Aquarius New Moon: Vessels for Living Water

by Jean Hinson Lall

The New Moon occurs on 3 February (1:01pm here in Adelaide, South Australia) and will occur in the sign of Aquarius, the third and last of the Air signs in the Zodiac, which is often thought to represent the highest development of the intellect – dry, cool, remote, impersonal and objective. Its image, however, is not that of the tweedy scholar lugging a briefcase or a white-coated scientist loading data into a laptop, but that of a lightly-clad human figure carrying vessels of water from which the contents are being poured forth.

What is this water? According to ancient philosophy Water is one of the four Elements, or ‘roots,’ from which everything is compounded. In many creation narratives water is the primordial substance, the first matter from which all else proceeds. It is mother, nourishment, the process of growth, the joy and juice of life. It cleanses and purifies, mediates renewal and rebirth, confers blessing and sanctification. And at the end of life it receives us into itself again. Water is the principle of flow, the possibility for things to find their proper level, to adapt and to yield.

Astrologically, Water is often interpreted in personal terms as emotion, feeling, desire, attachment, compassion and sacrifice; and indeed the Water signs do describe and mediate emotional development. At another level, though, Water is connected with Wisdom and with the joy of being in the presence of God. This duality in the meaning of Water is reflected in the notion (found in several cultural traditions) that there are both Higher and Lower Waters.

Physical water, an essential part of our own bodily makeup, is found in rivers, streams, lakes, oceans, wells and springs, and descends as rain from above. Spiritual water, an equally vital part of our nature, is replenished through prayer and study, music and art, contemplation and pilgrimage, devotion and ritual, celebration and divination. Like rain, it comes to us as a gift from above, in the form of visions, teachings, inspiration, clarity of understanding, healing and renewal, mystical union with the divine and communion with our fellow creatures. The soul’s thirst for God can be quenched only by the "living waters" that flow from the divine source.

Whatever intellectual, political, artistic or community work we are engaged in, now is the time astrologically to realize more fully the spiritual purpose that lies at the heart of that endeavor and the source from which it springs. Rather than having to be laboriously extracted, calculated or figured out, this understanding should pour forth into the receptive mind and soul like a stream of living water.