NOTE: Usually, you can experience video dictations of these Moon phase articles by visiting and subscribing to the Life By Soul® YouTube channel within 48 hours of the article’s post. However, for this article, due to unprecedented technical difficulties, I am unable to get this video dictation completed. If I can figure something out as a substitute, I will do so. Sorry for any inconvenience.
The 2023 Aquarius New Moon reaches its maximum phase at 12:53p PST on Saturday, 21st January 2023 at 1°33’ or 1.55°. This New Moon phase will bring us an ultimatum of sorts – a question of how committed we are to our individual and collective futures, and in contrast, how determined we are to hold onto the past. We’ve tried to have it both ways for a very long time, but now that time is coming to an end. We’ve been moving toward this moment, and with the arrival of the 2023 Aquarius New Moon, we finally reach the gateway of evolution and a powerful moment of choice.
Humanity has been on the cusp of evolution for a while – a truly transcendental progression which reflects the eccentric and eclectic brilliance of human kind in alignment with the natural world. Life always finds a way to keep living, yet for many of us, realigning with natural simplicity often feels more like a return to the past than a movement toward a brighter and more hopeful future. Simultaneously, there seems to be an intentional effort to silence or eliminate records and remembrances of the past so that people can’t recognize that the past is repeating in the present and being falsely presented as progress toward the future. This intellectual (and possibly strategic) convolution of time brings forth a question: Are we moving “back” to give ourselves a future, or are we moving “forward” to restore our past?
Now that I’ve likely confused you a bit, let’s make sense of this 2023 Aquarius New Moon.
Aquarius is a fixed air sign, making it very disciplined and focused in its intellectual and communicative pursuits. Ideally, its focus is on innovation – either progressing what already exists or creating something entirely new which assists in moving humanity forward and upward in its evolution. Aquarius recognizes that for new and different ideas to be brought forth, individual and independent thought is essential. That is why Aquarius also represents collaboration and the whole of humanity, reminding us that every single one of us is part of something greater than ourselves that affects all of us.
I often think of Aquarius as the “jigsaw puzzle” sign. Each of us, as individuals, is a piece in the big picture of humanity. No two pieces of a puzzle are identical, and Aquarius innately understands that humanity operates in that same way. In fact, Aquarius is drawn to, if not obsessed with, the uniqueness in everything and everyone. It thrives on discovering people’s talents, eccentricities, and oddities because it wants to know what each individual brings to the table. Each of us brings something only we can bring, and this 2023 Aquarius New Moon is the call for all of us to step as fully as possible into our independent and individual self-expression for the purpose of taking our respective places in the collective image.
Yet the majority of humans have proven time and time again that even though we say we want change, we tend to default to the same things again and again. When it matters most, humans tend to move toward the familiar and comfortable rather than the truly new and different… or at least that’s been true until now.
The 2023 Aquarius New Moon encourages us to abandon the past for what is truly new and different, bringing clarity to social matters in ways they haven’t been seen before. As result, this energy brings awakenings to people who have been resistant to seeing what’s always been there. Like putting on a new pair of eye glasses, suddenly you’ll be able to see what you’ve missed before.
The New Moon also reveals that this perspective shift occurs along a generational divide. Those most desperately clinging to the past are the older generations currently in the positions of power in our societal and global structures and institutions. They’re eager to continue defining success, achievement, and accomplishment by the terms they’ve always been defined by in order to ensure the future is familiar to and comfortable for them. Meanwhile, those who are truly looking to the future are more likely to be members of the younger generations. The youth will be encouraged and possibly supported by some older people willing to acknowledge that the future no longer belongs to them. These “elders” will bring the harshest lessons of the past forward as cautionary tales, determined not to repeat them in the future. Yet the youth will understand that that the only way to not repeat the past is to completely clear away the way the world has worked up to now, creating a clean slate for an entirely new experience of humanity in the future.
The difference between these two groups is made clearer through Aquarius’ other specialty – technology.
Technology has made the individuals who make up the whole of humanity both more connected and more divided than ever before. Through hand-held computers, we can see live video of something happening on the literal other side of the world in less than a couple minutes to give us a shared global experience. We couldn’t do this only 130 years (or 10 generations) ago! It’s astonishing how quickly our technology has evolved, which serves as a testament to how much humanity hasn’t evolved…yet. The clash between the momentum toward the progressive future that technology generates for the younger generations and the desire by the older generations to use tech to uphold their familiar and comfortable past makes it more difficult for each of us to find and embrace our uniqueness.
Mass media is almost everywhere now, and the older generations that are in the positions of societal or institutional power and influence are able to use (or abuse) technology as a tool in efforts to generate a consensus of thought, ideology, and society. They know that throughout history as well as today, there have been and always will be people who’d rather follow than lead, and that those people will eagerly forego their uniqueness in order to follow someone else’s lead. They’ll do what someone else tells them to do, try to “fit in” with whatever others tell them is trendy, popular, and/or profitable. Many of these people aren’t even trying to come up with anything original or unique – it’s a “spin on a classic” or a “variation of a theme” intended to ride the coattails of someone else’s uniqueness, originality, and/or innovation. Some of the youth have figured out how to use technology to exploit others as well.
But despite the efforts to reproduce someone else’s extraordinary success, none of it seems to generate genuine inspiration or excitement. Why? Because it’s not original. It’s nothing new. It’s nothing different. They’re trying to get us excited about the same ol’ things, now in various colors, flavors, textures, etc.
Too many of us have forgotten to remember or to learn where a trend originated, or to understand what made a popular style popular in the first place. Too many people have also forgotten how some of the social and societal norms we have today originated, or what sacrifices were made in the past for the way we live our lives in the present to be the way we live now.
That’s where the longing for change awakening in most of us is coming from. It’s driven by a deeper longing for individual identity and purpose. We can attribute that longing to the fact that uniqueness and individuality aren’t encouraged in our communities and societies as much as they could be or possibly should be. If you’re often frustrated or angry, it may be because you’re becoming ever more awakened to the fact that you’ve been carrying someone else’s dreams and ideals around for much of your life. The anger and frustration you may feel isn’t so much because those ideals aren’t being realized, but rather, because you’re expected to be angry about ideals that aren’t even your own!
We’re all getting tired of pretending we aren’t who we are and that we can’t make a unique contribution to the world by being all of who we are fully expressed in the world… and many of the elders are taking it out on the youth.
This is because the younger generations understand the importance of independent thought, unique individual self-expression, and how individuals come together to create a greater whole. They’re both with this consciousness, and they’re claiming it early on or fighting for it if they notice that they’ve given it away in any way. To the older generations, it looks like belligerence or a lack of work ethic or drive on their part… but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The young ones just know that they’re not going to do what’s always been done, or at least not in the way it’s always been done.
For the older generations, this is taken as offense because many of us compromised themselves and settled for whatever we could get. We understood that in order to get ahead, individuals had to either be born into the privileges they sought, or they had to take risks to step outside of the popular trends, the comfortable norms, the “acceptable” expressions. Some of those risks – some of those expressions of independent and individual thought – cost people their comfort, their communities, and in some cases, their lives. As result, many of us were and still are too fearful to take those risks, but among those who did, many of us are thriving now as we moved ourselves into alignment with our individual truths and were rewarded for it by being fulfilled in our lives today, either through achieving our goals and dreams or by living our lives in ways which didn’t compromise our sense of self.
It’s the fear of loss that has led to too many of us to forget or resent that uniqueness has value to the greater whole. It’s why many of us have lost sight of embracing what makes us, individually, one-of-a-kind. It’s also why those of us who have managed to find the courage to face and overcome our fears are now awakening to reclaim our individuality and independence of thought and expression. The fact that the conditions we live in make it harder to do so may find some of you from older generations aligning more with the younger generations than your own. Some of your contemporaries may accuse you of trying to reclaim your youth… but you know that what you’re really doing is reclaiming yourself and your life.
The 2023 Aquarius New Moon encourages us to step beyond our comfort zones, and over the threshold into the fullest expression of our unique selves that we can find the courage to step into. This energy beckons us through the gateway of evolution by asking us to leave the burdens of expectation we inherited from others behind us before we step through.
Taking these courageous steps contributes to the healing of long-open self-identity wounds. This healing may challenge you to let go of old behavior patterns that were likely defense mechanisms you developed to emotionally and psychologically endure past experiences – the survival strategies you may have developed to get through difficult times. Ask yourself if you still need these emotional defense mechanisms. Do these strategies still serve you? Or are these mechanisms that once protected you now preventing you from moving forward?
In order for your connections and collaborations with others to be effective, as an individual, you need to get out of your own way. This is why the breaking down of the individual self-defense mechanisms of your past and the healing of emotional and psychological wounds are so crucial to this process. You must heal (or be willing to heal) so you can be a healthy contributor to the healing and transformation of your community, your society, and humanity.
Remember, Aquarius energy is the individual as a contributor to and collaborator with others in community. The 2023 Aquarius New Moon is occurring on a numerological 11 Universal Day from roughly all nations/regions west of the MIddle East and Asia, and on a 3 Universal Day in nearly all nations/regions in the whole of Asia. The 11 Universal Day energy is quite synchronistic as eleven’s numeric energy is a very similar energy to Aquarius’ astrological energy as they both encourage collaboration and mutual inspiration. The 3 Universal Day energy encourages the “student mind”, making it a good day to learn new things and expand upon what you already know and beyond what you’re already doing.
If people think for themselves, they can find others who individually think similar thoughts, and those people can come together in collaboration and develop community. In a healthy and thriving community, each individual can contribute something no one else can provide in the same way. There’s no competition or unhealthy comparison because everyone has a unique role that emotionally fulfills them as they make unique contributions to the effort. Collaboration strengthens the whole, and everyone grows together as individuals and as community.
There is power in a developing community, and this is where the 8 Universal Month of power and influence comes into play. This energy may find people either inspiring and empowering each other as individuals within the context of community, or it could find groups trying to control or manipulate other groups. The 7 Universal Year energy of reflection and analysis helps you discern what your true individual motives are; if your motives are aligned with your community’s motives; and doing so while also encouraging rest, relaxation, and restoration of your energy to prepare for the next steps of your journey.
For even deeper insights into the energies of this 2023 Aquarius New Moon, here are the astrological transits within 3° orb at the time of maximum phase:
(Aquarius Moon conjunct Sun conjunct) opposite Leo Black Moon Lilith (1°) – The evolution of humanity becomes a conscious and emotional experience. Those who are ego-invested in maintaining the status quo will show their hand now, while those who are ready to shift into a new direction will become emotionally invested in doing so, and begin taking steps toward in new directions.
- Capricorn Pluto wide conjunct (Aquarius Moon conjunct Sun conjunct) (28-1°) – This only supports people consciously embracing their evolution as the more people look forward to the future, the more they will demanding societal institutions and structures adapt to that future. However, with those institutions and structures imploding on themselves, what or who actually needs to adapt? What happens if or when those institutions and structures are no longer operating to their own guidelines, or stop operating altogether?
(Aries Juno conjunct Jupiter) opposite Libra Ceres (4-6°) – A renewed commitment to one’s individual personal development and expanding one’s self-awareness is balanced by one-on-one relationships of all kinds. This could also show up as recognizing the value of the one-on-one relationships in your life which support, encourage, and celebrate your individual self-awareness and personal growth. If you realize you don’t have these kinds of relationships in your life, you may now begin seeking them out.
Libra Ceres square Capricorn Mercury (6-8°) – Some of the one-on-one relationships in your life may challenge your beliefs about what societal success and accomplishment should look like. These challenges will either have you reassess your goals and your motives behind them, or they may find you reassessing your relationships altogether. Are your goals and ambitions diminishing the value of your relationships, or are your relationships keeping you from valuing yourself and your goals?
SEQUENCE: (Aquarius Venus conjunct Saturn) semi-sextile (Pisces Vesta conjunct Neptune) semi-sextile Aries Eris Retrograde (22-24°) – The more discerning you become about who you partner or are in relationships (of any kind) with, the more determined you may become to realizing a certain vision or ideal, which may lead to a greater sense of betrayal when conditions aren’t aligning with your vision or ideal. But here’s a question: What if your vision or ideal is more an escape from reality than actual reality? What if your frustration is in the fact that what you want isn’t aligned with what is actually happening in the world around you? What if you’re actually carrying someone else’s anger rather than your own, and that is what has you angry?
Aries Chiron semi-sextile Taurus Uranus Retrograde (12-14°) – Self-identity wounds awaken unique perspectives of the evolution occurring in our collective social values.
Aries Chiron square Cancer Pallas Athena Retrograde (12-14°) – The healing of self-identity wounds may also challenge old behavior patterns that were likely defense mechanisms you developed to emotionally and psychologically endure past experiences – survival strategies you developed to get through. The biggest challenge comes in the form of questions: Do you still need that emotional defense mechanism? Does that strategy still serve you? Or are those mechanisms that once protected you now preventing you from moving forward?
Taurus Uranus Retrograde sextile Cancer Pallas Athena Retrograde (14°) – Are you really ready to break free from the patterns of the past? Are you ready for evolution? You won’t be able to take the past with you if you want to move forward… and frankly, if you’re really ready, you won’t want to take the past with you at all.
Capricorn Mercury quincunx Gemini Mars (8°) – Strategy has been in play all along, but you may have been focused on the words so you may not have seen the actions. Now, what is your strategy for your future? And will you speak with words or with actions?
During this 2023 Aquarius New Moon, we will be experiencing an opportunity (or multiple opportunities) for individual and collective awakening to our actual reality and whether we are ready or not to move forward into a truly new future. So, when I use the word evolution, know that I don’t simply mean moving toward the future – I really do mean the evolution of the human species through courageous individualized self-expression within a greater whole.
We’ve been building toward this moment, and with the arrival of the 2023 Aquarius New Moon, we finally reach the gateway. Once this moon phase goes into effect, it’ll be up to you to decide whether or not you want to move back to the future or forward to the past… or maybe back to your past or forward to your future. You’re choosing which puzzle picture you’re going to be part of moving forward. Yes, it’s that serious. Make sure you know and be very, very clear in communicating what you want your destination to be.
And it would be wise to remember that you choice will affect you and everyone around you, even people you don’t already know.
The energy of the 2023 Aquarius New Moon will be felt from Wednesday 18th January through Tuesday 24th January 2023.
Throughout this week…
May you find the courage to face and let go of your past, even if you’re taking your first step to do that today.
May you find the courage to let go of your emotional defense mechanisms and be open to whatever comes.
May you find the courage to heal from your past, even if means seeing yourself differently for the very first time.
May you find the courage to face those who can’t or won’t understand your new choices.
May you find the courage to move forward and leave those who cannot move beyond the past.
May you find the courage to walk through the gateway of evolution into your uncharted future.
Most of all, may you find the courage to be yourself, fully and truly self-expressed, so the rest of us can feel blessed to experience your presence and your contributions to our journeys through your own.
Thank you for reading and sharing Signs and Numbers. Until next post…
~ Light, Love, and Blessings,
Grace
