January 2021: New Moon in Capricorn
The New Moon of Purpose, Letting Go of Old Beliefs
There is a new moon on January 12th, 2021 here in so-called Vancouver. The first new moon of this new year and I must make a confession: I no longer know what is true in astrology and I don’t consider myself a true believer.
I see the evidence for and against astrology almost daily and nearly always in the same breath. I ask myself what the purpose of astrology could or should be? I doubt astrology’s usefulness in terms of prophecy — it was originally developed as a time-keeping method by the Babylonians, which is why the astrological year always starts with Aries at the vernal equinox. When the Greeks infused the constellations with origin stories tied to their deities, it took on a prophetic tone and was used to help heads of state make decisions. Eventually it found its way into foretelling the lives of more ordinary folk.
While I have had intense insights and developments on days aligned with various transiting planets and new or full moons, I’ve had an equal amount that took place on days where nothing spectacular was happening according to my chart and the heavens. So I could choose to believe or choose to not believe or I could remake the usefulness of astrology in the same way that the tarot has been remade: what was once a tool for prophecy has now largely become a tool for self-inquiry and exploration. Perhaps this is astrology’s true gift?
I am not a Taurus sun with a Scorpio moon and the same goes for you, whatever your signs may be.
It should go without saying but, hey, I’ll say it anyways: Astrology should not be used to cage or pigeonhole anyone. You are not your sun sign or your moon sign, and by this I mean that you do not show up in the world in a certain way with a certain subset of personality characteristics because of the time of day and time of year that you were born.
I’ve always resonated with being a Sagittarius — which I’m not, nor do I have any planets in that sign, except for one planet in the associated 9th house but that feels like a real stretch to say that’s why I resonate so strongly with the wandering Sag. I attribute those traits and behaviors to the way I was raised and the people who raised me and the body I live in and the part of the world I grew up. I — just like you — am a creation of my time and circumstances.
I am not a Taurus sun with a Scorpio moon and the same goes for you, whatever your signs may be. You are a multifaceted and precious human living a very curious and at times challenging embodiment. And with this comes the ultimate power: You get to choose who you want to be and how you want to show up and react to the world. It takes time and effort to mold yourself.
Thankfully the symbolism of this new moon supports this effort.
In working to remake astrology’s usefulness, I will offer a meditative prompt for this new moon, inspired by the night sky on January 12th. The new moon is a time of quiet, and in the deep winter here in the northern hemisphere the world is (ostensibly) quiet as well.
This time of year is guided by the symbol of Capricorn, the hermit. Solitary, often silent and reclusive, Capricorn leads us deep into ourselves.
We are our own keepers and the crafters of our realities.
Capricorn is restrictive in many ways for they understand, like no other sign, the weight of a time-bound, material existence. They know discipline and effort, yes, but they are most possessed by purposefulness.
What deep purpose or goal drives you? Use the aspects of your psyche that resonate with being purposeful, driven, dedicated, and disciplined, and then focus that energy into creating the avatar for your meditative journey.
On this journey, you carry with you gifts from the planetary gods themselves. The Sun has gifted you a light to see by and the Moon has honed your intuition. Pluto lends you a sword with which to remove the dreams that no longer serve you.
Saturn, Jupiter, and Mercury bestow you with the force, momentum, and wit to discern which dreams to nourish for the good of yourself and others. Though they are challenged by the gifts of Uranus and Mars who weigh you down with the physical necessities needed to bring dreams into reality.
It is always a process. An idea never becomes anything without time and effort in the physical world. You will know which ones are viable and which can be cut loose.
Listen to the still voice inside.
As for the setting, picture your Capricornian self in a grove surrounded by dark and silent trees. A dim, golden glow is cast from the lantern that you carry. There are no sounds around you, everything else sleeps in the dead of winter. Snow falls gently onto your cheek, cool but not cold. The glow from your lantern reveals a darker section on the trunk of the largest tree ahead of you. You are drawn toward this darkness and as you approach, your footsteps muffled in the snow, you discover an opening in the tree large enough for you to squeeze through. The air is damp and musty inside but now the way has become clear: earthen stairs descend before you and vanish beyond the edge of your light. The origin of dreams and purpose lie beyond that edge. Now the journey truly begins.
Take these images into your meditation. Allow this story to unfold and glean the insights into your current relationship between your deep self and your dreams. Are you striving for a purpose that is not supported by your inner being?
We all have held — or currently hold — values, traditions, and goals that are not our own. Listen to the still voice inside. If you enjoy journaling then write your insights down once you’ve completed your meditation, but most importantly sit with your insights for a few days. Give the process space and time to unfold since there is always a lag between receiving information at a less dense level of reality (thought, emotion, or intuition) and bringing that knowledge into the densest plane of reality (the material and the body).
This is my new moon gift to you.
As for a breakdown of the natal chart of this new moon — where I list the traditional relationships between the planets and houses — read on.
The Sun, Moon, and Pluto are conjunct in Capricorn in the 5th house, traditionally associated with creativity, self-expression, and pleasure. It is the seat of our hearts’ true purpose — this purpose is said to be enacted on the world stage through the 10th house but the seeds of that purpose lie in the 4th and 5th houses of subconscious self-expression. They are joined here by Jupiter, Saturn, and Mercury all in Aquarius. These Aquarian planets are squared — a traditionally friction-inducing relationship — by Uranus and Mars in Taurus in the 9th house, the house of self-expansion. The square relationship is said to limit the full expression of all planets on either end of the relationship; compromise is key with squares just as balance is key with oppositions. The north node of the moon is in Gemini in the 10th house and it is opposed by the south node in Sagittarius in the 4th house of the subconscious. They are squared by Neptune in Pisces in the 7th house of relationships. There is tension between the private and public self and the mediation lies in how they relate to one another; balance and compromise can be reached. These are all the placements that provided the inspiration for the new moon meditation prompt above.
