New Moon in Aquarius Archives - Owl Medicine: Shamanic Healing

Year of the Ox

The new moon arrives on Thursday at 2:06 p.m. ET and marks the beginning of the Chinese New Year. We’re entering the Year of the Ox.

Actually, I have to admit that I’m not entirely sure if the New Year begins precisely at the time of the new moon. It seems to me that that would make the most sense, but I do notice that most links on the internet state that the new year begins on February 12^th. My assumption is that 2:06 p.m. Eastern Time on the 11^th is actually the 12^th in China and the other countries that celebrate this on a national level.

So if I’m jumping the gun by a day, please forgive me.

Rituals and Customs

I found this site when I was looking to see what year we’re entering. While I suspect it is watered down for more superficial understanding, it nevertheless describes a lot of the traditions, rituals, and beliefs that comprise New Year celebrations in the cultures that celebrate this lunar observance.

I decided to write a quick post on this and include the link to this site for two reasons:

First, when I discovered this site I found the rituals intriguing. Some of the taboos and customs are quite specific, and it makes me wonder what fundamental benefits following these brought to the health and welfare of the people over the past thousands of years.

Second, I thought it might be worthwhile for us to use this opportunity to once again reflect, if ever so briefly, on what we want to let go of in our lives (leave it in the Year of the Rat!) and affirmatively contemplate what we would like to bring into our lives as we enter this new year.

New Moon Cycle

The new moon tomorrow is taking place in the sign of Aquarius. As usual, we can see this as a time when we’re planting the seeds of new ideas, projects, etc. and can watch to see how they develop and grow over the next two weeks as the moon grows to fullness in two weeks.

But of course there are times when the projects or ideas we’re ‘planting’ will take longer to bring to fruition. Another cycle we can look at is that it will take six months for the moon to become ‘full’ in the sign of Aquarius. So…perhaps we might want to note on our calendars the full moon in Aquarius and see whether our efforts (seeds) are bearing fruit by then.

Just a thought.

Happy New Year!

(T-289)

Photo: Livescience.com

Welcome, Year of the Rat!

Happy New Year!

Late this afternoon, Friday, January 24, 2020, the new moon occurred at 4:42 p.m. EST. Because it was the first new moon to occur after the first full moon (which means it must be occurring between 21 January and 20 February of any given year), that means today is the start of the Chinese New Year.

As you may recall, last year I waxed rhapsodic about the Chinese New Year because I was born in the Year of the Boar (Pig), and thus felt a particular affinity for the year that was arriving.

Year of the Rat

In Chinese astrology, the Year of the Rat is the first sign of a 12 year cycle. I must confess to knowing very little about the qualities of people born during a Rat year, and thus found this link quite interesting. (Thank you, Marie!)

Given that the Year of the Rat is the first sign of the Chinese Zodiacal Calendar, it just seems to add momentum to the energetic heft of the times we’re experiencing right now: new year, new decade, and new 12 year Chinese astrological cycle. Combining all these new beginnings with the Saturn-Pluto conjunction that was exact last week (but because both planets are so slow moving, the influence of this conjunction will last longer than most), as well as a couple other challenging aspects thrown in and you can see how everything we’re experiencing not only in our personal lives, but also as a country and, indeed, on a planetary scale, is so momentous.

There are a lot of old paradigms, institutions, ways of thinking and being that are being challenged and, in fact, appear to be crumbling under their own weight.

Photo: bbc.com

New Moon in Aquarius

Aside from this new moon being the harbinger of the Chinese New Year, it’s also sounding like it’s bringing in a lot of energy that’s shaking things up. I find Chani’s take on it interesting.

It’s fascinating to me when I read these various interpretations of the planetary influences and cycles and I watch events unfold in our nation’s capital. These are most definitely incendiary times. The decisions our Senators will be making in the coming days will impact our lives in extraordinary ways – for good or for ill.

While it boggles my mind to contemplate it, we are actually on the brink of entering a time in our country’s life when everything we’ve stood for: the rule of law, our system of checks and balances, the concept that no one is above the law, the sanctity of our elections and peaceful transfer of power (just to name a few) may crumble because a majority of Senators are not willing to stand up for these fundamental principles.

Worries and Hopes

My worry, I guess, is that we’re going to have to go through the pain and agony of losing it all before realizing just how much we’ve relinquished. And then? I guess we’ll have to wait and see if or how we ever reclaim what we’ve so willingly allowed to slip through our fingers.

My hope is that enough Senators will dig deep and find the moral courage to keep us from teetering over that brink. So very much pain can be avoided if they choose to set aside those ugly whispers of greed and fear and stand united against corruption.

Whatever happens over the next several days is going to be momentous. I’m pretty sure we can all feel it percolating just under the surface. So much is written in the stars – except our choices. Ultimately, those always remain ours and ours alone.

Happy New Year.

(T-672)