There’s a dark moon rising in the sign of the avant-garde alien.
On Friday, Feb. 9, at 5:59 p.m. EST, the new moon will arrive at 20 degrees of Aquarius, inviting us all to fly our proverbial freak flags high with the express purpose of progress.
The new moon in Aquarius coincides with Lunar New Year celebrations around the world.
Learn more about the Chinese zodiac here and read our health and wealth predictions for your sign as we enter the snap-crackle-pop year of the Wood Dragon.
A new moon transpires when the celestial object aligns with the sun and is no longer visible from our vantage on Earth. Thus, the new moon always falls in the zodiac sign the sun is currently moving through.
This alignment offers the opportunity to plan, plant and plot as our inner selves (moon) are closest to our outward expressions (sun).
The objective? Fade to black — then build it back better.
This week that opportunity takes shape, or pitcher, in the high-minded sign of Aquarius.
New moons are always a time of new beginnings but never is that energy more pronounced than in the sign of fresh to death Aquarius, which offers the gift of objectivity and the satellite vantage of the wisened outsider.
The electric potential (band name) of this new moon is amplified by Pluto, the planet of seismic shifts, and change as the afterbirth of chaos, moving into the airy climes of Aquarius last month. Aquarius is the sign of community, of the collective, of the commitment to higher consciousness; coupled with the burn-it-to-the-ground energy of Pluto, it’s forward momentum, and freedom for all … or else.
Bear in mind that Aquarius is governed by two very different luminaries: structured, time-worshipping Saturn and incendiary, shock-and-awe Uranus.
While these planets seem almost oppositional at first glance, they are both connected to and concerned with boundaries; Saturn with the edge, the container, the dividing line, and Uranus with all that steps over it and fights beyond it, the match lit from that rumble strip, if you will.
‘It is our destiny to be born beautiful into an ugly age.’
Henry Rollins
Together, they create the archetype of the constructive agitator who understands, as my friend Jonny sings, that freedom takes discipline.
Double Aquairus (sun and moon) crew-cut livewire and straight-edge punk priest Henry Rollins crystallizes the Aquarius experience when he writes, “It is our destiny to be born beautiful into an ugly age.”
To his point and under these skies, we are all water bearers and our collective responsibility is to take the beauty we hold individually and wield it in service of the transfiguration of our shared and shattered world — an equation of ego subtracted so that mutual benefit might be multiplied.
Sitting opposite Leo on the zodiac wheel, Aquarius is the antithesis of bravado, prone to deflection and suspicious of aggrandizement. If Leo is the sun that must shine, Aquarius is the distant star looking down and through but ever from the outside.
This lens lends Aquarius the ability to see and respond to the bigger picture; forest through the trees so to speak.
And speak they do, as cardinal air, the energy of Aquarius is compelled to call out, hold accountable — and oust accordingly.
We see this come-correct modality in Aquarius regent Megan Thee Stallion, who let Nicki Minaj know what is not welcome in the wave of the future.
Aquarius rules the 11th house of community and feeds on the disparate and the strange; their ideal dinner party looks like the land of misfit toys where there is no common ground and thus everything to learn.
Aquarius understands that when no one is comfortable and no obvious connection is present, conversations take on a different frequency, and something dynamic is left in the wake of the predictable.
The etymology of the word empty comes from the Greek adeios, meaning ‘freedom from fear.’
Symbolized by the mythical water bearer, this new moon and this season at large stand for washing/purging/pouring out the past to make room in our metaphorical vessels for all manner of newness — an empty cup inviting a limitless future.
Apropos, the etymology of the word empty leads us to the Greek adeios, meaning “freedom from fear.”
The Aquarius glyph of stacked waves can also be understood as two currents of electricity. Get turned on: switch the breaker for breakthroughs and be struck smart by flashes of insight and inspiration.
If we become the conduit, what charge can we find and what change can we make? In the words of my illuminating, water-bearing colleague Hannah Sparks: “Stay lofty,” folks.
Pour out, shine on, and keep one eye on the chrome glint of tomorrow.
Astrologer Reda Wigle researches and irreverently reports back on planetary configurations and their effect on each zodiac sign. Her horoscopes integrate history, poetry, pop culture and personal experience. She is also an accomplished writer who has profiled a variety of artists and performers, as well as extensively chronicled her experiences while traveling. Among the many intriguing topics she has tackled are cemetery etiquette, her love for dive bars, Cuban Airbnbs, a “girls guide” to strip clubs and the “weirdest” foods available abroad.