Cosmic News - M. Kelley Hunter

11:11 NEW MOON II

Image: Red Tara, oil painting by author. NEW MOON on January 30 at 11 AQUARIUS, 4:38pm EST, 1:38pm PST, 9:38pm GMT This is the second New Moon of the month. The January 1st New Moon was at 11 degrees Capricorn and this one is at 11 degrees Aquarius (we round up), giving us the magic 11:11 gateway number full of serendipity. Consider this as the February New Moon as there is no room for one in that shorter month. Again in March we will have two New Moons. CHINESE YEAR of the HORSE The first New Moon after the Sun enters Aquarius marks Chinese New Year. This is it! We gallop onward across the prairies into the wild new territory. The Horse embodies teacher energy, with the natural instinct to find the best trail and move fast. AQUARIUS expands our attention to the larger social context after a down-to-business month that required attention on shoring up and maintaining our own situations in the face of major systemic changes. Revolutionary Uranus, considered the ruler of Aquarius, is engaged and active in Aries. This New Moon is in excellent alignment with this electrically-charged, technologically-inventive planet. Uranus in dynamic interaction with Pluto drives the overarching transformational agenda of our times. Other planets—Venus, Mars and Jupiter—have extended interactions with these two outer planets the first half of this year. The 2014 Horse will ride like the wind through the wild weather. Largely influenced by the weighty internal agenda of VENUS retrograde in earth sign Capricorn this first month of 2014, we have been re-evaluating our lives on many levels to make them not only workable for the foreseeable future, but to be much more emotionally satisfying. Emotional satisfaction is a proper standard. According to the U.S. Declaration of Independence, as well as Venus, the pursuit of happiness is an inalienable right. High and brilliant in the pre-dawn sky, Morning Star Venus is turning to direct motion on the 31st, seeking to empower and manifest collective values to include joy, wellbeing and beauty as essential aspects of our redesign of how we are living. We take stock of how well we are claiming our emotional self-sufficiency and repositioning ourselves to invite and welcome inevitable change—for the better. In life we rely firstly on ourselves. No one else can live our lives for us. Venus as the money planet has also clearly been focusing attention on the seriousness of the economic restructuring. There is no choice but to step up and deal with it. As we are grounded and centered in our own base, we have more to contribute. As Venus turns forward, we, too, move forward, with increased emotional self-sufficiency and a more promising game plan. In this Moon cycle we seek alignment with like-minded people with whom we can accomplish worthy projects. Venus, in its slow pivot from backward to forward motion, holds steady with Pluto for a good week on either side of this date, driving home her point about economic renewal. There is a lot going on behind the scenes globally. We experience significant shifts in our own lives in relation to love and money, and our sense of satisfaction (or not). Practical considerations impact our choices and decisions. Venus-Pluto in Capricorn is a powerful goddess of rebirth, who demonstrates her volcanic power by turning the Earth inside out, further disrupting systems that are no longer viable, as well as crafting and empowering new life forms through her guardianship of the Nature hierarchies. Imagine your personal image of this authoritative Crone Goddess energy—is it Kali, Lilith, the ancient Mountain Mother? Think of Galadriel, Elven Queen of Lothlorien in the LORD OF THE RINGS (Cate Blanchett's character in the movie). Another appropriate and authoritative image of the cosmic feminine divine is Ceres, Nature Goddess and also a Horse Goddess. As a planetary energy in the asteroid belt, Ceres is like a protective shepherdess, who fosters wellbeing in all realms of Nature. She has a lot to say these days about our human responsibility as stewards of Planet Earth. Ceres is activated during this New Moon and in this next week, moving from Libra to Scorpio, into the transformational path of destiny as indicated by the Nodes of the Moon. I believe the Earth will be responding this coming month to the scientifically-confirmed polar magnetic shift of the Sun, incoming rays from the Galactic Center and the increasing light field of the interstellar cloud into which our solar system is moving. Another key factor in this New Moon pattern, big planet JUPITER is in a close face-off with the transformational Pluto-Venus, putting a powerful ringed forefinger squarely on big cultural issues. This is one of the key planetary interactions that push this year into overdrive in terms of change. Some of our belief systems are severely challenged. This is hard for some; glorious for others, as we awaken to possibilities beyond our past experience. Religious issues are front page, some of the headlines linking religion and economics. Needs of the people must be addressed, and may be in some beneficial ways, from local to national to global, with a new game plan for 2014. heading west. FISHY MERCURY RETROGRADE An increasing sense of altered reality permeates the fields with Mercury entering Pisces, also on the 31st. As it merges with Neptune, be aware of possible undercurrents of anxiety or a sense of things off-kilter. This mood sends us into a February rather like Alice when she went down the rabbit hole. Though more than a bit disconcerting, that story ended well, didn't it? We can always change the ending, which is one of the storylines for February. Take what time you need to fine tune your energy field. PAUSE and take a second look around to zero in on the most beautiful aspect in your field that will raise the vibrational resonance. Mercury pauses and turns retrograde on February 6th, remaining so for the rest of the month. We may start out with a plan, but it's up for constant review as old ways dissolve and disintegrate, opening space for new options. We may even forget what the plan was, as our take on reality gets fuzzy. Mercury, the thinking planet, turns backwards in watery Pisces, sign of the elusive, fluid Fishes. Reality is equally elusive and fluid. It might feel like we are losing our minds at times, but not all sense of reality is lost. We are challenged to change our minds about what version of reality is "real." Make up your own. Is your life feeling like a reality TV show? There is some basic truth to that. Find a good sound track for your life. An appropriate affirmation as a motto for the month is the shamanic saying, "The world is as we dream it." Don't be at the mercy of what is going on around you and don't be a martyr to anyone else's cause. Disengage from any vibration that brings you down. Change any "channel" you don't like, and direct your own reality show. This is an intriguing thought, isn't it? With Neptune in Pisces we are all re-imagining, re-creating the Big Dream we want to be living, along with Gaia, the Earth herself, and "all our relations," as we "think" more with our opening hearts than our heads. Compassion frees us. The best of this really extraordinary Neptunian Mercury retrograde is its plasticity. Situations are very changeable, offering multiple perspectives—think kaleidoscopes, glass eyes, magnifying glasses and fun house mirrors. "Curiouser and curiouser," remarked Alice through the Looking Glass. There are lots of YouTubes and documentaries out there these days that have a mind-bending effect. How much alternative reality can you encompass? Some intriguing movies may come out this month. Spiritual practices, including body-centering ones, may be essential. This Piscean energy offers a rare opportunity to deepen meditation and other means of spiritual communion. BE KIND to yourself and others. Resting and naps allow the mind its needed "time-outs." Self-medicating in addictive ways are only a temporary fix that skew reality even more. Let's not dwell on the negative. This month can be incredibly inspirational and spiritually uplifting if we aren't expecting too much of ourselves (or others). On the 13th, Mercury, still retrograde, shifts back into Aquarius for a breather, like a dolphin coming up for air. We step back for a better look and see where we were "out to lunch" for a while. We can adjust the picture, like getting the camera lens in focus to retake a photo that got blurry. Let's see what awesome possibilities have bubbled up by that time, and clarify the best on offer under the light of February's Full Moon rising on Valentine's Day.