Archery & Alchemy at the New Moon

December 6 at 11:21 pm PT is our last New MOON of 2018.

It's new at 15 degrees SAGITTARIUS, close to JUPITER, tightly square to MARS and NEPTUNE in PISCES. SAG is our archetypal jaunty, vagabond-explorer who throws caution to the wind in search of adventure and fun. The SAG part of us needs excitement and meaning in our lives. It has the positive radiance of fire and the variable impulsivity of its mutable nature. SAGITTARIANS are incredibly charismatic and talented and hilarious. You can find them traveling all over the world, seeking fortunes, friends, and passion. The best way to romance a SAG is to travel with them and hold them always in an open hand. You cannot tie them down. They may choose to somewhat domesticate themselves from time to time, but will always remain wild creatures at heart. Their self-confidence is legendary as is their stage presence.

In my radio show last week I featured a dazzling cross-section of them, from a rich spectrum of legendary rock stars. They pretty much wrote the book.

Gail (Virgo) and Frank Zappa (Sag), photographer unknown

MERCURY stations direct on the same day as the New MOON (thank the old Gods and the new) and will clear its tricky station degree on December 9, so greenlight for big decisions and/or large mechanical/technological purchases after that, and that will wrap up our 6 months retrograde journey of 2018. That was not for the faint of heart.

My lord, a lot of things came to pass. But now, our palates are cleansed, and aside from URANUS, all ships are moving forward. In this last month of 2018, we have completion themes, which are required before new beginnings. MARS is our energy and vitality planet, and it takes around 2 years to complete one rotation. Its current journey through PISCES, the last sign of the Zodiac, tells that we are wrapping up a full MARS year. It will enter ARIES on December 31. That's some planetary synchronicity and will give us quite a boost through the change of the year. It is with NEPTUNE now, making us feel all kinds of confused and mystical and by winter solstice in the north, summer solstice in the south, it will join up with CHIRON, and they will travel together through the end/beginning of the Zodiac until the first week of January.

The PISCES ARIES cusp is the place in our Zodiacal mythology where the soul pushes away from being in the paradise of the original masterpiece, and decides to be born into flesh. The first degree of ARIES (the Spring Equinox point) is the most powerful in the entire zodiac. We are starting this year with a rocket booster of cardinal fire; the spark of life. Life is mysterious; we don't know where we've come from, we don't know where we're going, and we are all going to die in the end, and the end could come at any time for any of us.

If you really take that in, it catalyzes you to become very present with the miracle and beauty of life, no matter how fraught with peril it is. Life is precious and fleeting. What are you here to do? What is your calling? Are you allowing it center stage in your life? The time to do what you're here to do is now. There is no other, better time. Carpe diem, people, carpe diem, and this New MOON is here to support it.

There is profound alignment in the sky now with NEPTUNE at home in PISCES, with SATURN at home in CAPRICORN and with JUPITER at home in SAGITTARIUS. On New Year's Eve, MARS joins this crew as it enters its own sign of ARIES.

Use the archery and the alchemy of this New MOON to launch or further your dreams. What is your Holy Grail in this life? I can assure you, it's time to put your focus here.

When NEPTUNE is part of the story, it's time to cooperate with a larger current and use that wave to direct your life.

“You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.”

John Kabat Zinn

I wasn't having an easy time writing about this combination, and then I realized, aha! it's because this square lands prominently in my own chart right now.

It can feel very ungrounding, and hard to focus (SAG and PISCES are both about the big picture) but it can be immensely creative if you stick with it and allow it to direct you in its way vs trying to wrangle it, which was my breakthrough while writing this forecast. The higher perspective of NEPTUNE is that whatever you do, it's not just for yourself, it also needs to serve a larger cause. NEPTUNE teaches transcendence, meaning you learn to transcend your personal comfort zone and attachments and see how you can serve something more important, a global movement. It's about spiritualizing your life. It's about nothing less than the mystery of happiness. A NEPTUNE transit is learning to create harmony between you and life. It's magical and aligned. You have love in your life, and you love your life. PISCES NEPTUNE reminds us of our primordial, paradisiacal, origins.

This week we may feel depression in the face of feeling that the world is not fair. The truth is that it’s up to each of us to create collective justice in this world. This transit can tap into the spiritual trauma that is generated by coming from the blissful place before birth, when we are all one, and God is taking care of everything, and then we arrive here and experience the trauma of separation, the reality that we are now halfway on our own. NEPTUNE conjunct MARS in PISCES taps into collective victimization. We may feel misplaced anger, which we might release at the wrong times. One of the lessons is to train ourselves how to dance with anger; how to feel it and then how to release it. The right use of anger can lead to powerful action with divine backing. The highest expression of this signature is the Right Art of War; fighting for something good.

MARS is the active planet, and PISCES is a passive sign. The combination can be rebellious in passive-aggressive ways as MARS PISCES isn’t comfortable being direct or with any form of confrontation, and anger is uncomfortable. It can be hard for MARS in PISCES to be angry because it goes against their original paradise model, (life is pure, perfect, and good and I don’t need to do anything to help keep it that way). MARS conjunct NEPTUNE can feel frustrated or impotent. Having difficulty defending oneself can translate into a lowered immune system, our body’s (MARS) defense system. Without protective mechanisms in place, we are vulnerable to parasites and violence.

What we have to do here is strengthen our immunity, and build defense from a spiritual point of view.

Helpful ways to work with this energy combination is any expression of art, listening to rock music, sports, and activism. On a sexual level, this signature can fluctuate between abstinence and boundary-less hedonism.

The intent behind this combination is to teach us to act according to divine principle. With rightful action, you will have the wind in your sail, but until you get there, there’s a whole journey to be had.

The most elegant expression of this energy is the spiritual warrior, moving with rightful action. If someone aggresses you, hug them. Deflate conflict, and bring love instead of mistrust.

VENUS and MERCURY have both reentered SCORPIO. MERCURY retrograding back, while VENUS is moving forward now, but retracing her retrograde path. She will clear the shadow on December 17 and finally move into new territory.

This brings us back into watery territory. Water makes the densest materials pliable, and that is its job on our emotions. This lunation is focused on our feelings. After 6 months of nearly nonstop retrogrades of the personal planets (MARS VENUS MERCURY), we have deeply stirred the pot, and it's essential to run all that we have learned this year through our emotional bodies. How are you feeling? Are you in touch with your emotions or are you stuffing them with food, drink, substances or activities. Here at the end of the year, it's very important to take the time to just sit with the truth of where you are now. Then bless and release, and get on with the celebrations and festivities.

VENUS and URANUS are still squaring the NODAL AXIS which always speaks to the destiny of the collective. URANUS is now back in ARIES, and as expected, the fires of revolution have flared up again. Currently there are fiery riots in France, partly in response to the government's mishandling of resources (VENUS). Things are not likely to completely settle down until URANUS leaves ARIES for good in March of 2019.

Meanwhile, take time to maximize all things hygge in your life, and get extra rest as needed. The peaks of the year, nighttime maximizing Winter in the north, and daylight maximizing Summer in the south are both extremes and we need extra care.

The close of the year is a good time to schedule a reading to review the past year's transits and to see what comes next. Book a reading here.

Sending you love!

If you are in Sonoma County, I will be at the Goddess Crafts Faire this weekend doing shorter readings both days. Come and say hi, get a reading and see all the great crafts and performances, at the Sebastopol Community Center,

390 Morris Street.

Warmly,

Paetra Tauchert, Astrologer

paetratauchertastrology.com

Astro Books make wonderful, personalized, keepsake gifts.