Over the next two weeks the Sun and Jupiter will move into instigating cardinal signs and Mercury will begin its next retrograde. During the course of 2023, the eclipse cycle and lunar nodes will shift from fixed signs to cardinal. The new year will also see significant sign changes for Saturn and Pluto. No doubt, after two plus years of planets, nodes and eclipses being stuck in those persistent fixed signs, the collective gridlock will begin giving way. Jupiter’s ingress back into Aries on December 20th is certainly cause for excitement, and the Sun’s move into industrious Capricorn on the 21st, along with an ambitious new Capricorn Moon on the 23rd, is sure to ignite aspirations for the dawning new year. Mercury’s retrograde however, may be indicating that a more gradual process is unfolding.
Saturn and Pluto made their infamous conjunction on January 12, 2020. In December of that year, Saturn moved into fixed Aquarius, putting the rigid planet on a collision course with dramatic Uranus in inflexible Taurus. The two formed three exact squares in 2021. 2022 saw them remain in this tense formation throughout the year, as all of the eclipses occurred along the fixed sign axis of Taurus and Scorpio. When Saturn conjoined Pluto, the COVID phenomenon was well underway. For millions, the ensuing lockdowns and mandates became inescapable facts of life. Restrictive Saturn’s interactions with Pluto and then Uranus, amid a confluence of fixed sign alignments gave the past three years a sense of unending malaise. The coming sign changes of Saturn and Pluto indicate our emergence from the wake of their 2020 conjunction. Further, that unyielding Saturn is moving into arguably the most fluid sign of the zodiac, Pisces, is another signal that the harshness of the past few years will finally begin to dissolve. Pluto’s ingress into Aquarius will be temporary. It will take place from March 23rd through June 11th, before the reforming planet moves back into Capricorn. That said, themes that arise at 0° of Aquarius are likely to be more fully explored when Pluto
On January 2nd, Venus will enter Aquarius, touching that 0° point. Alongside a newly retrograde Mercury, perhaps they will offer a few glimpses into 2023 or insights about areas needing some cleanup before meaningful progress can be made. On the 4th, Venus will sextile lucky Jupiter in intrepid Aries, making it a stellar day for inspiration and declaring New Year’s resolutions. Providing more food for thought, on the 7th, the Sun will conjoin Mercury, before Mercury has its second trine with paradigm-breaking Uranus on the 8th. Mercury will station direct on January 18th, giving the new year a subdued start and everyone a little time to think about the larger trends coming in. Early inklings may arrive on Tuesday, when Jupiter enters the sign of 2023’s first eclipse, confident, pioneering Aries. The occasion also marks Jupiter’s full ascent into the day half of astrology’s wheel, following six years in the night half. Similarly, on the next day, the Sun will begin its annual journey into the light half of the year and on the 23rd there will be a new Moon at 1° Cap 33′. In short, restoration, renewal and the resumption of enthusiasm are beginning to percolate.