We are in our last days of Capricorn Sun. On Sunday, the sun enters Aquarius, and nine hours later we have the Aquarius solar festival full-moon lunar eclipse. Something in form and matter, having completed its work, falls away. It’s no longer useful to us. Something new and vital takes its place. Monday is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. He was a Capricorn with the famous Capricorn words, “I have been to the mountaintop!”

Capricorn, enigmatic and mysterious, is the sign of the mountaintop experience, where the crocodile becomes the goat becomes the unicorn “lost in the Light Supernal.” Capricorn marks the gradual transformation from the “dark time” to the “light time of the year.” Capricorn’s new rays of the sun represent the “rising of the Spirit” for humanity. At dawn, special rays bestow their light upon Earth’s kingdoms. If we could see the dawn’s light etherically, we would see celestial beings (Devas) flowing into the Earth, ministering to humanity and the kingdoms. The same occurs at sunset. These beings help us build clear, focused, intelligent minds. When we communicate with them, veils that have settled all around us, obscuring our essential divine selves, loosen and fall away.

Ancient teachers suggest that at dawn and dusk we visualize within our hearts an orange, five-pointed star surrounded by deep indigo blue. It is the soul star, the star of Bethlehem that guided the three kings. We learn of these things in the sign of Capricorn. Capricorn’s symbol represents the face of the ibex and body of the crocodile (Makara in Sanskrit). Capricorn’s symbol is also (almost) the signature of God.

ARIES: You’re exploring profoundly what your right work in the world may be, what you are to do that will serve the upliftment of civilization and bring you to the recognition and support needed so that others follow. Keep the internal inquiry going. There are no answers yet, not for months. They depend upon your ability to focus on the questions.

TAURUS: New ideas, concepts, school, study, traveling, the art of archery, horseback riding or horse husbandry, publishing, and studying ancient philosophies may catch your attention. Someone, somewhere recognizes your qualities, calls you to leadership. Listening is your best way of being attentive. Giving high spiritual philosophical answers will not be heard.

GEMINI: There is a focus on money and investments, and in this critical time of change and monetary reorientation, I want to suggest how you can keep abreast of the financial times and learn the truth of financial matters.

CANCER: Relationships this month will be on your mind–all types, levels of closeness, friendships and intimacies. It’s good to review how you are in relationships, if you are attentive, caring and sharing. Or are you focused upon yourself primarily? Adding forgiveness (of self and others) to your list of daily tasks would liberate your heart for further love encounters.

LEO: We continue to focus on your work in the world and the environments you find yourself in. Something shifts in your profession, some discipline or rule or structure or timing causing a period of fine-tuning to occur. During this time, strengthen your support for others, align with them. This will insure your success should you suddenly be in charge of everything and everyone. Blend your Ray 1 (will) with Ray 2 (love/wisdom). You educate people.

VIRGO: You must begin to rest, relax and lounge about a bit more, think of ways to create a bit of a respite, pleasure, fun and perhaps a bit of romance (there are many kinds). Plan each week to attend musical or film events, stroll downtown with friends, have lunches and small dinners, little parties, tête-à-têtes, perhaps a small salon. Art is most important. Name your favorite (artist).

LIBRA: These are times of reconciliation, reunions, understanding leading to rapprochement—of kindness, consideration, and thoughtful and perceptive realization that each of us (including you) is a character playing their part. Everyone’s doing their very best and everyone’s on their path toward a more enlightened way of being. Is there some sort of suffering or sadness in your life at this time? We will pray with you.

SCORPIO: You’re edgy, agitated, restive, restless with somewhat anxious feelings, including wanting to go anywhere that is not here. However, there’s nowhere to go. The planets are creating a stellium (gathering) of impatience and over-sensitivity. All you can do is make mental visits to the past—to people, events, ideas, work. Forgive everything. Who from the past needs to be contacted? Who needs forgiveness?

SAGITTARIUS: I suggest a financial investor and information on finances because most of the planets are influencing your money, finances and resources, seeking to transform how you’ve handled yourself in these areas. Are you generous or challenged to be generous? Do you maintain a budget and balance monetary ins and outs? What are your worries regarding money?

CAPRICORN: Every once in a while, others truly notice us, offering compliments, recognition, praise for jobs well done, for our help, presence and nurturing. They notice the care we take with how we appear in the world. You may be asked to lead a function that magnetizes people to a group or endeavor you’re a part of. You’re the best for this position. Radiate goodwill to everyone and help others recognize they have courage.

AQUARIUS: Aquarians, after they’ve built their personality (self-development, self-focus, a needed developmental stage for everyone) eventually begin to look outward, to humanity and its needs, and they see humanity is suffering. Aquarians then begin to to serve. Is it that time for you—to help others, seeing their needs, offering support and resources, time and money, care and attention? You too become one who receives.

PISCES: It’s important to be part of a group and not to be isolated. You need a balance of being in retreat and being social. Being social is sometimes difficult. You sense a depth of spirituality and the soul within others. You recognize how everyone is always in service and how love underlies the happenings of the times and all events. Love happens to be the nature of Pisces. A group calls to you to serve, to lead, to teach, to illumine. What will you do?

Free will astrology for the week of Jan. 16, 2019

ARIES (March 21-April 19): In 1917, leaders of the Christian sect Jehovah’s Witnesses prophesied that all earthly governments would soon disappear and Christianity would perish. In 1924, they predicted that the ancient Hebrew prophet Moses would be resurrected and speak to people everywhere over the radio. In 1938, they advised their followers not to get married or have children, because the end of civilization was nigh. In 1974, they said there was only a “short time remaining before the wicked world’s end.” I bring these failed predictions to your attention, Aries, so as to get you in the mood for my prediction, which is: all prophecies that have been made about your life up until now are as wrong as the Jehovah Witnesses’ visions. In 2019, your life will be bracingly free of old ideas about who you are and who you’re supposed to be. You will have unprecedented opportunities to prove that your future is wide open.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Movie critic Roger Ebert defined the term “idiot plot” as “any film plot containing problems that would be solved instantly if all of the characters were not idiots.” I bring this to your attention because I suspect there has been a storyline affecting you that in some ways fits that description. Fortunately, any temptation you might have had to go along with the delusions of other people will soon fade. I expect that as a result, you will catalyze a surge of creative problem-solving. The idiot plot will transform into a much smarter plot.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In 1865, Prussia’s political leader, Otto von Bismarck, got angry when an adversary, Rudolf Virchow, suggested cuts to the proposed military budget. Bismarck challenged Virchow to a duel. Virchow didn’t want to fight, so he came up with a clever plan. As the challenged party, he was authorized to choose the weapons to be used in the duel. He decided upon two sausages. His sausage would be cooked; Bismarck’s sausage would be crammed with parasitic roundworms. It was a brilliant stratagem. The proposition spooked Bismarck, who backed down from the duel. Keep this story in mind if you’re challenged to an argument, dispute or conflict in the coming days. It’s best to figure out a tricky or amusing way to avoid it altogether.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): An imaginative 27-year-old man with the pseudonym Thewildandcrazyoli decided he was getting too old to keep his imaginary friend in his life. So he took out an ad on Ebay, offering to sell that long-time invisible ally, whose name was John Malipieman. Soon his old buddy was dispatched to the highest bidder for $3,000. Please don’t attempt anything like that in the coming weeks, Cancerian. You need more friends, not fewer—both of the imaginary and non-imaginary variety. Now is a ripe time to expand your network of compatriots.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In December 1981, novice Leo filmmaker James Cameron got sick, fell asleep and had a disturbing dream. He saw a truncated robot armed with kitchen knives crawling away from an explosion. This nightmare ultimately turned out to be a godsend for Cameron. It inspired him to write the script for the 1984 film The Terminator, a successful creation that launched him on the road to fame and fortune. I’m expecting a comparable development in your near future, Leo. An initially weird or difficult event will actually be a stroke of luck.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Psychologists define the “spotlight effect” as our tendency to imagine that other people are acutely attuned to every little nuance of our behavior and appearance. The truth is that they’re not, of course. Most everyone is primarily occupied with the welter of thoughts buzzing around inside his or her own head. The good news, Virgo, is that you are well set up to capitalize on this phenomenon in the coming weeks. I’m betting you will achieve a dramatic new liberation: you’ll be freer than ever before from the power of people’s opinions to inhibit your behavior or make you self-conscious.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): What North America community is farthest north? It’s an Alaskan city that used to be called Barrow, named after a British admiral. But in 2016, local residents voted to reinstate the name that the indigenous Iñupiat people had once used for the place: Utqiaġvik. In accordance with astrological omens, I propose that in the coming weeks, you take inspiration from their decision, Libra. Return to your roots. Pay homage to your sources. Restore and revive the spirit of your original influences.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The Alaskan town of Talkeetna has a population of 900, so it doesn’t require a complicated political structure to manage its needs. Still, it made a bold statement by electing a cat as its mayor for 15 years. Stubbs, a part-manx, won his first campaign as a write-in candidate, and his policies were so benign—no new taxes, no repressive laws—that he kept getting re-elected. What might be the equivalent of having a cat as your supreme leader for a while, Scorpio? From an astrological perspective, now would be a favorable time to implement that arrangement. This phase of your cycle calls for relaxed fun and amused mellowness and laissez-faire jauntiness.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Trees need to be buffeted by the wind. It makes them strong. As they respond to the pressure of breezes and gusts, they generate a hardier kind of wood called “reaction wood.” Without the assistance of the wind’s stress, trees’ internal structure would be weak and they might topple over as they grew larger. I’m pleased to report that you’re due to receive the benefits of a phenomenon that’s metaphorically equivalent to a brisk wind. Exult in this brisk-but-low-stress opportunity to toughen yourself up!

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Writing at The Pudding, pop culture commentator Colin Morris reveals the conclusions he drew after analyzing 15,000 pop songs. First, the lyrics of today’s tunes have significantly more repetition than the lyrics of songs in the 1960s. Second, the most popular songs, both then and now, have more repetitive lyrics than the average song. Why? Morris speculates that repetitive songs are catchier. But in accordance with current astrological omens, I encourage you Capricorns to be as un-repetitive as possible in the songs you sing, the messages you communicate, the moves you make, and the ideas you articulate. In the coming weeks, put a premium on originality, unpredictability, complexity, and novelty.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In May 1927, Aquarian aviator Charles Lindbergh made a pioneering flight in his one-engine plane from New York to Paris. He became instantly famous. Years later, Lindbergh testified that part-way through his epic journey he was visited by a host of odd, vaporous beings who suddenly appeared in his small cabin. They spoke with him, demonstrating a sophisticated understanding of navigation and airplane technology. Lindbergh’s spirits were buoyed. His concentration, which had been flagging, revived. He was grateful for their unexpected support. I foresee a comparable kind of assistance becoming available to you sometime soon, Aquarius. Don’t waste any time being skeptical about it; just welcome it.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): More than four centuries ago, a Piscean samurai named Honda Tadakatsu became a leading general in the Japanese army. In the course of his military career, he fought in more than a hundred battles. Yet he never endured a major wound and was never beaten by another samurai. I propose we make him your inspirational role model for the coming weeks. As you navigate your way through interesting challenges, I believe that like him, you’ll lead a charmed life. No wounds. No traumas. Just a whole lot of educational adventures.

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