New Moon Eclipse in Capricorn

This is on the 6th January 2019, 1:30 am GMT.

So here we are the first new moon of 2019, and it's an eclipse, which means it's a supercharged new beginning. We also had Mars changing signs on New Year's Eve, from Pisces to 0 degrees Aries, the “Aries point” or birthplace of the whole zodiac. So all signs point to 2019 being a doozy of a year. It's certainly starting off with a lot of heavy, dramatic symbolism.

This solar eclipse is heavy and dramatic for sure – but in a very cold, stark way. It's like being stuck between a rock and a hard place: the sun and moon are wedged between Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn. Saturn is about hardship and karma and Pluto is about death, depth psychology and transformation – so neither of these are fun planets. They are especially not fun in Capricorn, a grimly realistic sign. We also have thought-and-communication planet Mercury in Capricorn, meaning communication will be terse and factual.

So all in all, it's a lot of Capricorn, and Capricorn is about structure, authority, rules and slow, dogged achievement. The Neptune-fueled excesses of the holiday season are over, and we're back on planet Earth. It should feel sobering and real and grounded - depressing even. There isn't a lot of fun to be had here. Instead, there are responsibilities to be attended to and hard realities to be faced.

Shirking your duties / trying to avoid your demons is inadvisable here – Saturn and Pluto reward focus, commitment and going deep.  They do not look kindly on escapism and self-delusion, and if that's what you've been doing, you can expect this eclipse to feel harsh: a stark, painful wake-up call. Time to grow the hell up.

This energy is not a fleeting influence. The eclipse is a lead-up to the big event of next year, when Saturn and Pluto will be exactly conjunct in Capricorn. They will be approaching that conjunction all this year, so this harsh, hardcore energy is something we should all get used to working with.

With Saturn and Capricorn, you get back what you've put in. And with Pluto involved, this is so to an extreme degree, and it applies to the psychological work you do as well as to your outward life. Achievement and progress come from hard work, there will be no magical windfalls here.

So whatever you're starting this new year, commit yourself to it as much as you can and devote serious time and effort to it. The payoff for hard work and seriousness is great under this sky. The payback for frivolity and slacking is also great.

This eclipse is also defined by Uranus stationing direct later on the same day. What this means is it's a big shift in tone – an upheaval really. Change is afoot, and the structure of your life is going to be altered, for good or ill. And you might as well get with the program.

It's not all harsh drill-sergeant stuff though: we also have a beautiful grand water trine in effect between Venus in Scorpio, Chiron in Pisces and the north node in Cancer. This is about healing of psychic wounds via emotional honesty and compassion. Again though, it's not light. It's deep and painful stuff, potentially cathartic.

So this new moon eclipse is a pretty heavy dose. It opens up a heavy month and a heavy year. We'll have Uranus re-entering Taurus in March, where he will disrupt the stable structures of our lives. We'll have Saturn and Pluto moving toward full conjunction in Capricorn all year, and both conjunct the south node of the moon into November – a situation that means the default tone will be stressful, harsh and punitive as established structures fall apart and we all have to pick up the slack.

Remember the north node is in Cancer, so however bitter and emotionally guarded you may feel, the way forward this year is about opening your heart and being gentle and nurturing toward yourself and others.

That might be hard this month, as frustrations abound. January culminates with a shocking and disruptive full moon eclipse in Leo on the 21st. I'll write about it closer to the time, but I think the main thing to do with this new moon eclipse energy is get yourself grounded in reality and commit yourself to the road ahead, even if it looks like an uphill battle.

The longing to escape reality is present in the form of a square from Jupiter to Neptune, exact on the 12th January. This is the first of three: the others come on the 16th June and the 21st September, so it's an influence we'll be dealing with all year. Given the harshness of this year's astrology, I can't blame anyone for wanting to escape into some kind of internal or external Shangri-La. But with the Saturn-Pluto stuff happening in Capricorn, there's really no way out of difficulty but through.

New Moon Solar Eclipse in Cancer

Yumiko Kayukawa

This is on the 13th July, around 3 am UTC.

So eclipse season is now upon us, starting off with this new moon which is also a partial solar eclipse. Eclipse season is an intense time of accelerated change with long-lasting effect. We have two eclipses this month so what's happening in your life this July is super-important. Long-term shifts are kicking off NOW, at this emotional pressure cooker of a new moon.

Cancer is a cardinal water sign. Cardinal signs are initiatory and forceful, and water signs are concerned with emotion. Cancer is about your roots – the deepest part of you, where you draw your emotional sustenance. It's about where you come from and what you call “home” in this world, so it's associated with childhood, mother, family, nostalgia and memories.

So a new moon in Cancer is about a new emotional start, bound up with issues relating to home and family and your roots. The fact that this is an eclipse gives it an added intensity.

But what amps the intensity up to 11 is that the sun and moon will exactly oppose Pluto. And Pluto is all about intensity and deep, gut-wrenching transformation. Pluto heaves everything we're ashamed or afraid of, the Shadow stuff we'd prefer not to look at, into the light of day. The process is analogous to pus coming out of a boil, and unpleasant as it may be, the purpose is purgation and healing. What's rotten has to come to the surface to be released.

So you can expect long-buried emotions to erupt this month, especially stuff connected with home and family and mom. Formative patterns that have been deeply unconscious may become conscious. Situations may come up that radically alter your notion of “home”, or painfully expose your vulnerability. Your feelings may seem overwhelming.

I'd say, don't attempt to shut them down – it won't work, they'll just manifest in destructive ways. Welcome them and let them wash through you like water, flushing out the pent-up toxicity.

Cancer is good at hiding and defensiveness and clinging to the past, but the point here is emotional catharsis and release. Pluto is retrograde at the moment, so it's all about going inward and facing your demons. With Pluto, there's also a theme of ruthless amputation of what's no longer viable, be it an attitude, a habit, or a relationship. So this is a great time to extricate yourself from toxic family dynamics or to deal with an addiction. This is potentially a powerfully healing new moon, despite the intensity and discomfort. You can't expect to get through it without some kind of drama,  but overall it looks very beneficial.

There's a lot of nice stuff happening in the sky around it. Jupiter, the “great benefic”, stations direct in Pluto's home sign of Scorpio on the 10th July. This is some very helpful backup for the process of dealing with our Shadow stuff. Jupiter will also be in beneficial aspect to Neptune in Pisces, and forming a grand water trine with the sun, moon and Neptune at the time of the new moon – more backup for letting emotions flow and trusting your intuition and your gut.

We also have a grounding and stabilising grand earth trine in effect at this time, involving Venus in Virgo, Saturn in Capricorn and Uranus in Taurus. This is great for radical yet practical new approaches to money, work and relationships.

Mars is retrograde in Aquarius until the end of August. Traditionally, it's not advised to begin new ventures until he resumes direct motion. You may run into blockages and frustration despite your best efforts. It doesn't matter – things are developing all the same and you don't have to bang your head against walls in the effort to push forward. Refine your plans and wait it out.

Mars will be tangoing with the south node for the next three months, passing over it in his retrograde on the 20th July, and then passing over it again on the 26th September in direct motion. What this means is it's a fateful time. There's an imperative to act from creativity, generosity and heart, but also a greater potential for getting stuck in violent, reactive rage. This potential is really intensified at the time of the full moon on the 27th July, a total lunar eclipse which is just a doozy.

It's a blood moon, so-called because the eclipsed moon will glow a dark red. And it looks raw, emotionally super-heated and shocking – a blood moon indeed. It's a game-changer.

This will be the longest lunar eclipse of this century and also a supermoon, meaning it'll be closer to Earth than usual. And it'll be tightly conjunct Mars, who will be at his closest point to Earth in 15 years - so the bloody moon and the red planet will both appear uncannily bright. Uranus in Taurus will be involved, forming a t-square with the sun, moon and Mars. Uranus in Taurus, recall, is a force shaking up the stable structures of our lives, altering the ground beneath our feet.

Beyond the potential for political upheaval, I'm thinking of climate change in relation to this hotted-up eclipse. There is an unprecedented global heatwave going on right now. No question, the planet frying has long-term, serious effects for all of us.

I will write more about the full moon closer to the time, but I think as this is happening during Cancer lunar cycle, we are being given an opportunity at this new moon to release our toxic emotions and unconscious patterns. There is an angry flashpoint coming, but pain is at the root of anger. If you can allow yourself to feel your pain and flush it through, you can hopefully avoid acting it out unconsciously and destructively.

We are also getting a Mercury retrograde this month, starting on the day before the full moon, the 26th July. He'll be retrograding through Leo till the 18th August. Expect the usual issues with communications and travel, and hold off on signing major documents until the retrograde ends.

Full Moon in Gemini

This is tomorrow, 3rd December at 3:45 pm UTC.

It's in the shifty, communicative sign of Gemini, which is ruled by messenger planet Mercury. And it happens roughly 8 hours after Mercury stations retrograde in Sagittarius. So this full moon in all about the Mercury retrograde (3rd – 23rd December).

And this Mercury retrograde is all about Saturn in Sagittarius. Saturn, the harsh taskmaster, has spent the past 2.5 years in Sagittarius, the sign of ideology, philosophy and higher education, where he has highlighted hypocrisy and challenged us all to walk our talk – and to know what the hell we're talking about in the first place. He's leaving Sagittarius for Capricorn on the 20th December. This is like graduating from college and entering the “real world”, where no one cares about your feelings, only your efficacy on the job.

But before you can graduate, you have to sit your final exams. You have to go over everything you've learnt and prove you understand it, and you have to see where you've been deluded or mistaken. That's what this Mercury retrograde is about: getting the story straight before you move forward into the realm of commitments and responsibilities. Mercury is stationing retrograde conjunct Saturn in Sagittarius, and he will station direct just as Saturn moves into Capricorn. By then, you've either learnt the lesson of the past couple of years, or you haven't.

We are moving from a time of debate and ideological rancour to a time of strict pragmatism and consequences. From the 20th December, it's no longer about what we believe or why. It's about dealing with the consequences we have made for ourselves via our belief systems. And if our belief systems have been founded on bullshit, we are going to know about it.

This full moon in Gemini – sign of tricksters, lawyers and thieves – looks like a very confusing scenario: bullshit's last stand. It looks like a bunch of mental chaos, sentimentality, superficial cleverness and distraction being spun out to cover up difficult realities.

I don't think the distraction tactics will work. Recall, we are still in Scorpio lunar cycle, which is all about uncovering the truth, no matter how dark and ugly it may be. And Jupiter is in Scorpio, meaning ruthless honesty and a willingness to look deeper are favoured. And retrograde Mercury is conjunct Saturn, shutting down inauthentic communication.

So the truth will out, I think. The Brexit negotiations are underway as I write, with harsh consequences for UK voters who were promised they could “have their cake and eat it” by leaving Europe. The Russia investigation is closing in on the Trump administration, even as Republicans prepare to push tax “reforms” that have obviously been crafted to benefit the wealthy. Sooner rather than later, all the bullshit that's been flying around is going to hit the fan. And then the responsible grownups (if any are left) will have to deal with the mess of fan-flung shit as best they can.

That period of consequences starts when Saturn enters Capricorn later this month. But now, at this full moon, we can expect to see some frantic evasions of personal and collective responsibility. The rats will be leaping onto every passing bit of flotsam in their haste to get off the sinking ship.

You can be on the right side of this by striving to be a grownup and fact-checking what comes out of your mouth before speaking. And walking your talk: meaning what you say and behaving with integrity.

Be careful what you put your faith in, because there's a lot of bullshit on the wing out there. Beware of distraction tactics, shifting emotional states, trickery, appeals to sentimentality, smokescreens and outright lies. Try to hunt out the deeper story. Go with your gut – Jupiter is trining Neptune exactly, meaning your intuition is your best guide at this time.

New Moon in Scorpio

This is exact today (18th Nobvember) around noon GMT.

It looks beautiful and profound to me: very powerful, focused, healing and intense. But also potentially painful and uncomfortable. The depths will have to be plumbed this month; the fetid gunk cleared out, the blockages removed.

Scorpio is a probing, surgical sign. It has to root out everything that's false or rotten in order to effect healing and transformation. It's obsessive and extreme: all-or-nothing, life or death.

So this new moon ushers us into a month of intensity and extremes. The potential for transformation here is profound, but you can't expect it to be easy. Life-saving surgery is not easy.

At the very least, you can expect to deal with some heavy psychological discomfort this month. Don't turn away from it – it's there to show you something. Get to the root of it, find out what's really going on under the surface, excise whatever deadweight you're carrying around.

Scorpio's co-rulers, Mars and Pluto, will square each other exactly the day after the new moon. Mars is in Libra, sign of relationships and fairness, and Pluto is in Capricorn, sign of authority and the System. This square can get pretty ugly and brutal, so we can expect some violence – psychological or overt - to erupt, in close relationships especially. Ugly conflicts with bureaucratic institutions or authorities are also likely.

At the root of this tension are rotten old power dynamics which have to be exposed to light and air in order to be dealt with and resolved. It's an uncomfortable, deeply unpleasant process, but Scorpio won't let us skate along the surface.

Fortunately, Chiron in Pisces trines the new moon, amplifying the potential for compassion, forgiveness and healing. Chiron is about a wound that becomes a source of knowledge – and with Pisces, deep compassion for the suffering of all existence is involved.

There is also deep love on offer, courtesy of Venus and Jupiter in Scorpio (just past a beautiful conjunction on the 13th November). This is wonderful for relationships, as long as they're absolutely  committed. It's till-death-do-us-part stuff. Scorpio is all or nothing, so there's no room for waffling around or bullshit – superficiality just won't cut it. And with the Mars-Pluto square, any kind of manipulation, abuse or game-playing will be pretty obvious. There is no point tolerating any of that stuff or staying in relationships where it's a factor. It's depth, vulnerability and authenticity, or nothing.

The sky does not reward superficiality at this time. Neptune will resume direct motion on the 21st November, in beneficial aspect to Jupiter in Scorpio. This is a deeply spiritual influence supporting Jupiter in Scorpio's psychological excavation work.

Then Mercury will go retrograde on the 3rd December at the last degree of Sagittarius, conjunct Saturn in Sagittarius. Later that same day we'll have a full moon in Mercury-ruled Gemini, where issues around information, truth and lies will be highlighted.

This Mercury retrograde is a big deal – it will mark the end of Saturn's 2.5 year transit through Sagittarius, which was all about ideology, hypocrisy, and the necessity of walking your talk. I'll write about it closer to the time.

But for now, please understand that we are in a no-bullshit zone. This is a good time to excise things that do not support your health and integrity from your life.

New Moon Solar Eclipse in Virgo

This is early on the 13th September, around 6:40 am (GMT).

It's an eclipse – a supercharged new beginning – in the detail-oriented, service-minded sign of Virgo. And I am determined to see it as a good thing, though it looks quite painful and uncomfortable – because Virgo is an immensely practical, grounded, orderly sign.

So if things hurt, there are practical things you can do to heal. You can start a new health regimen. You can focus on doing practical, helpful things for yourself or others who are hurting. You can clean the house and do the laundry. You can volunteer at something.

The focus will be on doing practical, humble, everyday stuff. Jupiter is in Virgo also – so our blessings and happiness this year are tied up with a focus on the everyday, the humble, the small but necessary. Attention to the little details will go a long way.

Hopefully this new moon will be painful like necessary surgery - or like how a wound stings when it's being cleaned and sewn up. Or like root canal, which is painful but functional.

Of course, it could also feel like a knife twisting in your gut, or jagged worry and mental misery. Try not to worry too much. It's definitely a worried kind of sky.

The moon and sun in Virgo will oppose Chiron in Pisces, which represents a deep, incohate sense of wounding. They will also inconjunct Uranus in Aries, which is a jittery, erratic, angry kind of energy.

Virgo's ruler, Mercury,  is also in cardinal t-square with Pluto and Uranus. This is full of the potential for raw, painful, shocking thought and communication. Quite violent and explosive.

In addition, we have Saturn at the very end of Scorpio, hammering out the karmic consequences we are going to be living with for the next few decades (ugh). He will leave Scorpio for Sagittarius on the 18th September, and this should lighten things up a bit – but the month ahead is colored by the energy of this final grinding transit of 29 degrees Scorpio.

So things look pretty difficult overall. Plus we have this Jupiter-Neptune opposition which speaks of big delusion, big disappointment, mental confusion, pragmatic reality vs. huge swirly dreams.

Ack, whatever. It all looks a bit shitty – not the loveliest cosmic weather. But there is work to be done regardless.

So do your Virgo: focus on the small stuff that keeps the whole show running. Take out the trash, take the cat to the vet, do your homework, sweep the floor, trim the hedge, do some pushups, help someone who is in direr straits than you. (There's always someone.)

There are a lot of shifts underway this month. It should be interesting.

We have the aforementioned shift of Saturn from Scorpio to Sagittarius on the 18th – so we will be done with the grinding hellish psychodrama of that transit for another 28.5 years, thank Christ. Awful stuff.

The day before, the 17th September, we have Mercury going retrograde in Libra till the 9th of October. Expect the usual glitches in communications, troubles with communication devices and travel delays. Because the retrograde is happening in Libra, sign of close relationships and partnerships, there will be plenty of room for misunderstanding and miscommunication in the context of close relationships, and that can lead to major blockages and frustrations – so be aware. Paying close attention to what people are actually saying and what they actually mean will be helpful.

Pluto will resume direct motion on the 24th September, after a retrograde period that started in April. This, along with Saturn's move out of Scorpio, signals the end of the exhausting inward psychological focus of the past few months. Hopefully we can quit brooding and move forward in our lives now.

Not without frustration and blockage though: Mars moves into Virgo the next day, the 25th September – straight into a difficult square with Saturn in Sagittarius. Mars-Saturn aspects are full of frustration that can express itself as cruelty and abuse – this square will be in effect for the latter part of the month, and things could get very tense. Nitpicky and nasty, destructively critical.

And then Venus moves into the same square in the middle of October. Suffice it to say, we have not seen the end of our blockages and delays in love and money matters. (Though there will be plenty of new opportunities as Venus trines Uranus during the latter half of September.)

Well it's all potentially very frustrating, but remember – now and for the year ahead, do your Virgo. When things get shitty and your nerves are all fried and your head's a mess from beating itself against walls, do something healthy or practical or helpful, for yourself or for others. Stay humble and focused on the everyday. Plenty of people are going to be needing help, and helping others is a good way to forget your own worries.

There's a full moon eclipse in Aries on the 28th September – a 'blood moon' which some people claim will be the end of the world. I don't think that's likely, but it does look jangly and difficult. Not the easiest month ahead overall. But Saturn leaving Scorpio is a big deal, and a relief - so there's that anyway!