Week 2: January 2023 Week 2, The Week Ahead with Blaze

Mars station Direct this week after Retrograding through Gemini since October 30th, 2022. This station defined the entire week ahead after an 11 week long Retrograde. Hallelujah!

Introduction

Monday Jan 9th 

[10:21 AM ET] Venus in Aquarius trines Mars at 8º11’ Gemini
[8:52 PM ET] The Moon in Leo opposes Saturn at 23º21’ Aquarius

On Monday, one of the major aspects kicks off for the week when Venus in Aquarius makes a trine to Mars in Gemini. This is a very interesting trine that has been building throughout all of last week and it sets the stage for Mars’ direct station later this week. Venus is a planet of compromise, justice, diplomacy, and relationships and when it makes a trine to Mars, the planet of confrontation, contests, rebellion, conflict, and aggression, Venus has the ability to ameliorate and soften the harsh influence Mars can bring. Venus in Aquarius brings the influence of following rules, the standard, what is considered orthodox to Mars in Gemini, who is representative of intellectual strife, verbal conflict and arguments, as a way to sooth tensions and find compromise. Venus is said to be in the overcoming position in this instance because Aquarius is the 9th sign from Gemini, so Venus has the upper hand in this instance. Venus is a planet who wants to harmonize and unify people together, whereas Mars typically separates and severs connections. Venus shows us that there are certain values, ideas, worldviews, or principles we have to abide by and are bound too since Venus is in the Saturnian sign of Aquarius. Aquarius typically gets this reputation for being about “freedom” and “eccentric”, but this isn’t how Aquarius was originally viewed by ancient astrologers. It was a sign ruled by Saturn, so it symbolized rules, restrictions, and regulations in the context of the Air element, so things relating to society and how it is organized. Aquarius takes the likes, values, commitments, and things established in Libra and makes them the standard, the status quo, and creates an orthodox of what is acceptable. Aquarius is a rigid sign due to Saturn’s influence, and with any sort of standard that is set, it is bound to alienate and outcast those who do not follow those rules. Saturn in Aquarius shows us what is societally acceptable and when you operate within the cultural norm, you can be praised and elevated, but when you operate outside of it and deviate from it, you find yourself lonely, outcasted, and exiled. Some ancient authors call Aquarius a sign of injustice since it is an Air governed by a malefic planet, that restricts the will and suppresses the self. Venus in Aquarius making this trine to Mars in Gemini is the conformity to a standard after dealing with a Mars who has been defiant, rebellious, unstable, and unpredictable while Retrograding through Gemini. It’s almost like Venus and Saturn together say “Enough!” to Mars and restrain Mars’ actions, and Mars obeys.

There are important blockages and restrictions that are simultaneously encountered since the Moon in Leo will make an opposition to Saturn in Aquarius today. This can bring up themes of inhibiting one’s will, dimming one’s light, encountering rejection, blockages, and delays. Saturn tells us NO when it is in opposition and since Saturn is Direct and in its domicile, this is a firm, hard boundary that Saturn is enforcing. It makes things more serious and stern for the day until the opposition starts to separate. The Moon also represents the body, so you may feel extra tired, taking care of responsibilities, exhaustion, and weighed down today.

Tuesday Jan 10th

[10:15 AM ET] INGRESS: The Moon enters Virgo

On Tuesday, the Moon will shift from the Fixed, Fire sign of Leo and enter the Mutable, Earth sign, Virgo. This will be the only transit that happens for the day, and it will be the second sign the Moon has ingressed into ruled by Mercury Retrograde. When the Moon was in Gemini, it was ruled by Mercury Retrograde in Capricorn but it was not able to witness and form an aspect with its ruler, which brought revisions, delays, and miscommunications without an understanding of why things went wrong. This transit will feel different since the Moon will be able to connect with its domicile lord since Virgo and Capricorn make an aspect to each other. This Virgo Moon definitely feels more fricative, critical, and nit-picky since the Moon won’t be able to witness both benefic planets, since Venus is in Aquarius and Jupiter is in Aries, but it is a great time to review old documents, data, information, and knowledge. Double-checking all Mercury related things, like letters, writings, emails, text messages, and any form of communications. The Moon will be separating from the opposition yesterday from Saturn and once it enters Virgo it makes a square to Mars, so make sure you take it easy, take time to rest, and to not add more stressors to your nervous system. This square to Mars will be building throughout most of the night (ET) so make sure to be aware of what is causing tension or what conflict might be building throughout the day.

Wednesday Jan 11th

[2:36 AM ET] The Moon in Virgo square Mars Retrograde at 08º08’ Gemini
[9:57 AM ET] The Moon in Virgo trine Mercury Retrograde at 11º49’ Capricorn

On Wednesday, the Moon will square off with Mars in Gemini which brings conflict, aggression, and nit-pickiness to a climax after its buildup on Tuesday. Both the Moon and Mars will be ruled by Mercury Retrograde in Capricorn, and the Moon will actually be translating the light between Mars and Mercury who cannot currently see each other. There may be some discrepancies in information, correctness in data, needing to edit or be more discerning about certain information that may have been overlooked previously. The Moon squaring Mars usually portends for conflict, fights, aggression, and competition, but afterwards when the Moon makes a trine to Mercury, it’s domicile lord, we are able to find the reasons for these conflicts that occurred and make necessary revisions, changes, and go back over and “check our work”. It makes me think of how teachers would tell you to check your work and answers over before submitting a test. Re-read, revise, and redo are all the major themes for today. It might feel slightly aggravating and frustrating since Mars will be squaring the Moon, but the trine between Mercury and the Moon is nice, especially because there is reception between these planets. It is also Wednesday, Mercury’s Day, so it is great for studying, learning, speaking, writing, editing (Virgo speciality), correcting, finding solutions, noticing the errors in our problems, and working to find a solution.

Thursday Jan 12th

[6:07 AM ET] The Moon in Virgo trine the Sun at 21º57’ Capricorn
[3:56 PM ET] STATION: Mars stations Direct at 8º07’ Gemini
[9:56 PM ET] INGRESS: The Moon enters Libra

Thursday is definitely the big day for this week since it is the day that Mars stations Direct in Gemini. Mars has been Retrograding through this since since October 30th, 2022 but it first entered into this sign on August 20th, 2022. Think about the house that Gemini rules in your chart, how have these themes and topics been important over the past 4-5 months? How have you found more tension, strife, delays, competition, conflict, aggression, and the need to rethink plans of action within these houses specifically since October 30th? If you have a day chart (Sun is above the ASC/DSC axis) you may have noticed a lot more heightened tensions, friction, aggression, open conflicts and even violence that would’ve caused you to think about severing ties and ending relationships, but if you’re born during the night, this could’ve brought a big boost of energy to help spur action, create initiation, and help you stand up and take more bold action in this house. Mars, and all of the planets, behave differently during the day and during the night. If you’re born during the Day, generally Mars will be your most challenging planet and will be the source of the more extreme and uncomfortable, what one might call malefic, experiences in your life, whereas if you’re born during the night, Mars is more constructive and beneficial in the chart. Either way, the past few months have been filled with arguments, indecision, delays, not being able to move forward, erratic changes, disruptions, and sudden disruptions, outbursts, and frustration that have causes us to rethink our actions and impulses. Mars stationing Direct today is a big deal because it is our first Direct station of the year, and the fast, swift, and impulsive planet is finally able to begin picking up speed. When planets station Retrograde or Direct in the sky, it is always an important moment and the entire week leading up to the station will carry the energy of that planet. Mars starts showing a path forward and can bring a stronger sense of urgency throughout this week in the house Gemini rules in your chart. Mars spurs action, creates activity, urges us to be bold, sometimes impulsive which is not always bad, but it can lead to recklessness. Mars urges us to make decisions, specifically about what people, situations, or things we need to cut out of our life. In the double bodied sign of Gemini, this may mean having to choose between two things, and Mars says this is the time to make a choice. Mars has had lots of debate, throwing around ideas, arguments, raised the stakes of verbal tensions, but still feeling inconsistent with their ability to be direct and straightforward. If you’ve been feeling stuck, stagnant, and blocked in action, Mars starts to pick up the pace and says LETS GET THIS SHOW ON THE FUCKING ROAD!!!!! In many ways, this moment in time can feel like waiting for a train to leave the station after boarding, or a plane before takeoff, still waiting on the runway, but planted still in this liminal waiting period, but about the shoot off onto the tracks, or into the sky. Things won’t completely start moving forward until Mercury stations Direct, which will be next week, but this shift is definitely very important for the upcoming week. Direct stations always happen as either Mars, Jupiter, or Saturn receive an overcoming trine from the Sun, which should go exact sometime at the beginning of Aquarius Season in like 2 weeks. This overcoming trine is important because the Sun as the planet of prophecy, knowledge, illumination, and insight gives us more knowledge on what went wrong, why things were delays, and what the path looks like moving forward.

On this day, the Moon will make a trine to the Sun, in the overcoming position, which helps to ground the day in finding clarity, illumination, and major revelations as Mars stations Direct. Any day that the Sun and Moon are in agreement with each other is great, and today is great for gaining recognition, acknowledgment, and finding achievement from the Sun. This knowledge received is much more practical, sober, and may take on a serious tone as Mercury and Saturn are the two planets ruling the Sun and Moon, and they’re concerned with discernment, rigor, boundaries of whats right and wrong, fact and opinion, and they allow us to get a clear, grounded, look at what steps we can take as Mars stations Direct. Virgo creates the plan, gets the details, and takes the information and creates technique out of knowledge, like the skill of baking applied to turning wheat into bread, and Capricorn gives us a direction and outlet to fuel this knowledge— an ambition, a drive, and a will to create. This is a very energizing day, and for some it can bring a lot more vitality. The Moon will enter Libra towards the end of the day, which brings the topics of justice, balance, law, relationships, and diplomacy to the forefront of our minds.

Friday Jan 13th 

[3:33 AM ET] The Moon in Libra opposes Jupiter at 02º52’ Aries
[1:45 PM ET] The Moon in Libra trine Mars at 08º08’ Gemini
[4:54 PM ET] The Moon in Libra square Mercury Retrograde at 09º46’ Capricorn

On Friday the 13th, the Moon in Cardinal Air wants to initiate and begin relationships, thinking about the ideas that have been debated and argued in Gemini finally get decided upon as the Moon enters Libra, and she encounters an opposition to Jupiter in Aries. We might find our sense of faith being pulled in many directions, the conflict between the self (Aries) and personal interest versus the urge to focus on other people. While we may feel indecisive and stuck in contemplation because of the interest of other people, Jupiter urges us to make bold decisions and action to help start new beginnings and get the ball rolling. The abundance of Cardinal energy today quickens the pace of things, urges action, and to put our dreams, visions, and ideals first. Mars will make a trine to the Moon which can spur action, cause quickness, but also make it easy for fights, conflict, and aggression to rock the boat and cause tension in social settings. It can also be a time where you feel more impatient and antsy, and Mars urges us to press on the gas pedal. Mars and Jupiter together bestow more self confidence on Friday, urging us to be bold, assertive, and loud. Mars can also inflame us and add more friction, making it easy for us to be inflamed, agitated, or irritated. Aries and Libra often talk about action versus restraint, or courage versus fear. There are a lot of ideas and decisions that need to be made today about certain partnerships and agreements, but Jupiter is definitely able to help us out today from the opposition, since Jupiter is a benefic. We might feel called to find more of a sense of freedom and liberation from certain bonds or commitments we find ourselves entangled in since the Moon in Libra can put this emphasis on relationships and partnerships. However, there are some details we still need to review and go over once more since the Moon will make a square to Mercury Retrograde in Capricorn. While we find support from Mars to act, the square to Mercury introduces trickery, contradiction, and delays that may stop us in our tracks. Finding conflicting information, misunderstandings, and miscommunications could be possible for today, so again double check to see if you have the right information, knowledge, and if you need to review, re-read, or re-write.

Saturday Jan 14th 

[12:57 AM ET] The Moon in Libra trine Venus at 13º57’ Aquarius
[7:47 PM ET] The Moon in Libra trine Saturn at 23º52’ Aquarius
[9:10 PM ET] The Moon in Libra square the Sun at 24º38’ Capricorn

On Saturday, the Moon will make two really beautiful aspects to the planets that are both of its rulers: Venus as the domicile lord, and Saturn as the exaltation lord. The Moon making a trine to Venus is great for making peace, relationships, love, creative and artistic pursuits, extending an olive branch, and the reception between the Moon and Venus through a trine aspect looks like some sort of favor, commitment, or agreement is being formed on this day. This will be the first time the Moon will be in Venus’ sign since Venus entered Aquarius, and it encourages us to be more social, flirtatious, and encourages sweet talking. The vibes are definitely really nice with the abundance of Venus energy who wants to make us laugh, listen to music, since, dance, and enjoy life. The Moon will be applying to a trine to Saturn throughout the entirety of the day which can emphasize important commitments, binds, restrictions, and limitations that are encountered which encourage more contemplation, restraint of action, and depth of thought. Whereas both Jupiter and Mars encouraged more selfish and assertive behavior, Venus and Saturn urge us to think about the consequences of our actions, the rules, and how the impact other people. We may find ourselves struggling to act or there being conflict with our willpower and our circumstances as the Sun and the Moon will be in disagreement with each other as the square off in Libra/Capricorn, both very Saturn heavy signs. This brings a final culmination to the lunar month, and our energy levels begin to wane as the Moon is half empty with light and starts to shed all of the light she accumulated previously.

Sunday Jan 15th

[7:08 AM ET] INGRESS: The Moon enters Scorpio
[10:47 PM ET] The Moon in Scorpio sextile Mercury Retrograde at 08º33’ Capricorn

On Sunday, the Moon will enter Scorpio, the sign of their Fall, in which the themes of nourishment, care, vulnerability, and protection will find themselves repressed as the Moon comes to one of the signs she is not comfortable or welcomed in. The Moon represents the body and physical aspects of our incarnation, and when she is in Scorpio, it can indicate that we physically don’t feel well, are tired, and not nourished. Make sure to take this day to either rest, fill your body with good food, and help give your physical aspect of yourself the support it needs to thrive. We may be more called to talk about our fears or anxieties as Scorpio can be an anxious sign, and with Mercury making a sextile to the Moon, it gives us an opportunity to communicate these fears, anxieties, or worries. With Mars as the ruler, finally being direct, it seems like we can have a little more clarity and understanding about any secrets, hidden ideas, or contradictions that may have put us on edge. Sometimes Scorpio and Gemini paired together in the sky can talk about gossip and slander, and the trickiness of words becomes especially potent today as the Moon makes a sextile to Mercury in Capricorn right now. Secrets, hidden knowledge, and uncovering information, plots, or schemes in private may be important for today as Scorpio and Capricorn are both recognized as secret and private signs, who scheme in their head but don’t share their thoughts out loud. We may be making sense of the contradictions and reviewing the past 2 months of Mars Retrograde in Gemini since this will be the first time the Moon has entered a Mars ruled sign since Mars stationed Direct. While the Moon does not aspect Mars and it doesn’t have the ability to add further stress upon the Moon’s condition, the Moon shows the source of the “sting of the Scorpion” can be felt in our tongue, through our words, and what we say since Mars is in Mercury’s sign. The Moon depressed in Scorpio is not usually a fun time, but it invites us to be more covert, secret, and private, thinking about who do we really trust with certain information, and whether they would instigate gossip or slander with the information provided. The Moon as the planet of safety does not feel safe and protected in Scorpio, but is in more of a defensive mode. This may shine through in our communication style since Mercury is involved here. Things should smoothen out as the Moon makes a square with Venus, but that will occur next week.