Aquarius New Moon

Reminder and preface: There is no ethical practice of astrology that does not include reverence for the stark, sobering situation we find ourselves in at this time on earth. This does not exclude but instead amplifies the importance of also centering pleasure, joy and solidarity. For those of you who follow my work, hopefully this goes without saying at this point. The energy of this lunation is intensely collective, and the power of practice that acknowledges the reality of our situation is that it gives us a sense of being able to participate in change-for-the-better instead of existing at the whims of fate. Everything offered here is in dedication to our movement into a world that supports and respects all life.

That said, what follows somehow ended up focusing most overtly on the personal. Scroll down for horoscopes.

On Friday, February 9 at 2:59pm (PST) we have our first New Moon in Aquarius that is co-present with Pluto. This lunation takes place in a tight square with Uranus in Taurus begging the question: what can Aquarian transformation look like? Aquarius is a fixed air and one of two signs traditionally associated with Saturn. 

Saturn crystalizes.

What is being crystalized in Aquarius is, essentially, thought. Emanations of the mind. In many ways, air as thought also has to do with consciousness. Geminian air maps and categorizes, feeding conscious awareness through labeling and curiosity. Libran air takes these concepts and deepens understanding through compare, contrast, mirroring and interpersonal relationality. 

If we think of the signs as a progression (I do, others don’t), Aquarius is the last stage of growth for its element. Through its affiliation with Saturn, it carries that energy of crystalized thought. When thought gets crystalized, we can get some of that fixed Air stubbornness in terms of ways of thinking about the world and ideas. We can also see ramifications, repercussions, possibilities and potentials. 

Aquarius is the output of the supercomputer (although I am loath to use computer metaphors right now, this is a good one). Aquarian consciousness weaves its way into the past, yes. You can kind of imagine a chain of forming crystals stretching backwards. But it also makes its way into the future. Seemingly instantaneously.

Aquarius can take a whole slew of given probabilities and possibilities and sometimes almost instantaneously “predict” given outcomes. This is why I tend to see Aquarius as one of the more psychic signs of the zodiac. Not because it perceives feelings through energy currents as the water signs do, but because it corresponds with the ability of the mind to demonstrate consciousness and thought.

The first astrology book I ever read said something like:  An Aquarian mind travels farther in one day than most do in a year.

And Aquarius can be S.T.U.B.B.O.R.N. Or, as one Aquarian (me!) is fond of saying: I’m not stubborn, I just know when I’m right!

What are the benefits of that the kind of awareness that comes from being able to tune into the threads of fate in this way? What are the costs?

When I woke up this morning, my mind instantly floated to an image of a person beginning to climb a mountain. Cleats, gear, thoughtful consideration of the best way to get from point A to point B. Within that, we see more of the Capricorn version of Saturn, which carries recognition of what must be done to achieve a goal.

The Aquarian Saturnian nature, then, is the experience at the top of the mountain. Achievement has allowed for perspective from greater heights. 

But it is cold up there. Isolated and isolating. Conditions are harsh. And the mind must be called on to overcome. 

Aquarius can be associated with dissociation – the mind detaching from physical reality, usually as a defense mechanism. But the mind can also be a source of fortitude in times of difficulty. Times when pain is so all consuming, but we remember another time of pain, and can detach a bit, reminding ourselves that it will pass. Times when grief has cloaked us in upwellings of water for so long that finally the mind grows still and calm as we succumb to numbness. 

If we think of Aquarius as the apex of a natural T-Square it is holding the tension of the Taurus-Scorpio axis and the seeming extremities of the cycles of life-death-life. As I spent time contemplating the energetics of that configuration, I kept seeing two images:

First, a depiction of the Elder of Air (Queen of Swords) card from the Forhaxa tarot I’ve been working with so much lately. Our Lady of Air can be quite the ice princess, but it is because she knows how to wield and harness the energy of deep transformation and its emotional realities (Scorpio) alongside the pleasure and the pain of incarnate experience (which I’ll call Taurus for now). 

Second, the image of Circe as depicted in the work of John Watterson (“Circe Invidiosa” is featured in the collage at the top of this page). 

Now, Circe and I are not strangers. My natal chart features an exact conjunction between the Sun and asteroid Circe – a fact that was revealed to me several years ago through a series of unexplainable coincidences that led me down the rabbit hole. However, she has been silent for some time.

There is in fact something about the sorcery/witchcraft aspects of Circe that resonated with that feeling of receiving the tension of Taurus-Scorpio, and needing to figure out what to do with it. The strength required to transmute the energy into something generative (Aquarius at the apex of a T-square, bursting forward into Leo).

But it is more than that. The story of Circe is one of exile. Circe is a goddess who finds her power – and pleasure – through following the path we would now call that of witchcraft. In doing so, she transforms man into God, and Goddess into beast, and is cast out of Helios’ court to an island all her own. 

Aquarius also carries the energy of the exile. For so many reasons. We heard it in the story of the mountaintop above. Exile and isolation. But it also comes through in terms of the Aquarian ability to weave those possibilities and potentials into likely outcomes. Will the rest of the people be able to hang with those insights? Or will they shun them?

The process of getting folks to believe the findings of Giordano Bruno, Galileo, et al when they figured out that the earth revolves around the Sun and not vice versa was a process that took several hundred years and saw many burned at the stake for heresy. 

When Aquarius shows up in the karmic axis of a person’s chart, there are often core memories from childhood or past lives that involve some combination of difference and exile. Being cast out. Choosing to leave. Or just feeling difference so keenly that one feels like an alien. The tones and textures and emotional realities that erupt from that are highly varied. But consistent.

Back to Circe. Circe is sometimes referred to as the first “witch.” Or as an adept of Hekate (the real first witch? At least according to one pantheon’s genealogy). During her time in exile she learns the world of plants and animals (Taurus) and how to brew potions and poisons and salves. She practices real, intentional magic. Over time, the dead-serious nature of her power is depicted in works of art and myth. She is a master of transformation and transmutation, and her story ripples with Scorpionic themes of power-full-ness and powerlessness.

And, I mean, she has a Lion “familiar”, so… how much more fixed cross can we get?

Back to the personal: As Circe’s energy was building within me, I decided to spend some time staring at Waterson’s depiction of this elder of air to see what arose. This is a practice I’m prone to when deities won’t leave me alone.

The more I looked, the more I realized that like Aquarius, she too is depicted as a water bearer. Okay, I mean technically this is a depiction of Circe poisoning the water where Scylla bathed. But still. There is resonance there at many levels, including the fact that what the water bearer bears is idealized as being to the benefit of humanity, but is sometimes hard truths. Or achievements that unlock nightmarish destruction (ie: the scientific development of nuclear energy and the atom bomb). 

I went to look at where asteroid Circe would be for the New Moon in Aquarius.

Lo and behold - 18 degrees Aquarius. To the Sun and Moon’s 20 degrees just a smidge over two degrees away, making this the second tightest aspect of the lunation (which, ahem, also means that the current Circe-Sun conjunction is exactly conjunct this writer’s natal Circe-Sun conjunction, so… <<insert mindblown emoji>>... the universe frickin’ TALKS, y’all).

Which brings us to the first tightest aspect and that whole “co-present with Pluto” thing.

We have three main storylines kind of weaving together in the skies right now relative to the fixed cross. I’m putting it that way to allow me to ignore what is happening in the cardinal and mutable signs, cuz there is a lot. 

Something to note alongside everything I say below: Aquarius is a sign that has to do with human consciousness. Conscious awareness. Conscience, too. Bringing awareness to what is UP for you right now, what is moving through you, and what is going on around you is highly encouraged. Consciousness gives you agency.

First, the more specifically personal: last summer, Venus was longingly and passionately chasing Mars through Leo. She got real close to catching up, but then stationed retrograde. Mars continued on, having shit to do in Virgo and maybe needing a little space. Venus began moving backwards to retrace her steps and [hopefully] reclaim some of her own vital, lusty life force.

Over the next two weeks, Venus will finally be making a conjunction with Mars, and a storyline that was emphasized last summer might be coming to completion or fruition. This happens after both Mars and Venus move through the volcanic storms of Pluto in Aquarius, which means that desires, needs and power struggles might be emphasized before completion or reset can happen. You can’t fight the transformation here. So work with it and allow change to happen.

Second, this lunation is co-present with Pluto. It’s not in a conjunction, but Pluto is loud enough to lend its tendencies to any object moving through Aquarius for the next 20 years. This means that every Aquarius season moving forward – as well as the two or so days the Moon spends in Aquarius each month – is a time to pay attention to the deeper upwellings of your soul as well as the ways power dynamics are being displayed on the world stage. What do you learn through what you are feeling? You can’t fight the transformation here. So work with it and allow change to happen.

Third, this lunation takes place in that aforementioned very tight square with Uranus. Uranus has a strong affiliation with Aquarius in that they both have something to do with change. Although sometimes Aquarius can be firmly attached to status quo, as the archetype evolves, it is more fundamentally associated with the ability of the mind to synthesize information and see what is and is not working, what will and will not be working in the future, and therefore what needs to change now. This is where Aquarian energy can get its humanitarian OOMPH. With conscious awareness. 

Uranus is the force of change that feels sudden and swift; sometimes liberatory in a yay-way, sometimes shocking in a nay-way. Use this lunar cycle to identify what needs to change and how you can best support that change – for the sake of healing the world itself. You can’t fight the transformation here. So work with it and allow it to change.

Horoscopes

These horoscopes are meant to be read for your rising sign (not Sun sign). That is because we want to zero in on what house in your chart the lunation falls within.
For those of you with a little more astro-knowledge I’ll add: As an astrologer who does not use whole sign houses, I often have to think a little extra when reading a horoscope as it is not always as simple as reading for my rising sign. These horoscopes are meant to be read based on your rising sign, but I am also offering the house placement in () so that if you know where 20 degrees Aquarius falls in your chart, you can read for that. This will line up with your rising sign most of the time, but can sometimes be one sign ahead. To cast your chart for free and find 20 Aquarius (or your rising/ascendant sign), visit www.astro-seek.com or www.astro.com. If you are one of my Patrons and you know I have your chart, feel free to email me and ask. 

All horoscopes are offered in devotion to the healing of the earth and all of its beings. If the words below are meaningful to you and in any way impact your own magical, spritual or psychological workings, I encourage you to meaningfully dedicate your own process to the healing of the world or other collectively oriented goal. .

Aquarius (1st House)
What you are facing now is an opportunity to throw off another layer of ancestral inheritance that has been holding you back for too long. You have entered a long process of rebirth, the likes of which you probably haven’t seen before. Note your reaction to that sentence. Now let me add: the potentials here are gigantic and gorgeous, and you are absolutely well-suited for the task. Use the coming lunar cycle to remind yourself that you don’t have to carry the burdens others have placed on you. Let yourself imagine what the freedom you desire would feel, smell, look and taste like. Desires and needs you can’t quite articulate yet are going to emerge from the depths by the light of the Full Moon on February 24, so get ready to write an entirely new storyline.

Pisces (12th House)
Your ability to see potential futures for the collective is almost as strong as your ability to feel the entirety of everything going on at this time. And oh, my friend, I know how hard that can be. But let’s go back to that potential for clarity: are you giving your system breaks from the chaos (internal or external) to allow yourself to feel into and see all of the positive potentials? What is the most bliss-drenched, yet realistic future you can imagine? Can you tap into the wisdom of your ancient ancestors? The ones who are fully healed and 100% at your side supporting and loving you the whole way? Old storylines about worth and value need to be let go of now. Clarity can come with a little extra diligence with energetic protection.

Aries (11th House)
It is possible that you have often felt a magnetic draw towards folks who balance out your fire. There’s nothing wrong with that, my friend. But there definitely is a BUT. A fundamental part of you longs for a community of outsiders. For friends who are different and weird and strange. This need does not inherently lie at odds with your draw towards balance. But it might! Whatever the case, your community ties are up for renegotiating now. Something has to change, and there’s a chance you don’t quite know what that is or means just yet. So let me help: as far as I can tell, the first step in finding folks who feel like home is in allowing yourself to recognize that shared values are way more important than you thought they were – or than you want them to be. Use this lunar cycle to dig into your values, and start to think about how those are and are not shared within your communities. Consider different perspectives. Connect with others who are concerned about the same things as you.

Taurus (10th House)
Folks often joke about Taurean unwillingness to change. Maybe there’s something to that. But I generally have a ton of respect for the loyalty, steadfastness and resourcefulness of your sign. But, my love, things are in fact changing. Not just who you are out in the world. Not just your relationship to the other worlds. But your fundamental calling and vocation in this life. The word that comes to mind is: visionary. Did you know that you’re a visionary? It’s a word that invokes heights when I know you’d like to stay firmly planted on the ground. But! Visionary capacity requires being firmly planted on the ground. It requires attunement to not only the needs of the meat suit, but to pleasure and presence. Your calling and vocation does not have to be something that is actualized through a 9-5 (although that’s not to say it can’t be!). But you are in fact going through a transformation of your relationship to legacy and the ways you move in the world relative to that legacy. And so ponder this: what is it you love the most about the earth, its waters, plants, mountains and more? What do you want to preserve for seven generations into the future and seven generations after that? See it as possible. And then make it happen.

Gemini (9th House)
Oh the frickin’ places you can go. The energy is a little garbled for you right now, dear Gemini. New information coming in faster than your glorious noggin can keep up with. I wonder if you’re taking time to listen. In fact, I think I’ll recommend taking time to listen. This is not me instructing you to listen to the news or social media or the chattering of friends. Your chart supports a call to listening to the birds. Your dreams. The roar of the ocean. The nuance of mythologies you never paid attention to before but have now been evoked by the birds. Your dreams. The roar of the ocean. Dear Gemini? I recommend a class. A discussion group. A book club. In giving your mind some focus, you just might uncover blessings you didn’t even know were possible. If that just ends up looking like three minutes of morning meditation and some affirmation cards, so be it! Explore the universe with your mind.

Cancer (8th House)
Sometimes it feels alienating to be able to hold awareness of deep psychology, the underworld and the inevitability of transformation in the ways that you do. This incredible ability of yours sometimes feels at odds with your longing to just make people comfy – and some people’s expectations that you step into that role no matter what. Did you know there are people in the world who, instead of being uncomfortable or scared, find comfort in being around humans who can see the depths? What if you were able to connect with kindreds who found depth-oriented pursuits as fulfilling as you do? This lunation takes place in your 8th house, which many folks will tell you is about shared resources. I’m not going to say that’s not true - cuz it is. But you can read any 8th house/Cancer rising horoscope to hear about the mundane nature of this energy. I’m not here to talk about the mundane. Thankfully, either are you. The time has come to step out of being the cozy caretaker others have always wanted you to be. At least sometimes. At least in certain spaces. Be clear about what you value. Revel in your capacity to really understand what it is to plunge into the depths. 

Leo (7th House)
What’s it like to want to play, while at the same time having zero interest in human-ing? Something tells me you know a bit about that right now, my friend. Something has to give in terms of the ways that you relate. And when I say “give” I mean, be totally transformed into something you might not even recognize several years from now. But we’re trying to keep the scope a bit smaller here in this New Moon support. And so for now I’ll say: use this lunation to make some adjustments to your daily routines that allow you to 1.) focus on your needs and desires in relationship, and 2.) prioritize a project that makes your heart light up. Sound too boring? Maybe try doing it anyway. My sense is that through making time for some focus you’ll be ready to go when relational epiphanies arise near the Full Moon on February 24. It’s a-okay if your relationships need to change. That includes your relationship with your existing humans, the land, spirits, your body, and everything else. Zero in on the relationships in which you feel the most grounded AND free to be you. Attunement to small pleasures and joys will go a long way in this lunar cycle. 

Virgo (6th House)
When I look at your chart, what comes to mind is the incredible capacity the body has when it comes to healing itself. I shudder a little at the thought, Virgo. I don’t want to imply that healing is your burden to bear, or that you can’t or shouldn’t have support, or that it’s “all in your mind.” But I see you here as a meticulous, powerful healer. I see a little apothecary in your kitchen with soothing teas, energizing potions and just the right foods for your body and soul. Perhaps it has been difficult for you to relate to or connect with your body. If that is the case, my friend, I empathize. And will offer what I have to say here with softness and acknowledgement that the body is a tender place to live. This lunation supports new ways of thinking when it comes to your health and your views of body-as-vessel. Vessel for what? You get to choose. Let me remind you, though: you have worth and so much value just by virtue of being alive. I encourage you to connect with people, art, routines and ways of knowing that center that truth. 

Libra (5th House)
Hello, my dearest Libra. I have some news for you. The most compelling, truthful thing I can say about this lunation for you involves weird fun. Weird! Fun! You are coming through an extended period of time in which your early environmental conditioning has been revealed, upended, and exposed. You have been learning about the beliefs that were instilled in you and why, and, hopefully, which of those are sustainable and which need to go. That is not easy work. And so my offering to you here has a little bit to do with just cutting loose for a bit. Like, literally shaking it off and out. Dancing without worrying about how it looks or who can see. Shouting for joy and not caring that you startled the neighbors. Prioritizing fun. Just a little. But also, and perhaps more seriously: although relationality is absolutely central to who you are, a core paradox is being emphasized for you right now. That paradox has to do with your tendencies to float to one side or the other of the “relationship–aloneness” spectrum, and my spidey senses (/astrology) tell me that you could really use some more alone time this lunar cycle, particularly if you’ve been finding yourself more on the “always needing to be with someone” side of the equation. This is not to say you need to be alone all of the time! But at the very least, bring awareness to what is going on and try to pay attention to what your nervous system is telling you. Spend time with folks who are comfortable with who they are.

Scorpio (4th House)
My dearest Scorpio friend. You are so adept at going to the depths. I recognize that that is not entirely because you have wanted to be, but because life has made the transformation game a recurring guest. This lunation takes place in your fourth house of home and family. Pluto’s shift into this part of your chart is almost undoubtedly bringing up…well, familial shit. Which is hard in the best of times, and these are not that. What I can offer you is the fact that even if you can’t feel it yourself, you have the power of fierce liberation from all of that shit within you. And oof, I know that there have been times that liberation – that freedom from Very Difficult ancestral trauma – has been an unwanted, painful guest. And so here’s what I’ll encourage you to do (and, dearest Scorpio, I’ll absolutely hold this space for you when you can’t): commit to that liberation. Commit to bringing awareness to your patterns in ways that work for you. Commit to allowing yourself the comfort of connecting with others who feel different than or separate from their family of origin. Know that this path does not require constant struggle, transformation, deep diving and change; slowing down, taking breaks and disengaging are necessary as well. Take time this month to listen to your emotional needs and desires and do what you can to love your inner child as much as possible. 

Sagittarius (3rd House)
The moment I looked at your chart, I could hear Mr. Rogers singing in my head, “Who are the people in your neighborhood… they’re the people that you meet when you’re walking down the street…” At first I thought it was weird, but then I realized that this lunation does in fact take place in your third house of local neighborhood and short distance journeys. Hm. And so I wonder, Sadge, what are the stories of the land you live on? Do you know the mythologies of the people who lived on that land before you? How did they relate to the future? How did they tend to the land? Allow yourself to be inspired by mythology – but also by the stories of the “random” people you meet on a walk through the area or at the grocery store… or a squirrel in the woods or ant on the sidewalk. Allow yourself to wonder and wander. Change up your daily routine to allow for some variation that allows for chance encounters. Allow your conversations to get weird.

Capricorn (2nd House)
Hey, Cappy friend. A persistent theme for you these days has to do with resources. And I know you’re probably well versed in thinking about money, and so while that is not irrelevant to our storyline here, I want to look a bit beyond it. What does it mean to be well resourced? Maybe it helps to start with the question: what are the resources you rely on? Take it up another notch: what resources support you during times of change? To relate to resources in terms of money, water, food in the fridge, etc. is not wrong. But it is narrow. Friends can be resources – for information, comfort, support, fun. A therapist, healer, doctor, physical therapist… all resources. This is a time of allowing yourself to be open to not only new ideas about resourcing, but to be proactive about resourcing yourself so that you’re not carrying the burden alone (gasp!). What comes to mind the loudest is the importance of resourcing yourself through relationship with the land, plants and animals connected to your home. But also resourcing yourself through a relationship with your ancestors and/or spirits and/or other beings in the unseen realms. Notice your reaction to that suggestion. And remember to be open to changes in your ideas of what is most practical. Throughlines for this work include: witchcraft; animism; earth-based ways of knowing; herbalism and more. 

Amanda is a queer astrologer who is very into relational, evolutionary and psychological astrologies. Sometimes she also writes about the world and her place in it. You can support her work — and get rad incentives like monthly AstroCircles, community hangouts with QA and free sessions through Patreon.