Aquarius New Moon Annular Solar Eclipse: Awakening In Darkness

Worry not
if you are in darkness
and the void sucks you in further.
This is not the place we go to die.
It’s where we are born
and our stories begin.
― Kamand Kojouri

I will also add that entering the darkness is healing only by bringing the light of consciousness to bear witness to what we find there. This is how our stories begin or at least begin to be told in an authentic way, revealing what has been hidden and reclaiming what has been lost or stolen.

At the point of the new moon on Tuesday 17^th February, not only are we minutes away from an annular solar eclipse, but the Moon is also void of course. A void of course moon means that it will not make any more aspects before entering a new sign. While the Moon is commonly void of course every two to three days, a solar eclipse happening exactly during a VOC period is more intense.

During this annular solar eclipse, approximately 96% of the Sun will be eclipsed by the Moon from our Earth centred perspective. The remaining part of the Sun will appear as a thin outline known as a “Ring of Fire”. Though it will not be visible in the northern hemisphere and only in parts of the southern hemisphere, we are nonetheless still affected by this cosmic event for a considerable period to come.

It is also interesting to consider the symbolic meaning of an eclipse: While the Earth darkens, the dark side or far side of the Moon is illuminated by the Sun.

Imagine the Earth, Moon, and Sun are aligned in a solar eclipse, with the Moon between the Earth and the Sun. From an Earthly perspective, the experience is terrifying because everything is dark. But from the Moon’s higher perspective, all is bright, magnificent light. Our paths can be viewed as terrifying or magnificent depending on our perspective.

Quote by Nish the Fish

I think it is fair to say that right now, many people are viewing the occurrences on planet Earth as terrifying, and with good reason. I need not reiterate here what is unfolding within the collective and how it is impacting people’s personal unconscious. This new moon solar eclipse however may be a cosmic pause or a cosmic loophole that offers a powerful and unique opportunity. The gateway opens for us to enter the void, to turn in and connect with the most interior part of ourselves. The part that is incorruptible, untouched, unblemished, and sovereign. It is an opportunity to awaken to the truth of who we are and renounce all false attachments, conditioning, and programming.

The Moon can keep us tethered to early experiences of trauma patterns and conditioning; it is our emotional blueprint. During this eclipse, the Moon is for a moment (2 hours and 8 minutes to be exact) untethered and is therefore free of influence. The dark side of the Moon, the side that we never get to see from Earth is fully illuminated by the Sun. This is a moment when that which is usually hidden is lit up. Though we cannot see the illumination of the dark side of the moon, we can tune into our inner darkness and ask that it is illuminated by our inner sun which is the conscious light of our awareness and presence.

 When touching the void, we surrender to the unknown. If we fear the void or do not know how to hold ourselves within it, we can become disoriented, lost, or frightened. In this state of chaos, we are vulnerable to infiltration from other sources.

Psychologically, the untethered moon represents a momentary freedom from ties and covenants that bind us. Patterns and legacies operating in our subconscious, often inherited from ancestral lines, may now be released. With Neptune and Saturn at 0° Aries, this truly is a reset moment.

This new moon invites us to enter the void and dance with the Dark Goddess in the “Ring of Fire”, the purifying flames that encircle the goddess of destruction, liberation, Ma Kali. Anything is possible in the void for the void holds all potential. Alchemically, the darkness is the beginning of the Great Work, the Nigredo, or the “Dark Night”. By burning up what is not beneficial for the evolution of our soul, we are purified and cleansed, rising from the ashes like the magical phoenix.

Darkness is the Ultimate Mother, or Kali: My Mother is the principle of consciousness. She is Akhanda Satchidananda, indivisible Reality, Awareness, and Bliss. The night sky between the stars is perfectly black. The waters of the ocean depths are the same; The infinite is always mysteriously dark. This inebriating darkness is my beloved Kali.

-Sri Ramakrishna

Now that we have evoked Kali Ma, let us welcome Her.

As a key player in the new moon chart asteroid Kaali stands as guardian on the threshold of a new era.

The much-anticipated Saturn Neptune conjunction of 2026 comes close to exact in this new moon chart with Neptune at 0° Aries 39’, and Saturn 0° Aries 23’. But there is another mighty cosmic presence who accompanies them: Asteroid Kaali is close to both at 1° Aries 07.

Kali is the Mother of Life, she is the Mother of death, the slayer of ego and the liberator of souls.

If life comes, it is the Mother; if death comes, it is the Mother. If heaven comes, She is. If hell comes, there is the Mother; plunge in.

~Swami Vivekananda’s

A wisdom goddess of the Hindu pantheon, Kali is the goddess of time (Kala). She represents change, destruction, and liberation. As an aspect of the Divine Mother, or Shakti, she destroys negative forces to facilitate spiritual transformation. Wielding her sword (kharga) in her left hand, Kali uses it to cut through illusions and destroy demons; in her right hand she carries a severed head representing the dissolution of ego. Often depicted standing over her husband, Lord Shiva, Kali is active, raw, energetic and primordial compared to Shiva’s passive, conscious state.

Her blue or black skin represents the infinite void and boundless space from which all creation emerges and dissolves. The void is not nothingness; it is fullness of potential. Kali embodies the eternal, formless, and unmanifested essence of Brahman or Shiva. She is the ultimate, unchanging foundation of reality reminding us that what is manifest now may soon be dissolved and a new reality may be born from the void.

It is said that Kali emerged from the brow of the goddess Durga during a battle with demons, specifically to consume the blood of the demon Raktabija, who appeared to be unstoppable; every time he was slain, the drops of blood that fell to the earth created more demons. Realising his power, Kali decided to collect the demons’ blood in a bowl, and drinking it herself, prevented the birth of any more demons.

The demons that we call upon Kali to help us slay are not necessarily external, they are also the demons we have inherited through our bloodlines and DNA. Though she destroys, Kali is ultimately a loving mother who liberates her devotees. She guides us back to the truth of the heart and away from the distortions of the mind.

Each new exposure to darkness runs the risk of creating more demons. These demons feed on fear and trauma that insidiously spreads through our personal and collective psyche. Trauma based mind control and astral programming, while still the stuff of science fiction for some, is for others a dawning reality. We need only cast our mind back a few years to see trauma-based mind control in action.

Slaying our inner demons, the ones that multiply through our bloodlines and ancestral heritage, and are fed by fear, we too can transmute our trauma by metabolising the poison. Poison, like the venom of the serpent, has the power to kill or cure.

This raises the question: What do we need to metabolise inherited trauma, and how do we go on living in a world where the forces of darkness are becoming more apparent. While the forces of darkness may indeed be more apparent and therefore appear stronger, the reality is that it seems this way because more material is being uncovered and brought to the light of consciousness.

This new moon is a moment of choice: We can either try to hide from the darkness, or we can confront it. By confronting it I do not mean fighting it or using fire with fire; the war is a war on consciousness and consciousness is our weapon. Assimilating the truth of our lives and integrating the darkness is no easy feat, it takes time, courage, compassion and compassionate witnessing. It also takes a rewiring and reactivation of intuition and instincts and a careful dismantling of the false or distorted persona. Belief that somewhere in this multi-dimensional matrix of self and world exists a kernel of truth, an undiminished light, our birth right to reclaim, is powerful gnosis. How to reconnect with that truth is our work.

Kaali is Kundalini, life force, and spiritualized vitality; this can make us deeply sensitive to the vibrational field that we inhabit. Learning to master our energy system and regulate the flow of what penetrates our consciousness is the teachings of Kali. We cannot look at the darkness unless we have developed a strong energetic sheath. For those who experienced trauma as a child, this sheath was likely damaged at a tender age. This distortion renders us more susceptible to outside influences including the lower astral plane. However, this permeability likely also gave us access to the spiritual and numinous realms.

In astrology asteroid Kaali triggers transformation through crisis, in a chart she can be the area where we are susceptible to mind control and astral influences. Asteroid Kaali however may also point to our potential for liberation. Whatever is in close aspect to Kaali particularly by conjunction is a supercharged power point of the chart.

Many members of the Royal family have strong Kaali contacts, particularly with the Sun; prominent Kaali Sun aspects tend to appear in certain bloodlines. This is one reason why asteroid Kaali is thought to have occult connotations.

Kaali placements through sign, house and aspect, can reveal how this intense energy is operating in our lives. It can be a signature of power, or a vulnerability to psychic manipulation and control from nefarious influences. Just like the goddess Kali herself, asteroid Kaali can show where we may be liberated or destroyed.

Kaali in relationship with Neptune as in the new moon chart, potentially offers liberation through transcendence. There is however a caution to recognise the tendency for spiritual bypassing, or manipulation by covert forces. Neptune’s fog of delusion can feel very seductive and is adept at creating artificial realities, including new age enlightened ones.

Kaali conjunct Saturn speaks to the need to master internal authority through discipline and maturity. If we do not take control of our autonomous and sovereign selves, other forces will bring us under control. This is not to frighten anyone; it is a reminder to remain vigilant during times of powerful cosmic activity.

Information that saturates our media channels relentlessly may have hidden psychological and psychical effects that infiltrate consciousness, thus binding us to trauma scripts of control. In the past people who mentioned such things were written off as crazy conspiracy theorists, however recent activity in the world has made people much less likely to believe that these covert practices “couldn’t happen here”. They can and they do happen here and the effects are felt within our subconscious and unconscious mind. Strengthening and protecting our mind is necessary work if we are to awaken.

Being mindful of our triggers and weak spots help prevent being consumed by the weight of darkness that is currently seeping through the collective. Getting curious about why this information is surfacing now, in piece-meal sensationalist fashion, and covered on all mainstream media channels, might just raise a red flag and prompt us to create some distance from the onslaught of horror.

At 0° Aries, we are entering a new cycle, the seeds that are sown now will come to fruition in time. What seeds are we planting, what weeds bind us, and what is the condition of our roots, are all excellent questions to ask.