Stellar Insights: December 31, 2018 - January 6, 2019
Photo by Chrissa Giannakoudi via Unsplash
Here we stand, at the end of one year, with the next in our sights. One day re/turning to night and then re/turning to day and we will have transitioned from a sense that we are completing something significant to a space in which we feel that that we have great potential for creating anew.
It’s an illusion of sorts, of course, this notion that one calendar year beginning on January 1 is a concrete thing completely unconnected to another. It’s sort of arbitrary in some senses, and yet since it is something around which we have created consensus, it does have meaning and value. We all agree it has a structure…and so it does; and from that place we can engage with it and allow it to be the container in which we can build form, and inspire formative experiences.
This sense feels heightened this week given that the Sun unites with society-sanctioned Saturn. And with this, we may also find ourselves orienting our attention to people and/or institutions that have paved a path, seeing the virtue of the wisdom that experience has yielded.
The Sun/Saturn union occurs in slow-and-steady Capricorn, a sign in which we also find transformative Pluto (and later in the week, Mercury and the Moon). On first blush, the tone feels tempered and yet with Mars charging into spirited Aries on New Year’s Eve, we’re also connected to a fire in our belly, a desire to thrust ourselves into action.
Many people found 2018 to be a challenging year and are ready to Auld Lang Syne and turn the page. I can’t help but wonder as we welcome New Year’s Eve if that sense doesn’t but become stronger, reflective of Mars soldiering into Aries. And while there’s a sense of fieriness and excitement, there may also be a sense of impatience: can’t we just get on with it? we may hear ourselves or others saying.
Yet, we need to watch that the spark of impetuousness doesn’t have us creating more obstacles than need be, notably given the concurrent emphasis on Capricorn and the Sun/Saturn conjunction. Feeling spirited while also remembering that time is an essential ingredient in any recipe feels like an important calculus this week. If not, we may find ourselves running into roadblocks that we’d wished we avoided (or didn’t create).
That idea that a new year offers us the potentiality of fresh starts, a clean canvas upon which to make resolutions and reconstruct our lives according to our principles, may feel even more prominent given that this week also features a Capricorn Solar Eclipse. This powerful New Moon lunation inspires a feeling that a sea change is occurring, and that a new chapter is emerging. While this sense of possibility may feel inspiring, it may also be partnered with a sense of intensity…after all, for the new to emerge we may find ourselves releasing facets of our lives that have been our companions to this point. Even if these compadres have been self-limiting beliefs or narratives that have kept us from fulfilling the promise we know we have, there is a mourning that may inundate us as we let a part of ourselves die so that we can be rebirthed.
All said, tap into what you’re feeling this week in terms of what new you want to constructively pioneer in your life and what is required to be released. Remember that even if the results won’t manifest immediately that by investing time and energy, and some elbow grease, you’ll be able to architect something that has gravitas for you and others.
Also remember to let yourself be surprised…surprised by what you’re drawn to, surprised by what you’re feeling, surprised by the unexpected—events, thoughts, Aha! moments—that may give you guidance as to what has reached its expiration date and what seeds you want to plant. I share this because with Uranus shifting direct on Sunday, the week may appear peppered by the unanticipated, the out of the blue, and the moving around of the puzzle pieces. Things may feel like they are shaken up and are shaking out. Maintaining a sense of flexibility, keeping your knees bent, and staying bouncy seem like effective strategies to making the most of this time—and mitigating stress. (For more on the Uranus station—and the Capricorn Solar Eclipse—see here.)
One more note before I close:
As I sit here writing this, I’m tapping into a deep sense of gratitude for you: gratitude for our connection, for this sharing that exists between us, for your trust in me and that my words bring you some benefit in navigating your life. I’m grateful and touched and really moved to again look to another year—this coming up to being my 10th year writing about astrology and well-being—in which to be guided by stellar inspirations as we navigate this beautiful mystery called life.
Happy New Year,
And all my very best,
Stephanie
PS. If you want more astrological insights to begin the new year, check the my So Divine! podcast page. I just posted the January episode as well as the special 2019 edition. So Divine! is a podcast that I co-create with clairvoyant and Tarot reader Megan Skinner.
Astrological Highlights
December 31
Mars enters Aries
January 2
Sun/Saturn Conjunction
January 4
Mercury/Uranus Trine
Sun/Neptune Sextile
Mercury enters Capricorn
January 5
Capricorn Solar Eclipse (New Moon)
January 6
Uranus Stations Direct
Dates noted reflect Eastern Standard Time