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SKYWATCH
FOR JANUARY 2008
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Mars Rx enters Gemini Dates and times are all Eastern time zone For quite a while now, the planetary placements have shown a lack of the earth element but as we enter January the shortage is now in the element of water with a predominance of earth. Water is the element of emotions - the presence of water in the astrological weather map provides a smooth conduit for the emotional realms to be expressed. Water seeks emotional connection and spiritual transcendence, and our experience tends to be dry without it. During the first few days of January we find a Grand Trine in the earth element, with Jupiter in Capricorn trine Saturn in Virgo and Ceres in Taurus. This provides a great deal of stability and a pragmatic approach to the issues of the day. Late on January 1 Mars, traveling retrograde back through Cancer, re-enters Gemini where it prepares to oppose Pluto on January 2. This is the second phase of an opposition cycle that began in September 2007 and will conclude in March 2008. You can read more about that cycle here. The opposition of Mars to Pluto is a powerful clash of the individual ego (Mars) with the ultimate power structures (Pluto) and served to exacerbate simmering conflicts all over the world last year. Although the dynamic is exact on the 2nd, because Mars is moving so slowly now the influence of the opposition continues throughout the month of January. Watch for tension and anger, as well as literal fires that erupt when the energy spills into manifestation. Venus rules the skies from the 6th through the 16th or so as it passes through a series of planetary interactions that bring beauty and sensitivity to many of our dealings with others. The Venus influence begins on January 6 when Venus (love and beauty) makes a square to Saturn (restriction and isolation), making the days between the 5th and the 7th difficult for relationships of any kind. This is usually not a great time for the stock market or investments since Venus is also associated with our possessions and wealth. A trine from Jupiter to Saturn (exact on the 21st) is in effect for much of the month beginning around the 8th and continuing through the end of January. Jupiter is expansive and optimistic where Saturn can be repressive in its focus on discipline, but when these two are in harmony, such as in the trine aspect, they are tremendous aids for successful ventures. The 7th sees the passage of Mercury from practical Capricorn into innovative Aquarius. This marks a transition in the way we process information and communicate with each other (Mercury's domain), and Mercury will be in Aquarius longer than usual (through March 14) due to its retrograde period from January 28 to February 18. The New Moon falls on January 8, with the Sun and Moon conjunct in Capricorn. We have had a strong Capricorn influence since the Capricorn Stellium of mid-December, and this continues the Earth theme that we are seeing this month. With the New Moon in Capricorn, our focus is on building structures in our life that support us. Discipline, responsibility, commitment - these are the hallmarks of the Capricorn experience. This New Moon provides an opportunity to manifest our dreams in a real and concrete manner. Capricorn is the sign that says "Just Do It." No excuses, no rationalizations. However, we have a strong Aquarian component that helps us to lift and expand the Capricorn influence here, with Mercury having just entered Aquarius and Chiron and Neptune both carrying the visionary Aquarian torch. In addition, the New Moon makes a sextile to Uranus which rules Aquarius and shares its essence of innovation and change. This will help us to create new ways (Aquarius) of building structures (Capricorn) in our lives. The New Moon energy is strongest during the three days before and the three days after the actual lunation, making this an excellent time for planning and reorganizing. The Venus influence continues with a sextile (harmonious aspect) to Chiron on the 10th which helps to heal any difficulties that arose under the pressure from Saturn. This leads nicely to a square of Venus to Uranus (independence and sudden change) that will be exact on the 12th that is likely to bring about a fierce need for autonomy in relationships and could create disruptions in the financial markets. Just as things calm down from the excitement of the Venus/Uranus square, Venus makes a lovely sextile to Neptune on the 16th. Neptune is often referred to (by me, anyway) as the "higher octave of Venus." Where Venus is associated with personal relationships and affection, Neptune is divine love and compassion. When Venus and Neptune dance together, a flood of creativity and beauty is released and opportunities abound for creativity and imagination. However, this is not an ideal time for business ventures as we are less realistic than usual now. On the 17th, Mercury makes a conjunction to Chiron. Chiron is the planet of wounds and healing, and Mercury gives us an intellectual way to view the difficulties of our lives and particular situations so that we can reason our way through them. This is particularly true in Aquarius, where we receive the benefit of insight and new ways of looking at the world. This leads nicely into the excitement of the opposition between Venus and Mars on the 19th. With Venus governing our interactions with others, and Mars ruling over our aggressive energy, sparks may fly now that can be alternatively irritating and exciting (and sometimes both at once!). The Sun enters Aquarius on January 20, beginning a new solar cycle of innovation, humanitarian interest and technological brilliance, and there are opportunities for long-range planning and vision work on the 21st when Jupiter aligns with Saturn in a trine that provides opportunities to harness Jupiter's faith and optimism with Saturn's discipline, offering the potential for success in any venture. What a terrific segue into the Full Moon on January 22nd that takes place in confluence with a conjunction of Mercury (mental function) to Neptune (spirituality and idealism) which adds creativity and imagination to the work of the Jupiter/Saturn trine and increases the scope of possibilities available to us. The Full Moon occurs when the Moon is opposite the Sun, so we always have two opposing astrological signs in the Full Moon. In this Full Moon we see the Aquarian Sun opposite the Leo Moon. Aquarius is concerned with humanity as a whole and seeks an understanding that expands beyond the material dimension. Leo, on the other hand, is firmly rooted in the individual ego and seeks to express oneself as a unique individual. During a Leo Full Moon, the ego gains ascendancy and seeks that expression, so this can be a very dramatic time. The astrological signatures for this Full Moon incorporate the events mentioned above, but also a conjunction of Venus (relating) to Pluto (power) that occurs the next day. This is a time of intensity - an excellent time for psychodrama or ritual that provides a creative expression for one's inner desires. The Venus/Pluto combination is opposed by Mars and the opposition forms a Mystic Rectangle with the Moon's nodes. The lunar nodes represent our evolutionary direction, and planetary events that include them tend to carry great significance, so it appears that this lunation will have meaning for some time to come. Then on January 24 Venus enters Capricorn and is followed quickly by Pluto on the 25th. The entry of Pluto into Capricorn has been a subject of much discussion, since Pluto only changes signs every 12-20 years. Pluto has been in Sagittarius since 1995, where it has witnessed destruction (Pluto) by planes and other vehicles of travel (Sagittarius), compulsive (Pluto) expansion in the stock and housing markets (Sagittarius), and wars (Pluto) of ideology (Sagittarius). To learn more about what Pluto in Capricorn has in store for us visit my article on the web. Mercury turns retrograde on January 28, providing opportunities to redo your website, revise your resume, and reconnect with old friends. Basically, anything that includes the prefix "re-", which means to go back and do again, is well-favored during Mercury Rx periods. What is NOT favored is beginning new projects, signing contracts, wedding dates, or business incorporations. These things can certainly be done during Mercury retrograde periods, but there is a possibility that these things will be dogged with communication problems. This is NOT always the case, and much of the influence of the Mercury retrograde period is dependent on other factors occurring in your own chart at the time. The end of the month gives us more good Venus energy with a trine to Saturn on the 29th and a conjunction to Jupiter on the 31st. These few days are very well suited to business ventures AND dealings with people or romantic escapades and Venus brings out even more the positive implications of the trine between Jupiter and Saturn discussed above. Mars has been traveling retrograde since November 15, and turns direct on January 30. Its motion is slow through the last few degrees of Gemini throughout the month of February, so those of us with planets in the last degrees of the mutable signs (Gemini, Sagittarius, Virgo, Pisces) who have already been clobbered by Pluto traveling through the end of Sagittarius will experience some agitation by Mars before it moves back into Cancer and into place for its last opposition to Pluto in March. Overall
January offers us pretty good planetary weather, so enjoy! February
brings us back to some challenging but effective process work
including an eclipse series and the final Mars/Pluto opposition. |
