Ha! “Turbulence at the beginning” as in Hexagram 3 of the I Ching is very relatable at this NEW MOON. “Difficulty at the Beginning works supreme success, Furthering through perseverance. It furthers one to appoint helpers.” Hexagram 3 paints a vivid picture of initial struggle and effort, much like a seed struggling to germinate and break through the soil.” So persevere towards your highest offerings to life as the necessary strengthening stresses and releasing ground tremors occur.
The MOON continues its staccato roller coaster through all the planets from Aquarius to Taurus creating the turbulence. As in last week’s report, our moods and attitudes will be rapidly changing throughout the day and week. We are in a collective emergence of a lot of subterranean material as PLUTO dramatically introduces us to some of its new themes in Aquarius by being conjunct first with MERCURY (Feb 5), then MARS (Feb 13) and finally VENUS (Feb 16). We will all likely be feeling and experiencing a lot of deep (shadow) material coming up in our lives and consciousness for the next week or two at least. It may feel very personal, but it is also collective. MERCURY-our thoughts and communication (secrets revealed), MARS-our courage and assertive/aggressive nature (conflict and belligerence) and VENUS-our heartfelt values, money and relationships (obsession, betrayal, loss). All these will be in a churn during this NEW MOON period. PLUTO is a powerful mover of change and renewal, so keep in mind that no matter what is happening, it is a revealing of where we have been playing things out unconsciously, and cosequently an opportunity for correction. Some of these experiences can be very positive and empowering if they are not destructive. Its just PLUTO doing its death and rebirth thing, big time.
URANUS, the planet of surprising changes, is also adding plenty of electricity to this, as it is in a provoking square to the NEW MOON. All of this agitation may be stressing everyone out to a noticeable degree for a few days, probably already has been this month. Best have your sense of irony and humor handy. It’s a bumpy ride for us all. NEPTUNE is going to sextile MARS and then VENUS for a few days which may give us all a strong urge to run away or escape to some romantic dream land, but that would only delay and add power to the lessons to be learned if we do. The lesson will likely be something about exposing or expressing what people hold in our unconscious and how we handle our own and others power. The gift of this is getting to become conscious of our unconscious programs and knowing that the more we hide and repress this stuff, the more it runs our lives from behind the curtain, for good or ill.
CHIRON, the healer and holder of our wounds has been conjunct the SOUTH NODE of our past for months and is exact on Feb 19th, This may feel like a fateful time for things from our past or past lives that need to become either a useful asset or be let go of so we can move into our life’s dharma more gracefully. The MOON swings around and gives this a short center stage on the 13th SOUTH NODE to NORTH NODE is a lifetime journey and this is a beautiful data point on where your life lessons and potential mastery is pointing you and where you are at.
Fortunately, SATURN is still in its long-term sextile with JUPITER for a couple more months so that, hopefully, will be a mature and steadying influence on any impulsive reactivity during these volatile and days. Live and learn as we go through the crucible of the 2020’s.
More to come in next weeks FULL MOON report. This was possibly a hellacious February for you so far. Be comforted, it will likely mellow some by then and you can take a breath.

It is a lotta MOON dance this week. The Moon’s waning square with the SUN on Feb 2, 7 days before the NEW MOON, is in Scorpio, accentuating our deep feelings and intuitions through Sunday when it enters more carefree Sagittarius. Especially as MERCURY is also smoothly sextile to intuitive NEPTUNE during those few days. All the planets are crowded into one region of the sky these days, from Capricorn to Taurus. The MOON is consequently moving rather quickly through all the various aspects (trines, squares, sextiles, etc.) to all the planets. This is likely making for a highly variable and perhaps confusing emotional atmosphere for us all to ride through. If you don’t like the way things feel right now just a wait a bit and it will change, sometimes to a completely opposite flavor and subject. The advantage of this time is if we don’t attach to strongly to any one mood, we can begin to collate a more balanced and nuanced perspective on we how feel and intuit about things over all like an emotional strobe light.
Well, I hope it’s been a busy week for you all since the NEW MOON and in a good way. We are still in the chute as this week of the WAXING QUARTER MOON from Jan 17th to the FULL MOON on January 25th starts out with the Minor Grand Trine I mentioned in last week’s report. Since it consists of a neato Trine between benevolent supercharger, JUPITER and communicative MERCURY both traveling through the Earth signs of Taurus and Capricorn respectively, there is a positive activation of the mind, communication and travel grounded in the aesthetic, practical and material plain. Business, tasks, building, thinking, planning and creative endeavors all get a boost. This is reinforced and facilitated by the dual, flowing and complementary, sextiles that the pragmatic and authoritarian planet SATURN is forming between each of those planets. Saturn is not so sure of itself in Pisces, so these potentially positive energies can alternatively slip into crankiness, impatience and/or bullheadedness if we’re already bent that way. It is always good to try and keep an internal witness on our reactive tendencies. All this is especially true on the 18th, when the MOON passes in front of JUPITER lighting up the perfecting trine between JUPITER and MERCURY.
Well, this should be good. The initiatory and inspirational energy of the NEW MOON, SUN combination on the 11th will be synergistically trine innovative, inspiring and shocking URANUS, supercharging possibilities and plans. As I mentioned last week, the NEW MOON on the 11th is in the mix with a Minor Grand Trine that started earlier in the week involving an amplifying trine between happy-go-lucky JUPITER and Get-er-done MARS. Both are in creative and 3d manifesting Earth signs: Taurus and Capricorn, each of which is sextile to responsible and disciplined SATURN, (the ruler of Capricorn). Minor Grand Trines are one of the talent triangle geometries in astrology. The potential is there but one has to go for it, use it, or it will just pass with very little effect.
Yay, 2024!…Oh..Sigh… After the lift we may have felt with the turning direct of MERCURY and JUPITER at the end of the year, there is, unfortunately, a little drop at the beginning of this period. The groovy and activating trine between JUPITER and the SUN fades away by Wednesday the 3rd as the MOON squares the SUN and VENUS has both an awkward and irritating quincunx to JUPITER and square to “Mr wet blanket”, SATURN. A possible minor let down that leads right into another the next morning on the 4th as the MOON triggers another annoying quincunx that’s happening all week between the SOUTH NODE, (our past) and URANUS, the great disruptor.
HERE WE GO! The last FULL MOON of 2023 is in the MOON’s dwelling of nurturing and homey CANCER. Because NEPTUNE is still having a strong influence with some oncoming squares to MERCURY and MARS things may still feel a little foggy and willpower weak. Balancing that out somewhat MERCURY, that planet of the mind, communication and travel is also conjuncting MARS this week, and is still in its Rx trickster guise, so we may be quick to jump to conclusions or get a little headstrong even in our slightly blurry state. NEPTUNE also has a fading sentimental trine to Venus going on, letting us in some for nostalgia or old fashioned romance during this often sentimental seson. JUPITER is in an amplifying trine with the SUN (self), peaking on the 27th. All this adds up to a tendency to push us to keep the party and cheer rolling and perhaps just a flop out from all the overindulgences and depletions. Not necessarily a bad thing considering it is the dark of the year and also, what we’ve all accomplished and processed in the last few months. A little R&R, conviviality and easing back of the throttle might be appropriate, just watch for the “one too many” temptations. Hangovers and regrets. It won’t be lasting long though, so even if you’ve unfortunately fallen under the shadow in this time of obligatory cheer, the starting bell will be ringing soon and there will no time for moping after the New Year gets rung in.
The good news? Jupiter is all over things this week with synergistic trines to MERCURY Rx and the SUN. A “Benefic planet” that brings optimism, luck, expansion and big picture consciousness to anything it touches. But also possibly, the shadow of over expansion, overconfidence and over doing things. Right now, JUPITER is pretty much stopped at 5 degrees and change in Taurus, getting set to go direct on the 30th. So, its powerfully magnifying that spot and most of the other planets are just dancing around it. The 5 to 6 degrees Taurus Sabian Symbol key phrase is:
THE MUSIC NEVER STOPS.
Out of the frying pan… Lol. On Monday the qtr MOON starts off with a communicative grand trine with MERCURY and JUPITER Rx as it squares first MARS then later that day, the SUN. Might feel a little frenetic, but maybe we are already used to that since the SUN and MARS are marching along in expansive, enthusiastic Sagittarius all month. Some weird dark feelings might be shadowing everything since VENUS is trine buzzkill SATURN in PISCES and square to glowering doomster PLUTO in CAPRICORN for a number of days. The MOON exactly trines PLUTO on Wednesday emphasizing the strong energies brought up by the concurrent trines betwixt the aforementioned VENUS-SATURN , the “healer and/or sufferer” dichotomy of SUN-CHIRON, and the hyper expressive JUPITER-MERCURY. A good week to talk it out/write it out, about whatever is bothering you. A little responsible whining is allowed, it’s been a hard, strange Autumn.