Weekly Astrology Forecast, January 15-21: Releasing the Old

This article originally appeared on Yoga Journal

This week, Mercury emerges from retrograde, the Sun moves into Aquarius, and a new Moon initiates a new beginning. We are invited to once again start planning, dreaming, and moving ahead.

Mercury direct in Capricorn

As we stepped across the threshold into the new year, Mercury was in retrograde in the sign of Capricorn. As this retrograde comes to an end on January 19, 2023, we are able to work with the invitations, the offerings, and the support of Mercury in Capricorn in a different way.

In astrology, Mercury rules over our mental realm. It shapes how we take in information, process it, and share it. As an archetype, it represents learning, logic, information, technology, communication, and planning.

Capricorn is an earth sign. It engages with discipline, persistence, and structure. It works within--and makes the most of--our Earthly limits and laws of matter. The medicine of Capricorn is determination and resilience, which guide us to uncover who we want to be in the world, what we want to contribute, and which path we want to pursue.

While Mercury was retrograding through Capricorn, we were invited to take our time and consider, evaluate, and question our path. It was a period of reflecting on our goals and imaginings for our lives and on our relationship with structure, organization, planning, and boundaries.

As the planet emerges from its seemingly backward spin this week, it emerges with new perspectives. Perspectives that are in greater alignment with who we have become and who we still desire to be. Mercury will linger in Capricorn until next month, enabling us to draw on the strength that this zodiac sign embodies and begin to rebuild our life.

Aquarius season begins

The Sun is known as the “giver of life” in astrology. It represents the self, the immortal spirit, our life force, and how we interact with the world around us. As the Sun journeys through the twelve zodiac signs, it marks the beginning and end of our astrological seasons.

The beginning of Aquarius season on January 20, 2023, marks the end of Capricorn season. Here the Sun emerges from the rational, grounded, and serious essence of Capricorn and begins to take the shape of Aquarius by igniting and coloring our sense of self, our inner invitations and desires, and our perspective of life.

Aquarius is mentally driven, an intellectual thinker seeking evolution. It is future-oriented, independent, and innovative. This is a time when liberation, progress, freedom, authenticity, and individuality will be the forces shaping our desires and our sense of truth. Aquarius season invites us to think and to step beyond the known.

New Moon in Aquarius

January 21, 2023, brings the Sun and Moon near one another for a new Moon in Aquarius. New Moons hold the potential of beginnings, imagining, and visioning. They encompass the moment of emptiness in which all potential exists.

While in Aquarius, this celestial event invites us to plant a seed of hope that is rooted in truth and authenticity. It is here as a moment in time to clarify what is wanting to rise within and through us as the year progresses.

Sitting closely to Pluto in our skies, there is a simultaneous breaking away of the old as there is an expansion into the new. Under this new Moon, we are invited to witness the box that has been keeping us confined, and we get to open the door, step through, and see what's on the other side.

Your invitation

As we stepped into the year, we did so slowly, with major retrogrades and an emotional Cancer full Moon.

However, as Mercury finishes its backwards spin and we enter the season of Aquarius, an air sign, things begin to move once again. Stagnancy begins to clear, time feels as if it has sped up, and our attention moves away from our past and toward our future.

This spark continues with the first new Moon of 2023 inviting us to look toward the months ahead with inspiration, liberation, and imagination. It asks us to sit with the newness of the Moon, whisper our desires into the ethers, and decide on our path ahead.

While Mercury remains in the grounded and practical sign of Capricorn, we can bring both practical and innovative planning to our visions.

We can imagine our year ahead without restraint with Aquarius to guide us beyond the realm of the known. And then we can ground those intentions into planning and building as Capricorn so desires.

Learn more about the influence of astrology in your life, including astrological events the Moon cycles, your Sun and Moon and rising signs, how journaling can help you connect with the current influences, and more with Jordane Maree at Girl and her Moon.

About our contributor

Jordane Maree is the founder of Girl and Her Moon, a platform and community exploring Soul through the lens of astrology, tarot, and energy healing. She is a writer, intuitive astrologer, energy and soul guide, and host of Girl and Her Moon, The Podcast. She is inspired, every single day, to be the mirror for you to see all that you truly are, you in all your infinite abilities, in total expansion, in infinite opportunity and love.

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