Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
January 2024 Dates to Note:
1st: Mercury stations direct at 22° Sagittarius
4th: Mars enters Capricorn
11th: New Moon at 20° Capricorn
12th: Mars in Capricorn trine Jupiter in Taurus
13th: Mercury re-enters Capricorn
19th: Venus in Sagittarius Square Neptune in Pisces
20th: Sun and Pluto enter Aquarius
23th: Venus enters Capricorn
25th: Full Moon at 5° Leo
26th: Uranus stations direct at 19° Taurus
27th: Mercury in Capricorn conjunct Mars
28th: Venus in Capricorn trine Jupiter in Taurus
29th: Mars in Capricorn trine Uranus in Taurus
Well, hi there, and welcome to January! First, some housekeeping. Things are going to look a little bit different over here in the new year. Paid subscribers have already received their complete sign-by-sign yearly forecast, detailing the challenging and complex astrology of 2024 for Sun and rising signs, across all life arenas. But because I have a new monthly gig writing general ‘scopes for my friends at Well+Good, I am fine-tuning and reconfiguring your On the Erotic Ecliptic monthlies, which have so far covered both general and sexual/erotic/relational trends.
Since you can get my general coverage (career, health, life, home, etc.) through the Well+Good column, I can now tailor my Pleasure Centers sign-by-sign content exclusively to the erotic realm, my natural wheelhouse. So I’ll home in on transits involving Venus, Mars, the asteroid Eros, Black Moon Lilith, and even though sexuality is threaded through all the houses, I’ll pay special attention to the ones that are expressly devoted to love, lust, sex, desire, and libido. I hope that sounds fun for you, because it does for me!!!!
My monthly overviews (still free) will continue to cover all the vagaries of the stars, including the political and social justice issues dear to my heart. With that, let’s get cracking on January.
January’s first few days could feel pretty wobbly with last-minute schedule changes and even some technical bumps, thanks to Mercury’s station on the 1st. Like a rippling pond, as the days and weeks progress, we’ll move beyond the retro-shade and by around the 21st, we’ll be free of that until April, when the fire sign retrogrades of 2024 will begin. (This will be, um, interesting.) But with Pluto re-entering Aquarius on the 20th, that time of the month is likely to feel anything but calm or “normal.”
Happily, Jupiter is direct in Taurus for the first time in five months, giving us access to ribald sensuality that may have been tamped down during the fall, partly because of our heightened anxiety, but partly because we lost access to the taste of Taurean excess on the tongue. Now that Jupiter is moving forward and allowing us to tap in again, I highly recommend engaging with the slowness and earthy goodness that this month offers. I know that y’all are doing “dry January” and rejoining the gym and buying Oura rings and Apple Watches and such, but this little hedonist has some other ideas for you, especially because it is probably the most earthy month of the year, with the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars and Pluto all dancing in and out of Capricorn and Taurus. It’s a delightful season of the flesh, if you ask me. Capricorn humans and Capricorn season are underrated when it comes to this topic.
The first strong evidence of this comes on the 4th, when Mars enters Capricorn, where he is exalted and revels in all his glory. Mars lives for speed, and in Capricorn he is not just fast, but also efficient, strong, unbounded, and not frustrated by blocks. This is a good “get back to the gym” vibe but more than that, it’s a “get back into your body” vibe, one that can help you to understand the concept of strength training in new and different ways. Where do you feel strong? What feels well-oiled and grounded in your body and your life? Pay special attention to those spots and see how much you can draw that energy toward the areas that feel like they still need some work.
Not only is Mars in the place where his passions can flow more easily, but Venus starts the month in the Sagittarian Fun Zone. So we may feel adventurous and amorous as we experience a steady-as-she-goes sense of our sexual selves.
On the 11th, the New Moon in Capricorn offers practical opportunities to set intentions in whichever part of our chart Capricorn rules, focusing on time-limited goals. Think ahead to the next six months and consider what you want to grow, build, or achieve. Plant some seeds for this in the next two weeks, and see what you can create by July.
That an exalted Mars in Cap trines Jupiter in Taurus the day after the New Moon suggests that you might include your Taurus house in the equation as you formulate your intentions. Ask yourself: what feels sensually motivating for me right now?
I will add this: this is some of the juiciest, most grounded and accessible astrology we’ll experience all year, so I highly recommend putting it to good use, or at least briefly tapping into what makes you go, “I’m so fucking capable, watch me slay” and imagining how you might next level that energy. But remember to tend to your sensitive Cancerian shadow side as you show off your Capricorn bonafides.
Mercury re-enters Capricorn on the 13th, bringing us back to the earliest days of December and the days before Christmas – what was going on in your life? What did you discuss, email, or text? If any confusion or questions remain about those topics, you can probably get some clarity on them now.
Relationships could be confusing when Venus squares Neptune on the 19th, especially if you have planets in mutable signs (I’m talking to you, Pisces, Virgo, Gemini, and Sagittarius). It may feel like we’re in yet another retrograde but I promise you, this is one of the most retrograde-free parts of the year – ENJOY IT.
A few days later the most momentous event of the month (perhaps the year) takes place: Pluto enters Aquarius, where it will stay through September, then briefly return to Capricorn for the heart of election season, then finally move into a 20-year residency in Aquarius. I detail what this may look like in my yearly forecast, where I get into the political and cultural issues that this era may ignite as soon as this winter. Pluto will start getting loud as it bumps up against personal planets in February, and because it will be coming close to Mars and Venus, I expect to see something about robot sex in the news around Valentine’s Day. Watch this space.
Venus enters Capricorn on the 23rd, and we might note now that she and her cosmic consort Mars will be co-present (in the same sign) for the next few months, doing a very passionate tango, until Venus bypasses her lover and goes on to attend to other important business in April.
The Full Moon in Leo saunters down the runway and demands our attention on the 25th, involved in a T-square with Jupiter and Pluto, on the same day that Mars squares Chiron. This is one of those days when you might feel like throwing a plate at your partner rather than dealing with your own wounds and vulnerabilities. Don’t do that to your heart, or theirs.
When Uranus stations direct in Taurus, even though we’re months away from the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction coming in April, we might feel into the excitement of some kind of intrepid, inventive idea, but note that we might also be more accident-prone and likely to experience technical glitches in the days leading up to this planetary station.
The Mercury-Mars conjunction on the 27th is a callback to the week between Christmas and New Year’s and speaks to unresolved aggression, or a fight we had around that time. It could come up again, but since Mercury is now direct, we can perhaps get to the bottom of it rather than be uselessly pugilistic.
We close out the month with a delicious trine between Venus and Jupiter on the 28th (this is sensual and HOT) and another trine between Mars and Uranus on the 29th (this is passionate and a little dangerous).
To my paid subscribers — the January forecasts are below!
Jessica Hollander has provided the gorgeous images for the sign-by-sign section below. Her work is for sale! BUY IT.