by Lucy Bennetts

New Moon in Capricorn 28,43, 18th January 2026, 19:50 GMT

~ Collective Ceremony of Initiation into the New~

With the tension easing from the opposition with Jupiter in Cancer and the square with Chiron in Aries, this Sun and Moon conjunction (New Moon) in Capricorn says we are now beginning a new chapter for our personal goals, our status in the world, our careers, our responsibilities. The challenges of the last couple of weeks that have been asking us to look at any past and present emotional or family dynamics that have wounded our sense of self and thus created unhealthy reactions and results, are still there, but are now on the back-burner simmering, rather than taking central focus as before.

We have gained some maturity as a result of recent experiences and now want to begin anew in terms of the standing we have in this world. Let us now move forward with this increased maturity and renewed sense of responsibility with regard to the impact we have on society, the mark we make on the world. What contribution do we want to make to the whole? These days following the New Moon are the annual portal for contemplating and intending for what we would like to contribute toward society in a very tangible way in the year ahead.

If intentions are not coming to you naturally anyway, why not spend some time writing out or focusing on your career goals, or how you would like to show up in society for this year during the days of 18th/19th /20th January?

Consider the house this New Moon takes place in, in your own chart. This is the area of your life that will take central stage for you this month.

 

The Sun is not long in Capricorn following this New Moon. He shifts to Aquarian Uranian energy within a couple of days, and is there anyone interested in astrology who has not heard of the ‘Age of Aquarius’? This New Moon is all about the future. These days are pregnant with a sense of anticipation for what that holds. Has the future now arrived? Is the New Paradigm actually seeded here?

With Pluto in Aquarius for the next 18 years, and this New Moon/Sun conjunction in a balsamic phasal relationship to Pluto, the months surrounding the Sun in Aquarius period, will be the months each year when we get our graduation ceremonies for last year’s Soul Growth and an initiation into the coming year’s ‘Soul Growth,’ in Evolutionary Astrology terms. When the Sun and Pluto meet annually this marks an ending and a beginning of a deeply transformative cycle. Each year we will evolve our perceptions of reality a little more within the 20 year context of Pluto in Aquarius.

What does this look like? Well on the days either side of the Sun in Aquarius conjuncting Pluto in Aquarius, let us all observe what happens for us personally and collectively. Is there an event that marks an energetic shift from caterpillar to butterfly for us in terms of anything Aquarian? Does an old chapter close this month and a new one begin for you, for us all?

Aquarius rules objective reality, pure awareness, the third eye, the Divine Mind, science, technology, astrology, extra terrestrial realms, rebels, revolution, the pioneering spirit, the future, the elites, electricity, unexpected events, trauma, groups, friendship, the wellbeing of the collective. Aquarius likes equality, standing back and observing, detachment and I tend to associate the deity ‘Krishna’ with Aquarius, who for me, has the superpower of just finding everything funny. For him, he conquers all because he holds it all lightly with playful laughter and non-attachment, he sees it all as ‘maya’ or illusion. Is life really as serious as we tend to take it? Is it as real as we think it is?

Aquarius doesn’t think so. Aquarius is the comedian, the eccentric and the surrealist. Will our collective consciousness shift this month into perceiving reality a little differently?

Will our own understanding of reality be metamorphosed unexpectedly into something radically new? Quite probably, yes. With Uranus however, it is hard to predict. For Uranus is the planet of the unpredictable. Let us see for ourselves with our own observations.

Mid morning on Friday 23rd January GMT, the Sun conjuncts Pluto. With all the personal planets (Mars, Venus and Mercury) also now in Aquarius. Mercury and Venus in Aquarius in the new phasal conjunction to the Sun and Pluto in Aquarius and Mars in balsamic phase conjunction.

At the very same time, the Moon is joining Saturn and Neptune in the final degrees of the zodiac wheel, in Pisces.

What happens at this time we should all take note of and use in developing our understanding of astrology and how the planets work in our lives on both a personal and collective basis.

Will the annual evolutionary chapter close monumentally with an external event? Or will it close quietly as more of an inner ending and new beginning?

It is clear to see that on a collective level we are doing things differently these days. The powers that were are dissolving. Radical new ideas are being presented about how we do things. They have not so much formed yet, but it is possible to see that the seeds of new ways of doing things are being planted. Which ones will sprout, which ones we nurture into successful, long term existence is not yet clear, but the seeds are surely being planted in both quiet and more noisy ways. The time for all of us to offer our unique ideas and contributions to create a more fair and equal world is now. May our collective Chiron in Aries now mature into the Shamanic healer in all of us rather than act, or not act, from the once deflated will that facilitated its own disempowerment.

With the outer planets now in trines and sextiles to each other, there is reason to hope for a better future than we may often allow ourselves to hope for. Perhaps this is the great surprise. The future is not as bleak as we believe it will be. Maybe the consciousness shift is all about recognising how we do actually create our own realities much more than we previously understood. What we may have learned is to switch off from external authorities creating domesday scenarios and instead recognise that the power is ours to create the worlds we would rather live in, even if its just subtle changes in where we focus our attention and understanding more and more that this is where the power to change the world really lies; in our own perception of reality and attitudes towards it.

KEY ASPECTS:

January 20th – Mars in Capricorn trine Uranus in Taurus sextile Saturn in Pisces

Dreams materialising , dreams facing reality checks, dreams facing their karmic consequences (Saturn in Pisces) whilst an internal revolution (Uranus retrograde in Taurus) is brought about on earth through battles over traditional social rules and structures.

*Uranus loosely in an out of sign, approaching trine and also ruling

Venus conjunct Pluto in Aquarius

The values of the people are changing. The ways we use money, our economic models may undergo a deep and lasting transformation. The seeding of this is now. A massive shift in the way we experience reality and understand the truth of our earthly existence, evolves.

January 23rd – Sun conjunct Pluto

*Mentioned in the main article.

January 26th/27th – Neptune into Aries

Drum rolls, trumpets, and the day has finally arrived. The 165 year cycle of Neptune has fully ended and we now move into Neptune’s next cycle with no further returning into Pisces for the next 165 years. 1861 was the last time Neptune was at 0 Aries. A reset for our collective unconscious.

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Lucy Bennetts is a certified NPA astrologer. You can connect with her on YouTube at: Astrology and Healing with Maitri

 

If you’d like to find more information about the services she offers click here>http://www.astrologywithmaitri.org

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