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Today the Moon in Aries moves through squares to Pluto and Saturn in Capricorn. These are challenging aspects that have the potential to describe the forces or structures that limit our movements, that diminish our agency or foreclose possibilities. We may find ourselves coming up against situations that feel impossible or immovable. The Moon then makes a sextile to Mercury in Aquarius, inviting easy communication and an active exchange of ideas. What thought processes are you developing and how might you share that thinking with others and invite new perspectives or voices into your process? This could be an opportunity to reframe the challenges from earlier in the day. Finally, the Moon ingresses into Taurus, the sign of its exaltation. With its ruler Venus also in exaltation in Pisces and on Venus' day, the Moon in Taurus brings our attention back to the body, to pleasure, to connection and love. How might you prioritize your own experiences of pleasure while also sharing those experiences with others and contributing to their pleasures as well? Audre Lorde writes, "The erotic functions for me in several ways, and the first is in providing the power which comes from sharing deeply any pursuit with another person. The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding much of what is not shared between them, and lessens the threat of their difference." As the Moon moves through Taurus, may you create opportunities for deeply sharing physical, emotional, psychic, and intellectual joy, bridging experiences and lessening the threat of difference. 
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The astrology for today is bold and energetic as the Moon in Aries makes a sextile to the Sun in Aquarius, a square to Jupiter in Capricorn, and a trine to Mars in Sagittarius. The Sun offers illumination and the kind of direction that affirms life and vitality. Jupiter, in its fall in Capricorn, still encourages growth and abundance, working with what’s available to generate something meaningful. It may not be easy work, but the capacity to transform scarcity into possibility is a skill we will need in the days ahead. Mars, the ruler of Aries, impels us to take action, to stand up for what matters, and to make things matter because we are standing up for them. The optimism of Sagittarius offers us hope to sustain us in the midst of struggling against injustice. As Sara Ahmed writes in Living a Feminist Life, “Where there is hope, there is difficulty … Hope is not at the expense of struggle but animates a struggle; hope gives us a sense that there is a point to working things out, working things through. Hope does not always point toward the future, but carries us through when the terrain is difficult, when the path we follow makes it harder to proceed.” I have often quoted Angela Davis who has said, “Freedom is a constant struggle.” As the Moon moves through Aries, we may find that we are being pushed to struggle for freedom—for ourselves or for those who are marginalized within the world as it is. What is the hope that animates your struggle, that can carry you through the difficult terrain that constitutes the path toward freedom—if not the very practice of freedom? Ahmed writes that we “create other ways of being when we have to struggle to be,” and what is freedom if not the creation of ways in which our existence and survival—the existence and survival of all—become possible?  Today the Moon completes its time in Pisces and ingresses into Aries. With reception from Mars, the ruler of Aries, in Sagittarius, today we may feel driven to embark on a new adventure and energized to move beyond the familiar. After several days of strong Pisces and Neptune influences, Aries offers a quickening, with the heat of cardinal fire generating motivation for getting things done. There are no major aspects today, which could be a nice moment of clarity, focus, and direction. What is it that you feel motivated to accomplish, and how can you use today to take bold steps in that direction?  Today brings major emphases to Pisces and to Neptune in particular. The Moon in Pisces makes a square to Mars in Sagittarius and a conjunction to Neptune in Pisces before Mars perfects its square to Neptune. Mars describes our drive to take action, and in Sagittarius, there may be big ideas on which we’re ready to move. But Neptune in Pisces is swirling and oceanic; getting things done today may feel like wading through deep water or trying to take aim sideways through the moving tide. We may also find that we encounter conflict between how we imagine or desire things to be and the practical conditions of our circumstances. Making big moves today may just result in frustration. What possibilities might present themselves if you instead allowed yourself to drift, carried along the currents of daydreaming, meditation, or altered states? The Moon then makes a conjunction to Venus before moving through sextiles to both Pluto and Saturn in Capricorn. The Moon and Venus together is ideal for nurturing connection in mutually supportive ways. Pluto may magnify or intensify our feelings this evening; if your emotions are feeling overwhelming or out of scale with your current context, be gentle with yourself and ask how the magnitude of these feelings may be rooted in something deeper and older than just what you're experiencing right now. But just as Pluto shows us the deeper and older roots of feelings arising in this moment, Saturn reminds us that that deep, ancient structures are available to us, within our remembered and forgotten traditions, within our bodies, and within our bones. Saturn reminds us that when we feel unstable or in need of support, reach back and find it.  Today the Moon in Pisces makes a sextile to Uranus in Taurus, stirring the waters of emotional breakthrough. What have you not yet allowed yourself to feel? What if you gave yourself space to soften, to release, and to open to those feelings that have needed to come through? Then Venus makes a conjunction to Neptune in Pisces. Venus is the planet of love and union, and Neptune is the planet of fantasy, imagination, and the dissolution of boundaries. In thinking about love and fantasy, we might consider how being with another in their own fantasy or imagination—particularly of themselves, how they perceive themselves or wish to perceive themselves—through our sustained investment in its reality may be an ultimate act of love. I do not mean imagination or fantasy as something that is not real; on the contrary, I mean it in the sense that Judith Butler writes, “Fantasy is part of the articulation of the possible; it moves us beyond what is merely actual and present into a realm of possibility, the not yet actualized or the not actualizable … Fantasy is not the opposite of reality … Fantasy is what allows us to imagine ourselves and others otherwise; it establishes the possible in excess of the real; it points elsewhere, and when embodied, it brings the elsewhere home.” To see ourselves as possible in ways that the world around us refuses to affirm is so inherent to many queer and trans experiences; to be the sources of affirmation for one another—to speak and touch and look in ways that say, “I see you the way you see yourself”—is the pulse of so many queer loves. Venus conjunct Neptune describes love that invites one another into our fantasies, into our passionate affirmations of one another’s possibility. As the Moon makes a sextile to Jupiter—its ruler—in Capricorn, may the abundant waters of compassion and empathy flow generously between us.  For most of the day today, the Moon moves through the latter half of Aquarius with no major aspects before ingressing into Pisces in the evening. The Moon in Pisces will summon up our empathy and compassion, the tides that carry us into ourselves and back out toward others. I am reminded of this passage from Alexis Pauline Gumbs’ M Archive: After the End of the World: “and despite everything, because of everything, when it all went down they remembered to move towards water. or they moved towards water in order to remember. the order itself is unclear. but they headed down towards the groundwater and to the nearest coasts and to hidden and remembered rivers and to the places the rivers would have been if they had not been dammed, which is not that different from how it started, and the water said in the language of our longing bodies, I knew you’d be back.” When it all goes down, return to the water, in order to remember. Listen to what the waters that connect us are saying, the memories that the water holds, as well as the teachings. Then tonight Venus in Pisces makes a square to Mars in Sagittarius. This aspect has the potential to describe conflict or challenges in our relationships or how we relate to others. Mars in Sagittarius is bold and confident and ready to take up space; Venus, although exalted in Pisces, facilitates union through dissolution, through eroding our self-contained character. Square one another, this is a set-up for boundary violations, overstepping the parameters of relationships, or taking up too much space in the life of another. Be mindful of your own boundaries and check in about the boundaries of others.  Today Mercury in Aquarius makes a sextile to Mars in Sagittarius. This aspect offers the resources and the impulse for direct, clear communication, the effective and efficient transmission of ideas, particularly translating large-scale or big-picture perspectives into forms that both broaden our horizons and connect us to one another in potentially new ways. The Moon in Aquarius also makes a sextile to Mars before making a conjunction to Mercury. We may feel emboldened to take action that aligns us with the futures we are working to create. Listen to the words that are coming from your own mouth. What if you are already speaking what it is that you need to hear? Listen for what messages and insights arise from your own body. How can you give voice to the wisdom and knowledge that your body already holds?  Today the Moon ingresses into Aquarius and applies a square to Uranus in Taurus before making a conjunction to the Sun—marking the New Moon in Aquarius just 1º from the Uranus square. The start of this lunation cycle insists on a radical shift in perspective, revolutionary invention and innovation, and aligning ourselves with ways of thinking together that not only deviate from existing normative thought forms but also enable us to envision new worlds to come. adrienne maree brown writes, “With our human gift of reasoning, we have tried to control or overcome the emergent processes that are our own nature, the processes of the planet we live on, and the universe we call home. The result is crisis at each scale we are aware of, from our deepest inner moral sensibilities to the collective scale of climate and planetary health and beyond, to our species in relation to space and time … Emergence is our inheritance as part of this universe; it is how we change. Emergent strategy is how we intentionally change in ways that grow our capacity to embody the just and liberated worlds we long for.” At this New Moon, we can ask: how might I think differently about the life I am living and the worlds we are making if I were to see them as if from a distance—from the edges, from the margins, from the eccentric places moving away from center? There is no “outside” to power or the existing social conditions through which our lives are constituted, but what would it mean to inhabit these current conditions as if from the outside—from the future, from the farthest reaches of our imagination, or from simply a perspective that is foreign to our own? How might I intentionally change in order to grow my capacity to embody the kinds of worlds for which I long? Set then intention and see how it unfolds in the weeks and months ahead.  Today the Sun in Aquarius squares Uranus in Taurus. This could describe sudden illumination or flashes of understanding that may challenge your existing perception of yourself or the world around you. It may also describe a crisis of purpose, disrupting what it is you feel you are here to do. What if even your most closely held beliefs and perspectives were also subject to questioning? Then Venus in Pisces makes a sextile to Jupiter in Capricorn. This is an easy, supportive aspect between the two benefics, creating conditions for loving connections, especially as a remedy for the strain of sustained effort. It’s likely that the Capricorn area of your chart and life has been demanding considerable attention and labor for quite a while, and that this has intensified over the last few weeks. Could you alleviate some of the exhaustion by making time to be with people who love and inspire you? The Moon in Capricorn makes a sextile to Neptune in Pisces, inviting a flow of fresh imagination and dreaming into the practical work of the day. Finally, the Moon makes conjunctions to Pluto and Saturn as it moves through its balsamic phase. If your emotional reserves feel scarce and if your body feels depleted, take time to rest and recover, knowing that resting is doing something: it is part of a practice of well-being, and it is necessary in order to support that which will be planted at the New Moon tomorrow.  In the earliest hours of the morning, the Moon ingresses into Capricorn, the sign of its antithesis or detriment. The Moon—which signifies sensitivity, nurturing, and care—struggles in Capricorn where there is so much emphasis on work, structure, and focused building toward long-term goals. Having Saturn, the ruler of Capricorn, also in this sign at least gives the Moon reception which offers some mitigation, but we may spend the next couple of days feeling very supported in diligent hard work when what we may want is tender care. The Moon makes a trine to Uranus in Taurus, inspiring us to break away from established patterns and to dare to do things differently. The plans we laid may no longer seem like the most effective way forward, and we may find ourselves improvising in new and unexpected directions. The Moon then makes a sextile to Venus in Pisces and a conjunction to Jupiter in Capricorn. With both benefics offering their affirmation and aid, we may find that the tasks and projects through which we are working become more meaningful when we align them with being in service to that which we love. Could the work of today become more satisfying if you reframed it as being in collaboration with your future self who will be so much more supported because of what you are accomplishing right now in the present? How might the work you are doing today be planting seeds for a life you want to be living months or even years from now?  Today the Moon spends the whole day moving through Sagittarius with no major aspects. With Jupiter—the ruler of Sagittarius—in aversion in Capricorn, there could a strong sense of movement without direction or expansive energy without focus. Jupiter is in the process of enriching whatever area of our lives is described by Capricorn in order to support our long-term growth; however, in Sagittarius, the Moon may be pulling our attention elsewhere, with a tendency to wander or follow our excitement without much sense of how this contributes to abiding, intentional expansion. The challenge today will be taming and focusing our attention that may insist on being ever-elsewhere, remembering that what we want to become in the days ahead will depend upon what we are able to put into practice in the present.  Today the Moon in Sagittarius makes a sextile to Mercury in Aquarius. You may find yourself in nurturing or emotionally supportive conversations, finding how to say and receive what needs to be said with sensitivity and care. The Moon then makes a square to Venus in Pisces, offering empathy and compassionate support to those around us, especially our loved ones and those we consider to be kin. As the Sun ingresses into Aquarius, illumination and attention shifts toward the big picture of our shared world, both in the present and moving forward into the future. Wherever Aquarius is in your chart will be receiving the life-sustaining light of the Sun throughout the month ahead. Then the Moon conjoins Mars in Sagittarius, which could describe the seeds or roots of irritation or conflict. In contrast to the loving and supportive mood of the morning, the Moon conjunct Mars can describe provocation and contention, giving or taking offense, and in Sagittarius, this may be due to treading through unfamiliar territory. If you experience agitation or activation this afternoon, give yourself time to breathe, respond with patience and curiosity, and remember how much you do not know about the situation you are facing. Finally, the Moon makes a square to Neptune in Pisces, which can cloud our judgement or lead us down the path of reacting to our own projections. If you find yourself in emotional turmoil, consider that what you are perceiving may be distorted. Give yourself time for more of the picture to become clear—which might mean waiting to respond or take action until tomorrow.  Today the Moon in Scorpio moves through sextiles to Pluto, Saturn, and the Sun in Capricorn before moving into Sagittarius. There’s a heaviness to the Moon in Scorpio, the sign of its fall or depression. The Moon describes the body and the emotional life, and in Scorpio, we often feel the weight or burden of the deep well of feelings that we hold within. In aspect to Pluto and Saturn, we may feel touched by grief or even despair as we encounter worlds that are collapsing around us and within. What if you gave yourself time to feel the grief and hold the despair today? What companions or allies might you reach for in order to support you in the difficult feelings that may come up? As we move through the waning quarter phase of the lunation, we may find that we are stepping away or letting go in order to create space for something new to emerge. When the Moon ingresses into Sagittarius, the mood lifts and opens up. We may feel inspired to explore or seek out new experiences. As we come back up to the surface from our own inner depths, there can be comfort and even joy in moving back outward, beyond our own borders and horizons. We may not yet know where we are going, but sometimes it is the departure and not the destination that offers us purpose and relief.  Today Mercury in Aquarius makes a square to Uranus in Taurus. Mercury is the messenger who moves between the upper and lower realms, translating between different domains and delivering news that inspires movement or new perspectives. As Mercury makes a square to Uranus, today we may expect information or messages that disrupt, shake up, disorient, or displace our footing. We may also find ourselves inclined to say what we feel needs to be said, even if doing so is contentious or disruptive. With Mercury in Aquarius, we may be getting in touch with the bigger picture or future possible worlds, and it may be that speaking such worlds into being will send tremors through the world as it now is. I am reminded of Walidah Imarisha’s introduction to Octavia’s Brood: “Whenever we try to envision a world without war, without violence, without prisons, without capitalism, we are engaging in speculative fiction … are we brave enough to imagine beyond the boundaries of ‘the real’ and then do the hard work of sculpting reality from our dreams?” What might you speak or write or communicate today that participates in the work of sculpting a new reality? The Moon in Scorpio then makes a sextile to Jupiter in Capricorn. With both planets in their fall or depression, this helpful sextile may be limited in what it can deliver, but it suggests that generosity of feeling and tuning in to the abundance of gifts within your own body could be useful resources as we make our way through the day.  This is a busy day of aspects and transitions for the Moon: in the first half of the day, the Moon in Libra makes squares to Pluto, Saturn, and the Sun in Capricorn, entering the waning quarter phase of this lunation cycle. Today we may feel the personal stakes of challenging existing systems and refusing operations of power that depend upon domination, exploitation, and abuse. There may be a personal cost—particularly in how we connect with others—as we participate in the dismantling of processes of control and extraction. Parts of our world are coming undone, and it would be naïve to think that this would not require parts of ourselves coming undone as well. The Moon then ingresses into Scorpio, the sign of its fall or depression, without reception from its ruler Mars. We may be burdened by the weight of our own feelings or the feelings of others. It may feel as if our momentum or movement is turned inward toward the deep sensitivity of our own vulnerabilities. The Moon then makes a square to Mercury in Aquarius, which could challenge us to speak from our own depths in ways that leave us feeling exposed. Then the Moon opposes Uranus in Taurus, demanding that we break from familiar patterns that potentially contribute to our own repression or abandonment of parts of ourselves. Finally, the Moon makes a trine to Venus in Pisces, bringing relief from the intensities of the day in the form of compassionate care, both taking time to love and embrace the parts of ourselves that are feeling raw, unsettled, or exposed, as well as asking for and receiving the kinds of love that we need in order to sooth our systems.  Today the Moon in Libra makes a sextile to Mars in Sagittarius, bringing supportive opportunities into how we connect and work with others and how we blaze pathways into new directions. Who are the people or groups with whom you feel affirmed in taking action that potentially moves you into uncharted territory? With Mars in Sagittarius, optimism could be running high and hot, making risk-taking seem like a really good idea. Who are the friends and colleagues that you can trust to council you in a balanced way? The Moon then makes a square to Jupiter in Capricorn. No one said that growth would be easy. Today we may feel the difficulty of how we are being asked to expand and evolve, but hopefully with a glimpse of how the effort can pay off in the end. Finally, Mercury ingresses into Aquarius—no longer with reception from Saturn, but free from the restriction, pressure, and demolition taking place in Capricorn. Because Mercury made conjunctions to both Saturn and Pluto just as they were perfecting their conjunction to one another on January 12, today we may begin to receive some of the information that Mercury was gathering over the weekend. Wherever Capricorn occupies in your chart has been going through an intensive period over the last several years challenging how your life has been structured and how you relate to power. As Mercury moves into Aquarius, the messenger may offer insight from the underworld beneath what we have been able to witness, helping us understand not only the processes that have been unfolding but also what possibilities are opening up ahead.  As the Moon continues to move through Virgo, it makes trines to the Sun and its ruler Mercury in Capricorn. What would it take for the work you are doing to be life-affirming? What do you need to communicate or express in order to feel supported and valued in the tasks that are expected of you? In writing about women, wages, and housework, Silvia Federici suggests, “The things we have to prove are our capacity to expose what we are already doing, what capital is doing to us and our power in the struggle against it.” She describes the exploitative conditions of invisible domestic labor without wages and demands a feminist revolution of wages for housework, writing, “We want to call work what is work so that eventually we might rediscover what is love and create what will be our sexuality which we have never known.” Following the lead of this feminist critique of labor, as the Moon moves through these trines to the Sun and Mercury, we may contemplate and communicate the work we are no longer willing to do, and the ways to bring the work we are doing into alignment with our well-being. The Moon then ingresses into Libra, emphasizing connection, harmony, and just social relations. However, the Moon does not have reception from its ruler Venus as it moves through Libra—and it will not have reception from Mars and Jupiter as it moves through Scorpio and Sagittarius later in the week. The Moon’s sustained aversion to its domicile rulers gives the week a feeling of getting by without much support. Finally, Venus in Pisces makes a sextile to Uranus in Taurus. The revolutionary impulse of Uranus may inspire radical acts of care and daring experiments with pleasure that dissolve our perceived limitations of self and other.  Today the Moon in Virgo makes a trine to Jupiter in Capricorn. This is a productive aspect, supporting us in taking practical steps toward long-term goals. The growth that Jupiter in Capricorn describes is gradual and deliberate, and the Moon in Virgo is meticulous, methodical, and precise. Today is a day for checking in with how you want to grow into the future, breaking down the steps between here and there, making to-do lists, and getting to work. As the Moon makes an opposition to Neptune in Pisces, we may be drawn to daydreaming or getting swept away in fantasies of all our lives could become. It may take some effort, but stay focused on the practical matters at hand, balancing your need for dreaming with doing the work to bring those dreams into reality. The Moon will then make trines to Pluto and Saturn in Capricorn, empowering us to take responsibility for the parts of our lives that we can shape the most and to commit to the discipline needed to create the lives that we want to be living—personally and collectively.  Today the Sun in Capricorn makes conjunctions to Pluto and Saturn, just beginning to separate from their union yesterday. The Sun brings illumination and understanding, so as it meets up with Pluto and then Saturn, we may receive clarity or insight regarding the structures on which we have relied that are now coming undone. At the same time, both Pluto and Saturn can describe challenges to the light and vitality of the Sun. It may be that as old systems begin to break down, how we understand wellness and what we require for health must change as well. The Moon in Leo opposes Venus in Aquarius, and it may feel as if we must choose between the love and connections we desire for the future and our ability to show up more fully as we are in the present. But if you feel that you must diminish or reduce yourself in order to preserve your access to love, it may not be love to which you are attached. The Moon ingresses into Virgo, drawing focus to making practical matters more efficient and productive—themes that are even more pronounced as Mercury, the ruler of Virgo, moves through Capricorn. Then Venus ingresses into Pisces, the sign of its exaltation. Venus in Pisces celebrates love that is nourished by empathy, compassion, and practices of mutual care that dissolve rigid boundaries. For Venus in Pisces, union comes from sharing emotional needs, choosing to make your needs my concern and asking that my needs concern you as well. Finally, the Moon in Virgo moves through a trine to Uranus in Taurus and a square to Mars in Sagittarius. Conditions may require radical adaptability and a willingness to change in order to repair harm.  Today is one of the most prominent aspects of the astrology of 2020: after years of approaching one another, today Saturn perfects its conjunction to Pluto in Capricorn. Pluto describes how power operates—often abuses of power—and Saturn describes structure, boundaries, limitation, and refusal. In many ways, this conjunction describes a refusal of existing power structures, even if such a rejection requires the collapse of existing systems. We’ve been building toward this moment for quite a while, ever since Saturn entered Capricorn in December 2017. We have seen immense pressure on the ways that we have ordered and organized our lives, the kinds of limitations that have been set to both support and constrain how we live, as well as how power operates on and through our bodies and our communities. We’ve spent the last two years examining, dismantling, and struggling against existing patterns in whatever area of our charts are occupied by Capricorn. This conjunction is a peak moment in this process, closing out one cycle and beginning the next. This process will continue until Saturn moves into Aquarius—first in March, then again finally in December. If you have Saturn in Capricorn in your own chart, this conjunction is part of your Saturn return. If you were born at night, then Saturn is likely a more challenging planet for you, and this conjunction could be emphasizing a breakdown or breakthrough moment of boring down through foundations in your life that can no longer support you. Whatever this transit describes, it will not be something new or out of nowhere today; rather, today may hold an intense transition from one phase of the process and into the next phase as we move toward a conclusion. Mercury is making conjunctions to both Saturn and Pluto a few hours before their conjunction. Whatever process Pluto and Saturn are describing, Mercury—the planet of communication, translation, and travel—seems to be gathering more information, but it may be information that is repressed or restricted in some way until Mercury clears the last degrees of Capricorn. Whatever insight Mercury might offer may not become available until Mercury moves into Aquarius on January 16. Pay attention, stay alert, and reach out for support that allows you to stay resilient.  |
AuthorMichael J. Morris is a witch, an astrologer, a tarot reader, an artist, a writer, and a teacher. Categories
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