December 30, 2024 The New Moon in Capricorn  Sun and Moon at 9 Degrees                                                                                                             

                     Sun & Moon in 7th

                      (3 degree orb-no aspects!)

         Mercury Trine Chiron; Sun Quincunx Uranus

Welcome to the last moon report of 2024! By all accounts, it has been a hectic, challenging…even a tumultuous year that will bring an almost inevitable shift or change to every area of concern or focus: from self to our society, and from our country, to our larger world!

Most often, as our calendar points us toward the new year, the first new moon is more typically occurring in January, and it usually carries with it a more Saturian/Capricornian sense of seeking stability and security and preparing us for the new year… A wise occurrence this… most of us could use a little more stability and a lesser amount of uncertainty as we head into the new and the unknown of 2025…

However… It will be a new moon in Capricorn, at 9 degrees, and it is unusual in that it has very few aspects aligned with it… IF a Capricornian moon could ever be considered more freewheeling, more untethered from its usual conservative restrictions and rehearsed boundaries, it will be this moon…and its effects could last all week! It will be as contentious and as unpredictable as any could be under the sea-goat influence; Rather than creating any sense of alarm or apprehension, it might act as a disguised blessing…

You see, in our contemporary culture there is the customary, somewhat half-hearted, and often unserious notion that on New Year’s, we are to make our resolutions; to begin to encourage ourselves and others to make any needed or necessary shifts and changes that will be positive and beneficial for our health, careers, relationships…life!

Another contrasting way of looking at resolutions and wanting to make any necessary changes to start the new year, is to evaluate what is and what is not working for you! Lena, of the Shamanic School, provides us with this alternative approach in these words about the upcoming new moon. She writes:

“Also known as the Black Moon, this is a fitting time at the end of the year to set new containers for what you wish to intentionally build for yourself in the coming year. Make a list of what you don’t wish to carry into 2025, if you have not already done so at the time of the solstice. If you acknowledge what you don’t want, it is easier to become clear about what you do. Honor endings, and then take a step to acknowledge some new beginning in your life. Think about the structures that have supported your life up till now. [Ask yourself; What still works, what does not? “ What should I keep? What can I let go or discard?]”

There are other aspects at play… Mars opposes Pluto, and whenever this powerful aspect occurs, it is one that prepares us for explosive or transformative actions and experiences… Not to be an alarmist here, but do check where 2 degrees of Leo is in your chart, and where 1 degree of Aquarius is located; then by careful assessment of its potentials, and the risk of rift and pressurized actions, you can see by house and sign, how best to prepare yourself for a new year that starts with a ….                     Deep awareness of motives and feelings that can prevent a loud bang! Additionally, when we realize that Mars will continue to move back into Cancer this winter, we can expect a return of these tensions when Mars forward motion resumes… So we are now being awaked, and we are now being warned…                                         

This opposition of Mars to Leo will be active and made even more potentially dramatic or far-reaching when the moon moves into Aquarius on the 1st! Happy New Year! There is the distinct possibility that the societal and personal fireworks will extend to the 5th or through to the 6th!

Another important prelude to this new moon is the movement of Chiron….

As a brief review, Chiron’s transit through Aries is the longest stay this “wounded healer” has in any sign during his lengthy orbit and travels. Because of the wide elliptical orbit, it only stays in Libra a short time, and in Aries for the longest stay… Some astrologers have speculated that the extended stay in Aries connects or correlates to the Martian energies or the Arian tendencies toward hypermasculine actions, anger, war etc., and the healer has an enormous task to fulfill!

Author and research group, Astrobutterfly, gives us this reminder of the role and purpose of Chiron. They have concluded this:

“On December 30th, 2024, Chiron goes direct at 19° Aries. Chiron’s change in direction and the New Moon in Capricorn are an invitation to break free from the status quo and do what needs doing. Chiron is often associated with healing, but it’s more than that. Chiron is that dull ache in our soul that questions our narrative, and pushes us to seek something deeper, more meaningful. … The timing of Chiron stationing direct just before the new year couldn’t be more fitting. This is an opportunity to leave the past behind, let go of what 2024 brought, and start again.”

A further discussion of the impact and importance of Chiron in its connection to this new moon comes from astrologer and author Lynn Hayes. She writes:

“The beauty of Chiron, though, is that the emergence of these old wounds can cause permanent healing and the release of old pain which may have taken a lifetime to heal.

This New Moon is supercharged by a tense opposition from retrograde Mars to Pluto. Our needs and desires (Mars) are being challenged by outside forces (Pluto) to test our resolve and the purity of our intentions. It will be important during this New Moon to do some self-examination (Mars in Leo) before moving forward with your plans for the future!”

One last factor or concern that involves Chiron, and that can have a “lead-in” significance to the new moon: Mercury is trine Chiron, and it picks up some additional tensions from the Sun’s quincunx to Uranus… Breaking that down into more workable and energetic pieces, there is an excellent potential for healing and reconciling energies to be present, and for each of us to work through our thoughts and language-how we think and how we express ourselves-so that a reconciliation or a restoration of good communication can occur! The obstacles are willfulness; being stubbornly attached to their ideas, and putting up barriers to understanding because we are using ideas and metaphors that do not synch up with the other person’s awareness… Consider this carefully when we desire to implement interpersonal changes; make sure you are on the same page! 

As a contemplative diversion from astrological language and outlook, and as this is the last moon report of the year 2024, I will conclude by offering some words from the contemporary Christian mystic and author, Thomas Moore. He is best known for his work, Care of The Soul, and The Re-enchantment of Everyday Life. 

He speaks of the necessity to accept and to welcome our personal new moon as places of beginnings AND as places where we can encounter the dark energies, and those persistent forces of fear and other assorted soulful challenges. That place in our awareness or consciousness, mystics have called “The dark night.” Simply, we have to be willing to endure the internal challenges to our sense of sanity and to our sense of sanctity, before we can break through, rise above, and then live out a more spiritually attuned life. Moore writes:

“The dark night is the time for soul work, for strengthening and deepening our character and for discovering wheat it means to live more religiously”

It is in the deep, dark discovery of roots and cellars, the opposite of enlightenment, but are equally important and equally divine. Letting your spark light up a dark and dangerous world is a way of healing both you and your world.”

‘ Nothing could be more precious than a dark night of the soul, the very darkness of which allows your lunar light to shine….”

This summary has been included in another fine collection of pensive articles and provocative ideas recently published by Tom Rapsas, called Wake Up Call-daily insights for the spiritually curious. He graciously took the time to review my books, Seasons of The Soul, which has been a series that have recently ended as daily readings on my Facebook page and on my blog: One-Spirit-Coaching.com. I would recommend his articles and books be added to your reading list!

Celestial Blessings, Peter                                                       Astrologer/Theologian/Life Coach    

One-Spirit-Coaching.com