Our only New Moon of January falls on a Friday. Chances are you’ve been awakened to a number of revelations, lessons, insights, and inspirations over the last few weeks. Eclipse season tends to highlight what is ripe for transformation. There could be beginnings and endings happening simultaneously in various aspects of your life. Acceptance of hard truths is necessary; so is dreaming, counting your blessings, and focusing on all beautiful possibilities present. 

There could be a feeling of unsettledness still at this time, as emotions are still moving, as we build new thought patterns and reprogram ourselves. One way to work with this energy is to write down all the ways you’d like to feel, all thoughts you’d like to think, all the things you’d like to have. Little by little, that can offer you breadcrumbs out of any forests of confusion you’d been mired in. The practice of non-attachment can facilitate more grace and flow through difficulties. Remember that this is just one small part of a much greater story that you aren’t allowed to know the ending to yet. No one knows what you need more than you.

A New Moon after an Eclipse is particularly potent. After any upsets and lessons learned, we have a chance to come back to center, to settle back to self. We are always being offered an endless array of beginnings. A New Moon is a gorgeous reminder that when we align all aspects of self with a powerful intention, the energy we create reverberates far past what we could imagine. New Moons are also sites of faith—we can renew, just like the Moon. In fact, renewing and new beginnings are an incredibly natural part of our cycles. Like the earth, we can begin to stir from deep within. Embrace and support the parts of you that are beginning to wake up, put one step in front of the other, fall in love, or at the very least, in wonder. Commit to summoning hope. 

This New Moon is in the sign of Aquarius, the archetype that corresponds to the collective superconscious, the intellect, to freedom, to innovation, and revolutions. Aquarius understands that we are all connected, even if we can’t always see how or know why. As we are stardust, stardust is also us. Aquarius is an air sign: our thoughts, our ideas, our communication, our intuition, our knowledge and wisdom, our visions, our connections to spirituality could be highlighted at this time. Aquarius’ skillset is being able to see bigger pictures,  This archetype also reminds us of the Ava DuVernay quote: If your dream only includes you, it's too small. Could it be time to make your dreams bigger? 

You are a vessel. You hold the past, the present, and the future simultaneously inside of you. Inside of you is all of those who came before you: their skin, their stories, their cells, their blood, their adventures, their challenges, their talents, their hope. And inside of you also is everything that will come after you: what you’ve undone, who you’ve inspired, what you’ve created, what you’ve continued, what you’ve healed, what you’ve left for the future. From the small smile you pass on to an uncle of someone at the grocery store, to the space you hold for other’s brilliance or mistakes, from the sonnets you write, the meals you create that feed yourself and those around you, to the energy you bring to the space of this earth—all of these actions and thoughts and energies are affected by the vessel that is you. 

You are a vessel. You are a vessel for your dreams and in turn, your dreams inspire the collective dream. You are a vessel that holds a specific and special universe. Inside of you is a universe of pleasure, of sorrow, of sweetness, of wisdom, of inclinations, of memories, of maps, of ideas, of connections and relationships that is uniquely yours. Examine and inquire around the vessel of your body, the vessel of your days, the vessel of your spiritual practice, the vessels of your beliefs and ideas. In small or big ways, make shifts and changes as you must. Let go of the idea that your vessels need to be perfect. Some are broken, rusted, wabi-sabi, “good enough for now”. Some are flexible, some need lids. Know inherently that what you create will eventually flow into collective waters and space. While you may not know what impact your actions, your words, or your energy will have in the world, they do.  

A vessel is a container and you get to envision and create your containers however you’d like. They could be: love, grace, pleasure, space, intrigue, sparks, relaxation, compassion, excitement. Our intuition always needs space, softness, and self-trust. If you are thinking of your spell as a vessel, use your ingredients carefully. If you are thinking of your life as a container, you may need to make it bigger, more brilliant.  


We pour ourselves into the shape of the containers we create. 

This is an auspicious New Moon for tapping into universal consciousness. Expanding your awareness into the great expanse could offer you a valuable perspective at this time. Depending on what you need, this could be meditating and communing with the cosmos or the ocean. Closing your eyes, and connecting with the universe that lives inside of you always brings great insights. This could also be an opportune time for beginning a healing process around acceptance and appreciation of what makes you different. 

If your practice doesn’t involve spells, there are still many chances to incorporate the energy of this New Moon into your life. Following are just a few: 

watch your thoughts carefully—when a disturbing or limiting thought enters your brain, immediately think or say a thought that neutralizes it. This could be an affirmation, or a positive or loving praise. 

Make a space in your home to reflect, create, or if you already have an office or other nook, clean it, clear it, rearrange it. 

Make an intention to begin an important phase or project that reflects an integral part of your identity. Even if this project is going to take a while, make time to work on it a priority. This is creating intentional containers. 

Your vessel of offerings to the future can consist of anything you want.

—Excerpt from the 2020 Many Moons Lunar Planner. Buy the first edition here. Buy the benefit edition here.