New Moon in Aquarius & Mahashivaratri

by Alexis Cox (radhahomeyoga)

The Moon and Sun join for this New Moon on February 19th at 9:06 pm HT (11:06 pm PDT) in Aquarius in the nakshatra Shatabishak. Ruled by Varuna, god of the cosmic waters and the night sky, the dark sun which dips beneath the ocean at night. His name itself means “all enveloping sky”. It is called the star of “a hundred healers,” indicating its capacity to bring healing on a physical, spiritual and social level. It is said that an illness contracted under this star will require a hundred healers to cure it, but a cure found under the same will work the magic of hundred healers. It is also the hundreds of stars in the night sky which see the underbelly of society, the corruption and greed of men, and seeks to rectify the inequality in our world. Here we see the quality of Aquarius that wants to make the future more fair and desires to move away from the old ways, creating a new paradigm on the wings of the mind.  

Saturn is near our Sun & Moon in Aquarius, offering us the practical humility and capacity to commit to our vision. As he is keeping time and reminding us of our limitations, he is also offering us a path to freedom if we are willing to release our attachments to the constructs of this world and move beyond space and time through meditation.

Venus has just moved into Pisces on February 15th, and is joining the ruler, Jupiter. Here, our planet of love and relationships is exalted, in her most high state. This is no ordinary love. Venus in Pisces is the kind of love that expands beyond the lines and rules we have created, beyond the giving and receiving, into the realm of merging with all that is. As such, there is also room for fantasy, projection, and confusion in regular romance. We may idealize, rather than realize, and we can choose to escape the harsher truths of our relationships by bypassing what is right in front of our noses. Jupiter’s conjunction brings us more into our teachings, our wisdom and our highest truths about love, giving us optimism, faith and hope. The two are in Uttarabhadrapada, where we must dive deep into the pain of our emotions, in order to release the sweet nectar of true union.

Mercury in Shravana is reminding us to listen. And to use our words with intention and care.

This New Moon is also the culmination of Maha Shivaratri, the yearly festival celebrating the union of Shiva and Parvati. Every month on the night of the 13th lunar “tithi” of the waning Moon into the 14th, we have a Shivaratri, a “night of Shiva”. Shiva is consciousness itself, and Parvati, the Moon, the Mind and Emotions. When the two come together, we are joining our mind with consciousness, and Right before the Moon goes to dark, is the prime time to meditate. In the month of Phalguna (Feb/March), we have the “Great Night of Shiva” where it is said the position of the Earth on its axis is just so that sitting with our spines erect allows our crown to have the most seamless connection to the cosmos. Given that Saturn is joining this year, we have even more capacity to sit with ourselves and release the suffering we carry with us in our mind. Om Namah Shivaya!