Aqua New Moon Brings the Quickening

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Welcome to the AQUARIAN perspective: feeling like an outsider the way an anthropologist from another world might. AQUARIANS come from a place infused with higher, faster moving frequencies than are largely found on Earth. They are the futuristic alchemical thinkers bent on improving the lot for humanity, and though they may not understand humans' dense ways, they are fond of them... especially from a little bit of a distance.

AQUARIUS is a fixed air sign with a taste for progressive concepts that loathes being part of the status quo.

AQUARIUS bears the water, but they don't have the most comfortable time with their own emotions. There is always a danger for AQUARIAN types of a mind emotions split, and the vigilant AQUA will work diligently to prevent such unnecessary folly, as our emotions are key to our evolution here on earth, even for AQUARIANS.

The traditional ruler of AQUARIUS is SATURN, the cold, dry, furthest visible planet, that is charged with deep thought, strategy, and hard work. AQUARIUS wants to do all of these things but in their own way.

Not inclined to have a boss, the AQUARIAN prefers groups with no hierarchical structure, a real democracy.

26 February 2018

Infrared Uranus, its rings and Moons, W. M. Keck Observatory, Hawaii

URANUS was assigned modern rulership when discovered in 1781 and is the Great Awakener who is ruthless in his drive to upgrade our world. Caroline Casey calls him the Trickster Redeemer and Rick Tarnas calls him Prometheus. Without the AQUARIUS/URANUS archetype's contributions to life, humanity would stagnate in mediocrity. AQUARIAN/URANIANS are the visionaries who see the future yet are often too ahead of their time to be appreciated, sometimes even being marked as heretics.

Some famous AQUARIANS:

Galileo Galilei, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Charles Darwin, Rosa Parks,

Bob Marley, Lord Byron, Lewis Carroll.

This New MOON (chart at the bottom of page) is at the 15-degree midpoint of AQUARIUS and is in sync with IMBOLC, the first quickening of Spring, long celebrated on February 1 and 2. IMBOLC is a Celtic cross-quarter holy day that welcomes the earliest signs of Spring. It's where the door first cracks open, and we peek through the ice, knowing that we are at the midpoint between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. In the north, it is the traditional first day of Spring, with Spring Equinox being the midpoint of the season.

Although things are still very icy, snowy, rainy depending on where you are in the northern hemisphere..... this is the quickening of the year, when the Great Goddess feels the first stirring of life in her bosom and womb. The word Imbolc means 'first milk', as this is the time it comes in, for the babies of the cows and ewes.

Imbolc honors the fire Goddess Bridget. She is "the great triple fire Goddess, Brigit, queen of the Sun's cardinal movements, the bringer of fire, yet protectress from conflagration, who carries her far-flung, harvested riches back into the family house. It's is no coincidence that Brigid, the deity most obviously esteemed with the sacred flame, has lasted the longest." (Michael Dames)

Her divine etymological descendants include words such as pre-, bride, breed, brain, braid, prick, praise, pretty, pray, sprog, spring, spirit. (From Julian Cope, the Modern Antiquarian).

This is her day, she who keeps the eternal flame of the hearth. She is one of the few original, Pagan Goddesses who made the leap into a new sanitized form as Saint Brigid. When the Christians took over and tried to drive the magical ways out of the people to be replaced by their one God, they couldn't eradicate their love of Brigid, so they changed her into a saint. Her persistence means that the people couldn't live without her.

Traditional activities to do on Imbolc are to leave an article of clothing outside on the eve, for Bridget to bless with the dew, and as it is a fire festival, to light a bonfire outside and many candles inside, as well it's a traditional night to do divination.

It is also the cross-quarter day that marks Persephone's return to the upper world to be with her beloved mother, Demeter. She makes her annual descent on Autumn Equinox to be with her husband Hades in her underworld life until Imbolc. Now she returns as her maiden self who's name is Kore.

Welcome back Persephone!

There is a party in the sky at the midpoint of many signs right now:

SUN MOON 15 AQUARIUS

NEPTUNE 15 PISCES

SATURN 15 CAPRICORN

JUPITER at 18 SAG

MERCURY at 19 AQUA

When many planets are close to the same degree,

there is an overall harmonic created by all the players.

This New MOON, 1:04pm PT on February 4, is a symphony of the higher mind, of selfless compassion, of alignment with responsibility, and a need to go big and talk about it.

Concurrently, we have MARS approaching URANUS, square PLUTO and the NODES (cue dramatic music). The Ram and the Mountain Goat are duking it out, clashing and clanging their mighty horns. Sparks are flying between these equally powerful, cardinal, adversaries.

The NODAL axis represents the collective emotional leyline, and whatever signs the NODES are passing through, determines the dominant themes that you will see and experience playing out on the world stage. When a planet conjuncts or squares the nodal axis from the bendings, things happen.

This rather formidable aspect could signify sudden flare-ups of violence and fury, and its alignment with the NODAL AXIS makes it even more prone to provocation. Keep cool headed this weekend and through February 10 when the MOON in ARIES reactivates it. If used constructively instead of destructively, this is a very powerful aspect that could be applied to move mountains (maybe with the careful use of dynamite).

VENUS moves into CAPRICORN on February 3, just ahead of the New MOON.

VENUS shows how we are currently seeking pleasure and connection. In austere CAPRICORN, it's the little things that matter; sparse touches of quality, and elegance. Under VENUS in CAP, we are likely to do less indulging in favour of the one, large, excellent quality item that we will have for a lifetime.

CAPRICORN is like VIRGO in that they are both earth signs, thus physical, and they are both a bit uptight and high strung at times and have a need to let loose in love. Both are known for being prim and also wild. 'Work hard, play hard', as a friend recently said about CAPRICORNS. In the next few weeks, VENUS will meet with stern SATURN and shadowy PLUTO which will have a medicinal effect on our relationships.

Hear ye, Hear ye, this New MOON draws this recent eclipse season to a close.

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Blessed Imbolc, New Moon and Chinese New Year.

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With Love, Paetra Tauchert, astrologer

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