New Moon in Swati & Libra — November 2026

The wind softens. The lamps are lit. A new cycle is sprouting.

Dear one,

This month’s New Moon arrives in the softest, darkest part of autumn — and this year it falls on Diwali, the festival of lights. In Vedic astrology, the Sun and Moon meet in Libra (Tula), and the Moon spends almost the whole of this Amavasya in Swati Nakshatra: the star of the young sprout dancing in the wind.

It’s an invitation to bend without breaking, to return to your own centre, and to light one small inner lamp in the dark.

Exact times (French time, CET)

Moment	Time in France (CET)	UTC	India (IST)
Moon enters Swati	Sun 8 Nov, 01:21	Sat 7 Nov, 00:21	Sun 8 Nov, 05:51
Amavasya (New Moon tithi) begins	Sun 8 Nov, 06:58	Sun 8 Nov, 05:58	Sun 8 Nov, 11:28
Diwali — Lakshmi Puja night	Sun 8 Nov, evening	—	Sun 8 Nov, evening
Moon leaves Swati, enters Vishakha	Mon 9 Nov, 02:54	Mon 9 Nov, 01:54	Mon 9 Nov, 07:24
Exact New Moon (Amavasya ends)	Mon 9 Nov, 08:02	07:02	12:32
Mercury turns direct	Fri 13 Nov, 17:59	16:59	22:29

Small note: the Moon spends nearly the whole New Moon window in Swati — including all of Diwali night. A few hours before the exact meeting with the Sun, she steps over the threshold into Vishakha (still in Libra). So I like to see this New Moon as seeded in Swati and born at the gate of Vishakha: the soft sway first, then the focused arrow of intention.

My invitation: do your New Moon ritual on Sunday evening, 8 November, while the Moon is still in Swati and the lamps of Diwali are burning.

Swati: the sprout in the wind

Swati spans 6°40′ to 20°00′ of sidereal Libra. Her symbol is a young shoot swaying in the breeze, sometimes also coral — something that grows slowly, flexibly, in its own direction.

• Deity: Vayu, the god of wind and prana (breath)
• Ruling planet: Rahu — the hungry, curious, boundary-crossing node
• Sign ruler: Venus (Libra) — harmony, beauty, relationship, receiving
• Her gift (shakti): the power to scatter like the wind — to loosen what is stuck and move on freely

Swati is the nakshatra of independence and gentle self-direction. She doesn’t grow by force. She grows by staying rooted and staying flexible. When the storm comes, the young sprout doesn’t fight — she bends, she breathes, she rises again.

In your body, this is the language of fascia: tissue that is strong because it can move. And the language of breath: Vayu is prana itself.

What this New Moon may bring up

• Where am I bending so much for others that I’ve lost my own centre? (Libra)
• Where am I so rigid that I break instead of bend? (Swati)
• What do I want to grow, slowly and in my own direction, this coming cycle?
• Which relationships nourish my roots — and which ones blow me off course?

There’s an extra layer: in Vedic astrology, the Sun is debilitated in Libra. Our outer light, our ego, our ‘doing’ is quieter now. Combine that with the darkest Moon of the month, and this is not a time to push. It’s a time to listen, to plant intentions in dark soil, and to trust what grows when you stop forcing.

It’s beautiful that this lands on Diwali: when the outer light is lowest, we light the lamps ourselves.

Western vs. Vedic: why is it Scorpio and Libra?

If you follow Western astrology, you’ll read everywhere that this is a New Moon in Scorpio (at 16°53′ Scorpio). In Vedic astrology I call it a New Moon in Libra, in Swati. Both are ‘right’ — they’re simply measuring with a different map.

Western (tropical) astrology ties the zodiac to the seasons. 0° Aries is always the spring equinox, wherever the stars actually are. It’s a beautiful, psychological language, focused mostly on the Sun sign and your personality.

Vedic (sidereal) astrology — Jyotish ties the zodiac to the actual stars in the sky. Because the Earth slowly wobbles on its axis, the two zodiacs have drifted about 24 degrees apart over the centuries. That’s why most of us ‘move back’ about one sign when we look at our Vedic chart.

A few more differences I love:

• The Moon comes first. Jyotish places great weight on the Moon — your mind, your emotions, your inner rhythm — and less on the Sun sign alone.
• The 27 Nakshatras. Beyond the 12 signs, the sky is divided into 27 lunar mansions. They give the Moon (and every planet) a much finer, more poetic story — like Swati’s sprout in the wind.
• Timing and soul path. Vedic astrology uses planetary periods (dashas) to show which chapters of your life are unfolding — and your Atmakaraka, the soul planet, shows what your soul came here to learn.
• It’s a living tradition. Tithis, nakshatras and festivals like Diwali all flow from the same sky.

Western astrology speaks to the seasons of your personality. Vedic astrology speaks to the stars of your soul. I hold both with love — but Jyotish is the one that made me feel seen.

A gentle Moon Phase Yin practice for Swati

The New Moon is your inner winter: low energy, inward, receptive. Yin Yoga fits this beautifully. Stay in each shape for 3–5 minutes, breathing slowly into your belly.

1. Butterfly — fold softly over your legs. Let your spine round like a sprout bowing to the earth.
2. Banana pose (lying side bend) — open the side body, the ‘wind channels’ of your breath. Both sides.
3. Supported Child’s Pose — forehead on a cushion. Feel your roots.
4. Twisted Roots — a gentle reclined twist. Libra is balance: notice the difference between left and right without judging.
5. Savasana with Vayu breath — inhale softly, exhale a little longer. Let the wind move through you.

Afterwards, write down one intention — something you want to grow slowly, in your own direction. Light a candle for it.

Moon Phase Yin Yoga — the e-book

If you want to live with the Moon like this every month, my Moon Phase Yin Yoga e-book guides you through every phase of the lunar cycle: New Moon, waxing, Full Moon and waning with Yin sequences, breath practices and reflections to align your body with the rhythm of the Moon.

✨ Get the Moon Phase Yin Yoga e-book — €15,95

Or receive it as a gift with my book

When you order my book Feminine Embodiment, you’ll receive the Moon Phase Yin Yoga e-book as a free bonus — alongside the Rite of the Womb.

Feminine Embodiment is born from my own lived experience: yin, fascia, breath and cyclical living as a way to come home in your body.

• E-book — €37
• Paperback — €47
• Book + fascia balls — €67

🌙 Order Feminine Embodiment + your Moon Phase bonus

Your personal Vedic Astrology Reading

This New Moon falls somewhere unique in your chart. Is Libra your 1st house, your 7th house of relationships, your 10th house of career? Where does Swati touch your Moon, your rising sign, your soul planet?

In a personal reading I look at your Vedic birth chart with you — gently, practically and with a feminine, embodied lens:

• Birth Chart Reading — your Moon, rising sign, nakshatras and the chapter of life you’re in now
• Atmakaraka (Soul Planet) Reading — what your soul came here to learn and embody

You receive a PDF of your chart, with the option of a live 60-minute session (which you can also book later).

🔮 Book your Vedic Astrology Reading

May this New Moon be a quiet lamp in your darkness. May you bend like the young sprout, and rise again — rooted, free, and in your own direction.

With love from the Lot Valley,

Joyce Yoga Teacher · Breathwork Guide · Fascia Therapist · Vedic Astrologer

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Times calculated for France (CET) using standard Vedic (Lahiri) panchang data. Nakshatra and tithi timings can differ by a few minutes between sources.