We begin the New Year with -- what else? -- change!
After the Christmas Day Cancer Full Moon highlighted Uranus going direct, the planet of change, awakening and originality activated outer changes that we're still processing. Perhaps you had an argument with a friend or family member? Or experienced a surprise that threw you for a loop? Did it leave you with hurt, confused or fearful feelings? Or did you have a sudden realization? What changed?
Perhaps it needed to. We all have unconscious behavior patterns and expectations that unhappily pop up during the holidays, so for Uranus to turn direct on a Christmas Cancer Full Moon is indeed magical and intense. We were given cosmic help to change something if we had the courage to face our feelings. Cancer symbolizes our unconscious feelings, our emotional body. Most of us have emotional behavior patterns left over from past experiences in this life and in others.
For me, it centered around expectations about family (Cancer Full Moon) and when those expectations weren't met, my feelings were hurt. Then I had a dream that it was really my 'father' who was getting hurt by it. My inner father had those expectations, but they were no longer applicable to my own family situation. I had to learn that lesson and let go of the pain and embrace the love that was there all along.
Instead of celebrating the joy of the return of the Light, our holiday expectations can make us miserable instead of enjoying the company of loved ones, or stressed instead of experiencing a sense of joy and gratitude for another year of life. If we've learned the lessons of those energy patterns, we can release the structures that shape the patterns and leave the past behind. Why engage in old fears and resentments, hurts and disgruntlement when the lightning force of Uranus can wipe the slate clean? We all received a Christmas gift--a grace to be used.
It's time to create a new life, a new world!
So begin with yourself. See your life through the lens of compassion and nurture your new Self with the heart of a Mother. The Divine Mother will nurture this new life and light if we ask it of her. It's true that it takes a village to raise a child, but first it takes a Mother to love it and bond it to the Earth. This is how we begin to create a new life shaped by our real beliefs. We love it so much that we give it our energy to grow.
And the Change Continues with the New Year
These first few days of January are full of changing energies, like currents during tidal changes. On January 1 st , Mercury entered Aquarius as it slows down to turn retrograde on January 5 th until January 25 th . Mercury turns retrograde at the very beginning of Aquarius, opening the Mind's doors of perception to a new paradigm of life, then going back into Capricorn to re-examine and re-think, re-imagine and re-store what is important for making our purpose and our society vital and creative, fair and healthy. Retrograde Mercury is alchemical--it wants to transmute the old into the new. In Capricorn, the energy urges us to aspire to the mountaintops! Just think of the movie The Sound of Music with the Mother Superior singing, Climb every mountain. Ford every stream. Follow every rainbow, til you find your dream. That's what Capricorn's goat does as it climbs into the mountains of either worldly ambition or spiritual aspirations.
The Sabian symbol for today's Mercury retrograde at 2*Aquarius is: An unexpected thunderstorm. This symbol tells us to expect the unexpected! Yes, a thunderstorm brings rain and refreshment, but it can also cause havoc in the desert with flash floods. In cases like this, we have to develop inner security so we're always ready to meet whatever life bring our way.
On January3rd, Mars moved out of peaceful, airy Libra and into the deep, dark emotional waters of Scorpio for the next 8 weeks as it slows down to turn retrograde in early Sagittarius on April 17 th . Mars in Scorpio turns inward and grapples with old emotional structures that no longer serve us. Whatever we didn't resolve during Saturn's transit through Scorpio is likely to surface now. If we've released our old patterns, perhaps Mars can help us build new, healthier patterns of intimacy, giving us the courage to open ourselves to others and the world. Can we let in the new?
On January 7 th , Jupiter in Virgo turns retrograde until May 9 th powerfully aligning with the Virgo North Node, our collective focus. When Jupiter's expansive vision turns within, we get the opportunity to rewire our inner energy structures, fine-tuning our body, soul and spirit connections and our skills. The Sabian symbol for the North Node and Jupiter's retrograde at 24* Virgo is: Mary and her little lamb. Jupiter calls on us to remember our innocence, our simplicity and our humility as we prepare ourselves to achieve great things in the coming year.
Venus becomes part of the ongoing Saturn in Sagittarius square to Neptune in Pisces on January 5 th as it squares Neptune and on January 8 th as it joins Saturn, the ruler of Capricorn, in Sagittarius. Whenever a transiting planet connects to these ongoing aspects, it brings up issues related to it to test us. Venus brings the heart into this challenging square between the planet of concrete 'reality' and the planet of the 'unseen realities'. Saturn holds our boundaries, making us individuals, while Neptune does away with boundaries, showing us our interconnection with all of life. How do we hold this 'tension of opposites', this paradox? By saying it can be 'this and that' rather than 'this or that'. Life is a paradox, a puzzle that we can solve by being grounded yet open.
Venus conjuncts Saturn on Friday January 8 th at 11:11pm pacific time/8:11pm eastern time. The Sabian symbol for their joining at 12* Sagittarius is: A flag turns into an eagle; the eagle into a chanticleer saluting the dawn. A flag is an abstract symbol of a nation--perhaps in this case the U.S., which is believed to be the seat of the new age arising out of the breakdown of corporate patriarchy. Then this 'sign' turns into a living being. The eagle symbolizes spiritual will and consciousness; it gives us the ability to fly high, living out our highest ideals and visions. As this spiritual vision arises, it transforms into a clarion call for a New Dawn. A new Day is being born within each of us. Wake up and participate in it.
It is the heart that connects us to what we love, and it can help us connect different realities. This is the time to invoke the quantum field--walk into the realm of possibilities and set the intention for manifestation. It's about our beliefs and our heart. Feel what it is you want to create this year, both for yourself and the world, and use Saturn's concrete energy to 'make it so'! (Thank you Captain Jean-Luc Picard!)
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