New Moon Resolutions

12.30.05


Whenever a New Moon comes around, we have a golden opportunity to pledge ourselves to a specific future effort.

And when the New Moon falls so close to New Year's, it's like an embossed invitation from the cosmos to pull together a resolution or two… to commit to beginning, again and/or for the first time. Hell, if you can make it last for 28 days or so (the length of one lunar cycle), then maybe you can stretch it through the entire 365.

Today's (Fri Dec 30) New Moon occurs in Capricorn, the oh-so-strategic authoritarian of the zodiac. All the astrology books apply the word 'ambitious' to describe Capricorn… and often go on to get it wrong by assuming ambition implies a carnivorous aptitude for business (as in six-figure salaries and corner offices). Too specific, says astrobarry.

Ambition, in a pure Capricorn context, means (1) taking accurate stock, painstakingly so if need be, of where you are now, (2) establishing a high vision for where you'd like to be later, and (3) making step-by-step plans for how to get from here to there. It's not about pie-in-the-sky fantasies, instant gratification or half-assed attempts to succeed. Instead, it's a sober amalgam of patient perseverance and unmitigated material desire. Capricorn builds things, over time, for future benefit.

An added advantage of this Cap New Moon is its trine to eternally-in-Taurus Mars, the frustratingly tortoise-like thorn in our recent side. After spending two months retrograde, Mars is slowly creeping out from his shadow. And on the occasion of the New Moon, he's decided to play nicely and lend some bullish support. (Saturn, however, still insists on being a stinker… but why dwell on that?) With the Mars-in-Taurus trine, our New Moon aspirations receive an added dose of practicality and persistence.

Also, Mercury and Pluto come together in saucy Sagittarius, setting a scene for fast-talkin' bomb-dropping… whether we're intending to or not. Caution: People may finally say more of what they mean, without mincing words or pausing for breath. And caution: We may or may not like what we hear. But clearing the air will help in the longer-term, even if it stings in the moment. Take that as inspiration to blurt aloud your secret feelings and beliefs—the act of speaking it is one step closer to actually living it.

To aid you in making the most of the new-year New Moon, I'm including a link to FutureMe.org, a site designed to allow users to send emails to their future selves. Sign up free, then set the date when you want to hear from 'the old you' (who is currently 'the current you')… and type yourself a letter. It's a perfect way to concretize your resolutions, release the intention out into the ethers and forget about it. With Capricorn the ruling influence, the more physically real you structure your strategy, the better. And thanks to FutureMe.org, you won't have to rifle through your drawers to find that scrap of paper on which you scribbled those commitments to yourself—you'll get them automatically sent to you.

If you've already missed the New Moon (because you've been too busy partying away the remnants of '05 or waiting in line at post-Christmas sales), don't fret. That's no excuse to sidestep the chance to pin down your hopes for the upcoming months. New Moon resolutions continue to hold weight a few days following the exact lunation, as the Moon's light waxes from invisible to crescent.

Forethought is a dense seed full of potential energy… plant it in the cold dark soil, and you just might find a tree growing in that same spot a few years from now.