I hope you are having a pleasant holiday season.

The approaching New Year commences under the auspices of a Capricorn New Moon, which takes place Thursday morning at 1:53 EST (06:53:08 UTC).

“The Moon” Tarot card from the Marseilles deck, recolored by Nicolas Conver.

Despite Capricorn being a cardinal sign, which means decisive and authoritative, among other things, there is an air of real uncertainty about this lunation. For one thing, it’s conjunct Mercury, which at this point is just over halfway through its retrograde; and it’s also sextile Mars in Pisces, which itself is approaching a conjunction with Neptune.

All this is expressive of a changeable environment, evidently a reflection of our present times and for many a source of real apprehension. Uncertainty is something with which the human species finds it difficult to deal; many people far prefer clearly delineated ideas and intractable rules, even if they are not necessarily to our overall benefit. Fundamentalist religious movements are a good example of this.

Yet adaptability to change and questioning is the essence of evolution. Without it, we would not be able to make social progress, or to accept previously unknown ways of thinking and being. The opportunity to do that is a delightful gift, however discomfiting the process may seem.

Mars in Pisces by itself has a nature that’s deeply creative and exciting, in which both the determined, driven character of Mars and the more receptive energy of Pisces are melted and transformed. The approaching conjunction with Neptune really opens up that sensation, allowing the intense exploration of emotions in the context of transcendence and healing.

Eric suggests the ability to adapt is like wearing the right shoes and clothes in the rain. As he mentioned in Thursday’s full edition, change and growth are inevitable: when everything is moving and shaking, sometimes the only choices are to go with the flow or be pushed.

Remaining in our comfort zones may simply no longer be an option. Yet by embracing that fact, we might well be helping to change both individual lives and our species as a whole for the better. And that has to be worth a little uncertainty.

Eric will have more on the New Moon astrology in tomorrow’s Planet Waves FM. In the meantime, I wish you all a very happy New Year.