Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don’t give up. Anne Lamott. “This year...
Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don’t give up.
Anne Lamott.
“This year will be better…” we say hopefully, perhaps as a talisman to ward off potential heartbreak and hardship.
The mood this month is serious, focused on the goal-directed activity, underscored by a determined Capricorn new Moon, on January 11th augmented by Mars in Capricorn, a celestial prompt to get things done and as author, Doris Lessing reminds us, “whatever you’re meant to do, do it now. The conditions are always impossible.”
Elusive Mercury moves direct on January 2nd and Jupiter, the planet associated with abundance and “good fortune” moved direct on December 30th after a three-month backspin in the sign of Taurus, a sign where where change comes incrementally, one small step at a time.
The astrological signature for 2024 wraps itself around the next three years, signifying the changes that have been emerging since the solstice of 2020, in our own lives and collectively.
Pluto moves into Aquarius on January 22nd , dipping back into Capricorn as profound evolutionary forces sweep through the collective psyche, breaking down what no longer serves us. Since Pluto entered Capricorn in 2018, we have witnessed the rise of authoritarian governments and the revelation of the abuse of power, the #MeToo campaign and the #BlacklivesMatter Global Network. As we bring our attention to any unfinished business in our own lives regarding power or powerlessness, responsibility and accountability, Pluto will finally enter Aquarius on November 19th and will remain in Aquarius till 2043. Already, we have a sense of what Pluto in Aquarius what might be like as the climate emergency, mass migration, gruesome conflict and fanaticism cast a long shadow. The unprecedented proliferation of AI that is already hardwired into our daily lives is a taster of things to come as the Silicon Valley Plutocrats gain omnipotence. Pluto’s presence will be felt in politics this year. 2024 is the year of The Election as more than 40 countries hold national elections, some free and fair, others determined by despots.
Pluto, mythical lord of the underworld, sovereign of the dead, draws us all into his shadowy world to confront the truth with courage and honesty this year. In myth, Pluto was custodian of what has been interred: the complexes, patterns that have not yet been accepted or exorcised. As Pluto arrives at the end point of its 14-year passage through Capricorn, those who have planets in early degrees Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius will feel Pluto’s presence as it crosses over the charged 0° Aquarius once more. Saturn conjoined Jupiter at this sky point on 21st December 2020 as we began a slow emergence from the pandemic.
Saturn and Neptune are still floating in the nebulous waters of Pisces, moving closer to a conjunction in 2025/2026 as things become blurrier and in the echo chambers of social media, it becomes increasingly difficult to discern fact from fiction.
When Saturn and Neptune perform a Dionysian dance in the heavens, we swoon. This intoxicating combination offers the sweet promise of redemption, intensifies our yearning to return to Eden. These are the murky waters where charismatic con men create cults that offer a false belonging, where opiates and psychedelics carry us away from the harshness of this world, and cyber criminals and hackers hunt across the dark web. When Saturn meets Neptune, wonder who or what is real, or we wake, as if from a trance, bitterly disillusioned. When Saturn (carbon) conjoins Neptune, permafrost thaws and noxious gasses, bacteria, and viruses (Neptune) are blown by the wind. This combination of celestial energies may unleash a tsunami of pent-up grief and suffering; it may surge through cryptocurrencies, drown the hype, dissolve castles in the air. This is the hungry energy of the speculator, a glimpse of hope that may be unfounded, perhaps, the realisation that as we drop the salvational fantasy we are freed up to sweetness of simple pleasures, self-acceptance, and a deeper appreciation of the poetics of life.
Uranus, Saturn and Neptune both move into new signs in 2025, and the rest of this decade will be infused with the energy of Uranus trine Pluto, Neptune sextile both Pluto and Uranus.
April may be a tumultuous month for many as rotund Jupiter aligns with explosive Uranus, an indicator of volatility in financial markets, inflation, and the potential for seismic activity. Jupiter will amplify the uncertainty and unpredictability of Uranus, and this energy will permeate society, paving the way for Jupiter’s entry into Gemini, on May 25th which may amplify divisions and polarisation on social media platforms, or offer the opportunity to heal a ruptured relationship, offer words that land gently.
2024 ends as Mars moves Retrograde in Leo opposite Pluto (in orb from October 2024 to January 2025) with one close contact on November 3rd, only two days before the US election and one more on January 3rd. Mars/Pluto contacts accompany unscrupulous power struggles that have a life-or-death quality and have the potential to erupt in violence. The eclipse season begins with an Annular Lunar Eclipse (5° Libra March 25th), followed by a Total Solar Eclipse (19° Aries, April 8th), and ends with a Partial Lunar Eclipse (25° Pisces, September 18th) and an Annular Solar Eclipse (10° Libra, October 2nd.)
93 million miles away, solar storms create magnificent aurora spectacles on Earth, yet can also distort the magnetosphere, the protective magnetic wrapping of our earth, disrupting our body’s magnetic field, as well as distorting electrical grids, GPS signals and the movements of the millions of satelllites that circle our home planet. A peak of “solar maximum” between January and October 2024 will be stronger and longer than estimates made back in 2019 according to a US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration statement. Neptune was backtracking Retrograde (26° Pisces) on September 1st, 1859 when The Carrington Event, the most intense geomagnetic storm ever recorded, caused wide spread fires and powerful auroral displays. This year, it might be worth noting that transiting Neptune is now moving direct (25° Pisces) and will turn Retrograde on July 2nd.
Already the days are growing longer and the primroses on the riverbanks turn their delicate yellow faces to the sun as we begin to resume the routines and rituals that ground us in our ordinary lives. As we welcome this brave new year and sit with the paradox of those things that stir our anger and release our tears, let’s pause for a while in the quiet shade of the unknown before we enter the fray.
This is the year of living bravely, soulfully, imaginatively, abandoning those things that are irretrievably broken, and reimagining our place in the world as we root, with profound gratitude into the rhythm of our lives.
Wishing you all a gentle beginning to this new year.
With love,
Ingrid.
For an in-depth exploration of your own birth chart, please get in touch: ingrid@trueheartwork.com
