Here's to New Beginnings

Right now, as I write this, we are at exactly the new moon - 0% of full.

As I pondered this, I pulled a card: temperance inverted. Meaning: The questioner is surrounded by discord and disharmony. The seeker may be fearful of loss and lack patience. They have difficulty with others and are often filled with distrust. Get in touch with your spiritual nature. There is enough to go around and you have time to fulfill your goals. Wish for the success of others and you'll begin to see positive change for yourself.

Very interesting and, as usual, dead on.

This New Moon is in Scorpio - it is the perfect a time to put muscle behind an intention to break systemic delusions that exist in our lives.

Sometimes referred to as Lunar Samhain, the New Moon in Scorpio is a night when the veil is thin between the living and the spirit world. This year we are lucky enough to have the New Moon in Scorpio fall on the Day of the Dead. Great insights can be gained on this night through contact with spirit teachers: be they animal, mineral, angelic, or ancestral. Open your mind to the wisdom that flows from the other side. Scorpio is the sign that seeks deep truth in all things. The New Moon in Scorpio is the night to acknowledge the ways this questioning process manifests in your life.

This is the most serious New Moon of the year. This is the night of truth and dare. Dare to be truthful with yourself and the rewards will come back tenfold. This is the night to commit to truth-telling with compassion and love.

Use a mirror to take a long look at yourself; go all the way inside your skin, inside your mind, inside your heart. Are you doing and saying things that create fear, alienation, dissatisfaction, and despair in others? What thoughts and actions have you put energy into that are now coming back to haunt you? Are you supporting people that create pain and suffering for you and for others? Are you too afraid to deal with them properly so you'd rather let them go all together? Look at your fear, where it comes from, what makes it worse and what eases it.

This is the optimal night to face your fear head on and make a commitment to letting go of unhealthy and tortuous relationships, jobs, behavior, and habits. A New Moon in Scorpio shows you the truth, shows you your vulnerabilities, and your powerlessness, but it also gives you the strength to let go of destructive behavior patterns, make changes, and learn to be powerful in a positive life-supporting way.

Use your journey to go to the depths of your soul and don't think this will be some kind joyride. If you are real with yourself and dive deep into the core of your unconscious, this will be challenging and scary. If you brave the murky depths you will arrive at that sacred place beyond fear, pain and illusion. There are many ways to do this, but on a New Moon in Scorpio it is best to work in the dark.

Indigenous people use drums and ritual dance to induce a transpersonal state of consciousness. You can try this with a partner who drums while you journey, or use recorded shamanic drumming. Some people gaze into a scrying mirror or a bowl of water to induce a trancelike state. For some visualization or meditation is enough. More than ever, it is all about intention on this New Moon.

Let go of your attachment to suffering: pain, violence, resentment, hatred, judgments, and indecisiveness. When it comes down to it we always have some control over our circumstances. Even in our darkest hour, it is up to us to make change where we can, and where we can't, rise to the occasion and make the best of a bad situation. We must recognize our relative insignificance in the big scheme of things, but we must also take responsibility for the tremendous impact we have on what happens in the world.

But please don't leave yourself hanging in the dark depths - Scorpio rules death and rebirth and New Moons are always a time of new beginnings. Active rebirth from the womb of wisdom is a pivotal part of this ritual; you are not done until this has been completed. It is important to rest after your journey within. Calm and soothe yourself with a hot bath, sit in front of a fire and have a light snack. Use this time to reflect on the truths and the lessons that you learned. When you are rested, take some times to document your journey.

Write down or create a visual representation of the wisdom you received and clearly delineate newly conceived goals or action plans. Scorpio empowers projects and goals that require real commitment to your truth, and as you well know these are the hardest to achieve.