The New Moon on January 16 marks the peak of the progression of planets into Capricorn over the last month. With the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Saturn and Pluto here we have a golden opportunity to contemplate on the Capricorn archetype as we experience it expressing throughout our daily lives. Capricorn’s gift of the spirit is “personal integrity,” which is the clear realization of our essential identity, our destiny and our divinity within. Capricorn represents the movement towards honesty, maturity and responsibility, as well as the organization of these universal values into “forms of living” that serve the collective. According to Dane Rudhyar, however, these forms are brought to life only when we allow our “sense of personal integrity to radiate and freely to permeate the fabric of civilization.” It is when we are unable to hear, or refuse to hear the creative divine voice within, he says, that the forms of living become overly standardized, lose their spiritual essence and ultimately fail spectacularly. What is needed from each of us is to grow into a state of consciousness that is in harmony with the creative spirit animating all existence. “Our faith,” writes Rudhyar, “must not be placed in procedures or institutions; but, instead, in the spiritual contagion of our example.” At the New Moon may we set an intention for this dynamic Capricorn-infused lunar cycle to fully express our personal integrity and accept responsibility for animating the structures of our life with the power of our divine creativity.
On January 17, Venus segues into Aquarius, followed on January 19 by the Sun, which has been travelling in close conjunction with Venus for weeks. Although this does not diminish the potent infusion of productive Capricorn energy in the new lunar cycle and beyond (Capricorn’s ruler Saturn remains here through 2020 and Pluto through 2023), the Sun and Venus moving into Aquarius does mark a shift in primary motivations and needs. While Capricorn is about infusing forms for living with our essential identity, Aquarius is about discovering just what that identity is. What is unique to each of us and how do we express it? At their point of entry in this future-oriented sign, Venus and the Sun are in a waning square to Aquarius’ ruler Uranus that amplifies the theme of individuality and the importance of freedom of expression. Venus in Aquarius archetypally opens us to encounters with diverse people and unusual experiences that enrich our lives. The Sun in Aquarius is hungry for new ideas that have the power to change the world. You can see both these archetypes strongly operating in Oprah Winfrey, who has a congenial Sun/Venus conjunction in Aquarius in her natal chart. In her countless interviews with people from all walks of life, for example, she encourages others to open up about their unique viewpoints and contributions to society. But more than that, she makes significant contributions herself and it is this “service to humanity” that is the spiritual gift of Aquarius, according to Dane Rudhyar. Defining “service” as the responsible use of power that comes from “the original and originating downpour of the creative spirit,” Rudhyar says it is the task of Aquarius to gain the ability to release this power not for profit, but in service and furthermore that this ability can only be developed by neutralizing the fears that inhibit its expression. This is our “crisis of power” and to address it we need to recognize our spiritual purpose, “to become conscious of the evolutionary goal next ahead for humanity.” The Aquarius in each of us therefore, wherever it is in our own natal chart, must assume “the responsibility of creating the future.”
Imaginative thoughts about what kind of future we can realistically create are likely under the influence of a sextile between Mercury in Capricorn and Neptune in Pisces perfects on January 19. It is a simple matter of conscious choice to make decisions from love rather than fear, and to put personal integrity in service to the Whole rather than misusing our power for self-gain. Through these simple conscious acts, the divine creative spirit would have a channel pour out in everything we do and our unique contributions would strengthen the social fabric that nets us together. We would be “a tide of gifts,” as Rudhyar put it in his Gifts of the Spirit about the signs, “so identified with the rhythm and purpose of spirit that there is no longer any separateness from the need of every moment. It is to perform all necessary actions and only necessary actions. It is, indeed, to be God-in-Act – oneself, a gift of the spirit.”
“What I know for sure is that speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have.” – Oprah Winfrey (from her acceptance speech for Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association on the Golden Globes last week)
Here’s the data (Pacific Time and rounded to the nearest whole degree unless otherwise noted):
January 16 – Moon conjunct Sun (New Moon) at 27° Capricorn at 6:17 p.m.
January 17 – Venus at 0° Aquarius at 5:44 p.m.
January 19 – Mercury sextile Neptune at 12° Capricorn/Pisces at 5:08 p.m.
January 19 – Sun at 0° Aquarius at 7:10 p.m.
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