The new Moon

At this new Moon, Sun and Moon occupy Aquarius, a fixed air sign. The sign Aquarius denotes forward-thinking individuals (often inventors), eccentrics, odd-balls and revolutionaries. Aquarius is ruled by the planet Uranus; and, before Uranus was discovered, Saturn. At present Uranus is in Pisces and square the asteroid Pallas Athena in Virgo. Once again I turn to Cafe Astrology for a description of the sign.

Saturn is part of a Yod containing Saturn in Libra, Mars in Leo and at the point of the pattern, Venus conjunct Jupiter in Pisces. While a Venus-Jupiter conjunct is usually seen as very beneficial -- love and rapport combined with good luck and increase. When both take the position of pointer in this Finger-of-God aspect, quite possibly good fortune and romantic attractions will have a sense of being fated or out of your control. But then, when are they under one's control?

There is a stellium with Sun-Moon-Chiron-Neptune in Aquarius. It seems like Chiron and Neptune have been conjunct and in Aquarius forever; now the Sun-Moon dyad joins them. In actuality Chiron has been in Aquarius since mid-February 2005, and will exit mid-April 2010. About Chiron an unnamed writer (possibly Rick Levine or Jeff Jawer) at StarIQ says:

Chiron in Aquarius describes the wounded community, the distrust of hope and retreat from ideals. However, it can also raise awareness of how our collective ideas imprison us in an icy world of abstraction. Chiron's last passage through Aquarius was January 1955 until March 1960. This was the suburban '50s in the U.S., a period of withdrawal from idealism. In his last address as president Dwight Eisenhower, the great general, warned America against the growing influence of the military-industrial complex. His words were prophetic, but the message has not be absorbed. Perhaps it will be this time.

On a personal level, Chiron in Aquarius can help us see where we use our minds to repel our feelings. Aquarius is brilliant, but its shadow is the denial of non-rational emotions that mar a perfect intellectual model of how life should be. Ideology without compassion is as two-dimensional as films, compelling, but lacking the organic messiness of real life.

The presence of Neptune in the stellium adds an aura of spirituality and, at the same time, a suggestion of confusion and subtle upset. The Moon adds heightened sensitivity and the Sun adds an ability to be motivated by a more effective idealism, tempered by experience.

This new Moon transits the U.S.'s 4th house with Saturn, newly retrograde, in the 11th and Uranus in the 5th.

The 4th house is the Moon's natural home. In a mundane chart, the 4th house encompasses land, its owner and the workers on it; crops, mines and buildings; people in a democracy, as opposed to its government.

Occupying the 4th house at this time are

• Natal: Moon and Pallas Athena in Aquarius; Ceres in Pisces
• Transiting; Sun, Moon, Chiron and Neptune in Aquarius; Venus & Jupiter in Pisces

Tuning into the industrial aspect of Pallas Athena and the scientific and visionary aspects of Aquarius, I came across this article by Brian Coppa, titled "Clean energy industry feasting on stimulus pie: pending legislation ultra-critical." Here's an excerpt:

As the U.S. is muddled down in the health care debate, the bills in Congress dealing with revolutionary energy policy hang in the balance and hesitancy resides in the renewable energy industry over the ultimate future market size for cleantech. Even though the Recovery Act and subsequent stimulus funding have initiated future clean energy plans, the cleantech community is curiously awaiting a decision on key legislation such as the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) or Cap-and-Trade bill and a national renewable energy portfolio standard (RPS), which will both be the game-changing bills that will set the future course of how the country utilizes energy. ..

Although the article was written in August last year, it's still true. While congress engages in its partisan circus, what really needs to get done is being left by the wayside. I feel America is being brought to its knees by ideologies that serve no real purpose, other than attempt to protect worn-out, no longer useful power structures.

The axis activated at this full Moon is Virgo/Pisces. Mercury (or maybe Ceres) rules Virgo; Neptune rules Pisces. At Astro Dienst (www.astro.com) the excellent article on the Virgo/Pisces axis includes the following excerpt:

The Virgo-Pisces Axis is ruled by Mercury and Jupiter in their earth and water manifestations, and is naturally associated with the 6th and 12th houses. The themes on this axis are order and chaos, control and trust, form and content, the practical and imaginal worlds, realities and dreams, service and devotion. I often equate this axis to the Grail legend, with the Pisces question being, 'Whom does the Grail serve?' and the Virgo answer being, 'He who serves the Grail'. If this spectrum polarises on the Virgo side, then there will be a strong need for control over the daily routines of life, in an effort to keep chaos at bay. And yet, if the qualities of Pisces are not integrated, they will emerge from the unconscious and the Virgo individual will feel increasingly overwhelmed, and will tend to attract more and more disruption into their lives and feel more and more out of control. Virgo is analytical, self-critical and perfectionist, brilliant at spotting errors and at focusing on the details but prone to missing the whole picture, which belongs to Pisces. If we identify only with the Virgo end of the axis, then we may become consumed by duty and drudgery, and we will long to escape. But until we can see the whole picture, we will always feel that anything we try to achieve is spoiled or imperfect in the making. On the Pisces side of this axis, we prefer to remain merged, undifferentiated and unformed in order to avoid having to grapple with the details and practicalities of life. In this case we are likely to find ourselves forced to engage with the world in practical ways, something we may bitterly resent.

One approach to this axis which I have found helpful is to remember the mantra: 'Trust in Allah but tie up your camel'. Both are necessary. This axis describes the way we attend to the daily necessities of life, not just for their own sake, or to earn a crust, but in the service of something which we find meaningful.

The Moon in Virgo is a watery, emotional and self-protective presence in an earthy, mutable and practical field-of-play. It works well but at times emotional reactions can undermine Virgo's need for order.

At this time the Moon is in opposition to an almost exact conjunct between between the Sun and Jupiter. According to Michael Munkasey (Midpoints: unleashing the power of the planets, 1991) the Sun-Jupiter conjunct "focuses on developing the competence and enthusiasm required to win even greater approval for your activities." The Moon in opposition injects "an interest in people; a strong need to address the motives of others; added needs for approval from women or mother figures; trying different approaches rather than relying on one proven method." Because of its opposition, there may be an awareness of these factors or they may trip up the winning of approval.

At this time the full Moon occupies the 10th house, which denotes:

The president, the government, people in authority. Royalty, eminent and famous persons. National trade. The national reputation, credit, and power. Public employment rate. (SkyScript.co.uk)

The natural ruler of the 10th house is Saturn, now in Libra, newly retrograde, and in the 11th house. The transiting house ruler is the Sun (Leo is on the cusp). The Sun-Jupiter conjunct is in the 4th. The Moon is the natural ruler of the 4th and the transiting house ruler is Uranus, which is the natural ruler of the 11th. Uranus is in the 5th house, which is naturally ruled by the Sun.

I think what all this works out to be is a series of stalemates or apparent stalemates between the voters and those in power, especially the president. Since all the planets and lights occupy each other's spaces, there is really a complex mutual reception.

Ceres, the asteroid and alternate ruler of Virgo, is posited in the 2nd house and in opposition to natal Mars in Gemini. The 2nd-8th house axis speaks of supply and demand, with the 2nd being the supply side. At the site Astrologically Speaking there is an interesting article about Ceres by Anne Massey. Here is a snippet:

Perhaps the role of Ceres was to teach us to live in harmony with mother Earth, and when we do not, we get to experience ailments directly linked to our environment and food. I always think of the statement as you sow so shall you reap, as something associated with Ceres, and so eloquently illustrated by her astrological symbol.