Lunations à la Linda

By Maria Barron

The Moon is the emotional, ever-changing feminine symbol of the zodiac, going through her phases each month to mark our days. Sun Signs author Linda Goodman, a volatile woman herself, believed a New Moon would make its presence known.

The Sun moves only one zodiac sign each month, while the Moon makes a full circuit of all 12 signs in the same amount of time. Each monthly Moon cycle begins when the Moon reaches the same degree in space as the Sun. During that conjunction, we Earthlings can’t see the Sun’s light reflecting from the lunar surface, and so there is no visible Moon. This is the lunation, our New Moon.

The days surrounding each monthly lunation are traditionally a time for new beginnings, a “seed-planting” time in the cycle of the Moon - a cycle that reaches a swift, symbolic harvest a couple of weeks later when the Moon is halfway around the sky and full. In astrological symbolism, the conjunction of Father Sun and Mother Moon at the time of the New Moon poetically suggests conception, the early, invisible creation process that grows to fruition with the proper care.

The seeds planted in tune with the New Moon influence will, of course, need to mature in their own time, and results won’t necessarily show at the very next Full Moon! But if you want your hair to grow long quickly, Linda recommended the traditional wisdom that you get a trim at the time of a New Moon. If you would rather have it grow more slowly, get it cut under when the Moon is full.

A New Moon affects everyone pretty much the same way, except that Moon-ruled Cancer natives are affected more deeply at every New and Full Moon than any other sign, Linda wrote in an astrological calendar she published for 1990. The influence of each New Moon can be felt for two to three days before the exact lunation and for two to three days afterward, she wrote. The kind of influence each lunation will have depends upon the sign it occurs in, which each month will be the same sign as the one the Sun is in.

New Moons of this New Cycle of the Zodiac

In April, when the Aries Sun marks a new beginning and a new astrological year, it’s a good time to make note of the timing and character of the lunations of the next 12 months - and ponder how best to tune in with their energy. The time of each exact lunation is in Universal Time, which is Greenwich Mean Time expressed in the 24-hour clock format. The interpretations are Linda Goodman’s descriptions of each New Moon.

Aries: April 1, 2003, at 19:19 UT
An Aries New Moon is a favorable period for tossing away no longer useful situations and initiating new beginnings, a time for strong positive action and speech (I said strong and positive, not impulsive!) - for improving the appearance of face and body, wishing on stars and aggressively pursuing goals and ideals.

Taurus: May 1, 2003, at 12:15 UT
A Taurus New Moon is a favorable period for making plans to purchase real estate, improving the home, becoming involved in musical projects, spending time in the country and working on the removal of stubbornness from the personality, in other words, attempting to become more flexible. It’s also a period when patience will have successful results.

Gemini: May 31, 2003, at 4:20 UT
A Gemini New Moon is a favorable time for initiating or completing writing projects, hiring agents or representatives, considering the signing of agreements, making plans for short trips, purchasing a car and talking socially with friends, neighbors and siblings. A Gemini New Moon also brings with it a warning to avoid arguments about “lying” or deception and to be on guard against “fast talkers” who misrepresent matters. A good time for salesmanship of all kinds.

Cancer: June 29, 2003, at 18:39 UT
A Cancer New Moon is a favorable time for planning travel, contacting parents or children, adopting or planning a baby, making plans for establishing savings accounts, dining out with family or friends, solidifying cash assets and making repairs to the residence.

Leo: July 29, 2003, at 6:53 UT
A Leo New Moon is a favorable period for generous giving of gifts, time or money to those in need, for contacting someone deeply loved or initiating a warm and loving relationship with one of the opposite sex, reaching out toward a new or an old love, becoming involved in television, film or the theatre and dealing with children or young people.

Virgo: August 27, 2003, at 17:26 UT
A Virgo New Moon is a favorable period for adopting pets, all activities connected with hospitals, healing and nursing, for hiring employees and purchasing new clothing - an excellent time to analyze various aspects of your life with a critical eye for improvement - but stifle any urges to be super-critical of others. Live and let live. Respect habits and behavior different from your own and remember that “the recognition and tolerance of imperfection is perfection.” This is not always, but frequently, a favorable time to apply for salaried employment.

Libra: September 26, 2003, at 3:09 UT
A New Moon in Libra is a favorable period for reconciling differences between two people, making marriage or business partnership plans and dealing with the police or the public.

Scorpio: October 25, 2003, at 12:50 UT
The effect of a New Moon in Scorpio is mysterious and occasionally profound. The matters emphasized during this four-to-six-day period of a Scorpio New Moon will be one or more of the following: religion, drugs or alcohol, hypnosis, reincarnation, regeneration, situations symbolized by the phoenix rising from its own ashes, extreme loyalty to or from friends, lovers or relatives, birth and death affairs, wills, inheritance, money belonging to the mate or business partner, deep meditation, silence and an urge to draw within, a temptation to seek revenge, which should be resisted, and a desire to solve major or minor mysteries, to probe into secrets on either a mundane earth level or a mystical level. A favorable period for playing Sherlock Holmes successfully.

Sagittarius: November 23, 2003, at 22:59 UT
A Sagittarius New Moon is a favorable time to make plans for higher learning, overseas travel, contacts with those of foreign birth, legal agreements or contracts and publishing matters.

Capricorn: December 23, 2003, at 9:43 UT
A Capricorn New Moon is a favorable period for dealing with older or more conventional people, for making stable plans for financial security, handling government matters and initiating contact with the father or employer.

Aquarius: January 21, 2004, at 21:05 UT
An Aquarian New Moon is a favorable period for shopping for antiques, renewing old friendships or making new ones, initiating plans for important changes too long postponed, applying for honors and recognition of one’s achievements (or receiving them), studying scientific subjects and inventing new and unique ideas and concepts.

Pisces: February 20, 2004, at 9:18 UT
A Pisces New Moon is a favorable period for spiritual meditation, healing one’s own self or others from illness, making plans involving entertainment, especially singing, dancing or poetry … and making miracles!

Full Moons of the Next 12 Months

When the Moon is full, Linda said in the calendar, people who are Sun Sign natives of the sign where the Full Moon appears will find themselves particularly full of the type of mental, emotional and physical energy that characterizes their sign. An Aries will feel very Arian in the four to six days around an Aries Full Moon. A Pisces will feel very Piscean when the Full Moon is in her sign. The Full Moons of this turn of the wheel are as follows:

• April 16, 2003, at 19:36 UT in Libra.
• May 16, 2003, at 3:36 UT in Scorpio.
• June 14, 2003, at 11:16 UT in Sagittarius.
• July 13, 2003, at 19:21 UT in Capricorn.
• August 12, 2003, at 4:48 UT in Aquarius.
• September 10, 2003, at 16:36 UT in Pisces.
• October 10, 2003, at 7:27 UT in Aries.
• November 9, 2003, at 1:13 UT in Taurus.
• December 8, 2003, at 20:37 UT in Gemini.
• January 7, 2004, at 15:40 UT in Cancer.
• February 6, 2004, at 8:47 UT in Leo.
• March 6, 2004, at 23:14 UT in Virgo.

Of all the heavenly bodies considered in astrology, the Moon is the only one whose changes are obvious, night after night, to our unaided eyesight. Keeping an eye on the Moon’s phases, and noticing when she has turned out her light to merge and recharge within the circle of the Sun, can remind us to try something new each month, to dream up a new dream and plant some seeds.