January brings us into a whole new year. Whether consciously or subconsciously, we might have the sense that we are not merely ending one year to enter into a new year, but that we are also turning a page and entering a brand new phase. Not only is 2917 a new year. It is also the beginning of a new nine-year cycle.
Happy New Year! Happy New Nine-Year Cycle!
Even if we have indulged in celebration of the new year, we may feel gung-ho to get on with the promises that a new year and a new chapter in our lives offer. With such impetus and with Mars conjunct Neptune on the 1st, we might feel compelled to do something, virtually anything, but our moves could be more knee-jerk reactions rather than well-considered plans.
Let’s not rush into our new year. Instead, let’s consider our options and the ways to realize new trajectories we might choose to take.
The 3rd of January has Venus entering Pisces, creating a Stellium of three planets in the Mutable Water Sign as Venus joins Mars and Neptune in Pisces. Mercury sextiles Venus on this day, and we could draw upon both our intuitive and practical senses to plan our future moves. We might feel as though our personal destiny is unfolding, but we may still have to develop the actual template and the ways to fully engage the next steps along our journey. Our emotions are likely to be heightened with a desire to merge our spiritual characteristics into our everyday life events for the year that we are entering.
Mercury retrogrades back into Sagittarius on the 4th. Leaving Capricorn, Mercury also ends the Stellium of three planets in the Cardinal Earth Sign. The strong Capricorn and Piscean influence could have given us a blend of intuitive and focused abilities whereby we could have a sense of where we are going and all with a practical approach. With Mercury moving back into Sagittarius, a Sign where Mercury is in Detriment and uncomfortable, we have to be wary of basing our assumptions, our decisions and our actions on unbridled optimism with a confidence that whatever we put our mind to will be fully and easily realized.
Let’s remember the paradigm shift whereby we are no longer in control of conditions and circumstances [as if we ever were] but rather co-creators with the universe unfolding with a sense of asequential reality coming to the fore.
The Sun conjuncts Pluto on the 7th of January. We may take a deep look into what we intend to do. We could be soul-searching today with our focus on the truly meaningful regarding our plans and our goals. Increasingly, we are likely to engage the sentiment of quality of life as the underpinnings of our actions and our ambitions. We might also consider what image we wish to project. This is a day when someone significant could step away from the world stage.
It would be wise for us to delay implementation of our plans until Mercury turns direct on the 8th. Things can get especially convoluted when Mercury is changing direction, whether from direct to retrograde or from retrograde to direct motion. Although we shall be coming out from under the Mercury retrograde, we shall still be in its ‘shadow’ until January 27th when Mercury returns to its placement where it first turned retrograde back on December 19th.
The second week of January has the Sun triggering a Cardinal Sign T-Square as the Capricorn Sun squares Uranus on the 10th and the Sun squares Jupiter on the 11th. We may be champing at the bit to put into place some of our new ideas and some of our new interests. Not only may we feel impelled by our own desire to have greater autonomy over our lives and greater freedom of movement where we can put our personal mark and imprint on our daily life. We could also find someone encouraging us, but we would have to be wary that their suggestions don’t have us going too far out on a limb. If we can restrain our impetuousness, take the time for due diligence and serious consideration of our plans, then with the right approach we could virtually move mountains. For the 11th also gives us Mars sextile Pluto and the determination and belief of infallibility to achieve our goals.
The Cancer Full Moon on the 12th is a Cardinal Sign Grand Cross with the Sun Moon opposition squared by Jupiter in Libra and squared by Uranus in Aries. We may have our motor running, ready to flip into overdrive and forge ahead. The 12th also has Mercury coming back into Capricorn and re-creating the Capricorn Stellium as Mercury joins both the Sun and Pluto in the Cardinal Earth Sign. Venus conjuncts Neptune. This Full Moon can be a highly productive time. If we are open to unexpected opportunities arising with a recognition that often our opportunities come about by ‘being in the right place at the right time’, then we might find ourselves more in love with our lives and appreciative of this new paradigm whereby we don’t have to do it all but we do need to be open to the magic in order to receive the surprising blessings.
Relationships now can be close to idyllic largely thanks to our being in a far better place emotionally and mentally than we might have been for quite some time.
On the 19th, the Sun exits Capricorn and enters Aquarius. In the process, the Sun ends the Stellium of three planets in Capricorn. The 19th also has Mars square Saturn. Although we have the opportunity of stepping into a whole new realm and could look to the future, some people may be stuck in nursing old wounds, tied to the past and looking back rather than forward. If we don’t let go of past grievances, then we could exhaust ourselves with little to gain. Letting go of the past allows us to embrace our future without the same baggage dragging us down or our being hampered by the ties that bind.
Venus sextiles Pluto on the 20th, which happens to be Inauguration Day of the 45th US President. Someone could prove an important support system for some of our greatest hopes and wishes. To indicate new beginnings, we might choose to do some sort of shakeup in our home or work environment that better reflects where we are headed more so than where we have been. This is a day when we get a greater understanding and appreciation for that person, or those people, who are there and have been there for us.
The 23rd of January has Mercury sextile Neptune. Our intuitive sense can be heightened, and we may be quite adept at saying the right thing at the right time to the right person. Even if we have been perplexed by a situation, the energies could provide us a certain knowing and understanding as to how we can best resolve the situation. This is a great time for devising our strategies and providing an emotional appeal regarding our projects and our intentions.
The Aquarius New Moon on the 27th gives fodder to some of the options and alternatives we might have considered. We are looking to engage greater autonomy in our lives and shed those involvements that may have served a purpose to us in the past but could be holding us back in the present and even more so into the future. Venus squares Saturn at the time of this New Moon, and we might feel held back by past connections or obligations we feel to someone.
This New Moon also represents the Chinese New Year and this Chinese New Year is the year of the Red Fire Rooster. First impressions will be significant, and it would be wise that we look our best and put our best foot forward. It will be important to keep on our toes for challenges will demand quick decisions and practical solutions. This year portends a year of hard work and patience in order to come to successful achievement.
With the New Moon impetus influencing the next fortnight up to the Leo Full Moon on the 10th of February, we can engage both our brain and our brawn to advance our personal interests.
Mars exits Pisces to enter its own Sign of Aries on the 28th, followed on the 29th by Mercury conjunct Pluto. We may have more determination and a greater sense of physical strength and stamina to pursue our personal interests. With the ability to penetrate whatever is going on and get to the heart of any matter, this end of January can be a time when we might be highly astute and have the self-confidence to advance some of our more meaningful activities.
As a reminder that we are in a paradigm shift and to possibly knock us off any high horse we might have gotten on, the 31st of January provides some curveballs with Mercury square Uranus. My least favorite energy configuration for air travel, this energy can create unexpected difficulties with travel, communications, Internet issues and computer problems. This energy also allows us, even demands us, to be quick and resourceful to unanticipated variables that can upset the most strategically devised plans.
January 2017… Happy New Year!… Happy New Beginnings…
