Capricorn (22 December – 19 January)
January is your birthday month and the Sun is always in your sign of Capricorn as a new year begins. This is ideal for you as your zodiac symbol is the mountain goat and if you’re typical of your sign, you love to line up big goals and ambitions for the year ahead, your next mountain to climb.
Yet this year timing is the key to your success and it’s not the month to run before you can walk. This is because communication planet Mercury is retrograde, i.e. on go slow as the new year gets underway and more importantly for you, Mercury is in retreat in your sign of Capricorn.
This turns your attention inward and as Mercury has been on go slow in Capricorn over Christmas 2016, it’s ideal for a personal life review, thinking about your life rather than actively taking steps to make things happen.
Mercury retreats out of Capricorn on January 4th, turns retrograde in Sagittarius on January 8th and re-enters your sign of Capricorn on January 12th. So Mercury goes even deeper into hidden territory in the first week of the year.
When planets are in Sagittarius, this rules your inner self and the side of your nature that likes to be alone. So ideally early January create some time for yourself to learn the difference between loneliness and solitude or simply to reflect on the year that’s past before you line up those all important goals for the year ahead.
You may hear something from your past or a secret could be revealed when Mercury turns direct. Any rumours come to light and new information starts to trickle in. Once Mercury is back in your sign of Capricorn from the 12th, this is the time to speak up and act on what you hear.
You could experience some profound insights during January because Mercury turned retrograde close to Pluto in your sign of Capricorn on December 19th 2016. Pluto is the depth planet, linked to psychological insight and personal transformation. Once Mercury enters its shadow phase on January 27th, two days later it finally gets to encounter Pluto on January 29th.
So notice what comes up for you and what you’re ready to change, perhaps linked to automatic behaviour or emotional patterns that belong to the past. Pluto is also about shedding what’s no longer needed in your life, e.g. getting rid of emotional baggage, decluttering or detoxing.
The most powerful date this month however is January 12th, not only the day when Mercury returns to Capricorn but also the date of an important Full Moon. The Full Moon cuts across the Capricorn/Cancer axis of the zodiac with the Sun and Pluto together in Capricorn and the Moon in Cancer and your relationship sector.
So this is about your 1-to-1’s on one level, your relationships, both personally and professional. Yet there’s another factor involved and this is the fact that the Full Moon is squared by a Jupiter-Uranus opposition. These two planets represent freedom and change. Jupiter is in Libra up at the top of your chart ruling your career and vocation and Uranus is in Aries down at the base of your chart ruling your home and family.
So this Full Moon picks up all four cardinal signs, Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn and creates a Grand Cross in the sky. This is a time when you might feel overwhelmed emotionally whether you have a lot of balls in the air that you’re trying to keep afloat or a lot of demands on your time.
In addition, the changes you want to make in January are likely to impact on other people in your life, your partner, your family. Same goes if someone close to you is making a big move as this affects everyone. There might be a job change or home move on the cards, something that’s been brewing over the festive season.
In addition this month, there’s a strong focus on the sign of Pisces which rules communication for you. Action planet Mars is here until January 28th when it moves into Aries and your home and family sector. Plus Venus is in Pisces from January 3rd where it remains throughout the month.
So you’re either picking up on other peoples’ vibes or you’re involved in conversations that touch you emotionally. Pisces is one of the water signs which are non-verbal. This is about intuition, knowingness, empathy for others.
You could be drawn towards other people now because of an emotional connection rather than who they are or what they do in life. January 1st and the 12th are significant in this respect when first Mars and secondly Venus team up with Neptune, also in Pisces.
This is a creative combination, great for new ideas and working together in a community role or alongside other people in a common cause. You might be called towards helping out at a charity or be ready to step in when a sibling or neighbour needs some advice or support.
Be there for other people now and lean on others too when you need advice in return. The new friends you make this month could be in your life for quite some time.
Finally, there’s a turning point for money too as January continues. On the 19th, the Sun enters Aquarius and your personal money sector and on January 28th there’s a stunning New Moon in the same sign.
This is ideal for new beginnings on the financial front, for starting over or launching an online business. Use your money to good effect too, whether you’re helping others or investing. This is where progress can be made.