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.

Full Moon in Cancer

This is on the 22nd December at 5:48 pm GMT.

It's the day after the winter solstice: the turning-point between light and dark. And it looks like an emotional turning-point as well.

Cancer has to do with our family, roots, home, emotions and whatever we turn to for emotional sustenance.  At a full moon in Cancer, the sun is in Capricorn, sign of rules, authority and outward achievement. So there is always a tension between rules and feelings, outer vs. inner life, work vs. family, head vs. heart. It's fitting that this should happen around the time of the holidays, when we're (often uncomfortably) thrown together with our families, and subject to family rules and traditions.

The family stuff should be especially tense this year, as the sun and moon are squaring Chiron, which is about a deep sense of woundedness. We also have Mercury conjunct Jupiter in Sagittarius, an influence that can lead to tactless blurting of painful truths. And Mercury and Jupiter are squaring Neptune, which means communication may be unclear, deceptive or manipulative. Beware of pity plays and “poor me” stories: sometimes the person claiming victimhood may actually be the abuser. That sort of tactic is very likely at this time. Beware also of drink and drugs, which can really escalate conflict and confusion. It's a good holiday season to stay off the sauce, if you want family interactions to be less fraught. This could be a very wounding and painful time.

Helpfully though, the full moon beneficially aspects Uranus, meaning a departure from established rules and traditions is favoured. It's OK to do something radically different and change the script – you can focus on what you want to do rather than what you think you have to do. And you can change your definition of “family” - it doesn't have to be only people you're biologically related to. It doesn't even have to be people.

We have a somber new moon in Capricorn on the 6th January, just as Uranus stations direct. It looks like a bit of a punch to the gut – harsh realities are setting in. There is still plenty of love and joy on offer though. Happy holidays to you and your family, whatever form it may take.

New Moon in Taurus

This is on the 15th May, 12:45 pm UTC.

It's a big deal. Something is bound to be shifting for you at a very basic level about now, and the effects are going to be long-term. You are not going to be able to stay stuck in the same old ruts. And collectively, the events unfolding now will have long-term consequences.

This new moon is all about Uranus, planet of shock, revolution and upheaval. Uranus is changing signs within 3 hours of the new moon, from Aries into Taurus. Uranus changes signs roughly every 7 years, and the odds that he'll be changing signs at nearly the exact time of a new moon in the sign he's shifting into is... wildly improbable, to say the least. The universe is being pretty heavy handed with its symbolism here. And the symbolism is of a thorough-going shake-up of an established order.

Then the day after the new moon, Mars shifts signs into Aquarius, the sign Uranus rules. His first order of business in Aquarius is perfecting his square with Uranus in Taurus – it will be exact at 0 degrees of each sign. More heavy-handed symbolism – and here we are dealing with a shock to the system, a bolt from the blue, a trigger event. A Mars-Uranus square is liable to be explosive, aggressive and abrupt: it's a blitzkreig aspect. And here it acts as the starting gun that sets off Uranus's rampage through Taurus - or the red rag to the bull, if you like.

Taurus is habitual, slow-moving, conservative, attached to comfort / possessions and resistant to change (but implacable once set in motion). Uranus, in contrast, is a live wire, very erratic and unpredictable, chaotic, uncomfortable by nature – and he demands change. So the transit of Uranus through Taurus is likely to set the ants loose in your pants. Over the next 7 years, we are going to be dealing with disturbances and abrupt shifts to our finances, our work, our values, our habits, our possessions – everything we cling to for a sense of security in this world. Shocking reversals of fortune are likely. Unpredictable political changes and environmental shifts are also likely.

I think it's a good idea to streamline and get rid of stuff you don't need in preparation for this – radical simplicity is one way of making this energy work for you. It's also a good psychological tactic, as the less you're holding on to, the less you'll have to lose and the easier it will be to maneuver.

You probably already have a pretty good idea of what this is about for you and are itching for change in some sector of your life. We had a Mercury-Uranus conjunction at 29 degrees Aries on the 13th May, just ahead of this crazy new moon. The moon in Aries was also involved, and everything was squaring Mars in Capricorn. And all this represents an intense lightbulb moment, a newsflash, a surge of tremendous irritation and insight. So I'm sure you know by now what has to change.

But it's one thing to know what you want to be free of and to open up space in your life for something new – it's another thing entirely to build a new operating system, from the ground up. That's the challenge we're looking at this new moon, and for the forseeable future. Thankfully, the sun and moon will be beneficially aspecting Mars and Pluto in Capricorn, which should be very good for making long term, practical changes. Whatever is set in motion at this new moon should have long-lasting effect and staying power.

There'll be plenty of impatience and irritation as Mars squares Uranus, but please try to keep things slow and steady. Also, with Mars square Uranus, please be careful around electronics and while operating machinery or driving. Sudden accidents are more likely at this time.

We'll have a full moon in Sagittarius on the 29th May, and it looks quite confusing and unsettled. I guess that's fitting after the Uranian shocks of the new moon – people will be rattled, and it will be hard to know what's true. Lunations along the Gemini-Sagittarius axis usually have to do with information, communication and truth vs. falsehood, and the full moon is no exception. But amid all the fried neurons and crossed wires, you'll have a strong ally in the form of your intuition. We have a grand water trine forming between Venus in Cancer, Neptune in Pisces and Jupiter in Scorpio, and it will be operative around the time of the full moon. It looks like a soulful, soothing influence in a jangled-up period. I'll write about it closer to the time.

Full Moon in Scorpio

This is on the 30th April, 2 am UTC.

The sun in Taurus will be facing off against a Scorpio moon.

Taurus wants to hold on to comfort and possessions. It's a rooted, habitual kind of energy. Scorpio, in contrast, wants purgation, intensity and transformation. So there's a conflict at work every Scorpio full moon, between holding on to the past and letting go. It's like a cicada leaving its old, flightless shell to take up a new airbourne existence – not a comfortable or easy process, but necessary. You can't move into the future if you've one foot stuck in the past. Something has to be shed and left behind for good.

This full moon, the Scorpio side of the equation – purgation, intensity and transformation – are definitely the way to go. It's all about letting go of the past in order to have space for a different, more authentic future. There is a theme of ruthless, extremely pragmatic culling going on. Whatever in your life is superfluous or non-viable has got to go, so you can channel your energy toward what you really value and want. Building and maintaining something of real, solid value in your life will take all the energy and commitment you have, and you can't afford to waste energy on people, things or situations that drain your resources. You have to erect boundaries around what you care about and defend those boundaries.

Scorpio is all about energy exchanges, particularly psychological ones. These dynamics are hard to quantify, but easy enough to discern on a physical, gut level: if an exchange leaves you feeling depleted or queasy, something is off. The energy balance has to be righted or the dynamic won't be tenable long-term.

It's very useful to do a cost-benefit analysis of relationships and situations at this time: what kind of energy do you get back for the energy you invest (and this applies to work, as money is a form of energy); is it an equal exchange or does it leave you feeling consistently drained and used? If a draining, parasitic situation can be transformed, this is your moon for trying to put the energy balance right. If it can't be transformed, it must be amputated from your life – and this is your moon for amputating. You'll know in your gut what needs to be done, and it will be all-or-nothing. Trust that instinct, cut cleanly and don't look back. There isn't a lot of room for sentimentality here, and odds are, you won't be feeling sentimental.

The cost-benefit analysis can be done on your bad habits, addictions and internal pathologies as well. That stuff is non-viable by definition, and this is a great time for getting to the root of it and cutting it out.

Scorpio's rulers, Mars and Pluto are conjunct in Capricorn at the time of this full moon. This is a very violent, ruthless, dangerous energy, and caution is advised, especially around conflict scenarios. An argument can escalate into a fight to the death under this aspect. Fortunately, it's in beneficial aspect to Jupiter in Scorpio, which rewards deep psychological excavation work. I think this is the best use of the energy, but you can definitely use it to achieve big in whatever area of your life you want to focus on.

We'll also have the Scorpio moon beneficially aspecting Saturn in Capricorn - so all in all, we are looking at a lot of helpful Saturn-Pluto action. It means that what's been hidden under the surface will come to light in all its ugliness and corruption, but that unearthing will feel necessary and beneficial - even cathartic. It will be very hard for us to lie to ourselves about what's actually going on in our lives, or to cover shitty situations in a haze of pretty sentiment. The truth will be laid bare, and uncomfortable as this may feel, the truth is what will set you free.

I think this is a fantastic scenario – very liberating. But if you're heavily invested in your ego, it's sure to be painful. In fact I think being too heavily invested in anything is not a good strategy at this time, because we're in for a thoroughgoing shake-up where fortunes can reverse in an instant. If you have all your eggs in one basket and that basket gets knocked over, what then?

The shake-up is fast approaching. Uranus will move into Taurus at the new moon in Taurus in two weeks' time. A few hours later, Mars will move into Aquarius, in exact square to Uranus in Taurus – this presages sudden, blitzkreig shocks and accidents, so please drive carefully and be careful around machines and electrical wiring.

On a more internal level, the stage is set for sudden, life changing insights into the nature of reality; lightning mental revolutions and breakthroughs; sudden reversals of stuck mental ruts; brilliant discoveries. It looks exciting, but we should all be prepared for some unexpected, and maybe unwelcome, shock and awe. Uranus in Taurus will shake our stolid certainties and complacencies right out from under us.

So I think it's a good idea to get on board with this energy in advance, and use this uncomfortable, powerful full moon to cull what's no longer viable in your life. If you're actively moving toward transformation, you're less likely to feel victimized by sudden change. It'll be easier to maneuver.

New Moon Solar Eclipse in Aquarius

Eugenia Loli

This is on the 15th February, about 9 pm UTC.

Happy Chinese New Year!

This new moon is a partial solar eclipse. It follows the full moon lunar eclipse in Leo two weeks ago and will be the second and final eclipse this eclipse season.

Eclipse season comes around every six months, as the sun and moon line up with points in the earth's orbit called the lunar nodes. Eclipses are supposed to mark periods of accelerated change, and this new moon is certainly about change -  it's in Aquarius, a sign associated with revolution. And freaky rebel planet Uranus, the ruler of Aquarius, aspects the new moon beneficially. This looks pretty zingy, in a good way  – you can expect some kind of bolt from the blue or jolt with this, but one that is ultimately beneficial and liberating.

As this new moon is conjunct messenger planet Mercury, the jolt is likely to come in the form of new information, thought or communication that blows your mind open and offers you a radically new perspective. The road ahead may look very different to anything you'd previously imagined.

Changes and disruptions are a big theme this year. Uranus will shift signs in May, moving into solid, steady, habitual Taurus – and this denotes unpredictable shocks to our basic sense of stability. Taurus hates change, but change is coming. Our lives are not going to be continuing along the same old ruts this year, like it or not. And this eclipse is a prelude to the shake-ups ahead – whatever weird shit is happening to you right now, it should give you a good sense of the themes of the rest of the year, and the kind of changes you'll be called upon to make.

So I'd say, pay attention! And be ready to roll with the changes instead of resisting them. This is a perfect time for innovation and new ideas, and you're going to need these things further down the line – so use this eclipse energy to get yourself unstuck. And if something is being taken away from you, try to shift your perspective so that you can see how you're actually being liberated from it.

There are some caveats to this otherwise brilliant eclipse: be sure the information you receive is correct before acting on it, look before you leap, curb your enthusiasm, keep a clear head. Aquarius is very prone to ideological extremism, a form of intellectual delusion. That's definitely in play here: the new moon is squared by Jupiter in Scorpio, which can be very polarising and extreme. Also, Mars in ideological Sagittarius squares Neptune, meaning the risk of self-delusion and self-defeating action is high.

This risk of going overboard and losing your head will be intensified over the next couple of weeks as a load of planets move into Pisces ahead of the full moon in Virgo on the 2nd March. It looks like a lovely full moon, but whenever you get this much stuff going on in Pisces, the risk of delusion is heightened. I'll write more about it closer to the time.

But for now, enjoy this eclipse and the month ahead – overall it looks very positive and exciting! A lot of new ideas will be opening up; revolution is in the air. Just try to keep your feet on the ground while your mind is busy being blown.

Solar Eclipse in Leo

Eugenia Loli

This is on the 21st August, 7:32 pm GMT.

It's our second new moon in Leo this summer - a total eclipse of the sun in the sign ruled by the sun.

Leo is concerned with pride, joy, romance, generosity, risks, creativity, play - all the stuff that makes us feel alive. There's a stellium in the sign for this eclipse: Mars, the north node, the sun and moon. Plus Mercury is retrograding back toward the exact degree of the eclipse (He stations direct at 28 degrees Leo on the 5th September.)

Uranus, the liberator, trines the eclipse exactly, denoting a beneficial internal change.

All of this looks like an exhilarating wake-up call, and a massive reset. What is blocking your light? What are you going to do to get back your joie de vivre? What makes you feel happy and alive? What do you love, and why aren't you devoting yourself to it?

Hopefully you've been asking yourself these kinds of questions since the new moon in Leo last month. With this eclipse, it's time to make the changes you know you need to make, and to be extravagantly daring in following your heart. This is an entirely new chapter, and it's meant to be nothing like what's gone before.

If you're still plodding away in situations that bring you no joy, this is your cue to stop already, and do things differently. I mean DIFFERENTLY. Be a rebel, an innovator, a weirdo, an individualist. The key is being true to yourself - having integrity and living by your own lights. There's no point sitting around worrying about other peoples' opinions while life passes you by.

Saturn stations direct after the eclipse, on the 24th August. This eases the boundaries blocking us from new roads, meaning things should feel a lot less stuck. It's absolutely time to get moving.

This eclipse reminds me of hexagram 55 from the I Ching. It's about an eclipse that confers a heavenly mandate and is the signal for great changes. Against the fear eclipses have always evoked, the hexagram advises: "there is no reason to be anxious for fear of a change. Be like the sun at noon."

Full Moon in Cancer

This is on Christmas day, around noon GMT.

The sun will be at 3 degrees Capricorn, the moon at 3 Cancer.

The Cancer-Capricorn polarity is about home and family life (Cancer) vs. outer achievement, career and persona (Capricorn). Private vs. public; the inner, emotional life vs. the outer persona. Vulnerability vs. control.

The moon is in her home sign in Cancer, so she's comfortable there. Plus she'll be well aspected at the full moon: harmoniously aspecting Neptune (compassion, emotional openness) and Mars (great emotional energy and force). So it might actually be possible to get along with your crazy family on this holiday so fraught with family tension.

I hope so. Best wishes to all.

But here's the inevitable doom part: Uranus and Pluto are squaring each other tightly, and Uranus will go direct later Christmas night – just as the moon moves into Cardinal t-square territory against those two heavies.

Be prepared for some kind of emotional eruption or jolt. Uranus direct provides the zap, and Pluto the deep, manipulative nastiness. Mercury in Capricorn is involved, so very harsh words may be said. Mars in Libra is also involved, amping up the irritation.

This comes post-Christmas dinner, when everyone's sitting around all semi-sloshed after their sherry trifle, exhausted from the effort of trying to stay civil. Perfect time for some nasty barb to be flung, or for some deep dark family secret to be aired.

This fraught atmosphere continues into the day after Christmas, as the moon moves to square Mars in Libra and oppose Mercury. Fighting words, words that can deeply wound.

Three of swords

I am not trying to be negative here – this is a heads-up. If you're aware this is the atmosphere, you can hopefully do something to mitigate it.

In this case, I think the best way to mitigate it is represented by Jupiter and the north node nearing conjunction in Virgo. Humility and attendance to little details; serving others. You could go into the kitchen and do the dishes. You could put all the leftovers in little goddamn color-coded Tupperware containers. You could bring the dog for a walk.

Mercury in tight-lipped Capricorn will also be harmoniously aspecting Jupiter, the north node and Venus – you can use this to communicate truthfully, practically and with kindness. Or you can just tell a lot of terrible jokes – this looks like a good influence for terrible jokes. Mercury in Capricorn has a way with deadpan absurdity.

Anyway, if you can't say anything funny (or helpful, or practical, or healing), you don't have to say anything at all. There's just no point.

There is the potential for truthfulness and deeply comforting talk with these aspects – but there's also a lot of emotional upset going on. So things could go either way – or both ways. With Uranus direct, you can expect some kind of shock. It might be liberating, if you keep it in perspective. But with the moon (emotions) under fire, it's likely to register as hurtful.

Regarding perspective (a theme now, with Saturn in Sagittarius): it has been a hell of a year, so maybe cut people some slack.

The calendar year kicked off with an incredibly intense full moon in Cancer on the 5th January, and the moon's monthly transits of Cancer since then (and really for a few years previous), have been a recapitulation of that energy – another kick to the gut, more or less – as she squares Uranus (shock) and opposes Pluto (death).

The final exact pass of the Uranus-Pluto square was back in March – so we are standing in a changed landscape now, for better or worse. There isn't any going back to how things were.

And then we had Saturn in Scorpio for 3 months this year, dragging us through some dark psychological debris. There isn't any unknowing what we've learned.

And then, late last month, we had the first round of the Saturn-Neptune square we'll be dealing with for the next year. The scales have fallen from a lot of eyes; the ground is dissolving beneath a lot of dreams.

There isn't much energy left for bullshit. It's safe to say, astrologically this has been a heavier year than most, and people are tired and shell-shocked. For many it's been hellish. Full of great gifts and surprises, sure – but the losses and betrayals have a way of impacting us harder.

And now the year is ending with another Cancer full moon on Christmas day, a day that holds the accumulated ghosts of Christmases past. It's bittersweet – an emotional summing-up of what this year has meant.

So I guess...the kinder we can be with each other, the better. The humbler and more honest we can be, the better. No one has had it particularly easy, and no one needs any more nastiness at this time.

But the nastiness will probably be pretty easy to come by. Easy to fall into, in a reflexive, emotionally reactive way.

Relationship planets Venus and Mars are both in signs where they don't function well: Venus in nuke-em-all Scorpio, Mars in passive-aggressive Libra. And the moon is under fire in Cancer, as we've seen.

And the south node – the place this story will tend to get stuck – is in Pisces. Which means it's much easier to sit around feeling depressed and victimised then to focus on what we can do practically to help others. Even though helping others and being grounded and practical is the exact way out of this morass of self-pity and chaotic emotion.

Granted, some scenarios have become untenable. There are some people you just don't need to have dealings with, whether they're family or not. If they're family, it makes everything harder – you might just have to suck it up and humour them this Christmas, but it sure doesn't mean you have to do it the rest of the time.

Hell, they might not like you either. Big deal – not everyone has to like each other.

Anyway, a shift is coming. Venus leaves Scorpio for Sagittarius on the 30th December, and this should lighten the relational friction up considerably. And then Mars moves to Scorpio, a sign he rules, on the 3rd of January.

And we will also have every planet in the sky moving direct! For the brief window between Uranus direct on Christmas till we start a Mercury retrograde on the 5th January – and then a Jupiter retrograde on the 7th – everything will be moving forward. So it's full speed ahead. New horizons are opening up.

So whatever emotional claustrophobia is going down this Christmas – remember it's fleeting. It's just a mood! Better days are coming. And you don't have to let yourself be dragged into it. You can go out to the kitchen and sort the recycling or something. Or make everyone watch “Airplane”.

Winter Solstice / New Moon in Capricorn / Saturn into Sagittarius

From the Madonna del Parto by Piero della Francesca

“but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.”


As of today (20th December), we have 3 planets in Capricorn: Venus, Mercury and Pluto, all conjunct and squaring Uranus in Aries and the north node in Libra. We also have Capricorn's ruler, Saturn, on the last minutes of the last degree of Scorpio.

This is intense heaviness and seriousness. A profound reckoning is coming due. Capricorn and Saturn are about commitment to earthly reality, perseverance, work. Sobriety and absolute realism. What's before you may not be easy, but the path will be coming clear now...

Venus conjuncts Pluto exactly later today, and squares Uranus. The sextile between Mars in Aquarius and Uranus in Aries is also nearly exact.... This stuff is about endings, final ruptures – also commitments. Breaking with the past and starting anew.

The Venus-Pluto conjunction is difficult, and might involve the ghost of Christmas past rising from the grave and shimmying around in front of you beguilingly. Dead loves come back to fuck with us under Venus-Pluto aspects, and you have to beware – remember what's dead is dead for a reason. “The best indicator of future behaviour is past behaviour”, per Dr Phil.

But there is such a counterbalancing push for the new at work - I don't think the ghosts are going to be able to do much damage. This looks more like a summation or final reckoning than a scenario where you get pulled back into past patterns.

The death-and-rebirth symbolism of the next few days is extraordinary. One door is closing forever, another door is opening. It's profound and it may be very painful - but it must be accepted. We are dealing with reality here, which is as it is, not as we might wish it to be.

Tomorrow (21st December) is the winter solstice: the darkest day of the year, but also the moment when the light begins to return. It's marked by the moment the sun enters Capricorn, which this year happens at around 11 pm (GMT). At around the same time we have Uranus (revolution and liberation) going direct in Aries, a sign representative of birth and new beginnings. This is a big jolt of light amid darkness – a significator of intense change. It's really beautiful and hopeful.

Then we have the new moon a few hours later, as the moon enters Capricorn. 22nd December, around 1:30 am GMT, 0 degrees Capricorn. New moons represent new beginnings – in Capricorn, we see the beginning of something austere, true, reliable. The symbolism here couldn't be clearer or more stark – or more beautiful. Like the face of the Madonna del Parto above: she looks like she knows exactly what she's getting into.

This is the 3rd in a series of 0 degree new moons – we are moving from possibilities (Sagittarius) to realities (Capricorn) here. This is the door opening into a new world. It might not be the life you've dreamed of, but it will be something you can trust – it will be credible.

Hope and change we can believe in. (Ha. Black humour. Black humour is very Capricorn.)

Then, the next day (23rd December), Saturn changes signs – from Scorpio, where he has been for the past 2 years, to Sagittarius. Because Saturn moves so slowly, a sign-shift is a momentous occasion.

Saturn is about limits, karma, duty, responsibility. He rules Capricorn, and we will have a total of 5 planets in Capricorn as he shifts signs. And this is all about the concrete solidifying on the road ahead.

Saturn in Scorpio was about dealing with our psychological shit, and it was not an easy transit. Many of us have been to some very dark places over the past two years. Hopefully we've come out of it with a lot of our garbage and dross burned away.

Saturn in Sagittarius is not as psychologically heavy at all – it's more about grounding (Saturn) a vision of the future (Sagittarius). So again, we are looking at a death-and-rebirth scenario with Saturn's sign shift - from purgation (Scorpio) to building a future (Sagittarius) - and this is fully in keeping with the symbolism of the winter solstice and the new moon in Capricorn.

There are some difficulties to be expected of this transit, though. For one thing, Saturn in Scorpio has been in a mutual reception with Pluto in Capricorn over the past two years. Pluto in Capricorn is about the rot underlying the old order – the process of unearthing that rot (Scorpio) has been relatively measured and grounded during Saturn's transit of Scorpio. But with the end of that beneficial relationship, we may see accelerated societal breakdown, and extremism spreading like wildfire.

Another difficulty is that Saturn will be squaring Neptune in Pisces for much of his transit of Sagittarius. This is about reality dissolving, and it reinforces the theme of societal breakdown that the end of the mutual reception portends.

“All fixed, fast-frozen relations, with their train of ancient and venerable prejudices and opinions, are swept away; all new-formed ones become antiquated before they can ossify. All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses his real conditions of life and his relations with his kind.”- per Marx.

How do you build a new reality when the ground keeps dissolving underneath your feet? That's a question we'll probably be looking at in detail over the next few years.

But for now I am not going to speculate - we have enough to be dealing with over the next few days, and into Christmas (as detailed in the post below as well). Happy solstice to all.

New Moon in Aquarius

This is exact at 11 degrees Aquarius, around 9:40 pm GMT on the 30th January.

And I like it quite a lot! Because Aquarius is progressive, revolutionary, electrifying. And detached. And lord knows we could all use a measure of detachment around this time, given how heavy and fateful these skies are.

About Aquarius: I associate this sign with Mr. Spock. Very rational, honest, scientific, disengaged from messy human emotion...but there is a big measure of inflexibility in this disengagement. A stubbornness. He is actually half-human, he does have emotions...but he regards them as 'illogical' and will not allow them any validity. And this is actually a form of aggression against the feeling side of his nature.

You can imagine how liberating it would be to hang out and talk ideas with Spock: you could say just about anything to him and he'd be impossible to shock. And he'd have plenty of fascinating facts and theories at his disposal about geeky stuff like how to build transponders out of rubindium crystals found on obscure asteroids.

But for an emotional person, hanging with Spock would feel pretty constricting: imagine trying to talk to Spock about your feelings! He'd probably sit there all deadpan, observing you as if you were some interesting new variety of microbe.

This is the paradox of Aquarius: open-minded and progressive on the one hand, utterly inflexible - in a way that can be cold and cruel - on the other. I'm thinking of Le Corbusier here, the French architect who dreamed of razing the poorer neighborhoods of Paris and replacing them with futuristic tower blocks. He wasn't thinking of the day-to-day lives of the people who lived in those areas - he didn't care about them or about the disruption to community life his plans would cause. He had his eyes fixed on a progressive dream of the perfect city, and who cared about the messy humans who got in the way of it?

Le Corbusier's 'Ville Radieuse' or Radiant City model

Imagine what Paris would be like now if he'd been allowed to build this in the heart of it? Imagine living in the Radiant City of his perfect future. It's batshit insane.

--Of course plenty of people do live there: plenty of poor neighborhoods in plenty of cities were razed per Le Corbusier's ideas, and replaced with tower blocks. We know what wonderful places to live those are.

At worst, Aquarius can be like this: loving humanity in the abstract, but with no feeling for the needs of actual people. And utterly unrealistic in its future-oriented idealism.

There are two planetary rulers of the sign: Saturn (the traditional ruler) and Uranus (the modern ruler). Saturn is about constriction, and this is appropriate to the stubborn and emotionally detached nature of the sign.

But let's talk about Uranus, as this is the modern ruler of Aquarius. It was discovered in 1781, during an era of revolutions: scientific, political, social. This was the start of the industrial revolution - technology was about to change ordinary life in previously unimaginable ways. The American colonies were at war with England, two years away from winning and establishing a new government based on progressive ideals of democracy and the rights of man. And France was undergoing social upheaval that would lead to a shocking revolution - one that would turn all social norms and traditions upside-down and tear the country apart.

The outer planets, discovered in the modern era, owe a lot of their astrological symbolism to the times and circumstances of their discoveries, and Uranus has become symbolically tied up with the idea of shock, upheaval, progressive change and scientific discovery (it was the first planet to be discovered with a telescope). Look at this picture of it! No, the picture is not tilted wrong. Uranus is the only planet in the solar system with an axial tilt perpendicular to the plane of the solar system: it rotates sideways.

As if to signal: hey, I'm a freak! I don't care what all you boring-ass bourgeois planets do, I'm going to rotate my own damn way.

Well anyway, that was a long digression on Aquarius and Uranus, but I hope you see where I'm going with this. Aquarius represents progressive change, social idealism, rebellion, revolution, liberation. Also oddity and a detachment from messy human life and emotion that can be liberating... but also strange and cold.

New moons represent new beginnings, and a new moon in Aquarius is a chance to really detach from the past - from old patterns and habits and neuroses. To survey your life rationally and coldly, and to envision a different kind of future. It's an opportunity for radical transformation.

The sun and moon (and also Mercury) in Aquarius will be disposited by Uranus in Aries, which is about individual liberation and revolt.

And Uranus in Aries is currently bound up with some very heavy shit: he is squaring Pluto in Capricorn (rotten social structures and power hierarchies) for the next year, and is caught up in cardinal t-square formations with Jupiter in Cancer (huge emotions, woman power), and then Mars in Libra (a drive for fairness in relationships and social justice) which last until July.

And I will not even talk about April right now, except to say that the drama reaches crisis level intensity (yet again) in April....that's really soooooon.

In other words, there are a lot of things that need changing, especially in regard to relationships, entrenched power dynamics and financial issues. Collectively and personally, radical change is demanded of us - and it's coming, like it or not. And in ways that are likely to be very shocking and unpredictable, especially if you're not prepared to change, or unable. Some people really are not able to change, I know it. It's sad.

(Crappy day in dinosaur land)

But if you are one of the lucky ones who can; who can roll with the punches...well you can use this new moon to observe your life with perfect detached clarity. What needs to change; what changes can you implement in advance of the drama that's coming? What can you do to secure your position, or conversely, to give yourself a lot of options so that you can use all this drama and upheaval to your advantage?

Shock coming out of a clear blue sky - well nobody wants that, but this is the cosmic weather we are living under, and it's good to be psychologically prepared, able to survey your options with clarity and to detach from what you don't need...and furthermore to think about what you actually want; what would improve matters. It might be something radically different and new: a complete break with the past.

The ability to cut cords and envisage something utterly new - that is the gift this new moon is giving us. Remember Aquarius is not just about logic and intellectual clarity and rebellion against the established order. It's also about hope. The dream of a better future, a fairer and more humane future - a future with room for you and your weird-ass freak flag.

Ok, so that's your new moon...use it! Any iota of intellectual detachment you can come by is valuable right now.

Because the cardinal t-square that is in effect now involves a lot of heaviness and emotional intensity. We have Jupiter in Cancer and Pluto in Capricorn in tight opposition, and Venus retrograding into a conjunction with Pluto. And all this is squaring Uranus in Aries.

And what's this about? Love and money, death and corruption. And huge feelings, broken hearts, broken dreams, rage. The need to change, to rebel...within a structure that does not allow change?

Miss Havisham's rotten wedding cake?

Juliet's corpse.

Is it time to let the romantic dreams go...to see them for the dried-up corpses they are?

Well of course it is. You know it is - it's way past time.

Venus conjunct Pluto in Capricorn is about wanting stability, security. Love you can bank on and money in the bank. Venus retrogrades are times of past relationships and their issues coming back to haunt us...past lovers, past patterns. They are also about reviewing and reconsidering financial matters - and this is especially evident with Venus in Capricorn, the sign of banking and career.

Venus goes direct the day after the new moon. So you can use this rational and distanced new moon to review how these issues impact your life very calmly and logically, like Spock would. And you can set a course for the future. Confirmation of your analysis should not be long in coming: you will know for sure what is real and viable, and what's a rotting wedding cake that should be thrown out already, after Venus goes direct.

And then you can get on with things. Like this, hopefully:

Full Moon in Gemini / Uranus Direct



by Ivan Bilibin

Ok, this Gemini full moon hits exactitude at 26 degrees Gemini on the 17th Dec, around 9:30 am GMT. And then at around midnight on the 18th, Uranus goes direct at 8 degrees Aries after a four-month retrograde period (since July 17). And all this ushers in a very fraught and edgy holiday season.

Let's look at the full moon first. This one appears to be about communication, big-style. The sun will be conjunct Mercury in truth-seeking (but sometimes bombastic and verbose) Sagittarius, opposing the moon in restless, chatty Gemini.

A Gemini moon is not very emotional: it needs mental and verbal stimulation first and foremost. Witty banter, wordplay, amusement, gossip, news headlines, reality tv: it's pretty value-free. It just needs to keep jittering around from one thing to the next - to avoid boredom and stagnation.

Gemini is like the Internet: a network of loosely associated content. You can surf from one link to the next forever but you never exactly get anywhere--and that's the whole point. It's not about getting from here to there or finding meaning or seeking out capital-T Truth - that's what Sagittarius is for. Gemini is more about knitting something together: networking. And shallow as it may seem, nothing really exists outside of this networking. Our minds and lives and communities are emergent properties of the network.

So for example we have a lot of individual trades creating a marketplace, or a community's life emerging from the back-and-forth of individual conversations among people. Or the communication of neurons in the brain collectively creating a mind.

Gemini is about information, communication, commerce. Thought - but the actual physical process of thought, not the products. The leap of a signal across the neural synapse: the intangible, lightning fast transmission. With Gemini, it's not the actual message that matters but the act of messaging. The messenger isn't supposed to read the message or interpret it or act upon it, only convey it.

And this relates to the association of Gemini with twins: in order for there to be a message, there has to be a gap to be bridged: a separation. A duality or polarity, as between two neurons in the synapse. Or the cathode and anode in a battery... Duality is what calls the intermediating spark into being.

(JEDWARD BREAK!!! I'M SORRY.)

Mercury, the ruler of Gemini, is represented as a winged messenger in the mythology, with a cloak of invisibility. A merchant, a trickster and a thief; volatile ('mercurial') and hard to pin down. A real jumpy, nervous, shiny chicken of a god, always rushing around on some errand or another, stopping along the way to perform random little acts of mischief.

Anyway, back to the full moon. This Gemini moon is disposited by (and in opposition to) Mercury in Sagittarius, and this is problematic for our shiny chicken messenger. This is a face-off between the need for distraction, stimulation and networking, vs. a drive for meaning and truth. And Jupiter, ruler of Sagittarius, is in Cancer and trining Saturn in Scorpio--so this is about a sustained, steady drive for emotional truth, deep soul engagement and opening up old emotional wounds so they can heal.

How do you jitter around at paties, relaying gossip and talking about the Kardashians or whatever...and be profound and true at the same time? It's pretty damn hard. It could wind up looking like the Jedward video above. Gemini backed up by Jupiter in Cancer: big spurts of female water & a pair of manic teenagers jumping around singing about true love.

(Ok YES I KNOW, that Jedward thing is deeply disturbing.)

Anyway it's likely people will be playing out the two polarities of this dichotomy in their interactions:

some will be jiggling from foot to foot nervously while others try to engage them in long-winded philosophical dissertations.
Some will be replying to deep and heartfelt revelations with ridiculous and inappropriate jokes.
Some will be going on internet dates and spilling their guts to uncomfortable strangers.
Some will be blurting dark family secrets at lighthearted social gatherings.
Some will be blogging about the esoteric meaning of Gemini in windy Sagittarian style, then inserting Jedward videos to illustrate.
Some will be taking absurd selfies at Mandela's funeral and they are the president of the goddamn United States, show some dignitas already please.

Etc etc.

So awkward! --And hey, what about that guy who was supposed to be doing the sign language at Mandela's funeral and it turned out he was only flapping his arms around? Amazing! That is a Gemini-Sagittarius conflict story if ever there was one. "Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing"...except of course it didn't involve sound or fury; it was just dumb.

Anyway, the above examples are pretty harmless and amusing...I'm trying to keep things light, Gemini-style. But Gemini is known for twisting the truth, and the truth is, this stuff isn't really light. For one thing, Mars is in Libra now - the signifier of war in the sign of social harmony - and social faux pas are a big deal. A very very big deal, as Libra moves into cardinal t-square with Uranus and Pluto. People will be very edgy and the consequences of breaches of social etiquette may be severe - and potentially traumatic.

And Uranus, which represents sudden shock, is going direct after the full moon, with Mars in opposition: so things can get explosive and dangerous very quickly. You do not fuck with people under these skies. And if they fuck with you...well I guess you'll have to resist the urge to annihilate them. Unless they really really deserve it, and you are willing to deal with the consequences (such as going to jail for the next 40 years).

Things can turn on a dime and get violent and out-of-control very quickly, so be careful. This is the whole holiday season we're talking about: the second half of December and the first week of January, roughly. The potential for family conflict, with Jupiter in Cancer aspecting Mars, Uranus and Pluto, is very high. There could be breakthroughs as well: big beneficial shifts in relational power dynamics. But these kind of changes don't come without discomfort, and the energies at work here look very uncomfortable.

Anyway, Happy Christmas; Happy New Year. Stay safe and take no chances. Pace yourself, make sure you get enough rest, avoid risky situations. Use your words carefully. You probably say dumb things when you're drunk; we all do. But the consequences over the next few weeks could be serious, so be careful about holiday drinking.

There is a new moon in Capricorn on New Year's Day, and it looks like a doozy. Conjunct the sun, Mercury and Pluto in Capricorn, and aspecting Mars, Jupiter and Uranus in a Cardinal Grand Cross. I'll write more on it later. Suffice it to say for now: things are going to change in a big way this holiday season; there's no way around it. Let's see what happens.

"May all your crises be opportunities!" sayeth thee Philosoraptor

(as he devours yr brain...)