Some goals for this new year.
Specific astro dynamic: Tomorrow, January 4, 2024, Mars will move out of Sagittarius and into Capricorn. I talked previously a bit about how Mars sitting in Sagittarius out of view by Jupiter is a bit like an unsupervised kid told to go wild in the backyard during a family holiday get together. Now Mars is very much supervised by Saturn (strict grandma) in the much less wild sign of Capricorn.
Interestingly, Mars is actually exalted in Capricorn. This is a place where Mars does very well, given space to exercise his ability to direct energy to achieving goals. Aggression becomes strategy. The warrior becomes the general. Ideally we might hope to see this turn into something closer to restraint and judicious use in the world, though, of course, we are continuing to see America and Israel indiscriminately wreak havoc on the people of the Middle East. This is our money at work.
If you want to work with this shift, it’s worth continuing to put whatever pressure you can on our leaders (understanding that won’t be the method that changes systems) but it’s also worth leaning into Venus’s energy. She is finally given some breathing room now that Mars is not in her space, so it could be a good chance to revisit any close relationships that have experienced tension throughout this genocide. It won’t be easy to have differing points of view, but it’s the least any of us can do to confront the people we love with empathy and sincerity. And if you need to get in a fight, Mars is there in Capricorn to help keep it from being too messy.
We’re gearing up for an ugly, ugly election year and hopefully we have learned since 2016 that we cannot avoid the hard conversations. We are all responsible for each other and no politician will save us—Venus in Sagittarius supports this kind of connection and commitment to radical belief systems.
A thought about new years and some goals for 2024.
The obvious thing to write about 2024 from an astro perspective is that January 1 is a funny time to hinge new goals and new phases to. It’s just after the start of a new astrological cycle, about ten days into Capricorn season, the Cardinal sign that kicks off northern hemisphere winter. The cardinality of it all makes sense, but I don’t know anyone who wants to use the beginning of winter as the launchpad for their new phase in life.
Imo we should be able to chill at home eating stews and bread until March when the Sun moves into Aries and welcomes spring. Or we could celebrate a new beginning every time Mercury starts marching forward again, about three times a year (like just recently on January 1). Or we could stick to the Moon and enjoy a fresh start every month as we get to a New Moon phase.
Rev. Lindsay at Bad Pastor says it this way:
So, with that musing in mind, I love New Years because it’s one of the rare times when people pretty much all agree that we’re turning a page. Rather than a resolution, I like to come up with a long list of small and big goals that I revisit and edit and work on all year.
Here are some goals from my current list:
Make at least one quilt every month.
Sell more quilts.
Go to more new restaurants in Philly.
Default to ordering out less often and work my way through the cookbooks I own.
Write packages of newsletters that dig into concepts more deeply.
Write for a publication (hmu if you know someone seeking a niche horoscope columnist).
Save an emergency fund that would cover rent for a few months.
Pay off credit card debt from my Covid unemployment time.
Complete power zone programs on Peloton four times.
Fill my walls with art from Philly, Austin, and friends.
Foster cats.
Keep my house plants alive and repot them successfully.
Make use of my Criterion membership or cancel it in the fall.
Write 600 poems (no regard for quality).
Read The Changing Light at Sandover.
Read all of Ursula K. Le Guin’s books.
Read all of Octavia Butler’s books.
Try doing that project I’ve been meaning to do to make my dining table cool instead of really boring.
Go on at least one day trip out of Philly every month.
Yoga?
Do something with my hands (crochet, quilt, paint, whatever, just no phone) while watching Real Housewives.
Collect a box of blank birthday, wedding, bereavement, new baby, etc. cards and use them.
Purge the clothing I own and limit acquisition.
Visit family and friends in Colorado, Washington, California, Texas, and New York.
What are you working on? What are you releasing? I’d love to hear about it!
