This month’s new moon is on 11th December 2015 at 10.31 am in Sagittarius 19 degrees. The big news is that we have an intense Mars square Pluto opposite Uranus at this new moon. As Mars is one of the slower personal planets this configuration has been building up and active for a few days. We need to be expecting the unexpected. At the other end of the spectrum, we have a graceful Venus trine Neptune which adds some helpful flow to otherwise conflicting energies.
Firstly, the erratic, unpredictable and potent force of Mars-Uranus-Pluto in hard aspect can make us more vulnerable to accidents and mishaps. We are already extra vulnerable at this time of year, so take it easy and take no unnecessary risks. I saw someone trying to bend back a metal table leg today and I immediately got a shudder and told him to stop.
So another thing is that this energetic set up can feel heavy, hopeless and depressive. But as it can feel like enough is enough, it might also drive us one more step towards positive changes. In its own way, it’s prompting us to really face reality and the changes we need to make. So it will bring creative solutions and tap us into our potential too – which the Venus-Neptune supports further.
Saturn’s square to Neptune is moving out of aspect now, going out of phase, but it continues to reinforce the need for us to take practical steps to change our reality. Mercury in Capricorn is squaring the nodes encourages us to be direct, to not waste time or energy and yet opens us to understanding the bigger picture.
Jupiter squaring this new moon urges us to notice where we fall into judgment, criticism and negative self-talk. What sort of reality are we choosing to believe? Are we examining our version of reality enough or just accepting it at face value? Are we stuck in wishful thinking? Do we hear, entertain our negative self-talk? What sort of power do we give our internal critics? So if there’s somewhere you want to be, what needs to happen to get you there?
The tendency with this challenging Mars energy is to turn it outward and project onto others or inward on yourself. The possibility of strong self-criticism is further amplified by Jupiter’s square to the new moon. How we channel this problematic Mars energy will make the difference.
Whenever we feel depressed or our critics are having a field day, it’s good to first delve deeper into the place where we don’t want to be. This is the opposite of what we tend to do, we prefer to attempt to dislodge ourselves from that reality rather than enter into it. Let me give you an example: if you are criticising yourself for not having done your daily practice (or not even having a daily practice!), something you know would keep you balanced and centred, then first really face and entertain the reality of what it feels like when you do not do your practice. What happens? How does it make you feel? Where do you go to? Do you notice the slow descent in mood?
The secret is to first get to know and befriend the part of you that doesn’t want to or can’t change. No matter how much we deny it or wish it wasn’t there, it’s a part of you. It’s good to first come to terms with that. Be friends with that part for a couple of days, take the time to really be with that one in you. What is she like? How does she think? What are her needs? How does she make choices? Where is she at when she makes her choices? At this point, its so easy to slip into dismissing, disregarding or blaming her for your mistakes or failure.
Sure, it’s part of you that you might feel ashamed about, but once you begin to have an open, frank and genuine conversation with that part, and feel genuine curiosity for how she is, you suddenly become incredibly present with yourself and your reality. You invoke a higher part of yourself that is able to witness the part of you that creates conflict for you.
When we criticise a part of ourselves, the effect is that we merge with it, making it difficult to act differently from it. When we decide to be more accepting and acknowledge its existence, we effectively take a step back, more willing to see that part. This process of witnessing, while creating some distance and space, also activates your awareness and provides a container for your wholeness. This space and distance begin to free us, we are less identified with it and so more able to shift into something that works better for us. By not cutting off or dismissing parts –we are simply seeing it and aligning with our present reality. This is the idea of ‘there’s nowhere else to be’.
So we need to be aware of all the I’s in us and what we judge to be the higher or lower I’s – the one that doesn’t want to change and the one that does. We need to be clear that the lower part so us do exist, rather than ostracise or marginalize them. When we ostracise or marginalize parts – they are forced to appear in uncomfortable ways as symptoms or as relationship conflicts because the whole of the quantum world that we live in is geared towards us experiencing Oneness.
We free ourselves from our negative I’s by embracing and ultimately loving them (unconditionally). The embracing part is less of a part and more the Higher Self, the awareness, our consciousness – the powerful loving part. This is a more adult-like approach, learning to fail wisely. These are breakthrough times.
