Closing the Circle
By Pythia Peay
 

The circle - a timeless image used in Tibetan mandalas, Native American medicine wheels, and astrology - conveys the ever-turning wheel of life.  And indeed, the Pisces New Moon occurs just one week before the Spring Equinox.  On March 20th, the Sun will slip out of Pisces and into 0 degrees Aries, signalling the start of a new astrological cycle. Thus this New Moon in watery Pisces, the last sign of the Zodiac, is an appropriate time to close 
out the old year with reflection and meditation.  "Life is lived forward, but understood backwards," wrote the philosopher Kierkegaard - a fitting phrase for this month's Piscean lunar ritual. 

As the mystic artist of the Zodiac, Pisces weaves a meaningful narrative out of life's seemingly random events.  Peering through the moon's eye, then, we draw on Pisces' visionary capacity to help us make sense of the jumble of circumstances that have transpired over the last twelve months.  Where were you in your life, for instance, a year ago? What was the condition of your intimate relationships? At what stage were your creative projects? What were your hopes and ideals? How have you stayed the same, and where have you changed course? The world has altered dramatically in the past year, and so, in large and small ways, have all our lives. 

After you have looked back over the journey you have undertaken the past year, spend some time in meditative reflection.  Emptying your mind of everyday distractions,  contemplate whether a pattern of some kind emerges out of the cascading chaos of recollected images and events. In surveying all that has happened through the visionary eye of the Pisces Moon, a design may become apparent: the myth of your life may come shining through.  Perhaps the saga you have been living is that of the hero, overcoming great obstacles and  slaying the dragons of doubt.  Or, maybe you have been living the epic myth of love, deepening your heart's knowledge of the human condition. It is possible that your life quest this past year has been one of service, artistic endeavor, or of learning the ways of magic. 

Whatever myth has been revealed, now is the time to turn the page on a new chapter in the unfolding story of your life.  Because astrology reflects the temporal, and not the eternal, dimension of life, it offers a beautiful structure to help us transition gracefully through the endings and beginnings of our cyclical lives.  So this Pisces New Moon, take whatever wisdom you have learned this past year, and consecrate it to the next passage in your 
mythic journey.  Looking back one last time, take all the sorrows and losses, the mistakes and confusion, the gains and successes, and thank them for the knowledge with which they have blessed you. Then, drawing down courage from the Moon, look forward into the future for the next stage of your adventure!