The New Moon at 20’44 Capricorn is exact on Thursday January 11th, 2024 at 6:57am EST- commencing the first new moon of the year and new Lunar cycle focused on career, purpose, stability and that which endures. This will be the last New Moon in Capricorn with Pluto in Capricorn- and the end of this Pluto in Capricorn cycle is certainly going out with a bang!
The New Moon is at 20’44 Capricorn and Pluto is at 29’41 Capricorn- forming a very wide but important conjunction to the Lord of the Underworld and God of Death and Rebirth. The Sun/Pluto conjunction on January 20th is at 29’59 Capricorn- at the last degree and last minute of this sign (the Karmic Completion Degree)! This will be the last Sun/Pluto conjunction in Capricorn in our lifetime. Later that same day both the Sun and Pluto move into Aquarius (Pluto will return to 29 Capricorn 9/1 until his final ingress into Aquarius for good on 11/19). This Lunar Cycle is focused deeply on all the undigested shadow of this sign of patriarchy, government, big business and corporations- so we can see what needs to be dealt with, addressed, perhaps released and allowed to die entirely.
If you know your USA Astrology you know we are going through our Pluto Return and perhaps you know that our Progressed Pluto is at 29 Capricorn. This astrology this month is huge for the USA. You can read my article series ‘Transformation of a Nation’ part one and part two at the links below for a much deeper dive into this conversation. I will have a part three to this series out soon- so stay tuned.
https://divineharmony.com/astrology-blog/usa-pluto-return-transformation-of-a-nation-2022/
This New Moon is almost exactly square the Nodes of the Moon- making this upcoming Lunar Month game changing with choice points offered to us. When we are at the crossroads of destiny and karma what will we choose? Will we choose to keep doing the same old karmic patterns of the past? Or will we grow into new directions? We need to choose wisely as what we set into motion this year has staying power!
The Mean Nodes of the Moon are heading to some important activations this year- first the South Node will quincunx Uranus on February 3rd, then conjunct Chiron will cojoin the North Node on March 5th, with Jupiter and Saturn following suit forming a yod of quincunxes to the South Node in Libra from March 26th through April 16th. The tightest of all of these in the New Moon chart is Uranus quincunx the South Node- as the New Moon trines Uranus and squares the Nodes triggering this incoming activation between the Planet of Upheaval and Change and the Karmic South Node of the past.
Incidentally 3 of the Asteroid Goddesses also trigger this configuration in tense ways- Pallas Athena, Ceres and Juno. This can bring some rocky territory into relationships with women, in politics and career (Pallas), home and family (Ceres), earth and the environment (Ceres) and partnerships and relationships (Juno). Uranus/Ceres in particular can be an earthquake trigger- which happens the day before the New Moon on January 10th (read my Weekly Forecast for more info- https://divineharmony.com/weekly-astrological-forecast/weekly-astrology-forecast-week-of-1-8-1-14/)
The Ruler of this Lunation is Saturn who is in Pisces and he is at the midpoint between the Mars/Jupiter trine as well as at the midpoint of the New Moon square the North Node. Saturn the Lord of Karma is testing our foundations and asking us to take action in our personal and collective lives from a place of maturity, mastery and responsibility. The Saturn energy can bode well if you have done your work- but if you have cut corners or ignored things then things can be coming up for addressing right now.
One of the main themes in the New Moon chart is a standstill Eris- she stations Direct 9 hours and 25 minutes after the New Moon and because she is the furthest body we are aware of in our Solar System she stands still at an exact degree and minute for several weeks. Her station at 24’09 Aries triggers the T square configuration of the New Moon square the Nodes by her conjunction to the North Node in Aries. That was exact back in October/November of 2023 but it’s still energized and notably so by her station less than 4 degrees from the North Node. This is a powerful activation of the Node of Destiny and an awakening of the power of the people. It is about activism, speaking up and taking a stand for Truth.
If you have not read my article on the Eris/North Node conjunction you can read it here- https://divineharmony.com/astrology-blog/eris-conjunct-the-north-node-awaken-all-heart-warriors/
What is very interesting to me is the Star Sparks meditation for the degree Eris is at right now. I have it in the blog mentioned above but will also put it in this Lunar Insight. Eris’ movement is slow- so she has been at the 25th degree of Aries (24’01-25’00 Aries is considered the 25th degree as you always round up to the nearest whole degree) from 2018 until 2027. So this meditation is important to work with as it will be with us for a good long while (9 years total!). You can read it below.
I also am including both the Star Sparks degree and the Sabian Symbol for this New Moon. They are great contemplations and hold great medicine if you take the time to read and let their wisdom transmission in.
For a deeper dive on this New Moon the Lunar Gate Call will be up by January 9th and the Lunar Horoscopes will be up by January 11th midday Eastern Time. Gate Calls and Horoscopes are membership content. You can sign up to become a member here- https://divineharmony.com/become-a-member/
Have a blessed New Moon…
~Harmony
NEW MOON DEGREE-
STAR SPARKS
by Ellias Lonsdale
Capricorn 21 A stately old house in a ruined condition
We store away in the attic our very best and our very worst sides, and we go on without them. And we set it up that we cannot unite again, salvage, be with our best sides, until we have consumed our hidden phantoms, made peace with our worst sides.
This is one of those karmic agreements, those contracts, those resolutions. We just weren’t gonna let ourselves get out of stripping away the false accumulation, down to every scrap, every fragment, each lost world we’ve ever inhabited. And we know we could help ourselves at the task by withholding approval and recognition for anything less, which was the one idea we came up with which spoiled all the rest.
The most massive and unending undoing here is all the places where we stand against ourselves, for all the best reasons. These are the pride places. They have contexts and proofs to back them up. And they are all-wrong-headed, coming at things from a place where nobody really has a chance.
Our best sides are in charge of the operation as soon as we let them be. Their rulership will prove to be completely different from the tyrannies of old standards perpetuated. The guidance becomes to take everything up from a surrendered place, bless it all, clear it through, and forgive so willingly that nothing further can gather around here.
Just to be able to know that the law of love is now in place to supplant the laws of the generations and of cause and effect, shifts the balance mightily. Just to be able to picture an open sphere of destiny, where we honor every ghost who ever came our way, but we don’t buy into them-yes, that is where we are going.
SABIAN SYMBOLS
by Dane Rudhyar
PHASE 291 (CAPRICORN 21°): A RELAY RACE.
KEYNOTE: The value of competition in developing group-consciousness.
Here we are no longer dealing with competition between individuals, but with competition between groups of individuals who take turns successively in order to maximize the group effort and the possibility of outstanding results. The whole of civilization is a vast kind of relay race in which groups of people and generations carry the torch of what we call “progress.” Major achievements result from the sum total of human strivings.
This first symbol of the fifty-ninth sequence stresses one especially dynamic aspect of “group performance.” Wherever this symbol appears, it emphasizes the value of group cooperation and of necessary give-and-take. One must seek to relate and adjust one’s strength to the challenge presented by competitors in DYNAMIC INTERCHANGE.
ERIS STATION DEGREE-
STAR SPARKS
by Ellias Lonsdale
Aries 25 A great dragon asleep in a cave
The dark deep inside seeking to emerge from a spell, from an enchantment, from a curse. The shadows, the beast, the serpent, the dragon of legend and myth stirring, restlessly, pervasively, bringing forth longings and desires previously suppressed and denied.
Secrets and mysteries. Realms within realms. So much to get back in touch with now. A promise to the children of the future to come alive at the appointed times. The inquiries of karma and of destiny. That which cannot be understood, will not conform to convention.
A wildness, a raw primal quality of needing an immense outlet for a huge energy that never had a place here. A desperate drive to let these things emerge, or else feel trapped and stuffed and caught in meaningless retrials of self avoidance at all cost.
An emotional energy of ferocious intensity. So deep. So forbidden. So strange to the modern ways. Called to merge, to tap the depths, to activate the dormant powers for the sake of the whole.
An absolutely extraordinary ability to draw forth what was hidden in each and all. A threshold capacity to elicit confidence and strength and new forces in those who are seeking a further enfoldment beyond the known.
The world’s most fertile energy frequency. Yet often postponed, or held in reserve. Captured by pasts and futures at war with each other. The shadow must be honored if the light is to dawn. All of this is known and sensed with overwhelming force. It will come out. It will come through.