Our first New Moon of 2018 occurs at 6:17p PST on Tuesday, 16th January, 2018 (26.90°) in the sign of Capricorn. This is a significant New Moon for a number of reasons, so let’s start looking at those reasons to fully explain why the New Year really begins NOW.
New Moons are essentially conjunctions of the Sun and Moon, meaning the Sun and the Moon which compose this New Moon are both at the same “horizontal” degree of the sign of Capricorn at the time of maximum phase. Capricorn is cardinal earth energy – cardinal being instrumental in initiating action; and earth representing the material, physical, or experiential manifestation of energy (resources). This is THE sign representing the setting of intentions, goals, and ambitions and the development of the focus and discipline required to pursue them. Capricorn is determined not only to start, but also to follow-through and see its objectives to their end results.
The Capricorn 3 Sun brings information and insights to light in order to assist individuals in the process of setting intentions, creating goals, and focusing their energies and resources on their goals and objectives while applying the necessary self-discipline to see their intentions through to an end result. The Capricorn Moon directs our individual and collective emotional energies toward the establishment and/or achievement of our goals and intentions, yet it can also reveal the effect our emotions have on our ability to fulfill our objectives.
Yet these two celestial bodies are not alone in the sign of Capricorn – in fact, there are five more bodies and points in the sign of Capricorn at the moment of the New Moon’s maximum phase for a total of SEVEN! This creates an opportunity to set intentions and goals like no other!
- Capricorn Mercury – thoughts and words are directed toward articulating and communicating goals and objectives. This energy also brings a serious, more focused and intentional style of thinking and communicating. You may notice interactions with others are rather direct and to the point, or at least more so than usual.
- Capricorn Venus – partnerships of all kinds are being assessed in regard to their effectiveness in supporting or contributing to goal accomplishment OR in regard to their effectiveness in achieving or accomplishing shared/mutual goals. In other words, which relationships help you get to your goals?
- Capricorn Pluto – the transformation (via empowerment/strengthening or destruction/weakening) of our societal institutions and standards. This overhaul of society’s standards and structures began in 2008, and will continue into 2024.
- Capricorn Black Moon Lilith – our soul’s most mundane desires are rooted in achieving societal success… yet what IS societal success now since society’s standards of success are changing due to Pluto in Cap? The fact that we cannot look to our institutions and leaders for definitions of success may find many of us having to create new definitions for ourselves. This process leads us to recognize that if society is changing, can we really look to and depend on it to tell us what success is?
- Capricorn Saturn – the planetary ruler of Capricorn brings a stern, serious, authoritative, and disciplinarian presence to the matters at hand, especially those matters involving producing results. It reminds us to remember our objectives, and to keep our eyes on the prize. Many people experience this as an oppressive energy, yet without this energy present in our lives, we wouldn’t get anything done. Saturn in Cap is here to make sure we follow through on the intentions we set on this day. This energy is present not for a brief moment, but for quite a while as Saturn will be home in Cap now through 2020.
In addition to the abundance of Capricorn energy, the 2018 Capricorn New Moon is occurring on a numerological 1 universal day in the Americas and everything west of them – a day of new beginnings, fresh starts, and initiative action. This is the perfect energy complement to the Capricorn New Moon’s cardinal earth goal-setting energy, encouraging individuals to take steps to declare their intentions and take steps in alignment with those intentions. However, everything east of the middle of the Atlantic Ocean will be experiencing this New Moon on a 2 universal day – a day of companionship, partnership, and emotional awareness. This will bring an assessment of the one-on-one relationships in our lives, trying to figure out if there is really a mutual objective or a mutually-beneficial objective the partners can agree upon, choose, then work together to fulfill. This may also indicate the establishment of new partnerships or alliances intended to achieve shared goals. (Both days are happening within a 3 universal month of learning, growth, and expansion; and an 11 universal year of community and peer leadership.)
The Capricorn Sun-Moon conjunction also makes some aspects to other celestial bodies at its maximum phase:
- A conjunction with Capricorn Venus, creating a stellium configuration (26-28°)! This not only amplifies the energy of this 2018 Capricorn New Moon – it also brings attention to the roles of one-on-one relationships in the setting of our intentions and the pursuit of our ambitions. Do our companions and/or partners (of any and all kinds) help or hurt our abilities to select, pursue, and achieve our goals? Is there a healthy balance in the relationship which makes it mutually beneficial to both parties, or is does an imbalance of authority and power keep one of the “partners” at a perpetual disadvantage? Matters of equality, fairness, and justice will be prominent as result of this Capricorn New Moon stellium.
- A sextile transit with Scorpio Mars (24-26°), indicating bold and decisive actions help you both choose and clarify your intentions and goals as well as the path you will take to move toward their fulfillment.
- Another sextile transit with Pisces Chiron (25-26°), indicating an intention to bring healing results to the matters at hand; or an intention to heal what it means to be of service to others with compassion and unconditional love. This may also reveal that the act of setting intentions and goals may assist you in creating an ambitious and visionary path by which your wildest dreams may come true.
- A square transit with Aries Uranus (24-26°), indicating an intention to break away from the group in order to pursue one’s personal goals and objectives. Yet this intention to break away may be challenged by the emotional upset of breaking from society’s norms and expectations. Can you really find the “success” you seek in leaving the world behind? And if or once you break away, are your own individual actions aligned with your intentions and goals? You may be challenged to take new, different, or unexpected action(s) in order to align with the success you say you want.
- Another square transit with Aries Pallas Athena (26-29°), indicating the recognition of your individual behavior patterns. Do you have a pattern of going rogue? Do you have a pattern of starting things without finishing them and expecting others to take up (or clean up) after you? Or maybe you have a pattern of taking initiative action, eager to start things yet challenged in sticking with them? Does your pattern align with and support your goals and intentions, or does it challenge your ability to follow-through on what you say you want to achieve or accomplish?
And if that’s not enough, there’s a few more interesting transits of note occurring at this New Moon’s max phase.
- Capricorn Black Moon Lilith conjunct Mercury (7-8°) reveals the darker side of our societal ambitions – the desire to pursue goals for the self (usually as ego in society). The interesting thing is that these revelations happen casually or with surprising innocence, as if they aren’t expected to be taken seriously… yet due to the Capricorn energy, not only are they taken seriously, their source(s) are held accountable and responsible for them.
- Leo Ceres Retrograde conjunct North Node (14°) reveals that our personal values are being assessed through our collective creative intentions. How do we express ourselves individually and creatively in alignment with our values? Does how we choose to express ourselves align with our personal values? And are our values acknowledged positively by the world around us? (Many of us may notice that the outside world is putting our personal values to the test.)
- Aquarius Juno conjunct South Node(13-14°) reveals our commitment to our communities and other social groups and affiliations. The question is a two-way street – are we serving those communities and are those communities serving us? Are we able to express our unique and individual selves as a contribution to these communities, or are we giving up our individualities and not making the contribution we could make in order to fit into social or societal norms? (By the way, 2018 is a numerological 11 universal year, and that 11 energy complements this Aquarius energy, bringing the social impact of our individual expressions to light as well as awareness of the impact our social circles makes on our individual self-expression.)
- Scorpio Mars trine Pisces Chiron (24-25°) indicates decisive and actions reveal opportunities to bring forgiving and healing energy to matters. Please note the decisions may be emotion-driven – a plea to alleviate any emotional or spiritual pain and suffering.
- Scorpio Jupiter sextile Capricorn Pluto (19°) points out the growing awareness of what lies beneath the surface of matters sparking major structural & societal change. We can no longer pretend things are the same as they’ve always been – a transformation is under way.
When we put ALL of these energies together, it is undeniable that this 2018 Capricorn New Moon is all about setting intentions and goals for ourselves for the year ahead, and in many ways, for the next phases of our life journeys individually and collectively. We are being asked to declare what we intend for ourselves and our individual lives, knowing that what we choose to proclaim will indeed set our internal directions and also set the tone for the collective whole (through the setting of our individual directions). We will give our words to set these goals and see them through, and with Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn in the mix, we will hold ourselves and each other accountable and responsible for following through on our word for a long time to come.
The wonderful lesson and legacy of this 2018 Capricorn New Moon will be the realization that we really can affect the greater whole with our individual ambitions and intentions. Though we may not see the results now, we will see them in the weeks, months, and years to come.
So, what are you choosing to set into motion this evening? What intentions and goals are you setting for the year ahead?
This is the real beginning of the New Year, so choose wisely, powerfully, and productively in order to fulfill your goals and reach your dreams.
Thank you for reading and sharing Signs and Numbers. Until next post…
~ Light, Love, and Blessings,
Grace
