We are in for a challenging week. How to best strategize, prepare and utilize the energy's play? This week is the Aquarius New Moon, the onset of the 2025 Chinese New Year.

I will send out another forecast about the year for that New Moon — so far, it's been quite an opening of 2025 — hasn't it?

January 27th has the moon in the sign of Capricorn, a pretty good day. Bare in mind, a good day in a challenging week. The new moon occurs on the 29th, EST. Monday in the dark of moon period has a serious tone about life and what we're doing here.

Even with light-hearted activities, there’s the capacity to deepen into spiritual perspective. The Indians have a term: Maya — the illusion of reality that we all create. Of course, mine is different than my husband’s and is different than my siblings’ — even though we share common experiences; the unfathomable wonder of unique perceptions.

We create and see the world through our own lens. Part of the illusion that we all struggle with is how do we work towards common truth? It's quite a challenge, especially in today's world — where there's alternate truths.

This has always been the case one could argue, but the difference between now and 30 years ago is that realities were not able to be manipulated in quite the same way as they are in our cyberworld. With this moon in Capricorn, it behooves us to look at what is your reality and why? There are benefits to question our worldview and our responsibility within it.

On the 27th, we're invited energetically to reflect on how we view the world and if that's connected to the greater continuum and community. Are we living in a way that is in alignment to what or who we want to be spiritually? For those without a spiritual call, the emphasis is to expand and support the illusion, no matter what seems to threaten or deflate it.

On Tuesday the 28th, inspiration may come to some of us in the morning with a sense of lightness, to feel more love and connection. The new moon occurs on the 29th at 7:36 a.m. ET at 9° Aquarius 51”, Chinese year of the Wood Snake. A 9 year (endings) plus the Snake… expect a lot of shedding this year. Use it to move past stuck energy.

The next day, the 30th, Uranus goes direct —it pushes a lot of electric volatile energies in this brief time.

I go into this week more on the podcast and the Lunation post will be out soon. Please remember, effective power comes when we note our reaction, catch it, and choose how we respond. Be a love warrior.

I'll post about January 20th, 2025 on my blog, Spot on Astrology. It's the USA Inauguration Day as well as when we honor Martin Luther King Jr. Not an easy day; the Libra Moon travels in the sky to make geometric symbols of conflicts with other planets. For one, we see conflicts with communication.

This could be communication blips that occur depending on what we're trying to do or make happen. If you want to bypass that bump, then do most activities past noon EST. However, another wrinkle on this day is signaled by the opposition of the Moon with Chiron.

In the myth, Chiron was known for his healing wisdom and knowledge that was far and beyond other sources. However, Chiron could not heal himself and was in continual agony. When someone has Chiron strong in their horoscope (as it is on this day and therefore the 2025 Inaugural chart for the United States), then we need to learn what wisdom comes from the wound. If we just focus on the wound, then we're raging in pain all the time.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day honors a man of peace who practiced civil disobedience. With Mars Retrograde in Cancer, people are going to be unsettled, angry, aggressive or frustrated if they are not conscious of constructive ways to utilize that fuel.

If you encounter anger within yourself or someone else, move into a place where you understand its source.

More on the podcast…

The Cancer Full Moon on January 13th stimulates emotional drive to engage with spirit and produce a result. What motivates us, makes us feel connected… we're here to do something, not only purposeful, but presented as a gift.

With Mars Retrograde in Cancer, we go over the past — especially family or place of origin — how connected we are to that legacy, our roots. And for some of us, it needs to be reassessed, looked at differently, so that we may decide that we are free of certain things that continually draw us back.

Think about yourself, people who you know or people in the news who cling to grievances and things in the past that they feel wronged by. We may not be able to totally cut off historic influences. Yet in a conscious way, we can step back and choose to proceed with new awareness.

When we go through it in the habitual way, then our experience will be that familiar story. But for those of us who want to grow, especially in this full moon period nudged by Mars retrograde, we can modify the story.

More on the podcast…

In this first full week of January in 2025, we're in a reckoning time as Mars retrogrades in the sign of Cancer. In backward motion from our perspective, we're asked to delay, reflect and slow down. Slow down is not a happy place for Mars.

Mars is the planet that symbolizes how we assert ourselves, go forward, express our libido, desire and anger… so when it's retrograde, depending on our personal horoscope, there may be a tendency to implode — the information goes inside. And that is not comfortable, obviously.

A healthy expression of Mars is to know what you want, express and be able to go for, to make happen in this lifetime… as well as to understand when and why you get angry… how to express anger in a way that is non-reactive, with the appropriate force or assertion that's necessary to move that anger to a healthy point of resolution.

Mars retrograde in Cancer may bring up unresolved feelings, specific to family grievances. Cancer is a sign that is linked to the hearth, family of origin, our roots. Many of us may feel some pushback, especially coming off holidays.

This week is a great time to process that, well supported by the the waxing moon cycle and to see things in different light. Work it out on a ball court, put it into art, express in some sort of activity that is not destructive. That is the best way to use this power, because it is a power we want to understand and be informed by.

If it feels too big, then give yourself some distance from it. Take a walk, get some air in the room, do things that lower the intensity — handle it instead of ignoring it. If there are historic issues, like feelings of not being heard — whatever the residual or old story is, we want to create good foundations for the new story.

This is a life journey for many of us; we experience an epiphany and feel a release but then sometime later it's: oh, so I guess I have to deal with that too. Nonetheless, it can be a really lovely week to push through some old emotional stuff and get a bit liberated from it.

… for the complete week’s forecast, listen to the podcast

December 30th has the New Moon in the sign of Capricorn at 5:27 PM ET. This New Moon at the end of 2024, sets up the ability to reflect on what we learned from Pluto in Capricorn, which began in 2008. Look for my podcast specific to Capricorn New Moon 2024.

Pluto stripped away preconceptions of how we thought things work, especially our institutions and financial systems. We can see it at play in governmental structures all around the world.

As Pluto now travels through the sign of Aquarius, we will revisit the time of the American Revolution. The United States may look very different in eight, ten years than it does today.

This new moon asks: what do you want to have happen? What potential can you imagine? What is our responsibility if we invite in higher octaves of love, connectivity, and a sense of overall harmony within our world? So on a small scale, whatever you contemplate, or want to make happen in your personal life, start with a commitment. You don’t have to know the how yet, but make a contract with yourself.

More on the podcast…

December 23rd opens the week with a Libra Moon. We can connect with people, move with a certain amount of grace and access ability to follow through. Opportunities pop. Moon in Libra wants to understand, create dialogue and invite a balance of opinions.

Because Mercury is direct now (but Mars is retrograde), things may take longer to roll out… and it's right smack in the heart of the holiday season. So anything business-wise may take a while to get off the ground. Things that have to do with generous heart, love, family, charity and friendship can really sing around this time.

Now, the other thing to mention on Tuesday, which is Christmas Eve is that the moon goes void of course as of 5:44 AM. When the moon is void of course is that people are not as emotionally attached to outcomes. This Christmas Eve is really nice to enjoy events, people-watch and super fun stuff — but for those who actually have to work... follow through on projects already in motion and just know that you can only do as much as you can do.

The other thing to note is it's the second time that we have Jupiter square Saturn. Jupiter is in Gemini and Saturn is in Pisces creating a geometric picture which causes tension. The friction heightens because the planets Jupiter and Saturn symbolize different aspects of “paternal” authority and financial systems. In the case of Saturn, it's structured, disciplined, selectively responsible, can be very cold and strategic.

Whereas Jupiter is adventurous, far seeking, optimistic and speculative. It can be hung up on things of the higher mind, judicial or with a religious perspective. These two expressions in the collective create a blockade when at odds. Each one wants to be seen for what it does and have a say. We see authority figures in the news and controversy based on what's just, what freedom look like and what holds in education, institutions and corporations. Many countries right now are going through turmoil.

If Gemini, Pisces, Virgo or Sagittarius are strong in your horoscope, this configuration may affect one of your personal planets. If so, the lesson is to honor both sides of self and not capitulate too strongly in one direction or the other. Is something at the cost of something else? How do you reconcile that so that something meaningful is not tossed because the other voice is so much more demanding?

More on the podcast…

As we come off the past weekend’s Full Moon (quite confusing or challenging for some of us); wildly different conversations, especially if fraught with intellectual/ logic against what feels like justice.

Sunday evening may have brought good rest, as Mercury went direct. As this week opens readjust; Mercury retraces its recent path. Confusion starts to clear, although not necessarily absolute clarity. We just may feel less of a fog, which is certainly preferable.

The moon is in the sign of Cancer on Monday and Tuesday. Therefore, if you've a lot of water or perhaps earth, you want people or situations that feel comfortable and safe. You may think that's good all the time, but some thrive on conflict… when they seek solutions or stimuli, they attract tension and friction!

Yet with this Cancer Moon, we look for that tranquil cove to reset. We need to figure out where we are, evaluate and reflect before we gain momentum. These are unsettling times. Your practice when on less tumultuous waters is to keep righting your ship.

Practice regular spiritual hygiene, whatever's working for you. Some people like a journaling, or scribing their gratitudes. Others exercise the morning pages from The Artist's Way. Yoga practice, stretching, martial art - all forms of meditation. I love being able to walk in nature or garden and just “be” to drift for a while. When I lived in the city, there was the roof and skyline or a walk by the river. You may like a cloistered meditation or you may seek ways that give you a sense of space.

Prioritize a practice of meditation; it will feed you and allow calm in the chaos. It doesn’t have to be fancy or rigid — washing dishes or taking a bath works for some. More on the podcast…

Neptune is now direct in the sign of Pisces before it hits Aries — this will happen in 2025 on March 31st. Yes, it will dip back into Pisces, but as of spring 2025, Neptune starts to sextile with Pluto in Aquarius. This stimulates innovation and accelerate visions of Utopia (which is not a uniform concept).We will experience leaps and bounds as social movements evolve and take shape. As Neptune has gone direct this December 7, conversations intensified on social media of who warrants sympathy in a crime and who does not. The event recently in New York City — still a shock as I write this, the assassination of United Health Care CEO who was gunned down in a midtown street early morning, simply doesn't happen!

In spite of prattle about how dangerous cities like New York City are, this is not normal. It is Pluto in Aquarius. Pluto, symbol of irrevocable transformation in the sign of freedom and revolution. No one should be shot down, but the public response as to the news that the bullets were inscribed “deny, delay, depose” has connected to many who are sick of the US health system and its allegiance to profits. As Neptune has been in the sign in Pisces, it has intensified the feelings of victimization. The sense of not being understood, coupled with the seduction of social media as well as denial of subliminal messages. Conspiracy theories abound regardless of what camp you happen to be in politics, education or the legal system, you name it.

So, am I singing “hallelujah” as Neptune makes this pass that will eventually take it into Aries? Well, we'll see. And I will post soon the astrology of the time of the shooting.

Back to this this week: it opens with Mercury and Mars retrograde; communications tend to get snarled. You can't assume anything. It's really important to back up your files. Get your books and files in order. If you didn't do it before the retrograde, this is a great time to do it.

Overall this week is opening with pretty good energy considering everything else that's going on. We're still in the waxing moon cycle. We're building energetically whatever it is. We are trying to launch, get off the ground, finish complete. And as long as we keep those retrogrades in mind and are doing our due diligence and moving, you know, mincingly forward or as with as much Intentionality as we possibly can, it can be a productive week.

More in depth on this week is on the podcast…