The New Moon in Libra “Shelter For Any Storm”

Fix your course on a star and then you’ll navigate any storm.  

Leonardo da Vinci

The next New Moon, which falls on October 16th is placed in the last decan of Libra, speaking of the balance required to navigate the storms of life, the inner certainty that we need if we are to remain steadfast amidst the curve balls that life frequently throws at us. For this New Moon, I am starting a four month season where I am looking at my new project “Thoth Journey – The Oracle of Change”, and the card I have drawn to examine today is The Hierophant.

Hierophant is a strange word, unaccustomed to us these days, and I doubt very much whether it was ever a common sound in our mouths. Coming from Latin roots, and words
meaning “sacred” and “to reveal”, the late 17th Century meaning of the word Hierophant is that of a person, (often, but not solely confined to a priest) who interprets sacred mysteries or esoteric principles. The Hierophant is number 5 in the Major Arcana, a number which is associated with the deliberate forging of links between features that are naturally felt to be separate, fiveness is therefore an expression of our creativity and capacity for intellectual understanding. The number 5 describes how we seek to impose our will upon the world, dominating and rearranging it to suit our own needs. In the number 5 we see the world as an extension of ourselves and create an artificial world shaped to our own needs, this is how the symbol of the pentagram, a 5 pointed star has become associated with magic. The source of ‘fiveness’ is to be found within, rather than being imposed upon us from outside or created out of a sense of belonging to the world.

The Greeks thought of five as “hieros gamos”, the marriage between heaven and earth, and in many Hierophant cards we see the hand symbol that means “As Above, So Below” in heaven as it is on earth.

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In Thoth Journey, I found myself walking in the middle Atlas mountains of Morocco, lost and tired, doubting my capacity to continue, and dreaming of a bus to arrive and carry me home to safety…… whilst several years later, I found myself in eastern Turkey, encountering the Hierophant in real life! I even drew the card in my morning reading at the foot of Nemrut Dag. (Mount Nemrut). Images below show extracts from the Thoth Hierophant, my own photographs from Nemrut, and Aia Leu’s illustration of my story The Hierophant.

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The message of The Hierophant is that of being able to recognise guidance in your life, whether it is from a recognised teacher, or from being able to connect to your own “wise person within” using more subtle means, We all have this facility within us, and more and more, organised religion is taking a less important place, as people find that they are able to develop their own “spiritual structures” rather than to rely on a set “faith”.

For the previous two thousand years, during the age of Pisces, we have generally been happy to leave  the important matter of faith to organised religions, and many nations have risen to wealth, while forcing others into servitude under that banner. This is a way of life, however, that is passing into history, it is time for something new to fill the void that has been left by our collective disillusionment and loss, the ravages of colonialism and its modern day version capitalism. The water pourer in the astrological symbol of Aquarius, relates to the pouring forth of personal understanding or spiritual knowledge for the benefit of humanity, regardless of status or belief, and today, this is a responsibility which belongs to all of us.

The Hebrew letter Vau, meaning a tent peg or nail, is also associated with the card of The Hierophant, describing the purpose of faith, in securing ourselves shelter, between heaven and earth, a shelter in any storm.

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At this New Moon, take a moment to pause, and reconnect with your intuition, listen carefully to your own wisdom, and allow it to rise above the fears that clamour from every source at the present time. Like a mother, you will know what is right for you to do, for you, and those closest to you, you will be able to feel the path ahead, and to set out on the journey of of your dreams.

NEW MOON BLESSING: 

I am the power of the bursting seed, dancing in the beckoning void, ripe with limitless potentials. A kaleidoscope of outcomes seduces, invites and tempts you, but be still in the darkness of the Moon. Sense the power of her black womb, and wait. Trust that in the stillness that I, the right “seed” for now, will find you, a vision for your soul to nurture”

In Libra, I Balance: I harmonise, I seek to reflect beauty and poise. I am the peerless perfection of structure and form; I am the peacemaker, the negotiator, the other side of every coin. In me, everything is weighed and adjusted. I bring justice to all things; I favour none, but speak only from the point of my truth. Seek not to beg favour, for I will always do what is right.  ©JKG

The Astrologers Diary

The New Moon every month offers an opportunity to sow new seeds, and as an Astrologer, I find it to be a useful exercise for myself and in working with others, to use the energy of each particular New Moon, according to the Sabian Symbol that it falls on, together with the position in which it falls in the Natal Chart. Such considerations can be invaluable in steering through ups and downs, and in becoming “easy” with the ebb and flow of what life brings.  

This particular New Moon falls in the 24th degree of Libra, which Dane Rudhyar describes as follows: 

PHASE 204 (LIBRA 24°): A BUTTERFLY WITH A THIRD WING ON ITS LEFT SIDE.

KEYNOTE: The ability to develop, for inner strengthening, new modes of response to basic life situations.

“The butterfly is the ancient and traditional symbol of the results of the process of spiritual rebirth. If the butterfly has three wings instead of two, a special development of an aspect of the spiritual life is shown. Three is a symbol of fulfillment. Some power has been added to the normal spiritual life of the individual person. The left side usually refers to the instinctual field of the consciousness, but it is also the heart’s side. A new strength is shown, perhaps as yet unrealized.”

I love this image from the Sabian symbols, of developing a new response to life situations, it ties in so well with the deeper meanings of The Hierophant. Also, on a personal level, I have arrived at the stage of introducing others to the concepts that lie within my new project “The Oracle of Change” This particular New Moon falls in my own 5th house, that of creativity, artistic projects, chidren; where we express our “joy”. If you would like to be on the mailing list for