THE NEW MOON
A fair number of astrologers believe that the day of the new moon each month is a power day that can be accessed to change or improve your life. Some astrologers liken these days to 'wishing' days - in which the correct wish, expressed in the correct way, has the power to come true. Others look at the two week period after the new moon as a time to sow seeds that can be later reaped for favorable results. The metaphors some use are those of 'birth' or 'newness', 'fresh start', or even simply increased focus on the sign and house where the new moon falls.
You may use whatever metaphor or conception that suits you, but let's look for a moment at the astrological symbolism to get an idea how the new moon presents a special opportunity each month. Roughly speaking, the moon represents the subconscious mind, and the sun the conscious one. The sun also symbolically represents the driving force of our daily lives.
The moon, however, works at night, reflecting on the activities of the day, attempting to integrate them, understand them, to see how we can resolve potential conflicts they generate. The moon represents the power engine that underlies our conscious thought, the machine that is always humming beneath the surface of our lives, generating the energy that fuels us, keeping us going. When the subconscious and conscious minds are in conflict (astrologically, when the sun and moon are in conflict), the subconscious always has the upper hand, inconvenient and illogical as that may seem from time to time. All of our conscious attempts to lose weight, for example, can be sabotaged by a subconscious association between weight and safety. The Moon represents our needs, the Sun our wants. And when our needs come into conflict with our wants, the primacy of need usually wins, somehow or another.
The magic of the new moon is that for one day each month - the sun and the moon are on exactly the same page. This is not the normal state of affairs astrologically, and it isn't the normal state of affairs in human life. Balancing the relationship between our wants and needs, conscious and subconscious minds, our drive to do and our craving to reflect and find meaning is an ongoing process, dynamic, always in flux. It is normal for every person to experience a continuing range of compromises and adjustments in dealing with both needs and wants. It is, in fact, so normal, that many of us take it for granted and don't give it a second thought.
For one day each month, however, both the moon and the sun are willing to get together and have a brief conversation about how wants and needs can be merged, how the subconscious and conscious minds can work together. This is a great thing! It does indeed represent a wonderful opportunity.
Here's how you might take advantage of it: On the day of the new moon each month, allow yourself to experience the full intensity of your biggest or most immediate want. Perhaps it is as simple as the desire for a sexy new car - or an overarching desire to succeed in your career. Just allow yourself to feel how much you want it. That night, take fifteen minutes to allow your subsconscious to reflect on and talk to you about that want. What does it feel like, what are the hesitations, doubts, and fears, what need does it represent? You may write out your thoughts, or think quietly to yourself.
This is an important step. It wouldn't be a want or a wish if you had already fulfilled it! Since you haven't, there must be something blocking that fulfillment. The moon, the subconscious, is the key to finding out what that block is. Your conscious mind may tell you the reason you don't have a sexy new car is because you don't have the money right now. Your subconscious mind may tell you it's because your family will ostracize you if you become a sexy new person instead of the responsible, self-denying, practical car driving person they expect.
Ask your subconscious and conscious minds what they would like to do about fulfilling your wish. Your Sun may say - now that it knows what the problem is - let the family adjust. Knowing you'll probably get some flack, just be prepared to deal with it. Your Moon might say - wouldn't it feel so good to see that sexy symbol of your sexy, confident inner self sitting in the driveway.
Now that you know what's at stake with this particular wish, your Sun can go off and do it's business of calculating out how you are going to pay for this car, and your moon can on about it's business of reminding you that you need to validate yourself as a sexy, deserving person sometimes. The sun can help deal with the moon's fear of alienating family members, and the moon can help give the sun the motivation it needs to take the actions that will meet your needs. Perhaps you don't need a car at all - perhaps you need to adjust your relationships with your family members. The two luminaries working together can help you figure this sort of thing out.
This is something all of us should do anyway. Taking 15 minutes once a month to problem-solve and take stock of our desires is something any success guru can tell you is the minimum investment you should make in your future. Your Sun can take you many places - but none of them will be worth visiting unless they meet the needs of your moon as well.
FULL MOON
The new moon is the time each month when the sun and the moon (conscious and subconscious minds) are the same page. The full moon is the time each month when they are on the opposite page! Your willpower tells you to do one thing, while your subconscious mind wants to do exactly the opposite.
This element of friction has given rise to a lot of speculation about various full moon effects on mental ward admissions and other minor upsets. This doesn't bear out statistically. Most of the time, for most people, the full moon doesn't have very much effect. In fact, the moon's influence on the earth is only slightly increased at the time of the full moon. On occasion, this slight increase can be enough to tip the balance and lead to a shake-up for an individual person, or even a flood of emotions. But this happens quite rarely really, and it happens only when there is pre-existing stress or strain in a person's chart (and life) that needs to be released.
In general, the full moon is associated astrologically with things like culmination, fullness, endings, and emotions. This may or may not be true in each individual case, but there's a fun way to put the full moon energy to use.
The full moon is related to endings and completion, but it is also related to conflict between the conscious and subconscious desires. And the subconscious wins! So, once each month, put this to work for you. By crossing something off your conscious to-do list. Almost all of us build up a mental bank of things we think we really ought to do but are subconsciously dreading and would rather skip entirely. At the time of the full moon, cross one of those things off your list - and honor the fact that your subconscious feelings don't always line up with your conscious beliefs.
Let's say you feel like you really ought to invite your mother-in-law over for an elegant dinner to show off your new house. But deep down you're dreading it and you even know, intuitively, that she doesn't really want to be impressed by your new house and your hostessing skills - they will only excite a certain envy and desire to criticize. Cross that task off your list - permanently. It wasn't a good idea anyway, although it may have seemed that way at first. She'll come over on a more relaxed occasion and you can all spare yourself an unnecessary ordeal.
Almost everyone has at least one thing each month they can cross off their list of imaginary obligations. You can check the sign and house positions of each full moon for an idea kit of what you may be able to rid yourself of during each particular month.
If you can get yourself in the habit of deleting one unnecessary to-do item each month, the full moon will start to become a real treat. A way of indulging and honoring that occasionally grumpy, but very useful and necessary mechanism inside us that wants to avoid what's not emotionally fulfilling anyway. And everything we get rid of that doesn't serve us leaves a little more room for joy.
A fair number of astrologers believe that the day of the new moon each month is a power day that can be accessed to change or improve your life. Some astrologers liken these days to 'wishing' days - in which the correct wish, expressed in the correct way, has the power to come true. Others look at the two week period after the new moon as a time to sow seeds that can be later reaped for favorable results. The metaphors some use are those of 'birth' or 'newness', 'fresh start', or even simply increased focus on the sign and house where the new moon falls.
You may use whatever metaphor or conception that suits you, but let's look for a moment at the astrological symbolism to get an idea how the new moon presents a special opportunity each month. Roughly speaking, the moon represents the subconscious mind, and the sun the conscious one. The sun also symbolically represents the driving force of our daily lives.
The moon, however, works at night, reflecting on the activities of the day, attempting to integrate them, understand them, to see how we can resolve potential conflicts they generate. The moon represents the power engine that underlies our conscious thought, the machine that is always humming beneath the surface of our lives, generating the energy that fuels us, keeping us going. When the subconscious and conscious minds are in conflict (astrologically, when the sun and moon are in conflict), the subconscious always has the upper hand, inconvenient and illogical as that may seem from time to time. All of our conscious attempts to lose weight, for example, can be sabotaged by a subconscious association between weight and safety. The Moon represents our needs, the Sun our wants. And when our needs come into conflict with our wants, the primacy of need usually wins, somehow or another.
The magic of the new moon is that for one day each month - the sun and the moon are on exactly the same page. This is not the normal state of affairs astrologically, and it isn't the normal state of affairs in human life. Balancing the relationship between our wants and needs, conscious and subconscious minds, our drive to do and our craving to reflect and find meaning is an ongoing process, dynamic, always in flux. It is normal for every person to experience a continuing range of compromises and adjustments in dealing with both needs and wants. It is, in fact, so normal, that many of us take it for granted and don't give it a second thought.
For one day each month, however, both the moon and the sun are willing to get together and have a brief conversation about how wants and needs can be merged, how the subconscious and conscious minds can work together. This is a great thing! It does indeed represent a wonderful opportunity.
Here's how you might take advantage of it: On the day of the new moon each month, allow yourself to experience the full intensity of your biggest or most immediate want. Perhaps it is as simple as the desire for a sexy new car - or an overarching desire to succeed in your career. Just allow yourself to feel how much you want it. That night, take fifteen minutes to allow your subsconscious to reflect on and talk to you about that want. What does it feel like, what are the hesitations, doubts, and fears, what need does it represent? You may write out your thoughts, or think quietly to yourself.
This is an important step. It wouldn't be a want or a wish if you had already fulfilled it! Since you haven't, there must be something blocking that fulfillment. The moon, the subconscious, is the key to finding out what that block is. Your conscious mind may tell you the reason you don't have a sexy new car is because you don't have the money right now. Your subconscious mind may tell you it's because your family will ostracize you if you become a sexy new person instead of the responsible, self-denying, practical car driving person they expect.
Ask your subconscious and conscious minds what they would like to do about fulfilling your wish. Your Sun may say - now that it knows what the problem is - let the family adjust. Knowing you'll probably get some flack, just be prepared to deal with it. Your Moon might say - wouldn't it feel so good to see that sexy symbol of your sexy, confident inner self sitting in the driveway.
Now that you know what's at stake with this particular wish, your Sun can go off and do it's business of calculating out how you are going to pay for this car, and your moon can on about it's business of reminding you that you need to validate yourself as a sexy, deserving person sometimes. The sun can help deal with the moon's fear of alienating family members, and the moon can help give the sun the motivation it needs to take the actions that will meet your needs. Perhaps you don't need a car at all - perhaps you need to adjust your relationships with your family members. The two luminaries working together can help you figure this sort of thing out.
This is something all of us should do anyway. Taking 15 minutes once a month to problem-solve and take stock of our desires is something any success guru can tell you is the minimum investment you should make in your future. Your Sun can take you many places - but none of them will be worth visiting unless they meet the needs of your moon as well.
FULL MOON
The new moon is the time each month when the sun and the moon (conscious and subconscious minds) are the same page. The full moon is the time each month when they are on the opposite page! Your willpower tells you to do one thing, while your subconscious mind wants to do exactly the opposite.
This element of friction has given rise to a lot of speculation about various full moon effects on mental ward admissions and other minor upsets. This doesn't bear out statistically. Most of the time, for most people, the full moon doesn't have very much effect. In fact, the moon's influence on the earth is only slightly increased at the time of the full moon. On occasion, this slight increase can be enough to tip the balance and lead to a shake-up for an individual person, or even a flood of emotions. But this happens quite rarely really, and it happens only when there is pre-existing stress or strain in a person's chart (and life) that needs to be released.
In general, the full moon is associated astrologically with things like culmination, fullness, endings, and emotions. This may or may not be true in each individual case, but there's a fun way to put the full moon energy to use.
The full moon is related to endings and completion, but it is also related to conflict between the conscious and subconscious desires. And the subconscious wins! So, once each month, put this to work for you. By crossing something off your conscious to-do list. Almost all of us build up a mental bank of things we think we really ought to do but are subconsciously dreading and would rather skip entirely. At the time of the full moon, cross one of those things off your list - and honor the fact that your subconscious feelings don't always line up with your conscious beliefs.
Let's say you feel like you really ought to invite your mother-in-law over for an elegant dinner to show off your new house. But deep down you're dreading it and you even know, intuitively, that she doesn't really want to be impressed by your new house and your hostessing skills - they will only excite a certain envy and desire to criticize. Cross that task off your list - permanently. It wasn't a good idea anyway, although it may have seemed that way at first. She'll come over on a more relaxed occasion and you can all spare yourself an unnecessary ordeal.
Almost everyone has at least one thing each month they can cross off their list of imaginary obligations. You can check the sign and house positions of each full moon for an idea kit of what you may be able to rid yourself of during each particular month.
If you can get yourself in the habit of deleting one unnecessary to-do item each month, the full moon will start to become a real treat. A way of indulging and honoring that occasionally grumpy, but very useful and necessary mechanism inside us that wants to avoid what's not emotionally fulfilling anyway. And everything we get rid of that doesn't serve us leaves a little more room for joy.
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