of reality, as we watch the plumped up lips, fake boobs and fake contours attempting to become famous in an effort just to be loved. Babies are born wanting to please and to be loved, but the pressures of our Western world lead to the idea that in order to be loved we have to have that perfect image. Neptune’s influence can be to become the victim and to confuse real life with the image. Caroline Flack always presented an image of vitality and bubbliness but I feel she became the victim of a life lived out in a ‘fake’ perfect environment – probably all she sought was to have the normality of being loved.
The attempts to be perfect only serve to highlight the imperfections and the confusions surrounding who we are. Our souls have a purpose but as goals become clouded and confused (Neptune) we are losing touch with the authenticity of who we are as we also lose touch with the real world and our connection to the Universe. When we connect with and love who we really are we can begin to live the truth of our Soul’s purpose. This highlights the importance of setting and respecting boundaries (Capricorn). We must seek to attain the positive meanings of the planetary archetypes if we are to find fulfillment in our lives and have the capacity to live our authentic selves. But when one is surrounded by the ‘fakeness’ of unreal reality it is perhaps the hardest environment to really know who you are. For me the archetypal energies of the outer planets – Uranus, Neptune and Pluto – not only reflect the energy of the collective unconscious that surrounds us all, but also inform that collective unconscious. Right now the Fixed signs – Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius – are being shocked into some kind of awakening by Uranus; the Cardinal signs are being almost ‘broken’ down by Pluto in an effort to achieve psycho-spiritual transformation, and the Mutable signs – Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces – are being confused and undermined by Neptune in order to bring some kind of spiritual or intuitive enlightenment alongside compassion and kindness.
Neptune and Pisces are very often linked with deception and scandal. And, because of Neptune’s ability to confuse and undermine with a lack of boundaries, it is one significator of things such as viruses – and in Pisces it shows a virus that jumps fences and boundaries. Right now we have an issue with the Coronavirus and information coming out of China looks suspiciously deceptive – what are we not being told about this virus?
Pisces has two planetary rulers – Neptune who is in his own sign of Pisces making his energy of confusion, virus spread, deception and scandal very strong – and expansive Jupiter. Jupiter, however, is in the Capricorn line up, which brings with it a sense of realism and a need for disciplined action. Jupiter’s position would lead me to think that the virus will peak in March/April and possibly reappear towards the end of June. This latter period is also the time of a particularly powerful solar eclipse, which will echo the eclipse of the end of December 2019, when news of the virus first came on to our radar. Eclipses augur potent events and we can follow their effects by looking at the path of the eclipse. The December 2019 and June 2020 eclipses both follow paths across Asia and China, and it is, therefore, highly likely that the most potent spread of the coronavirus epidemic will be over these areas. Different cultural genetic make ups also mean that certain viruses have a different effect on different peoples, so this virus may indeed prove to be more potent to the people of those areas, but it is really too early to say at the moment. Mars in this New Moon chart is exactly on the point of the solar eclipse of the end of December last year. He sits with the South Node and it may be now that we really begin to gain some understanding of any deceptions/scandal/mishandling surrounding this virus.
But the fact is that this virus is ‘out there’. What can we do to help ourselves? I personally have put my aromatherapist/essential oils hat back on and have created my own version of ‘thieves oil’, which was created for protection at the time of the Black Death, (which incidentally is also thought to have originated in China and then travelled through the Silk Route and on the back of rats on ships). Many of the essential oils are anti-viral as well as anti-bacterial in their effect. And Mars with the South Node also could be an indicator of our need to go back to our roots and back to ancient wisdom and ancient traditions so that we can take responsibility (Capricorn) for our own self protection; so I have added in some extra oils to the original ‘thieves oil’, which perhaps weren’t available to them back in the day. I put my oils into a diffuser, I put them into a carrier oil and use them on my hands and I use them in a spray bottle diluted down to clean surfaces in my kitchen and bathroom. Additionally, I try to boost my internal immune system with healthy eating and supplements. Perhaps even more importantly though is to not buy into the fear that goes alongside the confusion and chaos of the Pisces planets and the more control type fear of Capricorn. It will be the contagion of fear that is likely to damage our economies and us more than the actual virus.
Word has it that a company in the USA has discovered a vaccine using algorithms alongside the DNA sequence (the Chinese released the genetic sequence in early January). Scientists hope the vaccine will work like a piece of biological software giving the body instructions to attack the genetic sequence with T cells and antibodies. This could mean a vaccine in production as early as the summer; this company has already produced vaccines against SARS and the Zika virus, although their efficacy is perhaps questionable. And this virus appears to mutate (Pisces). Given the choice I will always choose boosting my immune system myself over having to have a vaccine whose side effects under these planetary cycles might be unclear.
Importantly though, as I said, this New Moon also carries opportunities with it. The boundaryless energy of Pisces can encourage us to go with the flow, to be kinder – not just to others but to ourselves too. Saturn in Capricorn epitomizes Father Time, and with Neptune’s influence we can allow ourselves the time to meditate and to heal our minds. With that in place we can recognize the need for secure and safe boundaries rather than building a wall around ourselves. A daily meditation practice helps us to lose Saturn’s natural anxieties, fears and blocks so that we can empower ourselves to be self-reliant. Capricorn can benefit from Pisces’ flexibility and its desire to just go with the flow rather than being restricted and hemmed in by rules and regulations. Pisces will benefit from Capricorn’s ability to give its compassion and creativity structure and form. Capricorn can make Pisces feel safe and secure in the knowledge it will not be allowed to overflow and have its energies scattered and lost. Pisces intuitive talents will help to allow the Capricorn energy to go beyond the limits of its walls and defences and allow those intuitions to become grounded in reality. The energies of Pisces recognise the need for transcendence of the ego in order that the conscious mind can connect with the unconscious and sub-conscious mind. This allows us to disconnect from just living from the autopilot of the sub conscious mind and its learned behaviour patterns and connect with the truth of the patterns of Universe. I have spoken a lot on how Man benefits from a co-operative and civilized environment rather than the Darwinian dog-eat-dog competitive world where only the strongest survive. And this New Moon reflects how co-operation between two very different energies can allow us to overcome our blocks and fears as we move forward into unclear times.
So this New Moon energy seems to encapsulate how we take care of ourselves and meet our emotional and soul needs, whilst recognizing that we are part and parcel of a structured and civilized society. This links to last weekend’s SundaySlow on Instagram with @GaryGorrow and @JasmineHemsley. We have to remember that we are part of a bigger picture. The saying ‘as above, so below” reminds us that everything in our human world connects us with the Universe. But in general we have lost a large proportion of our connection to our Universe as we try instead to connect with a ‘fake’ and cruel world instead. As Gary was saying when a wave merges with the ocean, it still remains a wave. So when you are part of a group you are still very much You. Neptune as Poseidon was the God of the Oceans and indeed, as Gary reminded us, we are an entire ocean in a drop and I would add that we are also a Universe in miniature.
The message at this New Moon is to allow ourselves to connect with the energy of the Universe in a way that sustains us. The strong Pisces energy is a reminder to be kind and compassionate and to be able to reconnect to our Soul’s purpose via the media of meditation, music, dance, yoga and other pursuits where we can lose ourselves, thereby allowing our minds to transcend so we can find who we really are and follow the truth of our Soul’s purpose. The strong Capricorn energy allows us to give structure and form to our more spiritual work so that we are able to contain it with strength and self-reliance so that we can connect and ‘deep listen’ to our instinctive minds. Sometimes we need the tragedy of someone taken before their time to remind us to be kind, to use this Mercury retrograde period to reassess the words we use and if we can’t be kind then maybe don’t speak at all. At this New Moon it is co-operation not competition that is the name of the game and it is co-operation that is the winner. Difficulties always present us with the opportunity to find new solutions and this is very much the energy of this New Moon. We have an opportunity to think outside the box and to be awakened to the fact that we need to change and do things differently. This Coronavirus is going to really show us how much we rely on the cheapness of sourcing our products from China and how this can make us so vulnerable. We must become much more self-reliant and be less focused on just ‘saving a buck’. At this New Moon deep listen and find solutions not problems.
As Buddha says ‘‘Your life is the creation of your mind’.