Low on the southern horizon, the new Moon in Capricorn occurs on January 11, 2024 at 6:57 AM EST forming a constructive aspect of tension with the lunar nodes on the Aries and Libra axis. The lunar nodes are sensitive points in astrology marking polar points on the ecliptic where the rise and fall of the orbiting Moon crosses above and below the apparent path of the Sun. Specifically, this location of the new Moon is called the southern bending of the lunar nodes and symbolizes an unraveling turning point of events that can feel fated, or beyond our control.
The Moon in astrology can represent the people and the Sun our collective focus. Together in Capricorn at the southern bending of the lunar nodes we seek to reconcile our tendencies to judge and patrol other’s traditions and customs in relation to our own. This includes foreign nations but also within our homeland, among neighbors, family, friends and foes. As the lunar nodes are passing through Aries and Libra we experience an axis of facing mirrors where we learn to disarm our judgements in order to see our multivalent selves recast infinitely within our relationship to the world. Rather than presuming others values and beliefs it is wise at this time to reconsider how your own virtues measure up in your own backyard. Each and every one of our choices in day-to-day interactions have rippling effects, for better or worse across national and world events sooner or later. More simply put this month is about single pointed self awareness versus the involuntary limitations we enact on others.
Aries
You’ve embarked on this year strong as Mars your planetary guide is transiting dedicated Capricorn exuding exceptional tenacity. Now, the Moon and Sun will join near Mars in Capricorn in your tenth house of talents and vocation. Temporary crises among colleagues and friends may emerge from unforeseen places at this time. Especially look out for the destabilizing effects of your pointed determination on your relationships and capacity to enjoy restorative leisure time at home. There is a lavish hunger present in this new Moon, ideal for accomplishing highly effective self-serving goals but like a horse wearing its blinkers, can create a focus so limited you may neglect the tender sweet curiosity of the process.
Taurus
The Moon guides your third house of cliches. The Sun and Moon will meet in your ninth house of truth seeking. You may be drawn this month to knowledge gained through your physical senses and the occasional satisfaction of reaching for low hanging fruit. Like riffing on an old recipe, tinkering with the familiar unveils revelatory sensations and deepens intimacy with established beliefs. Consider what interests are so old they’re new again. Sometimes ideas come best with what is right before your eyes and assumed “too on the nose.” Availability is an inspiration and aphrodisiac this month as it is reliable and proven. As Mars is also present in your ninth house of intellectual pursuits there is the tendency to overthink it all.
Gemini
The new Moon in Capricorn occurs in your eighth house of uncertainty and energy borrowed from other sources. Debt collects in many configurations. As the Moon and Sun form an acute aspect with the lunar nodes straddling your fifth and eleventh houses of goals and pleasures it could be emotional debt accrued from years of pursuing a dream achieved or forgotten. It could be debt amassed through love or labor and the value of your time and effort spent treading water in positions of service unrequited. Debt may be inherited from others as well. This moon cycle, define what forms of debt you carry and their origins while discerning which you are willing to bear any longer, if at all.
Cancer
You seek to establish a community that shares common interests. The new Moon in Capricorn occurs in your seventh house of others and making contact. Saturn who guides said topics is transiting elusive Pisces in your ninth house of wisdom. Connections made at this time are born of other’s attraction to something significant you long to share but its delivery may feel more labyrinthine than usual. This nest you’re caring for requires focused adaptability and the use of your creative talents that are now visible as the material of its structure. This comes at a critical point as the new Moon highlights a crossroads in your ability to share a desire to be seen for passions you hold close to your heart.
Leo
The Moon will join your planetary guide, the Sun, in your sixth house of activities that can minimize your vital life force. Mars, also present, is a fierce advocate for asserting sound approaches to healthful routines this month as it is influential in Capricorn and highly effective in the sixth house. A tense aspect with the lunar nodes on your third and ninth house axis of being-on-the-go suggest that habits favorable to your health cannot be separate from unpredictable daily routines. It will be the little choices made within the arc of a day that add up over time . No gimmicks or branded regimes will have as much lasting power as an integral commitment to your own well-being.
Virgo
This is an ideal month to take your pleasure seriously as the new Moon in Capricorn will occur in your fifth house of good fortune and leisure. Mars nearby, means business in Capricorn as it funnels idling worries and unknowns into creatively generative work; a constructive use of one’s nerves. It is a time of initiating profound dedication to dreaming new concepts, driving projects and long term goals to the next level. The pleasure here surfaces from the innovative possibilities inherent in this time and may include essential sobering time alone, possessing the rigor to see a truly new and enduring idea nursed patiently to life. Potentially, see how much innovation you can squeeze out of one good idea.
Libra
The Moon and Sun join in Capricorn in your fourth house of land and property. Mars, who guides your needs for sustenance, asks what sort of space, shared or solitary makes practical sense for one’s lifestyle. Saturn who guides your fourth house is in your sixth house of burdens, identifying what infrastructures at home are antithetical with your evolving lifestyle needs. If career overwhelm or the unnecessary compulsion to keep up with the Joneses is an obstacle it will be no excuse here. As the Sun and Moon interact with the lunar nodes in your first and seventh houses, you’re also learning where appearances clutter the cupboards and closets of your sense of authenticity.
Scorpio
Your innate sensitivity to the ebb and flow of human emotion is a reliable source of the collective PH balance. You sense one drop of poison in the lake before the rest of us. As the new Moon occurs in your third house of common sense, remember to pause occasionally and assess the long-term effects of what possessing such intuitive strength bears on your day to day. Regulate the deluge of collective sentiment that can flood your own ability to maintain the right relationship within your immediate environment. Listen, on a cellular level to yourself only. Enable matters at hand and issues within reach to inform and make practical use of your vast pools of instinct.
Sagittarius
This month you’re focused on developing confidence around essential resources at a level that feels appropriate and comfortable for you. The Moon and Sun join in Capricorn in your second house of foundational assets; the things that support you. This can be an uncertain time for adding more of anything to your plate because any craving for more may be clouded by unconscious impulses and old money burning habits. Nearby Mars, exceptional in Capricorn, is in a supportive aspect with your planetary guide Jupiter in Taurus ensuring you will know when you have bit off more than you can chew. Notice where hasty acquisitions have proven little value and are collecting dust.
Capricorn
You’ve approached a fork in the road splitting the need you have to be accommodating to others and a renewed sense of independence. It has been on your mind for months. As the new Moon occurs in Capricorn in your first house of the self it is time to politely allow others to take the backseat momentarily. You are seeking to balance the tension between dependency on you at home with the conflict ensued when you must detach a bit to go with your heart. With Mars exalted in Capricorn as well, feel empowered to replace obligations with the risk to step into a reality of your own making. Be uncompromising in the pursuit of a position where your personal desires and subjectivity override your need to please.
Aquarius
Fear can become such a familiar presence that its focus can become a vague irritability rather than something to meaningfully worry about. Mars, quite fearless in Capricorn, is transiting your twelfth house of topics often beyond our control. The Moon and Sun join nearby Mars asking where we hold onto unexpressed frustration regarding who we are in private versus the image we think we are projecting. Our image is only an image unless we find the ability to walk our talk. Consider this month where you escape within relationships and behind other people’s accomplishments while steering yourself away from self-sufficiency. Waste no more time pulling the bandage off slowly of wounds you could not control.
Pisces
The new Moon in Capricorn occurs in your eleventh house of friends and aspirations. Mars, also in Capricorn in said house, guides your relationship to sustenance and livelihood. You are reconsidering the manner in which you share time with friends and colleagues and within what sort of environments. As your guiding planet Saturn in Pisces is transiting your first house of vitality you are maturing into new routines and lifestyle choices that may no longer align with the modes of socializing you once so willfully accommodated. The obstacle here will be the willpower to graciously resist the guilt-inducing clutch on your lifestyle changes that prevent you from enjoying time in community within terms that feel wholeheartedly agreeable
Story and Imagery by Shane Powers, Enon Valley Astrology
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