Happy New Year everyone, we have a Solar Eclipse at the midpoint of Capricorn at 15 degrees at 1.42 am GMT on 6th January 2019. This is the first of two solar eclipses in January. The eclipses are now shifting from Leo-Aquarius to the Cancer Capricorn axis.
It occurs close to Saturn and Pluto, in fact right at the mid point of their upcoming conjunction. It is this conjunction in January 2020 that we are gearing up for and preparing for, for many it will be a game and life changer conjunction.
So take this year as a preparation year. There are fewer planetary retrogrades – at least not Venus and Mars, so it seems a time when things can get moving. Especially with initiating Mars conjunct Aries at the start of this year, what better way do we have to kickstart our 2019 intentions and plans.
It’s also a grounding influence, with the Aries Mars and Capricorn emphasis, helping to balance out the upcoming Jupiter square Neptune mid to late month. But the stellium of planets in Capricorn reminds us that the process of knowing our truth is less about reaching for the truth as it is about seeking out what is untrue.
The truth reveals itself and naturally arises when we clear away the falsehoods and debris. And there’s a lot of debris with Pluto and Saturn in Capricorn – breaking down structures and sweeping away the debris, and with the South Node of the Moon joining it last November, we now have the emphasis on this being about letting go of the past. But we need to come to terms with our past, see it, feel it, know it, acknowledge it, and certainly more than anything face it – both personally and collectively – if we want to be able to move forward individually and collectively. The history is not in the past, it is in the present, and it will continue to be so until we face it.
This year is quite simply about coming to terms with what is illusionary, and what is true and steadfast in our lives. We don’t have a firm grip on the clarity of that as yet, but this year is about coming to terms with that in your life – stepping away from that which doesn’t meet you where you are at now, and there might be some stepping away to do. But it’s a slow process, not overnight, these planets are bringing forward the deep, necessary internal shifts first, they are not leaving us alone in a minefield.
The upheaval created by the year’s inner planet retrogrades (Mars and Venus) challenged us to really see and understand what was shifting and changing at the time. It’s usually in retrospect that we get a handle on how we are different from who we were, through noticing how we think, feel and respond differently in new situations.
The outer planet signs that receive a outer planet changing into their signs (or out of) are Aries and Taurus. These are long 6-7 year transits. Aries has Uranus moving out and Chiron moving in, while Uranus moves into Taurus. Aries and Taurus are next to each other in the zodiac. It’d be good to know which region of your chart these planets are influencing.
Venus and Mars rule Taurus and Aries respectively. In 2018, we released many mental (Mars retrograde in air sign Aquarius) and emotional (Venus retrograde in water sign Scorpio) patterns represented by these two retrogrades. This was preparing us for the outer planet sign changes happening this year (Chiron and Uranus).
They took us to deeply introspective and reflective places where our experiences laid the groundwork for the bigger shifts coming in 2019. The planets have been kind, they are not throwing us in at the deep end.
So with Chiron moving into Aries permanently this year, we are getting help to be ourselves, to find ourselves, in whatever area of our chart that Aries touches. As the start of the zodiac, Aries is where we seek out who we are. We get to get clearer on who we are, how and with what we identify ourselves. For me, a big part of my sense of belonging and identity is about experiencing and knowing myself as a multidimensional being.
So what is it from you? How do or can you stand out and be different – in the world, your creativity, in your relationships, your family, in your work? Our awareness of how we want or need to stand out and be different will expand in 2019.
Chiron is the bringer of awareness – that’s how he protects us. It’s not easy to be ourselves, after all, and what is being yourself anyway? We are so tied up and enmeshed in social patterns that are simply not us that it’s hard to ever know. – there’s so many layers that we are so unaware of.
In many ways, our identity is a combination of our deepest nature, our soul’s beingness, with what we are becoming, our transformational growth. The feminine being and the masculine becoming. Quite fitting since Venus and Mars, the cosmic lovers, were extra busy last year!
It takes a lot to stand up against the grain and just say that’s not me; to the mainstream, to our friends, family, the conditioning. But our minds need to be our own, not an amalgamation of the structures and patterns of conformity around us.
With last year’s retrograde Mars in Aquarius, it was all the Mars qualities of assertion, independence, standing out, desire and will, and in Aquarius it was within groups, social and collective patterns.
Uranus will be moving into Taurus again soon, where he enters into a fixed sign. Fixed signs are generally more rigid and stubborn, resistant to change. Taurus is the cow – firmly rooted into the earth. So with Uranus in Taurus, we can expect a revolution in the Taurus region of our chart and also where we need to change, but are perhaps resistant to doing so.
Venus in Scorpio’s retrograde opened us up to coming to terms with our feelings and values, perhaps we became clearer on our needs, and how our feelings change and fluctuate from moment to moment, day to day. Before her retrograde, we were probably quite sure of things, at least in our minds. That has been turned inside out. Now, we are anything but sure. But we can be sure in not being sure – that is at least some new territory. If more of us were open in our minds to not being so sure, we might have a safer world. And for us now it’s slowly becoming a comfortable place to be in, if we can allow that.
It is dawning upon us that we do not need or want what we think we needed or wanted, as we have now experienced a large dose of changeability around those things – one day its rigth for us, the next it isn’t. Who are we anyway seems to be the perennial question. It’s a mini liberation, a new perspective and dawning realisation that we can be quite detached in terms of our emotions – if we choose.
And it is a matter of choice, something we need a constant reminder or awakening to. That we have choice over how we feel, rather than being subject to our emotional attachments, fantasies, whims, rhythms – it’s new. We are in the driver’s seat and can choose how to respond based on what we value and how we look at a person or situation. We are not holding onto things so tightly, there’s more slack, and we have more freedom.
So going into this first Eclipse of 2019, which acts like a signature or blueprint of 2019, we can expect a year of getting to grips with what it means to really live from a place of realism, from understanding the power and impact of the choices we make, especially how they make us who we are – in other words, help define us.
Our decisions around who we want to be, what we want and how we define ourselves, what’s important to us, what we value, all have an effect and impact those around us and the world at large. We do not live in a vacuum – embodied, awakened living requires a deep awareness of what it means to live with integrity and responsibility to each other – knowing what you do, say, desire, think, feel has an impact. No more castles in the sky spirituality, I can only live in hope.
But first it’s about getting to know what’s real and not real for us. The truth arises when we release what’s false. The process for this year is working out what is false for you and letting it go, without too much resistance. That takes time and discernment, above all else observation, patience and regularly coming back to your centre.
We shouldn’t aim for perfection in this process, but we can have the clear intention that we are prepared to do what it takes and let that be our guiding light. Doing whatever it takes is a good motto in life.
We can also employ some flexibility so we quickly adapt to changing circumstances and orientate more towards our centre and in the present moment.
We often minimise our impact and power and believe that we don’t really matter, that we can’t really engender much change in a world seemingly so stuck in a mire. So we forgo our responsibility and along with it an opportunity for transformation of ourselves and others. What we do doesn’t need to be a huge thing, we get paralysed with this idea of making big changes.
The best change are small ones, they are also the most fun. Play a small part and see how some of these small parts create a large domino effect. We never really know how important we are on this planet – nothing is what it seems. But that doesn’t mean we should not engage with the things that turn us on and light us up. We should.
This grounding, back to earth Capricorn energy is juxtaposed against a fantasy led Jupiter square Neptune exact 13th January. Together they reflect the theme of 2019 – what’s real and what is not – for you. This slow moving aspect makes two more passes later in the year but remains within orb for most of the year.
Jupiter is in Sagittarius, its home sign, and Pisces is in Neptune, it’s home sign. It’s fire and water battling it out – our inspiration, beliefs, opinions versus our needs, feelings, safety. We might get a bit confused this year, oscillating between these conflicting aspects of our lives, so it’s helpful to keep bringing yourself back to your own reality-checks – you know – the ones you’ve already garnered in 2018.
Remember, you and the world is changing, and the change is accelerating, it’s hard to keep up, I don’t think we are expected to, that would be too much, but we can stay in contact with ourselves by doing what brings us back to earth, keeps us connected to our bodies and feelings so we know what’s right for us. That takes a little discipline, perhaps some planning and staying a bit organised. Nothing big.
There may be some reality checks this year for us all, perhaps some big ones, or many little ones. Do you best to embrace them and know they are for your own highest good, no matter how difficult or easy they feel, they are there to set you straight and point you in the direction of alignment. And the reality checks are not already decided or set in stone, they are evolving as you evolve, they are also being chosen by you at a deeper level as you move in and out of your own inner connection. And if you stay in touch with your soul’s beingness, they will come as no big surprise, they will feel just more comfortable and connected to your truth.
Happy 2019!
