Star Weather Astrology Report 1/14–1/21
©2024 Ronnie Pontiac
All times Pacific.
Friends, we have before us a week that includes the most important astrological event of the decade: Pluto leaves Capricorn for Aquarius. If any sign represents equality and liberation of the oppressed it is Aquarius. For people of color, the LGBTQ community, for oppressed religious and racial minorities, and above all for women, we can hope to see significant progress between 2024 and 2043. As Simone de Beauvoir wrote: “On the day when it will be possible for woman to love not in her weakness but in strength, not to escape herself but to find herself, not to abase herself but to assert herself — on that day love will become for her, as for man, a source of life and not of mortal danger.”
Sunday 1/14 Venus inconjunct Uranus is exact before dawn. This aspect can indicate a time when the responsibilities associated with relationships, especially love relationships, and with creativity, can seem to be in conflict with the desire for freedom and self-expression. Unexpected events could delay or derail plans for pleasure or creative work. Inconjunctions can indicate health issues, in this case caused by frustration. We may find that partners go off on erratic detours, or conversely, that they become needy when we feel the need to do whatever we want. The key is to find balance; to respect Venus but also to make space for freedom, and for the unexpected. By doing so we can bring a greater sense of harmony to unanticipated demands life makes on us, and we may find there is a liberating influence on romance and creativity when we allow surprises good or bad to teach us about ourselves and our partners.
Mon 1/15 sun sextile Neptune is exact in the late afternoon. With this aspect we may find that inspiration, intuition and imagination are a little easier to weave into our day, and a few days before and after. Dreams may provide insights. Neptune can be confusing, and can indicate preoccupations that can fog our intentions, but that can nevertheless bring a more soulful understanding to our daily ego consciousness. Clarity and precision may require a little extra effort.
Tue 1/16 and Wed 1/17 only lunar aspects are exact. Pluto in Capricorn seems to have worsened an issue with individuals and collectives described in this quote from Montaigne: “Stubborn and ardent clinging to one's opinion is the best proof of stupidity.” It’s okay not to know the answer to every question. It’s essential to be able to see both sides of an issue, and to understand the universality of paradox.
Thu 1/18 Mercury sextile Saturn is exact in the hour after midnight. This aspect can give us a more organized approach to this week and weekend. With Pluto entering Aquarius on Saturday it makes sense to tie up loose ends wherever possible. Streamline and simplify. Shore up weak spots with mentorship, study, meditation, and practice. Respect the power of silence even in conversations, especially when talking about important matters. This can be a good aspect for work involving editing and planning. It’s appropriate to meditate on the arc of our lives from 2008 to 2024 under the reign of Pluto in Capricorn. What have we learned? What have we accomplished? Where have we failed? Where would we like to go from here?
Fri 1/19 Mercury trine Jupiter is exact about ninety minutes after midnight, followed by Venus square Neptune in the early morning. This trine is a joyous, optimistic aspect, and will benefit from yesterday’s Mercury sextile Saturn helping us avoid its risks of excess, over-optimism, and over-indulgence. Be optimistic. Share compliments with those who have helped you live a better life or otherwise achieve your goals. Ponder and have conversations about opportunities, and about what success means to you. Look for some ways to have fun this week. A joyous read might set the tone.
Venus square Neptune can be intoxicating, combining in a kind of rapture of mystical beauty and harmony. It can also indicate a lazy time, when intoxication becomes more important than love or creativity. Squares are like steps, so with a little effort we can get the best of both the sextile and the square, bringing true inspiration and good feelings to love and creativity. A good time for composing music or working on your ideas associated with film, video or social media. The risk is that over-optimism leads to disappointment. Don’t assume how others feel, and don’t expect rosy assessments to become permanent joys.
Sat 1/20 sun conjunct Pluto is exact before dawn, the sun enters Aquarius at 6:07 AM, then Pluto enters Aquarius at 4:50 PM. With moon square Saturn just prior to that, and moon inconjunct Mercury in the late evening there may be an uneasy feeling beyond that caused by sun conjunct Pluto and Pluto’s change of sign. Sun conjunct Pluto can be intense. On the one hand it can indicate breakdowns requiring reform or repair, especially where neglect has been tolerated and signs of impending trouble have been ignored. It can indicate obsessiveness, suspicion, slander, envy, compulsion, and even criminality and violence. On the other hand Pluto indicates opportunities for deep healing, catharsis, and rebirth. With every ending there can be a beginning. If we feel caught up in the suffering of endings, we can look around for the beginnings that sprout like seedlings if we pay attention to the subtle signals life sends us. Meditation can help us find the tranquility Pluto promises, which is like dawn after the claustrophobia of a moonless, starless night. Camus wrote: “Against eternal injustice, man must assert justice, and to protest against the universe of grief, he must create happiness.”
The sun leads the way, entering Aquarius roughly eleven hours before Pluto does. While it’s still winter, for many the sun in Aquarius seems to promise that spring is not far away. Sun in Capricorn takes us from the end of December through the pleasant distractions and opportunities for rebirth that Christmas and New Year’s Day represent, but tends to leave us with the feeling of the old year vanishing out of reach, and in today’s stressful times many wonder if they are ready to face what comes next. Sun in Aquarius moves us beyond Capricorn’s saturnine focus on closure and widens our horizons. Use all that new tech out there to discover more about what has become possible, and to see where your predilections might lead you.
Shifts of sign where Pluto is involved can be very dramatic, especially when the nature of the signs offer stark contrasts. As we saw in 2008 Pluto in Sagittarius, ruled by Jupiter, ran into the wall of Saturn when Pluto entered Capricorn. All the hot air of alleged wealth created by derivatives and other instruments spawned from the froth of over-optimism and manipulation popped like a balloon meeting a needle. The world economy very nearly collapsed. Many who believed they were millionaires thanks to the stock options of the unprofitable companies they worked for discovered their hopes for the future had no substance. While the wealthy have grown wealthier, typical of Pluto in Capricorn which protects and magnifies the power of elites, for most people the world changed and scarcity became the new reality. The job of Saturn was to deflate the false optimism that had so expanded during Pluto in Sagittarius that no one could be sure what was true.
Pluto moving from Capricorn to Aquarius is another dramatic shift. The job of Uranus is to shock life back into the collective numbed by Saturn’s icy grip. Ironically, here at the end of Pluto in Capricorn we again can’t be sure what is true. Just as surely as the reckless arrogance of Jupiter succumbed to Saturn, the relentless pessimism of Saturn will be burst asunder by Uranus, indicating shocking changes in technology, the rise of younger generations raised on tech that current world leadership encountered when they were no longer young, and by discoveries and breakthroughs of science.
Here is an abbreviated list of notable moments during past sojourns of Pluto in Aquarius: the Carolingian renaissance brought advancements in law, architecture, art and music to the Dark Ages; movable printing type; the astrolabe; block printing; spectacles for correcting vision; heliocentric astronomy; first flight using a hot air balloon; the discovery of the planet Uranus; discovery of the composition of air; the metric system; bicycles; parachutes; circular saws; threshing machines; power looms; gas lamps; ambulances; industrial cooperatives; the lathe; jars for preserves; ball bearings; the theory of black holes; smallpox vaccine; but also the guillotine. Mary Wollstonecraft published the first defense of feminism written by a woman. The rapid evolution of of instruments and orchestras enabled geniuses from Mozart to Beethoven.
Another historical theme of Pluto in Aquarius is the unwillingness of masses of people to sacrifice their own well being for the privilege of the elites governing them. From the unsuccessful revolt of Queen Boudica against the Roman Empire (which deeply disturbed Rome) to the American, French and Haitian revolutions, the revolt of the masses against those who deny their freedom and prosperity is amplified. The power of the people will be measured against the technologies invented to control them. We’re in for a wild ride.
So set aside the pessimism of Pluto in Capricorn and be prepared to embrace changes that we can’t imagine at the moment. Be ready to adjust course, and above all don’t cling to, or long for, how things used to be. Find new reasons for optimism and excitement, there will be plenty of them. Learn new skills. Try new tech. If you see the wave of collateral damage caused by inevitable change heading your way, find a new approach to achieving your goals. Find new goals. Above all keep an open mind. Care about your freedom and the freedom of others and you may find that Pluto in Aquarius is a welcome relief after sixteen years of Pluto in Capricorn. As Andre Malraux wrote: “The twenty-first century will be spiritual or it will not be.”
Sun 1/21 only lunar aspects are exact. As James Baldwin wrote: “Neither love nor terror makes one blind: indifference makes one blind.”
I’ll be celebrating Pluto’s entry into Aquarius on 1/20 by posting my most popular lecture from my days working with Manly Palmer Hall at the Philosophical Research Society. You’ll be able to listen to “Let’s Create a Renaissance” on my new YouTube channel here.
