The Year’s First New Moon with All its Bells & Whistles
The Capricorn New Moon takes place at 28° 43' on Sunday, January 18th at 11:51 am Pacific/2:51 pm Eastern.
The seeds of new beginnings—whether they be a yearning or a whisper, a dream long held or an inkling that has yet to make itself known but lives deep within our hearts—call to us in times such as these. They are here to be given life, brought from feelings and ideas that only our souls know, eventually birthed in the world of shape and form. And when we attune ourselves to the cosmic rhythm that ceaselessly shifts our present reality, we are welcomed into alignment with the celestial portals of potential and possibility that are meant to be accessed and honored, remembered and utilized, inviting us to engage with something that began as a simple notion and ended as a dream come true.
These motifs are best represented by the moon, the planetary body that governs our hearts and emotions, that knows what our souls long for even when we don’t yet. This lunar being, best understood when we feel our way through life with its constant twists and turns, cycles with such consistency that it rules the tides throughout the entire planet and has done since time immemorial. Once it ruled our own rhythms too, women syncing up with its waxing and waning over and again, its flow and theirs in such unison that life couldn’t be separated from this relationship. Even now, as our modern lives pull us from this connection, there is an inevitable enchantment back toward it, an inextricable link that continues to draw us in to celebrate and commemorate this time-honored bond, one that goes back further than our minds can remember, but one that our souls have always known.
As the first new moon of the year draws near, we are invited to gather into ourselves once again, into the fertile dark of winter’s night sky and of our own innate quiet. We are encouraged to be still, tuning into the depths of our own beings and the pure being of life itself, beginning again only when we know we are in sync with this greater force within all things. Grandmother Moon welcomes us into this space, holding us here with the love and nourishment that are hers to offer. When we open to receive these gifts, we become renewed in ourselves. We begin again.
When the new moon is in Capricorn—opposite the sign where it is considered to be at home—we might make a plan and stick to it. We might begin the long, arduous climb that calls to us, an endeavor we know we must make if we are to fully become ourselves. When the New Moon is here, we may get clear about the way forward, putting one foot in front of the other to make what started out as an inkling into a full-blown reality. Here, we could develop the patience and perseverance needed to co-create with reality the thing we know we must, that only we can. We may do what is hard, what requires real and true work, what asks us to dig in and go all out, inevitably developing integrity along the way. And through all of this, we might discover that the source of wisdom—something we once considered to be outside of ourselves—was buried deep within us all along, now actualized and accessible through our very own experience.
This is a moon whose pragmatism necessarily carries it far, giving it the long-term awareness to envision its future, as well as to follow this vision through virtuously, though the road is inevitably long, and it has no idea what it will encounter along the way. This is a moon that finds fulfillment in doing what others might balk at, thinking the task too much, the path considerable. And yet it inherently knows that if real progress is to be made both within itself and in the world, the only way forward is the long road; anything else would be selling itself short, ultimately leading it to disappointment.
This new moon, as usual, is not alone in its placement, for Mercury and Mars sit quite closely conjunct it in the same sign of fortitude and follow-through (Capricorn), and both Venus and Pluto sit on its other side in the sign of authenticity and innovation (Aquarius). As well, Saturn and Neptune sextile (60° angle) the new moon from Pisces, the last time each will be in the sign of the mystic and the meditator, until 2053 (Saturn) and 2176 ( Neptune). In other words, a lot of energies are in the mix!
Mercury reminds us that perception is everything, for the lens through which we view reality inevitably shapes how we interact with it. When in the sign of the sea goat, this perceptual filter gives us the ability to envisage what we, ourselves, in other times or places, may not have had the ability to conceive of, but now we do. Mercury encourages us to ensure that we are clear in our capacities to sense ourselves into the future in ways that will ultimately fulfill a deep part of us, come what may. It asks that we go all in, knowing that whatever we can imagine, we can create and embody.
Mars echoes this sentiment, though in its own way, reminding us that skillfully placing our will into what ultimately strengthens our resolve and our capacity to make it so, is a good thing. I have never considered Mars (or Saturn, for that matter), to be ‘bad luck’ as the early astrologers have framed them. And perhaps this perceptual shift is necessary to get where we’re meant to go! Mars reminds us that passionately engaging with what lights us up and brings us a sense of empowerment is important, and while it might like the intensity of a spar every now and again, when this energy is used in a healthy way, it can get us far. Tempered by Capricorn’s level-headedness, this setup has the capacity to both encourage our efforts toward what is ultimately important to our deep sensibilities, as well as to give us the persistence to make it so.
Venus, always relational in some regard, reminds us that even though this task is ours and ours alone, we most certainly do not ‘go it alone’ the whole time we’re on the journey. We connect with people along the way who draw out different parts of us, and we, them. We inevitably encounter those who inspire us, encourage us, and remind us of something we may have forgotten along the way; those who perhaps dissuade us, or help alter our course in some fashion through catalyzing experiences. All are meant to gift us with something we couldn’t have known or integrated on our own. And when in Aquarius, connecting with those who galvanize ingenuity and originality are at the fore, and we’re invited to ideas and possibilities that make the climb to the top of the mountain more interesting, authentic, and attainable. We remember facets of our experience that need to be fleshed out, lived into, or expanded upon, an important part of our own unique selves awakened in so doing.
Pluto, also in Aquarius until 2043, brings an alchemical energy to this new moon, and because of its closeness to Venus, does so through relationships and connections we already have, or those we are meant to but don’t yet. This planet always wants us to uncover and integrate an important part of ourselves that needs to come home in order for us to operate at our optimal capacity. If we are called to the underworld to do this work, so be it. If we are invited into the edgy and uncomfortable but ultimately transformative realms, we will be better versions of ourselves for having made the journey, reclaiming undeniably important facets of the beings we are here to be. And Capricorn, in its voyage to great heights, is aided by this process and all it entails.
And speaking of tails, though an indomitable earth sign, Capricorn shares quite a bit of the water element with Pisces, depicted with hooves in the front of its body and a fish tail in the rear, allowing it endurance no matter which domain it chooses. Its ability to dive deeply into inner realms that other signs may tread more lightly in allow it the wisdom it is inherently linked to, while also connecting it with the mystical sign of Pisces. Saturn, Capricorn’s ruler, has been here in the sign of the fish since the spring of 2023, where it currently forms a tight sextile with the new moon. Though wisdom necessarily comes through earthly experience, the great masters have taught that taking the time and space to connect with the Source, the spirit that moves in all things, and the inherent intelligence that animates all of life, is tantamount to being ‘in the world but not of it,’ for in connecting with our infinite selves, we gain the necessary awareness to human as skillfully as possible. Saturn asks us to stop doing the things that we’ve outgrown when it comes to evading our true paths and/or escaping into less discerning activities, cultivating the integrity to partake in practices that remind us of who we are on a soul level, and how we are meant to weave this important aspect of ourselves into the world of shape and form. Anything less, and we undercut ourselves and what we are meant to bring to life here.
Neptune, which moved into Pisces in 2012, remains there for just over a week. It ingresses into Aries on January 26th, where it will stay until May 2038. In the last minutes of the sign of the dreamer, we are given an opportunity to remember who we are on a soul level and what we came here to do in this incarnation. The dreaming is important, as is the living of the intuitive knowings that oft come in flashes of insight or mystical memories the more we make ourselves available to them. When we carve out the time and space to inhabit not just this world but the subtle realms too, the thread of continuity between these places grows more durable, and we learn to exist in ways that join the earthly with the celestial, and vice versa. We bring heaven to earth, so to speak, calling forth the most clear and true parts of who we are, living them outright in the world. Holding ourselves back from this isn’t inherently a bad thing, but why do that when the deepest part of us already knows the way forward?
Uranus, the most electrifying planet of the zodiac, always gives an invitation to and celebration of what is most authentic within ourselves, and when in the earth sign of Taurus, it reminds us that we are here to embody our truest selves, not just conceptualize them, talk about them, or imagine them to be true. This means clearing out old stories that have been residing in the tissues, muscles, and viscera, perhaps for lifetimes, in order to make space for what is most soulful and real about who we’ve come here to be, who we truly are at the deepest level. If it feels right in your blood and in your bones, then it is, and this is the place from which choices are meant to be made and life is meant to be lived. Uranus would agree, for the freedom it seeks is one that uplifts the whole, not one that tears it down. It stands for the emancipation from any and all ideas and thoughts that keep us bound to a toxic framework that continues wreaking havoc on our planet and so many of her inhabitants, instead reminding us that when we put aside selfish agendas, remembering and embodying our most clear selves, amazingly powerful things can and do happen in the world. Our coming together to stand for the freedom of the whole human family, not just a few of us here or there, is what is possible and certainly part of why we signed up for this earth mission at all. Uranus is here to liberate you, and it’s also here to liberate the whole.
May your journey be blessed, and you as you make it. May you know your truest self and weave its wisdom into the gift that is your life. And may this new moon bring all that it’s meant to, inspiring you to the heights you were always meant to climb.
