Each month the stars give us a little chance to recalibrate, regroup, or reset in the form of the New Moon. This occurs every 28-ish days (technically speaking at the point where the lunar and solar elements of our cosmic clock go conjunct in the sky). It’s during this brief monthly transit, when the Moon looks like a clipped fingernail, discarded into the black hefty trash bag of night, that we should set down some intentions, whether for the week, for that Zodiac season, or for the next six months. However, we need to know the flavour of each New Moon in order to work its magic to our best advantage, for indeed Moons, like children in a brood, are all different. Depending on the season, every lunation has its unique valence—and it’s toward the upcoming Aquarius Moon and the special contours therein that we now turn.
On the Aquarius New Moon this February 1, we begin what is known as the Lunar New Year (LNY). Because the Waterbearer’s season always kicks off LNY, we can treat this upcoming transit as a secondary set of our annual resolutions – if we have slacked on them already during the pell mell rush of post-holiday responsibilities. In general, New Moons are moments to plant seeds — but during this particular Saturn-ruled Aquarius lunation (remember that Saturn loves long term plans), these seeds might grow stronger roots if planted February 1. Our initial strategy for this Aquarius Moon, then: renew resolutions for 2022.
What if you have been totally on it with your resolutions? Or if you don’t believe in making them in the first place? No worries. We now move to strategy two: Aquarius New Moon and emotional clarity. The Moon is the emotional centre of our chart, but the flavour or aims of an Aquarius New Moon are going to be much different than, say, one in watery Pisces. As fixed air, an Aquarius Moon should bring focus and objectivity. Those caught up in their feelings over a romantic, professional, familial, or friend situation should use the Aquarius New Moon to look at a colleague, a lover, or a friend from a more detached vantage and problem solve from there.
Ok, what if you’re doing great with your resolutions and you’ve got emotional clarity? Then we can consider a third strategy for this New Moon: some sort of community-related gesture. Aquarius is the sign most associated with collective life, social networking, friend groups, humanitarianism, and group dynamics. Take the Aquarius New Moon, therefore, as a moment to connect to a cause bigger than yourself. This doesn’t need to be a grand dramatic statement (like quitting a job to join the Red Cross). Instead it can be something like protesting injustice in any of its insidious forms. Or, to bring it down a notch, it can be something like reaching out to your dispersed friend group to organise a summer or autumn reunion. The strategy here is to channel the “collective” energy of Aquarius and the New Moon notion of “planting a seed” in order to grow something larger than one’s meager ego-needs. Calling up some friends and saying “I miss you, let’s start organising a get together in a few months” is a perfect Aquarius New Moon seed to plant.
If you already protest social injustice (or work for the Red Cross), and you have emotional clarity, and your friend group is all intact, and you are following all your resolutions, then there is one final micro strategy for this Aquarius New Moon. On the night of it, make plans to go out with your crew (Aquarius=collectivity) and do something weird or unconventional. Aquarius is ruled by Saturn (strict Dad) but also by quirky Uranus. Take more from the Uranus side of the Waterbearer on February 1st and do something out of the ordinary. Oftentimes, it’s these micro-gestures around the New and Full Moon that help us feel cosmically aligned.
The Aquarius New Moon will be powerful, so make the most of it with some of these lunar strategies. If you’re so aligned that none of them apply, maybe we should be following the lucky star that is you–what’s your Insta?
Photo by Niklas Ohlrogge on Unsplash
