weekly astrology forecast | january 10th - January 16th, 2022 - Mercury stations retrograde, the king is dead long live the king, using our intuition, keeping our feet on the ground, the shifting sands do some more shifting

 

 

By the end of this week, we will have TWO of our personal planets moving backward - Venus in Capricorn and Mercury in Aquarius - more of the "re's", meaning if what you are doing starts with "re" you are probably on the right track. 

 

Mars is still making his way through Sag, a space he loves, but he will start hitting more challenges - this week a square to exhausting/delusional Neptune and next week an inconjunct (rock and a hard place) with the North Node (how we are going to get where we are going). It is probably not the best time for big leaps, because while the net MIGHT appear, there is a pretty good chance the net has changed direction, too, or was never going to be there in the first place (and, of course, after writing this, I need to say there might be something in your chart that countermands this advice, especially with this week's Sun/Pluto, and since I can't see your chart, you, as always, will have to navigate these waters as best you can - both intuition and common sense practicality can be accessed). 

 

On the other hand, this is not the time to be stuffing our size 9 feet into size 7 shoes either - again the Sun/Pluto, someone's power is going to be spotlighted, maybe it will be OURS.

 

Let's jump right into this week's biggest aspects:

 

MONDAY - Sun sextiles Neptune

TUESDAY - Mars squares Neptune

FRIDAY - Mercury stations retrograde, Ceres stations direct

SUNDAY - Sun conjuncts Pluto

We start the week with the Sun doing what a retrograde Venus did last week (Venus will do this again on January 24th). The Sun, at 20 degrees Capricorn sextiles Neptune. Again, this is "making the dream real" energy. This "making the dream real" thing can sometimes involve a sacrifice - we give up this to get that, for example. The Sun is our life force/our ego/our fire. The sextile with illusive/imaginative Neptune dissolves boundaries/limits. It allows unfiltered access to our intuition, our compassion, forgiveness, our ancestors, what we have put behind us/what we have forgotten. All these January sextiles to Neptune - and this has been true for almost a decade as Neptune has been in Pisces - encourage us to release old goals, any need for status/recognition that is no longer fulfilling. Things that once stabilized us, but are now just keeping us stuck. This is great energy for making art, music, creative work, meditation, prayer, healing.

After that solar sextile, Mars (in Sag - think :QUEST) squares Neptune. Mars is our actions, our passion, our initiative. Neptune weakens Mars, dissolves our ambitions/strength or provides a goal that is misleading. Squares are tension/frustration. Our hopes can fade. Our escape mechanisms/self-sabotage can pull us off course. We can catch a cold. Our impulsivity/need for adventure might lead us into challenging waters. 

 

Keep in mind this is a TEMPORARY aspect, so let's not allow it to create a mess of things. Mars in direct motion matters, our Quest continues.

 

And, on the other hand, because squares provide the greatest potential for real change (the whole back against the wall thing) Mars/Neptune can provide spiritual/creative FUEL if we can find a way to maintain focused actions and not drift off-course/chase something that doesn't exist.

 

At the end of the week, Mercury stations retrograde. I talked about that HERE. 

 

There might be delays, changes of course. Our thinking/the conversations shifts. We now have TWO of our personal planets retrograde. This is a BIG sign we do not want to be pushing full steam ahead - that Neptune square is actually helping us out. Life is an inside job for a bit. Give yourself a break/brake when you can. With Mercury retrograde in Aquarius - we might have had a brilliant or liberating idea that we rushed past and need to return to!

At the same time, and I missed this somehow in that retro post, Ceres stations direct at 27 degrees Taurus. Conjunct Algol and Sedna on that HOT degree from the first Solar Eclipse in Taurus last month. Ceres retrograde has been a review of what we are nurturing or what is outside our control or season of life situations, and most likely all of the above in some way. In Taurus, our Goddess back to her Garden, financial issues have been pulled into the mix, resource issues, our values, our self-esteem. Her retrograde in the Garden may have intensified our survival fears - what have we learned about ourselves? Something will move forward here (maybe a financial or value related something?), even as something else - Mercury retrograde - needs a re-think.

 

We'll talk more about Ceres in Part II of the Nodes Shift into Taurus (how we are going to get where we're going) and Scorpio (what is holding us back), sometime this week.

The week closes out with the Sun's meeting with powerful Pluto - in play all week as this applies (builds). 

The Sun/Pluto is a light thrown on power.  

 

This is power cemented/reaching its full potential or crumbled in pieces at our feet. Either way the Sun shows a result here, sometimes an ending. This is the death of the father/the old king. We can lose or gain power. Our weak foundations will crack/splinter - let them. When Pluto was thought to be the very boundary of our world/last planet out there - we thought transformation had to be life and death or death and rebirth. We had to suffer through the underworld to get to the other side. But since the discovery of Pluto's family - all these little Plutino planets (the dwarf planets) - we see this life/death/rebirth thing is alot more complicated and compelling. 

 

The Sun/Pluto cycle that started last year, at 24 degrees Cappy (this degree is super-activated during this Mercury retrograde season) is CULMINATING and a new cycle at 26 degrees Capricorn is beginning. 

 

We are building toward next week's powerful Full Moon in Cancer (opposing Pluto), Uranus stationing direct just as the Nodes shift into fixed signs and the Sun moves into Aquarius to square them. 

 

The 2020's shifting sands are going to keep throwing these curve-balls at us, as we, collectively and individually, decide (and, sometimes, yes, the fates will decide for us) the times the curve-balls will take us down, the times we need to duck, the times we need to weave, the times we need to CATCH the freakin' ball. 

xo all - back with the Full Moon post and we'll factor in the Moons with a couple dailies

artwork by the amazing Alex Garant

the astrology of Mercury's retrograde thru Aquarius and Cappy | january 14th thru february 3rd, 2022 - the change/chaos that changes the future, everything that needs to happen before the cement gets poured

 

Mercury, stations retrograde on January 14th, 2022 at 10 degrees Aquarius. 

 

He/she, as we, (is it confusing when I say this, I can't stop myself!) will get all the way back to 24 degrees Capricorn on February 3rd, before turning around again and re-walking/re-working those same degrees - 24 Cappy through 10 degrees Aqua - until February 24th when he will start covering new ground. 

Mercury originally reached 24 Cappy the first time through on December 29th. 

 

So the entire cycle of back and forth encapsulates December 29th, 2021 thru February 24th, 2022, but the actual retrograde, which most people will feel strongest is January 10th, 2022 through February 3rd, 2022. People with planets/points between 24 Cappy and 10 Aqua will feel this retrograde strongest as well as Virgo and Gemini risings (Mercury being your ruling planet) who are always more subject to Mercury's machinations. Pluto spent alot of time on 24 Cappy last year, so people with planets/points THERE may especially have something breaking loose now. 24 Cappy opposes the United States natal Mercury at 24 Cancer.

So .. Mercury is in Aquarius. Mercury likes being in Aquarius which is the higher octave of Gemini (his sign). He is connected to hive-mind, buzzing along. Taking his "little of this, little of that" Gemini mental gymnastics to a whole new level. He is approaching Saturn (reality) when he is made to stop and turn around. Another look is needed. Another conversation. New information. We missed something.

The "i's" are not dotted (and no, even though Venus is in here, too, hearts don't count). Maybe there is a "t" left uncrossed, somewhere back in chapter seven. Everything is not the way he/we thought it was. The truth shifts. Our reality shifts.

We have to re-think this! 

 

There is alot of non-sense out there about Mercury Retrogrades, and, of course, some people who would just disregard them entirely. I remember when most people had never heard of Mercury Retrograde and now it seems like poor Mercury (planet of communication and MAGIC) is being shamed/blamed for everything that goes wrong.

This is probably because - 1. the internet has exposed many more people to astrological teachings 2. most people are moving so fast now that any sort of slowdown feels like a problem  3. it's a convenient excuse when stuff falls to sh*t (pardon my french), especially stuff that would normally be considered our fault.

The truth is, although we don't want to spend too much time looking backward, we can't full steam ahead through life either.

 

Mercury goes retrograde, as viewed from our position here on Earth, three times a year (sometimes four). Mercury/think Hermes here - is "the Messenger", the "Trickster", the Cosmic Magician. Mercury retrograde periods are great times to figure out things that may be concealed when Mercury is in direct motion. Maybe because we are going too fast to notice them or maybe we took a wrong turn two miles back and need to change direction. Maybe there is a road out up ahead that we don't know about.

 

Sometimes when Mercury is retrograde, and this might be particularly relevant with this one since it starts in an air sign - we want to be proactive, but aren't able to decide. We second guess. Feel ambivalent. This is especially noticeable as Mercury slows down like he has now. He hasn't stationed to turn just yet, but some, likely ancient, part of us, senses this is coming. We pull up short. Or maybe we magnetize something to us that interrupts what we've been doing or we draw the past - the stuff with the dangling loose ends that might trip us up later if not attended to now - into the present to be dealt with.

Mercury retrogrades are a GREAT time to take another/new look at information. To have conversations that we've had before, but to say things in new ways. To STOP ourselves from saying the same old things. To STOP ourselves from looking at/absorbing the same old information. To STOP ourselves from having the same old thoughts. To REDIRECT our attention. Often, we won't have to make conscious decisions to do this kind of stuff, things come up that pull our attention/intentions in new directions.

 

Here in New Jersey, everyone is sick, was sick, or is probably about to be sick. Tests are awol, testing centers fully booked. Everyone is kind of guessing about their state of contagion. 

 

This retrograde starting in Aquarius - the sign of the shot/the mandates - and going back into Cappy - the sign of Wuhan/Pandora "time runs out" during the time of omicron (Venus retro) will have all of this being re-thought, re-analyzed, re-lived (Mercury rules Virgo as well as Gemini and his retro takes us from air to earth) over the next few weeks. 

 

No doubt after Mercury stations direct on February 3rd and has some time to get up to speed we will have alot more information. The information will no doubt still be polarizing because we live in a 3D reality that grows through polarity - that's how this thing works. Still, we will know more than we know now, even though we will still all be looking at different things/knowing different things. That's OK. That's how this whole 'life on planet Earth' is supposed to work. 

We have all lived through dozens of Mercury retrogrades. We are offered the chance, again and again, to learn to use these periods WISELY. Mercury is a trickster energy though - things can kind of sneak in on us, maybe so we can more consciously decide what to do with them than we did the first time through. Everything doesn't come back around because we need to hold onto it/see it as something important. But sometimes we get useful information/situations that we can use later. Things turn around that we wish hadn't, but can later see how this turnaround/delay or stop, was beneficial.

Often the best way through a dicey Mercury retrograde - and any retrograde that takes us through two different signs looks dicey to me - is to give our attention to what comes to our attention and/or what has been previously neglected to free our hands up to get to something new when the retro period ends.

Let's unpack the chart for this particular Mercury retrograde:

 

The way something starts is always a good harbinger of what is going to play out and this retrograde starts with Mercury applying to his Saturn conjunction - so we are approaching something serious and need to re-think/re-vise before we get THERE.  

 

Mercury is in an EXACT square to Uranus. We know we have had Saturn in an exact square to Uranus three times in 2021. Now, Mercury stations just as he reaches his/her (our) square. And Uranus is the modern ruler of Aquarius - so Mercury is answering to him. 

 

Squares bring tension/frustration. Mercury has replaced Saturn in the Saturn/Uranus square of last year, so maybe news is upsetting, disruptive or controversial. Whatever happens it is intended for our thinking to change, we will NOT be able to stick with an out-of-date point of view.

 

Before our thinking/situation meets Saturn (reality/the cement), it has to CHANGE (Uranus). And we know we are going to be back here again after Mercury stations direct, so the change is subject to change!

We get the first Mercury square Uranus on January 14th - a change of direction/thinking and then Mercury will be back on this degree on February 24th, but Uranus will have moved on to 11 degrees Taurus. 

The next day, Mercury will reach 11 degrees Aquarius (February 25th) and square Uranus for the second time - the change changes.

Keep in mind exact dates are tricky with this stuff.

 

Just know whatever changes is subject to more change. This DOES NOT bring us back to where we started because Uranus has since stationed direct and moved on. The first change has changed us AND the future.

 

Another thing in play during this retrograde is Mercury's sextile to Chiron. You might remember it was Saturn's recurring sextiles to Chiron that brought in the healing energies in 2021. So again, Mercury is replacing Saturn. Bringing new ideas/new thinking/new information to HEALING. This aspect is going to repeat on February 24th, too, and this is also the day Venus makes her second sextile to Neptune.

With Mercury, (from Aquarius) replacing Saturn as he/she (we) move through 2021's BIG Uranus squares and Chiron sextiles - we will be bringing the collective hive-mind, new information/conversations/ideas/genius/logic/reason in to replace what has grown out-dated, traditional, too limited. 

 

How does this apply to our own story? 

Another BIG part of this Mercury retrograde is Mercury's multiple meetings with powerful Pluto. 

 

We had the first meeting back on December 30th, a day after Mercury met Venus. So, a conversation started around the end of December. Venus was already retrograde, she had just met Pluto then she meets Mercury then he meets Pluto. 

 

Mercury/Pluto can stir up our fears, obsessions, passions, verbal super-powers, sometimes even TRUTH. That retro Venus might have brought back an old-love/old-ambition. Whatever this is, by the time Mercury gets past Pluto for the final time (when is that mid February?) the hooks and tangles that have been pulling us somewhere we no longer belong will be GONE. 

 

We will know our own mind. 

 

Whatever is left of it anyway :)

 

(will also be something here helpful for releasing what we have gathered in the name of 'fear', but that will be up to us ...)

 

Here are some key dates -

DECEMBER 29TH -  Mercury reaches 24 degrees Cappy and meets Venus - this is the degree he will station direct on February 3rd - this is the degree of the Sun on January 14th when Mercury stations retrograde, and, also where Pluto (death, transformation) was parked for much of 2021 opposing the United States natal Mercury at 24 Cancer.

DECEMBER 30TH - Mercury meets Pluto - part 1 of 3 - this is the day after he meets up with a retrograde Venus, who has also just met Pluto, so he picks up a piece of her story now, this pulls Mercury into the Venus retrograde story

JANUARY 9TH - Mercury direct sextiles Chiron (pulling Mercury into the 2021 Saturn/Chiron sextile as a stand-in for Saturn) part 1 of 3

JANUARY 14TH -  Mercury stations retrograde 10 degrees Aquarius, the Sun is on 24 Cappy, Mercury is squaring Uranus an 10 degrees Taurus (pulling Mercury into the Saturn/Uranus square of 2021 as a stand-in for Saturn)

JANUARY 18TH - Mercury retrograde sextiles Chiron - part 2 of 3

JANUARY 23RD - Sun meets Mercury/inferior conjucntion - here is the mid-point of the Mercury retro journey, HERE is a light on what this is about for us/moment of clarity

JANUARY 26TH - Mercury retrograde trines the North Node in Taurus (sextiles South Node in Scorpio)

JANUARY 28TH - Mercury retrograde meets Pluto - part 1 of 2

JANUARY 30TH - Sun squares Uranus from 10 degrees Aquarius, the degree of Mercury's station on January 14th

FEBRUARY 3RD - Mercury stations direct at 24 degrees Cappy (opposing the United States natal Mercury)

FEBRUARY 11TH - Mercury direct meets Pluto - part 2 of 2

FEBRUARY 24TH - Mercury direct sextiles Chiron, Mercury direct squares Uranus (part 3 of 3 for both)

MARCH 2ND - Mercury direct finally meets Saturn

 

Of course, we will talk about all this as we move through it. 

 

This is all part of the shamanic evolutionary process we are all going through together (Sedna!).

 

Have I said that the United States first ever Pluto return happens in the midst of all this? Well, I guess now I have. Post coming about that. 

 

I hope something here is helpful.

xo all

artwork by the talented Pertaret

venus retrograde meets the Sun | January 8th, 2022 - a light on what we want/value, seeing the real worth of our efforts, our actions can be challenged by what we can't control, allowing things to unfold/unwind, swimming against the tide just wears us out/gets us wetter

 

For SATURDAY - the Moon is in fiery Aries now - we are nourished/nurtured by moving our body, starting, taking action, passion, arguments (sometimes), men. Her only aspect today is a smooth sextile to Mercury at 7 degrees Aquarius. Good for new conversations (keep in mind Mercury is walking degrees he will walk two more times during his upcoming retrograde, so ideas/communications/information - nothing is set in stone here), writing, commerce, opportunities through siblings, our local community, our tech, transportation. Mercury is cutting edge in Aquarius, our minds are linked up with the FUTURE/humanity. 

This is a BIG day for Venus as she meets up with the Sun - reaching the mid-point of her 40 day/40 night retrograde cycle. HERE is a light on what this Venus retrograde is about for us. Can we see the real worth of our efforting? What have we learned?

A message comes in now, likely expressed through a Venusian situation - relationships, love, our values, self-esteem. 

 

Since Venus started her retrograde cycle as omicron was announced as a new variant, maybe now is when we get some enlightening data/sense of what is happening.

Venus also rules beauty, so changes are good while Venus is retrograde, we are "re"vising after all, but only if it’s something we used to love and/or can be easily reversed once Venus is direct, in case we find the change something we are not loving later on. Move the couch, but don't buy a new couch, for example.

At the same time the Sun is meeting Venus, he is sextiling Pallas at 18 degrees Pisces and Mars (18 Sagittarius) is squaring Pallas.

 

Mars square Pallas and applying to his upcoming square to Neptune speaks of tension/frustration/delays with our QUEST. Our actions can drift off course. Here in New Jersey, we've just had a snowstorm and everyone is sick, was sick or is probably about to be sick. Pushing through a Neptune square is like trying to fight water/swim against the tide. 

 

Better to go with the flow of that smooth sextile between the Sun and Pallas.

 

We are working with our intuition and spirit, offering compassion/rest/healing/imagination, connecting illusive dots as a STRATEGY.

 

Ultimately this is another Saturn/Neptune - making the dream real with maybe a sacrifice/release necessary before things can stabilize. Patience is par for the course here. Also keep in mind, although Mars is squaring Pallas, the Moon, answering to Mars through Aries is sextiling (opportunity) Mercury. Talk about something new. The North Node is still Gemini - there are more choices than we think there are. Ask new/smarter, less emotional questions.

 

Know there are almost certainly going to be delays and changes of directions over the next month, take care of yourself - this is all in bigger hands than ours ....

xo all - back with a post about Mercury's upcoming retrograde, the second part of the Nodal shift AND, I think, we'll take a look at next week's Cancer Full Moon this weekend, get a jump on things with that and see where this two week cycle winds up

 

note - people with planets/points nearest 18 degrees will probably feel these energies strongest as well as people with natal aspects getting repeated (regardless of signs) through these transits and probably Venus ruled Taurus and Libra risings

more about the astrology of january 2022 | january as preparation for February through April's GO time

 of

 

Once we get through the next month of retrogrades - we will have all the planets direct for quite a few weeks. 

 

We might want to be thinking about this now/preparing. January's New Moon in Capricorn last weekend was a GO/get seeds in the ground with that trine to future-focused Uranus, but we still have Venus retrograde in Capricorn and an approaching Mercury retrograde that will start in Aquarius - the future - and pull us back into Capricorn - the present/past. 

 

We also have Mars in Sagittarius now reaching the degrees where he is beginning to square Neptune (this will be exact on January 11th) - which can feel draining/diluting. It can also pull in wet weather/virus, flu, etc and other Neptunian situations that can work at cross purposes to our actions/our quest. Mars in Sag is answering to Jupiter in Pisces, so ultimately answering to Neptune, really giving Neptunian delusion/exhaustion/escape (but also inspiration, healing, compassion) the upper hand here. 

Once we get past February 3rd, we will have all the planets direct including Venus and Uranus (currently retrograde) and Mercury (retrograde starting January 14th). We will still be walking old shadow degrees for a bit, but that's ok. This will be prime 'LAUNCH'; time, but there will be some days/times that are better than others. This 'forward ho' will last until April 28th when Pluto stations retrograde and the spring/summer retrogrades begin. We will talk about this more as we get closer and move through it, but the preparation/clear the field/reflection/get seeds into the ground time is NOW.

This doesn't mean we can't launch/start anything important before early February if we must, just know things will tend to revise themselves as we move along. With the Nodes set to move into fixed signs - Taurus/Scorpio - on January 18th, it might be in our best interest to not be as flexible as we have been after this time. So, if we can help it, we really don't want all the retrograde energy in the 'start chart' for anything that really matters (realizing sometimes this can't be helped). Forward moving planets mean less revisions later and that's usually a good thing - less headaches/more momentum with fewer starts and stops.

 

Just keep in mind these retrogrades MUST BE WORKED in order for the 'momentum' thing LATER to be most effective or we could be moving ourselves toward a cliff/brick wall very quickly when all the planets are direct. There are good reasons for the delays/road blocks/turnarounds we will encounter as we move through January. The retrograde energies are times for INTERNAL work - getting real/getting clear. Doing the "re's". We usually can't just sit them out.

 

A couple dates to note in January: 

 

January 14th - we have Ceres stationing direct (27 degrees Taurus, conjunct that RED HOT degree from the last Solar Eclipse in December 2021 that kicked off the Taurus nodal shift) at the same time Mercury stations retrograde (10 degrees Aquarius). 

 

January 18th to 19th - we have Uranus stationing direct, the nodal shift into Taurus/Scorpio and the Sun's move into Aquarius answering to Uranus and squaring those freshly minted Nodes. This also lights up the RED HOT 'world starts up again' 0 degrees Aquarius where Jupiter and Saturn met back in December 2020. 

(an interesting side note here is that Venus will meet Pluto at 0 degrees Aquarius on December 7, 2024 - so they met on "time runs out/power cemented" for the first time on the day Omicron was announced in November and meet again on "time starts up again" in 2024)

 

Lots of changes ahead/twists and turns. Opportunities and challenges. 

 

We are probably feeling more 'goal-oriented' right now with all this Cappy energy. With Venus retrograde we want to be bringing more Venusian charm/balance into our business dealings. AND conversely, we want to be taking Venusian themes - relationships, money, our values and self-esteem more seriously. February will bring fresh opportunities/starts, but it is the January "re's" that make sure we have that 'ladder of success' we will be climbing perched against the right wall.

With all this Capricorn, life's a marathon, not a sprint. Take care of yourself.

xo all

 

artwork by the amazing Duy Huynh

Today's Astrology Forecast | Wednesday, January 5th, 2022 - re-imagining what we want, giving up the ghost, all day void moon

 

The pile-up of planets in one part of the heavens is creating an unusually long void Moon today. The Moon, void last night off a sextile to Mars, is void until 7:17PM EST tonight when she enters Pisces. In dreamy Pisces we are nourished/nurtured by art, music, imagination, rest, meditation, prayer, compassion. Her only aspect is a conjunction with Pisces ancient ruler Jupiter at 9:56PM EST. 

This feels very supportive of today's dreamy Venus/Neptune sextile at 20 degrees Capricorn/Pisces. 

 

Venus is retrograde and this is her second of three meetings with Neptune. We had the first sextile back on November 30, 2020, so maybe something from that time frame is connecting to a situation now. 

Cappy/Pisces is 'making the dream real' energy. Neptune rules the collective unconscious and his contact with a personal planet, in this case Venus, in stabilizing Capricorn, can merge the collective creative imagination with our physical power to create something in tangible form. This is excellent energy for making art, music, writing, etc. We can tap into collective potential. Give life to something that can benefit/heal other people.

 

There might also be something here about softening the hard edges of our ambitions or defenses. The retrograde of Venus in Cappy can be particularly eye-opening for people with Venus/Saturn natal aspects which might have manifested as the feeling of needing to 'earn' love or 'earn' our keep or having a great sensitivity to rejection. Situations can arise that mimic or trigger childhood emotional pain. Here, maybe the Neptune contact can bring some healing/compassion. The three-peat nature of this sextile can be especially healing and we will have Mercury and Mars through here in the coming weeks. Old ghosts/family curses can be put to bed. Keep in mind, for our benevolent Venus, this is our second pass - the one where we are doing the "re's", re-evaluating, re-feeling, re-doing, etc. 

 

Maybe an old dream is re-awakened. Maybe someone/something can come back around.

 

Whatever this is, the sextile is opportunistic. It's a good time to be socializing, connecting with other people, connecting with our muses and spirit via meditation/prayer. Tonight's meeting of the Pisces Moon and Jupiter might foreshadow next spring's big meeting between Jupiter and Neptune. Write down your dreams. Pay attention to what is inspiring you now.

 

Venus pulls in themes of money, relationships, our values and self-esteem. Neptune brings in our dreams, healing, compassion, our ghosts, sometimes our escape mechanisms. Saturn activates our Cappy natal house themes and the more general themes of our careers, goals, karma and ambitions. 

This is a good time to be "re-imagining" what we want. 

 

Keep an eye on the Void Moon, too. Give yourself a break.

xo all

artwork by the talented paulee1

the nodes of fate shift to taurus and Scorpio | january 2022 to July 2023 - turning away from the complicated drama and crisis situations, Keeping things simple, minding our own business, turning toward mother earth, savoring life

 

On January 19th, 2022, the Nodes of Luna move from Gemini/Sagittarius to Taurus/Scorpio. The North Node will be in Taurus (which becomes our most beneficial path forward) and the South Node (where we are, what we need to leave behind) will be in Scorpio. 

 

The nodes will be in Taurus/Scorpio until July 17, 2023.

Here is where we, as a collective, and in our personal lives, of course keeping in mind we have our own nodal story playing out through our birth charts - appoint Taurus (ruled by Venus, and we will look at Ceres here, too) our guiding North Star and Scorpio (ruled by modern ruler Pluto and we'll look at ancient ruler Mars, too, at times), the space and themes in need of sorting/sifting and, whatever is past its use-by date here, retirement. 

 

The Nodes are activated by transits (their interactions with planets/points) and our Taurus/Scorpio houses will be amplified via Eclipses in these signs over the next eighteen months. This story kicked off a little early with the New Moon Solar Eclipse at 26 degrees Taurus on November 18, 2021.

 

We talked about that one HERE. 

(this was the Eclipse with the Moon on fixed star Algol, tightly conjunct the U.S. birth chart's exact Wuhan/Pandora conjunction, conjunct asteroid Sedna and opposing President Biden's Sun - yes, the Eclipses came in with a bang)

What does it means to appoint Taurus our North Star? 

 

Taurus rules our collective second house - our values, our self-esteem, our finances, our resources, our earned income. Taurus likes comfort and ease and stopping to smell the roses. This isn't about being lazy, although Taurean energy can be a bit lazy. This is really about our ability to savor. And to put down roots.  In Taurus we see where we are and what we have. WE HOLD ON TO THINGS. Gratitude and patience pays off. Taurus always makes me think about stewardship - the responsible care we take of ourselves, our families, our businesses, our spaces, our planet. As the North Node moves into Taurus, Taurean ruler Venus is retrograding through sober/traditional Capricorn, so, even though the North Node is all about the future, with a retrograde ruler at kick-off time, the past, this whole 'going backward to go forward', will need to be factored in. 

 

Another thing to consider is that even though Taurus is FIXED EARTH, we have had disruptive Uranus in Taurus, shaking up our Taurus stability for the last couple years, so it's an area of life we are already dealing with CHANGE. As the North Node moves into this space in our blueprint/birth chart the changes/chaos we have ALREADY BEEN DEALING WITH will be magnetically lining us up, as we lean into Taurus, with our best path through these changes and their aftermath. When the North Node meets up with Uranus next summer, we can expect a big chaotic push into the future.

 

The South Node - where we are, what we need to be leaving behind - will move into Scorpio. 

 

Scorpio rules our collective eighth house - where those second house themes get merged or purged through our relationships with other people. So, Scorpio rules other people's resources, other people's values, other people's money, our spouse's/partner's income, loans, debts, taxes, inheritance, death, rebirth, intimacy, sex, reproduction. Here is where we take the time to understand/unravel/obsess over other people's motives. It's through the constructive traits of Scorpio - focus, resourcefulness, passion, probing, deep perception - that we experience real intimacy. We merge with other people physically and materially. The sum becomes something far greater than its parts.  

 

The shadow of Scorpio, like all signs, are always the positives taken too far. Compulsion, jealousy, manipulation, power struggles, making things too complicated, we get too focused on what someone else has/is doing or on things that don't belong to us, the need for life and death drama, the need to dig so deep/unearth so much that we lose sight of the importance of any of it. The South Node will move into Scorpio with Scorpian ruler Pluto uber active via multiple hits with Venus and Mercury, the Sun having just met Pluto and with Mars scheduled to meet Pluto in a few weeks. Scorpio is fixed water - think oasis in the middle of a desert, bottomless lake/sometimes pit, stagnation.

 

With the North Node in Taurus - our values, our self-worth, what we really own - is going to MATTER. 

 

We will be in a collective heap of sh*t if we don't get this stuff right. Simpler things will move more smoothly than complicated things. And this might sound obvious and always the case, but it isn't. Remember with our North Node in Gemini for the last 18 months everything has required multiple things to move us forward, nothing has been simple. 

With the North Node in Taurus, boundaries will be important. We are going to need to know where we end and the other person begins. We are going to want to be looking at where we are putting our time/resources and how and if this is paying off for us.

Our Taurus natal planets will meet up with the North Node, our Scorpio planets the South Nodes. Our planets in Aquarius and Leo will square the nodes and offer us challenges and pivot points. The Nodes move from the mutable signs - breathe a sigh of relief, Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces and into the fixed signs - looking at you Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius. 

The Nodes are karmic points. During the Nodes time in Taurus/Scorpio - people with planets and points in these signs (and the other fixed signs) will release what is ready to go, past karma that is keeping us from moving forward, and, pull in what we have lined up with for our future.

The South Node shows us where we are. With the South Node in Scorpio we start this transit IN SCORPIO/the dark/dealing with life and death/needing to rise from these sweaty death bed sheets. With the South Node in Scorpio, there will be some 'bottom-less' pit activities/situations that won't get us anywhere, will keep us stuck.

 

1. getting immersed in the complicated minutiae, looking for problems, looking for truth that hurts, continuing to be absorbed in these never-ending and escalating (what we give our attention to GROWS) crisis situations

2. losing ourselves (and our resources) in another person 

3. focusing on what is dead/dying

4. getting all tangled up in other people's business/third party situations/other people's motives

5. borrowing too much money, having no personal safety net

6. trashing our physical bodies, spaces, the planet

7. inappropriate merging - lack of boundaries

8. being judgmental or withholding with others and ourselves

9. compulsions, jealousy, manipulations (trying to control what someone else is doing/thinking/wanting)

10. endless power struggles

We will be happiest/most successful if we lean into the positives of Taurus:

1. making things more SIMPLE

2. living by our own values - not getting our self-esteem through feedback/thumbs ups

3. minding our own business

4. making things more beautiful/comfortable

5. slowing down, having patience - think of the way the seed in the ground will not be rushed, be realistic, this is fixed earth

6. being outdoors

7. practicing gratitude for what we have instead of focusing on what someone else has or what we are missing

8. enjoying our five physical senses, SAVORING LIFE

9. choosing quality over quantity, accumulating resources that gain value over time

10. taking care of our physical bodies

With the North Node in Taurus our successes will be EARNED. This will be through a practical, step-by-step process. Our values/our self-worth should be dictating what we DO. This is a good transit to make money/gain resources.

Let's say you were born with a North Node in Taurus or North Node in your 2nd house - you have earned the opportunity, via your past lives' financial maneuverings with other people, to gain/reap personal wealth in this lifetime, but this time those rewards will need to come through your own efforts. Yes, you can have nice stuff. Yes, you will have to earn this stuff.

As we collectively, over the next year and a half, move away from the darker dynamics of Scorpio and build, through our own efforts, that Taurean stability, we will EARN the right to gain, too. We can have nice stuff. Comfort. Security. What we value.

 

I am writing this a bit early, so we will have to see where we are at when we come into this nodal shift. Our North Node is still in Gemini for the next couple weeks, our South Node in Sagittarius - we talked about these Nodes often over the last eighteen months and in greater detail HERE and HERE.

We'll talk more about the deeper energies of this nodal shift and dig in by sign, in Part II as we get closer, but I thought this heads up now might be helpful.

xo all

artwork by the amazing Brian Kirhagis