In 2020 I wrote extensively about The Great Shift Alignment – the conjunction in Capricorn of Saturn, Pluto, and Jupiter. We astrologers had watched the approach of this alignment with a mixture of dread and hope – hopeful that this would be the transformational change we’d been waiting for but also afraid it might mean some sort of ending from which we could not return. I took to describing it as “the dismantling of society as we have known it.” I chose the word “dismantling” intentionally. Something that has been dismantled cannot be put back together in the same way. I emphasized that there would be no return to normal. I believed this – and yet some part of me still hung on to the idea that we could return to something that looked like “normal.” Or we could create some new version that would be better than the old norm, which wasn’t all that good anyway. I hoped for that, not always consciously. Now, as I look forward to this next year and the years beyond, I know that there will be no returning to anything even remotely resembling the pre-2020 world. Soon we will begin to forget what that was like as we drop even further into this new reality. Soon it will not matter what once was – all that will matter will be what is and what we create from here.
I cannot separate 2022 out from this new time stream – one that is heading toward the creation of an as yet unknown consensus reality. That’s OK – we’ve needed a new consensus reality. The old one was anchored in inequality, sexism, and racism. And just because we’re creating something new, there’s no guarantee that our new consensus reality will be free of damaging societal beliefs. That is the challenge of the present moment.
Overview for 2022:
The dominant astrological energy of 2021 – the Saturn/Uranus square – will remain. Although there will be times in the year when these two will separate from one another – almost 10 degrees by the end of April – there will be less than one degree of separation between them in October. The square between them will be strong from August through November, meaning the energies of that time will be very similar to those we’ve experienced throughout 2021. It is worth noting that the US election is on November 8.
The year will open with an echo of the 2020 Great Shift Alignment with the late degrees of Capricorn emphasized through retrograde movements of Venus and Mercury in alignment with Pluto. February will begin the Pluto return for the US – a powerful two-year transit that will also include the movement of Pluto into Aquarius. This is a huge shift in consciousness which I will explore in detail in future posts. The true impact of what began in 2020 will begin to reveal itself in 2022.
Neptune, which has been relatively quiet over the last couple of years, will begin to make more of an impact. This will bring a real shift in consciousness in a typically Neptunian way – both amazingly magical and mystical and also unnervingly confusing and overwhelming. This influence will begin in April and will intensify in the fall.
The First Quarter – an Echo of 2020:
- January 1 - Venus retrograde in alignment with Pluto in Capricorn.
- January 14 - Mercury turns retrograde in Aquarius in relationship to the Saturn/Uranus square and will retrograde back to an alignment with Pluto.
- By the end of February, Venus, Mars, and Pluto conjunct in Capricorn.
- March 5 & 6 - Venus and Mars will conjunct at 0° Aquarius, the same degree of the Jupiter/Saturn conjunction on the December 2020 Solstice.
- The Saturn/Uranus square remains in effect although waning – starting the year at 1 degree of separation and ending the quarter at 9 degrees of separation.
The Second Quarter – A Shift:
- Jupiter conjuncts Neptune in Pisces for the entire month of April (exact on April 12). Neptune, planet of illumination and illusion, will be a prominent player in 2022. Jupiter expands anything it comes in contact with.
- April 30 - Solar Eclipse at Taurus 10°. This degree was activated throughout 2021 by the Saturn/Uranus square. This is the end of a phase that began on December 4.
- May 10 - Jupiter enters Aries. Mercury turns retrograde in Gemini (until June 3).
- May 16 – Lunar Eclipse at Scorpio 25°. Beginning of a new phase that ends October 25.
- Saturn/Uranus square remains – less than 9 degrees of separation by end of the quarter.
The Third Quarter – An Echo of 2021:
- July 28 - Jupiter turns retrograde in Aries.
- The Saturn/Uranus square closes in again – 4.5 degrees of separation by July 31, 2 degrees of separation by August 31, less than 1 degree of separation by September 30.
The Fourth Quarter – The Crescendo:
- Saturn and Uranus remain within 1 degree of each other throughout September and October, without coming to exactitude.
- October 25 - Solar Eclipse at Scorpio 2°, ending the phase begun on April 30.
- October 28, Jupiter moves back into Pisces for the third and final time.
- November 8 – Election Day in the US – Mars retrograde in Gemini square to Jupiter conjunct Neptune. This energy is angry in a confused and disjointed way.
- Also on November 8 - Lunar Eclipse at Taurus 16° - a degree activated in 2021 by the Saturn/Uranus square.
- November 23 - Jupiter turns direct in Pisces conjunct to Neptune, 6° of separation.
- Saturn/Uranus begin to separate – 3 degrees by the end of November.
- December 3 – Neptune turns direct in a square to Mars retrograde and in a loose conjunction with Jupiter. A continuation of the confused and angry energy from November.
- December 20 – Jupiter reenters Aries (Solstice is on December 21).
- By the end of the quarter, Saturn and Uranus are 7° apart.
Beginning of 2023:
- Saturn and Uranus will rapidly separate out of square. This transit is over.
- Mercury retrograde, Venus, Pluto conjunction in Capricorn – another echo of 2020.
January 1, 2022, by Ruby Falconer. Available for chart readings.
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