A New Moon of Introspection, Reconsideration, and Renewal

The November 30th – December 1st New Moon takes place in Sagittarius at 10:21PM PST on the 30th, which is early morning on December 1st for CST, EST, and points east. Most notably amongst its attributes is the retrograde and the pending retrograde of Mercury and of Mars, which signal an unusual amount of inward looking. Mercury has been retrograde since November 25th, and will station to direct motion on the 15th – the same day as the Gemini Full Moon – taking another two weeks to settle down and recover its lost zodiacal longitude, termed the retrograde shadow period. Mercury will therefore not fully straighten out until the end of this month and year. Mars, too, is moving quite slowly as the December month gets underway, preparing to station retrograde on the 6th. Mars moving in slow motion is an indication of life activities seeming to move slowly, amidst the introspective time indicated as well by the ongoing Mercury Retrograde, lasting essentially for the entire December month. It is extremely interesting to note as well that Mercury, at 20° of Sagittarius in the New Moon configuration of the early morning of the 1st, lies in close forming trine to Chiron, the Wounded Healer, at 19° of Aries, ruled by Mars slowing to a crawl. This indicates a time of going within, as we can manage it, to explore our hidden internal wounding, the residue of early childhood trauma, whether from insensitive actions toward us on the part of parental figures, siblings, or peers in early schooling. The recipe here is not to turn away, but rather to shine the light of loving acceptance on these dark places within the psyche, without shame or blame, or, indeed, avoidant behavior, again as we can manage this. If this description of the New Moon energy seems dire, it might help to consider that the wounded psyche is there in any case and it is only the change in consciousness marking this shift.

The Sagittarius New Moon takes place at 9° 33’ of the sign, and is precisely sesquiquadrate to Eris, Feminine Warrior in support of soul-level intention, at 24° 32’ of Aries, widely conjunct Chiron. This increases the level of conscious awareness that we may be willing to direct to this area of the sky, the impact depending on how and where this combination lands with respect to your natal chart. Venus in Capricorn also closely squares Eris within 1.5° – so quite closely. In general, Eris indicates where you might find that you need to take a concerted stand at some point in your life as you mature. This attitude can be a lifesaver, freeing you up from feeling like you are buffeted about by the winds of circumstance that you have no say about, and depends on actually having some idea about what your bottom-line values actually are. This is the way that you are aiming toward a particular life goal; and this changes as you mature. Once you can locate that place inside yourself, and the actions you take in consequence that are absolutely inevitable, that which you cannot not do, then you are miraculously free. You know where you stand and to what you are committed. With the strongly activated presence of Eris in this New Moon, you might in fact want to meditate on what area of life Aries, or even more specifically 24° of Aries, might trigger in your natal map or lie within your current solar return chart.

Venus at 23° of Capricorn is also in close trine with Uranus in Taurus in this New Moon configuration, harkening back to the recent Full Moon from mid-November that was closely conjunct Uranus, and indicating that once again, surprises will be more commonly experienced than expected events. On the world political scene there are some signs of impending chaos which may become realized, with also the possibility of a fresh and invigorating set of new ideas that could also come tumbling in. For each one of us individually, as well, there could be unexpected events and surprising epiphanies on the horizon, as we dig in and truly contemplate where we are at in the flow of our own unique evolution. Because the Sun and Moon are in square as well to limiting and contracting Saturn, there is the possibility of a slow-down and cutting back that might also be part of our December experience, both individually and collectively.

The new Nature planets of Haumea and Makemake are also a significant part of this New Moon, and of the symbolism of the December month that flows out of this New Moon configuration. Pluto remains square to Haumea with a slowing Mars in opposition to Pluto, newly in Aquarius, and in square with Haumea in early Scorpio. This might reflect the truth coming out about issues that were formerly clouded over with lies or misinformation, as has been the case in recent months. There is as well a forming square between Saturn and Neptune in terms of the several-year World Transit taking place from our current year of 2024, now ending, to 2027. One symbolic keyword there, according to noted mundane astrologer Richard Tarnas, is “deception unmasked.” Then, too, this Sagittarius New Moon lies in sextile with Makemake at 11° of Libra, which might indicate a studied movement toward environmental or social activism over the coming weeks heading into the New Year.

The prominence of Eris in this New Moon configuration, as described above, and the presence of these other two new KBO planets of Haumea and Makemake too, does indicate, as we enter into the closing of the 2024 year and the beginning of the new one, that we are on our own in certain ways. We must rely on our own deep process of maturation and of bottom-line principles that we espouse to see us through. This in order that we make our way forward, in spite of everything. Times might be a little tough right now, but then, too, so are we. Our mettle could be tried over these upcoming weeks and months of a new yearly cycle, and we owe it to ourselves and to the universe to stand up to the test.