 Bay Bridge to Treasure Island Catherine Al-Meten |
As we approach the New Year, 2014, we have a few days of rough waters to bring us to the brink of this annual transition. In the middle of the night, Sunday, December 29, Mercury formed a conjunction with the Sun in Capricorn. Your dreams may have been rather jolting, earthshaking, or grounding during the night. We have a clearer ability to express ourselves in very straightforward terms at this time. Later in the day, Mercury in Capricorn forms a square to Uranus in Aries, making communications fiery, harsh, and explosive. Communications may be edgy, disruptive, or snarky. Notice how you respond and react, in your own communicating and in how others express themselves with you. Restraint and temperance may be difficult to summon up.
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Monday, the Moon squares Chiron, and later in the evening, Mars in Libra squares Pluto in Capricorn. Both aspects set off energy related to areas that involve old wounds and areas of our lives that have been and continue to be in transition. Pluto has been turning over the ground beneath our feet and the basic way we have been living for some time. With Mars making a major aspect today, we can expect a major change to make itself evident. We may make a major decision or find that we are facing a major shift or change that we had not expected. Emotionally the Moon triggers areas of our lives where we still need to heal, and Mars and Pluto shake things up.
The period of time from Sunday through Tuesday, is a good time to use your spiritual practices to come to understand the concept of surrender more clearly. When we stop fighting the movement of the Divine in our lives, we are better able to appreciate and cope with the movement, disruptions, and changes that happen. Use the energy to identify that which you may have missed, been denying, or fighting against. When we stop fighting the flow of life, we often can appreciate what is unfolding through the release of the old debris, issues, or practices that are swept away. Try to find some release in the triggering of all this transformative energy, and then be ready to celebrate the end of 2013. Before a new path can begin, we have to be willing to choose the new direction and step forward on it. What is blocking, challenging, and clouding your way, will now arise to be dealt with.
Right on up to New Year’s Eve and the New Moon in Capricorn, we get the push to face and stand in our truth. On Tuesday, New Year’s Eve morning, Mercury conjuncts Pluto and then a bit later, squares Mars. What a way to wake up and start the day. However these two strong aspects affect you, both deal with the areas of communication in our lives--inner dialogue and external conversations. We may hear news that is shocking and disruptive, or we may simply find ourselves aware of a lot of miscommunication, cross communications, or upsetting types of conversations and the resulting experiences. Watch how you approach others this week, and try to focus on how you can find resolve and peace in ongoing conflicts. Whatever seems to have been hidden below the surface or temporarily forgotten or suppressed, now rises up to be dealt with. Mercury is bringing everything to the surface, and triggering areas that need to be dealt with
New Year’s according to the Gregorian Calendar, begins on January 1, 2014, and the New Moon in Capricorn, 3:14 AM PST, conjunct the Sun in Capricorn, ushers this new year in. January was named after the Roman god, Janus, who is depicted with two faces. Janus in Latin, means door, and the two faces of Janus look backward at the old year and forward to the new.
Some of the customs used to welcome in the New Year include the tradition of first footing. As the story goes, when midnight came, people would wait by the doorway for a someone with dark hair to enter. This first visitor was to bring a piece of bread, a piece of coal, some money, or a piece of greenery, all meant to signify good fortune for the new year. The bread signified enough food, the coal signified a warm home, money signified having enough to live well, and greenery signified a long life. Upon leaving the house, the visitor would take a dust pan full of ashes signifying the departure of the old year.
Customs of the year’s first New Moon, include looking at the New Moon through a new silk handkerchief. The number of moons you see will signify the number of years before a young person weds. Under no circumstances should you look for the New Moon through a window; all the more reason to go out and stand under the beautiful night sky on New Year’s Eve. Singing Auld Lang Syne (written by poet, Robert Burns) is another custom, a song that means we should remember those loved ones from the past with fondness and good cheer.Hogmanay is a custom from Scotland is a celebration involving rollicking and visiting friends and family, taking part in first footing, and singing and celebrating. Oshgotsu is a new year’s celebration in Japan. Bonenkai is a custom of forgetting the old year by forgiving and forgetting grievances, problems, and conflicts. At midnight the Buddhist temples strike the temple bells 108 times, to signify letting go 0f 108 human weaknesses. In Spain, eating 12 grapes symbolic of 12 months, at midnight is a common custom. In The Netherlands, it is the custom to burn all the Christmas trees in a large bonfire, and to launch fireworks. I can tell you from experience, for hours the fireworks go off, and it sounds like you are in the middle of a war. The next day the streets are red with firework papers. In Greece St. Basil’s Feastd Day coincides with New Year’s Day. A special cake is baked, Vassilopitta, and inside the cake a silver or gold coin is hidden. The one who finds the coin is said to have an especially lucky year. In the U.S., sharing a meal from a big pot of Hoppin’ John assures good fortune for the New Year. Hoppin’ John is a soup made with black-eyed peas and ham hocks. These are just some of the customs practiced to celebrate the New Year.
This New Year’s Eve starts off with the energy of the New Moon in Capricorn, forming a stellium of planets and our star in Capricorn. Uranus-Pluto Square (Uranus in Aries, Pluto in Capricorn). The New Moon and the planets in Capricorn energize the ongoing square between Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn into 2015. Collectively, the New Moon starts the year off with a call for us to reinvent ourselves, the way we behave towards others and the way we live our own lives. What we do and how we live matters in far-reaching ways, that go beyond our own personal and limited lives and desires.
The Sun in Capricorn represents our consciousness; the Moon in Capricorn represents our unconsciousness. Mercury, representing communication in all forms, is also in Capricorn. Mars in Libra aligns with Uranus-Pluto square while Jupiter in the mid degrees of Cancer, opposes and triggers the stellium in Capricorn.
Prior to the New Moon, Mercury squares Uranus this Sunday at the same time the Moon is in Sagittarius. We may find tact and diplomacy hard to come by. Suppressed anger and frustration may rise to the surface spilling out into our conversations, and setting a rather rocky and disruptive tone to many relationships, conversations, and situations.
The Sun, Moon, Pluto, Mercury conjunct in Capricorn opposing Jupiter in Cancer, squaring Uranus in Aries and Mars in Libra, form a Grand Cardinal Cross. Eight planets are in Cardinal signs, setting off a powerhouse of a year. Shedding old skins, burning off deadwood, and ridding our selves of whatever is in need of being released is necessary now, more than ever, as we approach a new journey in the year ahead. What has been slipping away, or causing us to consider our current choices or long-term commitments, needs to be revised now in favor of our true, deep-seated truth. Courage is needed as we move into a whole new dimension of our experience.
Jupiter, in Cancer opposing the New Moon, in Capricorn, defines how change will take place. Look to the house/part of your life where Jupiter is transiting through Cancer. This is the area where you will sense and experience the greatest movement, change, and alterations in both your own needs and desires, and in your behavior and direction. What seemed like a sure thing, a comfortable and safe turn, now will fall away in favor of the call of your soul. If you fight this, it will lead to more despair and disruption until you see the choice has been made from a source of Divine truth that you may know but may be afraid to act upon or face.
We will experience pin-point clarity through whatever force or condition is necessary to illuminate that one true north that is controlling our destiny. We get the blinding signs we need to see what we may have been missing or what may have been hidden, concealed, or kept from us. However Uranus in Aries manifests in our lives right now, will reveal the direction and the areas of our lives that will undergo massive and complete transformation. What may have been a secret desire or hidden need, now rises up within us to show us what must go and what is opening up on the path where we are. This transition may be disruptive, chaotic, and full of friction. It may be difficult to see how we are going to recover or meet the challenges ahead, but there will be no doubt of the inevitability of change.
Wherever we are rubbing up against dissent and conflict we will be thrust into a new reality, and will make choices that much more accurately reflect our true nature and our passions than we have been. We will make major and drastic changes, and will move forward in a new direction. Whatever you set into motion now, be willing to face and deal with the consequences, for this deviation from the norm, is sure to cause changes that will lead to major changes. Be certain about your intentions, and do not get involved in anything that you are not willing to follow through with as the change you choose, will have permanent and long-term consequences. Going back will not be an option. Picking up a new challenge or heading off in a totally new direction, are both likely possibilities.
Mars in Libra provides the energy and drive for whatever changes you take on. The t-square formed by Mars to the stellium of planets, the Sun and the New Moon in Capricorn and Jupiter in Cancer, is very powerful energetic formation, with great potential for constructive and positive change but with equally potential to express through destructive and damaging force and power plays. How we use our energy, how we respond to conditions, opportunities, conflicts, challenges, determines the direction our lives will take during the next year and beyond.
Venus is in her retrograde cycle, from December 21, the Winter Solstice, until January 31, 2014. Venus' retrograde cycle happens less frequently than Mercury's because her orbit is longer than Mercury. We begin this New Year reevaluating our relationships, and how we give and receive love. We may be reconsidering some commitments that take us away from our true nature and desires. During this time we may be in the mood, indeed nearly driven, to straighten out the details and direction of our lives. We are clearing out and cleaning up our homes, offices, and organizing our finances, questioning and reevaluating goals and commitments. It is a time when we question how we are using our time, energy, and investing in our happiness, health, and well being. We are able to be brutally honest with ourselves at this time, and can look at the hidden issues and drives that have impelled us to make the decisions we have. Now we are ready for major transformation, as all these planets, the Sun and the Moon enter Capricorn, and come into conjunction, one by one, with the Great Transformer, Pluto. What needs to change is changing now...in our perceptions, beliefs, behavior, habits, and choices. Venus goes into the depths of what we care most about and for, and brings us to a point of clarity, where we see what we must do to move forward in health, happiness, and the ability to live from a center of love. In most cases, this is going to mean a shift of major proportions, and a leap of faith to bring us to the next leg of our journey. During the Venus retrograde phase, our unconscious and deepest needs and drives are being revealed to us, and we are faced with Truth that we must decide to act on or be trapped in an unhealthy and debilitating pattern of relationships, involvement, and work. Be not afraid, but act in accordance to your highest good, excellent health, and happiness. If you can love yourself that much, then you can love others as well. During a retrograde phase, we get the information and we become more clear about our needs and desires. We gain clarity about what is actually going on beneath the surface of relationships and attachements (to partners, work, issues). It is not necessarily the best time to make major changes. Let this be a time of rest, reflection, and spend some time with that which comes to the surface before making major changes.
As Venus turns direct on January 31, another major aspect will trigger even more clarity. Jupiter comes into opposition with Pluto in Capricorn. This is a significant aspect and will shed light on the areas of transition that Pluto has been revealing in our lives. Pluto and Jupiter at 12 degrees Capricorn/Cancer, reveal what cannot be ignored. Jupiter's optimism finds many of us trying our best to mend or restore flagging relationships. This may seem futile in the face of what we know or experience, but nevertheless, will add an element of obssessiveness to our attempts to salvage a relationship, keep a job, hold onto a dream, or save someone who doesn't want saving. If optimism and obssession doesn't eliminate the relationship, Jupiter's square to Uranus and opposition to Pluto on February 26, will likely burst whatever bubble or illusion remains.
Let go with grace and some self respect. Stop fighting for something that is not worth fighting for, and release yourself to accept what gifts await you when you rid yourself of deceptions, illusions. Learn what drives are keeping you running in circles, or heading off on tangents that lead nowhere. Learn to recognize what drives you towards a false sense of security and away from growth and a greater sense of self worth and beauty. Let go of thinking someone else, or the right job, or the perfect possessions will make you better than you are. You are in possession of all you need to live a fulfilling, happy, and purposeful life. Make 2014 the year you recognize those gifts within you, and the Divine path before you. Seek harmony, forgive yourself and others, and give gratitude each day for all that blesses you. Happy New Year.
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