October- New Moon
The new moon will occur on Saturday, October 10, at 18:49 a.m. PDT. It will be aligned with the constellation Virgo (sidereal astrology).
Virgo is an earth sign that inspires us to focus on the practical and to bring our ideals and projects to fruition. It’s also a time to organize, sort, do a deep clean, and get rid of unnecessary and cluttering items. This process feels truly good, and you’ll experience a sense of lightness and liberation from the past. This constellation is also linked to healing, making it a good time to improve our health, adopt a new routine, or undergo therapeutic treatments… Finally, for those who garden, this new moon is favorable for fall sowing, pruning trees and shrubs, harvesting, and food preservation.
In astrology, Virgo is associated with the Sacred Feminine, and in India, this new moon marks the beginning of Navaratri—the nine days honoring the Divine Mother and her various aspects—which will take place this year from October 11 to 20. This festival celebrates rebirth and the victory of light over darkness. It is a time to celebrate the feminine principle and all that it represents: the right hemisphere of the brain, intuition, creativity, feelings, emotions, and multidimensionality.
The new moon will occur in the lunar constellation (nakshatra) of the Crow, known as Hasta in Vedic astrology. It is symbolized by five stars shaped like hands and is said to be auspicious for any activity involving the hands (crafts, art, massage, etc.). It is akin to the Magician in the Tarot, who stands before an infinite array of possibilities and holds all the keys to creating his own reality.
The new moon will be in opposition to retrograde Saturn in Pisces, which may make us feel somewhat melancholic, pessimistic, and hypersensitive—especially with Mars and Jupiter in Cancer, another water sign.
Venus continues its retrograde motion until November 13. This is a time to turn inward, to reflect on past and unresolved relationships, to revisit the things that are dear to our hearts, to reassess how we experience our relationships, and to identify the adjustments that need to be made.
There’s intensity in the air over the next few months: October marks Pluto’s return to direct motion, which can bring a form of catharsis, and, until mid-July, Jupiter will wander between two constellations, in a place called the “karmic knot to be untied.” This can bring about karmic cleansing—especially regarding ancestral and transgenerational karma—as well as sudden upheavals, both within ourselves and in the world. Happy New Moon to everyone!