From the editor

Denis Zubkov

This New Moon is extra black and black doesn’t meet bad or scary, it means a greater more profound depth. Midnight starry sky is virtually empty, not a single planet appears to be visible. There are certainly stars in plenty! All planets are still positioned on the Sun side of the Solar System and thus disappear at night.

Black is beautiful. It makes you see things better. That’s perhaps why astrology has its roots in the darkness of the night sky. Embracing emptiness is often the key to understanding fullness of the day so loudly saturated with drive and activity.

The New Moon happens in the tropical sign of Pisces which apart from the Sun and the Moon also hosts retrograde Mercury and direct Neptune. It’s worth remembering that Pisces is the last sign of this astrological year as the Sun crosses the Pisces–Aries boundary on March, 19 — the day of the Equinox. The next New Moon moment takes place on March, 24 — in the vicinity of the Vernal Equinox.

This last lunation has some special meaning: it wraps up the astrological year; and it launches us into the next turn of the endless spiral of human development. I believe that there are clear signs of challenges and opportunities. The chart is rather explicit about that — the Black Moon and Chiron conjunction is tight and holds a square to the destiny line of the lunar Nodes. Down the page I will attempt to talk a bit more about this unique time period.

What a sound personal strategy could be? I’d say not to worry too much about Mercury being retrograde (which lasts until March, 9) yet focus on your own “shadow” or simply speaking reviewing your own past and see where your choices could be holding you back especially in anything that has to do with personal history of passion and inter-personal relationships that may have even taken some violent forms, either physical or emotional — yes, Mars is on the South Node and will be conjunct to Pluto during the next New Moon. That’s where Chiron offers a pathway towards resolution and healing!

Years in review,
Denis

Discovering energies of crystals

What you need to know when buying crystals for your astrology practice

Crystals and gemstones for astrology practice

Sometimes things are not what they seem… You may have learned this by being interested in astrology or maybe even seriously practicing this discipline, right? This also applies to gemstones. The way they’ve been treated or modified to enhance their visual properties and value may create an interference with their natural energetic profile.

So what do you need to be aware of when buying crystals, gemstones or any gemstone jewellery with an intention to tune into a connection with planetary energies that each of them carries?

Colour must be natural — stay away from dyed gemstones.

Enhancing or even changing gemstone colour is a very common practice especially when it comes to jewellery. Gem sellers are expected to disclose any treatment a natural stone may have undergone in order to increase its value (in addition to the standard cutting and polishing process). Unfortunately the reality is not there yet.

So when you go for crystal shopping simply ask the seller: Has this gemstone been treated and if so, how exactly? And then decide for yourself if you want to proceed.

To improve their colour and clarity gemstones can go through dyeing, bleaching, heat treatment, surface coating, irradiation, oiling and reconstruction

Some of these treatments are more “confusing” than others when it comes to planetary energies. 

Colour acts as a key to the gemstone’s personality and forces it is connected to. When the colour is significantly altered or changed (especially with chemicals) the energy and connection to the related planetary forces may easily vanish.

If you are curious about the nature of gemstone colour and its relationship to its properties, read our further crystal tips

Miracle Explained – colors of your Gemstone Jewelry.

Gemstone Colour Guide – the Rainbow of Power.

Lara Gems, founder of Gems In Style jewellery Lara Gems,
Gemstone Strategist and Founder of Gems In Style Jewellery
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Astrological Weather

The Black Moon and Chiron — when healing is needed

One can’t truly aspire to move forward without first resolving their past. And the past is something we are designed to forget. This last lunation happens under the influence of the Black Moon–Chiron conjunction, and will culminate during the next New Moon with the Sun and the Moon joining their forces and producing a powerful cluster of four planets square to the lunar nodes. All that in the fiery sign of Aries.

Astrological charts for New Moons of 23 February 2020 and 24 March 2020

How to better understand this cosmic puzzle?

The Black Moon stands for the hidden, often disowned, side of us. It’s what we become when we lose conscious control of our own behaviour. Will we become manic lovers or fearless machinators? That’s the personal shadow to be discovered and accepted. Black Moon is a great topic, to learn more read “In the ‘shadow’ of the Black Moon”

In any case, what truly moves that shadow is often that kind of prior experiences that resulted in hurt, misunderstanding, abandonment… you name it. Those events leave lasting imprints in our astral bodies, not unlike wounds that scar the flesh. Chiron is the principle of resolution and healing, it symbolises the process of experiencing and accepting what has happened — without that no future movement is possible.

Those lunations during which Chiron finds itself close to the Black Moon — happens roughly about every 9 years — is an important time period offering a window of opportunity that may bring that resolution. The next conjunction will only happen in November 2029.

Zooming out from the personal arena to the whole world. What stands out is the world’s health: now we have the coronavirus problem that may become a fertile ground that will reveal the even bigger systemic weakness — the world’s financial debt. I’ve recently read that economically savvy people are now nearly equally divided into two camps: one half of them says the pandemic won’t happen and it’s not different from regular flu outbreaks, the other half treats coronavirus threat very seriously and already started to stock canned food.

That’s fascinating stuff to watch from an astrological perspective. All seeds have already been sawn, what will emerge?