May I ask you to sign this petition to free Nodeep Kaur, before you start reading the article below? Nodeep Kaur is a young woman who supports the farmers protests in India. She’s wrongfully arrested in January by the police, she’s not released on bail and she continuously is sexually assaulted by the police. If you practice yoga, if you eat rice and lentils, if you wear clothing ‘made in India’, if you use shampoo and soap that smell like sandalwood, if you burn patchouli incense, if you’ve ever been to India… sign the damn petition! Farmers are exploited in India. Not just by the Indian government. Western customers (you and me) also exploit the Indian farmers. We gladly use everything beautiful and good that India has to offer us. We are silent when Indian farmers suffer. Did you know that the percentage of suicides is highest under Indian farmers compared to any other group? And now a young brave woman from a certain ‘caste’ is captivated and assaulted by the Indian government. Which is just another symptom of the position of women in patriarchal societies. Which is also just another attempt at keeping elite powerful groups in power and oppressing ‘lower casts’. It amazes me that so many people are vocal about the BLM movement, but keep silent about this. I guess people don’t feel the social pressure. I know that many of my readers consider themselves to be yogis, some of them travel to India almost every year. If you love to eat rice, please support the farmers that produce the rice you eat. If you care about women’s rights and about farmers, please support the young brave woman that stands up for those farmers while you are eating you rice while chilling in yoga pants. Staying silent is a sign of privilege. The least you can do is sign this petition. Google more petitions. Share information on the farmers protest on your social media accounts. Other countries should be vocal of what’s happening in India, international pressure needs to be applied.
Okay, the rant of this Aquarian Moon woman is over… Thank you for reading. Below follows the article on the New Moon.
“It is fashionable these days to sing the praise of the noble Aquarian. This is understandable because mankind is passing through a period of swift transition and social repolarization. The feudal and bourgeois structures of European civilization are being shattered by the attacks of aroused destroyers. People feel the need of change, even if their conscious minds resist it desperately. That Capricornian conservatism is doomed, everyone in his senses knows; but the privileged class and the guardians of religious traditions cannot let go of the keys to an order, the destruction of which obviously must mean their destruction and temporary chaos.” (Rudhyar, 1943)
“We have taken for granted that parliamentarism means Democracy, that the respect for majority decisions in any elected group of representatives proves that Democracy operates. This is obviously naïve, as all depends on how elections are conducted and whether financial, social and psychological pressure is or is not applied to force a decision of the electorate. With Capricorn, we see therefore the triumph of political machines, of personal dictatorship on the basis of special techniques of control of public opinion. We see human personality, developed through the cycle of the ascendancy of the Day-force, now becoming the ‘forgotten individual’: the man with a vote that can be bought or directed by emotional mass-appeals. And in Aquarius we see, on one hand, the constructive and destructive release of all the powers which modern city life can produce in the way of material comfort and technology, or in the way of mental confusion, moral pollution and physiological disintegration – and on the other hand, the many attempts of the ‘citified’ man to reestablish his individual sense of values and his personal integrity by small or big rebellions, by eccentricities, by one-sided emotional fanaticisms, by allegiance to cults and specialized groups. In the name of ‘going back’ to ‘the law of Nature’ (vegetarianism, raw foodism, nudism, etc.) or to the ‘law of individualistic Democracy’ (anarchistic ideologies of one type or another), or to the ‘law of Universal Brotherhood’ (spiritual, esoteric groups) the ‘citified’ man seeks to revivify the Sagittarian vision which Capricornian metropoles and Capricornian power-groups have betrayed. Thus the Aquarius yearning for the unfamiliar and the foreign, for the newest fads or for the movements which are supposed to revive and restore the ‘true’ foundation of Democracy and human freedom.” (Rudhyar, 1943)
“Where the Capricorn-organized collectivity comes close to being an ideal society, the Aquarian may emerge from it as the representative of its perfect organic wholeness. In this case he becomes the plenipotentiary of the group, or the seed which, leaving the fulfilled parent organism, is the embodiment of all its vital power. In Aquarius the power of the Christ-seed is released into the new virgin soil; this seed will germinate in due time and become lost as a seed so that the new plant may be. … Thus the Aquarian symbolism of the Water-Bearer, who carries on his shoulder an ‘urn’ whence flows down to the earth a stream of water. This urn is a symbol of the mystic seed-bag, releasing the substance of a new humanity. It is also a symbol of the storm-cloud, laden with bountiful rain which will water the expectant crop, and releasing the lightning – which the old Aryans deified as Rudra. The lightning is not only a destructive force. It is the means for the precipitation out of the air of precious nitrogen necessary to living processes. Power flows always from a higher to a lower potential, from the fulfilled to the yet uncomplete or the expectant. Power in Aquarius can be, perhaps more truly than in any other fixed Sign of the Zodiac, the Power of God.” (Rudhyar, 1943)
Given the fact that societies are and our global community is undergoing reconstruction due to the pandemic, given the recent elections in the States and the upcoming elections in the Netherlands, and given the great gathering of planets in Aquarius at the moment, I wanted to share with you the quotes above. The past year, 2020, was a ‘Capricorn heavy’ year. The first two months of 2021 are ‘Aquarius heavy’. Which we have clearly seen thus far here on earth; as above so below…
These quotes are from the book ‘Astrological Signs: the Pulse of Life’ by Dane Rudhyar (1943). The book is out of print. I was lucky enough to find a second hand copy, here in the Netherlands actually, for just 10,- euro. I was and still am super happy with that vintage find! It’s not easy to come by this book, but I would recommend it to those who are into both depth psychology and astrology, as this book merges the two.
The New Moon in Aquarius
The New Moon in Aquarius arrives on February 11th 11.05 am PT / 02.05 pm ET / 08.05 pm CET at 23 degrees Aquarius. The New Moon will be conjunct Pallas at 21 degrees. As the Moon travels through the sign Aquarius, from zero to 23 degrees, she first conjuncts Saturn, then Venus and Jupiter, and finally Mercury retrograde before she meets with Pallas and the Sun.
Pallas Athena, one of the major asteroids, is the Greek virgin warrior goddess of wisdom and healing. The New Moon conjunct Pallas Athena encourages us to tap into our wisdom and courage. To draw strength from within ourselves. We are all made from the same stardust. We are all made from the same molecules. We are all made by the same divine powers. We can all tap into that divine power! It’s present within each and every one of us. How fitting for a New Moon in Aquarius! Aquarius is the sign of individualism, of ‘doing your own thing’ and not following the herd.
The Sun has already experienced his conjunctions with Saturn, Jupiter and Mercury in Aquarius; in this process these three planets have been burned by the Sun (burning off dead weight) and given new starts in their cycles (cazimi; the conjunction with the Sun). Even without the New Moon, there’s a lot of newness to the parts of our personal charts that contain Aquarius. Even without the New Moon we can feel the Aquarius vibe in the world.
New Moons signify new starts; letting go of something old and starting something new, the plant is dying while a new seed finds its way in soil. This New Moon is definitely one that signifies new starts and the planting of multiple seeds; of which some will grow into plants and some will not. However, it probably doesn’t feel like an easy fresh spring morning filled with the potential of the day; the air feels dense, the soil too frozen for seeds to grow into their potential. Don’t worry, this fixed energy is temporary. We’re creating a blueprint here, the execution comes when some planets move on into Pisces and onwards. The seeds that are planted with New Moons, generally need about six months to become plants or beautiful flowers, and even years when we’re talking about trees. In the northern hemisphere the cold winter days may not seem to be fertile; but they definitely are.
The desire for change, or the force to change, coming from Uranus and Mars in Taurus, is strongly present. Within all of us. For good and for bad. The desire for change, coming from the Aquarian archetype that wants to bring social justice and equality, is also present. The Aquarian archetype that arrogantly knows how all humans ‘should’ live their lives, is also present. All over the world we see rebellion against the established regimes. All over the world we see conflicts between Taurus (money, food, safety) and Aquarius (rules, regulations, systems of justice and social control). Mars brings aggression and frustration, especially now that he feels debilitated in Taurus (the sign of his detriment). Uranus brings change, disruption and upheaval.
All planets in Aquarius are in a square with the planets in Taurus; the sign based squares are active as long as these planets house in these signs. But apart from sign based squares, there are degree based squares. When planets square each other by degree, the aspect is much more intense. The degree based square between Uranus and Saturn is getting really tight. This square will be exact on February 17th. This is important to note for multiple reasons.
Uranus is a planet that breaks the status quo. Uranus signifies change, revolution and upheaval. Saturn is a planet that signifies the opposite: restriction, boundaries, structure. You can imagine that these archetypal figures don’t work that well, or at least easily, together. Saturn rules the sign Aquarius. Every planet in Aquarius – thus Venus, Jupiter, Mercury and even also the luminaries (the Sun and Moon) – work at the mercy of and on behalf of Saturn. The two benefic planets, Venus and Jupiter, may sometimes offer us blessings without us having to do much work for it. Saturn doesn’t do such a thing. Saturn only offers rewards if one works hard and puts in much effort. With Venus and Jupiter being under the ruling of Saturn and co-present with Saturn in Aquarius, their work is mainly focused on ‘supporting Saturn in doing good and trying to make sure that Saturn doesn’t do too bad’. The good luck that these two planets offer us, is quite invisible at the moment (actually invisible, as all planets in Aquarius (have) become invisible in February due to closeness to the light of the Sun). But that doesn’t mean the good luck isn’t there. The blessings are definitely there. They just aren’t abundant and extravagant. Anyway … back to the Saturn – Uranus square. Since Uranus comes with changes and revolutions, and since Saturn is the ruler of the New Moon, we might experience some sudden changes in the two weeks surrounding the New Moon. These changes will take place in the Aquarius parts of our charts, next to the Taurus parts of our charts. Look at the house that Aquarius is on in your chart and search for house significations to get a clue as to what this New Moon will be about for you. You can also read the February horoscope for your rising sign, that I posted end of January, to get some clues. For the human collective the Saturn – Uranus square is definitely about rebellion; fights between the authorities and civil groups that feel unseen.
There’s one last note that I want to make on this New Moon, before I move on to the astrology forecast. Venus conjuncts Jupiter on the day of the New Moon, at 12 degrees Aquarius. The two benefic planets meet and will strengthen each other. This is a lovely transit that doesn’t happen that often, not even every year. Though the astrology of the days leading up to the New Moon is intense, and though there’s more intense stuff waiting for us after the New Moon, the New Moon itself actually comes with some goodness. Even though Venus and Jupiter are under the ruling and copresence of Saturn, even though we can’t expect abundant and lavish goodness, we can expect blessings. The seeds that are planted around this time are blessed by fairy godmothers. The blueprints that will be constructed in the days around the New Moon, are meant to contain hope. Hope is what we need. Hope keeps us going. Hope is the first thing that we need to get ourselves out of this mess that we’re in. Let’s take the hope that we have and let’s create some more of it. Let’s fill that urn / mystic seed bag of the Water Bearer with all hope that we have, let’s pour it down on the human collective and our dear Mother Earth.
Astrology forecast
February 13th Venus conjunct Mercury retrograde
February 14th Mercury retrograde conjunct Jupiter
Mercury has been through quite a journey in Aquarius. Mercury entered Aquarius on January 8th and stationed retrograde on January 30th while he was hovering in the last degrees of Aquarius. When Mercury entered Aquarius he bumped into Saturn and got confronted with issues at hand (‘how to make sense of this pandemic, riots and other crisis’). Just before the New Moon of February 11th, Mercury got into a square with Mars, which signifies heated conversations and frustrated minds. Mercury will be meeting up with Venus and Jupiter on February 13th and 14th. These two benefics will provide Mercury some love, healing and hope. Hopeful newspaper headlines for the human collective. Positive outlooks, calming voices, intimate talks may come to us, in the midst of otherwise stressful and intense astrology.
February 17th Saturn square Uranus
Uranus is a planet that breaks the status quo. Uranus signifies change, revolution and upheaval. Saturn is a planet that signifies the opposite: restriction, boundaries, structure. Uranus is in Taurus, a sign that is related to food, safety, comfort, home, money, the material realm. Saturn is in Aquarius, a sign that is related to social structures and systems of justice. Uranus in Taurus in mundane astrology is related to changes in currency (think bitcoin) and changes in agriculture; Uranus has been in Taurus for a few years and he’ll stay here for some more. Saturn in Aquarius is about restructuring the social world, infrastructures of knowledge and communication and systems of justice (or injustice). Saturn has been squaring Uranus based on sign, since he entered Aquarius mid/late December. Saturn will now square Uranus by degree (for the first time in 2021; yes this transit will take place more often, on 14-06-2021 and 24-12-2021).
When Saturn entered Aquarius in March 2020, the world went into lockdown. Social distancing is very much a Saturn in Aquarius thing. As Saturn prolonged his time in Aquarius in April, May and June; we first started seeing protests against lockdowns all over the world and later we started seeing other kinds of protests like the Black Lives Matter movement. Both are expressions of Uranus in Taurus square Saturn in Aquarius. This transit doesn’t express ethical judgement. This transit signifies the rebellion of a group, because it feels threatened in some way or not treated equally, against a certain elite or regime. Uranus in Taurus square Saturn in Aquarius doesn’t discriminate on political views. Both far right and left are able to protest and riot. With the square between Saturn and Uranus becoming exact on February 17th, we’ll probably see movement in the world in the days surrounding this date…
February 18th Sun enters Pisces
The Sun in Pisces shines by being adaptive and reflective. This Sun shines by being creative, compassionate, kind and empathetic. As the Sun enters Pisces, some mutable energy enters our world again. Pisces is the mutable water sign ruled by Jupiter. Aquarius is a fixed air sign; very good at thinking and being up in the clouds. The water signs are connected to the realm of feeling; and with Pisces these feelings want to flow and get lost in the currents of the ocean. The Piscean energy will help us to get out of the stuckness in our minds and get in touch with our emotions. With the Sun entering Pisces we’ll get a little taste of this, but when Venus enters Pisces on February 25th it will truly become easier to connect with our emotions and to connect with others. When the Sun enters Pisces we’ll want to and find ways to become a little bit more flexible, to swim in different directions. To come together and disperse.
February 20th Venus square Mars
When Venus in Aquarius squares Mars in Taurus; Mars gets laid and Venus ends up with the STI. Venus is the ruler of Taurus. This means that Mars is currently in Venus her home and under her care. When Venus aspects Mars, she’s there to help him out. She brings him groceries and Venusian goodness. Mars, however, is annoyed in Taurus because he can’t go to war with fluffy pillows and organic foods. The square aspect is Mars his favorite aspect, harmful like he likes it. Thus, a pleasurable night on silk sheets may end with an orgasm for Mars, but with an itchy hot feeling for Venus. In other words: think twice about who you’re seeing tonight. Matters of love and relating might get hot with passion and/or hot with frustration.
February 20th / 21st Mercury stations direct
Mercury stations direct after a retrograde period of three weeks. Mercury is retrograde three times a year for about three weeks. This year, 2021, Mercury spends all three retrograde periods in air signs. Starting with Aquarius, followed by Gemini and Libra. This Mercury retrograde happened in the midst of a great gathering of planets in Aquarius. The emphasis on the parts of our charts that contain Aquarius was huge. It still is… But some fog has cleared. The air should be a little more breathable now. Issues that have arisen might not yet be solved, but we now know what the solutions are. We’re not walking blinded by fog in a cold winter landscape anymore; lost in a maze. We now know the terrain we’re on, we can see the horizon. We know now what way forward is; let’s go there.
February 25th Venus enters Pisces
Late February, Venus leaves the party in Aquarius and enters her sign of exaltation. Venus is honored in Pisces. Venus in Pisces has the ability to bring about much goodness. However, this time there are three factors that will limit Venus in bringing about her best work. 1) The ruling planet of Pisces, Jupiter, is busy supporting Saturn in Aquarius and isn’t aspecting Venus in Pisces; which means that he can’t support Venus in doing her work. Venus is on her own. 2) When Mars enters Gemini on March 4th, Venus and Mars will be in a sign based square throughout the rest of Venus her journey in Pisces. Because the square isn’t exact and because Venus is in her sign of exaltation and overcoming Mars, she will manage nonetheless though she will get burned a bit. 3) Venus also gets burned by the Sun, since she’s in close proximity to the Sun and is moving fast to towards him. Venus will conjunct the Sun late March, when the two are both in Aries. The closer Venus gets to the Sun, the more invisible she becomes; our eyes will become blind to the goddess of love by the light of the Sun. The heat of the Sun weakens Venus. Only when she’s exactly conjunct the Sun, she will be strengthened, but that happens when the two are in Aries. In others words, while Venus is in Pisces, Venusian topics are a little invisible or hidden away. Nonetheless, even considering the three factors above, Venus will manage quite well in the surroundings of Pisces and she will manage to bring about some good stuff.
Venus is the planet that is about relating and love. Venus moves from Aquarius into Pisces, from fixed air into mutable water. Venus in Aquarius is very good at understanding others; empathy as understanding what others feel. Venus in Pisces is very good at feeling others; empathy as feeling wat others feel. Venus is exalted in Pisces. Venus in Pisces is gifted at healing, compassion and creative imagination. Venus in Pisces wants, and is capable, to merge with others; sometimes to her own detriment because the art of setting boundaries is a mystery to her. Venus in Pisces loves to give away what she possesses and she even loves to give herself away. We can see why Venus is exalted in Pisces; a goddess of love that showers the world with gifts, compassion, beauty and other Venusian goodness, is a goddess of love that people want to honor.
February 27th Full Moon in Virgo
The Full Moon arrives on February 27th 3.17 am ET / 9.17 am CET at 8 degrees Virgo. Sign up for my newsletter to catch my insights on the upcoming astrology as soon as I post them.
Love, Maud