We Plan, God Laughs

Occasionally, I feel like a weatherman delivering a forecast that no one wants to hear.  Sorry folks.  Sometimes life gives us rain, snow and freezing cold temperatures, cosmically so to speak. The astrology for January 2022 is somewhat similar.   Not just because we are in the midst of actual winter in the northern hemisphere, either.  Rather, the season of winter does in fact coincide nicely with cosmic forces right now:  the planetary slow-down this month underscores natural cycles of hibernation and dormancy.  Use this time well.

Both the month of January and thus the new year open in the darkest phase of the lunar cycle.  Our New Year resolutions are best saved for the second day of the month as the New Moon occurs in austere Capricorn on January 2^nd.  As you hand write your intentions and goals for the coming season and year, Messenger Mercury guides us to think outside of our customary lanes as it enters avant garde Aquarius on the very same day.  It postulates:  How can you face current challenges differently than in the past?  If you do not know:  ASK.  Asking for help from your guides and the gods is certainly a new way for many of us to overcome obstacles.

Mercury will stay in the non-mainstream sign of Aquarius for over two months, well into March, as it turns retrograde in mid-January.  Messenger Mercury shines in innovative Aquarius.  Here it finds unique ways to solve long-standing problems, something each of us can use.  Innovation and invention often run side by side with rebellion and the radical.  Individuality and being ahead of your time is terrific and all; just note that the caution here is:  knowing when to hold firm and when to make adjustments to your ideas and plans.  We are all in this together; so if you want others on board with your unusual ideas or unheard of tactics, the need for grace and diplomacy will go a long way to procure support.

A word to the wise as we enter a treacherous stretch at mid-month:  Messenger Mercury begins to slow down for its first retrograde phase of 2022. Watch your thoughts, words and reactions between Monday, January 10^th and the Full Moon on Monday, January 17^th.  I cannot emphasize the difficulty of this week.  It is a trifecta of gear shifts with the waxing moon pulling the trigger.  Expect the unexpected.

First, Mercury turns retrograde on Thursday, January 13^th.  Conjoined to Saturn in Aquarius, both planets challenge Radical Uranus, and the message is serious:  change and change now.  Change your thoughts, change your actions, change your life.  Saturn and Uranus dueled all of 2021.  Now, they engage in their final showdown with Mercury driving home the message:  what used to work, patterns, responses, routines, “normal” life (whatever that was) will no longer stand.  

We are in a Darwinian moment.  We feel the gears of survival grinding against each other, internally, emotionally, intellectually, spiritually.  No one alive has ever been through such a time.  Each of us is pushed out of our comfort zone now. A new paradigm is upon us.  Adapt or fall by the wayside. 

It is that simple.

The gear grinding heightens intensely with the culmination of the Full Moon on Monday, January 17^th; while the very next day, change agent Uranus turns direct motion. 

BOOM!

No.  This is not melodrama.  It is real.  As real as life gets.  Energetically, it feels like a massive tidal surge bearing straight down on us.  The Full Moon occurs in sensitive Cancer the Crab.  Family, home, food, real estate, ancestral resources, guidance and psychological conditioning are in major league play as part of this equation.

Very strong messages will be delivered now. 

It is vital to note:  This is not all doom and gloom.  Because the Universe has our best interests at heart.

When Radical Uranus turns direct motion, its signature is surprise.  Yes, shock and awe too.  But this passage may bear unexpected windfalls and awakenings, discoveries and détente.  It is truly a time to hope for the best and expect the worst.  May you receive all good things now.  If you are off track in some facet of your life, you will be course corrected.

So what do we do?  You may ask.  How do we best manage and wade through this difficult strait?

Listen.  Be patient. Pick up the pieces. Swallow your pride. Find another strategy. Admit you don’t have all of the answers.  Admit you might be wrong.  Reach across the aisle.  Apologize. Take the medicine.  Be kind to everyone, not just your tribe. Give the benefit of the doubt.   Practice the golden rule.   

Until you have walked a mile in another’s shoes, you have no idea what their journey has been.

In the immediate aftermath of said tumultuous week, as the cosmic surge wanes and calms down, we may find ourselves reeling.  The Yiddish saying goes, “We plan, God laughs.”   The upheaval is real.  So it is important to remember:  put one foot in front of the other.  Valuable Venus is still retrograde motion.  In Capricorn, she reminds us that haste makes waste.  She asks:  what is REALLY, TRULY important in life?  Is it really climbing up to that next rung on the ladder?  Getting the next bigger and “better” something?  The next shiny new object of our desire?

Or, perhaps, during our wintertime reflections that Venus has so encouraged, have you found there is something infinitely more valuable at stake?  An honest, truer target to have your eye on?   Find some quiet time and tune in.  When interior planets (mercury, venus or mars) are retrograde at the same time, it may feel like we are pushing a gigantic boulder up Mount Everest or spinning our wheels in deep mud.  With Mercury and Venus both retrograde from January 13^th to the 29^th, the best use of the second half of January is to meditate and cogitate; to research, plan and prepare.  It is not a time to push forward with much of anything.

We are in the thick depths of winter.  In days of yore, our ancestors made good use of short, dark and cold time by mending and tending in anticipation of bright, warmer days ahead.  Wise are those who take a cue from our forebears now.  There is still much to do:   the RE words…renovate, repair, renew, restore, relax, reflect, rebuild, rest and far more.  Invest your time inwardly during this dormant phase that nature offers up as part of her ancient cycle.

Gear shifts are on the way soon enough.

Getting the ball rolling, Motivating Mars turns into its favorite sign Capricorn, on Tuesday, January 25^th.  The action planet, Mars commands and directs.  In black and white Capricorn, Mars excels.  It executes directives clearly and unequivocally.   No, this is not warm and fuzzy energy (the opposite of cuddly Cancer the Crab).  And just a few short days later Valuable Venus turns direct motion.  Finally.  We are coming out of the woods. 

Imbolc, the festival marking mid-winter nears.  The sun is brightening more each day.  There is hope; more to the point:  reason to be hopeful. 

With both interpersonal planets Venus and Mars (relationship and action) in practical, sturdy Capricorn, we take stock.  What do we have and, critically, what do we not have and still need to acquire. For as we chart our plans, we must build reserves to get where we’re going, to achieve our goal.  Accomplishment and checking off the boxes of our to-do list are the name of the game now.

Soon, when Mercury turns direct in the early days of February, every single planet will be full steam ahead…for three whole months.   That is an incredible length of time, cosmically speaking, for an unfettered march forward.  Until then, better to lay low and wool gather.  Just as it began, January ends in the darkest phase of the moon cycle.  Last year, 2021 was not for the faint of heart.  Nor so January 2022. 

The Chinese New Year arrives with the New Moon on February 1^st, followed by Mercury direct on the 4^th.  This is one rare time when it is indeed better to collectively celebrate THE New Year, no matter what your cultural origins, during the first week of February 2022.  Forget about December 31^st-January 1^st this time around.  Underscoring our new paradigm, old traditions and customs have little relevance.   Time to adopt new-to-us customs and get used to the word adapt.  ALL of our edges and boundaries are being pushed.  Good thing the Chinese Year of the Tiger is renowned for bravery, strength and confidence.  We will need every single bit.

Of special note:  Tune into Mystical Messages podcast on Friday, January 14^th to hear my conversation with animal communicator and healer, Marcia Zais.  Animals teach us unconditional love.  Whether your pet has passed or has an illness, Marcia shares how she helps humans connect to their pets to ease suffering, both animal and human.  Since animals cannot express themselves with words, Marcia discusses how we can learn mutual communication through the universal language of love.