Your opportunity to architect your 2023! Happy Chinese New Year! New Moon in Aquarius! All planets Direct! All Signs Collective Horoscope (January 16th – 22nd)

Dear NightFall Astrology readers,

This is it! We’ve made it to the “retrograde finish line”! Starting this Wednesday (Mercury’s day), January 18th, Mercury stations direct, followed by Uranus on Sunday, January 22nd! And in between, we have a brilliant New Moon in Aquarius happening on January 21st, opening up your mind to your master plan for 2023!

This means that from next week until April 21st (Mercury turns retrograde in Taurus again), start and launch everything that you can! During these few months, we’ll be having a pretty creative energy astrologically, and it’s quite conducive for kicking off this year with new initiatives or moving forward with plans that you might not had the courage for otherwise. There are many energetic shifts with planets entering different signs in March (check my 2023 Astro overview if you haven’t already) and showing a lot of mind-changing collectively. So, you might want to keep your options open in case, in March, you get a new project you’d like to pursue.

Before we get into the details of this week’s forecast, I’d like to share with you a quote from one of my favourite movies starring Anthony Hopkins and Gwyneth Paltrow, which for me, sums up perfectly the Aquarian energy (that’s also my Aquarius North Node speaking directly to you!) :

“Catherine : [Reading Robert’s Notebook] “Let X equal the quantity of all quantities of X. Let X equal the cold. It is cold in December. The months of cold equal November through February. There are four months of cold and four of heat, leaving four months of indeterminate temperature. In February, it snows. In March, the Lake is a lake of ice. In September, the students come back, and the bookstores are full. Let X equal the month of full bookstores. The number of books approaches infinity as the number of months of cold approaches four. I will never be as cold now as I will be in the future. The future of cold is infinite. The future of heat is the future of cold. The bookstores are infinite and so are never full except in September…”.

Did you notice the genius combination of philosophy and math in this equation? It’s so brilliant that it even sounds like poetry… That’s Aquarius: the master architect that builds and innovates so perfectly from existing foundations that you’re beyond mind-blown with their masterpieces! This is also astrology; it’s a bridge between the scientific and spiritual worlds. That’s why Aquarius also rules it.

Now, let’s get into this week’s celestial alignments:

1. Sun conjunct Pluto:

From January 17th until January 20th (exact on January 18th), the Sun conjoins Pluto in Capricorn, indicating heightened intensity and ambition.

On the positive side, this can manifest as sharp insight into work and business situations, favourable circumstances for long-term investments (Capricorn is aiming for the top of the mountain, remember?) and bank loans, deep research and investigation.

On the negative side, this transit portrays power struggles, manipulation, paranoia, and becoming too forceful or overbearing.

This transit will be most intense for Capricorn, Aries, Libra, and Cancer.

2. Mercury stations direct & becomes visible:

We can breathe again! On January 18th, Mercury, the planet of communication, commerce and trade, will finally reverse its retrograde phase that began on December 29th, 2022.

Mercury’s retrograde motion made it difficult for goal-oriented Capricorn to make firm resolutions. Today marks the beginning of a new era, so set your sights on achieving your 2023 goals. The first step is to assess the situation and identify the immediate requirements for restoring order. As Mercury continues its forward motion through ambitious Capricorn until February 11th, professional conversations are fruitful and promising. Schedule a meeting with your boss to review first-quarter objectives, share the news that your rates will increase in 2023, or agree to an introductory coffee chat with a prospective client.

More good news! The next day, January 19th, the messenger of the Gods becomes visible as a Morningstar until February 4th!
When Mercury becomes visible, it is a great time to start new projects in writing, media, marketing, business, trade, sales, commerce, and learning new skills.

Geminis, Virgos, and Capricorns will be able to manifest better, feel stronger and make an impact.

3. Aquarius season begins, New Moon in Aquarius, & the Chinese New Year:

a) Sun enters Aquarius:

Gather your creative team on January 20th, and get ready to make some magic! Until February 18th, the Sun will be in social Aquarius. Use these planetary eruptions as signposts as you transition between roles.
Or look for a group that shares your ideals and will value your contributions. Leverage technology to speed up your search if you have to. Open your LinkedIn and begin making connections to find your people more quickly. Your ideal left brain (or right brain) companion may be just a mouse click away. Be wary of overly idealistic expectations, but don’t let the fear of failure or being “too ambitious” keep you from striving toward your goals, Aquarius. You should prioritise community and acceptance to bring out the best in others. Doesn’t it make more sense to celebrate a win with others?

{ Happy Birthday to all my Aquariuses out there! }

b) New Moon in Aquarius:

On Saturday, January 21st, 2023’s first New Moon arrives in the sign of the wishful, collaborative Water Bearer, opening the perfect window for setting resolutions and intentions. It’ll be happening exactly at 9:53 PM (CET) at 1°33′ of Aquarius.

Aquarius marks the middle of Winter and the coldest part of the season. So, expect this to be a very cold, logical New Moon. It’s not that it’s scary; it’s nothing that I wouldn’t look forward to, but it definitely looks like a time of choosing to be logical and cold rather than emotional (Aquarius is a fixed air sign). It definitely starts off Aquarius season with highly Aquarius energy.

The Sun and the Moon are in the first decan of Aquarius very early in the sign, and that first decan of Aquarius is associated with the Five of Swords tarot card, also known as the “Lord of defeat”. But you can think of it more as a decision to willingly withdraw or intentionally remove yourself from a situation because “you’re done with this, and you realise that there’s a higher vision for you”.

Suddenly, you’re realising you’re more mature, you’ve outgrown a certain dynamic, or realising that you don’t want to work in a day-to-day job anymore; you want to do something a little bit different with your life. The vibe is similar to: you’re out of the group, but it was more of your own doing.

And Aquarius itself is a fixed air Saturn-ruled sign. Fixed air is the epitome of air; it is intellectual and logical and also the epitome of winter, which is cold and dry. It’s straightforward and doesn’t have much moisture/humidity or, you could say, emotion (water element) wrapped up in it.

Aquarius doesn’t refer to anything water-related. It refers to Aquarius being the water bearer or the structure providing that support for others. Aquarius is ruled by Saturn, which is a planet of structure, seriousness, responsibility, and boundaries. While in Capricorn, it’s a feminine Saturn, which is associated with being protective or closing down and being a little bit more threat-responsive. In Aquarius, it’s masculine Saturn as a boundaries-up level of building on top of something or providing the structure and the architecture for others to build on.

This New Moon is still within three degrees of Pluto in Capricorn. It’s very early in Aquarius, so it’s still conjunct Pluto, technically. Therefore, there’s an amount of psychological intensity, or some scheming, or some masterminding to create something of profound value.

Venus and Saturn (ruler of this New Moon) are also conjunct in Aquarius, which is another one of the massive markers of the seriousness of this New Moon. Venus is values, harmony, priorities, and what we love or what we want to maintain beautifully. And Saturn is seriousness, commitment, and structure. So, Saturn and Venus combined show serious commitment or decision-making in relationships, finances, and overall values.

There’s a very serious decision that’s being made to commit or draw a boundary around those things. In Aquarius, it will likely involve the long-term potential or goals you are looking forward to.
For example, in a relationship, you might decide to have a certain amount of date nights every month, and it doesn’t feel too much or too little, but it’s your commitment to the other person. You’ll structure it this way for the integrity of the relationship. Maybe you don’t live together yet (that’s a boundary), and maybe you do want to still have date nights together religiously.

It could also be that you might be setting a budget financially or writing your yearly business plan (or project action plan in general, hello to the project managers who are reading my forecasts!).

This isn’t the kind of alignment where it looks like a direct issue that’s very aggressive. It looks more like your long-term values and priorities require you to set up a system or a matrix to support that. I know for me, it’s happening in my 4th house of home, family, real estate, and heritage, and I’ve already started planning quite a few traditional and high-tech (again, Aquarius is a Saturn-ruled sign, and loves both structure and modernity) additions to my home decor.

This New Moon at one degree of Aquarius is sextiling Jupiter in early Aries, showing the opportunity for knowledge expansion and growth. It’s also trining Mars DIRECT in Gemini, signalling the ability to move forward with actions and actually put our money or actions where our mouth is. We aren’t just speaking this into existence; we’re literally “architecting” it into existence and doing the work, which is what I prioritise with the way I think about manifestation.

Luckily, there aren’t that many challenging aspects to this New Moon. I wouldn’t be worried or concerned about it.  However, it is very serious. I’d say that the proximity to Pluto is the most intense thing around this, but that in and of itself isn’t bad; it just adds an intense and transformational quality to the energy. New Moons are always about new beginnings, and Aquarius rules technology, science, groups and networks. So, it looks like a very logical and intellectual New Beginning in these fields.

I forgot to mention that I’m returning to one of my Human Rights non-profits as part of my other job, which is working as an international legal adviser (the decision was made during Mercury retrograde, so there’s an example of how retrogrades and New Moons can work together!).

Aquarius, Leo, Scorpio, and Taurus will feel this New Moon most intensely. Especially those of you who have your Sun, Moon, Ascendant, Descendant, Midheaven, I.C. or any other important planet or point in your chart around the first degree of these signs (give or take 2-3 degrees).

{ If you’d like to know how this New Moon is playing out in your own chart and life, order your New Moon in Aquarius mini-reading via this link }! 

c) The Chinese New Year:

Saturday evening also ushers in the Chinese New Year as we say farewell to the sultry, savvy Water Tiger and welcome the spiritual, abundant Water-Rabbit. After a year of strategic stakeouts, we can “hop to it” with the Rabbit’s creative flair. But keep your boundaries more firm than fluffy. Without the Tiger’s protective prowess, we’re more vulnerable to predators under the gentle Rabbit’s rule.

In the Chinese Animal wheel, the rabbit is considered the luckiest. I guess that’s why some people attach a rabbit leg to their keychains. It is a Yin (feminine) rabbit, and her colour black is a tribute to the deep water as well as the black colour of Yin in the taijitu. We definitely need all the luck in the world right now, so give it to us! The rabbit is associated with peace, beauty, elegance, and compassion in Chinese mythology. It is hard for me to decide if that is what we will experience in 2023 or what we need to ensure we survive. Maybe both. Perhaps the rabbit is here to remind us, like a visual mantra, of the magic we need to traverse the black hole and reach our land of wonder.

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The last time we had a black rabbit year was 60 years ago (always a double Saturn Return), I checked to see what transpired in 1963 and some historical events gave me a glimpse of well-needed hope. Pope John XXIII issued the Pacem in Terris in the water rabbit year, focused on “Establishing Universal Peace in Truth, Justice, Charity and Liberty.” It was the first papal encyclical delivered to “all men of goodwill” rather than only to members of the Catholic Church. In the same year, John F. Kennedy delivered his American University speech entitled “A Strategy of Peace.” Rabbits symbolise fertility (hence their connection to Easter and spring).

The water aspect of the rabbit in 2023 favours fluidity, flexibility, suppleness, and compromise. Go around obstacles, don’t try to remove them. This is supported by Saturn’s transit in Pisces, the mutable water sign of yoga, dance, movement, meditation, and imagination. In addition, Pluto’s radiance comes down to us through the lens of Aquarius, the social sign of the collective and rabbits’ survival mechanism is not the power of one but that of the group. Safety in numbers is how rabbits managed to overcome their many predators.

4. Uranus stations Direct:

Uranus, the planet known for shocking audiences, emerges from its annual retrograde phase that began on August 24th and ends this coming Sunday, January 22nd. The seven-month transit of the planet of innovation through Taurus means you can expect to see the fruits of your labour materialise quickly. Keep an open mind at all times because unexpected business opportunities could arise. The reward for capturing a wild hare could be substantial. I mean, really, who knew?!

Fixed signs: Aquarius, Taurus, Scorpio, and Leo: get ready for the race!

Have faith and take action!

Your Astrologer – Theodora NightFall ~

Remember that this is a general horoscope and is in no way your personal horoscope. If you’d like to know what your birth chart says about your personality and your life’s purpose or discover what the upcoming astrological alignments mean specifically for you, you can:

(i) purchase one of my super concise & comprehensive mini-readings that will answer your most pressing Astro questions within 5 days max!
(ii) OR book a LIVE consultation with me.

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