Time to begin!

The Moon, Jupiter and Venus were strung across the southeast horizon as I began this post, just before sunrise. The Moon was, then, a tiny silver sliver, an “Old Moon”, ending the Sagittarius cycle begun in early December. Tonight, January 5th, 2019, the New Moon in Capricorn begins a new lunar month; as the first New Moon since the Solstice and the calendar New Year, it initiates the New Year. The New Moon also sets a new six-month cycle through the Capricorn Full Moon in July; and, as a Solar Eclipse initiates both a new 18-month cycle of eclipses in Capricorn and Cancer, and an 18 year cycle ending with the next round of eclipses in the same signs.

The Solstice, the New Year, the New Moon and partial Solar Eclipse combine in a powerful time of evaluating and adjusting the foundation of our personal (and collective) existence. More than New Year’s Day, today’s New Moon is a potent time for setting intentions or resolutions.

It’s time to begin.

Capricorn season comes as the light begins to return in the northern hemisphere. We’ve had several weeks of darkness, offered as an invitation to slow down, turn within, perhaps take stock of the year behind us in preparation for what is coming.

Although Capricorn is nearing the end of the Zodiac – the tenth sign of twelve – the season lends itself to new beginnings and intention-setting. Ruled by the planet Saturn, cardinal Earth sign Capricorn is much about manifesting into form our goals and ideas. Cardinal energy is initiatory energy, marking the beginning of a season. Earth energy is that of form and substance, solid and real. 

Capricorn and Saturn both represent the mastery and authority that come with maturity. The Zodiac wheel symbolizes, among other things, a cycle of human development. By the time we come to the tenth sign, we have learned much about ourselves and the world around us; we’ve stabilized our sense of self, learned to express ourselves, entered into relationship with others, explored the larger world. Through our experience and experiences, we have developed wisdom. 

Perhaps my favorite word to summarize Capricorn energy is integrity. The word means wholeness; when we integrate differing qualities, we bring them together into one whole. This particular Capricorn season is heavily emphasized with five planets and the Lunar South Node in the sign at the time of the New Moon, and Saturn, Pluto and the South Node remaining for the duration of the year. Now is a time to come into integrity – within ourselves.

We are in integrity when our thoughts, words and deeds are in alignment with our true selves, our Souls. We live from the inside out, acting from our deep inner knowing. This is, in fact, our true power – to speak and act from what we know at a bone-deep level. Just as our bodies are stronger when we stand and move in alignment with our skeletal foundation, so our intentions come to life when we act in alignment with our Souls.

The ‘cosmic weather’ of current planetary placements points to creating a foundation for this year and many to come. The next couple of months, too, offer great forward momentum and the chance to let go of shadows holding us back, especially fear and the toxic mimic of power – control. 

I am feeling the ending and beginning of several cycles at this New Year. I begin a personal New Year at my mid-month birthday. I am also in the midst of my second “Saturn Return”, in which the planet Saturn returns to the place in the sky where it was at my birth. This 29 year cycle is a potent time for crystallizing intentions and reaping what has been sown over the previous cycle. 

At my first return, I started my corporate career and got married for the first time. As Saturn initiates me into a new phase of my life, I am setting into place the foundation of my second career as teacher, writer, healer. A mainstay of my new foundation is serving others in claiming their own integrity and sovereignty, living from the inside out. 

After spending the past couple of weeks winding down, ruminating on the year past, and allowing seeds of new creations to germinate, I will set intentions tonight for the month, year, and perhaps even 29 years to come.

If you would enjoy some support in setting your own intentions for the new cycles, a Soul Map reading offers clarity, context, and self-affirmation. A reading with me is a conversation with your Soul in which I act as translator and interpreter.

Questions? Send me an e-mail or leave a comment below and I’ll be happy to have a conversation!