Image by Taryn Elliot
There’s a phenomenon in astrology called “Sting of the Tail”. For those who want to simply know how this applies to them, think back to what was happening around the last new Moon, which occurred in the early morning of Saturday, March 13th, 2021 in the States, late morning in Britain, and later in the day as one continues eastward. Now think back to what occurred in the intervening days, ending Monday March 15, 2021, late morning/early afternoon in the States, the evening in Britain, and into the next day as you move farther east. Whatever was beginning to emerge around this time, whatever was good and useful to you, will be reviewed from Friday, April 9, 2021 morning/early afternoon in the States, the evening in Britain, and into the wee hours for points farther east through the the evening of Sunday, April 11, 2021 in the States, into the wee hours in Britain, and into the day as time is “further along” eastward. Whatever must go in order to take that which is good forward must fall by the wayside. This is a particularly intense phase of the Moon, and with all your activities it is best to cultivate a mindset of detachment that gives mature, sober insights as to what is truly necessary in the here and now. Let go of everything else as it relates, again, to what was happening around that initial new Moon and the couple days after. An easy way to do this is to check your calendar, emails, and text messages or simply allow the first thoughts that pop in your mind around these dates to guide you. To explore these themes in the space of a full astrology reading, click here to book your appointment.
For those more astrologically curious, the Sting of the Tail is a phase of the Moon that is rarely talked about. After every new Moon, the Moon initially waxes over the section of the zodiac that the Sun will eventually cover in the whole of the monthly lunar cycle. This is simply because the Moon moves through the zodiac much more quickly than the Sun, taking a little over two days to go through each sign whereas the Sun takes about a month to move through a zodiac sign. Thus the Sun moves through the area that the Moon already covered in the initial stages of her waxing phase. However, the Moon, in the last days of her waning, must go back over that territory. Remember that the initial waxing phase of the Moon is when things are just beginning to emerge, and the last waning days of the Moon are about endings and letting things go. Therefore, whatever was emerging into being must be protected in order to survive by letting go of the material around the initial phase that is detrimental.
To give an example, this last new Moon was at 23 degrees Pisces. This next new Moon will be at 22 degrees Aries. Last month, the Moon moved through the section of the zodiac that was 23 degrees Pisces to 22 degrees Aries just as she began waxing. It’s taken the Sun almost a month to cover that territory, and just before the new Moon at 22 degrees Aries, the Moon will have to “go back over” the territory of the zodiac she initially waxed through. So in one of her phases she waxes, or grows, and in the other, she ebbs, or recedes. As I said before, the a good way to approach this phenomena is to look back to the initial waxing phase and look to the waning Sting of the Tail phase, see what was working and what wasn’t, and proceed with calm caution. Then the sting won’t be felt so harshly!
Click here to make a wish on the new Moon after you’ve done the work of cleaning things out during the Sting of the Tail and support the continued publishing of these articles.
Thanks to Terry MacKinnel for introducing me to Sting of the Tail.
