New Moon conjunct Pluto in Capricorn January 12, 2021 10:00 pm MT, Mars square Saturn, Mars approaching conjunction with Uranus, Venus trine Uranus

Happy first new moon of the new year! I know we were all hoping for a reset after 2020, and I’m sorry to say based on the current events and the astrology, that we’re not there… yet.

2021 will bring a big change in energy—it is the dawning of a new era—but we will have struggles to grapple with yet, both lingering from 2020 and new ones, stamped with the signature of change, innovation, and upheaval (thanks to so much Aquarian, Uranian, and [continued] Plutonian energy at play).

This is a huge week (/month) in the cosmos, with many major movements occurring back to back. I’m going to focus on the moon and Pluto, but check your favorite astrologer for more if you’d like to dive deeper (or look wider). Also, I’ll cover other aspects in the upcoming full moon post, so stay tuned.

New Moon in Capricorn conjunct Pluto

The moon is in its detriment in Capricorn, where it thirsts for the waters of its home in Cancer, the opposite sign. Capricorn is the mer-goat and leaves the primordial waters to climb the mountain of incarnation, ultimately reaching for (re)connection with the divine sky. Capricorn is ambition and also mastery.

The new moon in Capricorn always carries with it strong energy for intention-setting and manifestation (new year’s resolutions, anyone?)—but its alignment with Pluto this year brings a very different vibe to the table.

Pluto, lord of the underworld, is about upheaval and transformation—Pluto drags up any and everything repressed or ignored from our subconscious underbelly, into the scrutiny of the light—to be reckoned with, witnessed, and (at its best) ultimately healed. At the very least, Pluto does not allow us denial or bypassing. And they don’t care how long our shit has been buried.

Nations have natal charts as well as humans, and the United States is currently experiencing its Pluto return, where the planet reaches the exact place it was in the sky when the country was born (when the Declaration of Independence was approved by Congress, 5:10 pm July 4, 1776 in this case). This return has been happening since 2019 and will continue until 2025 and will be exact in Feb 2022 and Oct 2023, when we may see all of this come to a head and/or reach a point of resolution.

The upheaval we are witnessing is our reckoning (for those of us in the US) with all that we have buried, ignored, and refused to grapple with, for over 200 years. The enslavement of human beings, whose labor built the structures and prosperity this country grew from and with; the genocide of indigenous peoples and stealing of occupied lands; the white supremacy and hetero-patriarchy baked into the structures and scriptures of our ideologies, laws, and institutions.

Revisiting January 2020

Saturn and Pluto (two of the most intense and difficult planets) met in the sky of Capricorn on January 12, 2020, signifying intense days ahead, which, with the hindsight of 20/20 we all now understand.

(This was attached to the Pluto return [4 degrees away] but not right on top of it [which was good news].)

Now seems like a good time to reiterate that I don’t see astrology as causing what happens in our worlds, but acting as a reflection and a guide to the cycles and patterns of our personal and collective seasons and lessons of evolution. Reflecting and depicting the great hermetic law of the universe—as above, so below. We are presented with challenges and struggles, but always, it is up to us how we work with or against them—and who we allow ourselves to become as a result of them.

And like Dr. King, I believe “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

These are not easy times we are living through, but they are absolutely crucial and necessary. And whether we personally reap the ultimate gifts our collective evolution remains to be seen, but assuredly they will reverberate through the coming generations. They will inherit a different world for the changes we go through today.

Now, back to the moon… The moon and sun are conjunct (as they always are with a new moon) at approximately the same degree that Saturn and Pluto met at on January 12, 2020.

So while new moons signify times of planting seeds, of birthing new times and intentions, this one speaks to me of closing and wrapping up from 2020. To regenerating what we lived through and learned.

With Pluto energy we shed, we release, we destroy—and if we do not, outside circumstances do it for us.

This is what I love about astrology, this is where I find its power. That it offers us external guidance for the roiling dramas within our lives and worlds—it allows us to pull out and see the macrocosmic view—and to pay attention accordingly. With astrology, we can work with these aspects consciously, instead of feeling fated to forces outside of our control.

And Pluto is all about control and power; you are asked to investigate your own relationship to control, your own power dynamics. Where do you play the victim and where are you victimizing others? What patterns of abuse did you inherit and which do you replay? Where can you find the resource of compassion and empathy for these patterns in yourself? And can you find the ability to expand this sense of compassion to others? How far can that reach?

If you have access to your natal chart, look at what house Pluto is in. This is the particular area of your life that has been and will continue to face upheaval, uncovering, and ultimately transformation. (If you don’t, you can make a free one here at Chani Nicholas’ site.)

Uranus in Taurus and Saturn + Jupiter Aquarius

Much of the framework of the astrology for 2021 rests upon Uranus in Taurus and Saturn + Jupiter moving through Aquarius. This is where much of the innovation and change (and resistance to such) that I spoke of earlier will play out. I will say more to this at the upcoming full moon (in Leo), so check back for more!

Writing Prompts for the New Moon in Capricorn

Personal Writing Prompts for the New Moon in Capricorn conjunct Pluto

I suggest journaling, meditating, pulling tarot cards for these questions before or in conjunction with the ritual below, but as always, do what feels right and adapt it make it your own.

- What do you want to leave behind from 2020? In yourself and your own life? In your community? In the larger world?

- What do you carry forward from 2020? What did you learn, gain, evolve, grow?

- What have you transformed within yourself through the challenges and joys of the past year—who are you now, and who do you hope to continue to become?

- Imagine a world transformed by the uncovering and facing of the buried and repressed facets of our history. What might this look like? Write a vision of a world (and the USA in particular) after it has grappled with the dark ghosts and skeletons of its past. What structures, institutions, laws, and social norms might grow from our broken and decayed atrocities and mistakes—brought to the surface, turned over, and composted into the fertile soils of tomorrow.

New Moon Ritual

1. Light a black (Saturn) and/or white (moon) candle.

2. Meditate, journal, and or pull a tarot card on the following questions/visions:

Imagine yourself in 2025, having uncovered and overturned, healed and transformed some of the stories, patterns, and habits you have found yourself working with and through over the past year. Consider: who are you when you’ve transmuted the painful lessons of this year and composted the shit in your own closet? Imagine what it feels like to be that person.

3. Write a letter from yourself in 2025 to yourself today. What advice would you give yourself? What compassion and forgiveness can you offer yourself for what you have gone through and are going through now?

4. Now, since Capricorn loves her some planning, even though we’re not necessarily setting precise intentions with this moon, we will give Capricorn some organization love. So, make a list of things you can do now to begin moving toward that self. What are actions you can take today to begin the journey of moving toward that version of you?

Maybe this list includes forgiving past actions or parts of yourself; perhaps doing a guided meditation focused on witnessing and shifting a particular pattern; maybe it’s finding resources like a therapist or healer to help you move through some of the heavy lifting you may not be able to do alone. Maybe it’s writing or making art daily, dancing, singing…

5. Choose one thing from this list that feels nurturing and even pleasurable, and commit to doing it regularly for the next four weeks, until the new moon in Aquarius on February 11.

Fiction Writing Prompt inspired by the New Moon in Capricorn

One thing Capricorn season and placements reveal to us is the great depth of our internal resources. When one must climb the mountain, they must find within a store of inner power. Keep this in mind for the following prompt.

- What is one of the major struggles your character must face and overcome (or attempt to, at least) within the narrative? Try to name it in a sentence or two, a quick synopsis.

- Make a list of internal and external resources the character will/can call upon or develop.

- Choose one of these resources and write a scene in which they draw on or use this internal strength to face or overcome some obstacle.

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Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash