New Moon in Aquarius on January 31/February 1, 2022

New Moons are some of my favorite astrological and spiritual times. While the Full Moon speaks to the completion of cycles and the height of the lunar energy, New Moons speak to a kind of necessary depletion, an emptying out in order to start again. New Moons are therefore regarded as prime times for manifestation, for setting intentions, and for creating plans for the cycle ahead.

While astrology remains elusive to many, most of us grow up looking at the moon and understanding that it has a unique pull on us that extends beyond tidal influences. When the moon is full or even partially full, it can significantly light our way; before electricity (or when without it today), the moon's light could either make or break travel plans and hunts. The moon can make us mad, raging lunatics; can cause a spike in births; can code the menstrual cycles of women. Its presence is energetically powerful.

So when we are in this, the darkest place in the lunar cycle, we may feel our energy wane and a desire to turn inward. This is the opportunity in the lunar cycle to tap into our intuition, our connection with the Divine, as is required of a journey undertaken on a dark, moonless, night.

There is a lot of energy in the sky during the New Moon next week in addition to the New Moon itself, so in many ways, the Moon and its current placement seems to be a kind of pinpoint or emphasis in a larger conversation.

The New Moon in Aquarius, which occurs on February 1, 2022 12:46AM EST (January 31, 2022 8:46 PM AKDT), I suspect will be felt in an energized way collectively and personally. In addition to following retrogrades in prominent communicative planets and major transits, this New Moon is occurring during a time in which several personal planets are crossing the same later degrees of Capricorn that Saturn and Jupiter crossed at the end of 2020 during the Great Conjunction, which suggests that we will be personally and collectively revisiting things that happened at that time. Think back to where you were in December 2020 and to where we were, as a society, in December 2020. Be on the lookout for callbacks to this time and spend some time thinking about what was turned over or revealed; if we listen, this New Moon period may provide comment.

Aquarius is a truth bearer, and, true to Uranus, its planetary ruler, a rebel; speaking truth to power and upsetting social norms is part of the identity of Aquarius, and especially when ensconced in the other planetary discussions of power that are occurring in the sky such as the conjunction between Pluto and Mercury, which will still be retrograde until February 3, 2022.

With this in mind, consider the following: The Sun and Moon are conjunct in Aquarius during this New Moon (the Sun and Moon are always conjunct during New Moons; I plan to write more in-depth on the lunar cycle within the Zodiac before too long) and these luminaries are also conjunct Saturn.

Saturn is the Greater Malefic of the Zodiac--the Ruler, the Decider. Saturn is the planet of restrictions, limits, and discipline. Saturn creates the structure that makes it possible to build things, but because it represents the more leaden aspects of our lives and societies, when it is in a social, humanitarian sign like Aquarius, Saturn can bring social structures to a crashing halt. Saturn entered Aquarius on March 22, 2020, and on March 23, the next day, many countries went into lockdown. All of this conjunct Aquarian energy surrounding this New Moon could pull focus on something of this nature--of restrictions on freedom but also perhaps the building or evolution of something new as a response to restriction.

This New Moon is also part of the continued conversation between the Ruler of the Zodiac, Saturn, and the Rebel, Uranus, which has kept our world in a state of a special, electrified kind of tension and chaos for the past two years. (The Sun and Moon during this New Moon are in a square to Uranus along with Saturn.) But unlike 2020 and 2021, Uranus is starting to have the upper hand this year--a fact that I welcome with open arms even though I know that is to welcome more chaos. I am among the astrologers who believe that the oppression of the pandemic will not be behind us in a real way until Saturn has moved out of Aquarius (or to the fringe degrees) in 2023. The shift we are about to start really feeling that puts Uranus in the driver's seat will likely feel liberating, albeit in a wild, Uranian way.

Uranus, in going direct in mid-January, has been released; the wild card planet is unleashed with its aims and with a lot of power behind it. These aspects divine a story about a shift of power, and one that will shift the power to the people in some way. However, disruptions are par for the course with this kind of square; we can expect disruptions in food sources, in the earth, and in other realms of Taurus.

During this lunar moment there is also a sextile between Jupiter, currently in Pisces, and Uranus; like I said in the year ahead Jupiter will have a lot of influence this year. This is a good thing; Jupiter is the Greater Benefic of the Zodiac--the planet with only positive impact. Uranus asks us to think outside of the box while Jupiter encourages expansion, success, and growth. Jupiter helps us access resources when we think we have none from which to draw and Uranus helps us break through barriers we thought were rock solid. So this sextile between the Benefic and rebellious Uranus indicates that there could be an expansion of our consciousness in some way, or perhaps a breaking through to a grander understanding collectively. With Mars exalted in Capricorn and also in a sextile with Jupiter, we can expect added fuel to the growth or success that is associated with this positive aspect.

But even with Jupiter's help here in making lemons into gold, there is likely to be a kind of collective PTSD during this conversation between Saturn, the luminaries, and Uranus, as Mars activates these aspects, just as it did on January 6, 2021, when some U.S. citizens stormed the U.S. Capitol. When Mars activates a square between powerful planets--that will now additionally be fueled by the Sun and Moon--major shifts tend to happen both personally and collectively. Mars makes things happen and with great direction when in exaltation, and with all of those tight conjunctions and destabilizing squares, we can expect some momentum on our way towards whatever awakening awaits.

I know it sounds very doom-and-gloom or anxious at best, but this astrology on the whole signals that during and following this New Moon there will be a light shone on our personal lives and on the shadowy power structures of our world that are keeping us from being free. Uranus is having its moment, and although the end of the year looks formidable to say the least, my feeling is that Uranus might help us break some of the chains that need breaking in order for we, as a people, as a world, to move forward.

This New Moon is an auspicious time to think ahead about what is needed for you personally to be free in your life. What is holding you back? What systems or expectations do not serve you but also do not own you? How can you purposely move forward?