Our New Moon, occurring late on Sunday April 11th, draws in supportive energy from the Moon's ruler, Mars in Gemini, by sextile. This aspect gives us several ideas about how to engage as we move into the new lunar period. Gemini is an Air sign. Mars here has a tendency to think and speak about taking initiative but he may or may not actually take action. What we are provided with are options for the most part through Mars in the sign of the twins as ruler of this Moon.
Intensity brews beneath this New Moon as it also falls within orb of a square to Pluto in Capricorn. Venus in Aries resides in square, already, to the Lord of the Underworld giving us deep desires and perhaps excavating some shadow issues related to Venus be they fears connected with intimacy, autonomy, resource or connected with matters of obsession, greed or abuse. Venus in square to Pluto can also bring forth issues of past relationships or power struggles that specifically involve matters of resource to the fore. The square between Venus and Pluto officially connects less than an hour beyond the New Moon.
The Moon in Aries will square Pluto in Capricorn at 7:12 AM EDT on April 12th. The Sun will find Pluto by square on April 16th at 9:22 AM. Mercury follows through with his square on April 17th at 7:40 PM. Each square to Pluto follows these same bodies making contact with Jupiter in Aquarius. These movements likely frame our most relevant experiences through this New Moon phase which ends with the Super Full Moon in Scorpio on April 26th.
Between this New Moon and the next Full phase, the planets do shift about quite a bit. First, Venus enters the sign of Taurus on April 14th meeting with Uranus in Taurus on the 22nd. The Sun and Mercury enter the sign of the bovine on April 19th. Mars leaves the sign of Gemini and enters Cancer on the 23rd shortly before Mercury finds Uranus in Taurus by conjunction on the 24th. The day before our Full Moon in Scorpio, Mercury and Venus are conjunct in Taurus as both square Saturn in Aquarius.
The two week period between these two lunations swings the energy first toward grand and far reaching initiatives with Jupiter only to met shortly thereafter with the potential subsurface motivations that unwittingly drove those initiatives through their squares to Pluto. As these bodies ground themselves in Taurus, we are then led to their conjunction with Uranus. These conjunctions can catalyze or enlighten us in regard to ways we can free ourselves from behaviors or choices potentially driven by shadow. The squares to Saturn in Aquarius from this eventual processional of planets in Taurus bring consequence for our actions either way.
That being said, this New Moon's energy is more about clearly assessing the “why's” behind our motivations and initiatives more so than engaging with them immediately. After all, Gemini is the sign of learning and gathering/exchanging information. Ruling over this tremendous collection of Aries all falling in square to Pluto, Mars in Gemini is best used toward learning about what it is that instigates our drives first. That way we can ensure that we are making choices from a position of personal authenticity and not fear, shadow or conditioning.
That nudge toward personal assessment in the interest of learning is doubly relevant when we consider that at this New Moon, Mars in Gemini is in trine to Jupiter in Aquarius. Jupiter is energy that can create an urge to go above and beyond when influencing Mars. We may feel as if we need to make grand gestures or may develop grandiose ideas about what it is that we are able to accomplish. But, Jupiter is also about learning and growing. From the sign of Aquarius, Jupiter is the observant scientist taking note of what he sees rather than directing it. That gives the best use of Jupiter over to that of learning (Gemini) about our personal drives and motivations (Mars) by observing (Aquarius) our own history (Jupiter) of activity (Mars) and the effectiveness of our engagements as well as assessing what it is that may have inspired those initiatives.
Our guide for the New Moon is the Knight of Pentacles. This card is suggestive of pursuing what it is we want but nothing in the suit of Pentacles moves quickly. That goes against the basic urges of Aries. However, the ability can still be accessed through several venues including Venus in Aries and Mars in Gemini. Chiron in Aries can create cause for slow down and is not likely to be in much of a rush either.
This Knight of Coins advises us to stand up and fight for what is valuable and important. We are taking action on building in the realm of Coin in all it's forms.
The suit of Pentacles, represents matters of material and intangible value. This can include any resource be that money, time, appreciation, affection, our personal skills, attention or what have you. The suit leads us through the acquiring, exchange, depletion and responsibility connected with the development of resource. The suit also advises us of the psychological or emotional influences that may bear impact upon our relationship with resource such as our abilities to share, replenish, invest and maintain. Quality is a goal of the suit as well as sustainability. One distinctive quality about the suit of Pentacles is that usually the pace is slow. This Knight does not run after anything. Slow and steady is the best way forward under this New Moon.
This Knight's actions and what it is he fights for align with his values. We could say his services are available to the highest bidder. But, that isn't always the case. The most highly developed Knight involves himself in integrous work that aligns with his personal values. He is a loyal guard but much depends upon what has captured that loyalty. If his values are askew, he could very well compromise, squander or damage the very resource he has been put in place to protect.
This Knight is also patient. In some ways, he fights more with resistance than force. Instead of charging, he barricades, protects or fortifies defenses. He does negotiate with his opponents. He really doesn't enjoy hand to hand fighting preferring to settle things with compromise and common sense.
As advice, this card says, seek ways to create a win win for all while being proactive about finding ways to increase your resource be that by joining forces, investing or practicing to refine your skills. The operational goal s of the Knight of Pentacles are to bring to ease or comfort, to make sturdy, stable and sustainable. As far as the tangible items he has acquired, he ensures they are well taken care of and up to date in regard to maintenance or repairs. His possessions are of quality. He has worked hard to obtain them. Therefore, he is not merely worshiping material goods by polishing the brass on his bridle. He is taking pride in his abilities while also recognizing there is accountability in ownership. He advises NOT to compromise your sense of self-worth or let someone talk you out of adhering to your own set of personal values regardless of what is offered. In the face of those challenges, he advises you plant your feet in standards as if they were stone.
He will not fight or defend at all without proper compensation. Even though he is moving forward he never takes his eyes off his coin. It is almost as if it is leading him like a compass. And, in some ways it does. Yet it is his values that shape his actions. His level of self-worth and respect leads his initiatives. His long term goals preoccupy his thoughts and provide incentive to him to continue forward. He knows what is truly worthy of fighting for but there are limits around the ways he will go about getting it.
The Knight of Pentacles is patient. He's willing to take his time and bring sincere focus and dedication to the things that are truly important to him. As he moves further on that journey, he discovers the truly symbolic nature of the tangible. He can see his efforts reflected in the sheen of the coin. At the same time, he can see glimmers of his future self...the person he wishes to become. His advice to you is to know what is important and know what you are truly fighting for. If it is important and truly worthy, steady yourself and move forward patiently with ambitions of quality. Enjoy and savor the experience that development of your greatest treasure can bring. When you acquire that coin, it will be the memory of how you held yourself true, worked hard, kept your integrity and your focus in tact in spite of the odds that will enhance the value of what you worked so hard to acquire.
This Knight further advises creating anything of any true value is laborious work. But, life in general can prove to be a struggle. If it is a given that life will be difficult at times...why not make our struggles worthy. If they are just as inevitable as the rising and setting sun, why must we insist it be in vain. He professes, “If I shall struggle it will be for love. If I am to suffer, it will be out of compassion. If I am to endure difficulty, I shall do it with the goal of maintaining my self-respect, dignity and sense of well being. I will not fail to notice when the clouds of life's struggles momentarily pass. I will humbly savor these. They are gifts on my journey...reminders, once more, of what I am fighting for.”
The Knight appearing as guide at this New Moon is rather interesting given the positioning of Venus. When Venus is in square to Pluto, not only do we usually know what we want, we are so fixated on it that we barely think of anything else. So, what we wish to obtain (be that material or immaterial) is not in question. The only question is to what lengths we are willing to go to get it and whether or not it is worth compromising our values, self-worth or integrity.
With Pluto in square to Venus, there may be temptation to go about things in ways that do risk the compromise of personal standards. In those instances, the slowness of the Knight comes in handy so that we can ensure that the actions we take align with the foundational principles we stand upon. If we engage in honest self-observance (Jupiter in Aquarius) in effort to better understand our choice of actions, (Mars in Gemini) we can properly align our engagements with our personal code of ethics to ensure we are not allowing shadow processes, conditioning or fear to guide us along this New Moon's journey.
A look at the symbolism:
Sabian Symbol for the New Moon (from Dane Rudyhar):
Aries 23:A PREGNANT WOMAN IN LIGHT SUMMER DRESS.
KEYNOTE: Fecundity.
Masculine aggressiveness and the woman’s desire for fulfillment (Phases 21 and 22) are integrated and realized in the expected child. This three-fold sequence can be seen operating at several levels, and the third term, the child, can take various emotional and cultural forms. The basic meaning remains the same. Summer is the period of fruition. Man - at the receptive “woman” level - reaps the fruits of his dynamic activity. This is the third stage of the fifth five-fold sequence of cyclic phases. It combines the two preceding ones and suggests INNER FULFILLMENT.
Sabian for the Moon's ruler, Mars in Gemini, at 24 degrees (from Dane Rudyhar):
CHILDREN SKATING OVER A FROZEN VILLAGE POND.
KEYNOTE: The use of inhibiting circumstances for the development of character and a transcendent approach to the environment.
Winter symbolizes darkness and the restrictions imposed upon living things by cold. Natural life is in a state of hibernation or inward-turned activity. Yet the developing mind can learn to use restrictions and the disciplining power of “cold” external responses to rise above the outer “freeze” and to grow in strength and skill. Man is nature rising above the cyclic oscillation of natural polarities. His way is often the via negativa. He learns rhythmic freedom (“skating”) by using the most binding situations (“ice”) to demonstrate his transcendent capacity for pleasure and self-mobilization. Here again the fourth stage symbol presents us with a special technique. It is a mental technique inasmuch as it is through mind that man can transcend the entropy of the universal process of existence. We see here indeed man’s TRIUMPH OVER ENTROPY.
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