As you enter 2023, take a moment to feel the energies around you! They could easily be described as “weird,” it is after all the beginning of a new year. However, something is preventing us from moving forward: a deep pull to the past. As we enter January, the Capricorn Sun is forming a trine with futuristic Uranus, but with Mars and Mercury in retrograde, there is still some unfinished business to take care of. If you were ready to go and start off the New Year with a bang, you may want to take a beat. 2023 begins with a few lingering transits that are still causing some chaos and confusion.
Those of us trying to set 2023 intentions might realize we’re quite unsure of what we truly want and desire. Sitting with this feeling of “floating in limbo” might not be easy, but as much as we can, we should try to embrace it. There’s a very specific type of magic in not knowing what’s next, in embracing a true feeling of wonder. There’s value in finding peace in the liminal space between the past and the future. This is where we will be during the first half of the month, so get comfy floating here. Instead of succumbing to the pressure of “setting ambitious intentions,” the first few days of 2023 are best spent pinpointing what didn’t work for us in 2022. Whether we conclude that this is a bad habit, a toxic relationship, or a self-imposed goal, the time to truly let it go arrives very soon.
On January 6, we welcome the Full Moon in Cancer of 2023. This lunation will instigate deep feelings. We could suddenly realize how much we have allowed our ambition or thirst for success to cloud our judgment. If not taking care of our private lives and overworking ourselves was a theme in 2022, this lunation will expose it. After all, the Sun will be illuminating the career-focused, ambitious sign of Capricorn, the same sign Mercury is currently retrograde in. Yes, we are not only still changing the way we work, we are also changing the way we chase our goals. Big enlightening moments are in store now, as Mercury aligns with Sun, just hours after the Full Moon.
Luckily, Venus fulfills her role by granting us calm in the eye of the storm. From January 2 to January 26, Venus will fly in the skies of Aquarius. Ruled by both Saturn and Uranus, Aquarius is the zodiac sign most representative of the human condition of always living in either the past (Saturn) or the future (Uranus). Venus will form a square with Uranus on January 14 and a conjunction with Saturn on January 22, finally wrapping up the ultra-tense Saturn/Uranus square that brought so much change and tension in 2022.
January’s deeply introspective vibe begins to dissolve around mid-month, when Mars ends its retrograde on January 12 and Mercury ends his on January 18.
Two days after Mercury goes direct, on January 20, the Sun begins to shine in the sign of Aquarius. We can now think clearly and know what we truly want to manifest in the year ahead. The sun in the expansive Air sign of Aquarius brings innovative ideas that can inspire and uplift your life. As you stretch your point of view to this vast outlook, you can gain new ideas and insights to stimulate your life plan. If you were working with the timings during the Sun in Capricorn, you most likely created your solid plan for the year ahead. It is time to allow Aquarius to work its magic. The Sun in Aquarius will give you a big overview of your life and help you put more goals and dreams in writing. Aquarius encourages you to not only think outside the box, but to let go of the box completely and reach for the stars.
The very promising new moon of the month and the season arrives on January 21. As this new moon begins to wax, this is the time to set intentions, make bold moves, and begin anew. Our innovative spirit is off the charts with the New Moon in unconventional Aquarius! When the Sun and Moon team up in this brainy sign, we have a greater ability to expand our perceptions and come up with bright ideas. Aquarius sometimes dreams up concepts so far ahead of its time that they cannot be applied to current circumstances. However, the New Moon helps put us in touch with reality so that we can bring these groundbreaking insights back down to earth. And when Venus enters Pisces just a few days later on January 26, you’ll feel more inclined to embrace and express your more carefree, free-flowing side; especially as it relates to love.
Uranus, the modern ruler of Aquarius, comes out of its five-month retrograde on January 22. This will instigate surprises, but it will also carry big aha moments and fascinating epiphanies about our future. This is a weekend to clear your calendar and get to work on setting intentions and figuring out your strategy for the year ahead.
Start your engines my friends: Once Uranus is direct there will be no retrograde planets in the skies for a couple of months. With risk-taker Jupiter, the planet of growth and luck, in daring Aries until May 16, you’ve got planetary permission to step on the gas. There’s a solid case for using the first three weeks of January to evaluate your options. Then, you can confidently choose your 2023 direction and go.
Click here to read your January 2023 horoscopes.