New Moon August 23 2006

New moon 0:31 Virgo

August 23, 2006

3:10 pm EDT

12:10 pm PDT

To my mind, the new moon at 0:31 Virgo officially marks us receiving a profound understanding of the nature of our lives and Saturn in Leo‘s call to create our unique path. I know we’ve been working with Saturn, in one of his least favorite signs, since August of 2005. Additionally, Saturn was afflicted by quite a few planets all last year during his struggle to define and move toward what he loves, is passionate about, and to answer the pulsing calls of his creative drive and soul‘s hopes, dreams and wishes. Saturn’s not a showy kind of guy. Saturn’s found himself in a showy kind of sign ~ having to stand, VERY alone on the stage, under the spot light, defining what he wants to create while people throw rotten tomatoes at him, boo and hiss. It hasn’t been easy for poor old Saturn! Never overly confident ANYWAY as well as prone towards selecting the most negative interpretation or version of things, Saturn’s been getting his fear, anxiety and worry buttons pushed big time. Defining one’s dreams, hopes, desires and loves while NOT getting a much, any or a great deal of positive feedback tends to create Quite A Bit of Self Doubt on those dark, scary, alone-with-your-heart-beat in the wee small hours of the mornings.

On this moon Saturn and your self doubt, scary and alone bits shift to something much, more positive, in a negative kind of way. Gotta love the Universe with its perverse sense of humor! Why it sets it up like this is beyond me but it does seem to ~ negative leads to positive. Maybe because we tend to notice the negatives first? So we can self-affirm our worst versions of our reality and thus create them? So we get so sick of our negatives that we start to crave a change and move towards our positives? So we learn that the world sucks and our choices are stupid and we’ll never amount to anything any way so why even try? Etc. etc. You know the negative version of your reality drills much better than I do. Pull out all your anxieties, each and every one of them, about your teeny tiny adequacy’s and enormous screaming inadequacies and lay them on the table. Every single one of them is hissing and booing as you look at them. Pretty nasty stuff eh? Cover them up with a soaking wet towel, go out and take your dog for a walk!

On your dog walk, breathe. And Think. Mercury, ruler of the Virgo Moon and Sun is in Leo trine to Pluto in Sagittarius. Mercury rules Mars, Juno and Vesta too. Mars rules Jupiter in Scorpio. That’s a lot of Virgo energy flying around the heavens. Virgo is about figuring out how to do stuff ~ fabulously and perfectly thank you very much. Pluto in Sagittarius stations square to the karmic nodes of destiny over the next few weeks. The eclipse from last March 2006, when you got SO clear about SOMETHING regarding your path, is up and dancing around the room while you are walking your dog. That darn eclipse is flicking and snapping at your mass of insecurities with that soaking wet towel. Heck even the clump of your adequacies are now starting to gang up with your pile of inadequacies to call you names. It‘s okay. That is exactly how it is supposed to be now! Feels lousy right?

So, on your dog walk, imagine that you and your Saturn are up there on the stage, under the spot light, alone. Stop for a second and listen. Some one is laughing! Your job is to be a stand up comedian in that crazy life of yours. Some one is laughing at Your Jokes! That is a GOOD thing! No, the whole audience isn’t laughing ~ they are talking and booing and hissing and throwing rotten tomatoes with your adequacies and inadequacies and the eclipse. But there IS a guy, over there on the left ~ he’s clearly drunk and groping a blonde in a low cut outfit ~ and he is laughing so hard he’s about to wet himself. He keeps pounding on the table and howling with laughter. And, after your miserable, terrible, very bad, not so good show in the spotlight with rotten tomatoes dripping off your nose, he’s going to come up to you and give you his first name and phone number on a soggy napkin. The drunken guy’s slurs in bourbon leavened breath, “You were great! Give me a call.”

Now, you have a couple of choices. You can look at all the folks in the audience booing and hissing, believe them and retire from the Comedy stage as a wanna be star. You can go home, pour a beer and cry in it as you watch your TV alone with your dog. OR you can call the number on the soggy napkin from the drunk guy. His secretary will be cranky. Say Mr. Drunk told you to call and you are. The secretary grudgingly books an appointment for you. Show up for it. Early. Wear a nice outfit. Polish your shoes. Unbeknown to you, that drunken guy is Jupiter. He’s going to help make you a star in your very own universe. You do have to do the work ~ MAKE THE PHONE CALL! And, then, show up for the appointment. Do your Saturn. Make the call.

Essentially, your Saturn’s been getting clearer and clearer about what he wants and doesn’t want. He might not know exactly how to go about getting it, but he‘s crystal clear, in a foggy kind of drunken Neptune way, about what he wants. Jupiter was in the audience. Jupiter gave Saturn a soggy napkin with an ink running cell phone number on it. Jupiter is going to work with your Saturn between now and the end of October to give you your big break! At the same time, Neptune is going to be fogging up Saturn and your vision. You are NOT able to see how or why or if or when or who or what or where or much of anything frankly. Neptune’s the fog baby! You have to take the leap of faith. Keep showing up. Keep doing your work. Keep shining your shoes. Be early for your appointments. Smile. Ask. Rehearse. Do your Saturn. Tell that little critical voice in your head to hush up and be quiet. Chant mantras to Ganesh and Saturn instead of picking on yourself so much.

The new moon chart has Neptune in Aquarius right opposite the Mercury/Saturn midpoint. Next week, Neptune and Saturn meet for the first of three oppositions through June 2007. Mercury is PAST both Neptune and Saturn so if YOU LOOK and LISTEN, you will see the solution to your conundrum in Mercury’s fire trine to Pluto in Sagittarius. You’ll hear or see the drunken guy in the corner laughing at your jokes. That drunk guy who is about to make you a star in your life. You have to call the number on the soggy napkin. YOU HAVE TO DO YOUR SATURN. Remember: 1) It is not going to be “easy” but it is not NEARLY as difficult or impossible as it looks right now! (Neptune is fogging up the works and making it very, very whoosh); 2) Whatever it is will require work and dedication on YOUR part (Saturn, Saturn, and more Saturn ~ did I mention Saturn); 3) Move towards it with crystal clear intention, combine the desire of Jupiter in Scorpio and the passion of Pluto in Fire igniting your beliefs about your vision (Mars in Virgo ruling both Pluto and Jupiter in Scorpio!! Wee haw ~ the drunk guy is Jupiter who has connections and he‘s going to deliver! ~ He‘s a high functioning drunk guy!); 4) Replace your fearful words and thoughts (Saturn) with more positive affirmations of what you want and love to create (Leo) in your life to harness and ride that Mercury fire trine to Pluto.

Venus is inconjunct to Uranus on the New moon, making the things we value and partnerships seem especially fragile or so open to hurting, painful criticism. Venus is very close to Saturn, after just squaring Jupiter. One of the things to keep in mind with aspects like these is to withhold critical, denying judgment from ourselves and from others in our lives. Had you NOT called the drunken laughing guy with the soggy napkin, nothing would happen! Had you judged him and rejected him as a crazy drunk guy, the whole adventure would have not taken place.

So often we ask ONE person, or rely on ONE “no&rd
quo; to determine our path,
or use ONE set of feedback to justify our choices or decisions. Or decide NOT to call the ONE person who can help us. Maybe it was the wrong person? Maybe the person saying NO was having a bad day? Maybe their feedback feeds back into YOUR insecurities ~ like that echo sound made when the mike is too close to whatever, creating a horrid sound to make you wince and cover your ears. You don’t throw out the speaker system! You don’t storm off stage. You adjust. You wiggle the mike. You tweak the dials. You move over bit. Adjust, adjust, adjust. Try, try, try again. The problem right now is the energy feels so NO! Please know that NO is an illusion! However it IS an illusion you are in the mood to believe! You have to push through NO. Maybe the person you asked something for was reflecting your insecurities and fears? Maybe you can ask some one else? Maybe you can say, “Gee, that hurts. But, you know what? I am going to ask someone else! I am going to keep on asking until I get it because I know what I desire!”

Recognize the part of you that you are putting out into the world is a part of you that YOU don’t believe in (very much) either. It is a part of you that goes “who am I to …..?” Who are you not to be? Can you suspend that judging critical, voice inside you and follow your dream? Follow your heart calling. Just say yes, in a very teeny, tiny voice but do say yes. And do something towards it?

Saturn is opposing Ceres suggesting our mothering energy feels blocked and held back. It is. We feel a bit like motherless children on the new moon. Our challenge when the energy of the world is so harsh and so NO is to take care of ourselves first and our loved ones second. When they make the announcement about oxygen masks on airplanes, they always instruct parents to put their own mask on first before they put the masks on their children. You have to take care of yourself in the weeks ahead. You have to cheer lead your own dreams to succeed. You have to focus your energy on what you dream of accomplishing and creating. Just baby steps. You are teaching a new part of your being to stretch your wings into the sunlight.

It is a part of you that doesn’t even KNOW you’ve some how turned from a caterpillar into a butterfly. Flying? Who knows how to fly? Well, while you weren’t looking, you sprouted wings. Butterflies need wings to get to the nectar and pollen they eat. The flowers need butterflies. Caterpillars only need legs to crawl a bit up the stem to a juicy leaf for lunch. But butterflies have bigger jobs! They have to fly from flower to flower. If they had to climb up and down all those silly stems on teeny tiny caterpillar legs they’d never make it! Nature, in her infinite wisdom, gives butterflies wings. You’ve been growing your own set of wings over the past year. You may not be very good at using them (yet) but you have the wings! So look at the skill you need to develop (hint it is at either the Saturn/Neptune point of your chart OR the O Virgo point of the New Moon). Go build that skill. That is how you will learn to use your wings. And, that is yet another way to do your Saturn.

The Marianne Williamson quote comes to mind: “We were born to make manifest the Glory of God within us. It is in everyone. And, as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

I had a wise therapist who said when the fear arises, acknowledge it and ACT AS IF it isn’t there. The fear button you have will not go away or stop shrieking in your soul if you don’t act. You have to act past it over the next few months. Even if you don’t hear any one in the audience laughing except the drunk obnoxious guy. One drunk guy laughing plus you is a majority. Heck, you are the majority in YOUR life. What do you want to create? What do you have to learn to be able to use those new wings of yours?

Turning to Lynda Hills’ interpretations of the Sabian Image for the New Moon at 0 Virgo, we find IN A PORTRAIT, THE BEST OF A MAN’S TRAITS AND CHARACTER ARE IDEALIZED

Commentary: ‘In a Portrait, the Best of a Man’s Traits and Character are Idealized’ is an image of a person being shown, or portrayed, in a painting, drawing or photograph; with the good features exaggerated and the negative factors left out. This may be a positive thing, or it may miss the point of the true characteristics of the person. Our face is nature’s “name-tag”; it tells something about our personality, our temperament and race. Having features that make one stand out in the crowd can be a good or a negative thing, depending on one’s viewpoint or beliefs.

Oracle: You may need to remind yourself of the true features of the situation before you. Is the “true picture” – the ‘Man’s Traits’- being presented here by allowing the true beauty to be seen? If so, someone is presenting him or herself, with integrity and distinction. However, we sometimes analyze others based on a superficial or ‘Idealized’ image we have of them. This can distort the truth. When we do this, we are often really just projecting our own thoughts, or desires, on to them. If someone is “good looking”, do we appraise them in a way different from others whom we think are not? If people have facial disfigurations, do we figure that they are somehow “lesser”? Be wary of just “judging a book by its cover”. However, it may be necessary to look for the best in a situation or person, and avoid the more undesirable factors. What lies within may be rather different from what’s apparent on the surface. Studying someone’s face, or how they look, for visual clues to who they are can lead to accurate conclusions, if you know how to look for the “right” things. Sometimes we make up stories or have fantasies about people so that we can justify thinking better or worse of them. What is the picture of the situation facing you? Do you feel that it is an honest representation of what’s going on, or is something being covered-up?

Keywords: Projection of beauty. Drawings, paintings, photographs, etc. Art, cosmetics, beauty salons. Hairstyles. Elevated thoughts or memories. Taking someone at face value. Visual senses and clues. Recognition. Caricatures of people. Highlighting features. “Identikit” drawings. Visual prototypes. Profiles. Face reading. Written reviews and references. Viewpoints.

The Caution: Not truly assessing people. Vanity. Superficial judgments. Propaganda. Misleading appearances. Tagging people with labels. Misidentifications. Taking someone the wrong way. Seeing only the best, or the worst. Preconceived beliefs. Feeling misunderstood. Prejudice.

On the dark of our new moon in Virgo, I want you to suspend judgments, criticism and picking on yourself. I want to look at how you can improve the process. I want you to use that new moon in Virgo to do the work. Drop that preconceived belief systems you have. Suspend the entire history of your life that seems to be screaming NO, NO, NO. Pat that little negative voice on its cute little head. Put on your oxygen mask. Give an oxygen mask to that tiny voice. Now you can’t hear it! If it screams, it will use up all its oxygen. Focus on what you want. Understand that your unique peculiarities are where your gifts lie. Know that the very thing you are so afraid of right now is exactly what you are supposed to be doing. Do your work.

Copyright © 2006 Anne C. Ortelee

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