Happy Lunar New Year - Welcome Year of the Ox

New Moon in Aquarius ushered in the Lunar New Year


From the moment February began, I looked forward to a new beginning and a fresh start for my life, my country and yes, the world. One reason this time of the year speaks to me is that my birthday is on February 2nd. For those of you in the United States, this is Groundhog’s Day. I have emerged during many birthdays predicting either an early Spring or a late arrival of a new season. However, this infamous date is the Celtic holiday: Candlemas. For me, this speaks to my birthday more than a groundhog ritual. This pagan festival celebrates the midpoint between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. In the darkness of winter, we look to the promise of spring. Lighting candles is a ritual during this holiday. It helps to bring the promise of renewal, hope, and purification.

Yes: Hope and renewal is strong as I greet my solar return. The month of February starts out in the sign of Aquarius, and wow, for most of the month we have a stellium of energy in this sign (Sun, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn). This is a concentrated energy in this sign of forward thinking and humanitarian efforts.

On February 18th we find that the Sun enters the sign of Pisces to end the month in an introverted, subliminal and empathic energy.

Aquarius represents concepts of freedom and equality, humanitarian efforts, and looking to future change. Also, and this may be a bit abstract: Aquarius represents the collective consciousness. Many astrologers look at this particular sign to be a higher form of thinking and communicating, in that Aquarius speaks to a higher consciousness and a multi-dimensional interaction to perceive one’s reality. Think about the aspects of intuitive knowing, as this may provide a conduit to understanding the energy of this particular astrological sign. One may note that since 2012 we have been slowly awakening to an evolutionary consciousness.

December 21, 2020 marked a significant astrological event with the connection of the planets Jupiter and Saturn aligning in exact degrees in the constellation of Aquarius. Many of us actually saw these two planets shining brightly in the southwest evening sky during the last part of December. For me, this astrological event signaled the birth of new energy and conscious that allows us to open our minds to a new world that works for all. Yes, the idealist in me always looks to the positive future. This can explain why I dislike dystopian movies and underlying beliefs driven by fear and lack. Saturn in Aquarius may bring a new order and structure to our world, not necessarily a fearful future of lack. Coupled with Jupiter in Aquarius we may experience an awakening to a consciousness that recognizes that we are in this human experience together, not as separate individuals, but as a connected community.

The Lunar New Year Ushers in the Year of the Ox

With the Lunar New Year this Friday, February 12th, we get yet another opportunity to wash away 2020—and the frenetic energy of the Year of the Rat with it. For a fresh start fresh in the Chinese zodiac, we welcome the Year of the Ox, which we can expect to bring an influx of slow, steady, and still energy, says doctor of Chinese medicine Noah Rubinstein, DACM, LAc of the The Yinova Center. And nothing—I mean nothing—has ever sounded sweeter.

“We all became unbalanced last year,” Rubinstein says, noting that many people are banking on this year being better. “I can hear the exhaustion in their voices—they’re wiped out and over it,” he says. And while this year is going to offer us a break from that high level of depleting chaos, it’s not necessarily bringing us a relaxing and restorative trip to Bermuda, either (sorry). “The ox is about to say, ‘Get to work’,” says Rubinstein. “Because that’s what oxen do—they’re work animals.”

The ox, he says, is diligent and reliable, which is what you’re going to need to be, too. “If ever there was an animal that embodies [the idea that] you reap what you sow, it’s the ox,” says Rubinstein. “This is a year to get clear on what you want to create, because the ox works on things that take time.” While last year’s rat was reactive, the ox is proactive, he adds, so it’s time to ditch the former approach for the latter. And fortunately, because this year’s element is metal (each year in the Chinese calendar is assigned an element as well as an animal), you’ll have clarity around what it is you need to go after, too.

That said, the ox also embodies patience. “Things that are dependable, cultivated, and have enduring value take time.” In addition to patience, the ox also likes routine, says Rubinstein, so part of rebuilding will be returning to old habits when and if it’s safe and possible to do so. Yes, we will probably have more fun and diversity in experience than we during the Year of the Rat, but wilding out isn’t really what 2021 is about, either. “When we talk about the ox, what we’re looking at is a reflection on deeper aspects of the world around us,” he says.

Ultimately, what we went through in 2020’s Year of the Rat changed us. The Year of the Ox is going to help us re-imagine and rebuild our lives—and the world—based on our newfound perspectives. So while 2021 might not be the indulgent year you may have been hoping for, it is positioned to allow us some much-needed stillness to get not just back on track, but on a better train altogether.

The Next Few Months Bring Promise of Renewal

Our mindset will matter in the days ahead—and thanks to Jupiter’s auspicious alignment with Mercury February 14, our thoughts and intended outcomes are primed to align. This is a time to get grounded and check-in with yourself. Notice where you are and aren’t aligned with a growth mindset. Agrowth mindsetrefers to the belief that we can improve ourselves, outcomes, and talents with work and determination. A growth mindset also bolsters our resilience, and we will need all of the resilience we can muster in the days ahead before the spring 2021 astrology forecast offers a welcome sense of ease.

First, we need to review and understand the impact of a huge transit: Saturn is Aquarius squared off to Uranus in Taurus. The tension between these two very transpersonal and karmic planets pushes us to an evolutionary edge. As Stephanie Austin wisely informs: Saturn, the traditional ruler of Aquarius and Uranus, the modern ruler, square each other three times in 2021: (February 17, June 14, and December 23). Saturn symbolizes form and structure on all levels, from personal ego constructs, patterns, and beliefs to governments, corporations, and institutions of all kinds.

Where Saturn is in our chart, either at birth or transiting, describes where we are learning about limits, responsibility, and becoming our own authority.

Uranus corresponds to individuation and the breakdown of outmoded structures; where it is located in our chart, where natal or transit, is where we need to be inventive, authentic, and willing to operate without social approval.Squares mark important turning points, where we have to make some kind of shift before we can move forward. Squares between Saturn and Uranus counsel us to make conscious, constructive changes, rather than resist or rebel.On a collective level,Saturn in Aquarius impels social, political, and technological reform, while Uranus in Taurus galvanizes re-envisioning in how we deal with money, resources, and the Earth.
On February 18th the sun moves out of Aquarius and into Pisces. The sun’s shift from fixed air (Aquarius) into mutable water (Pisces) is potentially very medicinal. So far this year, most of the planets have traveled in the Earth and air signs, and other than the moon—which changes signs every 2.5 days and Neptune in Pisces—we haven’t had another major planet in water since Venus left Scorpio on December 15, 2020.

Mercury stations direct on Saturday February 20th. We won’t have any retrograde planets again until April 28th,whenPluto stations retrograde. Let me repeat—there won’t beanyretrograde planets again until late April, which means that the spring of 2021 astrology forecast includes over two months when we can finally make progress on our goals. And even still, Pluto’s retrograde motion, while significant, is minor in the scheme of things, meaning cosmic skies look relatively clearuntil late May, when we entereclipse season again.

Resilience is the ability to face life exactly as it is and do what we can to make it better. When we hold a growth mindset, we understand that showing up to life, and exerting effort to make it better, changes our outcomes. We are about to enter multiple consecutive months that are far easier to manage from an astrological perspective than anything we’ve seen since 2019. With the onslaught of continuous stress that we’ve all experienced for the last year, we may just find ourselves with an opportunity for repair in the very near future.

The events of this month signify that this year will be a time of extraordinary developments. Remember that this time in your life is not just your individual soul’s journey, but a change in your perspective that we are in this experience together. For me this is not a trite and overused expression, but a call to a new consciousness. I will not succeed without your success. My grief is your grief, your joy is my joy. If we think and act collectively, we just may find a new pathway to recovery. The human family is being called to a higher role and responsibility of living on this Earth. If we can awaken our collective imagination, we have a future of promise. If we can imagine it, we can create it. First we have to imagine it." (from Choosing Earth: Humanity’s Great Transition to a Mature Planetary Civilization) by Duane and Colleen Elgin.

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Cathy Basen

For most of my adult life, I have worked as an educator. Now, semi-retired from public school administration, I work part time as an education consultant.  However, my passion for decades has been my work as a professional astrologer and intuitive advisor.  My love for dialoguing soul-to-soul with people has rewarded me with amazing conversations and discourse.  I feel I have supported countless persons over the years by interpreting their astrology natal chart and also, reading Tarot cards as both serve as tools and methods to provide deep insights into the soul.