This week the planets are increasing their emphasis on Capricorn, on our way to the Capricorn New Moon January 1, 2014 (exact at 6:14 am EST). Astrology does not always line up so well with the civil calendar, but this year we have a very impressive cluster of major planets on the cardinal cross (Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn)—the axis that’s all about taking initiative (and lately, change).
The setup is perfect for giving some real legs to your New Year’s resolutions, though those legs might take surprising form, and your “resolutions” might feel more like solid responses to unexpected developments.
The element of change”with relation to these cardinal signs is particularly strong thanks to the ongoing presence of the Urnaus-Pluto square. This is the multi-contact, multi-year aspect of the generation lending its energy to all of the dynamic, dramatic upheaval and transformation we’re seeing around us in the world, and within us. The Capricorn New Moon, which is a conjunction of the Sun (representing our consciousness) and the Moon (representing our unconscious), is aligned with the Uranus-Pluto square.
Also tightly aligned with the Sun, Moon, Uranus and Pluto will be Mercury (which ingressed Capricorn December 24); Mars (in early Libra and aligned with Uranus and Pluto now); and Jupiter (in mid-Cancer). That’s a lot of energy—and a lot of potential to feel overwhelmed or like life is rumbling by at an astonishing, incomprehensible pace. As Eric wrote in Chronogram a few weeks ago, “Pay attention and you will find your opening. Don't judge your role—just live it out.”
Doing so could prove a tad tricky this week, as first Mars and then Mercury are in aspect to Uranus (and more loosely, Pluto). Yesterday (Wednesday) Mars opposed Uranus in Aries, which may have contributed to any drastic misunderstandings or reactions during the Christmas holiday.
Layered on top of the family stress, social obligation and financial pressure common for many during the holidays, this might have seemed par for the course. It’s possible, however, that underlying themes of individual assertion versus relationship desires/goals have deeper roots asking to be tapped.
Mercury, newly in Capricorn, squares Uranus on Sunday. At that point its energy joins with the Moon in Sagittarius to make tact in speaking hard to come by. There’s a lot of intuition and independent thinking (Mercury) and feeling (Moon) that can be done, you just might have to work a little harder at getting your brilliant point across in a way that does not completely alienate the person you’re speaking to.
It’s one thing to gear up for the start the of New Year and its bold, initiative-taking New Moon by getting the ball rolling; it’s another thing to be careless and thoughtless toward those you care about. Not everyone is going to support your discovery of your radically authentic new path in life. However, those who would offer support and love to you will have an easier time if they feel heard and seen for who they are as well. It’s a two-way street.
Eric recently wrote of Uranus-Pluto and the Capricorn New Moon that, “There is always a mix of creative and destructive in these aspects; and there is often a choice what side of that equation to choose.”
Sometimes it’s not so easy to tell which side is which, since making room for creating something new generally necessitates the destruction, or at least the release, of something old. Capricorn has strong ties to the past, old ways of doing things, established structures and institutions. With a New Moon, which is the beginning of a new lunar cycle, approaching in the sign of the old and the established, the creative/destructive duality is in full play. It may be a matter of perspective, framing or semantics, but a choice is approaching, and only you can decide for yourself how to answer.
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