Monday 1/2/2023: Sneak Peek at the Week — and the Year! Plus: Full Moon in Cancer; the 118th Congress
It’s Monday and officially a holiday. Do you know where your planets are?
I’ll tell you. But first, the highlights for the week:
- Venus enters Aquarius on Monday
- Venus sextiles Jupiter on Wednesday
- Sun trines Uranus on Thursday
- Full Moon in Cancer on Friday
- Mercury Rx meets up with the Sun on Saturday
- Mercury trines Uranus on Sunday
We could be going full speed ahead….BUT….Mars (action, assertion) and Mercury (thinking, communication and travel) are both RETROGRADE, potentially thwarting efforts to launch a whole new ballgame. Better to still be in review, retreat and reorganize mode now, if you ask me. What is agreed to this week (and next) is subject to change.
It goes like this:
- MONDAY: …which is a holiday. The day begins with a potentially sobering effort to regain control over whatever upsets happened last night. I say this because Moon squares Saturn at 7:14 AM ET, and if there are any cuts to report, a trine (harmony) between the Moon and Mercury helps get the word out. Just remember that rumors and incomplete stories have a higher probability of circulating when Mercury is retrograde. Reserve judgment until information can be verified with certainty. This day may be notably challenging for leaders with a high public profile, reflecting the wounded quality of the Sun’s square to Chiron at 11:01 AM ET. Moon’s trine to Pluto at 5:16 PM ET adds depth and then goes void for 4 1/2 hours. Chill — and note that at 9:09 PM ET, Venus leaves Capricorn and enters Aquarius. Who’s yer buddy now? Friendship and an humanitarian approach in matters of value, money and social expression to Venus in Aquarius, though its geeky detachment may be experienced as, “I love you, but don’t take it personally.” I can say this because I have Venus in Aquarius, and you are free to quote me, if you can meet my Sun in Aries’ need to be credited as the source. At 9:44 PM ET, Moon enters Gemini — driving the next few days with a need to be the smartest kid in the room.
- TUESDAY: A buoyant and boisterous exchange of information drives the morning, reflecting a harmony between Moon and Jupiter, exact at 12:36 AM ET. Anyone you know with planets around 1 degree of Aries, Capricorn, Cancer and Libra is likely to be hogging the headlines, as Jupiter (expansion) is now at 1 degree of me-me-me Aries. An aggressive, action-oriented, double-talking focus reflects the conjunction of Mars with the Gemini Moon, exact at 2:47 PM ET. Still, some may get lucky — especially those with planets around 1 degree of just about any sign, reflecting a cooperative sextile between Venus and Jupiter, a.k.a. the lesser and greater fortunes. buy a few lottery tickets; let me know if you win anything. The sextile is exact at 4:07 AM ET on…
- WEDNESDAY... infusing the morning with a friendly glow. Pulling all the info together into an actionable idea is one potential of the Moon’s trine to Saturn at 6:53 PM ET...but one wonders if the idea might be not what it seems, or just overly idealistic, given that Moon squares Neptune at 7:07 PM ET. Chill during the ensuing 14 hour Moon void. You know the drill: roll with the twists and flakes; avoid impulse shopping, and don’t make a mountain out of a molehill.
- THURSDAY: Moon enters Cancer at 9:14 AM ET, shifting the focus to matters of emotional, home/homeland and family security. I’ve noticed that Congress tends to get more done when the Moon is in Cancer, so maybe they’ll have a first pass at a House Speaker by then. The Sun’s trine to Uranus at 11:43 AM ET is apt for reaching across the aisle, and it also bodes well for stories about astrology, aviation and technology making headlines. Moon squares Jupiter — suggesting prominent gusto around 12:50 PM ET. Emotions continue to build to a release on…
- FRIDAY:…as the Cancer Moon opposes the Capricorn Sun at 6:07 PM ET.
A pause, while we look at the Full Moon, set in Washington, D.C.:
Observations:
- I don’t have too much to say, because there is so much else to talk about today! This Full Moon activates a pattern we had in the Full Moon of February 2022. That pattern was a conjunction between Venus and Mars at 16 Capricorn — which where the Sun is on this lunation. The Sabian Symbol for this degree is: “a girl surreptitiously bathing in the nude,” i.e., (says Blain Bovee) “a raw and naked experience…done precisely so that others may not see. Private and personal, this is an image of quiet daring.” Last February I wondered how this image could suggest plans laid bare and partnerships being mad, suggesting that one day, maybe we’ll all find out about it. The forecast for the Full Moon in February 2022 has a lot of other good stuff worth reviewing. [UPDATE: upon review, there are a startling number of typos in the preceding paragraph, and yet somehow they fit exactly what happened over the past week. “Mad” instead of “made” indeed!!]
- I think it’s reasonable to opine that with the Full Moon at 16 Cancer, we can expect illumination on whatever alliances got started last February. The Sabian Symbol for this Cancer Moon is “the germ grows into knowledge and life,” and note that a germ can be a seed or a nasty bug — so which it? Still, it’s a seed — and thus a beginning.
- The 0 degree Leo Ascendant echoes this nascent potential. Zero degrees of a sign is too soon to tell.
- The focus of this Full Moon is the 12th and 6th houses. The 12th refers to institutions of confinement: hospitals, convents, prisons. The 12th also refers to hidden enemies and the self-undoing. The 6th refers to workers, health issues, enslavement.
- Venus and Pluto oppose the Ascendant. A naked power play would be one interpretation. Venus is about to trine Mars, ruler of the 10th house (leaders). Someone in charge will get a helping hand from a friendly source.
- You are more personally affected by this Full Moon if you are Kate McKinnon, Ree Drummond, Julie Chen, Eddie Remayne, or Eric Trump. What’s lighting up your life this week?
Back to the daily forecast:
- FRIDAY: Moon opposes Mercury Rx, illuminating a necessary rethink around 8:35 PM ET.
- SATURDAY: Note your dreams upon waking, as Moon trines visionary Neptune at 7:29 AM ET. Mercury meets up with the Sun, frying itself to a crisp, but like the phoenix rising from the ashes, a new way of thinking may emerge. That happens at 7:56 AM ET — another reason to note your dreams. Moon makes its weekly clash with Pluto at 5:22 PM ET, suggesting a power play or catharsis. Chill during the 4 hour Moon void. Moon enters Leo at 9:39 PM ET, bringing a festive mood into the house.
- SUNDAY: Exuberance in the early morning reflects a trine between Moon and Jupiter at 1:59 AM ET. The Leo Moon’s need for personal validation is opposed by Venus in “who’s yer buddy” Aquarius. Pay someone a compliment and work it out around 11:52 AM ET. A nice energy flows through the rest of the day, as Mars sextiles the Leo Moon. How nice for creative play — with added innovation flowing easily between Mercury (how we need to think) and Uranus, exact at 6:22 PM ET. There are lots of reasons to get along this weekend, not the least of which is a rare harmony between Venus and Mars, exact on Monday morning.
Beth Owl’s Daughter’s always-in-sync Tarot Card of the Week is an apt reflection this week’s planetary patterns. Take some time for yourself this week. You’ve earned it. And let that awareness inform your perspective on any delays or ghosting you may experience in this first week of 2023.
And now, the news.
As I said, Mercury and Mars are retrograde — and Mars is retrograde in Gemini, sign of moving from Point A to Point B. And gosh, we’ve had a notable spike in delays, if you ask me. The first day of Mercury retrograde was reflected in multiple snafus on the New York subway (say my commuter friends). And yesterday the elevator in my apartment building went out, and no tech is available to service it until tomorrow.
Meanwhile…
- Hours-long flight delays in Florida and Colorado today
- Southwest Airlines still trying to recover after last week’s meltdown
- Israel missile strike puts Damascus airport out of service
- Tonight’s game between the Bills and Bengals was postponed after Bills’ safety Damar Hamlin was critically injured. It happened during a Moon void…so I’m hoping the injury turns out to be less serious than it seemed. Fingers crossed.
Mercury retrogrades are apt times to dig up new information and/or reflect on the past:
- “What would I have done differently?” Nancy Pelosi looks back on her years in Congress. Today was her last day as House Speaker. Yesterday transiting Saturn squared her Midheaven — career status. A streamlining would not be unexpected. Here is a write-up of her horoscope. As she is an Aries, she’ll have transiting Jupiter conjunct her Sun this spring, as well as her Jupiter. This season should feel rewarding and expansive, with changes and fresh starts later in the year, as transiting Uranus arrives at the top of her horoscope.
- “Wax cylinders hold audio from a century ago. The (New York) Public Library is listening”
- The January 6th transcripts continue to reveal and reveal and reveal…here are the latest…
- …and then there is this: “Ex-Capitol police chief: FBI, DHS and Pentagon failed on Jan 6th” (he says in his new book)
- As it turns out, Brazil does have a criminal case against George Santos — the newly-elected Congressman whose every 52 words is a pack of lies. This is such a great lesson for the U.S. as it processes its first Pluto return. Clearly we need a few more checks and balances to remedy clear instances of corruption. There is apparently no mechanism for voters to recall a Congressman.
Meanwhile…
Jupiter in Aries suggests big famous news about Jupiter and Aries-related subjects, such as:
- An “alarming surge” in diabetes (Jupiter rules the liver and pancreas)…as insulin is capped at $35 for those on Medicare, effective January 1st
- As predicted: “Warm winter weather breaks records across Europe.” Jupiter in fire sign Aries suggests expansion of heat (climate change notwithstanding).
2022 came to a close with prominent exits, including:
- Pope Benedict — whose horoscope was activated by Jupiter in contact with four planets at the Aries Point last month — passed away at 95. As you can see, transiting Neptune has been hitting the angles of his chart for some time. Neptune can “coincide” with a “disappearing act” or other wipe-out. Apparently he was famous for wearing red shoes — and WaPo is wondering why. Maybe it was just because he was an Aries. Whaddaya think?
- Pioneering journalist Barbara Walters left under similar patterns. She was 93. Her Libra Sun is at the Aries Point. Neptune has been in touch with her Moon-Saturn opposition for some time. Her Moon is in Gemini — so apt for a newshound, and her need to inform was given gravitas by her Moon’s contact with Saturn. Here is her horoscope.
New Year’s Day featured a potent conjunction between Venus and Pluto in Capricorn. The timing is interesting because Mercury went retrograde right around a prior series of conjunctions between Venus and Pluto a year ago. Here’s what those were all about…and this Mercury retrograde should advance whatever change of values occurred back then…after it finishes its current retrograde phase.
Here’s an interesting article reflecting the practical earthy values of Venus in Capricorn, literally broken down by Pluto — Lord of the Underworld, in mythology:
In other news…
The 118th Congress officially begins tomorrow at 12 PM in Washington, D.C. Here is what that looks like:
Dan Rather’s latest Substack post captured my first impression of this chart aptly (so I thought), when it arrived in my mailbox this morning. “A Cyclone of Crazy,” it was called — and fit the chart’s ruler — Mars retrograde in multitasking Gemini, meeting up with the the Gemini Moon. Yup. Cyclone. Gemini is an Air Sign, and Mars riles things up. Oh, and Rather thinks there will be fireworks. That fits, too — and Rather is writing about the Republicans, who are in such disarray that they — at almost midnight on Tuesday — haven’t been able to agree on a Speaker. And nothing is going to happen in this Congress until they do. Mars and the Moon are in the 2nd house — of values, worth and money. That’s the focus of the fight.
Anyhoo…
Pass the popcorn and we’ll see what happens. Meanwhile, I wanted to touch briefly on a few of the big shifts we’ll see in 2023…to be discussed in greater detail when they arrive.
- February — all the planets are finally moving direct. Mars is still in Gemini, though — and getting back up to speed.
- March — Saturn exits Aquarius and enters Pisces on March 8th — very close to Kamala Harris’ Midheaven — and just a couple of weeks after her second Saturn return, along with the last hit of Neptune to her Ascendant (the latter reflects the low profile she had in 2022). That’s likely to change in 2023. We’ll see more of her executive authority recognized, and by fall, she may be taking on a clearly expanded and rewarding role. Saturn in Pisces will be right on Mitch McConnell’s Sun — and will be squatting on it for most of October and November.
- March — Saturn seeks to structure, cut and control. Pisces is the ocean. Good luck controlling that…but then again, cuts and controls in better managing our watery resources — including water itself — would be something Saturn in Pisces would inspire humans to do. Pisces is empathy and suffering — especially among those who are most vulnerable. My sense is that Saturn in Pisces will inspire a more sobering, serious, ambitious effort to heal so many who have been traumatized by (fill in the blank with your choice of overwhelming global crisis). Seeds for that structured healing may be planted in 2023…and when Saturn gets to the back half of Pisces in 2025, we’ll see some notable progress. In other news, Mars leaves Gemini…finally.
- March — Pluto dips its toe into Aquarius on the 23rd. This is huge. At 0 Aquarius, Pluto will amplify the potential of the 2020 Great Mutation of Jupiter-Saturn at 0 Aquarius. Here’s a lengthy article I wrote about that a couple of years ago. Great gobs of power and resources will be poured into this potential…with efforts to put extremes of control into place. Power grids and all the ways we connect with each other virtually may be affected. Humanitarian values are likely to prevail over values that prioritize stuff over people. Pluto at 0 Aquarius will activate the horoscopes of President Biden, King Charles and Queen Elizabeth. Pay attention to what happens during Pluto’s brief dip into Aquarius, which ends on June 12th. It’s a sneak peek of life on Earth for the next 20 years. Pluto at 0 Aquarius will amplify whatever was going around March 6th, 2022, too.
- April –– Mercury and Pluto go retrograde. Until then, February and March are full speed ahead. We have a solar eclipse at 29 Aries — where the Moon was on 1) the Biden-Harris inauguration; and 2) the official beginning of Brexit. Those events are likely to be activated when 1) Jupiter gets to the end of Aries in May and 2) Pluto retrogrades back into Capricorn in the summer.
- May — Jupiter enters Taurus in mid-May. We’ll see an expansion of efforts to preserve and maintain material comfort and security. Some efforts will be more evolved than others. We’ll have an expansion of efforts to save the planet’s resources for everyone, vs. the efforts of some who have more money than god to preserve their own status quo. A lunar eclipse on Cinco de Mayo echoes the eclipse we had on November 8th.
- June — Pluto retrogrades back into Capricorn, revving up Pete Buttigieg’s horoscope again…to be continued into 2024. We may be seeing more of Kellyanne Conway and Nikki Haley, too. Saturn goes retrograde. So does Neptune — on the last day of the month.
- July –– Venus goes retrograde on July 23rd. So much for your planned summer wedding. Generally speaking, it’s not the right time.
- August — Uranus turns retrograde. Mercury goes retrograde for the second time, starting on the 23rd. This time it’s in Virgo.
- September — Venus turns direct on September 4th. What did you learn about love and appreciation in your relationships?
Goodness gracious, it’s 1 o’clock in the morning…but I had a lot I wanted to share with you, dear Avid Reader, so you could put what’s going on in the mundane world into a healthy astro-logical perspective. If my work adds value to your life, I would be quite pleased if you would kindly consider becoming a paid subscriber to this Forecast. You can do that right here.
Heather Cox Richardson is still at her laptop — today’s Letter from an American hasn’t posted yet. I can’t wait to read it, and I hope you’ve become a fan. She won another award for having the best blog, according to someone whose opinion means something — and how cool is that. Credit goes to a measurement that was exact last month, suggesting she’s been in an extremely persuasive state of mind (and she just finished another book, bless her heart). Oh look — it just arrived — enjoy!
Here’s the 411 on personal consultations. Making a plan for 2023 is an excellent strategy while Mercury and Mars are retrograde.
Thank you for reading this forecast — and sharing it with friends.