posted August 18, 2009 07:30 AM         

Our August 20th New Moon dawns bright and early Thursday morning on the east coast of the United States. It takes place literally a few minutes before sun rise as the sky in the east turns a lovely warm color heralding the arrival of the new day, of a new lunar cycle and the official end of the eclipse season. It is a triple Leo New Moon with Ascendant, Sun and Moon rising in the east at dawn. There are 7 points in Fire, 7 points in Earth and 6 points in Air which makes it a passionate, practical and inspirational New Moon. Low on water, emotions will seek to find a way to show themselves and seep out where ever they can. Those among us with strong water charts will be doing extra duty as we balance the missing element in the sky.

The chart is a see-saw between the eastern and western horizons suggesting we will be involved with situations that request our participation. Like a see-saw, there is an up and down energy to the New Moon so expect highs and lows like you would if you were riding on a see-saw. All that fire energy in the first fire house makes flare ups and flash fires a real possibility in our lives and our world.

Adding to the passion and creation energy in the lunation, there is a mutable grand cross in the heavens falling into fixed houses ~ so we will be fixed and stable in our indecision and see sawing energy. Back and forth we go ~ one day this way, the next minute that way. Fixed in indecision is exactly where you are supposed to be! It is a bit too soon to know what you are going to do with your new life post eclipse season.

The arms of the mutable grand cross are Saturn/Mercury in Virgo in Taurus' house, Pluto in Capricorn in Leo's house, Uranus in Pisces in Scorpio's house and Mars in Gemini in Aquarius' house. Notice the mutable cross arms fall into like minded houses ~ earth/earth, earth/fire, water/water and Air/air ~ which serves to amplify the energy of fixed changeability even more. A chart will always tell you the theme it wants you to work with at LEAST three times, often more, to make sure you absolutely don't miss it the message of the cosmos. Like a giant flashing NEON sign, the heavens are saying you don't know what you don't know and you don't want to change that state of not knowing either. But you WILL want to fight about it publicly or argue about it or feel bad about it or not see how you can change it or not be able to understand the cost of it to your self esteem and worth.

Mars just finished his square to Uranus, Saturn and Mercury. He is finally free of their restrictions and has the ability to zoooom along. Those aspects marked a great time to let things go. Things will go if you let them! So on the New Moon start your NEW ROUTINE or ways of doing things that supports your new choices or a firm and final release of what you want to let go. Once Mars opposes Pluto next week, it will be completely eradicated.

Neptune is just briefly into the 7th house which makes it a lovely chart for people to "project" their issues on to others. Listen reflectively and paraphrase back what you hear them say. When they say, "You never listen to me!" don't correct them and point out all the times you DID listen to them. Say instead "If I understand you, you don't think I listen to you." Dig them deeper and deeper into THEIR own emotions. Don't take their emotions on as your own or as your problem to solve. It is not your emotion but they will try to give their emotions to you. You can also paraphrase "So, you don't feel listened to." Mercury is joined to Saturn and part of the cross ~ we all will have to work hard to listen and be heard. Not much good listening skills taking place in the world right now.

The other side of that aspect is feeling that you are not seen or heard the way YOU would like to be seen or heard. Totally true. Sit in your feelings and dig down into it, deeper and deeper, to understand the origin of those feelings. After the profound changes from the eclipses, it can feel a bit rocky in your world. What used to be "known" and "clear" is not quite so known or clear any more. Exactly as it is supposed to be but still..... We all WANT clarity and don't want to stay in the unknown ambiguous place. We get to be unclear and unknown for a bit longer. Remember to breathe.

There is a Finger of God, or yod, in the New Moon chart. Venus and Vesta in Cancer are sextile Mercury and Saturn in Virgo. Those four planets are inconjunct to the Gang of Three ~ Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune in Aquarius. The outlet of the yod is plugged by Sun, Moon and Ascendant in Leo. Fingers of God often bring life altering choices, situations or opportunities to us. Think of a giant Finger coming down and pointing you in a new direction.

You have to go in the new direction ~ there is a fated quality to it ~ whether you want to or don't want to go that way, the finger is going to flick your butt and get you to head in a new way. If we look at the planets involved, Mercury and Saturn are the changing worriers ~ fretting over their skills or how they are going to do things in the next chapter of their life or complaining about how they are NOT able to do things. Venus and Vesta in Cancer are encouraging us to listen to our deeper desires and feelings of how we can nurture and take care of ourselves. That is part of why I suggested you practice reflective listening with those complaining to help them get clearer on what they want or to sit with your own feelings of dissatisfaction when they swell up. Then take those emerging energies and adjust the dream and direction of your life ~ take the energies to the Gang of Three and see how your vision for yourself and your life has changed.

The New Moon chart with only Venus, Vesta and Uranus in water asks us to be emotionally facile and flexible with changes. Venus is approaching a trine to Uranus so emotions can spring out of no where, very easily as changes are discussed or brought to your attention. You might need space and time to cry or find you are suddenly exceptionally emotional. All part of the clearing energy.

There are some difficult planets on difficult fixed stars and dark Arabic parts involved with this lunation. The fixed stars and Arabic parts point to sudden endings, seemingly out of no where, that involve violence, danger, imprisonment and assassination. It doesn't have to be a literal assassination but the concept of sudden and shocking endings that come out of nowhere are part of the energy of the new moon too. The sudden endings can be spiritual, intellectual, emotional or physical and move you to a new place as part of the changes needed for Pluto's journey through Capricorn.

Whenever an outer planet enters a new sign, it takes a while for us to get our "energetic legs" of how to balance the new energies and work with them effectively. We are getting our final version of our Pluto in Capricorn legs over the next few weeks. We'll be able to get down to business and start to work more productively with the Capricorn energy as Pluto slows to a stop on the world axis and turns direct. The New Moon this week incorporates the Pluto station direct and launches the transformation process. To the extent that you've felt a bit unbalanced or thrown off by the shift in Pluto's energy since January of 2008, now you start to be able to touch bottom and get your footing.

Lynda Hill's interpretation of the Sabian Image for the New Moon and Sun in Leo is MANY LITTLE BIRDS CHIRPING ON THE LIMB OF A LARGE TREE

Commentary: 'Many Little Birds Chirping on the Limb of a Large Tree' is an image of fluttering and chirping, movement and song. The 'Tree' can seem packed with chattering and movement and yet the 'Birds' can be quite invisible. 'Birds' gathering, particularly at the end of the day, to chatter is common. The Symbol can reflect things like advertising, political campaigns, egotistical prattling and even children chatting and playing together.

Oracle: The common element in this Symbol is the attempt to have one's voice heard above all the noise and din of the everyday world. It can be hard to gain the attention of others when there's so much competition around. This also can be true when trying to listen to your own inner voice. It can feel like your needs or your voice is just one of so many, with little prospect or ability to have your ideas, opinions or plans heard. Perhaps you have a viewpoint or a project such as a book that you want to get "out there". There may seem to be too many points of view, opinions or options now. Although the overall situation is probably secure and stable, there are still some confusions to be resolved. There may be many people or personalities that one has to deal with or look after. Further, you may be vulnerable to lots of chatter going on in your mind. When this happens it is useful to use a tool, such as the Sabian Symbols, to help you focus on your true objective. It can sometimes sound like a cacophony of sound, where the intuitive voice or wisdom is drowned out by noise from the emotional world inside. Try to relax and gain some perspective until things become a little more settled.

Keywords: Gathering with people of like mind. Sharing ideas. Huge structures where people can get lost in the crowd. Big business, government and bureaucracy. Multilevel marketing. Databases. The Internet and chat groups. Books, tapes and cds. Publishing houses. Competition. Telephone switchboards.

The Caution: Many voices-some heard, some not. Being confused or immobilized by too much advice or information. Too many sounds. Having trouble hearing the essential truth. A scattering of energies. Not getting a word in edgeways. Everybody talking and nobody listening. Being one of many. Noise and distraction. Staying with the mediocre. The masses.

The higher you go, the wider the spread of the network of communication that will make or break you. It extends not only to more people below, but to new levels above. And it extends all around, to endless other departments and interests interacting with yours. Donald Walton

After all is said and done, more is said than done. American Proverb