New Moon September 15, 2012 @ 23 degrees Virgo 10:11 p.m. EDT 07:11 p.m. PDT
Poetry is the art of substantiating shadows, and of lending existence to nothing.
–Edmond Burke
Quietly stalking awareness, silently crossing our unconscious, on little cat feet, this New Moon is the subtlest of shadows disappearing into darkness. It may bump up against a fear here or anger there, long repressed, triggering unfamiliar displays of irritation or similarly uncomfortable behavior. Or judgment, far more familiar to us. If it isn’t pure being it will not have a place to hide or to create limitations.Even aspects to this conjunction are subtle. No major planets are in close proximity. Mercury, also in Virgo is 5 degrees away; seems to be examining/micro managing that which is tossed up for scrutiny. In the last decan of Virgo, Venus is the ruling planet. This Sun/Moon combination will stir up issues around self worth, loving the self and as Virgo hones in on what isn’t perfect, there may be judgment and criticism going on that does not serve the individual sense of well being. For every individual, the experience of this new moon will be different depending on your present state of self-acceptance/self awareness. Ultimately, we all will be, recognizing that everything is perfect in every moment as that is what is! It is of course perfect! What is not perfect is our thought that it is not okay. This leads to suffering.The Sabian symbol for this New Moon at 24 degrees Virgo (always round up to the next degree) is “Mary had a little lamb”, just that. This symbol reminds us of the essential purity of human nature, as nature, as “that”. And in reference to Mary is the aspect of love and light that radiates forth from a place of truth, unequivocal being. We glimpse pure being-ness and the stillness of that.Vesta at 21 degrees Gemini, square the Sun/Moon is the closest aspect influencing this conjunction of conscious and instinctive. As one, we question nothing, but everything that we believed to be so in our place of individuality, separation. And finally there is just awareness. Vesta represents the eternal flame, the light of being. In Rome the Vestal Virgins were the keepers of this flame, a sacred position associated with the well-being and good fortune the great Empire. There is an indication with this square of being reunited with the eternal flame that burns away all ‘impurities’ that we might experience the truth and liberation. Though the Vestal Virgins of Rome were anything but free, as keepers of the flame, they stood for that which ensured the freedom of RomeWhen we speak of ‘light’ and the eternal flame, the planet Uranus figures prominently as the energy behind awakening and inhabiting the light. While our foot is on the accelerator, Uranus and Pluto square with Chiron sandwiched in between, we may be sure that ample impetus is being generated for light replacing mind, mind disappearing into the brilliance of truth and a planet populated with people being—without agenda and satisfied with what is as, there is no lack of anything except in the mind. Without the mind—there is perfection.Running, running after what it is, the next desire. Crossing hill and dale, noticing that all the hills and dales look the same and forgetting that I am crossing anything and forgetting why I am crossing anything and so, I sit for a moment beneath a tree, in the shade and observe that this moment now, is—beauty, peace, exquisite, love, in the midst of the desert, in the eye of a storm or a battlefield, I am “that” and nothing else exists except as an experience in my mind.In exact aspect, Saturn at 27 degrees Libra trines Ceres at 27 degrees Gemini. Peace dominates the primal mother/father archetype and the element of air sweeps the globe of the past and anything that chooses to hold on is dislodged and pummeled into dust by spiraling winds visiting our shores. Mercury in Virgo at 28 degrees, representing the mind also experiences annihilation as part of an old belief system that has no real form or existence. Semi-sextile Saturn it is pressured to release the old details and judgments that give it solidity and square Ceres, the mother Mercury is destined here to let go of all except that which rises perpetually from the void. Rises is really an inappropriate reference to that which simply is. It cannot rise or do anything and as such can be recognized when all else is not. We abide.At 23 degrees Virgo is the galactic cluster known as Coma Berenices. Berenice was Queen of Egypt and in 243 B.C. wagered her long locks with the gods in order to preserve her dear husband during a time of war. He survived and the locks were shorn and placed in a temple to honor the gods and their favor. The locks became symbolic of this cluster of stars that previously had been the tuft of the Lion’s tail. The lion is associated with pride and the attachment we have to our hair is also considered to be prideful partiality. Implied in the conjunction of this star cluster to this New Moon is a diminishing of our pride or ego. We do not need to concern our selves with how this will happen. After all with any of this there is no effort required. But if you find your self suddenly less aware of those things that you were once attached to such as what other people think of you or how you look, do not start searching for it. It is not something you will miss.There is a test that is presented to us during the days leading up and following this New Moon and that is seen within the bi-septile of Sun/Moon to Pluto. A bi-septile relates to the seventh harmonic representative of innate gifts that are experienced once we realize the simple truth of our nature. Virgo rules the 6th house of health and service to others. Implied is service to one self (from this perspective) as the best means of being in service to others. So we have an opportunity here to look at how we treat our bodies. Though not who we truly are, the body is still the container that gives awareness mobility. Best that we care for this body and honor it for the purpose it serves.As we are in the process of transforming (Pluto) old structures (identifications) eventually to be and of greater service, it is wise to initiate new rituals for supporting the body. No need to get excessive but do think in terms of natural rather than synthetic. The body is still an organic accumulation of cells. If it ever becomes a mass of technological data waves then we can nurture it on fabricated nutrients but it still resonates with what comes out of the earth or is supported by the earth without going through undo processing.Something else to be conscious of is the stress that each of us is subjected to on a daily basis. As natural, organic organisms we are not designed to tolerate the levels of stress whether it be environmental or emotional/psychological, that we experience as a way of life if we allow the mind to deal with it. If we eliminate the mind there is nothing that requires such action. The mind and thought might be difficult to completely override but our attachment to events can be greatly diminished by not taking things personally and by reminding our selves that none of it really makes a difference anyway. It doesn’t effect our presence, that which is always, regardless of anything that happens externally.If you feel the need to find your own space and withdraw temporarily in these few days it may be to give consideration to aspects of the self that have been sequestered and avoided or you may be experiencing new levels of sensitivity that require quiet contemplation. Virgo is the sign of the Hermit and it behooves us to honor our inner wisdom, that which we came in with, the purity that precedes us and is us and is the greatest form of service we provide is being “that.”