This Sunday, February 19, 2023, at 11:06 pm PST, we begin a new lunation with the new moon in Pisces.
As I sit down to ponder the energies of this new moon I do a few things to capture the essence of what I might want to write ahead of the actual new moon real moment in time. It really is an artistic endeavor. It may take me two to three hours, sometimes it can take a few days to complete my writing. First I look at the placements of the planets in the chart of the new moon for where I am located, it helps me to visually see the aspects of the planets in relation to the new moon, and for where I live I get a perspective of what is angular (houses 1,4,7,10…..aka matter on the cross of life) and to know what planets have strength in the lunation from where I reside. It is always important to not only consider the WHEN of a moment, which is TIME but WHERE a moment is perceived from on earth for the lens of a chart to paint with words something meaningful. The WHAT of the new moon is what’s in focus, the situations of life experiences (these in astrology are the planets show or reveal the doing versus the signs as symbols of being. I like to print the chart, to bring the symbols closer in color. On the printed page I write the symbols, draw the aspects, the triangle of a trine, the squares, or the symbol for conjunctions or oppositions. This process brings me to focus on the symbols. I am drawn into the moment of pondering it all. Like my simple process to set up for writing this blog post, I am revealing the essence of Pisces-Virgo polarities. The skills of a process (Virgo) and the power of surrendering (Pisces).
The moment of the new moon is a reflection of LIFE for us in time and space. And while things may manifest into our physical reality, we are more than our physical reality. Pisces is the sign where we really are in the realm of the infinite, the place of dreams, of imagination, where sometimes we are relieved of life pressures and realities through fantasy or escape, but we also are invited to contemplate our inner worlds. Perhaps we cannot see our cages with invisible bars, but we sense them. We may feel at times when alone, or lost or disillusioned by our mortal existence, our lived experience. When we are on the low vibration of feelings, we may say, “What’s it all for anyways?” or the other version, “Why do we have to suffer so much?” And through living and loving over time perhaps we find our WHY, but we do not automatically know our why. We embark in life on our own hero’s/heroine’s journey to figure it out for ourselves. No one does it for us, though our journey requires us to engage with others, be brave, and be curious. And in all this, we must remember again the nugget of wisdom shared often by masters that came before us, it is only the moment now that we truly have.
The reality of time in Pisces is foggy, we do not grasp the edges, and we may not see that we are the container focused in the physical reality for something infinitely unknowable. Sometimes we may only get a wisp of knowing something powerful for ourselves only to have it dissipate into the ethers. Just one of the many challenges of being a being of light in physical form. The experience of living on earth in a body, vibrating lower in frequency to participate in the world of matter, to actually experience something from a new perspective within the five senses of physical form. We may ask ourselves often, “What is real?” or “How is that possible?” But I wonder, does the part of us that knows we are infinite struggle in this density? Or is it just that my mind thinking that in this body? Perhaps this point of perspective scares us, the vastness of Pisces, and the truth that we are important, that our lives are valued and significant in a world where we may feel small in contrast. We are co-creating meaning in our lived truth.
Pisces is the last sign, the culmination of the archetypes around the zodiacal wheel, the wheel in the sky symbolic of the wheel life. The metaphor of the circle, the wholeness of experience, yet within that frame the inability to fully grasp the magnitude of ourselves. Like the two fish of Pisces symbolism, being connected and the situation of experience between the reality of this world and that of another realm that we cannot really ever understand from our physical perspective, it is such a mystery. If you have ever been swept up in the feelings in a beautiful dramatic story at the cinema, or the ecstasy of the orchestra playing a piece that feels exquisitely created from the divine brought through a master composer that burst your heart wide open with an intensity of feeling and emotions, or the inexplicable beauty that shines through the painting Starry Night by Van Gogh you indeed get a sense of this infinite loving source. What we may call divine or God and Goddess, the immutable and unknowing yet felt nature of Pisces.
The Sabian Symbol for the degree of the new moon is like a seed into the creative process for me in creating something meaningful from the lunation symbolism, beyond just reading the aspects, planets, and signs like a cookbook. This new moon in Pisces at 1 degree 22 minutes, we look to 2 degrees Pisces symbolism. This is “A squirrel hiding from hunters”, from Blain Bovee’s sharing of the Sabian Symbols. And then I pause, I pause to let the image settle into my mind and let images form out of the darkness of my closed eyes. Often other images come to me and this is where I start feeling into the themes of the chart before I jump off into the dynamic process of writing something about the symbolism of the planets in the moment. For me, there is a surrendering that happens first, letting go, to allow my inner world the space to inhale and then exhale and inhale and exhale, before I type one word.
Tuning into images, colors, and feelings, takes a few minutes, but from there I bring forward the inspiration. If there is anything I have learned in my life about Pisces, with my ruling planet Mars (as Aries rising born), it is this – the inner world is where absolutely everything is created from that is life-giving, and our experiences that are embedded with lessons and wisdom provided in ways that are magically and mysteriously framed just for us. That’s the beautiful mystery. How it all works with the moving parts of life, and yet, every time it is there in the astrology reflecting truth and the shapes of reality, the meaning is personal and unique. And when capturing the wisdom of the inner world over the years of experience I find that I often have to come back around to it, simply because that is the structure of my unique chart. Yours is uniquely yours. For me, I will think I have it, and then whoosh it may be forgotten for a while until I come back around to it again. And yet, another part of the Pisces symbolism is dreams, which were significant in guiding me into astrology, and synchronicities with certain teachers many years ago, culminating into a unique vision, you can learn more about that on the first episode of my podcast.
That is what Pisces feels like to me at this moment of reflection. Walking in each moment, remembering myself, again and again. I’ve been learning that the illusion is powerful, disillusionment is real, and yet my lived experiences powerfully resonate brilliance, that only in this reflective moment may I capture a wisp of its essence. I feel that poems or a piece of music have the potential to land us into a moment of awe and humble us for clarity of life, and perhaps these help us communicate something greater that is beyond words, our soulful longings, and the magnitude and power of our love.
This past week I had this overwhelming feeling of coming ‘round occur for me again. It was before I knew I had covid, it was a weekend where I felt lost again following my passions because at that moment it felt so difficult to feel the connection, that what I was pursuing as my passion was true. I cried to my husband because I felt so sad, it hurts to love something and want to share it with others, and yet the reality does not always present. Then I wonder to myself, am I doing my purpose? How may I feel it so profoundly through all that I have been invited to see, and learn? And yet it does not seem to materialize in the ways that I walk a path. It is a genuinely perplexing thing. This was my pause last weekend after a class where the truth was I had one student show up. I wondered to myself, is that enough? It is a lot of work to prepare for these classes. It was hard because I have had on several occasions 1one and even sometimes no students show up for in-person and online classes. Or is there something else I need to surrender to at this moment? So, I ask the universe, is this not the direction in which I was pointed 13 years ago? Then my new ask, please illuminate what I am not seeing here. Interestingly, the one person who showed up for me was one of my repeat clients. Her presence made my day, I felt seen by her for that moment and that was valuable for me, even for the brief time we shared as she had another engagement to attend. And yet, the experience set with me for the rest of that day, and over dinner I cried with my husband about what I was feeling, another moment of massive surrender of not being sure of what I was doing to do next, even though I have made a new commitment to show up in a new way with my podcast. I began again to doubt that I really understood why I am on this path, it is the place I feel I can show and share the knowledge I have learned on my path. Maybe there is something else I am yet to understand, witness, and observe that unfolds new insights. I share this transparency of my experience because I hope it reveals that even when you have knowledge at your fingertips and you know the archetypal energies at play, and you have committed to spiritual practice through something like astrology, the tarot, and other esoteric arts you may still find at times that surrendering and just being is the only thing that makes any sense.
So, I surrender. Who knows where it goes? If you have 12th-house planets you know this question. Or maybe the other version, “God only knows!” and when suffering something, “This too shall pass.” Perhaps healing for me that I may not understand until I am on the other side of the experience. A new understanding of whatever it has to present for me. Additionally, yesterday I watched the Astrology Hub’s video on the 12th House (with astrologer Ari Moshe Wolfe and I was reminded in his sharing the qualities I remiss on the occasion that I indeed experience, especially in the context of letting go and surrendering parts. It was such a great reminder and lifted my spirits (My natal chart Pisces is where my natal Mars is in 12th house). So as this current cycle is ending as I write this before this new lunation has seeds that will birth something new. I ask, What inspires you? Have you been in a process of surrender? The answers to these will be interesting to unfold for all of us as Saturn enters Pisces on March 7th in a couple of weeks.
Uranus in Taurus squares Mercury in Aquarius, fixed ideas or perceptions have a sudden awakening, what appears out of the blue? It will disrupt fixed perceptions, things that seem stable have a moment of shift and unexpected shifts. Conscious shifts are opening channels we get invited to observe something new, planets all direct we may align with the flow of the river of life. Deeper insights are opening to guide us. If you are not aware there has been quite the kerfuffle in the astrology community over house systems this past month, I am not surprised with the planetary transits this past month (especially around the full moon in Leo) and how that may unfold when Saturn enters Pisces, but more importantly when Pluto enters Aquarius March 23rd. It is like the meltdown of the decade, maybe the meltdown of the past two decades coming to a culmination point. My thought on the matter is they both work, and the arguments or debates that have been volleyed back and forth are hurt egos on something and the desires (fixed signs of the lunar nodes) being unchangeable, at least in the present form. Something will emerge, and maybe there will be an evolution within the community, we will see. Sometimes there are tangible advantages of being client focused versus deeply embedded in a community.
I am inspired often by scenes in certain movies that create a feeling or tell a hero’s journey. When I teach I like to present the archetypes from stories to illustrate how the symbolism is revealing or being embodied. The archetypes come alive for me in cinema, and I appreciate the storylines that capture the essence of something we know or are learning about the human condition. I enjoy the cinema so much as it has always been a place of joyful experiences for me with my daughter, and when I was younger it was a real treat to go to the movies. I like that it provides something to expand on about a theme for a deep and meaningful conversation with people I enjoy and love. My parents could not afford many luxuries so going to the movies as a family when I was much younger around Christmas or for our birthdays was the best family fun I often recall, beyond summer picnics or times at the lake.
A few movie scenes came to mind today while pondering this new moon in Pisces. The first one that came to me while pondering this new moon in Pisces with Mars in Gemini in the 8th house and Mercury in Aquarius at the nadir (IC) was the odd duck character Daniel LaRusso of the Karate Kid movies getting another nugget of wisdom from Mr. Myagi. This scene is actually one of a few memorable wisdom nuggets of Karate Kid Part II. The first one that came to my mind was, when Mr. Myagi tells Daniel in Okinawa at the old canary, “Best way to avoid punch… No, Be There!” And then he begins to teach Daniel the foundation of his ancestral wisdom of karate, that karate is only for defense. That little scene is fantastic and speaks volumes of wisdom. And that phrase came to me as I was pondering the Mars in Gemini in the 8th house of this new moon in Pisces. The essence of the Karate Kid Part II movie is where Miyagi’s wisdom stems from his father’s teachings, his relationship with his friend that became his antagonist, and how it comes full circle with his own father. The emotional scenes of the loss of his father, but perhaps even more feeling come with a scene where Daniel is comforting him (Mr. Myagi) as he knows this grief from his own loss connected to his father. It is simple, reciprocal yet profound.
I first saw this movie in 1986, about 37 years ago. Scenes from these movies have been carried forward to create another branch of that legacy created by Robert Mark Kamen the screenwriter. The art of this story overlaps with real life and back again to Robert Kamen’s life. Venus and Neptune in Pisces in the creative 5th house are revealing this artistic quality in this moment through the images and phrases from a movie that touched me and continues to share wisdom. Sharing these scenes I think sometimes this is the best way to show you how this month may flow, listen, and create the spaces to receive from your inner genius.
Did you know the story and characters of Karate Kid were created and inspired by Robert Kamen’s own life experience of bullies from a moment of violence after the World’s Fair in 1964, and the mash-up his life experience with a real-life story of a boy that was raised by a single mother that achieved his blackbelt to defend himself against bullies. (See Kamen’s Wikipedia connection with producer Jerry Weintraub). Digging further into Kamen’s own history we find that he started his journey with karate leaving his first teacher whose foundations were built on violence and revenge, to then find his proper teacher where he found his sensei in Myagi, born in 1888 who lived to age 65, in 1953. Chojun Miyagi was the master teacher sensei to Robert Mark Kamen’s own teacher.
With the new moon in Pisces with Mars in the 8th house, it prompts me to ask, “This new lunar month, where might you avoid a punch?
What new insights about yourself will help guide you to release fear in some way?
This was a longer than usual sharing, I hope this provides some insights for you this month, and like the squirrel hiding from the hunters I pray you will know when it is a good time to engage with life, take a new risk, and expand a deeper sense of yourself. I’m taking a wisdom nugget from the character Mr. Myagi, “… Sometimes What Heart Know, Head Forget.”
Namaste. Bless this moment.
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