The Aquarius New Moon arrives at 1:05p PST on Thursday, 15th February 2018 (27.14°). This New Moon not only ushers in the Lunar New Year (the Year of the Earth Dog), it also marks a crossroads for humanity and a unique opportunity for individuals to choose their level of participation in the evolution of human kind.

This 2018 Aquarius New Moon is a turning point for many. As we individually make our decisions about who and how we want to be in our lives and for our world, we will also be setting the tone for a collective turn for humanity. It takes many individuals coming together contributing their unique talents and abilities to make a collective shift in human consciousness, and each of us gets to participate in the next major social shift now.

This also occurs on a 1 universal day numerologically – a day of new beginnings, fresh starts, and initiative actions. This is a call to action and leadership that when combined with the astrological significance of the day makes for an amazing opportunity for setting new, inspired courses of action for yourself individually and collectively for the sake of human consciousness, especially when it also occurs under the influence of an 11 universal year of peer leadership, community, and the intellectual awakening of the greater whole.

Aquarian energy isn’t for the faint of heart. Though it is a fixed air sign, Aquarius (ruled by Uranus) often represents unconventional or unprecedented social or humanitarian changes. These changes are most often brought about through innovative thoughts and communications. It also comes through both the embracing of and resistance to the advance of technological inventions and social/human evolution.

Most significant at this time, however, is Aquarius’ representation of the individual’s contribution to the greater whole of community, and possibly even humanity-at-large. This is the collection of individuals coming together to make changes that none could make alone – it requires the fellowship of many to begin a social revolution that will advance and evolve humanity…

…and this brings us to our individual and collective crossroads.

• Can people so divided come together to transcend our social and humanitarian challenges?
• Can we find enough common ground in our personal and community values to value each other?
• Are we choosing to value and care about each other, or are we really choosing to disregard each other’s value?
• Are we choosing to value our individual selves and our roles within our communities?
• Do we feel valued by our communities?

These questions all come front and center in the few days prior to and after this 2018 Aquarius New Moon.

Now this 2018 Aquarius New Moon isn’t any usual Sun + Moon conjunction. Mercury and Juno are also within 3° conjunction orb of the Moon and Sun at the time of maximum phase & eclipse, creating a 4-body Stellium (25-27°)! This adds quite a powerful boost to an already powerful New Moon event. Mercury indicates innovative and/or revolutionary thinking, and lends itself to progressive and fast-spreading ideas and ideals; Juno represents commitments made to either encourage (or oppose) such ideas and ideals; the Aquarius Moon reveals the emotion-driven responses to those ideas and ideals; and the Aquarius 4 Sun brings everything aligned with (and opposing) that progression into its light of day… which is where the eclipse comes into play.

Yes, this will also be a partial Solar Eclipse (visible in the South Pacific, South America, & Antarctica) meaning that the Moon will only partially prevent the Sun’s light from reaching the Earth’s surface. The way I (literally) interpret this is that our individual and collective emotional responses to the matters at hand will only partially and temporarily obstruct our collective awakening and awareness. In other words, our ability to clearly perceive, assess, and address our collective and community concerns may be compromised for a moment, but won’t be completely shadowed by our emotional responses to sensational social “distractions”. In fact, the conscious presence of shadow and its clearing will actually reawaken our awareness to just how much light is being made available to us right now – light brilliant enough to enable us to see what is really happening in our communities and the world around us… if we’re willing to look.

Yet even more synchronistic astrological beauty is highlighted by the fact that the ruling planet of Aquarius, Uranus, in the sign of Aries, is within sextile aspect to the Aquarius Solar Eclipse Stellium (25°) at the time of maximum phase. This transit only increases the social awakening and awareness potential of this event. Uranus is the bringer of unique and unusual self-expression as an act of contribution to the greater whole. In Aries, Uranus encourages individual contributions to the greater whole of humanity. It also encourages declaring one’s independence from communities and groups which either 1) no longer encourage one’s individual self-expression OR 2) individuals feel their unique self-expression is no longer a welcome contribution to the community.

Uranus also tends to be a generational influence, so be ready for the younger generations to make their voices heard and known through whatever happens in the days surrounding this eclipse event and the months and years ahead, eager to bring healing and hope to the world they live in. They get assistance from the Aquarius Stellium’s semi-sextile to Pisces Chiron (26°), which has the energies of the Stellium leading to a desire to heal the emotional and spiritual wounds of humanity and the planet. The inspired youth of our world is seeking to heal their communities, their countries, and anything else that pertains to their future.

There are more significant transits occurring on this 2018 Aquarius New Moon + Eclipse day which do not aspect the Stellium:

There is a Yod configuration involving Capricorn Saturn sextile Pisces Venus, both quincunx Leo Ceres Retrograde (6-8°). A disciplined focus on societal goals and objectives supports interacting with other individuals to pursue collective dreams and ideals for the betterment of all beings. These two energies are specifically directed to witness the creative display of others’ individual values. By being witness to the personal values of others and how those people choose to express their values, we each have opportunities to learn what we individually stand for and which values we choose to embody. We may find ourselves asking – which values do we want to carry forward into the future, and which values do we get to create or establish anew?

Taurus Pallas Athena is square Leo Ceres Retrograde at the time of maximum phase, placing the ruler of Taurus (Ceres) in square aspect to its home sign here. Pallas Athena in Taurus brings awareness of the patterns we fall into or defend regarding our personal values, especially when we find ourselves challenged by others’ displays of their personal values through the Ceres Retrograde. Are our personal values aligned with theirs? If so, how do we feel about that? And how do we make our expressions of those values unique and individual to us? Meanwhile, Taurus Pallas Athena is also in sextile transit to Pisces Venus and trine to Capricorn Saturn. Again, an increased awareness of our personal value inclinations provides support for the pursuit of our dreams and strengthens our focus on the fulfillment of our goals and ambitions.

Sagittarius Mars is conjunct Vesta (12-14°), with both trine the Leo North Node (and sextile the Aquarius South Node , both at 15°). There is a determination to get to the truth of matters, and quite a bit of proactive energy to this end. The Mars + Vesta trine with the North Node indicates there is an intention of moving things progressively forward toward the future, while the sextile with the South Node indicates the familiar pull back to the conditioned past of “group think” and going along with one’s “tribe” or with popular sentiment. This Sagittarius Mars + Vesta conjunction is also square Pisces Neptune, which makes this assertive and determined search for truth challenging for those who would like to stay in the rose-colored romantic fantasyland of their ideals and the promised return to their familiar past. As more facts come to light, it will be harder and harder to hide from the reality that the world is moving forward without them.

All in all, this 2018 Aquarius New Moon + Partial Solar Eclipse will find us at a crossroads of epic proportions – a turning point at which we will choose to be ourselves for each other, or to be like others to hide ourselves. The choice of our individual directions, and therefore, our collective direction, will be up to each and all of us.

It’s up to you. How do you want to be the change you wish to see in the world? And do you value yourself and others enough to live into that?

The effects of this 2018 Aquarius New Moon + Partial Solar Eclipse will be felt strongly for the next six+ months, and will be especially strong in the few hours and days before and after the New Moon & eclipse’s maximum phase. Pay attention to what is happening now, as the events – if not major in their own right – will be the planted seeds coming to fruition in bigger events in the months and years to come.

Thank you for reading and sharing Signs and Numbers. Until next post…

~ Light, Love, and Blessings,

Grace

SPECIAL NOTE: A reader emailed me to make note that the United States of America has an interesting transit through the 2018 Aquarius New Moon Stellium + Partial Solar Eclipse.

The United States of America (born Thursday, 4th July 1776, Philadelphia, PA) has a Cancer 5 Sun (13°) and an Aquarius 1 Moon (17-28°). I personally and professionally prefer to use the 2:13a birth time for the United States as this nation as a Gemini 11 Rising (7.52°) and Aquarius 4 Midheaven (13.88°) which seem more fitting to me than the 4:50p Sibly birth time chart which gives the U.S. a Sagittarius 11 Rising (8.23°) and Virgo 4 Midheaven (25.58°) which many astrologers use. The Gemini 11 Rising and Aquarius 4 Midheaven seem much more appropriate (in my opinion) for the United States – still one of the youngest major nations on the planet, yet still having a great deal of intellectual influence over the world’s humanitarian affairs and social interests – than the Sag 11 rising and Virgo 4 Midheaven, which seem a bit too established and mature for the U.S.’ place in the world order.

The one thing both versions of the U.S. natal chart have in common is Pallas Athena Retrograde at 26° Aquarius – an affinity for unusual or unexpected acts of progressive innovation and social rebellion. This also reveals the power of socially-acceptable patterns of behavior within the nation, which tend to popularize progressive or rebellious qualities in individuals and their actions. The Sibly Chart also has the Moon at 26° Aquarius conjunct Pallas Athena, adding a need for emotional satisfaction through an affinity for innovation and/or social rebellion. Both of these points would be conjuncted by the transiting 2018 Aquarius New Moon Stellium + Partial Solar Eclipse on 15th February 2018.

This will be a time in which the U.S. may have its penchant for rebellion sparked again. The questions are… what will that spark set aflame, and what form will that rebellion take? Will it begin a rebellion against innovation and evolution, or will it begin a rebellion against those who are trying to hold humanity back from its evolution? This will prove to be an interesting inquiry as the U.S. begins to recognize just how much influence it has (or had) over the rest of the world, and how its global role is shifting.

In fact, the U.S. has quite a challenging run coming up in these next few years, especially when its Pluto Return begins in 2020 (U.S. has Pluto at 27° Capricorn). This 2018 Aquarius New Moon + Eclipse Stellium is likely the catalyst for the U.S.’ evolutionary transformation, for better or worse. One thing is for certain, though – the progression or regression of the U.S. will have an effect on the world as a whole. The question is… what effect will it have?

(Thanks, Erin.)