Star Struck Style

Tomorrow is Blue Monday: the third Monday in January. Supposedly, it’s the most-depressing day of the year, although that has been revealed to be a clever marketing strategy rather than a scientific fact. Nevertheless, my post-holiday credit card statement will arrive this week, the days will still be terribly short, the weather will still be cold and miserable, and Donald Trump will probably still be alive. If you ask me, there are plenty of reasons to be depressed.

But before that happens, the Capricorn new moon will arrive. That makes today is one of the best days of the year to clean up your act. If anything is making you feel depressed, this is the time to address whatever it is that is affecting your mood. Setting realistic goals at this cosmically-blessed time is recommended, focusing on what can be achieved through slow and steady progress. Inching toward your objectives is favored rather than moving in leaps and bounds when the sun and moon align in the sign of the seagoat. “Café Astrology” offers the following advice to make the most out of this lunation:

“With this potent new-beginning energy, it makes sense to focus on some of the constructive traits of the sign of the Goat —tenacious, resourceful, disciplined, wise, ambitious, prudent, constant — and consider how to positively incorporate these qualities into our lives. It’s time to focus on practical, attainable long-term goals, develop maturity and common sense, prepare for the future, make commitments and recognize responsibilities, and realistically nurture our dreams. We have the chance to create some serious order in our lives!

Making concrete plans can be satisfying in the week ahead. We might develop reasonable boundaries and rules that offer us freedom from some worry and chaos.

This New Moon is aligned with Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Pluto. In other words, all of the inner planets are aligned, although Venus is the only inner planet not in Capricorn (Venus is in early Aquarius). This lunation is sextile Saturn and Neptune, trine Uranus, and it’s also opposite Jupiter. We’re ready to make something special of our profession, reputation, long-term goals, and responsibilities. It’s a powerful time for practical solutions and innovation. Teaming up to achieve a work or material goal can be successful and attractive now. Meeting new people through these endeavors can also figure strongly. It’s as much of a practical time as it is a magical period. We’re both inspired and ready to put in the work to make things happen.”

That’s a rather encouraging forecast considering that Capricorn isn’t exactly the most-encouraging place for the sun and the moon to meet: it can be a little more of a cruel taskmaster than a supportive life-coach, if you know what I mean. However, the close proximity of all the planets mentioned above makes this new moon “magical” and the best day of the year to make a new year’s resolution. In a previous post on this blog, I have already declared that I’m going to make my own little world a place that I want to live in. I do believe that I’ve been inching toward that goal since 2026 began, but I will reaffirm that declaration this afternoon when the moon conjoins the sun. And when Blue Monday arrives tomorrow, I shouldn’t be blue at all because I’ve got a whole year ahead of me to take on this resolution.

I hope that anyone else who stumbles across this post will feel compelled to take on similar goals. This isn’t a time for cynicism or disillusionment. With Neptune moving into Aries in about a week, and Saturn doing the same around Valentine’s Day, the only thing that may stop us from achieving our more-realistic objectives is the idea that it’s already too late to embark on a new journey to the top of the mountain. Don’t succumb to paranoia or depression as January draws to a close. Don’t let anyone tell you that you’ve already lost. Big changes are on the horizon. As the passage above suggests, now is the time “to put in the work to make things happen.”

And that’s what this goat is going to do . . .