Driving along the estuary today, the cool crabby mud crawled inside me as the water at its lowest flooded my empty heart. With so many visitors coming to their families and ‘homes’ at this time of year or even to their dream place, I caught some of this love and it felt overwhelmingly joyful and inspiring, although none of it was mine. Exquisitely slowly I exhaled, letting my year go and letting it-all-be.

As we enter 2024 Jupiter comes to station direct at the same place Mercury retrograded back to earlier this year. This place in the Sabian Symbols describes the crossing of the chasm or abyss of you. 

Mercury has crossed over 3 times in 2023 and Jupiter is now completing the second crossing so as to begin getting to the other side of every single aspect of it-all, for once and for all by 15Jan24. Attraversiamo 🙂 like eat, pray, love, Mercury’s journey through us, wants soul embodied in the world.

Mercury is also currently stationing direct as we enter the new year. Having journeyed from one of the most violent and unstable parts of the sky back into 13th sign Serpentarius, it feels as if all poisons and venom that have been gathered and stacked together want to be exchanged for medicine and healing. As Mercury prepares to return to Facies, the scopes of the Sagittarian archer on 20JAN24, we will know what aims and goals are real AND there will be congruence as Mercury and Jupiter trine each other for a third and final time; first 7DEC23 (Jupiter retrograde), then 18DEC23 (both retrograde) and resolving 19JAN24 (both direct).

“You can’t hate people unless you love them” is so true, thanks Shane MacGowan.

Chiron, creative/wounded healer-teacher has stationed direct in ARIES and now seeks out his meeting with lunar’s transiting north node @16ARIES45’ 19FEB24; a meeting with destiny, as Chiron knows both the form and force of soul. 

22FEB24, a few days later has Venus-Mars meeting @6AQU56’, when the last time they came together was 6MAR22 @0AQU05’. This emphasizes a time of welcome wholism, healing and integration.

Jupiter moves excitedly into conjunction with Uranus on 21APRIL24 / equinox; taking the great risk 2024 requires. At 21TAURUS49’ this conjunction between the king of the gods and the mad scientist takes place around South Africa’s Sun, Moon and essential midpoint 10 days after South Africa births a new lunar phase @18GEM17’ (conjunct her natal Venus @17GEM11’) and 6 weeks after her first Saturn Return 8MAR24 @10PISCES52’.

This feels good. We so want to grow up and learn from our mistakes and find ways to do things better and more effectively / efficiently. There is much genius we have learnt in living low and in biding our time. 

In the context of global transformation as outer generational planets change signs over the next 2 years, we get to experience this great change and to anchor in the humanity part of us, as opposed to the hypnotised part, for a reset where we get to mutualise and collaborate. Our people have been and always will be our greatest value (Moon in Taurus). Let us remember that as we co-create systems beneficial for all life. There is no manual, no tech support, elders few and far.

Serena Ingamells passed away recently whom I would like to honour. She was a physiotherapist for Barnard’s cardiac team, the founder with Willie Koorts in 2003 of Orion Observation Group / OOG, the star gazing picnics at Wellington’s Voortrekkerterrein and Sterre en Planete. I know she is an astronomer, but I would love to see her astrology, as I love how she combined earth and sky in her life and give thanks for her passion for the night sky and her service to us star-lovers who follow-on now from her big eyes.

Wishing those who read my work well into the new 2024 year. I do believe as South Africans, we will get to have more and more of a voice in our lives. We get to steer the ship we are all on to the other side of our disfunction. 

For myself, as a souther, I seek healing for my people, my land and waters. I seek healing between the masculine and feminine, between the wounded and enraged parts of us. I seek freedom from the extremes of poverty and unemployment and money’s indifference and lifelessness. I seek solutions and sacrament, soul and peace, deep heart and true value for one and all.

Natasha Rightford, Knysna

29 December 2023