The Soul of Genius ~ New Moon in Aquarius - January 24th, 2020

23 Jan The Soul of Genius ~ New Moon in Aquarius – January 24th, 2020

Posted at 21:29h in Astrology by aeolianheart@gmail.com

On Friday, January 24th the first New Moon of 2020 arrives in the fixed air sign of Aquarius.

New Moons occur when the Sun and Moon conjoin, merging their energies together to create a cosmic seed of creative and emotional development. And the cosmic seed of this New Moon in Aquarius will be airborne, soaring high above the earth in search of freedom.

Modern astrology attributes Uranus to be the ruler of Aquarius. But in traditional astrology, Saturn was the ruler of Aquarius, evolving the mind through the outsider’s perspective, where isolation and innovation are born. This is why Aquarius is associated with all things paranormal, paradoxical, and liminal.

Aquarius is the 11th sign of the zodiac, meaning that the mythic cycle is nearing its end. The ability to grapple with endings and the inevitable finality of the material world is Saturn’s most important teaching.

The outsider’s perspective of the New Moon in Aquarius may bring a small sigh of relief. The year 2020 began under a lot of pressure from the Saturn/Pluto conjunction in Capricorn. The sense of loss was palpable. And you may have been feeling heavily criticized, disappointed or depressed.

Fortunately, the Sun’s transition into Aquarius offers an opportunity to use all this heaviness to break the conventions of mind and matter and see beyond your current circumstances into a much brighter future.

In Aquarius, the importance of the external world fades, giving rise to the internal world that can imagine what lies beyond, traveling far from the noise of the world in search of the sublime.

Aquarius has the unique ability to be alone while remaining in tune with the collective consciousness. So even from a distance, Aquarius remains deeply in love with humanity as a whole.

“Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius.”

At this New Moon in Aquarius, the world will remain heavy with power, corruption and lies. But a quiet and reflective space within will open, inviting you to withdraw into inner space to find deeper wisdom. Trust that a guiding light will be there to lead you towards whatever creative or spiritual expansion you need.

The spirit of Aquarius follows the voices of higher intelligence: the daimons, spirits of nature and the ancestors. And so, at this New Moon in Aquarius, it is important to honor a great Aquarian ancestor whose life and art continues to inspire the world.

The ancestor that I’m referring to is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who was born on January 27th, 1756.

Mozart is one of the great archetypes of genius. And his life and work serve to remind us that the true power of innovation is born from devotion and discipline. And that true freedom is born from within great pressure.

“…This world of music, whose borders even now I have scarcely entered, is a reality, is immortal…”

Mozart was born with his Sun, Mercury, and Saturn conjunction in the first decan of Aquarius.

Thus, his genius was a gift from Saturn’s evolved expression in Aquarius, which sought to break through and innovate beyond conventions and boundaries.

The legend of Mozart is usually described in awe-struck wondrous Uranian terms, a genius that exploded like a shooting star! But a more intimate and personal understanding of Mozart honors him as a child of Saturn, who found true innovation and freedom as an artist through discipline and devotion to his art, religion, and family.

“People err who think my art comes easily to me. I assure you, dear friend, nobody has devoted so much time and thought to compositions as I. There is not a famous master whose music I have not industriously studied through many times.”

True to his Aquarian spirit, Mozart recoiled against many of the conventions of his time, especially in regards to the social position of musicians. During this time, musicians were servants hired by the nobility.

But because he knew the value of his talent, he managed to become independent: one of the first successful freelance artists. As rebellious as he was, the core of Mozart’s personality was traditional and Saturnine. He hated the Enlightenment-era Parisian society and their favorite atheist philosopher, Voltaire. He even rejected an offer to work at Versailles.

You might think that an 18th-Century Aquarian would have happily joined Europe’s progressive intellectual crowd. But true innovators never follow the crowd. Instead, Mozart chose to follow his ancestors, immersing himself deeply in religious tradition and the work of the great Baroque masters, Bach and Handel.

Mozart remained a devout Catholic his whole life and became a high-ranking Freemason, two traditional and institutions that provided him with a strong Saturnian base from which to flow.

In his prolific career, he wrote over sixty religious pieces, received an honorary knighthood by Pope Clement XIV and was given a Catholic funeral and his letters suggest that he attended services on a regular basis.

He once wrote:

“I thank my God for graciously granting me the opportunity of learning that death is the key which unlocks the door to our true happiness.”

Mozart died at the age of 35. His last composition was a Requiem Mass, music for the dead. The year 1791 was both a triumph and a tragedy for Mozart. His esoteric opera, The Magic Flute, had been a success. But he was ill and when he was commissioned to write a Requiem Mass, he naturally intuited that it was an omen of his death.

The Requiem Mass is a very old musical genre, dating back to the first millennium. Thus, Mozart wrote his Requiem as an addition to that long lineage of tradition.

Mozart grew even more ill as he composed Requiem, and he quickly knew that it really would be his last work. Thus, he seized the opportunity to translate all his feelings, weakness and terror; awe and anger into music. Requiem was also his reflection upon the history of the genre, giving it an ancient and ceremonial quality, graced by delicate passages that reflect his sense of beauty. True to the spirit of Aquarius, Mozart’s soothing but melancholic calm towards death can be found throughout his Requiem, as it swings between terrifying accents and soft melodies.

Four years before, he had written his father saying:

“As death is the true goal of our existence, I have formed during the last few years such close relationships with this best and truest friend of mankind that death’s image is not only no longer terrifying to me, but is indeed very soothing and consoling.”

Mozart died on December 5th, 1791 before he had fully completed Requiem. But what he did complete carries his Aquarian wisdom: one that sees the past and the future with equal clarity and one that sees beyond material death without fear.

In life, Mozart believed in the Lux Aeterna, the light eternal. And it is clear from listening to his Requiem that even as he approached death, that light remained very real to him.

So at this New Moon in Aquarius, take inspiration from the wisdom of Mozart. His genius was not a gift that spared him suffering in life. He was burdened by poverty, politics, war, and illness, but remained a prolific composer whose sense of beauty and drama remains a triumph over 200 years later. His music was a labor of love, revealing that thoughts are boundless and the soul is free.

At this New Moon in Aquarius, don’t ask for liberation without consequences or freedom without responsibility. Instead, set the intention to devote yourself more fully to a labor of love. Be willing to sacrifice comfort, social acceptance, and inclusion for it. In this you will find the freedom that your soul craves.