Happy 13/01/2020!!!!
Astrologically Speaking...
A Message From Saturn
Happy 13th month of 2020, folks!! I hate to be bearer of unwelcome news, but astrologically speaking, the month of January 2021 will basically be the thirteenth month of 2020. I know, I know! Humans have never had to bear such stress and trauma as you have this year, but there is yet light at the end of the tunnel. You're almost out of this cul-de-sac! As I've been saying throughout 2020, just hold on. And now the end really is in sight.
For those who read my post on Mars: 2020 you will know that Mars only leaves its retrograde shadow (the degree it went retrograde at months ago on Sept. 11, 2020) on January 2, 2021 and then finally leaves Tropical Aries on January 6th/7th, 2021, but this doesn't finish the 2020 Mars retrograde cycle, as we still have the final square of Mars to Saturn and then Mars to Jupiter to finish up. Only when those last two squares are complete do we fully exit the 2020 Mars cycle and enter into new astrological territory, finally putting 2020 to bed.
So when can we expect to (finally!) get through with this cycle? The short answer is by the end of January 2021 (the 13th month of 2020, as the title suggests). The long answer is that what we have been experiencing, since November of 2020, is a slow peeling away of layers that finds us ending the 2020 cycle in late January 2021 with a transition period running through most of February 2021. By the third week of February 2021, we are fully in the new astrological cycles of 2021. Below is a list of the important dates and events between January 2021 and the third week of February 2021.
Timeline for January and February 2021
- January 2/3 - Mars leaves retrograde shadow - Mars 2020 Tropical Aries retrograde period ends
- January 4 - Mars within three degrees of the square to Saturn
- January 6 - Mars leaves Tropical Aries for Tropical Taurus
- January 13 - Third and final exact square of Mars to Saturn - Mercury in Tropical Aquarius enters retrograde shadow
- January 15 - Uranus goes direct
- January 16 - Jupiter is now a full three degrees past Saturn - Jupiter/Saturn conjunction ends
- January 17 - Jupiter exact square Uranus, Saturn moves to within 3 degrees of Uranus square - applying square
- January 19 - Sun enters Tropical Aquarius
- January 20 - Mars conjunct Uranus
- January 21/22 - Third and final square of Mars to Jupiter, Mars is now three degrees past Saturn square
- January 29 - Mercury in Tropical Aquarius at 26 degrees goes retrograde
- February 1 - Mars is now three degrees past Jupiter/out of orb - 2020 Mars cycle full closes
- February 8 - Saturn sextile Chiron
- February 17th - Saturn square Uranus exact - Sun leaves Tropical Aquarius for Tropical Pisces.
- February 20 - Mercury goes direct at 11 degrees of Tropical Aquarius
I would like to stress that the seven weeks ahead of us is both a finalization of the cycles of 2020 and the transition to the astrology of 2021. It is the last two events on the list - the first exact Saturn/Uranus square, followed by Mercury going direct in co-presence with Saturn - that marks our full, conscious, entry into the astrology of 2021, which is basically the Saturn/Uranus square year, as we will have three exact passes of this square in 2021 (17 February, 15 June and 24 December, 2021).
I am not going to go into detail about the Saturn/Uranus squares in this post, but I do want to mention a few details.
First, I have now listened to or read a lot of prognosticating about what this is going to bring, and I have to say, I don't think we CAN know, by the very nature of Uranus being 'surprises' and 'the unexpected'. However, I do wish to state that I don't think it is as harrowing as I have heard some imply. Will there be unpleasant surprises? For some, no doubt! Will it be 2020 all over again? No!
While many might say that 2020 was all bad, or maybe 90% bad and 10% good, astrologically, I would say it was 70% negative, 20% neutral and 10% positive. Now, don't get me wrong, that is a lot of difficult astrology, but the big problem is that most people can't recognize neutral - the middle place or third way - and are only able to identify with the dualistic binary of "good" or "bad", and will tend to see the neutral as "bad" too. However, those neutral periods are gifts where much can be accomplished, while periods of "good" astrology can also be productive, but tend to get squandered away by the undisciplined with pleasure seeking, frivolous socializing and/or addictive behaviors. Periods of "bad" astrology can be mitigated to some extent by just hunkering down through them. They are the Universe telling us to batten down the hatches and wait out the storm, but in our "go-go-go" modern world, an appalling lack of discipline and caution means that most people flail about trying to do whatever they want during such times (I mean, only their plans matter, right?), and in so doing, make things worse for themselves and those who must interact with them. Alas, such is the nature of Jupiter, ruler of the Age, and its ally, Neptune.
When I look at the astrology of 2021, I see something quite different. Astrologically, most of 2021 is very binary, with periods of very positive astrology and periods of difficult astrology. There would appear to me to be little in the way of neutral astrology for 2021. I would rate 2021 as 50% negative and 50% positive astrological energies. First, that is a HUGE improvement over 2020. Second, that is not a whole lot less negative, its just a lot more positive. Because there are few neutral energies, we can expect mood swings and histrionics from the overly emotional. In 2021 there will be just as much need to self-discipline, because without much neutral energy, there will be a tendency to go "whole hog" during those good period. The interesting, and problematic, part of 2021 is that each "good" period is bookended by a "bad" period (when Mars and other planets are in the Fixed signs, setting off Saturn and Uranus). So 2021 will be a year of jumps-and-starts, two-steps-forward-and-three-steps-back, all year. Yet, in spite of that, a lot of good is going to come out of 2021, especially if you can let Venus and Saturn be your guides and just work on whatever you started in 2020, keeping your head down and not letting the good-feeling periods seduce you into precipitous action!
One thing I have not heard anyone point out is how prominent Venus is to everything going on in 2021, including the Saturn/Uranus squares. Venus is the secret sauce for 2021. How, you might ask? Well, that is another post entirely but I will point this out now - Uranus is in Tropical Taurus, ruled by Venus and Venus and Saturn are allies, with Saturn having its dignity in Libra, where it is exalted. Saturn is in Superior square to Uranus in all three squares, and Saturn is in its own sign in both the Tropical and True Constellation Sidereal zodiacs. Venus will also be making a whole series of Superior aspects to Mars in 2021, culminating in their conjunction in Leo in summer of 2021. I will have a lot to say about Venus and Saturn in the coming year.
So in closing, by around the 21st January, 2021the period of the 2020 astrology comes to a close. From about the third week of January 2021 through the third week of February 2021 is a period that is transitional as we work our way fully into the new astrological cycles, challenges and opportunities, of 2021. The first three weeks of January 2021 offer a period of closure and completion. We have already had two squares between Mars and both Saturn and Jupiter. What was going on for you when those last two squares occurred in August 2020 and Sept. 28th - Oct. 18th, 2020? This will be the culmination of those themes, both individually and for the world at large. We should already have a pretty good grasp of these themes by now, but if you didn't pay any attention, or do any real soul-searching through the past two, this third and final set of squares might throw you some real curveballs. I have to say that I think only those who have spent the last year deluding themselves, about whatever issues, are in for big shocks and surprises as Mars makes these final squares to Saturn and Jupiter. For the rest of us, it is just the closing of a cycle that we have survived through, and a doorway to move forward with our new understanding intact.
As I have stressed to you in my writing all throughout 2020, just remain calm, take a deep breath and let this period unfold, because the time to start implementing, for things to start to improve and for the long road back to some "new normal" to begin to unfold is almost here. You've made it through most of the worst, and there is only a short way to go. If you've made it this far, Frodo, you can make it the rest of the way up Mount Doom and throw in that ring!
