The Astrology of 2023:

The Dawn of the New Paradigm

It is very rare that someone comes for an astrology reading because they want to know when their neighbour will finish the noisy and dirty home renovation they have been doing for a few weeks now. Almost always, people come to me because they want to know something about the larger themes in their lives, the meaning of different chapters. 2023 is a year of big chapter endings and beginings.

The big event is Pluto's ingress into Aquarius. Pluto is associated with Hades, the God of the Underworld, and the sign of Scorpio. It has been transiting Capricorn since 2008/9 and will finally leave this sign in 2023 and enter Aquarius for the first time in 246 years. What does that mean for you? A new 20-year long chapter is starting as we speak.

Pluto is the planet of intensity, secrets, power struggles, extremes, deep feelings and insights, emotional bonds, debts, death and rebirth, catharsis and essential meaning. For Pluto it is all or nothing. It comes to transform - to break things down to their core and rebuild them from the core outwards. Intense as this process is, it will be even more intensified because for half of 2023, Pluto will be at the bending of the Nodes of the Moon i.e., it will be squaring the Nodes and the eclipses. Pluto + Eclipses = Double Intensity.

For most of 2023, we will be pulled in two different directions - there will be something we all will have to let go of and a new direction we will have to embrace. Such things are part of life but this time it will be different. It will be intense, cathartic and trasnformational. You will know that you are going through a complete rewiring of your life.

If you were born in the last 1-2 days of the cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn) or in the first 1-2 days of the fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius), you will be most and very impacted by Pluto's movements and the eclipses of 2023. A couple of things to keep in mind:

- it will not all happen in one day. Pluto is about a process of breaking down to build back better. If you pay attention, you will notice the storyline unfolding and will have plenty of time to respond accordingly.

- Pluto will break your heart. But you will feel better after it. Always keep in your mind the image of the beautiful down that will follow :)

- for both the cardinal and the fixed signs, Pluto's exit from/entry into a new house will feel like a much-needed change is taking place. The cardinal signs will feel a big closure, the fixed signs will sense a huge change gathering in the air but in both cases the grandness of the narrative will be felt and most importantly appreciated. If you are a cardinal sign, you take a bow off the stage after an exhausting run. If you are a fixed sign, you have to get ready to go on stage. As any main character, you will go through major ups and downs but that comes with the territory. Pluto, the most powerful planet, is shining on YOU :)

The other important move in the sky is Saturn's entry into Pisces on March 7th. Even when Saturn turns Rx in June, it won't re-enter Aquarius for another 27 years. So the age of Saturn in Aquarius is over and we swiftly move into the area and aura of Saturn in Pisces.

Saturn is about convservatism, maturity, seriousness, restrictions, limitations. Whereever Saturn goes, this is where the Universe asks you to lay down a game plan, think strategically and postpone immediate gratification in the name of something better further down the road. At the end of the transit, you will have built something solid in the Piscean area of your life. But the road to there involves the loss of everything that isn't built on solid foundations as of now.

This will impact you most if you have one of your Big Three (Sun, Moon, Asc) in the mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sag, Pisces). These signs have been in Neptune's good garces since 2012 and much of their lives has been overwhelmed by dreaminess, good vibes, optimism, walking-on-clouds moods. Saturn will now begin to catch up with Neptune and the two planets will exit Pisces together. Saturn will remove the exesses of Neptune's influence. What is this influence? Neptune is a planet that brings happiness but the danger is that this happiness is not built on solid foundations. Neptune is known for illusions, lies, fogs and hazy decisions. Saturn will bring the heavy realism to this area that has been dreamy since 2012.

To be honest... I am more worried about the mutable signs (which will be hit by Saturn) than I am about the cardinal and fixed signs (which will be hit by Pluto). But it ALL depends on your individual chart.

Thirdly, the Nodes of the Moon will be shifting from Taurus/Scorpio to Aries/Libra. The fated events will impact all cardinal and fixed signs. Eclipses bring fated events and re-align us with our destiny. See where these signs fall in your chart, look back on what was going on in your life around 2014/15.

Other important bits and pieces!!!

Mars (masculine energy, conflict, drive, passion, aggression, the switch-on triger factor) has been in Gemini since August 2022 and will exit the sign on March 25th of 2023. Just two days after Pluto's ingress into Aquarius. Which means that the Mars-in-Gemini narrative in your life will feed into or be abruptly terminated by the new Pluto-related chapter.

On May 17th, Jupiter (the Great Benefic) will be at 0 degrees of Taurus. And from that point in the sky, it will form a T-square with Pluto at 0 of Aquarius and Mars at 29 of Cancer. This is a bombastic activation of the Pluto in Aquarius storyline in your life. Bombastic in a positive way because Jupiter is the planet of good luck.

July 22nd is also an interesting day - Pluto, the Nodes of the Moon and the Sun will form a grand cross in the late degrees of the cardinal signs. We will be pulled apart.

September 4th is a once in a lifetime day - both benefics will be standing still in the sky. Jupiter will be stationary in preparation to go Rx. Venus will also be stationary but in preparation to resume direct motion. When planets are stationary, their influence is magnified. Both benefics will be beaming their positive light on all of us on Earth.

Closing words for personal astrology

This is one of those VERY FEW years in our lives when everything is up for grabs. For the most part, our lives flow like water until they run into something that forces us to find a new direction. You might think that every moment is another chance to trun your life around and that is true. But not really. Not like that. The really ripe and opportune moments for stepping into a new paradigm come only a few times in our lives. 2023 is one of them. Saturn is entering the final sign of the zodiac, closing a full run through all of them. It will impact Neptune and in the end, it will even "usher" Neptune into a new cycle along the zodiac. Around that time, Uranus will enter Gemini. Pluto is starting a 20-year long chapter. The mid-years of this decade are a time of upheaval and re-alignment. 2023 is the starting point of this upheaval. This is not something to be feared!!! It is the opportunity to step into your destiny and into your power (which is the same thing) that you have been hoping for! Use and enjoy it :)