Tradition and Transformation: Capricorn Season Forecast
Capricorn always arrives with a sense of gravity. It’s to be expected from the sign of Cardinal Earth and like the rocky terrain it represents we’re thrust into mapping and strategizing the path before us. It’s no surprise that our modern New Year falls within the sign’s domain, ruling both the resolutions we make and the commitment with which we meet them on the other side of January 1st.
But Capricorn values process, and it insists that things are taken care of. Loose ends must be tied before new threads are taken up. And this season comes with many frays…
The Sun officially arrives in Capricorn on the 21st during the last few hours of a Cancer Moon in direct opposition to Pluto and Venus, now in retrograde. It’s a soft unsettling, a quiet dis-ease, but the Sun’s ingress is a call to action. Receptivity has not gotten us through the storm — it’s time to act on our own authority. On the 23rd the nodal axis officially leaves Gemini/Sagittarius, where it’s been for the last year and a half, and moves into Taurus/Scorpio. This is a huge shift. Rather than focusing on themes of connectivity, communication, and global community, we’ll be asked to get much more intimate. Uranus has already shaken up the Taurus landscape for some time ushering in massive changes around our resources but with the North Node now joining it, you may not be able to ignore it any longer. Taurus rules our basic comforts: food, shelter, money, and the ways we turn them into luxury. It’s likely that the next few years will bring revelations about our relationship to these things, our fears of scarcity and abundance, and the impact they have on our environment. With the South Node in Scorpio, we could also see how they’re manipulated to keep us disempowered and immobile. Scorpio is best known as the sign of sex, death, and rebirth, but it’s also the sign of other people’s money, defining the lengths we’re willing to go to in order to survive. Remember that the nodal axis plays out in two scales: the personal and the global. This is larger than a singular cosmic phenomenon and we’ll have six more eclipses throughout this cycle, coming to completion in 2023. Keep your eyes open to both internal and external pressures around these themes and listen to your instincts — Taurus also governs our base animal urges. If ever there was a time to trust your gut, it’s now.
On the 24th Saturn and Uranus square off one last time. This has been the defining aspect of the year occurring in February, June, and now finishing off in December, and it will not occur again for another 22 years — a wholly different point in a wholly different cycle. Looking backwards this aspect took us into the 21st Century, occurring twice over the second half of 1999 and finishing off in the Spring of Y2K. These aspects are truly a cosmic turning point, a tipping point in the arc of history. Saturn has long been the universal indicator for authority and establishment, standing in for systems and institutions that create the foundations of order. Uranus, a Very Modern Planet, is its antithesis, a crackling electric energy of revolution and reform that challenges our notions and routines. Pitted against each other in this square we find the ideas and institutions which govern our lives thrown into question. The fascinating part of this particular set of squares is the reversal of energies: Uranus resides in stable and predictable Taurus, challenging us to make the mundane magical, while Saturn sits in the collective space of Aquarius insisting that we come to love the alien. When the clock struck 12 on January 1st of this year, I presented you with a singular question — “que bono?” Who benefits? This has been the Uranian mantra, the question posed to Saturn throughout the year. Now, as the Taurean forces grow stronger, we’re urged to rebel by returning to our roots, listening to our instincts, and taking the proverbial bull by the horns. In order for the next few years to work for us we’ll need to advocate for ourselves, trust our own authority, and tune into natural indicators we’ve long forgotten. 2021 draws to a close just days after this aspect perfects but the energy lingers — continue to ask that all important question to make sure who benefits is in fact you.
We may not be able to answer these questions if we’re still clouded with personal doubt. The very next day brings us the second hit of Pluto conjunct Venus thanks to her present retrograde. Retrogrades have a reputation for causing undue chaos but there is a constructive means to harness this energy. Those willing to dive a little deeper will be able to uproot some long-held traumas, especially those surrounding relationships both familial and intimate. While these are never pleasant emotions to revisit — especially during a particularly delicate time of year — it’s important to remember that the thoughts and feelings we bury become seeds which germinate in our unconscious minds. And as Jung so famously said, “until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” Pluto absolutely represents this choice. At the same time, Mars and Chiron strike a harmonious chord providing a clear path to the words and actions that have wounded us. Make peace with these forces now and go into the New Year with a clear subconscious.
Days later on the 29th the Sun squares off with Chiron in an attempt to chase away unwanted shadows once and for all. Mercury also arrives in its retrograde shadow, giving us a taste of what’s to come. Pay close attention to the themes that arise and resolve to work on them with all the diligence that Capricorn demands. If you’ve been waiting for some levity, Jupiter lands back home in Pisces this same day reminding us that expansion is possible in all dimensions — the deeper we plumb our own depths, the more vast our own being becomes. Jupiter is the planet of wealth and generosity, but in Pisces it emphasizes less tangible riches. Wisdom, joy, experience, and influence may be even more valuable than currency, a sentiment echoed by other planetary players of the day. With the flip of the calendar page, Uranus trines the Sun, bringing brilliant light to this revelation. Allow this to be a New Dawn, a self-driven day to usher in a new era of value.
The New Moon in Capricorn occurs on January 2nd and brings a clean slate for the new year. New Moons bring our emotional centers into alignment with our outward expression and ultimately present us with a chance to raise ourselves from lower possessions into higher potentials. With so much energy seated in Capricorn’s solid, stable Earth, this brings a boost of determination to embody those ideals we set for ourselves as resolutions and climb the mountains which previously separated us from our goals.
On January 14th Mercury stations retrograde at 10 degrees of Aquarius. Over the next few weeks it will travel backwards through the sign and ultimately re-enter Capricorn, where it will station direct at 25 Degrees. When we examine the symbolism of these degrees we find themes of excuse, denial, and performative action: use these weeks to examine your personal narrative and the dialogue with which you engage. It may be easier to go along with the script you’ve been handed but remember that this only outsources personal authority. We are currently torn between tradition and transformation and the outcome will ultimately depend on the strength of your will. When you strip away the rhetoric, what values lie beneath?
The Full Moon on the 17th might uncover some of what was lost. Cancer is the sign of the unconscious, a place which holds so many of our deeply human mysteries. Both our shadows and our light reside here. This Moon reveals the ways we’ve put some of this humanity aside to feel power and achieve status in the earthly world. Retreat inwards. Reflect deeply. Nourish yourself in the human experience. Just hours later Uranus stations direct. Normally these outer planets aren’t quite so perceptible but even as we move into 2022, Uranus remains a power player. As it rights course we feel the beauty of this human experience rooted in individuality. Rediscover your roots. Clothe yourself in your uniqueness. Take joy in difference that defines you from others. This is how we experience the fullness of life. As we move into Aquarius Season we’re reminded that the revolution we crave is well and truly human — heart-centered, compassionate, and beautifully imperfect.
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Fairlie Theta is a professional astrologer and lifetime student of the esoteric. You can find more of her work and book a personal consultation through her website, ThatAstrologer.com