New Moon in Aquarius

It’s time for something new. It’s time to be bold. It’s time to fall in love with the energy of revolution because what is a revolution if not the love for the collective standing against the cold-heartedness of the few?

This is the energy of February 9th’s New Moon in Aquarius as well as the vibe given by the relationship between the planets Venus (love) and Uranus (rebellion) propping each other up. We must make drastic changes in the pursuit of freedom and equality both personally and communally. We must look at our own lives as well as what’s going on across the globe and ask ourselves: Where do we need to be watered? What in our lives do we want to grow? To what do we want to give life?

Aquarius is known as “the cup barer.” The mythology goes that one day Zeus was on the top of Mount Olympus, and he looked down onto a field where he saw a young Ganymede laying in the grass. Zeus was so infatuated with him that he turned himself into a large eagle, swooped down, grabbed Ganymede in his talons and carried him back to his home at the top of the mountain. Zeus made Ganymede the cup barer for the gods, meaning that he was responsible for refilling their glasses of water or wine when they had been drank empty (which was often).
One day, Ganymede looked back down to Earth and saw that the people were suffering because they had no water and therefore could not sustain life. In quite a rebellious act (I mean, who is a mortal to ask anything of a god?), Ganymede asked Zeus if he could pour some water down to the suffering mortals, and Zeus gave his permission. With this, Ganymede gave humanity its first taste of rain. He also showed that taking risks in the name of the collective is a worthy task.

Given that Aquarius is an air sign, it is curious that the mythology surrounding it has to do so much with water. To make sense of this, we must acknowledge the vantage point from which Ganymede was able to see the suffering. It was not when he was on the same level of it — in it — but rather when he was outside of it, way up in the sky.
In Astrology, air is the element that allows for clear sight. Rather than being trapped in the thick-of-it, Aquarius stands outside of the situation enough that it can see the whole picture. While on Earth, Ganymede may have thought that only he and his village were suffering, but from way up in the Heavens, he could see clearly that his suffering was part of a much broader pain that was effecting all of humanity. While in it, he couldn’t see what was needed. Once outside of it, the solution to the problem was clear.
The air (distance) allowed him to see the totality of the problem. The water (emotional truth and depth) was the nourishment needed.

Can we step outside of our own personal suffering enough to see where we could make a difference for others? Truthfully, sometimes the answer is no. Sometimes our suffering is so great that even getting out of bed requires all of our strength. But more often than not, we are indulging in a form of hardship that is actually quite petty and only possible because we are so consumed with looking at our own bellybuttons.
If this is you, stop it. Stop the navel gazing. Lift your gaze to see where you can be of service in a way that will effect the collective, and much of your own suffering will disappear. Lean in to the revolutionary act of empathizing so deeply that you have no choice but to hold everyone in your heart.