Transitions of a New Year: Basic influences that lead us over the threshold to 2016

As we approach the end of 2015 and the start of 2016, we do so in the light of Venus’ entry into firey Sagittarius. Looking out my window in the middle of the night, I saw Venus bright in the Eastern sky. Now at 0/11 degrees of Sagittarius, Venus heats up our love life considerably. New Year’s Eve is less than two days away now. We approach a major annual transition time. And the year begins with some major activity behind us as well as some significant changes ahead. 

 As I write the    Sun  is at 8/24'56" degrees of Capricorn , in the first decan of Capricorn.  That highlights aspects of the Sagittarius energy and sociality, as it introduces a more sober and serious side to all Sun-related activities and to the earth sign areas of our lives/charts. 

The Moon  is at 8/14’27” Virgo, also an earth sign. Earth energy is growing stronger in the areas ruled by the Sun (how we live out our purpose) and Moon (our emotional energy and equilibrium). From what I can tell of what many people are reporting, the urge to purge is great now as we prepare for leaving the past behind and get down to building a new life and moving into more earth-based areas of development. 

Bringing ourselves into greater awareness of our body-mind-spirit connections is a theme that has many laying out plans for creating, building, growing, and establishing stronger connections between personal goals and the collective consciousness. The result will show in how we bring into form those ideas and ideals that we say matter most to us and that contribute to becoming better stewards of the elements and the planetary health and well being. Look to where the Moon in Virgo is in your chart, and note how that area/house and the following, Libra, are sources of light and guidance for you over the next few days and into the New Year. These two areas of your life are ripe for new energy and the sorting out of what your priorities are. How you make the transition from the old year to the new is an indicator of where your focus and energy is being directed now.

Communications is the realm of   Mercury. Mercury is currently in the last few degrees of Capricorn, 28   1’34”. The New Year will begin with Mercury in the anaretic degree of 29 degrees (the last degree of the sign). This is a crucial degree that signals the completion of some major areas of our lives. On January 3, 2016, Mercury will enter Aquarius. Mercury’s completion of its transit through Capricorn may extend into those first two days of the year, the sense of needing to complete old business and rid yourself of anything that is trapping your energy or spirit. You may find that you speak or write out final agreements, sign papers ending old connections, or continue clearing out whatever remains a block to forward movement and new growth. All forms of communication will be involved, and your desire to deal with practical matters will reach a culminating point. When Mercury enters Aquarius, you will feel a greater sense of freedom as well as a sense of having taken care of a lot of unfinished business.

Today’s news is   Venus’ entry into Sagittarius at  0   11’35”. Venus shifts from the energy of its transit through deeply emotional and intense Scorpio to that of the more pleasure-driven and light-hearted Sagittarius. Heating up Venus’ quest for pleasure, the transit through Sagittarius  is now less focused and more apt to be in search of adventure, caprice, and seeking that which appeals to our highest ideals or basic needs and desires. Having spent time searching into the depths of our being with the transit through Scorpio, we now feel relieved of the pressure or need to understand our motivation instead we seek whatever we find meets our needs. Focus is now on seeking experiences. You want to feel free to seek whatever your heart desires in the way of love, romance, beauty, and pleasure. You may find yourself planning trips or seeking to move to a different culture. Moving out of any ruts or regular patterns now seems much more likely than not. Don’t be surprised if you wake up with the urge to travel, explore, or discover something completely far afield of what you typically have been involved in. 

Another change is approaching, and that is that of Mars which is currently transiting through the final degrees of Libra. We find   Mars is currently at 27/42' 1”degrees. By January 3, Mars too will change signs. In Libra we have used our charm to get what we want, and have been rather unsure about any changes we have sought to make. The ambiguity we may have been feeling is rooted in the fact that instead of looking at what we really want to do, we are still trying to figure out how to please everyone with our choices and decisions. The gift or growing edge of Mars’ transit through Libra has been to become clearer about who we are and what we need and want. Acting on that understanding is now going to become more important than it may have been for some time. In part because of some of the other influences which have been holding us back or forcing us to discover the flaws in our plans. Delays have enabled us to work out what it has been that has held us back or led us to act as we have in the past. We now prepare to take a more measured, thoughtful  approach to any dealings or actions (when Mars enters Scorpio on January 3, 2016). 

The planet  Jupiter which entered  Virgo in mid-August of this year, will remain in this earthy position until September 9, 2016. Currently, Jupiter is at 23 degrees of Virgo  . Jupiter will form  a pleasant conjunction, both being in the same sign, as we approach New Years. This lends itself t a pleasurable week, and of some unexpected gifts and bonuses to end the year on. Jupiter brings with it optimism, abundance, good fortune, generosity, joy, and encouraging experiences. And much of what Jupiter honors us with at this time can be found manifest right before us. Results and rewards are practical and down-to-earth. This is a time when body, mind, and spirit are working in tandem to bring into being what we seek through the clarity of our vision. 

The Great Teacher Saturn is at 10 degrees of Sagittarius  at this time. About mid-cycle its transit through Sagittarius (2014-2017) Saturn is challenging us to make progress in areas where we seek to achieve. It also asks that we wisen up and move onto the next stage in our development. Any delays or blocks can be seen as Saturn’s way to teach us enduring patience. During times in-between, we have the chance to better understand our motivation and ways we have helped or sabotaged our own growth and movement. 

These in-between times allow us to test out our theories, grow deeper or grow up, identify our priorities, determine how our priorities align with our values, and reestablish whatever skills, habits, focus or adjustments we need to make in order to move ahead. If we are still trying to live out some fantasy ideal or continue to identify with only one driving aspect of our nature, we get way laid and sidetracked. We want to be careful not to keep running around the same track expecting new avenues and adventures to ope to us if we have done nothing, made no preparations, or have not prepared ourselves for what is going to give us the skills, education., training, or focus we need to thrive. 

One of the most important changes that has taken place is the culmination of the Uranus -Pluto   first quarter square. Uranus in Aries has been making 7 exact squares to Pluto in Capricorn since June of 2012. On March 16 of 2016, the final square to Pluto occurs. Earlier that this most recent cycle was the cycle that began in 2007-2012. It was during this period of time that the ‘game board’ was set up for the series of Uranus-Pluto squares that began in 2012. The period when things were brewing or bubbling beneath the surface. In 2012 and over the past four years, we have seen the impact in the growing problems around war and territorialism that seem to have no solution nor end in sight. The growing number of people who find themselves refugees is another indication that the way Uranus-Pluto reveals how manipulation, violence and events and developments that continue to disrupt civilizations worldwide. All this is not only calling our attention to corruption and systems (financial, social, religious, information/communication) that are falling apart as part of the transformative and disruptive nature of this profound energy. What is falling apart, may not be put back together. What is learned and discerned now, can lead to new ways of handling the problems that must be addressed to mend the woundedness that has torn us apart. 

 This series of squares has not happened in over 500 years. The last time this happened was during the time of the French Revolution. We have our own world revolution going on, and in our individual lives, we are being purged of whatever has been holding us back from setting out on the healing journey that we need.  And these squares  between Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn have had a significant impact on everyone and in everyone’s lives-individually and collectively. In fact according to astrologer, Bill Herbst of Mountain Astrologer Magazine, this Uranus-Pluto cycle will have a civilizational impact on history and all societies. Whenever the out planets make one of the ten astrological cycles (different from the 35 year cycles of the inner planets).  Herbst  refers to the outer planet cycles  as messengers providing us with archetypal symbols that point the way toward how we use our power, energy, and intentions

As the year ends Uranus  is at 16 degrees of Aries . By now you probably are well aware of where Uranus and Pluto are in your chart/life. You might want to review how the changes, especially that which has come like a bolt out of the blue, have had an impact on the what you have done and how you have done it. And how your life is in the process of coping with the major changes that have taken place in your life over this period of great transformation.  By March you may have more to deal with. Since we measure astrological events and influences in long phases rather than by exact dates or times, we will be dealing with the impact an aftermath of these cycles for hundreds of years to come. What we do and change now, will have a long-term impact on the future of the world.One pebble in the ocean sends out a ripple, and alone it is not that powerful. Combined with all the other ripples, it becomes a massive power source. Use your energy and power wisely. Take stock of how you are having an impact on life now, and adjust your sails for the journey ahead. 

Another long transit is that of Neptune   in Pisces. Ruler of the imagination, intuition, creativity, dreams, visions, and illusions/delusions, Neptune’s transit through the watery depths of Pisces call for us to surrender to the Divine Sacred, and to at the very least, pay attention to our intuition. There is more to life than what meets the eye, and when we overemphasize one way of perceiving or processing what we are taking in, we limit our vision and understanding. All great scientists, philosophers, authors, and inventors have emphasized the role of trusting what is beneath the veneer on the surface of life. Hunches, intuition, imagination, sensory input, gut instinct, dreams, and all forms of extra-sensory perception, are tools to be honored and utilized. Tools are useless if you don’t use them, so Neptune in Pisces awakens us to what gifts we have to help us discern and trust what is.  As the year transitions, Neptune is at 7 degrees of Pisces . Take some time to listen to what is beneath the surface of your awareness and consciousness.

The other half of the dynamic duo, Pluto  is at 14/59 degrees of Capricorn , just reaching its halfway point in its long transit through this earthy terrain. Pluto, the Great Transformer, has been digging deep into our lives, shaking things up.Also part of the Uranus-Pluto square cycle, Pluto is not only shaking up the area of  your life that it is transiting, but is also shaking up our general way of approaching just about every aspect of our lives.  How are you using your power, and how are you called on to use it from now on? Again the call to ‘grow up’ and move into the roles you have been prepared and called to is strong. Ambition, political action, responsibility, and obligations are all within the realm of Pluto in Capricorn. What are you called to contribute or create? How are you preparing and honoring your gifts, skills, and talents? When we fail to live up to our potential, we fail not only ourselves but all those who count on us to live out of our strength and power. 

Chiron,   the Wounded Healer is also transiting the sign of Pisces  

at 17 degrees. How are you healing? What wounds have been left unattended? How have you been coping with old wounds and imbalances? How are you learning through the healing process, and what do you sense still requires more time, energy, insight, atonement to bring about healing?

And the crown on the cake of this New Year’s essay is the new cycle featuring the Virgo/Pisces axis of the North Node   in Virgo opposite the South Node in Pisces. The North Node indicates where in your life there is movement, endings and beginnings, and points where you are leaving behind one set of lessons to start a new set. Look at the houses that are ruled by Virgo and Pisces. Sometimes there is overlap in a chart. By that I mean a house or sector of your life will have the energy of two signs (perhaps Virgo on the cusp and Libra somewhere in the house itself). When this happens, you want to watch the transits of the North Node (very slow cycle) to see which area of your life is most affected. 

The North Node which is now in Virgo, brings on the new lessons and stages of our lives. It is the gateway to shifts and changes in energy, focus, and skills and challenges ahead. The North  Node is at 24 degrees of Virgo . Nodes appear to be in retrograde (though they don’t move, the Earth does). So it will move from 24 in what seems like backward motion by degrees).  Notice where that is in your life/chart, and be aware of what signs, indications, hunches, or natural processes and developments are beginning now. The shift from the Libra/Taurus axis, changes the type of energy and focus that affects this area now. 

The counterpart to the North Node is the South Node. It is at 24 degrees of Pisces. The South Node represents the gifts of the soul, what we were born equipped to bring into our quest and search for our life purpose. With the focus being on Pisces, it asks us to pay closer attention to those gifts we have either not used or have abused in some way. And the gifts of Pisces include compassion, intuition, spiritual connection, imagination, creativity, and fantasy. If we have any issues with substance abuse or for that matter, any kind of distored use of energy, now will be the time we learn how to use those gifts for good not evil. 

The Nodes passage through the Virgo-Pisces axis will be challenging for us because we will be required to rely on our own gifts and talents more than we ever have. So for example, if you have actively worked to avoid paying attention to your intuition or dreams, dismissing them as irrelevant or ‘just fantasy’, your challenge will come in learning how to understand their meaning in the context of your own perspective and interactions with others in your own life. We will be challenged to befriend our shadow (undeveloped, underdeveloped, unconscious, or misused) aspects of our subconscious and consciousness. 

As you approach the New Year, remember that letting go or releasing does not mean you never have to deal with those issues, relationships, or aspects of yourself and your relationship with others again. It simply means we move on from here in our development, and the real challenges will be those areas will show up as practical chaos in our everyday lives (Virgo North Node) and opportunities that we must discern whether or not to accept. This will appear to arouse and awaken us to those hidden treasures in our subconscious and unconsciousness, our past successes and failures, that which remains a mystery, and our connection or lack thereof to the Divine Sacred. What is being called forth now is for us to surrender to that Sacred force that guides, guards, and directs you through whatever challenges or opportunities open up for you from here on out. 

We may be able to rationalize our way through one sticky mess or relationship or inner struggle after another, but at some point our ability to surrender our own need to control, resist, or otherwise prevent ourselves from recognizing how the Divine operates in and through us.  Finding some type of model or tradition or pathway to help you discern what is calling for attention may help. However, be certain that whatever way you go in search of guidance, you do so with a sense of respecting and honoring each individual’s right and need to discover for themselves, what they came here to do and learn and be.

One of the main aspects that's going to affect how we use the Virgo-Pisces North/South Node axis energy has to do with Mercury's placement. Mercury will be making strong aspects to the Nodes, and will trigger a wide array of complications, gifts, challenges, and mountains to climb in regard to our communication. Notice  where the transiting Mercury and your own Natal Mercury are in your chart/life for indicators of how this is going to look and manifest in your own life. For example, if your Mercury is in Aries, a fire sign, it may caution you to think before you speak more. Or it might ask you to allow what you understand on an intuitive level to become more tempered and compassionate and less connected to having to have the last word or be considered the expert of everything you know a lot about. Letting go of the need to be accepted or recognized is part of this North Node/South Node Virgo-Pisces axis. Acceptance will come more from within now, and that is where it needs to be in order for new growth and development to take place. 

Honoring the ways of  Spirit and understanding our place in the ongoing unfolding of Creation leads us on the path of Harmony.