the astrology of the New Moon in Pisces | February 20th, 2023 - LETTING GO OF ATTACHMENTS, RELEASING EXPECTATIONS, THE PRESENT OF STAYING PRESENT, empowering change, WATERING OUR OWN ROOTS


On Monday, February 20th, 2023 at 2:06AM EST, the Pisces Moon meets the Pisces Sun at 1 degrees Pisces giving us this month's New Moon - our annual New Moon in Pisces. This Moon cycle closes out the lunar year. 


In four weeks we have a New Moon in Aries to launch the New Year (that will be the last New Moon at the very beginning of the sign, our fifth in a row). That Moon is followed by an unusual second Aries New Moon four weeks later at the end of Aries, when we get a second chance. So we know there is a need in March/April to get the NEW STARTED well. March's changes and new beginnings are so big, we need a second Moon to process them! 

 

But, for now, it's still winter (here in the northern hemisphere), it's still FEBRUARY. 


The Moon is dark. 


She finishes out Aquarius, Sunday night EST, by conjuncting Saturn. Sobriety. A reality check. Then she moves into Pisces and quickly conjuncts the Sun, starting a new cycle. 


Pisces is a mutable sign. The mutable signs prepare us for the change into the next season and this Moon really has her work cut out for her! It will be during this Pisces New Moon cycle that Saturn moves from Aquarius to Pisces, too. So, the Moon goes first, maybe giving us a tiny preview of what lies ahead - it can pay, to pay attention. 

 

Pisces rules our collective 12th house where there is no separation between us and everything else. There is no time. There is no space. This is where we find God/spirit/the Universe. Pisces is the last house - it rules endings and the things we do last. Because the 12th house is behind the 1st house (our physical selves) we can't easily see what is there - it rules what is behind us, what is done behind our back, what we have put away, our past, the things we have forgotten, memory, our ancestors, sleep, charities, prisons, hospitals. 


All endings are beginnings, too, and this is a New Moon, a time of beginning, but Pisces new beginnings sometimes are more flavored by what is ending. 


And we've got the double Aries New Moon next month launching and re-launching the New Year. So, whatever starts now, it will be important to properly release what we are letting go of in order to start it. Forgive/dissolve/grieve/offer gratitude/prayers - these are some ways Pisces endings happen, so, that something else can begin or, so, we can move forward from here without carrying this stuff with us in the same way. 


Keep in mind we operate through both positive and negative expressions of every placement in our charts and each placement and aspect was designed for a specific purpose. It is perfect for that purpose and nothing else will do. It also has less desirable side effects. Sometimes we get so caught up in the side effects, which we usually label as problems, we can't see the good stuff which comes most naturally to us. 


The positive expressions of Piscean energy include - connection, imagination, music, art, empathy, compassion, healing, spirituality, transcendence of the physical world. The negative expressions of any energy are really the positive expressions taken to an extreme. So imagination becomes delusion/lies, empathy becomes martyrdom, transcendence (lack of physical connection) becomes addiction, escapism, mental illness, self-sabotage. 


As the Moon naturally waxes (grows) over the next two weeks, and over the next 6 months until the Pisces Full Moon, so does whatever is set into motion now. 


Besides the monthly lunar energy of "new beginnings" this particular Moon has its own relationship with the other players in the heavens based on its position. That is where the real juice of any particular New Moon can be found. We talked about some of the energies in play as we moved through the week. 


Now let's unpack the chart!


The Moon meets the Sun at 1 degree Pisces. The New Moon is conjunct Saturn (out of sign). The Moon is inconjunct Venus in Taurus and Pluto in Capricorn (also out of sign), all separating. The Moon is in a quintile to Uranus in Taurus. 


The conjunction with Saturn (nearing the end of Aquarius) pulls in our responsibilities to the future/the group. Saturn in fixed air can also give the illusive Pisces Moon's new start a logical/rational grounding. Pisces "pie-in-the-sky" idealism more rhubarb than lemon meringue. 


The Moon is inconjunct both Venus and Pluto who are sextile each other - the sextile was exact on Sunday. The sextile is Pisces/Capricorn. Making the dream real, among other possibilities. The New Moon's awkward position sandwiched at the mid-point between the two as they support each other has me seeing the Moon (a Pisces New Moon being a rather idealized version of whatever is actually starting) as kind of uncomfortably observing the Venus/Pluto storyline - the OPPORTUNITY that comes from dealing with reality, committing to what we want or purging what is dead. The Moon's job, to pull the Venus/Pluto energy into her New Moon fresh start, without actually influencing it, if that makes sense to you. And Venus then moves into Aries - so, she is previewing next month's New Moon. From Pisces to Aries. Taking us from Pisces - what we attract by allowing - to Aries - what we attract by asserting. Something about this pulled into our New Moon story, too. 


The Moon's quintile to Uranus brings the gift of EMOTIONAL CLARITY. Breakthroughs. Insight. Innovation. Spontaneous expression. The quintile carries the energy of both the trine and the opposition. Here, we can feel what is opposing us - the problem, maybe the change we don't want to make or the problem with our Taurus house theme or our stability, resources, money, self-esteem, values issue - AND we can also feel the solution. 


Here are the aspects the Pisces Moon will make over the next couple days: Moon conjuncts Sun, sextiles Uranus, squares Mars, conjuncts Neptune (Pisces ruler) and finally sextiles Pluto. 


Then the Sun, over the next month will do the same thing : Sun meets Moon 2/20, Sun sextiles Uranus 3/6, Sun meets Neptune 3/15, Sun squares Mars 3/16, Sun sextiles Pluto 3/20 - notice the Moon squares Mars and then meets Neptune and the Sun meets Neptune and then squares Mars (because, of course, Mars isn't hanging around waiting for the Sun, but also because this is the best way for this energy to play out). 


So, the Moon meets the Sun - illuminating a Piscean fresh start/ending (in the United States we have just learned President Jimmy Carter has moved home to hospice care - the Sun rules royalty and the kind of releasing that goes on in old age is a very Piscean ending). Then the Moon sextiles Uranus - an opportunity for change/the future. This is a sextile, so requires action, but is smoothly integrated. Uranus is in Taurus, so this can be about our money, resources, values, self-esteem. Then she squares Mars - the kick in the ass that gets us moving. Mars is in Gemini, so this can come through a conversation, information, an idea. Then the Moon meets Neptune - reminds us of the dream/the Piscean vision/our connection. Then she sextiles Pluto - another opportunity, this time to become more empowered (this can also be an opportunity to release something that is dead). Pluto is in Capricorn, so this might come through our goals, career, authority, our reputation. And that's it. So this happens over the next two to three days emotionally with the Moon, the next month physically with the Sun, and the next six months as the New Moon story builds to the Full Moon (and the next 18 months as the Moon returns to her New Moon degree), so you can see how complicated this all is. We could likely track everything that ever happens through the Moon, and everything that ever will, but what fun would that be to live it all out then? :)


You can see how the New Moon lines up rather insanely well with the week's astro HERE


New Moon Affirmations


This is an excellent time for energetic support to make changes with things ruled by Pisces (and your Pisces natal house theme!) including our imagination, compassion, releasing victim-hood, spiritual healing, sensitivity, trust, addictions, our lymphatic system, colds, our feet, toxicity.

Some affirmations that I have used in previous years for a Pisces New Moon include:

1. I easily relax my mind and body deeply at night for a minimum of seven hours of restful sleep.
2. All debilitating sensitivity is easily lifted from me.
3. I trust that everything that occurs in my life is working for my higher good.
4. I easily attract, recognize and begin attending the right yoga class for me.
5. I easily release the habit of procrastination.

(notice I always like to toss in the word "easily"!)

AFFIRMATION TIPS: get into a positive frame of mind - meaning both happy and certain - a quiet, clean space where you can be alone - write your affirmations down by hand in script, speak them out loud - for a watery New Moon I will write my affirmations on strips of paper and burn them, releasing the ashes into moving water - then let's release our attention from these things knowing that our intention is known.

Know these things are already yours.


xo all

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