Some shifts in the early part of the month are going to create some change, but nothing like the major changes in a few months. This month we have the kind of changes that are going to create enough distance from recent months to make it clear that we are no longer in 2024, but without disrupting the continuity. That will be the case when Venus leaves your relationship sector and returns to your financial sector on 3rd January. Apart from swapping out her planet of love for her planet of money hat, Venus will leave behind planets that will keep the focus on your relationships while joining planets that already have the focus on money matters. There will be continuity on the relationship and relationship fronts, but where your heart is focused and the laws of attraction are in effect will shift. It will be a different story when Mars retrogrades back out of Leo on 6th January. However, while this will leave you with no more planetary activity in your sign and this will see Mars retrograde back into a nostalgic and reflective part of your chart, he will return in April to begin your new two year Mars cycle over again from scratch. It is two days later that Mercury will finally leave a playful and creative part of your chart. Having returned in early November for what is normally a 14 to 15 day visit, by the time Mercury leaves and joins the Sun in your busy work sector on 8th January, you should know enough to maintain the right balance between work and play. Balance will also become important when the lunar nodes return to your two money houses on 12th January. For the next 18 months, the lunar nodes will police a balance between money coming in and money going out and the eclipses will now fall in your income and financial sectors. As there is a lot of support on both sides of the financial fence, this could also lead to some significant breakthroughs.
From the start, it is clear that 2025 is going to be a big year for your relationships, though with a chance to also capture the spirit of romance. It is in the latter months of each year that your romantic sector becomes active and while all planetary activity there should have ended last year, a retrograde phase has kept Mercury here, allowing this to spill into the early days of the year. It is not until he leaves on 8th January that Mercury’s mission to give your heart a voice and to put heart and mind on the same page will end. After that, apart from the Moon’s monthly visit, there will be no planetary activity on the romantic front until later in the year. As well as making Mercury’s final days important and a chance to make the spirit of romance a priority from the start, the Moon’s return from 24th January to 26th January also needs to be captured. Meanwhile, it is a different story on the relationship front, where there is not only continuous planetary activity all month but there will be for the next two decades, thanks to Pluto’s return in November. Here now until 2044, the planet of change and transformation is going to keep the focus on your relationships. Venus, the planet of love will begin the year in your relationship sector and while she will leave on 3rd January, not before giving your heart a voice. Until she leaves later next month, the dwarf planet Ceres will continue her first deep dive into your relationship needs and priorities in four years while as is the case at this time each year, the Sun’s return on 20th January will put the solar spotlight on your relationships. The last planet to return will be Mercury, with the planet of communication returning on 28th January to get the communication lines open. The Moon will make two visits to your relationship sector this year, first from 1st January to 3rd January and again from 29th January to 31st January. Both times will be a chance to check in and become more emotionally engaged and aware but for the second time as a New Moon.
While to start with it is business as usual on both sides of the financial fence, there is change in the air and that includes on both sides. Business as usual means no planetary activity in your income sector until Mars returns in June while on the other side of the financial fence, it means moving into the New Year with Neptune and Saturn in your financial sector but playing a long game and with little urgency. Saturn has been in your financial sector since March 2023 and only turned direct in late November. Neptune has been in your financial sector since 2012 and has only been in direct motion since early December, so neither is back to anything like full speed. However, while Saturn is the hard taskmaster of the cosmos and Neptune is the planet of hopes and dreams, together they are giving you the resolve to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes in order to turn financial dreams into reality, just not overnight. The first change takes place on 3rd January when Venus, the planet of money makes an early return to your financial sector. With the Moon making its first visit to your financial sector for the year from 4th January to 6th January, this will see your financial instincts kick in just as Venus returns to fuel your financial confidence, update your financial desires and expectations and work to turn those desires into reality. Normally here for just 24 days, with Neptune leaving in March and Saturn in May, a retrograde turn will still see Venus leave next month but after a full month here and it will see her return in March to spend another five weeks here. It is seven days after Venus’ return that things will take an unexpected turn when the lunar nodes return to your two money houses on 12th January, the North Node to your financial sector and the South Node to your income sector. From the start, the North Node will find a home while the South Node will have the support of the Sun in your work sector and Uranus in your career sector. When the Moon makes its first visit to your income sector for the year from 17th January to 19th January, this could have implications across the income, work and career fronts.