Starcodes, December 30, 2022 Heather Roan Robbins

2023 may start slow if eventful with Mercury, Mars, and Uranus all retrograde. To make the most of it, engage basic Mercury retrograde thriving skills and use these first few weeks in January to review, reconsider, repair, and handle unusual side agenda rather than push forward. Stay safe and avoid inattentive mishaps. Laugh at the slapstick, make the most of wild weather, delays and changes in schedule, and prioritize understanding one another rather than being right.

Let’s take this retrograde time as a moment between the acts- really consider the play of our life so far, take notes and clean up any mistakes we’ve made. Then ponder where we want this next act to take us. Mars turns direct January 12, Mercury on January 18, Uranus on January 22, and we’re off and running. Throughout 2023 the planets ask us to engage dynamic social change but we need to humbly explore what healthy social change means before we leap.

Saturn, our symbol of structure and responsibility, starts the year in Aquarius and enters Pisces March 7, while transformative Pluto steps into Aquarius on March 23, retrogrades back into Capricorn June 11 -February 2024, then stays there until 2043. This old chapter of Saturn in Aquarius and new chapter of Pluto in Aquarius both offer hope but do not only bring sweetness and light.

The fixed air sign Aquarius offers an image of people sitting in a circle, equals holding hands and working together, and calls for us to create new pragmatic philosophies and to enliven and nurture our circles, webs, and cohorts. Pluto last walked through Aquarius between 1778–1797 where it heralded an era of revolutions designed to abolish monarchies and create democracies. We’re now stepping into a few decades which could revolutionize how we gather, connect, educate, and govern our world..

Pluto in Aquarius calls us to make sure every voice is heard, every vote counted. But the wisdom of our collective people’s mind depends on what we know, what questions we ask. Crowds can be dumb. It is our responsibility to ask those tough questions, to educate ourselves and encourage broad-spectrum education in order to help the Demos look deeper, be wiser, and keep our minds and hearts connected.

Throughout 2023 Neptune stays in Pisces and encourages our spiritual practice, our empathy…