The big news: Mercury is direct today, ending its retrograde period in Capricorn, hopefully giving our brains a jolt in the right direction. Mercury retrograde periods often expose flaws in our thinking and communication styles; now that Mercury will be working its way back through the degrees that it just traversed, it’s a good time to assess these matters and see where things might be improved upon. Given that Capricorn is a Saturn-ruled sign, there may be structural concerns to be addressed, wear and tear on the bones of our cognition. This is the type of time when I tend to check in with certain touchstone books, like How to Win Friends & Influence People, which had a big impact on the way that I think and interact with others. Might be something completely different for you, an activity or practice, or a movie, or a certain person or group who may have unwittingly shaped your mind.

This direct station feels itchy. Revelations may jump out of nowhere, certain contacts may turn up out of the blue, and we may be spurned to grow and change and commit to things even if it’s terribly uncomfortable to do so. This is the reality to sticking to your New Year’s resolution! And this comes as a result of Mercury stationing in a very close trine to Uranus and the North Node, a combination that may bring unexpected change, or at the very least, pour a whole lot of hot sauce on a person’s mind. Mileage may vary, as always. The other thing spicing up this direct station is Mercury’s contentious relationship to Jupiter, the planet that not only bestows gifts, but asks us to turn them into more gifts that we can then share with the class. With the asteroid Juno, a signifier of commitment, newly conjunct to Jupiter, it becomes a recipe for marrying something that makes us greater, and of more use to humanity. The call to action may feel incredibly irritating, but there are almost certainly rewards on the other side of exertion.

Another important feature today is the Sun’s conjunction to Pluto. I already wrote about this last week, as the Sun crept up: “…Sol’s slow walk down the staircase to the underworld may create a mood of disquiet foreboding. For some, this may also be an echo of events and feelings stirred around New Year’s Eve, which is when Venus made this same passage through Pluto, which may have troubled the waters around issues of corruption and desire, power and control. The Sun’s passage involves many of the same themes, with an emphasis on sense of self – what waits just below the surface of what we allow others to see? What we allow ourselves to engage with? This may be a good week to probe such matters, to explore ideas around the dialogical self or ‘the shadow self,’ as popularized by the Jungians. Whether or not this process is actively engaged with, this transit may prove transformative for some.” In other words, confronting hard truths is on the docket, things that may corrupt and mutate, but in the same turn, may transform and make us stronger.

In the background, the moon slides through the middle degrees of Sagittarius, lightening the mood and giving heart to those striving to do better. Venus also begins closing in on a conjunction with Saturn. More on that later.

Thursday, 1/19, leaves things hanging in the balance. Neither Mercury nor Mars have moved a degree off their direct station, hanging out at 8 degrees of their respective signs. The day may feel a little sluggish, with the Sun in its anaretic degree and the moon void-of-course until the afternoon.

However, Friday (1/20) not only sees the Sun’s ingress into Aquarius, we also have the moon running across Mercury. If plans have been brewing over the course of the week, or perhaps since further back than that, this may be the day that things start to move. The moon will touch the same aspects as Mercury, so that Uranus-North Node trine may be activated and throw a curve-ball your way that you are forced to deal with.

Saturday (1/21) brings the New Moon in Aquarius. New moons are often seen as a new beginning, and if that’s the case, there are a lot of players drawn into this part of the story. Though it is technically in a different sign, Pluto is still close enough to this conjunction to be considered an integral part of it. If the above section on the Sun-Pluto conjunction was resonant, then this new moon may underline it and make it a major point of focus over the coming month. The new moon also occurs in a loose trine to newly-direct Mars, in a loose square to the nodes, and sextile to Jupiter-Juno; we are ready to field-test our new methods of efficacy, to learn and grow from their testing, to take what’s ours and leave behind what no longer serves. In a way, it’s really good that all these other planets are getting pulled into the lunation, because neither the Sun nor the moon are particularly happy in Aquarius. It’s considered to be one of the Sun’s least favorite places to be, in fact, due to Aquarius’ focus on the collective – Sol is all about “me! me! me!” And the moon just feels lost, all her nurturing instincts to hug and feed and comfort converted into data and witticisms and counter-culture anthems.

Now, another element making this new moon softer is the fact that it’s ruled by Saturn, and while Saturn is not known for being a big softy, he is currently receiving a conjunction from Venus. This union has been growing tighter throughout the week, and the love planet will be pretty cozy with the old codger by the time of the new moon. This is a bit of an unlikely coupling, one that can dull hard edges for some and tighten the belts of others. Saturn is the lord of structure and boundaries, signifying what is heavy, aged, slow. Venus is generally about what is young and desirable and lovely. When the two connect, we may see May-December romances, rigorous discipline applied to the arts, beautification of infrastructure, and the like. A big part of the tone-setting of the new moon happens here, and the spotlight will subsequently fall directly onto this pairing of planets when the moon makes contact with them on the day of their exact conjunction, Sunday 1/22 – Monday 1/23.

Saturn is, again, much slower than Venus though, so this love affair is a brief one. By Tuesday (1/23,) she will already have begun moving away from the conjunction, Mercury will have begun to move in earnest, and both the Sun and moon will cast aspects to Mars, prompting the warrior planet to finally take a step forward on Wednesday.

Until next Hump Day!