Quirky Aquarius, New Moon List Ticking and the Bigger Picture
If you want to see the sign and degree of the planets in your own or any other natal chart – so you can check these against the signs and degrees important this week – here’s the link to Astrotheme. Enter your data into the boxes provided:
https://www.astrotheme.com/horoscope_chart_sign_ascendant.php
The Astrology Blog 4 February 2019
All times given are stated in GMT
‘I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.’
– Ernest Hemingway
The sign of Aquarius is a dominant factor this week, so what is the essence of this sign?
The sign of Fixed (grounded) Air (the intellect) is objective and stands for the collective, the planet and the world at large. Communism, socialism and organizations such as Greenpeace, Amnesty International and Médecins Sans Frontières can all be said to be Aquarian.
As individuals, inside every Aquarian is a:
- Conscience
- Sense of definite rights and wrongs
- Moralist, a rebel or a philanthropist
- Concern with the greater good of the whole
- And with causes that need brain power rather than purely an emotional reaction to the human condition.
With the hallmarks of curiosity, brilliance and being ahead of their time, this is where we find the mad professor archetype, producing geniuses, scientists, rebels and original thinkers.
Differentness is a hallmark
Quirky, unusual, inquisitive and usually of above average intelligence, an Aquarian places great value on their own particular way of doing things.
They nearly always have strong and often unshakeable convictions.
They’re systematic, and often inveterate list makers.
The old textbooks tell us that Aquarians are cold, detached, all head and no heart. While it is true that some are more suited to science than sex, you can rest assured that usually there is a turmoil bubbling behind the cool intelligence.
Some of the most emotional people I have ever known are Aquarians, but they definitely take a lot of getting to know.
The journey from friendliness to true intimacy is a long one for this complex sign. They crave union yet they can create distance, often by giving out the wrong signals of superiority, inflexibility or militant independence.
But friendship is important, to the extent of often keeping ex-lovers as friends, and they tend to number people from all walks of life in their wide and varied circle.
Textbook Aquarians
Let’s start with Rosa Parks and honour her birthday (4 Feb 1913). When she refused, on 1 December 1955, to give up her bus seat to a white person, she became an international symbol for the fight against racial segregation. The United States Congress has referred to her as “the first lady of civil rights” and “the mother of the freedom movement”.
Oprah Winfrey (29 Jan 1954) shot to fame by revolutionizing the talk show format through her emotional involvement with her guests. Known as the greatest black philanthropist in American history she has donated about $400 million to educational causes.
Groundbreaking naturalist Charles Darwin (12 Feb 1809) changed the face of evolutionary theory forever. His personal life was subjected to the same systematic detachment, with two lists headed “Marry” and “Not Marry”. The pros included “constant companion and a friend in old age … better than a dog anyhow”.
What’s Happening this Week?
So, bearing all these Aquarian factors in mind, we start the week with the New Moon:
Monday 4 February 2019
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New Moon 16 Aquarius 21.05
In the last few days I had an email exchange with someone after a five year gap. She didn’t know my story of the last few years and she referred to my recovery as “bouncing back”. She meant it in a complimentary way, but it made me think. When we’ve had trauma in our lives we don’t really bounce back, we just start the long climb back. It’s a gradual process.
New Moons are fresh starts
So if you need to rebuild in any area of your life it’s a good idea to start with building blocks. One day at a time, one step at a time, and you could pick up speed surprisingly quickly.
When I was at the point of wondering if I’d ever work again, or ever blog again, it was Boaz Fyler (see here for his course coming up at the end of August) who said, just start.
You don’t have to make big commitments and you don’t have to write a full length blog every week. Start with just a little one. So I did!
As it happened, that was all I needed. Within weeks the blog was back.
So, make a start on the things you want to do or the things you’ve been putting off for a long time, and especially on whatever has seemed overwhelming.
Make a list. Look out for the friendship theme, both give and take. Aquarius favours equality and fairness.
If you know someone who’s rebuilding their life, remember that it’s a very lonely experience, and a little encouragement and praise goes a very long way. If you want to widen your own circle and meet new people, this is a fantastic week to get the ball rolling. Send emails, arrange to meet, join a group.
If you want to make professional progress start networking and pick the brains of those you admire.
If you want to celebrate something, throw a party. Whatever brings people together is well starred, especially as this New Moon is in sextile (harmonious) to expansive and lucky Jupiter who can teach us all we need to know about widening our horizons, and having fun in the process.
New faces coming into your life at this time are most unlikely to be ones just passing through. Even if they are, they may well make a contribution that will be meaningful with long term effects.
Romance
On the romance front it’s an auspicious time for meeting someone new, especially through groups, the internet (with the usual precautions) or introductions. If someone who knows you well wants to match make, why not let them? Aquarius is nothing if not experimental.
So, the New Moon is when the Sun and the Moon are exactly conjunct, in this case at 16 Aquarius, aligning with Jupiter at 19 Sagittarius. As the Sun moves one degree a day the exact sextile to Jupiter happens at the end of the week:
Friday 8 February
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Sun 19 Aquarius sextile Jupiter 19 Sagittarius 00.34
Note that this aspect falls just as we click into Friday so is at its strongest midweek and especially on Thursday, i.e. the previous 24 hours as it’s ‘applying’.
Any Jupiter activity this year gets an extra tick as he’s travelling through his own sign of Sagittarius until the beginning of December. This combination is full of opportunity connected to luck, liberation, good fortune, learning, truth and justice, long distance travel, all things and all people related to overseas.
Also throw into the mix the reminder that we currently have what’s called a ‘mixed reception‘ – the Sun in Aquarius which is Uranus’ sign, and Uranus in Aries which is the Sun’s sign of exaltation.
When two planets ‘receive’ each other they work together as a team even when they’re not in aspect. A reception indicates a swapping of places, reciprocal and mutual arrangements, moving from one place or situation to another, and it often indicates a theme of strengthening.
All of the themes of the week are strongly underlined by Mercury who is now on his home stretch through Aquarius, aligning with Mars less than an hour after the Sun – Jupiter aspect, and then with Uranus at the weekend, his last aspect before changing sign. Here’s the sequence:
Friday 8 February
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Mercury 26 Aquarius sextile Mars 19 Aries 01.26
Saturday 9 February
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Mercury 29 Aquarius sextile Uranus 29 Aries 22.54
Sunday 10 February
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Mercury ingress Pisces 10.52
Mercury is Hermes, winged messenger of the gods, planet of communication. Your natal Mercury tells you about how you verbally connect with those around you, how you learn, how you speak, how you think.
What is rarely mentioned though is that Mercury is also how we listen. This could be especially important as Mercury aspects Mars and then Uranus, who in turn will meet up with each other next week, a conjunction that happens approximately once every two years.
It’s impulsive or explosive stuff, and I’ll be talking more about this next time, but Mercury is paving the way. Listen out for news that comes as a complete surprise or even things that shock you, including your own thoughts or decisions. There’s a lot of clarity in the making.
If you’re in any kind of rocky relationship this is the week to talk – and to listen. Even when the truth is something we didn’t want to hear it’s better than filling in our own blanks, which only creates anxiety.
A planet’s final aspect before changing sign is often some kind of finale, and when that final aspect involves wild card Uranus it’s pretty much impossible to write or stick to any kind of script. So be brave, speak up and work with whatever comes up. It could lead you in a surprising direction.
Whatever your current challenges this week’s astrology is fabulous for remembering the bigger picture. There’s a big world out there. So for example don’t let one person or one problem take up too much of your time or attention – why give them so much power?
Wishing you a mind-expanding week!
With love from Greece
Joanna