Turn the Page

At one time, many of us turned the calendar corner with baited breath, leaning forward hopefully on January 1st, optimistic about the fresh year ahead.  Given the last few years of pandemic and the ensuing upheaval, my clients invariably say to me at the end of each December, “the next year has to be better than this last one”.

Humanity has indeed been through the ringer since 2020.  Shut down, shuffled, reshuffled, reordered and re-set. Repeat.  Now as 2024 approaches, with mayhem and chaos seemingly steering planet Earth, the general sentiment is skepticism, apprehension, or outright fear at what the next twelve months might have in store.  Do we even dare to hope any more for kinder days ahead?

Why yes.  Yes we should, dare, hope, and dream.  Always dream.

Especially this particular New Year’s Day.  We have a massive energetic tail wind pushing us forward into 2024.   Generous Jupiter turns direct motion on the final day of 2023, December 31^st, followed by Messenger Mercury turning direct on the first day of 2024, New Year’s Day.  We could not ask for a better one-two cosmic infusion to launch a new start for the days ahead.  This is one powerful moment.  Use it well.

Take advantage of this energetic boost by setting aside time on New Year’s Eve, December 31^st for releasing the old and calling in the new.  Use this 48 hour pause and write out what you want to let go of and not carry forward into 2024:   negative emotions, heavy baggage, or sour attitudes that have weighed you down. Then, write out all you do want to create in 2024:  what you want your life to look like, what and whom you want to attract more of, goals to focus on. 

Remember:  Our thoughts become our actions, and our actions weave our destiny.

We so often get mired into thinking we are not making progress, or that our desires and goals are not happening.  It is useful to remember that the Universe never says NO to our wishes.  Instead, it says not now or we have something better in mind for you.  What might that be?  Something or someone more aligned with your soul purpose.

So before you get down on yourself for not being where you want to be as 2024 begins, look back at just how far you have come.  An exercise I suggest to clients is to reflect on where they were a month ago, six months ago, one or two years prior, and so forth.  If you journal, or keep any kind of calendar or diary, pull out an old one of yours and read what you were doing and how you experienced life a year, two, or three ago.  You will amaze yourself. 

These last five years have really required us to be incredibly flexible.  Unrelenting demands have pushed us out of our comfort zone; yet just look at how creative, inventive and innovative humanity has proven to be!  Likewise:  You are definitely not the person you were in 2022, 2020, or five years ago.  And that’s a good thing.

Just a few days into 2024, sturdy, building block energy arrives.  Motivating Mars turns into responsible Capricorn.  For the next six weeks, Mars positively shines in this heavy lifting sign, where it is considered exalted by astrologers.  Why? The action planet, the veritable gas pedal of the zodiac, Mars wants to get down to business.  In earthy Capricorn, it excels, producing results.  Capricorn is the architect and the accountant.  It’s black and white, no nonsense energy.  You either have the goods or you don’t.  You either did it or you didn’t.  Capricorn leaves zero wiggle room.  Most definitely not warm and fuzzy energy, Capricorn’s key phrase is “I use”.  Hardly cozy. 

Yet deeply purpose-driven, goal-oriented Capricorn gets the job done.  Any job.  What is your task at hand?  Mars in Capricorn starts at Square One and clears the land, lays a solid and firm foundation, then builds a structure that stands the test of time.  In fact, it will probably outlast all of us! 

So at the onset of January, the massive tail wind of Jupiter-Mercury moving forward motion combined with Mars in Capricorn only days later says:  LET’S GO!  Build that dream.  Time to get down to doing that thing.

This is cold, hard, calculating energy.  Like granite: It doesn’t care if your dog ate your homework.  No excuses allowed. There is no grey zone here. Nor any time to waste as Capricorn IS the cosmic clock. And the BOSS.   Capricorn keeps track of every aspect of our efforts and holds us to account.  Did you do what you said you were going to do when you said you were going to do it?

Over and over again throughout January, like a hammer hitting a nail, more hard-core Capricorn energy infuses our days.  First, the New Moon on Thursday, January 11^th.  This is a ballbuster New Moon, like a sledgehammer; but not in the way you might think.  Wedged tightly between the Sun and Powerful Pluto, all three align to Radical Uranus in Taurus. This New Moon means business.  There’s no time to mess around.  Think of a mighty engine built to withstand the heaviest forces, yet running on time and under budget.

Use this highly potent New Moon to set very clear intentions.  It says, “so you made it to a whole New Year.  What are you going to do about it?”  If you forgot, were distracted or too hungover on January 1^st to set intentions, now is the time.  Hand write three to five goals you want to manifest over the coming month or year.  Then set alight safely in a fireproof container, fire pit or fireplace.

Joining Pluto, Mars and the Sun just a few days later, Messenger Mercury glides into Capricorn on January 14^th.   Our word is our bond now.  And our honor. It is comforting to know that during such current chaotic times, there are still people embodying honor, integrity and responsibility.  These qualities may be considered old fashioned, but they’ll stick around long after you and I are gone.  Capricorn and its ruling planet Saturn will make sure of it. Capricorn may not be fun or playful; but it is endlessly resilient and resourceful. Capricorn delivers, and ensures those who are doing the work now shine.

Whatever you are building, from the most abstract idea to the tallest skyscraper, your time has come. If you have been towing the line, showing up consistently, living honestly, then expect rewards or recognition. At a minimum, hard-won acknowledgement. Taskmaster Capricorn has kept score and ensures deserving souls receive their just due.

Meanwhile, major shifts are afoot.  By Martin Luther King weekend, the Sun makes its annual turn into Aquarius.  Transformative Pluto powers up the Sun’s passage as they roll together into this avant-garde, mind-of-its-own sign on the very same day, Saturday, January 20^th.  Can you say power duo? 

The furthest most planet in our solar system, Pluto moves very slowly.  For the past year, it has danced back and forth between the end of Capricorn and the beginning of Aquarius.  In 2023, Pluto spent two and a half months in Aquarius, sticking its toe into this innovative energy to give us a taste, a preview of coming attractions.

Pluto will do the same in 2024; only now spending much more time in Aquarius than Capricorn.  Pluto will cycle back into Capricorn but stay there for only two and a half months this fall.  So we will get much more of a feel for free-range, highly individualized Aquarian energy in 2024.  Moving into Aquarius together, on virtually the same day, Sun-Pluto say welcome to the New Age. 

This moment really is the actual dawning of the Age of Aquarius.

To be clear, it is equally exhilarating a time as it is chaotic.  Aquarius rules rebellion, upheaval, surprise, electricity and earthquakes, change, change and more change.  Those born under this sign march to their own drum, vibe to a different frequency, often making them eccentric yet highly innovative.  Suffice it to say, the folks ruled by Uranus, the only planet in our solar system that rotates vertically instead of horizontally, do their own thing.

The Sun is our will, how we engage with the world; while Pluto transforms us.  Together, they say the time for profound change has come.  The question is: what about us needs changing?  And exactly how do we go about our change?  As each of us individually morphs and develops, so does the collective.  Uranus and its sign Aquarius rule the collective, the brotherhood and sisterhood of mankind, humanity at large.

We know what has come before. Distinct polarities, us vs. them, me vs. you, will simply not stand going forward.  So anything not born out of peace, kindness, love, and mutual respect to benefit the vast majority, will dissolve.

Venus, the ruler of relationships, joins Mercury and Mars in Capricorn, on Tuesday, January 23^rd.  Here, she emphasizes the gravity of our choice:  we can continue the old way, doing what no longer works; OR we can take the pieces of our lives and put them to work building something new that serves us individually and the group as a whole.  Not just for some of us.  For ALL of us.

To underscore these significant planetary shifts, they occur under the light of a waxing Full Moon in Leo on Thursday, January 25^th.  Capping off the cosmic gear shifts is Radical Uranus turning direct motion on January 27^th.   Talk about look at me Leo!!  What to expect?  The unexpected.  Like never before.  Try to lay low between January 23-28^th as this stretch is MOST unpredictable and is laden with potential volatility. We will need the every bit of the hard-core, building block resilience cosmically bestowed in January. 

Each New Year gives us a blank slate affording a fresh start, to make something from nothing.  After years of upheaval and tumult, from the Covid pandemic to Ukraine, and now Israel and Gaza, we are tasked with creating anew from the rubble of our lives.  One stone, one brick, one foot after the other, one at a time.

What will you build?

OF SPECIAL NOTE:  

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