This sense of ‘all things possible’ may be our mantram as we come into January, the beginning of the New Year of 2020, a Master Number year that speaks to the Master Builder if we live up to its potential, or may merely be another slog-along work year if we fall short in our efforts.
The signature for this New Year on the 1st of January talks both to our own personal destiny along our individual pathway and to the assistance from the universe by unexpected, even inexplicable, means.
A little humility with eager anticipation of the magic and mini-miracles of these paradigm-shifting times along with some elbow grease, grit and determination can open us to wonderful surprises and fascinating opportunities. Increasingly, we may experience evidence of serendipities and synchronicities — the extraordinary reality of ‘being in the right place at the right time’.
The early part of the New Year of 2020 has a Stellium of five planets in the Cardinal Earth Sign of Capricorn. With a thrust of directorial initiative and a focus on our goals for the year, we could develop the right template by which to achieve our plans with successful results.
The 2nd of January has Mercury conjunct Jupiter. Our mind can be sharp and upbeat. We may feel as though we can accomplish whatever we put our mind to. We’re not interested in ‘rushing the river’ but rather in taking our time, drawing upon innovative means, and developing a best practices approach. We might be more serious about what we intend to do, are likely to have nose to grindstone and block out the chattering static of distractions and diversions that truly have little effect on our daily lives.
We have all seen the drama and theatrics play out on the macro stage with people reacting with wild swings of emotions, from elation to despair. And we might feel ‘enough already’ as we turn our attention back to our own individual journey and discount the ‘news’ of the world.
Mars exits Scorpio, a Sign that Mars co-rules with Pluto, to enter Sagittarius on the 3rd. With our blueprint in mind, itinerary in hand, we are ready to launch forward in expanding our operations and broadening our involvements. Not that we are likely to go impetuously forward. On the contrary, we may take things step-by-step with each step fully considered and with nothing falling between the cracks.
The beginning of the New Year can be a productive time to plan, schedule and strategize. Once we have fully considered the conditions and the permutations possible, we can move forcefully ahead to realize our greatest ambitions.
During this year of 2020, it would be wise for us to remind ourselves repeatedly, almost mantram-like, that this year, a Master Number year, can be the year of the Master Builder, a time when we lay down solid foundations for our future. Failing to draw upon our full potential, the opportunities of this year can diminish to just a slog as we reduce ourselves to worker bees rather than master builders. Let’s remember: our choice, always our choice.
The 7th – 8th of January allow us to blend both our ‘sense’ of things with a practical engagement. We may feel clearer about what our own personal pathway is all about, might have a greater sense of our own personal self-worth, and can believe that our journey is guided by forces beyond mere mundane circumstance, guided by spiritual forces such as guardian angels or our ancestors.
As the early part of the new year emphasizes the concept of new beginnings, we might recognize that we are not as hampered by past limitations but rather can draw upon a blank slate to initiate and launch forward with new projects, new involvements, new trajectories. And especially during this new year of 2020 when in truth the ‘force’ might truly be with us.
The mid-part of January can be especially perilous and cautions each of us to be astute, mindful and willing to adapt to changing conditions in virtually a nanosecond of time. Based upon our individual charts, this mid-January period may be especially difficult for some, a mere blip on the screen for others.
Friday the 10th of January has the Sun conjunct Mercury, Uranus turning direct, and a Solar Eclipse with the Cancer Moon in opposition to the Sun and in opposition to the other four Capricorn-transiting planets.
We should say ‘let the games begin’, but these ‘games’ have gone on since January 20th, 2017, right after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th US President and The Washington Post headlined: “The campaign to impeach President Trump has begun”.
Although it has taken three years to come to this point, and with Mr. Trump impeached by the US House in December, this mid-January period can be particularly stressful for Mr. Trump with collateral impacts on a larger scale, some of which may give evidence to the law of unintended consequences.
The 12th and 13th of January may have us quaking as various implosions, explosions and dramatic removals occur.
The 12th has Mercury conjunct Saturn, Mercury conjunct Pluto, and Saturn conjunct Pluto. The 13th has the Sun conjunct Pluto, Sun conjunct Saturn, and Venus exiting Aquarius to enter Pisces.
These two days can truly be transformative with the recognition of the phrase for transformation: ‘adapt or die’.
This is a time when we may bear witness to the truth of the saying ‘build upon sand or build upon rock’. That which has been built in a solid manner with basic fundamentals might withstand the shaking at this time, but those things that have more hype, image or appearance than substance and solidity might fall away.
Intensity is ratcheted up severalfold during this time. We might see intensity play out with increased geophysical phenomena of earthquakes and volcanic activity. Atmospheric storm systems may be severe. Institutions, once thought solid, could teeter, even fall.
While this time can be challenging at the least, we might not only withstand the vagaries of these times but out of the dynamic thrust we may be able to use this energy to our advantage and incorporate dramatic changes to our lives as we pick up the pieces.
Amidst the heightened passion at this time, Venus exits Aquarius to enter Pisces on the 13th. Venus is ‘exalted’ in Pisces, and our compassion for ourselves and for our fellow beings could be increased significantly. A sense of ‘there but for the grace of god go I’ may remind us that we are all in this together. Hopefully, we might also recognize that we have chosen this time in which to do our most recent earth journey.
The movement of the personal planets of Venus, Mercury and the Sun through Pisces from this mid-January with Venus initially on the 13th, Mercury on the 3rd of February, and the Sun on the 18th of February has a Pisces-transiting planet sextiling the Capricorn-transiting planets into early April. There is the opportunity of blending foresight and conceptual abilities with practical application and material manifestation. We can truly have our head in the clouds while our feet are firmly planted on the ground. This period can be a highly productive period of combining our imagination with active engagement.
Venus sextiles Uranus on the 15th of January. Serendipitous encounters may prove of great assistance. We might experience mini-miracles that reinforce the truth to the paradigm shift out of linear, sequential reality into the asequential reality where things can occur in a most extra-ordinary manner. With evidence of the paradigm shift, our anxieties can be assuaged as we recognize that truly things DO work out, even if not in accord with our own particular wishes.
Whatever the kerfuffle may have been around the 12th and 13th, Mercury entering Aquarius on the 16th encourages us to look ahead, to cast our focus on the future and not to the past. Much of the 12th – 13th may have been a cleansing, a release of old limitations, and even if the sense of stability and security being turned upside down is upsetting to us, we can see beyond the debris of the past to new beginnings and a future unleashed from past restraints.
We do have to avoid being carried away with the idea of possibilities, for on the 18th Mercury squares Uranus. I have written it countless times before when we have experienced the adverse aspect between Mercury and Uranus, but this energy configuration is my least favorite for air travel, and I try to avoid flying at such times. Some of our future considerations may crash against the reality of our resources — our talents, our abilities, our time, or our finances. Unexpected news could be disruptive to our plans, and this is a time when we need to be flexible and adaptable to changing conditions. With this energy configuration, communications can be off. We might experience Internet or computer problems, and things thought easily managed could go awry. To some degree, this Mercury square Uranus can feel like a sudden jerk on the reins, pulling us back from what we are trying to accomplish.
After Mercury’s exit from Capricorn into Aquarius on the 16th, we have another shift from Capricorn into Aquarius as the Sun moves into the Fixed Air Sign on the 20th of January. Not that we lose the Stellium in Capricorn, for the transit of Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto through the Cardinal Earth Sign will continue on for much of this year with but a brief interruption during the Spring period.
The Sun’s move into Aquarius may have us looking for ways by which we can advance our future goals, empower our autonomy, and embrace ever more our uniqueness.
We might hit a bump in the road on the 23rd of January as the Sun squares Uranus. Although desirous of greater freedom and independence in our affairs, we could encounter various impediments to our doing things on our own terms and in our own ways. We have to be wary of getting pig-headed and trying to force matters. Thanks to the Venus sextile Jupiter at the same time, someone could prove our advocate and also suggest ways by which we can achieve our goals, ways of which we are not aware. During these times of paradigm shift, it is essential that we not assume that the only way forward is straight ahead. On the contrary, these times talk to the success of various approaches — e.g. going around impediments, or over them, or under them, but not merely trying to force our way through them.
The Aquarius New Moon on the 24th of January may have us considering our associations, the people with whom we choose to do the dance, all the while that we are concentrating on the road ahead and not solely what is right in front of us. Since we are living during hugely disruptive times, it will be important for us to plan our movements all with the recognition that unexpected situations might arise that force us to recalibrate and make necessary shifts as we go along.
We are also entering the Chinese New Year on the 25th of January, this Chinese year being the year of the White Metal Rat. The Rat is the first Sign of the 12 animals cycle in Chinese Astrology and consequently 2020 is seen as a year of new beginnings and renewals, as we start the Chinese Astrology cycle. The Year of the Rat can be a highly prosperous year as long as moves are well planned out. The Rat Year may promote a self-assertive attitude with a strong entrepreneurial spirit as people seek to begin, initiate and launch. Progress could be attained through hard work and focused intent.
These times call for us to be adept, light on our toes, and engage the tai chi moves whereby we are mindful of the shifting currents and adapt to any changing circumstance.
Apart from the beginning of the Chinese year of the Rat, the 25th also has Mercury sextile Mars. Our thoughts can be swift and determined. We may be far more interested in what our next steps might be. Our future seems bright, and we are likely to feel fully capable of realizing our greatest ambitions. As we consider expanding our involvements, we can feel invigorated, pumped up and with a sense that there is no stopping us now.
Feeling invincible and indefatigable, we might forge ahead but with a tinge of anxiety as to whether we can truly pull off our greatest ambitions, our most heartfelt desires.
The 26th through the 28th of January could have our emotions and our feelings ratcheted up severalfold. This period may feel hugely karmic as our past intrudes upon our present with experience getting in the way of our intentions. We have to be wary that anxieties and self-doubts don’t sabotage our hopes and our interests.
The 26th of January has Venus square Mars, followed on the 27th by Venus conjunct Neptune, and ending on the 28th with Mars square Neptune. Heavy emphasis on the Neptunian and Piscean energies could thwart our progress, as we second-guess ourselves with a liability of falling into a reactive, victim mode. Many of us have been conditioned into a passive role, a belief that life happens to us instead of our engaging a proactive approach and determining through choice the way we decide to move ahead. This sense of waiting for things to occur before we act could be a problem during this three-day period with a tendency for us to see things according to our limited perspective which can veer from irrational exuberance of buying into fantasies to downright despair of accepting worst case scenarios.
It is important that we get a hold on our emotions, engage the Buddhist concept of detachment, the non-attachment whereby we are neither triggered by happiness or sadness but maintain zen-like composure.
Such a discipline may be hard during this three-day period.
Hopefully, we shall have a guardian angel watching over us during this time, since the liability of extreme emotions and actions without much forethought or consideration of consequences, much less unintended consequences, could be huge.
January 2020… these magic moments…
