Today at 3:51pm EST the Moon and Sun are conjunct (at the exact degree in the zodiac) in Pisces, initiating a new cycle around healing, intuition, divine love, dreams, trust, spirituality, compassion, and releasing helplessness. We’ve been deep in the heart of watery Pisces for a few weeks now; currently the Sun, Venus, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Chiron, and today the Moon, are all residing in this mystical sign. Mercury, the planet of communication, is retrograde too, helping us to process our emotions and become crystalline clear on how we can better incorporate our intuition in our lives as we release any self sabotaging behaviors that keep us locked in a victim role- facilitating our ability to heal, forgive and move on. On the highest level, this energy is all about the dissolution of ego and finding unity with the other.
On a personal level, this means giving myself time today to conjure up some of my most raw emotions, and feel into them. As a postmenopausal woman, new moons are my equivalent to the first day of my menstrual cycle. I honor them as a sacred day in my life where I deeply nurture myself, listen to my intuition and my body. I have a ritual of writing out my intentions on new moons and reading them aloud, sometimes lighting a candle or performing a more elaborate ceremony to honor the day. Depending on the astrological sign the moon is in, I do different things that align with the energy of the particular lunar influence we are under. Given that today is a Pisces Moon, and the majority of the planets are in water signs, (in addition to the litany of planets in Pisces, Saturn is also in Scorpio, another water sign) it’s safe to say today is 100% about my emotional body and feeling into my heart to find where I have some forgiving to do.
Pisces is the last sign of zodiac and we are wrapping up a year’s worth of learning as we prepare to burst forward into spring with the upcoming cardinal Aries energy which urges us to call forth new beginnings. But, before we rush off and push into the aggressive “me first” Aries energy, we have a tad more time to deep dive into our emotions and the watery gifts of Pisces. This allows us to integrate deep healing and enter into fire sign Aries with a deeper level of compassion- making today’s new moon the perfect opportunity for reflection, integration, and replenishment.
When the Sun and Moon merge together as they do with new moons, yin and yang, masculine and feminine energy overlap, creating union between the two. This potency of energy offers ripe conditions for creation. Though, it’s common to feel a little blue around new moons as it’s a more introverted time, the upside is it’s a fantastic time for setting new intentions and getting clear on what you are consciously cultivating in your life. (New moons start the next lunar cycle, and usually seeds planted under the new moon come into full bloom in six months time. Seeds planted under today’s influence will fully bloom around the time of the September 19th full moon in Aries.)
Lunar RHTYHMS and menstrual RHYTHMS mimic one another, and if we oblige these RHYTHMS we sync up with a flow that gives us what we need: time to go within, rest and rejuvenate, and time to push forward with our goals, make headway, and engage the material world. New moons, as well as the first day of a woman’s period, mark a time to hit the pause button on extroverted activities, honoring the need to listen to our bodies and to recover. As the moon begins to wax, or a woman moves towards ovulation, we tend to exert lots of energy. Before we blast off into a new cycle of achievement, it’s a best practice to set aside some time for recovery. Kind of like a pit stop in the world of race car driving, or collecting two hundred dollars when passing go in Monopoly- we need to refuel and up our resources so we have total abundance for our next lap on the course.
As far as I am concerned, all efforts toward achieving balance in life should be directed to the goal of finding a dynamic relationship between spending and recovering energy. When we do, we engage a healthy relationship with the pulse of life. The oscillation between doing and receiving, achieving and relaxing, listening and speaking, contrasts deeply with linear modes of constantly doing best represented in our manic culture. But linearity is not only boring, it’s also dangerous, as it flies in the face of what our bodies are most meant to do- spend and recover energy.
According to the authors of the Power of Full Engagement, Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz, “We are oscillatory beings in an oscillatory universe. Rhythmicity is our inheritance.”
Both the Moon and female hormonal system signal times when we need to hit the pause button, take a break, and do a different type of work, relaxation. As highly ambitious women, I know the thought of slowing down feels like nails on the chalkboard, but it shouldn’t be in conflict with our work ethic… Let’s face it, getting quiet and listening is hard work, which I guess is why it’s so easy at times for me to believe that I am way too busy to go there. It’s avoidance.
The gift of today’s new moon, however, is that with all of the water influence, we really can’t avoid it if we try. So we might as well concede- it makes it so much easier if we do- and give our emotions some space today. Journal, meditate, take a long walk, or even a nap, and see what percolates from the depths of your subconscious and the bottom your heart. It’s exactly what needs to come to the surface as we prepare for the upcoming spring equinox (for those of us in the northern hemisphere) and the shift in seasons upon us regardless where we live.
Be well, have fun, and go within!
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