Our New Moon on November 23, 2022, @ 5:57 pm (EST), will be in the Moon Mansion of Anurhada and the zodiac sign of Scorpio. Ruling energies are Mars, Pluto ( modern ruler), Ketu, Saturn, and Mitra, “The God of Daylight”
When I started down the spiritual path many years ago, I attended a swap meet at my church. Each person was to bring an item from home to trade for another item to place on the altar.
One by one, in a sacred ritual, each person would walk up, put their item on the altar, and then choose another.
When it was my turn, I slowly proceeded to the altar, placed my item, stood back for a moment, and gleaned over all the items. I became fixated upon a small white ivory figure in the back. I had yet to learn who it was, its history, or why I would choose a figurine that would inevitably have to be dusted frequently. But I choose it anyway. The person who placed the item told me his friend brought it back from India as a gift.
Over the years, this figurine would teach me many things about the spiritual path. I took it with me everywhere I traveled. And what once was a gleaming unflawed figurine, over time, would lose its luster, its tied-up man-bun, its flute, and part of its elegant flowing scarf. It also suffered a broken foot and leg that has been superglued multiple times.
But to this day, it stands tall on my altar as a representation of the challenges of the spiritual path and also as a reminder that no matter what you go through, devotion, like a river of grace, is the only way to succeed.
Our New Moon lands in the Moon Mansion of Anurhada, "The Star of Success." A lotus flower represents Anurhda. However, the path of a lotus flower, like my figurines life, is fraught with challenges.
A lotus flower seed can lay dormant in the mud and muck for decades before making its way toward the light. Once there, it will bloom, wither away, and its seeds will make their way back down into the mud and muck to repeat the process.
With four planets, Sun, Moon, Venus & Mercury, in Anurhada for this New Moon, the energy is sublime to deepen your devotion on your journey.
Jupiter, the expansive Guru of the heavenly bodies, turns direct in Pisces during our New Moon, highlighting that what is in you must be brought forth to save you. Jupiter has a trine aspect from the Sun & Moon expanding new light into those deep dark recesses of the subconscious, indicating that the time has come to work your way through the mud and the muck and that only devotion in the process will assure success in reaching the light.
Mercury & Venus are in planetary war with an aspect from Chiron, the wounded healer. Mercury in Scorpio loves getting to the bottom of things, asking lots of questions, and researching. Venus struggles in the mud and the muck of Scorpio as it goes against her usual style of love, beauty, and creativity. This planetary war with the aspect from Chiron could bring old secrets to the surface that only by asking the right questions and letting love in will allow what has been buried to be healed.
During this New Moon, you may lose your luster, pull your hair out, not feel like singing or dressing to the nines, and you may suffer a broken ego multiple times. But this will not change who you are meant to be.
In the end, it's devotion. To "what" is the question. Anuradha is the Moon Mansion that connects the individual soul with the Divine. Radha, whose name is describing the character of Anuradha, is the epitome of her devotion to Krishna. An unconditional love and devotion, like a river of grace, that allowed her to merge with Krishna.
What would you trade or give up to deepen your devotion to be connected to the Divine during this New Moon?
If you are wondering what I traded for the small white ivory figure so long ago, it was a watch. I traded time, earthly time, and all its meaning for a spiritual path of devotion that is represented by Radha-Krishna, my small white ivory figurine, along with all the bumps and bruises, mud, and muck, and I would choose it again and again.
“If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.”
― Gospel of Thomas
Key themes of this New Moon:
What are you devoted to?
Let your love and devotion flow like a river of grace
Be prepared for hidden things to surface
Give time to your spiritual practice
Bring forth what is within you
Expand your awareness
Travel safely
Believe nothing you are told, hear or see, unless it rings true in the depths of your soul.
Anurahda Energy
Favorable:
Outwardly buoyant and fun-loving; attractive, hearty, popular; spiritual seeker, interested in ancient knowledge; capacity for astrology; devoted; enjoys social life and organizations; brave; benefits more if they live away from their place of birth.
Unfavorable:
Tries too hard to get enlightened; grieves; secretive, isolated, ethical according to the circumstances, dishonest; obstructed by envious people; doesn't understand their impact on others—especially their marriage partners who may eventually ask for a divorce; needs constant nourishment—both in terms of food and drink and in terms of their emotions; defiant; progress is hurt by submitting to bad advice
