Planning for Change

Some folks will tell you that the New Moon in Sagittarius is going to be about new ideas, philosophies, and grand schemes. They’ll say take time to recenter optimism in your vision quests. to imbue your future plans with hope. I don’t know about all that but I do know that when something is as close to Saturn as this New Moon is, nothing is ever as simple or as easy as it seems. I think this moon is asking us to do something really weird right now but maybe you’re in a place where it makes perfect sense.

Have you ever been in an argument or a fight with someone you love and deep into the thick of it, you paused, and started laughing at the absurdity of it all? or maybe you’re the type to have a moment of perspective, and soften against the harsh edges conflict. Or maybe you get a chance to return to your body during a break and your whole position changes. Often in these moments of pause or relief we find better strategies for working out conflicts. Sometimes we choose to go with those options and sometimes we double up on our doubts and push through.

I think this moon is like those moments. Our adrenaline drops, we catch our breath, and we see the world differently. We may have entered the arena really knowing what we were fighting for and how we were going to win but sometimes you don’t know what to expect until it actually happens.

It’s hard to describe this alchemical moment of being fiercely engaged – whether it be working yourself to a point of constant sickness, being wildly in denial about a relationship gone bad, or resisting someone else’s demands on your future  – and having to dramatically shift perspective. This is a good thing. In this “eye of the storm” we are offered the option of personal responsibility. We own ourselves and many of us are fortunate to also own our body, our life, our present and future. Taking responsibility for ourselves is taking ownership, claiming our time, our heart, our head.

The New Moon, Saturn, Venus, and Mercury (who is still retrograde) are all gathered together in this dark winter night. Saturn has a very special way of laying just the right amount of pressure for you to build up the strength necessary for what is in store for you next. We either rise to the occasion or get crushed. Venus, on the other side of the New Moon, is social, interpersonal vibrations, and that special thing we call chemistry that brings us together and inspires loyalty for one another. This is why I brought up the fight scene earlier. Now, I don’t know if you are brawlin, bawlin, or just avoiding people altogether right now but I’ll tell you what, you are still in relationship with yourself and those voices in your head are not going to stop arguing by themselves.

Mercury is retrograde, which means hella shit, but right now it’s about not only getting your story straight – but knowing that stories are flexible. For example, you all know someone that, believed their ex was the love supreme but after the break up they retroactively went back and told a completely different story. What if I told you both those narratives they told were true? To realize the difference between then and now isn’t exactly rewriting history, right? It’s experiencing the outcome of change, and change changes you. This is highlighted by Uranus in Aries forming a silky aspect to all those planets I just mentioned and introducing disruption, unforeseen consequences, and ultimately… change.

So you may be asking, OK Diego, so what can I do if I need to get my story straight but everything changes all the time? What is this story anyway? Your story is your life and how you tell it. Our personal narratives are guided by our feelings, choices and circumstances. We cannot change the past and we cannot always change our circumstances so in efforts to claim our narrative we can and center the questions of what we think is a worthy purpose and how can we realize it moving forward. For some folks it’s getting food on the table and recovering from a recent trauma. For others, dreams of the destruction of the carceral system. For many it’s both.

Saturn in Sagittarius has been finding life and purpose under oppression. It’s focusing power has made our pleasure intentional and made our work need meaning. The New Moon is escorting Saturn out of Sagittarius and into Capricorn and is creating a significant opportunity to access the wisdom of change, potential, and planning through deliberate and even meditative audacity. Change is inevitable. Think of the world thirty, or even twenty years ago. Who knew that this would be the world we would be living in? Who hoped for it? Who planned for it?  Take a quiet moment outside tangling obligations and conflicts of the day, drink some water, and let your adrenaline drop. What seeds are you planting for tomorrow? Are you asking for change to accommodate your fear? Survival is real and this is a priority especially for marginalized people. You deserve to live without fear of violence. When you’ve answered that, if you can, ask again but differently, What will you change to accommodate your life?

 

 

*** Art By Inés Ixierda, queer, disabled Bolivian bruja. Check out their etsy shop here.