An Intensely Transformational Month of January

January's astrology is also in relationship to the entire year's since both begin at midnight on the 31st of December. This year, as well, the planets conspire, since the Capricorn New Moon also takes place directly in the opening hours of January 1st. This New Moon is very dramatic, since it closely conjuncts Pluto, and is accompanied by a Grand Cross in cardinal signs, involving, along with transformative Pluto, the trickster energy of Uranus opposed by feisty Mars, with the additional amplification of Jupiter. There is thus a very active lineup of extremely powerful astrological indicators for the New Year. Venus is now retrograde, so that relationships of all kinds are on our minds as we meditate on the changes that 2014 will bring.

One keyword for this particularly important period of time would be transformation. The idea of beneficial change is in any case subtly on our minds as we roll over the calendar year, a cycle that we take in on more than one level. The underground of our dreams and schemes involves among other things the prospect of continual and profound change. This is the breath of life — without which we are virtually non-existent. Profound change is, after all, a normal part of that continual process of metabolism and metamorphosis that is vitally necessary at the cellular level and in terms of psyche as well, as we come into closer and closer alignment with our deepest intentions.

Then, with Mars in square with Pluto as the month begins, and opposite Uranus, we have not only an extra push toward necessary transformational change but also the potential for hasty action that we might in time come to regret. Reactivity is always lurking, and with Mars and Pluto combining in this way over a number of days leading up to and just past the January 1st event, we have a real potential over this period for hidden anger suddenly coming to the surface, a danger that is also an opportunity. Being forewarned, we have the chance to rise above knee-jerk outburst and the temptation of hasty moves by taking the time to reflect on ourselves, contemplating from where the reactivity is stemming, and based on what underlying simmering energy, which perhaps goes back to core issues, or the residue of early trauma.

Regarding the storied Uranus-Pluto interaction, we have seen, in recent times, their square increase in intensity with each succeeding year, representing a corresponding urgency within each of us for the personal transformation that is symbolically implied by this important collision of outer planet archetypes. We can observe, over the past few months and years, the increasing intensity of revolutionary societal change coming around on a collective as well as a personal level, since the vibration of collective is in essence nothing more than the sum total of every individual contribution. It is as though every one of us is a holographic integral component of the whole; when we are able to change ourselves, the world around us changes. Now, with the advent of 2014, this process is even further intensified. This shows up in the increasing frequency of the exact hits of Uranus-Pluto, coming up again on April 21st of next year; and we can also see this exemplified in the extremely energized grand cross of this New Year's chart and the January 1st New Moon.

There is also now the highlighted presence of Chiron, the Wounded Healer, emphasized last month, and very prominent in these January skies. Transformation implies leaving something behind that is not working; that is the difficult part. This is one place where the painful process indicated by Chiron is appropriate symbolically. We might note as well, it is by the recognition of where we have in the past been wounded, and where we might yet move beyond that early trauma, that our most important and healing transformations begin to take place.