January 7 – 13th
International Relations
What to expect: Expansion
What to watch out for: Communication issues
What will it affect? Relationship building, values, communication and direction
Venus enters into Sagittarius on January 7th making it a great time for international relationships. What cross-border relationships do you want to establish? Our values shift toward expansion, in particular, global expansion. If you have a desire to expand into new territory, now may be a great time for investing in those relationships and Venus in Sagittarius will help you do so.
Mars is also in Aries and is driven to get things off the ground. However, Mars makes a square to Mercury in Capricorn on the 8th which sets off a bit of clash. Mars just wants to get things going but Mercury throws in the “what if’s” and the “have you thought about’s”. Actually, it’s more like “you can’t do that” and “that’s kinda stupid”. And this starts a bit of a conflict between the two. Mars in Aries is quite okay with making some mistakes and asking for forgiveness (instead of permission). Mercury in Capricorn, on the other hand, is concerned about quality and image and takes into consideration the impact that making mistakes and looking “stupid” can have on reputation. Mars in Aries doesn’t live in that kind of fear and knows that making mistakes and looking stupid is the way to move forward and figure it out. So what’s the compromise? Mars can slow down a bit to make sure there are not fatal errors being made. Mercury can be a little more flexible and open to a little less perfection.
Why? Venus Entering Sagittarius, Mercury Square Transiting Mars
Dynamic Duo
What to expect: Solid partnerships
What to watch out for: Abuse of power
What will it affect? Power dynamics, relationships, structures, and goals.
The Sun meets up with Pluto on January between the 10th and 12th and makes a trine to Juno, the marriage and partnership asteroid. The Sun and Pluto and Capricorn create a powerful combination. With this conjunction happening in Capricorn we see power focused on achievement, and building something that is enduring. It does however like the tried and true. And it is a bit intolerant of the weak and feeble. With the trine to Juno, it brings this powerful energy into partnerships. United we stand. Divided we fall… It highlights the power that comes from strong and solid partnerships. Juno is in Taurus which favours tradition, reliability, and groundedness. Normally this kind of traditional energy works best with conservative relationships, but you can take advantage of the energy if you work towards mutual understanding, clear expectations, agreement on goals and agreement on values. These qualities are the hallmark of interdependent relationships! If you have soul mate or twin flame relationship that just works, all that much better. The benefit, of course, is that we can do more together than we can apart.
Why? Sun Conjunction Transiting Pluto, Sun Trine Transiting Juno
The Fool!
What to expect: Over-optimism
What to watch out for: Over-optimism
What will it affect? Risk taking, gambling, beliefs, international trade and finance,
On January 13th Jupiter squares Neptune. This energy will be in play all year as Jupiter and Neptune dance in their forward and retrograde motions. In total, they will make three conjunctions. The first conjunction is on January 13th. The next two will be June 16th and September 21st. At their exact conjunction, the energy will be strong, but with these two in this dance all year, we can expect much of the year to be filled with this energy. In fact, this is one of the major transits of 2019 and is a particularly difficult one for business and business activity. You can still launch a business and get things off the ground with success. Back in 1853, the last time Jupiter was in Sagittarius and Neptune in Pisces on May 1, 1853, Levi Strauss & Co. was founded. But it should be noted that on that day Neptune and Jupiter were probably the farthest they apart they could be while doing this dance.
What can we expect from this combination? Well, Jupiter is in Sagittarius the sign that likes gambling and risk-taking. It expands things and makes us feel more optimistic and generous. On its own, this is not a bad thing. But the square to Neptune currently in Pisces brings in an illusory quality. Our optimism becomes over-optimism. Our generosity becomes lavish. We may be sold on things that promise much but deliver little such as get rich schemes, volatile stocks or pyramid schemes.
Luckily for this first conjunction, we also have Mercury conjunct Saturn. This helps us to view things critically and to have a cautious approach. On the other hand, we may be so convinced of our knowledge and authority on a subject that we speak with influence, leading many to believe we know. The danger is that we are strong and wrong. Neptune makes a sextile to Mercury and Saturn lending inspiration to our authoritative voice. We dream out loud and others say “yes!”. The best way to use this energy is to do so in an area that over-optimism and foolish risk-taking may be served well. I can’t tell you how many entrepreneurs I know who have acted without much thought, only to realize much later that if they had known better, they wouldn’t have. That foolish action led them into following their dreams albeit with much hard work and failure. Yes while sometimes it can work out, most of the time it will fail! We just learn from our failures, which in my books is a success!