the astrology of the New Moon in Capricorn | December 23rd, 2022 - starting over at Christmas, pushed to leap, dealing with relationship imbalances
Friday, December 23, 2022
On Friday, December 23, 2022 at 5:16AM EST, the Capricorn Moon meets the Capricorn Sun at 1 degree giving us this month's New Moon - our annual New Moon in Capricorn.
Last year's New Moon in Capricorn was conjunct 22 degrees Cappy of 2020's "time runs out/power is cemented" infamy. This year we are going back to the very beginning - 1 degree Capricorn and asteroid Hygiea (our health asteroid, very prominent in the pandemic and the events of the last couple years) is EXACTLY conjunct the New Moon. I mean, we can't make this stuff up. This New Moon is EXACTLY squaring Ceres (a part of "time runs out" - she was conjunct Mercury, Pluto, Saturn and the Sun in mid-January 2020) and very tightly conjunct a square to Jupiter, moving through Aries for the second time - back to the beginning with SOMETHING.
There is mucho energy in Capricorn now (ruled by Saturn) - responsibility, stability, maturity, security, ambition, mastery - this is serious stuff. Can you feel the weight of everything that is happening in the world/in your own life - the seriousness of it all? Next week, the United States will have its third (and final) exact hit of the U.S. Pluto return (happening in Capricorn), Mercury will station retrograde (in Capricorn, Mercury is conjunct "time runs out" at the time of this New Moon), Venus will be in Capricorn - hitting degrees she retrograded over last year for the first time since her retrograde, Jupiter (U.S. ruling planet) is back in Aries. Can we say 'starting over'?
This is VERY potent energy.
Let's unpack the chart!
The Moon and Sun are conjunct at 1 degree Capricorn. The New Moon is EXACTLY conjunct asteroid Hygiea. The New Moon tightly squares Jupiter in Aries. The New Moon is EXACTLY squaring Ceres in Libra. So, we have a T-Square with the Moon/Sun the focal point and the empty leg in Cancer. Saturn rules this lunation from Aquarius. Both Jupiter and Saturn - our middle planets that connect our inner planets with the outer planets - are retracing their steps from earlier in the year. Jupiter in Aries is answering to a retrograde Mars who is about to be answering to a retrograde Mercury. Chiron stations direct in the hour before the New Moon.
This is alot, but feels rather neatly tied up with string as Cappy is prone to doing.
The New Moon is conjunct asteroid Hygiea (hygiene, health) - this is EXACT. Hygiea speaks of the ways we prepare for things to go well/to have good health. This often connects to our physical health. She is EXACTLY conjunct the New Moon/Sun and squaring Jupiter - this aspect is in the past, so something has recently GOTTEN BIGGER/expanded here - and she is squaring Ceres in Libra EXACT, so this might be connected to a partner/other person/child/contract. Maybe an imbalance in nurturing is hurting our health or whatever is happening within our relationship that is "outside our control" is. With Hygiea in Cappy our health is our wealth AND our wealth is our health. We are probably only as healthy as our bank account, those cans we have stacked in our cupboards, our fathers/maybe husbands, our careers/reputations, our security, our structure.
The New Moon squares Jupiter. We talked about this energy in the Solstice post HERE. Squares are tension/frustration. Often the friction that gets things moving. Jupiter is expansive energy, something needs to GROW. Considered lucky - this growth is how Jupiter gets lucky. We act generously. We act confidently. We act courageously. We believe we can do it/are lucky. We have FAITH. The downside with Jupiter is, being made entirely of gases, things here are not solid/not really real. So, there needs to be a connection with something REAL to make real things happen (like this New Moon's square). Jupiter's tendency to inflate also makes it easy to over-do something. Over-promise. In Aries, maybe take on too much. Squaring this New Moon in ambitious Cappy could make us overly focused on career, goals, security, safety, the-bottom-line. So, we are going to need to, yes, start something with this New Moon in Cappy energy - and, yes, it might connect to career, goals, security, the-bottom-line - without going too big or too fast. Mercury is in Cappy, too, and tends to create negative thinking, we see the dangers/dragons and he is on a HOT degree here and Mars - who is ruling Jupiter - is answering to her/him. We need to stay positive and have FAITH. Jupiter is in many ways providing just what is needed here and speaks of something here being or having the potential to be - a VERY BIG DEAL. With Jupiter in Aries we have to be open to new experiences/be able to pivot.
The New Moon squares Ceres in Libra. This one is EXACT. Ceres in Libra is about what is 'out-of-our-control' within our relationships. She is seeking balance here - maybe wants the give and take to be more even-steven/wants more peace/wants more beauty. Maybe there is over-nurturing or under-nurturing. Are we treating a partner like a child or are we being treated as such? Are we treating a child like a partner? Maybe we want too much or too little. Because again here is another square. More tension/frustration. This isn't intrinsically a bad thing - again, this is the friction that gets things moving. And, along with Jupiter, turns this whole thing into a Cardinal Square. SUPER POWERFUL ENERGY TO START. Adds turbo-boosters.
Ceres opposes Jupiter and remember it was their ability to structure a complicated compromise that once saved the world.
Saturn, the ruler of Capricorn and so the ruler of the New Moon is at 21 degrees Aquarius. Ancient ruler of Aquarius, he is strong here, so the rules, limits, boundaries, reality-checks are, too.
Keep in mind this chart shows how something is STARTING and how it will GROW.
If we follow the Moon through her days in Capricorn we see that after meeting the Sun, the Moon trines Uranus retrograde - the Sun won't do this until January 5th, so we won't get the physical manifestation of this for some time, but we get the feeling shortly after the New Moon (not necessarily through the same events). This is about us being comfortable with change/allowing change/easy updates and then in early January the change - which doesn't have to be the same change remember - happens/is illuminated. Then the Moon meets Venus and then Mercury. She does this tomorrow, but the Sun doesn't meet Mercury until January 7th and Venus is long gone. The Sun won't catch up with Venus until August. So, the news/information/conversations the New Moon promises and we may get a glimpse of on Christmas Eve are manifested near January 7th. The love/money/Venusian story with whatever is starting now is more complicated, requires patience. This isn't surprising with a Cappy New Moon. After meeting Venus and Mercury, the Moon sextiles Neptune (also on Christmas Eve), here is a kind of dreamy nostalgia, connection, the eggnog is flowing. Anytime we have Cappy/Pisces energy we can think about this as 'dream building'. There are lots of other things this energy is about - it can bring endings where things tend to drift off or old-age endings or endings of dreams/addictions/fantasy, etc. But when what we are building is rooted in reality, Neptune pulls in our intuition, imagination, creativity, universal love. The Sun will sextile Neptune on January 13th. Then finally, still on Christmas Eve, the Cappy Moon will go void at 10:10PM EST off her monthly meeting with Pluto (with Jupiter moved on, we will be back to many monthly lunations ending with intense Plutonian aspects). Something buried/raw/intense/honest. This can be a profoundly real moment to unearth something. FEELINGS ARE GOING TO COME OUT. This will be transformative. Then the Moon goes void and we have a chance to rest from all of this. Whew. The Sun reaches Pluto on January 18th and then a couple days later we will get the New Moon in Aquarius and start a new cycle.
So, the Moon's next couple days and the Sun's next month are giving us some idea of how what is STARTED NOW will grow to culmination/peak over the next 6 months when we will have the Capricorn Full Moon next summer.
This is also the day Chiron stations direct. This happens BEFORE the New Moon, so we get a direct Chiron with this fresh start. Chiron in Aries encourages us to be ourselves. To know we can take care of ourselves. To be brave. We might have to face very old wounds/vulnerabilities/hurts - and we have had time with this already since we are covering old degrees here - and MOVE FORWARD ANYWAY.
Short and sweet - SOMETHING IS STARTING OR STARTING OVER. This will be connected with your Cappy natal house theme or the collective themes of our goals, career, fathers, security, ambitions. With a Cardinal T-Square, this start WILL NOT BE STOPPED and might come with our backs against the wall (through what isn't working). Avoid going too big, too fast. Also avoid sitting on your ass when life is pushing you to do something. Keep in mind, Mercury is going to station retrograde next week in Cappy, so we are getting some extra time - which will likely come in the form of irritating delays and obstacles - to get this whole thing right.
The Solstice post covers much more about the Jupiter square and is HERE. This powerful FRESH START/STARTING OVER with this Jupiter square is a good thing, and for some people a very good thing - Jupiter can bring good outcomes to the most challenging circumstances/better outcomes than we can imagine - but almost certainly there is something in here about asking ourselves, "will this be too much for me?".
Hopefully Jupiter's journey through Pisces has given each of us some hope/faith in where we can go next even when we don't know the specifics yet. Just remember Jupiter's good luck will come through Saturn's hard work and that square to Ceres in Libra says we need to figure out how to work with whatever in our relationships/contracts "feels like it is outside our control" (probably connected to a loss) or whatever "season of life issue" or imbalanced nurturing is throwing everyone off their game - complicated compromises can be worked out now.
2023 is going to be a BIG year. We start the year with two personal planets retrograde, but by mid-January will have all systems GO for many weeks. Mars will be re-doing Gemini until March. In May everything starts to shift. Pluto, who has been in Capricorn since 2008, moves into Aquarius. 2023 will only give us a sneak peek of this transit, but is likely to have a major collective impact. Saturn, after many years strong in signs he rules, will drift into diluting Pisces, where he will eventually meet up with Neptune (not until 2026, so we will have lots of build up to this) which hasn't happened in 36 years. When Saturn moves into Pisces, Uranus in Taurus will break free of his chains to Saturn. Freedom, chaos, change, the future. Sedna, who has been in Taurus since 1965, heads into Gemini for a sneak-peek (I wrote about Sedna in some depth HERE, we will be talking about her alot next year). Many planets will be nearing or backtracking over the end of the signs they are in. Hail mary plays will be being tossed out all over the place, but change won't be stopped.
Lots of posts about 2023 coming up!
xo all
the astrology of the winter solstice 2022 | December 21, 2022 - Capricorn season begins with an enthusiastic PUSH, a time to take stock, stock-up, prepare for winter
Wednesday, December 21, 2022
Happy Solstice everyone!
Doesn't it feel better to call the Winter Solstice the longest night rather than the shortest day?
The shortest day sounds like we are
missing out on something. The longest night sounds like we can lie in bed
and finish our book and still get a good night's sleep.
This is the perfect time during the busy holiday season to take stock of where we are, what we have, what we've done and where we are going. In the northern hemisphere we move into the challenging season of winter. And with Pluto still in Capricorn, since 2008, this is the space of our collective humbling. This is also the time of the season, maybe especially when things are not quite as we wish they were, when melancholy can set in. It is a good idea to check in with other people. See if they need anything we have to give. People are needing more than presents wrapped in big red bows this year.
In Capricorn, the Sun gets serious. We are heading into the
serious time of year - the time our ancestors could starve if they
hadn't stocked up properly or catch a cold that would turn into
pneumonia. They would celebrate the Winter Solstice and go into hibernation for a few weeks (exhausted from the harvest, escaping the cold and, intuitively, the germs and bacteria, too, I'm sure),
venturing back out sometime mid-Aquarius season for some social
interaction and hoping to trade whatever they still had plenty of to
restock whatever had grown scarce.
This is true for us today, too. Without structure, responsibility and
discipline - mandated by Capricorn's ruling planet Saturn - we'll be in
trouble when the cold settles in and the stuff we need to survive is
covered with two feet of snow and ice.
So Capricorn is a serious sign because it rules very serious things. Capricorn rules our collective 10th house of career, reputation, ambition, hard work, the pinnacle, fathers, patriarchal story-lines, safety, security, tradition, history, our structure, what we need to get us through the winter.
Saturn isn't about rushing and neither is Capricorn. Usually we can catch our breath, take stock of where we are and what we have (probably more than we think we do) before starting this new chapter.
With this particular Solstice though, as the Sun moves into Capricorn he moves into a square with Jupiter in Aries.
Jupiter in Aries is anything BUT patient.
This square can really help us. The square to Saturn will benefit Jupiter since he will want to go, go, go and he is answering to a retrograde Mars who is about to be answering to a retrograde Mercury, so he (as we) needs to be smart about this whole go, go, go thing. On the other hand Saturn can sometimes use a little or a BIG PUSH. So, Jupiter is pushing solid/practical Saturn to get moving/start and Saturn is giving Jupiter some limits/reality checks. They both benefit, which, of course, means we do. The takeaway from this energy is to get moving (don't allow the retrogrades and Saturn to stop you in your tracks), but, also, don't over-do anything, over-promise/exaggerate and don't allow yourself to be rushed. Keep in mind Mercury is going to station retrograde in Capricorn next week, so we are going to be going back and forth over our natal Cappy house themes and collectively our careers, reputations, goals and ambitions. This is good news because it gives us extra time to get things RIGHT before the real green lights start flashing in the middle of January.
With Jupiter freshly into Aries and the Sun freshly into Capricorn, both planets are tied to each other at the start of their new cycles. Jupiter's good luck/expansion is linked to Saturn's hard work and responsibility. And Saturn's achievements are linked to Jupiter's ability to TAKE A RISK. Have faith/confidence. Know what the hell he is talking about.
I think this Capricorn plus the retrograde hold-up with Jupiter in Aries will help us prepare (buy us some time) for 2023 when so many things will be changing and we are really going to start feeling Uranus in Taurus again. Uranus has been held at bay the last two years through his ongoing squares to Saturn, but once Saturn gets into Pisces in March that all ends and Uranus will just get stronger and stronger until he is really feeling his oats (when Mercury goes into Capricorn, my natal placement, I REALLY start talking like your grandma, do you notice?) when Jupiter joins Uranus in Taurus in late spring.
This is the perfect time to be STOPPING bad habits, making long-term plans, getting our ducks in a row. The ruler of Capricorn, Saturn, is in Aquarius. This is all about clearing old group trauma/moving into a better relationship with the collective. We need other people. They need us. Aquarius is where we bring our individual selves to the group. How can we remain true to ourselves and also be part of something larger? How are we contributing to society? We are planting the seeds for our future self right now, so what's going into that cold ground? It needs to be hardy to survive until spring. The upcoming New Moon in Capricorn is about finding a more modest way to move through our remaining time on this planet.
It's not about building big things, so much as it is about building the right things.
Like my 5 year old nephew Joel's "Boys Rock" house.
"It's a moving house that moves around with people in it playing music in different boxes" ... Joel
"Are those musical notes outside? It must be loud" ... his dad (the musician/music teacher)
"No ... no. It's a satellite. It pushes the music to the people all over as it moves." ... Joel
The first time Jupiter went into Aries last May, he moved right into a square with Black Moon Lilith in Cancer (here is a post about that HERE and HERE) - the womb wound/the mother wound/the woman who chooses herself. The energy we carry of that time we were tossed from the plush garden/shamed for wanting something we are perfectly entitled to want. We were right in the middle of the Johnny Depp trial. You might remember both Johnny Depp and Amber Heard (born 23 years apart) have their natal Venus at 26 degrees Taurus, the space of fixed star Algol (they fell head over heels in love and then chopped each other's heads off). Here in the United States we had all the Roe vs. Wade stuff going on as Jupiter squared BML. This was around the time of the Cancer New Moon and now we are at the opposite time of year. We were working through the home/family/mother stuff through the summer and now we move into the world/work/father stuff.
As Jupiter returns to Aries (after his retrograde in Pisces) this week, he is also moving right into an opposition with Ceres in Libra. Poor Jupiter in Aries, can't catch a break, with these feminine archetypes. We will talk about this in the New Moon post next, but we can expect alot to be going on within our relationships. This is a kind of run-up to the South Node's entry into Libra in 2023.
Going to keep this post short and sweet (although it looks like it isn't) since I don't want to be repeating myself in the New Moon in Capricorn post and I am about to be. The New Moon is joined with asteroid Hygiea and the Sun joins her now. With Chiron about to station direct, Capricorn season (which lasts longer than the Sun's time in Cappy) seems to speak of our need for healing and self/collective care (as well as, I suppose, what is going on with flus/viruses, etc).
The Moon hasn't caught up with the Sun quite yet. Today the Moon moves into Sagittarius. This should feel better - at least until this evening when the Moon squares Mars and starts looking for trouble/an argument, watch your words! Shopping tonight, parking in crowded lots, can be aggravating - just sayin' - especially if you, like me, were feeling that Moon/Saturn square yesterday afternoon that took us back to the tense Eclipse energies. Keep in mind the days before the New Moon are the days of the Balsamic Moon, a time to rest/re-coup, so probably the less we have to do now the better we will be feeling.
Keep in mind also Mercury's retrograde station next week.
Besides the Cappy/career/goal stuff we will all be re-visiting/re-vising we can help to alleviate some retrograde madness by choosing to consciously release a bit of the Mercury shadow stuff we are carrying in our own lives that needs to go.
We might want to do some releasing on anything we are ruminating about with a Mercury angle to it - the wrong word we said at the wrong time. The conversation we didn't have. The email we didn't send or the one we did and wish we hadn't. The idea that didn't work out. The research we didn't do. The thought that stopped us in our tracks and so we quit or the thought that kept us going when we should have quit. The sibling crap. The lemon or 'beyond our pocketbook' car we bought when we knew better. The times we were less than neighborly. If we can somehow - between present buying, wrapping and gifting - toss our thinking/ruminating/self-judgements and recriminations about this stuff into the trash bin with those tiny bits of wrapping paper and balls of twisted tape we wrapped around our fingers instead of the packages, we would be much better off over the next couple weeks ...
When we personally let go of shadow Mercury the collective Mercury
shadow has less to work with/release during Mercury's more intense periods like next week..
Drive carefully and with a cool head.
xo all - back with the New Moon in Capricorn post
photo by the amazing Amanda-Diaz
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