Happy New Year! January begins the year of 2016, a year in numerological terms indicative of the 9 year, a year of culmination of the past eight years.
2016 allows us to complete and close the door on various issues that have gone on since 2008. And what issues there have been during these past eight years! The global economic system lurched close to a total collapse as the developed nations entered what has been termed ‘the great recession’. An increasing war-like stance has emerged between the US with its NATO allies and the BRICS nations led by China and Russia.
On a personal level, each of us may have experienced major changes even to the point of significant transformation over these past eight years. 2016 allows us to reflect on these past eight years, consider what we want to bring closure to before entering the new nine-year cycle in 2017, tie up loose ends and deal with the baggage to be left behind when we enter 2017.
Being the first month of the new year, January in 2016 is a month of new beginnings, but also could prove to be a rather intense month. Major factors in the intensity of this month of January are [1] Mars moving into Scorpio, a Sign it co-rules thereby strengthening the martial influence, where it will be through early March and [2] the fact that much of the month will be impacted by the year’s first Mercury retrograde, starting on the 5th of January and ending on the 25th of the month. And [3] we continue with the Mutable Sign T-Square of Jupiter in Virgo, Saturn in Sagittarius and Neptune in Pisces, ratcheting up the volatility of these times with wild swings between highs and lows.
As we come into January, Mercury exits Capricorn to enter Aquarius on the 1st. Our thoughts are likely to turn to resolutions for our year ahead — our hopes and wishes, our ambitions and our desires, the goals we set for ourselves as we begin a new year and with the impetus of Mercury in Aquarius.
The 3rd of January has Mars exiting Libra to enter its own Sign of Scorpio. The intensity is likely to be heightened. We may feel more passionate, but our passion can turn to an ability and willingness to cut anyone off at the knees.
The first week of January has Mercury entering Aquarius on the 1st, Mars entering Scorpio on the 3rd, followed on the 5th by Mercury square Mars, Mercury turning retrograde, Venus square Neptune and the Sun conjunct Pluto.
People may be feeling their oats but with a liability towards misinterpreting signals and expressing desires with a self-centered orientation and overblown intensity. We might all have a chip on our shoulder and taunting someone to knock it off. Narcissism can be rampant and everyone could feel justified in their opinion as if some divine edict.
This early part of 2016 can have us champing at the bit, wanting to get on with it, and looking to the promises of change that we assume a new year affords.
We may look to clear the decks, rid ourselves of the clutter with the affirmation that once we create some space, new and different and exciting things can come our way.
This desire for change that would provide us greater freedom of movement, increase our autonomy and allow us to journey more in accord with our heartfelt wishes could prove obsessive. We might try a little too hard to make the change we wish to be. And therein lies the rub — our attempt to control situations rather than allowing things to unfold in their own natural rhythm, in their own natural accord.
We might believe that we can make things happen, force matters to our will, but such a disposition buys into the old mindset of the old paradigm. As we enter this new year of 2016, a 9 year in numerology, it is important for us to acknowledge and appreciate the dance between old and new.
On the one hand, we want to engage the magic and miracles of the new paradigm of asequential reality. On the other hand, we want the unexpected and serendipity to act in accord with our desires, our hopes and our wishes. So much for letting go of control and being co-creators with the universal unfolding!
Yes, the challenge of this year will be how we place ourselves within the midst of our conditions and our circumstances. We may choose to steer our craft, but we may need to acknowledge that the navigator lies beyond our personal control, that the navigator is in truth the natural unfolding of our life path.
In this beginning of 2016, we might feel as though we are tied in with ‘same old, same old’. We might assume that nothing has changed, that the landscape of our lives is the same as it has been. And there might be truth to that reality, and we could feel gravely disappointed, but we would also be discounting the enormous change that has gone on within us, inside of us, the internal stirrings of growth, transition, change and transformation.
First, the internal workings and then come the external expressions.
The 7th of January has the Sun square Uranus and Jupiter turning retrograde. We may feel ever more in harness of our normal responsibilities, the daily tasks with which we are so familiar. No matter how we might rail against our situation, we might still have to deal with the hand dealt us.
The 8th of January has the retrograde Mercury exiting Aquarius to go back into Capricorn, and Venus conjunct Saturn. We could have the sense that we are doing the Texas two-step of one step forward, two steps back, two steps forward, one step back. We might feel as though we are going nowhere but moving slightly forward, slightly backwards, but seemingly staying in place.
The Capricorn New Moon on the 9th of January can be a powerful one. This Capricorn New Moon has the Stellium in Capricorn trine Jupiter and square Uranus. We might realize that we have to deal with first things first. Although we may be unable to forge ahead as quickly as we might like, we can also deal with things in a focused, systematic manner, taking things step by step to advance our interests without glossing over relevant matters or skipping important details. Instead, we can put things neatly together and present our goals in an attractive and appealing package. Our talents and our abilities could be acknowledged, and we might have someone who suggests a project or involvement that allows us to express our creative talents.
Under the influence of January’s New Moon, the following week seems highly buoyant with new connections possibly established and with our feeling that nothing could possibly go wrong. The euphoria might be intoxicating but we have to be wary of irrational exuberance and maintain in mind the volatility of these times — when it’s good, it can be great; when it’s bad, it can be terrible.
The 12th of January has Venus trine Uranus. The 13th has the Sun trine Jupiter, followed on the 14th with the Sun conjunct Mercury and Mercury trine Jupiter. Urged on by someone we may have just met or egged on by a situation that seductively draws us in, we could make great leaps, feeling confident and expectant of a successful outcome.
This ‘feel good’ quality can continue through this mid-January period, as the energies on the 12th through the 14th are given a greater push the following week as Venus squares Jupiter and Mars trines Neptune on the 18th, Mercury squares Uranus and the Sun enters Aquarius on the 20th, Mercury conjuncts Pluto on the 22nd, culminating with the Leo Full Moon on the 23rd when Venus exits Sagittarius to enter Capricorn.
We may feel as though we are operating on greased wheels and take on ever more during that time without fully taking into account the trajectory on which we are operating nor the liability of unexpected hiccups along the way. If we rein in our blind faith confidence, maintain our focus and do our due diligence, we could avoid some of the pitfalls of unexpected situations that might otherwise derail us.
Nonetheless, January of 2016 can be a time when we advance our interests and can make hay while the sun shines. Let’s bear in mind that much of the month is under the influence of the Mercury retrograde. We need to avoid making superficial assessments and realize that Mercury retrogrades bring into play Murphy’s Law of ‘whatever can go wrong could go wrong’.
Mercury turns direct on the 25th of January, although we are under its ‘shadow’ [the retracing of the space through which Mercury retrograded] until the 14th of February. We shall need to keep our antennae up during this six-week period from the first week of January through mid-February, for appearance and reality might not always mesh.
As Mercury turns direct, Mercury will trip off with a third time over some of its earlier, and often difficult energies. Mercury conjuncts Pluto on the 30th of January, the energy configuration that Mercury triggered initially back on December 19th and again on January 22nd. And Mercury squares Uranus on the 31st of January, the energy configuration that Mercury triggered initially back on December 20th and again on January 20th.
Let’s keep in mind the Law of Three, that often the energy configuration is strongest the first time over, allows for a review and greater comprehension as the planet retrogrades back over that configuration, and finalizes by offering greater comprehension of what is being asked of us by this particular energy configuration the third time over.
We have had some awakenings, some epiphanies of consciousness and increased awareness in regards to our selves and how we are doing our life. We may have seen alternate options for ourselves and given serious thought as to how we can shift and transform what we are doing and how we are doing it. We might have a realization as to what stands in our way and what we need to be rid of in order to streamline our lives and concentrate ever more on what we now consider to be the essential elements in our living.
At the same, it would be important for us to appreciate that there are times when we go through situations and are offered important lessons, but the understanding of those lessons come at a later time when the nickel drops and we have that ah-ha moment of greater understanding from a fresh perspective undaunted by the immediate experience of the events.
The 30th of January not only has Mercury conjunct Pluto but also Venus sextile Neptune. Our mind is likely to be sharp and laser-like even to the point of cutting away the niceties of conversation and liabilities to being overbearing, perhaps even belligerent. Fortunately, our appearance can belie the intensity of our ideas and the way we express our opinions, as we seek to present our case in an appealing and pleasant manner. It may be a case of the iron fist inside the velvet glove.
January 2016… Resolutions with Twists and Turns…
