Pisces New Moon: Born Anew

The world took a collective gasp last week when volunteer rescuers pulled a two-month-old baby from the rubble of the catastrophic earthquake in Antakya, Turkey. The poor tyke had been trapped for 128 hours – over five days! – underground. Dusty and hungry but otherwise unharmed, the little boy with the limpid grey eyes immediately became a viral sensation. Beaming from ear to ear after a bath and lunch, the “miracle baby” is a symbol of hope in the aftermath of a tragic event that killed tens of thousands.

But why was this child one of the fortunate few? Two months ago when he was born, sometime in the first half of December, lucky Jupiter in miracle-making Pisces was sextile underworld lord Pluto in Capricorn. This magical aspect seems to have bestowed the stamina to survive entombment and come out the other side – a true shamanic journey. And on February 11, the day he was rescued, media-loving Mercury joined Pluto at the tail end of earthy Capricorn, then popped out into the fresh air and freedom of Aquarius.

As I looked at the chart for the upcoming Pisces New Moon (Feb. 19, 11:06 p.m. PT), I saw that it, too, reflects this sense of being washed clean and born anew. The Sun and Moon join at the first degree of Pisces, conveying a fresh energy of faith and hope. Still, Pisces is the last sign of the zodiac, the place where we come to rest and complete things, and may also bring despair or confusion. But miraculous things can happen – sometimes at the eleventh hour. Also, Venus is at the final degree of her exaltation in Pisces before she leaps into fiery Aries on Feb. 20, which suggests that certain matters regarding love, relating, money, self-worth and possessions are completing now and are primed for a fresh start.

Saturn at 28 Aquarius is very close to this New Moon at 1 Pisces, lending gravitas. Saturn reminds us of the need for limits and boundaries, which isn’t always easy with watery Pisces involved. At the March 7 Full Moon, which brings the current New Moon cycle to a head, Saturn will slide into Pisces for the next two-and-a-half years. This transit, which last occurred from 1993 to 1996, often brings a striving for transcendence or escapism. The tech revolution was in full swing. The Celestine Prophecy was a big hit, and an opiate crisis was afoot. In an earlier cycle of Saturn in Pisces in 1935, Alcoholics Anonymous was born. Here was a practical (Saturn) program for addressing addiction using faith-based practices (Pisces).

Saturn is challenged to find its footing in the shifting sands of Pisces. We must learn to trust our inner guidance, to develop more reliance on the intuitive left brain rather than the logical right brain. In her seminal book Saturn, a New Look at an Old Devil, Liz Greene says of this placement that there can be pain, endings and sacrifices – but also the potential for a mystical marriage with one’s soul. We must die to be reborn in group consciousness, she adds, thereby satisfying the demand to submit to something larger than ourselves. She advises committing to a spiritual practice so we can cultivate inner peace.

In these revolutionary times, with both Saturn and Pluto changing signs next month, one thing is certain: We will have many opportunities to develop more compassion for ourselves and others. As daunting as it may feel, we can commit (Saturn) to acts of true brotherly love and charity (Pisces). You just never know what wonders you may be able to save from the wreckage, as those exhausted rescuers discovered when they pulled that miracle baby from the rubble and gave him a second chance at life.