Here in the Northern Hemisphere Winter arrives when the Sun
moves into the cardinal sign of Capricorn. The day is short and the night is
long. While some traditions celebrate
the New Year at the Spring Equinox, many consider this time, when the wheel of
the year turns and the days begin to lengthen the true New Year.
Capricorn signifies the time of year when it is dark and
cold. This year the Capricorn influence
is especially strong. At the Solstice the Sun in Capricorn is accompanied by
Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto. This is a lot of energy concentrated in one place. And
it is rare to find so many slower moving planets in Capricorn at one time. Saturn with a 28 to 30-year cycle was last in
Capricorn in the late 1980’s. Pluto was
last in Capricorn during the American Revolution. So yes, this is a big deal and will affect
climate, political, social and economic aspects of our lives for some time to
come. Here in the Northeast, keep your
shovels as well as your cut-offs handy; extreme weather is on the way. Anything
goes.
To add to the mix, less than a week after the Solstice
there is a Solar Eclipse in Capricorn. Eclipses
bring change.
During this winter season we cannot avoid the Capricorn
principles of responsibility, obeying the law, and operating within the
constructs of society. Saturn, ruler of
Capricorn, is at home and those Saturnian principles of contraction, attention
to duty and wise use of resources loom large.
Don’t think that you are going to skate by. Do your homework, pay your electric bill,
take care of your health, your car, and call your mother. If you don’t, it is
all going to come back and bite you.
At the January 10, 2020 Lunar Eclipse, Uranus changes
direction, and Saturn joins Pluto in a rare conjunction. This Saturn/Pluto conjunction
is not a quick overnight flash. The
influence will be with us throughout the year. Uranus is about shock and scandal. The Lunar Eclipse is along the 2nd
/ 8th house axis which deals with money, finance and the stock
market, as well as secret, sexy stuff. Ceres,
the dwarf planet, is in the picture here, right alongside Saturn and
Pluto. Ceres was the Roman Goddess of
agriculture, grain and a mother’s love.
In the Greek myths she is known as Demeter, the mother Goddess whose child
Persephone was kidnapped by Pluto and brought to the underworld. In her anger and grief, she caused the earth
to be barren, no crops, no food, no, not nothing until her daughter was
returned to her. Will she play some of
her tricks here? Ceres personifies
outraged motherhood. Pluto is sex and
death. I think the Goddess is about to
to flex her muscles.
The next Lunation cycle begins on January 24th
with the New Moon in Aquarius. Aquarius
too is ruled by Saturn so that Capricorn accountability is still with is. This is not an easy time. At this time Mars
pulls Neptune into the picture and more of the secret sex and money stuff comes
out. Bribery, extortion, deceit on all
levels. At the February Full Moon on the
9th, we’re not out of the woods yet. The credit card bills from the holiday
spending plop into our mail boxes.
Reality hits like a hammer.
Mercury Retrograde on the 16th makes for a great time to
review and revise your thinking, your budget and what it is that makes you
happy.
The late February New Moon in Pisces on the 23rd
finds Mars mixing it up with Uranus.
This is an earthquake aspect. Expect something explosive, Earthwise,
politically or economically. By the
time of the Full Moon on March 9th, Neptune riding with the Sun
speaks of illusion, delusion, and deceit.
There’s a cloud around our authority figures and it will take some doing
to figure out what is true and what is not.
This is a Super Moon, with extra high tides and extra high
emotions. Mercury goes direct now, over
the next few days the fog may clear and we get at the truth.
This winter season with Pluto, Saturn, Jupiter and then
Mars in Capricorn marks a significant time in our development and significant
challenges to our society. Pluto, with a
248-year cycle, is inching towards a return to the point where it was when the
United States declared its independence from England. It will not reach that point until February
2023. The influence of this transit
cannot be underestimated. Challenges to
the status quo will continue up to the actual conjunction and beyond. Pluto signifies power, control and huge
movements in society. 2020 will prove to
be a very challenging year and the winter season will start it off with a
bang. Hang on tight!
