A Hopeful and Challenging January 2013

The Astrology of January features Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Pluto. Venus, ruler of the New Year's Eve chart, is also prominent in the chart of the January 11th Capricorn New Moon in that having entered Capricorn, she squares Uranus and sextiles Neptune. Uranus itself is hit by the earlier configuration and again by this month's New Moon. The emphasis on Venus means that relationships of all kinds are emphasized now, or in another way of saying it, we are all in this together.

Uranus is still of course within orb of its strongly thematic square with Pluto, now in dormancy but heating up in the spring of this year, and still quite strong over the summer months, and indeed over the next few years. The influence lasts until nearly the end of this decade. This important aspect was highlighted at the time of the December 28th Full Moon, and in the chart for the New Year, with the Sun in close conjunction to Pluto. Saturn is also involved, for these next few months, by trine and sextile. We are all feeling the tremendous transformational pressure to make necessary changes to the structure of our lives, so that we can flow into a livable state of balance with ourselves, and for the sake of our future.

Saturn, ruler of the January 11th New Moon and the Capricorn line-up of five planets, is in a close bi-quintile aspect with Uranus, while remaining in sextile with Pluto, and therefore pulls together these agents of personal revolution. When Saturn involved, it is the very structure of the surrounding society, and of our own lives as well, that must undergo massive transformation in this New Year time frame. Saturn with Pluto, even in a mild sextile, represents an important opening that can indeed be dire and perhaps even drastic, as the capitalist world struggles to wriggle out of the trap that it has set for itself, and as we as individuals grow also along the same lines. Like the radical pruning of a rose bush, this process is vital for the well-being of organism, removing those parts that were no longer needed and that were getting in the way of new growth.

Jupiter, the focus of a yod formation that was exact at the time of the Winter Solstice, is prominent in this month's configurations as well, especially at the time of the January 11th New Moon. Jupiter stations to direct motion at the end of January, and all month long in square to Chiron and sextile Uranus, while remaining inconjunct to Saturn and to Pluto. This focus on expansive Jupiter lends a softer air to the proceedings as we enter yet another year of intense change. Saturn with Jupiter refers to societal awareness and, in this case, the awareness of the extent to which we as a society are transforming.

The Sabian Symbol for the degree of Jupiter at the time of the January 11th New Moon is "An Old-fashioned Well, with a Bucket and a Rope," while at the same moment the symbol for Saturn, in the 11th degree of Scorpio, is "A Drowning Man Being Rescued." Since Jupiter stations this end of this month, still in aspect with Saturn, these symbols speak to the beneficence of Spirit, as represented by Jupiter. The cosmic force of optimism for the future can be the rope that leads us to safety, as long as we continue to have faith in the universe to pull us through, and in ourselves to take advantage of the opportunities as they are presented to us.