The first new moon of 2019 is a solar eclipse at 15° Capricorn, a powerful seed point for manifestation and building solid foundations. Wherever your personal new year falls, from Samhain onwards we've been brewing secrets in the dark, turning over our inner soil to make it fertile and ready for new growth.
Now we are past the lightseed of the Solstice and into the new calendar year, this solar eclipse in Capricorn brings us the energy of cardinal earth. What seeds are beginning to sprout? Which plans do we nurture as the light gathers strength? This eclipse is part of the cycle falling across the Capricorn - Cancer axis, continuing until 2020 and bringing opportunities to work through our ideas about security, both material and emotional. Capricorn is established power, the structures which rule society. Ideally, we contribute our work and receive stability in return. Pluto's long journey through Capricorn is revealing the shadow side of this system, bringing into question not only the reality of how society works but also our inner assumptions about that reality. This eclipse may bring the beginnings of another layer being peeled away, another level of reality revealed for what it is. Both Capricorn and Cancer are concerned with belonging, in their different ways. Those with strong Capricorn energy may seek external validation, wanting to know their place in society and feeling a sense of security based on their position in the hierarchy. Those with strong Cancer energy seek a sense of family, whatever that may mean to them. Both in their way are concerned with tribe, with being part of a wider social group which provides both emotional and material security. Here in Britain, that question of belonging is very much in focus right now and those questions of "them and us" and the divisions in society are likely to lead to decisive change in the coming weeks. There's a sad lack of Cancerian compassion in any of it and the solar eclipse in Capricorn is likely to be more concerned with practicalities than with the feeling behind them.
On the same day as the eclipse, rebellious Uranus goes stationary direct in the final degree of Aries, getting ready to move back into earthy Taurus later in February. We may find that the change comes more easily, perhaps that the way forward seems clearer. Focusing on honesty and openness is key, although the cynical part of me wonders if such a thing is possible, at least among the media and those in power. Uranus asks us to be true to ourselves, however challenging. These issues may surface again around January 19 when Uranus makes a helpful aspect to maverick asteroid Chiron in the final degree of Pisces, reminding us that ultimately we are all one and the apparent divisions between us are meaningless. The Uranian influence increases from 20 January when the Sun moves into Uranus ruled Aquarius, followed on 24 January by Mercury.
Visionary Jupiter, comfortably at home in Sagittarius, brings some expansive and even positive energy, especially after he is joined by Venus on January 7. The two meet on 22 January, a conjunction of the so-called great benefics bringing a glimpse of the meaning behind all the change. Jupiter clashes with mystical Neptune on 13 January, bringing the possibility of a deeper connection to spirit but also the risk of getting lost in our illusions. A helpful aspect between disciplined Saturn and Neptune on 31 January may restore our ability to see reality as it is. On February 3, the day before the next new moon, Venus moves into Capricorn, reminding us to value our reality as well as our dreams.