The New Moon is in Capricorn today, in a close conjunction with Venus, and with six planets stacked up in Capricorn, overall.
Here’s what to watch for:
* This is a “let’s get real” kind of New Moon. Think: sober, serious, mature, disciplined, wise, grounded and committed.
* On the other hand, this new Moon says “this is what it is.” If you’ve been telling yourself a story about something and it’s just not so, or if you’ve been imagining something to be other than what it actually is, this is a new Moon that comes with the gravity and weight of Saturn.
* Ironically there is perhaps no planet more imaginative than Saturn. Saturn was traditionally associated with the deeply creative moods and the inner states of melancholics, contemplatives, and hermits. Why? Because imagination, spiritual or inner life, and altered states are all born within the confines of the mundane. They grow like sparks of distant light within its darkness. For ancient astrologers, Saturn was therefore related to both the mundane as well as the way in which a hard, cold acceptance of the mundane leads very swiftly to the simultaneous reality of spirit and imagination. For example, the first “noble truth” of the great liberation traditions is the reality of suffering. So when we say “Saturn is the real,” we can’t forget that Saturn is also the watcher on the threshold of the great beyond, the dark-robed ferryman standing at the edge of the ocean of suffering, beckoning us to the far shore.
Nowadays we spend a lot of time using Saturn as a placeholder for the “real” so that we can prop up the so-called transcendental/transpersonal realities of the outer planets, but this distinction is redundant when we study the sophisticated symbolism that ancient astrologers gave to Saturn (and really to all the planets, in general). Anyway, all of this is just to say that having an encounter with the “real” during this New Moon is part and parcel of the opening of spirit, imagination, the inner life, etc. When we live in denial of how things are, then we stand no chance to relate with depth, meaning, mystery, nuance, spirit, or imagination to the way things are…
* A huge stellium in Saturn’s sign is taking place just as Saturn has come home to its own sign for the first time in a long time. So how about that classic Saturnine word: responsibility. Responsibility is a complex thing. Most people don’t mind responsibility. In fact, responsibility gives us constant opportunities for the creation of meaning, intimacy, courage, nobility, and virtue. What most people mind is not being able to choose what they will be responsible for, or not knowing themselves well enough what kinds of responsibilities they can do gladly. Some say that responsibility is its own reward and that it doesn’t matter what we take responsibility for, but this is a dark and icy road to travel down. Many people in the world suffer, every day, from being born into circumstances they do not experience as having chosen, living lives filled with responsibilities they do not feel are freely selected, and it’s important to be real with ourselves about this fact. We shouldn’t act as though it’s ever as simple as, “cowboy up because responsibility is its own reward.”
On the other hand, many times in life we choose things that we think we really wanted, and then we become responsible for the consequences of our desires only to find out that we desired something from a place of ignorance. There is a temptation in such situations to quickly discard our dharmic responsibilities and to go after something new and shiny, all over again. This kind of mindless disregard for attending to the consequences of our choices is potentially just as ignorant as believing that responsibility, in and of itself, brings happiness.
All of this is to say…right now you might be recognizing more than ever what you’re responsible for, or what ignorance was at work in your choosing, and this can be entirely sobering (and painful). On the other hand, you might be recognizing that your heart simply isn’t in whatever you’re doing and that for you to be responsible to anyone or anything, your heart HAS to be on board from here on out.
* The other thing that goes along with Saturn and all this talk of responsibility is the need for recognition. Most people are willing to suffer tremendously if they think that whatever they are suffering for is worth it. We all have it in us to lift a pretty heavy cross if we think it provides us with an opportunity to get something we want. We are ambitious creatures, and we should be careful about what kind of recognition we desire right now. It may not be healthy for us in the long run. At the same time, even the noblest or most spiritual of ambitions cannot survive for long without some healthy recognition. Right now you might be needing more healthy recognition, and if that’s the case, don’t feel bad about it. We are too hard on ourselves for desiring affirmation from the world, from ourselves, from others, and most importantly from the divine. With Capricorn, it’s easy to forget that we are all still children in the eyes of God. We are all doing our best, and the need to be seen and affirmed, in the heart, for whatever spiritual work we set ourselves to is important. It is not a sin to ask for love. It is not a sin to need love. The great sin, the great illusion, is to believe that love is earned or deserved…it is not, it is given freely to whoever is open to receive it freely.
Prayer: Teach us the responsibility of freely loving ourselves and others, the ultimate “revolving door policy.” Teach us that honesty, pain, and suffering, are real…the real place from which we may always ask for real love.
Here’s what to watch for:
* This is a “let’s get real” kind of New Moon. Think: sober, serious, mature, disciplined, wise, grounded and committed.
* On the other hand, this new Moon says “this is what it is.” If you’ve been telling yourself a story about something and it’s just not so, or if you’ve been imagining something to be other than what it actually is, this is a new Moon that comes with the gravity and weight of Saturn.
* Ironically there is perhaps no planet more imaginative than Saturn. Saturn was traditionally associated with the deeply creative moods and the inner states of melancholics, contemplatives, and hermits. Why? Because imagination, spiritual or inner life, and altered states are all born within the confines of the mundane. They grow like sparks of distant light within its darkness. For ancient astrologers, Saturn was therefore related to both the mundane as well as the way in which a hard, cold acceptance of the mundane leads very swiftly to the simultaneous reality of spirit and imagination. For example, the first “noble truth” of the great liberation traditions is the reality of suffering. So when we say “Saturn is the real,” we can’t forget that Saturn is also the watcher on the threshold of the great beyond, the dark-robed ferryman standing at the edge of the ocean of suffering, beckoning us to the far shore.
Nowadays we spend a lot of time using Saturn as a placeholder for the “real” so that we can prop up the so-called transcendental/transpersonal realities of the outer planets, but this distinction is redundant when we study the sophisticated symbolism that ancient astrologers gave to Saturn (and really to all the planets, in general). Anyway, all of this is just to say that having an encounter with the “real” during this New Moon is part and parcel of the opening of spirit, imagination, the inner life, etc. When we live in denial of how things are, then we stand no chance to relate with depth, meaning, mystery, nuance, spirit, or imagination to the way things are…
* A huge stellium in Saturn’s sign is taking place just as Saturn has come home to its own sign for the first time in a long time. So how about that classic Saturnine word: responsibility. Responsibility is a complex thing. Most people don’t mind responsibility. In fact, responsibility gives us constant opportunities for the creation of meaning, intimacy, courage, nobility, and virtue. What most people mind is not being able to choose what they will be responsible for, or not knowing themselves well enough what kinds of responsibilities they can do gladly. Some say that responsibility is its own reward and that it doesn’t matter what we take responsibility for, but this is a dark and icy road to travel down. Many people in the world suffer, every day, from being born into circumstances they do not experience as having chosen, living lives filled with responsibilities they do not feel are freely selected, and it’s important to be real with ourselves about this fact. We shouldn’t act as though it’s ever as simple as, “cowboy up because responsibility is its own reward.”
On the other hand, many times in life we choose things that we think we really wanted, and then we become responsible for the consequences of our desires only to find out that we desired something from a place of ignorance. There is a temptation in such situations to quickly discard our dharmic responsibilities and to go after something new and shiny, all over again. This kind of mindless disregard for attending to the consequences of our choices is potentially just as ignorant as believing that responsibility, in and of itself, brings happiness.
All of this is to say…right now you might be recognizing more than ever what you’re responsible for, or what ignorance was at work in your choosing, and this can be entirely sobering (and painful). On the other hand, you might be recognizing that your heart simply isn’t in whatever you’re doing and that for you to be responsible to anyone or anything, your heart HAS to be on board from here on out.
* The other thing that goes along with Saturn and all this talk of responsibility is the need for recognition. Most people are willing to suffer tremendously if they think that whatever they are suffering for is worth it. We all have it in us to lift a pretty heavy cross if we think it provides us with an opportunity to get something we want. We are ambitious creatures, and we should be careful about what kind of recognition we desire right now. It may not be healthy for us in the long run. At the same time, even the noblest or most spiritual of ambitions cannot survive for long without some healthy recognition. Right now you might be needing more healthy recognition, and if that’s the case, don’t feel bad about it. We are too hard on ourselves for desiring affirmation from the world, from ourselves, from others, and most importantly from the divine. With Capricorn, it’s easy to forget that we are all still children in the eyes of God. We are all doing our best, and the need to be seen and affirmed, in the heart, for whatever spiritual work we set ourselves to is important. It is not a sin to ask for love. It is not a sin to need love. The great sin, the great illusion, is to believe that love is earned or deserved…it is not, it is given freely to whoever is open to receive it freely.
Prayer: Teach us the responsibility of freely loving ourselves and others, the ultimate “revolving door policy.” Teach us that honesty, pain, and suffering, are real…the real place from which we may always ask for real love.
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