As the editor of the Astrology Arizona newsletter, I compose an overview of each month. Today we take a look at the primary factors for the month.

The Overview for January

This year the month of January brings huge changes with Jupiter now moving quickly through early Pisces! We have a lot of shifts this month as Mercury goes retrograde and Venus goes direct, with both planets making their “Inferior conjunction” with the Sun this month. Expect many returns, rehearsals, reviews, and other retrograde events wherever you have Capricorn and early Aquarius!

The month begins with a New Moon accenting the theme of “self-transcendence” and connecting with Spirit so magic can come forth! We’re now rapidly approaching the next “grand compression” of planets as the inners close in on the outer planet span between late Capricorn and mid-Taurus. Over the next few weeks, we’re going to have a crowded house wherever we have late Sagittarius, Capricorn, and Aquarius!

This month Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces are the main focus, with all the visible planets in those signs. Because of the coming compression of planets in January and February, this month begins a Bundle Jones pattern except when the Moon is outside the span between January 15 and 25. The creator of the 7 possible patterns, Marc Edmund Jones, states the Bundle pattern, where everything is clustered in about a third of the zodiac, is marked by a focus on “some particularly narrowed aspect of experience,” with “an outstanding capacity for making much of little, or for building small beginnings into great and often unanticipated final results.” This pattern is not universal in the slightest, but rather “brings universe to center.”

We’re still experiencing the aftermath of Saturn’s station on a degree of “a child born out of the Cosmic Egg,” promising manifestations from Cosmos not “born of a local tradition!” We are now moving toward “the appearance” of something representing Aquarian energy arising from all which we haven’t realized so far. This will begin to manifest as the inner planets transit 7 Aquarius between early January and mid-March.

Saturn has now shown us techniques of direct accomplishment and an acceleration of our evolutionary potential once we have a vision, a plan, and a good time to execute the procedure. As Saturn rules Capricorn and Aquarius, those parts of our chart are where we’re now moving into a new expression of “Cosmos” and a new sense of what we’re here to accomplish which fulfills our purpose. In 2022, Saturn will “make real” what Jupiter has promised this year.

Planets Slowing Down and Shifting Signs

January begins with both Venus and Uranus retrograde and Mercury slowing, preparing to go retrograde in mid-January. Venus retrograde is giving us a look back at all things Venusian in our Capricorn sector with an eye as to why we believe we like certain things, or are holding on to our Venusian expression in that life area. It’s also giving us a review of how the Capricorn conjunction cycles have developed in our lives since January/March 2020, so we can reconsider what we appreciate about our current circumstances and the value of those disciplines and structures as we prepare to leap forward in 2022.

As Mercury is in its shadow zone the first half of the month with Venus already well into its retrograde period, we’ll begin to see things from the past with an entirely different understanding about what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. By mid-month, right after Mercury goes retrograde, Uranus goes direc. This will give us yet another look at the issues related to the degree span it’s been in since April 2021. After Venus makes its Inferior Conjunction with the Sun, it will begin to speed up until it goes direct at the end of January.

As Mercury, Mars, and the Sun change signs this month, it indicates that the rulers of six of our houses and signs (Aries, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, and Scorpio; the Sun, ruling Leo, is also the spiritual co-ruler of Cancer) will experience a distinctive change in those areas of our charts. Mercury, ruler of Gemini and Virgo, will give us two sign experiences (Capricorn and Aquarius), Mars, ruler of Aries and Scorpio, will give us two sign experiences (Sagittarius and Capricorn), and the Sun, ruler of Leo and Cancer, will give us two (Capricorn and Aquarius). This clearly indicates a lot of activity in the Capricorn and Aquarius sectors of our charts!

Mars

Mars ruler of fiery Aries, finds natural harmony in fellow fire sign Sagittarius. It is said that Mars, the planet of direct action, does well in Sagittarius, especially in the second (Aries) decan. While in Sagittarius, Jupiter is the ruler of Mars, so how we experienced Mars in December when its ruler was in Aquarius will be a far different experience of Mars in Sag now that its ruler Jupiter is in Pisces!

The first 10 days of January, Mars will prove agitating to those with planets between 14-20 degrees of Pisces, Gemini, Virgo, and Sagittarius. Between January 10 and 24, it will agitate planets between 20-30 of the Mutable signs. When it enters Capricorn, the sign of its exaltation, it will benefit greatly from Capricorn’s organization and sense of responsibility, and activate those with planets in the first 5 degrees of Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn.

In January Mars makes a mixed bag of aspects, beginning the month with the internal friction of the semisquare from Mercury which lasts through mid-month. Early January also sees Mars biquintile Uranus, followed by a square to Neptune, septile to Saturn, and quintile to Jupiter. The end of the month shows Mars approaching a sextile with Jupiter and its almost two month conjunction with Venus.

As I’ve offered before, when Mars is within a degree of forming or separating while making a hard aspect with a planet, slow down and show deliberation and caution in how you use force, with an eye to moderating or antidoting impulsiveness and impatience. Mars aspects this month show many cycles closing, preparing for a great renewal when Mars transits the 2020 Capricorn conjunction points in late February and March of 2022.

Sign Focus

The first 24 days of January are fairly stable with the inner planets all between late Sagittarius and early Aquarius. This month the primary focus is Capricorn and Aquarius which will continue until late February. Wherever we have these signs will be our primary concern for the next 7 weeks, after which Pisces will loom large on the landscape.

The Aquarius-Taurus Tension This Year

We’re now leaving the Saturn-Uranus squares in our rear view mirror for most of this year! While the sectors where we have 9-17 Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius will still be under pressure due to Lunar T-squares configuring with Uranus and Saturn, these will become less intense by the end of the month. Saturn square Uranus shows the need to stay focused on what’s really pertinent while disregarding older or unimportant interference. After this final square of 2021, Saturn and Uranus will move into a binovile by late February, with one final square to come beginning August and lasting until early December 2022.

The first square from Saturn to Uranus in February was from 8 Aquarius to 8 Taurus; the second was in June, with Saturn retrograde at 14 Aquarius square Uranus at 14 Taurus; the third happens just after the December 2021 Solstice with Saturn direct at 12 Aquarius and Uranus retrograde at 12 Taurus. These waning (upper) squares between Saturn in Aquarius and Uranus in Taurus mark the culmination of the cycle of these power planets which was set into motion when Saturn conjuncted Uranus in 1988. Interestingly, in 1999-2000 Saturn in Taurus made its waxing (lower) square to Uranus in Aquarius, so this year activates conflicts dating back 20 years.

We’re Actors On A New Stage With A New Set

The Grand Mutation of Jupiter conjunct Saturn at 1 Aquarius began a new 20 year Aquarian Era in December 2020, as well as a new 200 year Era, moving global energies out of Earth and into Air. We’ve begun to grow beyond the materialism of the past 200 years and have entered two centuries of Air emphasis, with its qualities of relatedness, receptivity, versatility, movability, lightness, and cooperative ideas, visions, and ideals. This month shows Mercury making multiple passes over 1 Aquarius, with the Sun’s transit on January 19 renewing that energy for the next year.

The 2020 Solar eclipse on the Summer Solstice is still facilitating a grand reorientation in our lives, including an acceptance of new allegiances and life directions, and the December 2020 Solar eclipse at 24 Sagittarius is still helping us remove blocks to our happiness. The June Solar eclipse at 20 Gemini is already removing irrelevant and extraneous ideas and considerations from our decision making process, and the extremely beneficial Total Solar Eclipse at 13 Sagittarius in early December gave us a promise of major gifts and unique interactive opportunities which will be perfect for whatever we need. Rewards are coming these next 4 years!

We’re still "under the beams" of the Solar Eclipses we experienced in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021, and these “cosmic recyclers” continue to remove all that we no longer need in our lives. Take note of where you have 1 Cancer, 24 and 13 Sagittarius, and 20 Gemini, since 1 Cancer aligns us with a larger reality, 24 Sagittarius helps us find happiness, 13 Sagittarius gives us a new identity and love, and 20 Gemini removes what cannot be assimilated or communicated.

The mid-June Solar Eclipse at 20 Gemini continues to shut down parts of our lives in that sector for 5 years to come. All the eclipses in Gemini and Sagittarius are removing old ideas, old perspectives, old truths, and old futures. The recent Lunar Eclipse at 28 Taurus/Scorpio will remove blockages to our ability to connect with source and find genuine rejuvenation these next few months. All in all, these are some very favorable eclipses wherever they fall in our charts!

As we study how successive Eclipses have affected various areas of our charts and lives, we can get a sense of the utility of these “Cosmic Recyclers” in removing what we no longer needed in those areas, creating a void which attracted new life experiences. They invite us to look back, and then forward, to see the continuity of “letting go, taking in, letting go, taking in” across the years.

The Grand Irrationality

In January the 7-pointed “Star of Destiny" I’ve termed The Grand Irrationality will be triggered by the Sun and Mercury! The first activation happens at the very beginning of the month when Mercury septiles Neptune and biseptiles Uranus. This is replicated by the Sun in the third week of January, and we get yet another phase of it in late January when Mercury retrograde makes the same aspects as the beginning of the month. As you know by now, these aspects represent “forks in the road of destiny,” affecting individuals and nations wherever the seven zones in the configuration occur in our charts.

All the septile-series 7th harmonic aspects trigger crucial choices and changes at “forks in the road of destiny.” I have written extensively about “The Grand Irrationality” which has been active for many years at this site and why all of humanity is forging its future destiny at this time. If you have a planet or point near any of the seven zones, your life is sure to be affected. In January these zones are around 28 Capricorn – 2 Aquarius, 19-23 Pisces, 10-14 Taurus, 4-8 Cancer, 25-29 Leo, 16-20 Libra, and 7-11 Sagittarius.

When things seem irrational and don’t make much sense, there’s always a septile-series aspect in the mix. During the periods these 7th harmonic aspects are in play, if things get weird or crazy, be clear about the choices you’re making. While a lot won’t “make sense,” it doesn’t have to; just be clear about what you’re doing and why. Even though there may be interactions with unreasonable or irrational people, we still have the power to respond in productive ways.

As with “hard” aspects to and from Mars, if that planet (or really any planet) is involved in any non-rational aspect, whether one to our natal Mars or transiting Mars making a non-rational aspect to one of our natal, progressed, or solar return planets, it’s a time to be cautious during the period when the aspect is within a degree of forming or separating. Things have a way of getting strange during 7th harmonic aspects, so those are times to be especially deliberate and thoughtful in choosing our responses.

Primary Action Beats for the First Half of the Month

January begins with Sun trine Uranus and Mercury in its shadow zone activating the Grand Irrationality while slowing to go retrograde. The New Moon on January 2 with Mercury on the exact degree of the Grand Mutation of 2020 will give us more signs and signals throughout January about the greater group work we’re to do. This is a very favorable New Moon challenging our willingness to embrace “self-transcendence,” with returns and rewards promised by Venus retrograde on one of the important 2020 conjunction points. Show willingness to grow beyond your old conception of self and welcome the serendipitous connections which may pop up unexpectedly in January.

The first week of January looks very favorable with all the favorable sextiles between transiting Capricorn planets and Neptune. This “backward looking harmony” extends into the second week of January with the Inferior Conjunction of Venus and the Sun showing a quickening for all of us over the next several months. During the second week of January we have Mars square Neptune, showing our need to take many different points of view into consideration, but with an eye as to how things fit together or don’t. Just beware of spaced-out drivers between January 9 and 14! If there are delays as Mercury goes retrograde, take them in good humor knowing they will probably lead to a new inspiration, either after a time lag or through a roundabout process.

Primary Action Beats for the Second Half of the Month

The third week of the month brings us Mercury rapidly slowing in retrograde motion, Sun conjunct Pluto, and Uranus going stationary direct! Any time a planet beyond Jupiter hits a station, expect major sea changes during the week before and after the exact station. Overall, there is a remarkable lack of frictional aspects this month, mainly due to all the planets compressing into a very small part of the zodiac. However, because of the Sun and Mercury both conjunct Pluto with Venus retrograde, and Venus/Mars conjunctions to Pluto to come, strong memories are in the air to teach us the truth the Sage George Harrison sang all those years ago, “all things must pass away.”

The third week also brings the Full Moon which will help us review what has been and what is yet to come. Overall, it’s an unpredictable Full Moon which may bring some disorientation, but only so we can find a form of “inner rebirth” which can help us reconnect with our more organic tendencies.

The last week of the month shows Mars entering Capricorn, Mercury re-entering the end of Capricorn, conjuncting Pluto and triggering the Grand Irrationality, and Venus going stationary direct. The month ends with Sun square Uranus and the New Moon at 13 Aquarius, the same degree Saturn occupies at the January 2 New Moon. That degree symbol is a “barometer,” indicating that the lessons Saturn brings us in January are helping us tune our “inner barometer” so we can know what’s coming based on the inner changes we feel now. The Aquarian New Moon will continue to help us develop our “inner knowing” in February.

Evolutionary Development

This is the last month of the North Node in Gemini era and the first month of the North Node in Taurus era! This ends our time of our greatest evolutionary development in the sign of learning and communicating, and begins a time of our greatest development coming through the sign of appreciation, value, and enjoying the best life has to offer.

Because Saturn is still so strong on the stage of life, keep demonstrating patience and vision based in how you’ve lightened and brightened your life where you have Aquarius in your chart. As I’ve mentioned in past newsletters, this year we’ve been tested to use the (almost) non-stop friction of the Taurus/Aquarius square to launch a new inspired vision achieved through group cooperation. This square has challenged us to trust our inner spiritual warrior and BE the “Light and Mind” of Leo and Scorpio, showing heart, taking heart, trusting the heart, strengthening the heart, and radiating the Love we ARE to our world, expressed through a conscious focus, concentration, and intention.

Because of the recent eclipses, we have an extraordinarily beneficial, serendipitous, and specializing period ahead of us. This month we continue our adventure and expand into the emergent field of “Cosmic Mutations” resulting from Saturn’s station in October. The expanding group work continues, so remember we're all more aware, capable, and stronger together than we are separately.

The Sun in Capricorn is a time to see the Light of a greater effectiveness and authorship of our skill in serving our world as the motive to achieve the ultimate goals of the emergent Aquarian energy. We now enter the second year of the new Aquarian era, and having moved through three phases of “graduation into a new realm of Being,” we can now willingly embrace our role as a unique spark of Light within infinite fields of Light.

As we’ve launched into a new 20 year and 200 year cycle, remember a new era has dawned, so have courage and take the initiative to leave the Earth and fly free into the Air of what’s opening as the Grand Mutation expands its promise into the Divine transfigured ideal of a more just truth and future we glimpsed in Libra, concentrated into focused power in Scorpio, expanded into new truths and futures in Sagittarius, and crafted into forms of personal power in Capricorn. This month’s Aquarian transits prime the pump for the renewal to come in March!

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Since I also include this in the newsletter, I’ll offer it to you here:

PLANETARY MOTIONS IN JANUARY 2022

SUN – 11 Capricorn to 12 Aquarius
MERCURY – 29 Capricorn to 11 Aquarius back to 26 Capricorn
VENUS – 24 Capricorn back to 12 Capricorn
MARS – 14 Sagittarius to 5 Capricorn
JUPITER – 1 to 7 Pisces
SATURN – 12 to 16 Aquarius
URANUS – 11 Taurus (all month)
NEPTUNE – 21 to 22 Pisces
PLUTO – 26 to 27 Capricorn
TRUE NORTH NODE – 2 Gemini back to 29 Taurus

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SIGNIFICANT ASTROLOGICAL OCCURRENCES IN JANUARY 2022

MERCURY ENTERS AQUARIUS; January 2
NEW MOON; January 2; Sun and Moon at 13 Capricorn
INFERIOR CONJUNCTION OF SUN AND VENUS; January 8 at 19 Capricorn
MERCURY STATIONARY RETROGRADE; January 14 at 11 Aquarius
FULL MOON; January 17; Sun 28 Capricorn, Moon 28 Cancer
URANUS STATIONARY DIRECT; January 18 at 11 Taurus
NORTH NODE ENTERS TAURUS/SOUTH NODE ENTERS SCORPIO; January 18
SUN ENTERS AQUARIUS; January 19
INFERIOR CONJUNCTION OF SUN AND MERCURY; January 23 at 4 Aquarius
MARS ENTERS CAPRICORN; January 24
MERCURY RE-ENTERS CAPRICORN; January 25
VENUS STATIONARY DIRECT; January 29 at 12 Capricorn
NEW MOON/BEGINNING OF CHINESE NEW YEAR; February 1; Sun and Moon at 13 Aquarius

I want to welcome all to drop by our Astrology Arizona Facebook page and join the social media initiative going on there. Please feel free to contribute a topic, ask about a topic, or anything else related to our new group! See you over there!

I also highly recommend coming to our zoom presentations, since we have some of the best astrologers anywhere giving talks about all kinds of great astrological topics. We’ve had “Evolutionary Configurations,” “America at the Crossroads,” “Using Planetary Hours in Charts,” “Escaping the Twelfth House,” “Outer Planet Cycles and How The Past Affects the Present,” “The Three Part Self,” “Egotism, Narcissism, Identity and Self,” and others. In September and October I spoke on “How Our Chart Expresses Our Spiritual Potential,” focusing on the various factors in our charts pointing us to spiritual fulfillment.

November was an extraordinary roundtable discussion on the recent Lunar Eclipse and the coming Solar eclipse, as well as how solar return positions might influence or be influenced by the progressed positions. December we’ll take a look back at the “Predictions for 2021” which was the topic of our January 2021 meeting, preparing us for our January 2022 meeting where we’ll again feature predictions from dozens of astrologer for what to expect next year! Please consider joining the group and coming to the party! Membership allows you a discount on all talks, and a free ad for your business on our website. You can find out more at our website or by writing me.

Reprinted on crystalwind.ca with written permission from Robert Wilkinson. Copying this article to other blogs is strictly prohibited. It is copyright protected. 

© Copyright 2021 Robert Wilkinson

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