Friends and Enemies: December 2018's New Moon in Sagittarius

The New Moon will occur on December 7, 2018 at 15’07 degrees Sagittarius.

New Moons are a time for fresh starts and new beginnings. If you were looking to make a radical change in your life, or even just a tiny change, now is the time, as New Moons represent the beginning of the lunar cycle when the Moon is conjunct the Sun and invisible to the human eye.

This New Moon comes just in time for the holiday season, a time when most of us are joyful and happy, spending time with friends and family. It also comes just before the New Year, helping us get a sense of the bigger picture of how 2018 has affected us, and also, it will give us the optimism to accomplish any goals we have for the upcoming year.

New Moon in Sagittarius 2018

Sagittarius season is very strong this year! With Jupiter's recent entrance into Sagittarius and Mercury in Retrograde around the same time, Sagittarian energy is going strong. Sagittarius, a mutable fire sign ruled by Jupiter and represented by the centaur or archer, is a sign of freedom, travel, truth, and knowledge. More than anything, it is concerned with the BIGGER truths, making it a sign of philosophy and belief.

This New Moon will be squaring the planets of Neptune and Mars at 13 degrees Pisces. This is the most important aspect I see.

The conjunction of Neptune and Mars could cause some confusion around our goals and what we want to accomplish at this time. It can make us more passive rather than active or aggressive. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing: Sometimes it’s better to take a step back and allow The Universe to give us what we need. But the square to the Moon and the Sun shows us that we need to put some effort in, or else we risk disillusionment. On a positive note, Neptune's conjunction to Mars can bring peace and diffuse conflict by giving us a sense of oneness, gentleness and compassion. It could also bring a sense of the divine into our sex lives; think tantric sex. The downside, though, is there could be some passive-aggression, pent-up rage that leads to behind the scenes manipulation.

Moon square Neptune makes us extra sensitive to our environments. Like sponges, we'll be soaking up the feelings of those around us—for better, or more likely, for worse. We may be emotionally manipulated during this period or we'll be emotionally manipulative towards someone else. We may not know what we feel or what we want. Meanwhile, Sun square Neptune makes us confused about who we are. We'll be questioning our identities at this time. There might be a sense of ego-less-ness that could lead us to being manipulated or brainwashed.

Quite the contrast, Sun square Mars will give us a rather big ego, but our ego will more than likely be easily bruised. We may be feeling argumentative or competitive. Same goes for the Moon's square to Mars. We might be feeling reactive or impulsive, shooting from the hip and acting on our feelings without considering to the consequences.

Mars is the planet of war and Neptune is a cloudy, haze. The mixture of Neptune and Mars aspects makes me think that it's possible we will be fighting so much, only to realize we have no idea what it actually is we're fighting about during this period. It could also be a time of figuring out who our friends and enemies truly are.

How to Benefit from the New Moon

New Moons are a time for new beginnings and fresh starts. Often, people will enact New Moon rituals to help with what they want to manifest. Regardless of whether or not you think of it as a "ritual," it might be helpful to jot down a list of things you want to accomplish during this time or during the next six months. Smaller goals will come into fruition at the time of the Full Moon in Cancer on December 22, while bigger goals will come into fruition at the time of the Sagittarius Full Moon six months from now.

You can also expect anything you wished to manifest or let go of during the Full Moon in Gemini on November 23 to come into fruition at this time.

I especially suggest writing down goals related to travel, education, philosophy/morals/religion, freedom, and/or other Sagittarian themes. It also helps to look at your own birth chart to see what house Sagittarius falls in. This will give you a better idea of how this New Moon will affect you and also what you can benefit from it, what you can expect to manifest.