ElizabethsOracle

Gemini is the domain of siblings, neighborhoods and socializing. The Mercury-ruled sign seeks mental stimulation and craves communication. During the 2024 Gemini Sun cycle, Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter will change signs. In fact, and probably much to the delight of those curious, affable twins, Mercury and Venus will change signs twice during the next month. Gemini also likes to keep busy, and the first week of the unfolding cycle will see the Sun enter Gemini on the 20th, Venus follow suit on the 23rd, under an especially well-aspected full Moon, and Jupiter make its entrance into the mutable air sign on the 25th.

The 2024 Taurus Sun cycle will see Venus and Mars settle down into their respective home signs and Mercury emerge from its retrograde, move beyond the Rx shadow and into Taurus. But before the intensity of the Aries cycle cools down, the Taurus Sun cycle will start with some fireworks of its own.

The Sun's visit to fiery, feisty Aries is poised to be one of 2024's most exciting cycles. Not only will it contain the year's first eclipses and a Mercury retrograde in Aries, but it will encompass the buildup to the much anticipated Jupiter Uranus conjunction in Taurus.

For the first time since January 1778, the Aquarius Sun will be accompanied by Pluto. The two will enter the visionary, innovating air sign on January 20th, following their final conjunction in Capricorn. Pluto's last full Aquarius transit took place between April 1777 and December 1798.

This Sun through Capricorn cycle seems custom-made for those who like to spend the final part of the year reflecting on the past and the earliest days of the new one putting aspirations into action. Part of the planetary activity will take place in mutable signs, aiding release, and another in cardinal signs, supporting those first steps into new endeavors. Throw in a nostalgic full Moon in Cancer on the 26th, Mercury's dance between mutable Sagittarius and cardinal Capricorn, Jupiter's station and an important new Capricorn Moon on January 11th, and the theme of clearing out the old to make way for the new solidifies. It all gets underway on December 21st when the Sun enters industrious Capricorn under a productive, waxing Taurus Moon.

2023's Sagittarius Sun cycle will see Mercury, Venus and Mars change signs, Neptune station direct and the start of Mercury's next retrograde. When the Sun and Mars move into optimistic Sagittarius on the 22nd and 24th, they will each quickly be squared by Saturn in Pisces on the 23rd and 25th. Ruled by exuberant, expansive Jupiter, Sagittarius is typically a bright spot on astrology's wheel. Its mutable fires exude warmth, amiability and a hopeful outlook.

In 2023, the Sun will be accompanied by Scorpio's ancient ruler, Mars, as it transits the fixed water sign. Mercury will also be moving through these immensely passionate waters from October 22nd until November 9th. Additionally, the lunar eclipse of October 28th will be the final one in the present series of eclipses on the Scorpio Taurus axis. Compared to the November 8, 2022 lunar eclipse in Taurus, with its t-square to Saturn in Aquarius, this one should be somewhat milder. That said, Scorpio represents death and transformation. Since April, the eclipses have been shifting into the initiating cardinal signs of Aries and Libra, signaling that one paradigm is dying as another is born. Another difference in this year's Scorpio cycle is that Saturn has moved from fixed Aquarius into mutable Pisces.

As astrology's chief diplomat, peace-seeking Libra is in for a strenuous cycle. The quirky quincunx will be a key feature of 2023's Libra Sun transit, but transformative Pluto is also set to play a prominent role in unfolding events. Under a quincunx, it's as if the views being expressed by one side are completely alien to the other and consequently do not compute. Meanwhile, Pluto is about to station, amongst a series of squares from the Sun, Mercury and Mars, a Libra solar eclipse and a nodal t-square involving provocative Mars. In short, the hallmarks of Libra, cooperation, fairness and equanimity, will be stretched to their limits as the sign of grace comes under pressure.

Jupiter is about to begin a four-month-long retrograde. Astrology's Greater Benefit, lucky Jupiter is associated with good fortune, expansion and success. Its spheres of influence include faith, higher learning and justice. When pondering the more punitive implications of the law, restrictive Saturn may come to mind. But philosophical Jupiter is equally committed to fairness, equity and balance.

The incoming kaleidoscopic skies have something for everyone. The Sun and Mars will change signs, Mercury, Uranus and Venus will change direction and ongoing themes, such as the fixed sign squares and mutable oppositions, will see further developments. For those who have been keenly watching the blockbusting brilliance of the fixed sign squares, Venus's second square to lucky Jupiter will take place on the 22nd. Next, Venus will station direct on September 3rd, positioning herself for her final squares, to Jupiter on September 17th and Uranus on September 29th.

A kind of benevolent chaos will ensue over the next couple of weeks, one as intent on overthrowing the status quo as it is on lifting spirits and creating new opportunities. The Sun, Venus, Jupiter and Uranus will be playing key roles, and, even from orderly Virgo, Mercury and Mars will be getting in on the action. For those who have been waiting to catch a break or who are looking for the right time to make a dramatic move, some promising possibilities are at hand.

As Venus settles into her retrograde, Mercury will slip into his Virgo home and cross the shadow point of his forthcoming retrograde. Interestingly enough, both Venus and Mercury will leave their retrograde shadow zones within a week of one another.

Like the year's most anticipated feature film, 2023's summer blockbuster is about to hit the celestial screen. It is of course Venus's retrograde. Making this retrograde all the more intriguing is the fact that Venus is transiting dramatic Leo, a setup that includes several exciting encounters with Jupiter and Uranus. Previewing those, Venus first squared Jupiter back on June 11th and Uranus on July 2nd. The friction from that pair in Taurus promises to drive the plot and keep it interesting. Venus will square exuberant Jupiter next on August 22nd, during the retrograde, and again on September 17th, post retrograde. In the case of wild Uranus, it too has two more squares with Venus, on August 9th and September 29th. The retrograde itself will take place from July 22nd through September 3rd. But its shadow exit point, of 28° Leo 36′, will extend its presence to October 7th.

Over the next couple of weeks Mars and Venus will form exact squares to game-changing Uranus. Disruptive, unruly Uranus is typically an unwelcome guest. And when the planet of sudden, irrevocable change partners with an inner planet to create personal upheaval, its presence is all the more unwanted. However, when carefully examining the changes being prompted by the unorthodox planet, we may conclude that they are precisely what is needed, and maybe long overdue.

Hyperactive to the point of being spastic, Mercury-ruled Gemini cannot sit still. Accordingly, as the Gemini Sun reaches the zenith of its 2023 cycle, Mercury, Venus and Pluto will change signs, Saturn will go retrograde and there's a turbo-charged new Gemini Moon on the 17th. Inquisitive Gemini also loves variety. Fittingly, amidst all of the sign changes, there are also strong incoming alignments to support grounding and serenity.

When traveling through tidal Cancer, Mars managed to stir a number of pots. Together with that intense Scorpio full Moon and eclipse of May 5th, they unearthed a number of unattended emotional issues. On May 20th Mars left the feminine, Moon-ruled sign for masculine, august Leo. In the wake of that eclipse, Venus entered caregiving Cancer on May 7th and quietly began cleaning up the emotional messes left by Mars and its ancient ruler Scorpio. On June 5th, Venus too will leave the nurturing realms of Cancer, when she embarks on an unusually lengthy four-month journey through Leo. While still in soothing Cancer, she will become part of a Grand water trine that will involve Neptune in Pisces and a markedly different Scorpio Moon.

Starting on May 16th a t-square involving Mars, Jupiter and Pluto will begin taking shape. It will culminate on the 22nd when a Mars square to Jupiter becomes exact. Reverberations will be felt in the following days and weeks. The combination of Mars, Jupiter and Pluto is an interesting one. Boiled down to its most basic elements, this is a mixture of passion, expansion and transformation. On the geo-political stage and darker side, the war between nuclear armed nations could easily escalate during this time. On the brighter side, unprecedented international alliances, agreements and systems may suddenly emerge. On a personal level, this trio presents a powerful opportunity to abandon ambiguity and to chart a bold new course.

The beginning of this week might prove to be an ideal time to get centered ahead of incoming aspects and events. After all, we're in the midst of two powerful eclipses and under a Mercury retrograde. Helping us navigate inner planes, on Monday the Moon will move into nurturing Cancer.

The next two weeks will have no shortage of astrological activity, and Mars-ruled Aries wouldn't have it any other way. A Sun Jupiter conjunction, solar eclipse, the Sun's ingress into Taurus and the start of Mercury's next retrograde are all on their way. Adding to the collective buzz, Venus will kick off this cycle when she moves into busy Gemini late on the 10th.

Aries always brings excitement to the table. Being the impulsive, impetuous force of creation, it simply can't help but to provoke and initiate. It is the cardinal fire sign ruled by passionate, adventurous Mars, and consequently has an imperative to poke, probe and pioneer. This three week cycle begins with the Sun's entrance into Aries on the 20th, and a new Aries Moon on the 21st. The Sun and Moon are signaling that something entirely new is at hand, and their presence in groundbreaking Aries is a fitting welcome for Pluto's initial ingress into Aquarius, on March 23rd. Though it will be moving between Capricorn and Aquarius through November 2024, Pluto's transit of Aquarius will last for over 20 years, making this week's sign change an epochal event.

Some of the year's biggest happenings in astrology will take place during March. The first major move is that of Saturn into Pisces on the 7th. Saturn's ingress into the mutable water sign will take place under a full Moon in Virgo, the mutable earth sign. Not one to ever be left out of the action, Mars will be in a 5° square to that full Moon, from the mutable air sign of Gemini. After being in the Mercury-ruled sign since last August, Mars will also change signs in March.

In the larger scheme of things, we on the precipice of two major sign changes, Saturn entering Pisces and Pluto entering Aquarius. Saturn has been in fixed Aquarius since December of infamous 2020 and Pluto in Capricorn since November of equally infamous 2008. Some people may be feeling exhausted from the long transit of the boundary setting planet through an inflexible fixed sign. Others may be filled with a sense of excitement, in anticipation of the coming changes. In the immediate offing, there's a important new Pisces Moon on the 20th, and Venus and Mercury are also changing signs.

In the wake of February 5th's full Moon, the week will get off to a tense start. That waning, but still potent, Leo Moon will oppose a late degree Saturn, before moving into calm, organized Virgo in the afternoon. Also on Monday, Virgo's ruler Mercury will sextile Neptune from constructive Capricorn, taking some more of the edge off arguments that the full Moon escalated. This pattern of stress and release will repeat during the next two weeks, as the Sun completes its Aquarius transit and reaches relaxed Pisces on the 18th. It's not that there are no helpful aspects in the offing; it's that there are better and worse times for picking battles, coinciding with a will to make peace.

February 1st marks the midway point between winter solstice and spring equinox. In some climates, the very first seeds of the new year will be planted. Across the northern hemisphere, the return of sunlight is appreciable. The festivals of Imbolc and St. Brigid, held at this time, have long included the element of fire, to signify the return of warmth and light. In 2023, the full Moon, in the fire sign of Leo, will take place on February 5th. As it waxes, we'll encounter several encouraging alignments and Venus will enter Pisces. On January 20th the Sun moved into Aquarius, followed immediately by a new Aquarius Moon on the 21st. Aquarius is one of the signs with positive polarity, giving it an outgoing orientation. On Tuesday the 24th, that budding Aquarius Sun will sextile Jupiter in Aries, and on Sunday the 29th, it will trine Mars in Gemini.

During the next two weeks the retrogrades of Mars, Mercury and Uranus will conclude. Along the way Venus will collaborate with Mars and Saturn, and the Sun will move from Capricorn to Aquarius, where the new Moon will take place on the 21st. Uranus went retrograde on August 24, 2022, Mars on October 30th and Mercury on December 29th. During their retrogrades, the three have given everyone time to mull over short and long range plans. As we venture into 2023, the time for implementation is quickly approaching.