January 1, 2018 — Heads spinning, we begin 2018 with much to integrate from the past year. Chaos, revolution, and erraticism defined 2017 as we faced a disruptive T-Square between Uranus, Jupiter, and Pluto for most of the year. The planets encouraged us to buck against the status quo and uproot stodgy systems. We've been breaking ground and making our way toward a new age in humanity, set to begin in January of 2020, when Pluto and Saturn line up in Capricorn.

Looking ahead, we are entering a steadier, heavier year, with three slow-moving planets shifting into more stable and serious placements. If last year required us to violently till the soil, fighting for revolution, this year involves watering our seeds, fertilizing the plans we’d like to set into motion. Rebellion and angry speech are now shifting into practical action. It’s time to build the world we want to inhabit, beginning with our own lives. With Saturn in Capricorn, integrity is ruling this next chapter. This is a year to ground and manifest—through hard work, responsibility, and deliberation. At the same time, Jupiter in Scorpio is helping us dive deep into our inner work, transmuting our shared suffering into tender wisdom and inspired leadership. Joining together with shared ideals, we are building healtheir families, communities, and societies, as we merge heaven and earth, vision and pragmatism.

JANUARY
The year begins with an emotional Cancer Full Moon Supermoon on January 1, setting the tone for the rest of the year. This watery Moon is pulling us out of our shells, into rich, deep, shared vulnerability. With multiple planets in Capricorn, we have a safe container helping us open and find clarity as we set intentions for the New Year. Mars joins Jupiter in Scorpio on January 6, uncovering more secrets, resentments, and abuses of power. Luckily, Capricorn is bringing integrity and truth to the fore, helping us to stabilize. We are moving ahead now, heavier but more honest and rooted in reality. In many ways, the Capricorn New Moon on January 16 is the actual start of the New Year. It’s a reset button, and a chance for us to organize. The planets shift from serious Capricorn into visionary Aquarius later in the month, encouraging us to look up from behind our desks and see what’s truly possible. Aquarius reminds us that we are working hard for a reason. We are helping materialize a greater vision—one that doesn’t just address our own needs, but the welfare of the whole planet. January ends with a Total Lunar Eclipse on January 31—the first of five eclipses of 2018. Lunar Eclipses are truth revealing, and as this one joins transformative Pluto, we could experience epic epiphanies in our personal lives and the collective. Similar themes are returning from August’s Solar Eclipse, and we are encouraged to let go of anything holding us back from an inspired future. As the nodes continue their transits through the Leo-Aquarius axis, we are moving further into expressing our unique talents to the world in meaningful and joyful ways.

KEY TRANSITS OF 2018

JUPITER IN SCORPIO
Jupiter entered Scorpio in October 2017, where he will remain until November 2018—largely defining the next year. Jupiter is the planet of growth, expansion, and exaggeration, bringing a magnifying glass to whatever he touches. In Scorpio, Jupiter uncovers our secrets. Issues around sexuality, abuses of power, transformation, intensity, and shadow work are emerging from the depths, as we undergo profound alchemical shifts. The collective is becoming more open and aware around issues we normally keep hidden. On a personal level, we are facing our dark corners—our shame, heartbreak, trauma, and anger—as they become fuel for metamorphosis and realization. Lies and manipulation are hard to pull off during this transit, with Jupiter in Scorpio penetrating us with x-ray vision. As we become more honest, with ourselves and each other, we are paving the way to deeper intimacy, more meaningful connections, and mutual understanding, healing, and growth. If we have any past traumas or issues that still need addressing, we are very much supported in bringing them to the table and showing them the light of day—no longer suppressing them in the attics of our minds. Through this process, we are growing exponentially as a culture. Moving together through the underworld, we are becoming more mature in facing our pain and the deeper realities of human experience. Jupiter is the guru, and Scorpio the shaman, so we are in good hands.

SATURN IN CAPRICORN
On December 19, 2017, Saturn entered Capricorn, its natural domicile, for the first time in almost thirty years. Here, he will remain for the next two and a half years, marking a powerful shift, as we enter a period defined by increased morality, integrity, and hard work. We are reeling in from Saturn’s transit through Sagittarius, which solidified dogma and divisiveness for the past few years. We are now coming back together—back to reality and what’s true. Simultaneously, we are attaining mastery. In a way, this is a Saturn Return for the whole planet, as we move into higher levels of collective maturity and proficiency. This is a time when dilettantes could become experts, when students could become teachers. Whatever our path, this is a wonderful period to organize and decide what we want to create into our lives and into the world. What are our priorities? What do we need to release, and where do we need to exert ourselves more? This is a sobering transit, helping us set standards for ourselves while abiding by stronger moral compasses. We are stepping into greater responsibility, for ourselves and others, examining how we can show up with increased commitment and collective care. Holding each other accountable, we are building families and communities that are loving, strong, and functional.

CHIRON IN ARIES
Chiron moves into Aries on April 17, for the first time since 1968. After a retrograde in September, he will remain in Aries until 2026. Chiron is the planet of the Wounded Healer, so now, we are entering a period of facing our pain so we can learn to heal ourselves—then help others to do the same. We are discovering deeper connections between mind, body, spirit, and the natural world. This way, we can uncover more holistic cures for mental illness and physical disease, as well as for societal and environmental dilemmas. We are also becoming more self-reliant, learning to depend less on a savior, and more on our own inner resources. Historically, inspiring figures have even died during these transits, eliciting martyrdom, which led to cultural shifts. As an example, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated within three days of Chiron’s last transit into Aries, and Robert F. Kennedy faced the same fate of few months later.

URANUS IN TAURUS
Uranus works in eighty-four year cycles, transiting through a single sign in seven years. This year, Uranus moves into a new sign for the first time since 2010, making his first ingress into Taurus on May 15. This marks a major shift for the collective. Uranus is now leaving warlike Aries, where he stood strong as a renegade and revolutionary, eliciting a phase of unpredictability and change. Now, he is moving into much steadier and earthier Taurus. Rather than fighting for change, we now know that change is underway. It’s time to look at the Taurean domains that require innovation and revolution as we determine our future. Since Taurus rules farming, the environment, cooking, real estate, and currency, these are the areas we will reinvent over the next seven years.

How can we relate to food and farming in more sustainable ways? How can we break free of our financial paradigm, establishing more equality?

Major earthquakes, hurricanes, famines, and other natural disasters often occur during this transit, waking us up to how we’ve been relating to our resources and Mother Earth. Market instability is also indicated, as the planet of erraticism moves through the sign of real estate and finance. On a personal level, we are upending our stubborn patterns and stepping outside our comfort zones. If we’ve been afraid to take risks, our lives could now rattle out of stagnation, aligning with our authentic hearts. If we’ve been single, afraid of exposing our truest selves, we might find ourselves finally opening to someone new. And if we’ve been stuck in a monotonous job, we may finally venture out and start our own business.

VENUS + MARS RETROGRADE
Venus retrogrades every eighteen months, while Mars retrogrades every two years and two months. This year, both planets retrograde, one after the other, beginning in June. When this happens, we have the chance to reexamine the energies these planets represent. Femininity, love, values, and money, as well as masculinity, war, sexuality, and aggression all stand for course corrections. Perhaps the feminine will continue moving into greater power, while the masculine becomes softer and more vulnerable. Balancing the feminine and masculine within each of us, we are learning how we can blend our receptivity and grace with our assertiveness and strength, becoming gentler and more compassionate leaders. Art and music could shift during this transit, growing more authentic, less influenced by corporate greed and control. In our personal lives, we have the chance to look back at old relationships and projects, making sure we’ve reached closure and completion.

2018 SUMMARY

The New Year heralds major change, with multiple slow-moving planets shifting signs. 2017 was chaotic and unpredictable, with Uranus eliciting revolution, shock, chaos, and contention. The planets are now moving into steadier influences, bringing increased stability, honesty, and integrity. How can we unify our hearts with practical reality, our visions with pragmatism? How can we become more loving, vulnerable, and open to one another, establishing more heartfelt systems, communities, and careers? Meanwhile, Mother Earth is speaking to us, waking us up to corrections we need to make in order to sustain ourselves and the natural world. Farming and economic systems are set to change, undergoing a revolution. As we rapidly approach the new paradigm, set to begin in 2020, this year marks a turning point when we must start building the future we want to inhabit. It’s time to manifest—through hard work, organization, and common sense—while never losing sight of our highest ideals. By balancing the feminine and masculine, developing more honesty and integrity, and connecting to each other with increased tenderness and care, we can steer the ship back to center, establishing egalitarian ideals and a society that supports our fulfillment, joy, and unity.

Cheerful and aligned, may we do our parts to build a saner world. May we become more of who we are—inspired beings full of strength and compassion, clarity and heart.

Happy New Year, and much love to everyone!

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