This Month’s and, This Year’s Astrology

I would love to be able to tell you that we are entering a fresh new start of a year, with greater calm and more positive forward movement but unfortunately, I cannot. Even with the new beginnings symbolism of the Saturn Jupiter conjunction and the final eclipse of 2020 on January 15th, it is not going to be smooth sailing.

There are two intense and interlocking T squares, one involving The Moon, Mars, Pluto and Lilith, the other incorporating Hekate, Saturn, Jupiter and Pallas Athena, with Medusa and the Black Moon/Uranus conjunction.

However, within this very tough astrology are multiple opportunities for creative and healing activity and, with some potent spiritual and relationship possibilities.

Fortunately, these hard core process are wrapped around by two hugely benevolent Kite configurations, one that joins Chiron, Juno, and Medusa with a Jupiter/Saturn/Hekate/Pallas Athena conjunction in Aquarius and a second involving the Moon, Persephone and Juno with a Pluto/Lilith conjunction!

It also helps that all the planets, with the exception of Uranus, are in forward motion and even Uranus’ retrograding ends on the 14th. 

Let’s see then what we can flesh out from this complexity.  

Sun in Capricorn conjunct Mercury and Parvati

Befitting the essence of Capricorn this is a good start.  Any time the Sun conjuncts Mercury, it powerfully energises the activities of our minds and nervous systems and here it makes for a busy month and year, constantly on the move but in a underlying slower steady pace that equally allows for contemplation, planning and eventual manifestation.

The presence of the goddess of the sacred marriage Parvati puts relationship evolution front and centre, demanding that the divine and personal feminine is consulted in any planning or action (and the essence of Capricorn is deeply feminine, despite his rather self-reliant masculine presentation) and adding her own quality of steadying and potent Shakti.

Even though she is a goddess of great love and beauty, she is an earthy Yogic Queen who is full of great commitment, resilience and sustaining power. The presence of such deep holding from the sacred feminine is supported by sextiles from these three to Ceres, the Earth Mother in Pisces.

This convergence of earthy and earthing masculine and feminine potency will provide enormous support for all of us to stay centred, and effective, while the collective continues to be in such great flux.

(If you’d like to know more about Parvati energy, read her chapter in Sally Kempton’s awakening Shakti and try the meditations. As a patron of the Sacred Marriage, it is highly auspicious that she also sextiles her consort Shiva in Scorpio.)

Capricorn Sun trining The Uranus/Black Moon Conjunction

The Uranus, Black Moon Conjunction is the wildcard, the free radical in our current astrology, one that deepens, radicalises and speeds up all our internal psychological and spiritual processes. While Uranus specialises in cracking open old Saturnian structures, ones already weakened by the two years of Saturn and Pluto together. He also produces tremendous unpredictable chaos in his thirst for producing liberating change.

The Black Moon represents the dark divine faces of the Great Mother, which includes Kali, Durga and the Black Madonna. She also stretches us into the unknown but unlike Uranus heads downwards into our bodies, our lower chakras and into the primal power of the earth itself, and so intensifies all the current processes of transformation and purification. While her core is absolute love, she is quite ruthless in burning away the lesser self.

Both are also great spiritual powers and both are awakeners of that power, especially around the movement of Kundalini. On a spiritual level then these two meeting means anything can happen, often dramatically and unexpectedly.

In Taurus, they seek to shatter our complacency, our excessive attachments, to awaken all our chakras and, become more fully embodied to act as lightning rods for creative change. This includes recovering our connections to the sacred powers of the earth.

Having the Capricorn Sun lining up with these two is tremendous grace, as it contributes to our ability to get in greater alignment with these processes, to present less resistance and to greatly enhance our personal evolution. Here is a place where we can get our personal will in alignment with this greater will.

Not so with other parts of this month’s chart, as will see.

Cancer Moon opposite Pluto conjunct Lilith in Capricorn, squaring Mars in Aries.

This incredibly challenging T-square describes a period of deep emotional transformation, one that will operate on multiple levels. On a personal level, this means having any habitual emotional patterning and defences threatened by the necessity for real change, changes that can unmask us in ways that eventually allow for greater emotional freedom. For some of us this can unfortunately mean suffering some form of personal loss, as part of the necessary psychic deaths that are a natural part of any real transformation.

On a relationship level, this also talks about the kind of profound change that happens when we unlock major obstacles to real intimacy, with ourselves and with our beloveds. This includes working with the wounded and enraged self saboteurs in our systems, whether from personal, cultural or transgenerational sources.

Having both Lilith and Mars involved describes the necessity of deep therapeutic and spiritual work on ancient forms of anger and rage, both from distortions to the sacred feminine and where our inner male warrior has turned into the toxic masculine. Such work, done well with great courage and tenacity, can lower the inner drawbridges to intimacy, bringing our inner warriors, male and female, into real health and effectiveness, and awakening the very source of our sacred sexuality.

Unfortunately, this dynamic can be acted out very destructively in the external world, so be careful about what you expose yourself to.

Fortunately, while the Moon opposes the Greco-Roman God of death and rebirth Pluto, she also trines his queen Persephone in Pisces, who will also offer greater fluidity in our efforts towards real change and, the eventual psychospiritual empowerment that can come from these processes.  

Hekate conjunct Saturn and Jupiter in Aquarius

Last month I described the Saturn Jupiter conjunction, with a special mention of the goddess Pallas Athena’s appearance in the mix, adding so much to her effectiveness of this year’s creative possibilities.  And now we have the great Witch Queen/Medicine Woman exactly conjunct Saturn and demanding her rightful place in this next 20 year Saturn Jupiter cycle.

Even though her and Saturn have an unfortunate history thanks to the patriarch, on the deepest levels the two can actually be colleagues, even an archetypal couple, where the wise old multiskilled priestess meets the wise old earth magician within. Their mutual connections with the benevolent Jupiter enhances this meeting, one which, once again, brings this form of the sacred feminine into creative processes of manifestation in the world.

This is normally an ideal time for the earth based, shamanic work that honours both masculine and feminine. However, as with the Saturn Jupiter combination, the birthing of this potential also meets significant obstacles in the form of a T-square with Medusa in Leo and the same Uranus/Black Moon conjunction.

Once again, three fierce and powerful processes get caught in a logjam, one that also sets up an intense alchemy intent on purifying each archetype involved. Consequently, here is another place where the wounded and wounding masculine and feminine get worked on.

And once again, the more gracious aspects of this time provide significant support, this time with Hekate, Saturn and Jupiter sextiling Chiron the Wounded Healer in Aries. Chiron also sextiles Medusa in Leo, assisting this fierce spiritual warrioress in healing her own wounds and, taking some of the heat out of the T-square.

There is in fact a harmonious Grand Trine involving Medusa and Chiron with the traditional goddess of marriage Juno in Sagittarius. As a feminine counterpart to Jupiter/Zeus, Juno is a queenly goddess who can also be a form of benevolent grace. This Grand Trine in turn sets up a supportive Kite arrangement with the Hekate/Jupiter/Saturn conjunction as its pinnacle.  

Venus in Sagittarius conjunct South Node of the Moon

Venus stands somewhat apart from these bigger, more dramatic dynamics above and her presence on the past life derived South Node adds an interesting twist to this month and year’s chart. This is the kind of set up that can bring past loves back into your life, which in some cases can be literally but it can also represent revisiting past relationships in your spontaneous thoughts or in your dream life and meditations.

For some, this can even mean reconnecting with an individual soul after lifetimes of disconnection, sometimes for consummation, for karmic reasons or for completing old business. Or all three!

Whether from this lifetime or others, be careful though, as Venus also squares Neptune in Pisces, a transit that can produce poor boundaries and distorted perceptions. Certainly, the past life ones will have tremendous allure or seductive power to them, so watch out for inaccurate projections on to the other.

Whatever the case though, there are tremendous healing opportunities here too, as Venus trines the healing goddess Hygeia in Leo, who is also a Tantric goddess of sacred sexuality.

Certainly, whatever arises here will be very interesting, to say the least!

Go well, stay safe and well, leap if you can with the opportunities,

With love and blessings,

Daniel