Free Will is the Hardest Choice You'll Ever Make
Aquarius Season Forecast: rewriting history and rising with the changing tides
Before we go forward, we need to clear the past.
We arrive in this season amidst multiple retrogrades, a miasma of energy that could easily keep us fixated on past mistakes and hangups. The Sun strides into Aquarius just in time to cross paths with Mercury. This meeting at the threshold feels like a secret handshake, a fraternal greeting of recognition before each planet goes its own way. Much like the Golden Dawn reinvented history to craft its mysteries, this season asks us to plum our histories--real and embellished--to find the source of our power and fear. Mars arrives in Capricorn on January 24th, reminding us that even amongst the current of revolution, tried-and-true methods are often the most successful. Look to your own accomplishments for means of advancement--the world may be changing, but some things never do. New isn't necessarily better, especially when it comes to methodology.
Mercury backtracks into Capricorn on the 26th bringing a harmonious energy to our sense of purpose and drive. Things may not quite add up right now but you could receive a glimpse of just how they do. Perhaps it doesn't even matter--Mercury's impish nature often asks more questions than it answers, and as it trines the Dragon's Head those looking for concrete responses might only receive karmic riddles in return. If you insist on knowing more, look only to your own patterns of behavior and map your way forward.
On January 29th Mercury connects with Pluto as Venus stations direct. Her retrograde has been a journey into Pluto's own terrain, isolating and abysmal--but like any dark night, we are ultimately stronger for the experience. At 11 Degrees Capricorn, she speaks directly to personal polarization, the kind of black and white right and wrongness that occurs when ideals have been transformed into caricature and anything less rouses utter disgust. This retrograde has allowed us to see this divide with striking clarity, both in ourselves and the lives we create, and in the world around us. Venus may be a planet of value but values can become distorted, absurd. During this underworld journey we've seen just how far out of alignment these have grown from our reality and the actual potential our lives hold.
Aquarius is a collective sign.
It emphasizes the generative connectivity between us, the intricate web of being we live within. While so many seasons encourage us to isolate our individual path and fortify ourselves for the journey ahead, Aquarius asks us to remember that we are not alone. Our lives affect others, and theirs necessarily affect ours. We do not live in a vacuum.
But there is a balance to be struck. Venus has been locked in the underworld lair ruled by Saturn since November and remains until March giving us four long months to get familiar with the values which drive us. But Saturn itself remains very much at home in Aquarius, emphasizing the collective over all else, insisting on connectivity at all costs. It's also the sign of progress, on which it fixes its sights at every step--a pace perhaps achievable for gods and technology but wholly unsustainable for humanity. To save your sanity, you need some constants.
In a rapidly shifting Aquarian environment, those constants need to come from within. Use Venus's time in the retrograde shadow to reacquaint yourself with Saturn's surefooted nature as Cardinal Earth. Elevate routine to personal ritual as only Venus can, honor yourself and your values deeply. Use Mercury's simultaneous retrograde to your advantage to tune out the noise of the world and listen carefully to your own voice.
The New Moon on February 1st brings this alignment into perspective.
New Moons are often a time of personal alignment with the energy of a season but between the Sun's own detriment in Aquarius and the lingering square between the Sun, Moon, and Uranus, we're left in a sort of Aquarian burnout. There is such a thing as too much and after several years of Uranian instability and a non-stop stream of Aquarian change around every corner, it's okay to admit you're done. This is not to say dig in your heels. Mercury is still in retrograde and with Venus in her shadow, complaints shouted from the rooftop are not likely to be met with any sympathy. But you may find this Wolf Moon a perfect time to reconnect with your own pack. Turn your attention back to those who reaffirm your core values and reflect the strongest picture of yourself. Strengthen these connections for the journey ahead.
On the 4th Mercury stations direct as the Sun joins Saturn, once again eclipsing self with society. If it feels like the retrogrades stripped you of your voice, take heart: Mars trines Uranus on the 8th, bringing new tactics to light. Mars becomes a major player this year, elevated even beyond his status in 2021 as a primary Saturnian agitator. Take note of ideas which may arise early in the month and watch them inform your actions as the year unfolds. Don't get stuck in reactionary autopilot, especially as we approach Mars' biennial retrograde in October.
It may be difficult to contain yourself as Mercury rendezvouses with Pluto on the 11th. Both planets fall directly under the gaze of the Dragon's Head, each with their eyes on the prize as we move into a new axis of desire and growth, but Mercury--the messenger--doesn't suffer Pluto's secrecy in silence. Pluto is on the precipice of a momentous transit for much of the Western World, and as we near the fateful degree of its American Return we keenly feel that change is in the air. Mercury reminds us that this is not simply mundane speculation--our own trajectories are deeply affected by these turning tides. Stay fleet footed and clever, keep your eyes open, but continue to collect information as Mercury moves into Aquarius. Transits like these are felt for a long time before and after perfection and we may not see the exact effects for years to come, but if you keep your ear to the ground you can hear the flood rising.
The Full Moon in Leo comes on the last day of the season.
It's a reminder that even these collective actions may serve to bring us sovereignty. If heros surrendered their sword each time the gods made a decree, mythology would be quite bleak. For centuries philosophers have debated the problem of Free Will, uncertain whether it could exist in the presence of God or if the notion of fate cancelled it out completely. But astrology suggests that these ideas exist in perfect harmony. Free will is the hardest choice you will ever make. You can choose to elevate yourself over the push and pull of your stars, to throw off the influence of cosmic tides--but it's a choice you make every single day. And like astrology itself, this choice is a macrocosm of so many others. This Moon--and this season--reminds us to liberate ourselves from the collective, to choose thoughts and values which are our own. It does not mean the collective shatters around us. This is a choice we make each morning, a vow we renew each time we turn off the streams which distract us from our purpose and disengage from the fear and anxiety the collective insists it can remove for us. Pisces Season begins on the 18th and with it comes alternative means of integration. Saturn may insist that its way is the only way, but there are plenty of planets which remind us that this is not true. They simply speak in softer voices. Listen carefully, find the voice within, and make your own choice.
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