Your January 2022 Horoscope Starts On A High Note

Despite the ravages of December and the past year in general, 2022 does indeed start on a high note — believe it or not! — with Jupiter beginning its oceanic residency in Pisces. For most of the year, the planet of wisdom and light returns to its home under the sea, in the sign of synthesis and consciousness. In the midst of so much raw survivalism, Jupiter’s return to Pisces (where it joins fellow ruler Neptune) awakens new possibilities of spiritual and social connection. While you hustle, strive, and endure through January’s harder elements, don’t forget to look up at the skies: it’s a new year, in a new decade, and once in a while, you may find yourself unexpectedly delighted.

But let’s be clear: January marks an especially cold point for the winter, with multiple retrogrades slowing the thaw. On December 19 2021, Venus went retrograde in Capricorn, ruining everyone’s happy ending for 2021. Capricorn is all about making it through the harder periods in order to claim the glory for outliving and outlasting the rest. Until Venus goes direct, on January 29, count on more roadblocks in your plan for world domination. Take this time to focus on the inner makeover, and step away from the public image — nobody needs you to act like your life is working right now.

The messiness escalates when Mercury goes retrograde on January 14 through February 3, starting its backward crawl in Aquarius and lurching into Capricorn on January 26. Capricorn and Aquarius think globally, which means that Mercury will need some extra time to hash out how we deal with this new phase of variants and responses. With Mercury and Venus in reverse in Capricorn, you’ll have time and focus to think about your grand plan. What’s really important to you this year? What do you want to realize, and how do you want to work? With your imagined successes falling apart one by one, what do you actually enjoy doing? Take the lag in efficiency to build a new website, set goals with your financial planner, and ready yourself to blast off come February.

Towards the end of the month, the progressive momentum resumes its course, as Uranus, planet of awakening, finally ends its five-month retrograde in Taurus on January 18. On the same day, the north node — the high point of consciousness in the moon’s elliptical orbit — shifts into Taurus for nearly two years. New possibilities of currency, value and self-determination begin to flower again. Finally, on January 19, Aquarius season begins outright, and we can begin to create something new again. Sort through your personal sh*t this January. The future is almost here.

ARIES & ARIES RISING

If you feel confused about your career this month, we don’t blame you. Capricorn sits at the peak of your chart, in your tenth house of career and public visibility. With Mercury and Venus retrograding here, along with a new moon on January 2, you’re in for a feast-or-famine month, which promises multiple career downloads going down at once. As the sun hits Pluto in Capricorn on January 16, so begins a battle with the living dead, as you reconcile with the paths or projects you’ve had to let go on your march forward. A retrograde is meant to be a period of review, and the priority for you is to cut down, demolish, and streamline your dreams and goals. Let go! Though Mercury’s retrograde slaps hardest from January 26 through February 3, you’re not out of the game yet: Mars enters your career domain on January 24, firing off a new surge of ambition through March. Ride the lulls as best you can; you’ll be back on the horse soon enough.

TAURUS & TAURUS RISING

A new renaissance begins for you this new year. After five months in backwards motion, Uranus finally ends its retrograde in Taurus on January 18, and suddenly, all the inner changes you’ve been going through since August come to the surface; you’re on the other side of the makeover montage. Then, on January 18, the north node of the moon’s elliptical orbit moves into Taurus for nearly two years. The north node represents higher consciousness, and exposure to new and expansive knowledge. Your intense, often jagged saga of reclamation begins to vibrate at a higher frequency; every time you take back a piece of your integrity or self-worth, you open a new portal of awareness. The payoffs are getting bigger. No compromising now!

GEMINI & GEMINI RISING

Capricorn guards the gates of your eighth house of metamorphosis, where you must surrender the chaos you’ve lived in to gain some linear direction in your life. What has to change for you to become a partner, parent, or power player? On January 2, Mercury, your ruling planet and messenger of the gods, moves from Capricorn to Aquarius, in your ninth house of public institutions and new horizons. But on January 14, as if frightened by the bigger world around it, Mercury retrogrades, sliding from Aquarius back to Capricorn on January 26. This is a time to confront your relationship with order and authority, and the gaps in awareness or sobriety about your personal direction. Do you think the world is holding you back, or are you still blaming your parents for all the ways your life hasn’t come together? How can you take responsibility over your future? Get clear now, and February promises a new linearity of focus.

CANCER & CANCER RISING

The private work is over. No more processing boundaries and waiting for your moment. It’s time to take some action. One way or another, the Capricorn firestorm this month forces you into new visibility, and brings your relationship dynamics to light. Going down in your seventh house of intimate relationships, collaborations, and public emergence, the new moon in Capricorn on January 2 and the Venus Star Point — when the sun and Venus come perfectly together — on January 8 light up the important connections in your life. Then, with a full moon in Cancer on January 17, and the Mercury retrograde sliding into Capricorn on January 26, you’ll have plenty of opportunity to make sense of the triggers going off and emotions coming up through these moments of impact. This is a trial by fire, and a chance to collect data through experience. You’re ready for it.

LEO & LEO RISING

The Capricorn transits and retrogrades light up your sixth house of the body this month, likely continuing December’s run of exhaustion and overexertion. You’re still getting to know your limits, and what you’re wanting to get for how much you’re giving. The sun crosses Pluto’s underworld gates on January 16, followed by a full moon in Cancer the day after in your twelfth house of personal history and trauma; you’re in for a final test before seeing the light. On January 18, Uranus goes direct in Taurus, in your tenth house of career, and Aquarius season launches on January 19, in your seventh house of relationships. After all the time waiting in the wings, you’re coming out, as the planets make moves in very public domains of your chart. Cultivate these final weeks in the cocoon, and you’ll be able to take care of yourself when the spotlight returns to you.

VIRGO & VIRGO RISING

The year begins with Jupiter in Pisces, where it belongs, in your seventh house of relationships and public emergence. New possibilities of collaboration and self-declaration abound! But first, Mercury, as your ruling planet, needs to clarify how and where it should be applying your talents. On January 2, Mercury enters Aquarius, in your sixth house of work, output, and limits, and then retrogrades, beginning on January 14, eventually into Capricorn, in your fifth house of creative expression. Mercury is on a path of rediscovery, to understand your creative process, your dreams, and how best you can make them all come true. Take any lags not as signs of laziness, but as invitations to change the way you work. By the time Mercury crosses through Pluto’s underworld, on January 29, you’ll have let go of old and dead expectations and burdens in order to cruise into a new era of creative ownership.

LIBRA & LIBRA RISING

If you can survive this January, you can handle the rest of the year just fine. Venus, your ruling planet, has been retrograde in Capricorn, in your fourth house of home and surroundings, since December 19, and stays there through January 29. Meanwhile, Mercury, planet of communication, goes retrograde in Aquarius, in your fifth house of pleasure, on January 14, sliding into Capricorn on January 26. In this liminal moment, when you feel exiled and disconnected, without a clear understanding of where you belong or what role your work serves, you have a chance to discover new strength. While the paychecks are stalled and the payoffs run dry, you can discover deeper, higher, stronger talents and vibrations. Take the full moon on January 17 in Cancer, in your tenth house of career, to tap into your creative and empathic calling, as well as to the community who receives you. Get out of your head and get clear on what carries you through all this, and you’ll be delivered safely to February.

SCORPIO & SCORPIO RISING

You’ve endured an inhuman share of ego dissolution these past two years. Now, you get to come out of the underworld, and test your new being in the light. An epochal shift is underway, as the moon’s nodes, or elliptical points of orbit, enter Taurus and Scorpio through July 2023. In Taurus, the moon’s north node downloads new consciousness, while in Scorpio, the south node processes past lessons. You’re ready to learn and embrace Taurean values of embodiment, solidity, and frankly, pleasure. You get to build a new ego now. With the archetypically maternal asteroid Ceres going direct in Taurus on January 14, followed by Uranus finally stationing direct four days later, you’re being called out of the crucible and into a place of fertility, creativity, and awakening. Why not embrace the first buds of new life?

SAGITTARIUS & SAGITTARIUS RISING

The year begins with Jupiter, planet of light and wisdom, in Pisces, in your fourth house of home, roots, and ancestry. Invest in your home life this year, as a seat of power and creative incubator from which you can envision your future. Speaking of ambition, Mars continues its Sagittarian residency through January 24; serve the god of conquest by looking ahead, setting an attack plan for your year, and hopefully, making your bedroom just as much of a creative incubator as the rest of the house. On January 11, Mars squares, or comes into challenge with, Neptune, planet of dreams and delusions, in your fourth house of home and roots. This should be a creative cleansing; think of it as a chance to confront any lingering dreams or ambitions which can stay in childhood. Be grateful for the roots of your inspiration, but keep your focus on what’s ahead.

CAPRICORN & CAPRICORN RISING

The clunky slog of Venus retrograde, which began on December 19 2021, continues in Capricorn, making you question the outcome of everything you work for. The fairy tale is over. And yet, with a new moon in your sign on January 2, and a meeting of the sun and Venus on January 8, some new sensation of purpose and possibility emerges from the dead earth. Hold fast to it — you’re in for an emotional götterdämmerung this month. Mercury retrograde begins in Aquarius on January 14, and enters Capricorn from January 26 through February 3, bringing a sense of overload and difficulty to the more minute aspects of your work and life. Your drive is best served by starting small and working your way up: clean out your oven, plan your budget, and think ahead. Mars enters your home sign on January 24, and Venus goes direct five days later, reinstating some sense of forward momentum. Ride the current when you can, but don’t try to force what isn’t working. Your time is coming soon.

AQUARIUS & AQUARIUS RISING

Aquarius season promises the reclamation of your originality and authenticity. But first, a crawl through barbed wire is required to slough off the dead skin. Since December 19 2021, Venus has been retrograde in Capricorn, in your twelfth house of personal history and self-undoing. You’re facing the covers you’ve for coping. With the retrograde raging until January 29, and Mercury joining the backwards momentum in Aquarius and Capricorn starting on January 14, you’ll have to confront and let go of your old faces, even if you’re frightened of the world seeing you for who you really are. This is a moment for the outer presentation to catch up with the inner changes, for a reboot of your self-expression. Embrace the fire now, and you can meet Aquarius season on January 19 as the singular being you are.

PISCES & PISCES RISING

Could 2022 actually…possibly…be your year? Jupiter and Neptune, your sign’s traditional and modern rulers, are both back and direct in your home sign. Anything feels possible again. Time to reopen the floodgates of creativity, one by one. Mars, planet of drive and ambition, continues its cruise through Sagittarius, in your tenth house of career, through January 26, allowing an awakening of ambition. On January 11, Mars squares Neptune in Pisces, forcing a clash between the archetypes of ambition and delusion, rule and empathy. As the fire to seek, score, and collect burns hot, you’ll have to deal with those gaps in awareness, or bubbles of vagueness, that keep you from executing a vision. Embrace whatever forms of sobriety are needed to own your choices. On January 17, a full moon in Cancer in your fifth house of creative expression and romance helps you download back into your body. Think about where your work, drive, and output is going, and what purpose you want it to serve. You don’t have to hold back anymore.