The astrology for this week of January 1st through the 7th of 2024 brings us into a new year but with the volatility of recent years engaged with times of opportunities, other times of challenges.
We begin this week and this new year with a Grand Trine in the Earth Element, a Stellium of three planets in Sagittarius, and Mercury ending it three-week retrograde cycle and turning direct.
As the nineteenth century poet Emily Dickinson said: “If you take care of the small things, the big things take care of themselves.”
We might start this week with great aspirations, assertive intentions to take on the world. While we might want to take the world by storm, it would be wise for us to take things step-by-step, focus on the details and not get caught up in expansive plans without considering the specific ways to get from here to there.
Relationships might be a little dicey as we begin the week. Perhaps we are nursing a hangover from the celebrations of the night before toasting the new year, but we could be a little grumpy with one another.
The early part of the week might have us juggling any number of things. Not only are we looking at finishing up loose ends of this past year, but we are laying down the basic structures for our year unfolding.
The latter part of the week has Mars exiting Sagittarius to enter Capricorn, a Sign of Exaltation for Mars, where our physical energy can be focused into effective approaches and persistent determination to achieve practical results.
The end of the week and the weekend might prove a productive time for a good cleaning and clearing out of the debris from our past.
Monday, January 1st – And So It Begins – Earth Grand Trine, Sun, Uranus, Venus, Saturn, Mercury direct. Monday begins this week and the new year with the Virgo Moon triggering an Earth Grand Trine as the Virgo Moon trines the Sun in Capricorn early in the day, and the Moon trines Uranus in Taurus to end the day. Venus squares Saturn, and Mercury ends its three-week retrograde cycle by turning direct. We also have a Stellium of three planets in the confident, expansive Sign of Sagittarius with Mercury, Venus, and Mars all in the Mutable Fire Sign. We can start this year with great intentions to make it a productive and successful year. We need to be wary that our plans are not too grandiose. Projects are far easier accomplished in concept than in implementation. We don’t want any parade rainers to douse our aspirations. It’s a new year with all possibilities realizable, and we may not be too interested in hearing from anyone who could question our objectives. If we devise our strategy, concentrate on the particulars, we can develop a practical approach to achieve our goals. With Mercury turning direct, we exit a particularly grueling three-week period of Murphy’s Law of ‘whatever can go wrong could go wrong’ having been in effect. Whenever a planet changes direction, whether from retrograde to direct motion or from direct to retrograde motion, things associated with that planetary energy can get squirrely until we have adjusted ourselves to the rhythm and pace. No rushing the river today, no matter what the currents might seem. This day is a day for us to take things step-by-step and have a course of action in hand.
Tuesday, January 2nd – Too Far, Too Fast – Lunar T-Square, Mercury, Neptune, Mars, Pluto, Moon Void-of-Course. Tuesday continues with the Virgo Moon with the Moon today triggering a Mutable Sign T-Square as the Moon squares both Mercury and Mars both in Sagittarius, and the Moon opposes Neptune. Later in the day, the Moon trines Pluto before the Moon goes Void-of-Course for an hour as the Moon completes it transit of Virgo without making any further connections to the planets and before the Moon enters Libra late in the day. With Monday having been a holiday in celebration of the new year, Tuesday could have us scampering around, trying to take care of this, that, and some other. The newness of this time can have us feeling compelled to accomplish everything as soon as possible. This Tuesday can be a case of Wrong Way Corrigan where we set off to accomplish various tasks only to find ourselves going in the wrong direction or taking on too much with the consequent effect of our getting convoluted by us trying to do too many things and virtually all at once. Even if we entrap ourselves in a maze of frenetic activity, the end of the day may have us straightening out various matters and untying the knots we have created for ourselves. Despite the accelerated pace and any self-important tendencies of being able to master any conditions which we encounter, the frantic energy dies down in the evening and prepares us for a relatively peaceful Wednesday.
Wednesday, January 3rd – Peaceful Easy Feeling – Venus, Sun. Wednesday has the Libra Moon sextile Venus to begin the day, and the Moon square the Sun to end the day. Whether we exhausted ourselves yesterday or were able to keep up the pace, this Wednesday is a far different energy. Spending time with a special someone early in the day can put a smile on our face and prove uplifting. We may not feel as pressured or likely to put pressure on ourselves, as we might have done yesterday. We’re more interested in creating that peaceful easy feeling of enjoying our life, the people in our life, and all the good things that make up our life. In our fast-paced life, when we do take some down time or step off the track, there’s always a catch-up afterwards, and so we might experience towards the evening of this Wednesday. We could feel as though things have gotten away from us and that we have much on our plate to attend to. Let’s not lose any sense of reinvigoration we might have felt earlier in the day to an anxiety of having to get into overdrive in the evening hours or tomorrow. Purchases to streamline our operations may prove more costly than they need to be. We might want to wait until the end of the week or over the weekend for significant expenditures since we then may be more discerning and discriminating and looking to get more bang for our buck.
Thursday, January 4th – Shoulder to the Wheel – Mercury, Mars Capricorn. Thursday has the Libra Moon sextile Mercury late in the day. Mars exits Sagittarius to enter Capricorn [9:58 AM EST], a Sign of Exaltation for Mars where our physical energy can be put to practical use with determination and persistence to realize our goals. The Mars Sign change ends the Stellium in Sagittarius and triggers a Stellium in Capricorn as Mars joins the Sun and Pluto in the Cardinal Earth Sign. This Thursday is a good day to devise a best practices approach for achieving our ambitions. We could have a true sense of a grounded ‘can do’ attitude. Whether we initiate new projects or consider what activities we might choose to engage, we may feel no need to ‘rush the river’. With our goals in mind, we could also recognize that there are certain matters we need to resolve, old issues needing to be concluded, and dross in the way to be rid of. A clearing and clean up can occupy our next three days with an understanding that in launching forward with projects we do not wish to be hampered by outstanding situations. The evening hours provide the energy for enjoyable social engagements with good food and lofty conversations.
Friday, January 5th – Clean Up, Clean Up, Everybody, Everywhere – Pluto, Moon Void-of-Course, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter. Friday begins the day with the Libra Moon square Pluto. The Moon then goes Void-of-Course for almost an hour as the Moon completes its transit of Libra without making any further connections to the planets before the Moon moves into Scorpio. The day is largely influenced by the Scorpio Moon with the Moon sextile Mars, the Moon trine Saturn, and the Moon opposed Jupiter in the evening. Certain responsibilities may beckon. If these matters are present or future issues, we might put them on the back burner and attend to them early next week. Today through much of the weekend we are better served taking care of outstanding matters, cleaning up, clearing out, and making space for projects aligned with our new year resolutions rather than old issues. We may be champing at the bit to get on with things, but it would be wise for us to rid ourselves of the extraneous and outmoded to have a cleaner slate upon which to engage our plans and activities. We can accomplish a lot today and through the weekend. We do need to avoid the tendency of getting rid of stuff only to fill the vacant space with new stuff. The universe abhors a vacuum and as space is created, the universe tends to fill up that space. And this tendency is with us as well. We can be focused and determined during this day, but we need to avoid indulgence or excess in the evening hours.
Saturday, January 6th – Steady as She Goes Before Disruption – Sun, Uranus. Saturday continues with the Scorpio Moon and with our weekend clean up, clear out. The Scorpio Moon sextiles the Sun, and in the evening the Moon opposes Uranus. A tendency to go it alone on this weekend would allow us to concentrate on a good new year cleanse, literally and figuratively. The more we can get rid of stuff, the better able we shall operate unencumbered. If we are doing an inventory taking and elimination this weekend, let’s keep in mind that ridding ourselves of old stuff could also trigger a walk down memory lane as incidents associated with our stuff comes up in our mind’s eye. Any major cleaning and removal can have emotional attachments to the stuff. Today would be a good day for us to go slow, take our time and be as detached as possible. The evening hours might prove disruptive. If we have plans for the evening, we may have to alter them. Unexpected developments can arise forcing us to make changes. Let’s remember that we are in a paradigm shift where things can occur suddenly and unexpectedly and reinforces the old saying that ‘if you want to make god laugh, tell god your plans.’
Sunday, January 7th – One More Time Before the Chill – Neptune, Pluto, Moon Void-of-Course, Saturn. Sunday has the Moon completing its transit with the Moon trine Neptune and the Moon sextile Pluto before the Moon goes Void-of-Course for about forty-five minutes with the Moon making no further connections to the planets as the Moon finishes its transit of Scorpio and before the Moon enters Sagittarius where the Sagittarius Moon squares Saturn to end the day. Sunday concludes a three-day cleanup and clear out. We may have done a lot of letting go, both physically with our getting rid of stuff and emotionally as we contemplated where we have been and where we intend to go. We might feel as though we have gone through a major cleanse. Once done with our cleaning up and clearing out, we can use the day to relax, luxuriate and enjoy the quality of our living. Quiet time would allow us to align with the natural rhythms and the many beautiful blessings in our life. Getting down by the water, taking a walk in the park, all the characteristics of nature can be restorative and reinvigorate us. The day ends with us considering how to spread our wings, all the while feeling grounded by our responsibilities or our compassionate spiritual nature to help other people. There is a saying that ‘you can help someone lift their burden, but you cannot carry it for them.’ It’s all about karma and not taking from a person the lessons they’ve chosen to learn in this lifetime.
