Astro-logical Forecast for Monday 12/22/2014: New Moon in Capricorn; Winter Solstice; Unconventional Women
Happy New Moon! Happy Winter Solstice! Happy Uranus Turning Direct! What should we talk about first?
Let’s start with Uranus, since its change of station happened before the other two events, on Sunday at 5:45pm ET. Uranus refers to revolutions, rebellion, seismic activity, innovation, genetic mutation, accidents, aviation, space travel, technology, astrology, uranium and genius, to name a few. In Aries, Uranus suggests a need for self-reliance, favoring an entrepreneurial spirit. Watch for movement in the headlines on these areas over the next several days. In your own personal world, consider how your genius insights and notions of freedom can be applied outward. Surely you’ve been feeling an intense buzz about making a break, especially if you have a planet or angle around 15 degrees (halfway through) Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn, yes?
Next up, the Winter Solstice — Sunday at 6:03PM. ET. Say goodbye to the Sun in Sagittarius and hello to the Sun in Capricorn. In the Northern Hemisphere, days will be getting longer and nights will be getting shorter, as the light pushes back against the dark and prevails. How inspiring! Today, however, we can meditate on this wonderful NYT article about the Winter Solstice, “Why We Need the Dark”.
From an astrological point of view, the first days of Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter (the Solstices and Equinoxes), correspond with the first day (or first degree) of Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn, respectively. Got that? Good. These four signs are called cardinal signs of the zodiac. Cardinal signs initiate. They come up with the idea and put it into action, which leads to necessary change. “Cardinal” suggests (from the Latin root of the word), “that on which something turns or depends.” So the first day/degree of a Cardinal sign is a turning point. In astrology, the technical term for the first degree of any Cardinal sign is the Aries Point, just to confuse people who are not professional astrologers.
Equinoxes and solstices are also prominent. We make a fuss over them, right? In Japan, the first day of each season is actually a national holiday. How cool is that? Thus, in a horoscope, a planet or angle at the Aries Point needs to be prominent. Off the top of my head, Meryl Streep (a Cancer) and William Shatner (an Aries) were both born with the Sun at the Aries Point. They’re pretty prominent in everything they do, don’t you think? So pay close attention to what’s going on in your own personal world and the headlines at this time. They are important turning points.
With the Sun now in Capricorn, we move from big-picture thinking (Sagittarius) to practical application. What will we build that materially defines our collective philosophy? Think corporations, governments and maybe The Junior League. Think status and ambition. The possibilities are endless. This enterprising spirit is magnified by the New Moon in Capricorn, which officially begins Sunday at 8:36 PM ET.
A New Moon offers us an opportunity to re-set intentions and goals for the next lunar cycle. Around the 28th, on the First Quarter Moon, we can expect a challenge to those goals, with appropriate adjustments made. At the time of the Full Moon on January 4th, we can expect illumination on the success or failure of our goals for the cycle. If we succeeded, we can consciously release our success into our reality; if we failed, we let go of whatever did not work. After the Third Quarter Moon on the 13th, we can review our achievements, tie up loose ends and get ready to begin another New Moon on January 26th.
Capricorn is an earthy, enterprising, social-climbing energy which means business like no other sign in the zodiac. Capricorn knows how to use resources (including people) to get what it needs, which is to make things happen and move things forward. This New Moon chart has five planets in Capricorn, with mental Mercury at the midpoint between the Sun and Moon, on the one hand…and Venus and Pluto on the other. This cycle holds potential for concentrated investigative focus and piercing communications, involving plenty of Uranian themes noted at the top of this forecast.
The Sabian Symbol for the New Moon makes it quite clear what’s at stake: “an Indian chief demanding recognition”. Need I say more? As Sabian Symbol guru Blain Bovee notes that a “chief” is not someone who needs to demand recognition, it is suggested that we are talking about an emergent power. Hmmm, well that changes the game a bit, doesn’t it? I can think of a number of examples from the headlines that support that Symbol.
You are likely feeling the emerging power of this New Moon more personally if you were born around the 21st of March, June, September or December…or if you have an angle or planet around 1 degrees of Aries, Cancer, Libra or Capricorn. This includes Barack Obama, whose Venus (social expression) is at 1 Cancer, and thus opposed by this New Moon. So we can expect even more initiatives from him during this lunar cycle, in addition to what was previously expected from him, with authoritative Saturn now at the top of his horoscope. I can’t tell you how much fun it’s been to see the awed op-eds marveling at how well the president seems to be doing, given the November midterms. Why? Because I’ve been writing about this surge happening at this time since before the 2012 elections. It’s fun when what I expect to happen, happens!
And now, more news…so much of it…
The weekend’s action among Venus (women, art, money, social expression), Uranus and Pluto suggested disruptions of the status quo involving those Venusian themes. We could expect headlines involving prominent women — or the prominence of women. One of my favorites happened on Friday, during Obama’s last press conference of the year. Did it involve prominent women and surprise upsets? You bet it did. In a first, the president only called on women reporters. Take a look at the last part of this short clip and observe the faces of some of the men who were likely realizing that Something Had Just Happened.
Elsewhere, it was revealed that Monopoly was based on a game created by a woman. Wow! And yet it seems that writer/inventor/feminist Lizzie Magie received a patent for her invention in 1904, which she called “The Landlord’s Game”. She hoped that, “In a short time, men and women will discover that they are poor because Carnegie and Rockefeller, maybe, have more than they know what to do with.”
That did not happen. She sold her patent to Parker Brothers in 1935 (during the last Uranus-Pluto square) for $500 and apparently never saw a penny in royalties. This was the same year Charles Darrow sold his patent for a game called Monopoly to Parker Brothers. Guess who got the money? There’s a whole book about this due in February — check it out here — discussed in an article written for The Smithsonian.
Other disruptive and/or unconventional and/or empowering women now gracing the NYT home page include a 107-year-old Buffalo Bills fan and the controversial Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer (cover story of the NYT magazine). YouTube head Susan Wojcicki is profiled in the Business Section. Venus-Uranus does have a tech-friendly vibe. As for unconventional attractions often associated with Venus-Uranus connections, Elton John got married.
For those of you who may be wondering if there is especially strong activity in the horoscopes of Elizabeth Warren and Seth Rogen, given how much press both have received this month, the answer is, “Are you kidding me?! Of course those horoscopes are hot!!” Nobody makes headlines unless there’s something going on in the horoscope, and if you’re not paying attention to your own horoscope, you’re missing out on insights that are simply invaluable. To schedule a personal consultation or give one as a gift for someone special on your list, here’s the 411.