Happy new moon in Aquarius and Chinese New Year!

Hello dear readers! Today there is such a lot of planetary activity going on as we celebrate the new moon in Aquarius, a solar eclipse and the Chinese New year!

Whichever house in our natal charts the solar eclipse falls, will be triggered for the purpose of healing and growth and will provide focus in our lives for the next five months. Mine falls in the 10th house which means I need to focus on balancing the demands of my career or public life with the needs of my family and private life.

It’s time to practise self-nurturance. If you nurture yourself, then you have found the key to freedom, as you no longer need to rely on anyone else. Instead, you can find your true self-identity, learn how to develop true self-confidence and channel any rebelliousness within you into concern for bettering our society.

With this new moon, comes your chance to make a contribution to humanity and to make the world a better place.

This is a positive time to take a view at the bigger picture in life as you will feel more integrated and connected with the world at large. By changing yourself you influence change upon the world – every thought and action you take has an effect on the planet and all the people on it.

This is the new moon to step out of dream land, face reality and to seek the visionary within who will not be held back by the inner voice that harps, “I can’t……..”. All too often, “I can’t…..” means “I won’t……”, but the energies of the Aquarius new moon craves freedom and independence; anything that stands in the way of this has to go!

This is the time also to get involved with a group that supports some of your life values in order that the power of your collectiveness can make radical and profound changes to society. The Aquarius energy is very humanitarian and people often come together to fight for justice for the masses.

Ritual provides very powerful symbols which speak to the body, mind and soul.

Ritual for moon in Aquarius
taken from Donna Cunningham’s Moon Signs book

Think of something special about yourself, some way you are making a contribution to the world. It need not be an exalted contribution, because even your daily work serves the growth of humanity in some way. See how your work, or some facet of your life, interconnects with the lives of uncounted others, the vast majority are known to you. Visualise yourself holding the hands of people on either side of you. A link in the human chain spanning the whole world. End with the affirmation “I affirm my oneness with the human community.”

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I love so many things about the celebrations for the Chinese New Year. I live in a country where the true meaning of many of our Christian festivals have been all but lost in an exercise of excessive consumerism.

The Chinese new year does not happen on the same date every year. It is celebrated on the second new moon after the winter solstice. Following the rhythms of nature feels so much more fluid and aligned than following a man made calender with meaningless dates.

The Chinese consider their New Year as everyone’s birthday, a day on which all start a new life and bury the past. They believe that everyone in China becomes a year older and steps into a new life of hope, prosperity and happiness.

The celebrations for the Chinese new year last fifteen days until the full moon when children parade towns and villages at night time with lanterns.

The first day celebrations of the Chinese New Year are by “welcoming of the gods of the heavens and earth.”

Today then, why not take a few moments to look through your life and decide what needs to be released. Call upon God / Goddess / the Angels / The Universe to help you.

Any old habits, thought patterns or behaviours that no longer serve you can be looked at, given thanks for the lessons learned and let go of through simple ritual.

Many people go without meat on the first day of the Chinese New Year because it is believed that this will ensure long and happy lives for them. You could create a simple vegetarian meal in honour of the Chinese new year to share with your family. During the new moon, the body’s powers of detoxification are at its greatest, so this is the ideal day to eat simply and with reverence anyway.

You have the power of the new moon, the solar eclipse and the Chinese new year with you to make real change today. Have a wonderful day!