Hi everyone! This is the first time I am writing an article in English (which is not my native language) so you will forgive me if it will not be perfect, but I really wanted to share my view on 2023, a year that represents from all points of view a “turning point” for all the signs of the Zodiac. Many are the planets that change position in 2023, first of all Pluto, which after 15 years in Capricorn takes its first steps into Aquarius, a sign it has not visited since the second half of the 1700s, that is, since the years of the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution. Pluto is the planet of “power” and its expression on the public stage, while Aquarius is the sign of the collective, of democracy and of the individual’s participation in the management of what belongs to everyone, themes that will be central in the next two decades along with a strong drive for technological progress especially on the resources front. 

But to the “macro” aspects of the 2023 sky I will perhaps dedicate another article, in this one I would like to focus more on the individual turning points of the various zodiac signs, precisely because as I said this new year marks an important turning point a bit for everyone. Let’s start with Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn, signs that are so different from each other that you could probably ask yourself, “What do I have in common with the rest of you?” Yet they have something in common: they are the signs that correspond to the months in which the seasons begin, and this circumstance is reflected in their astrological characteristics. They are the signs of initiative; they need to freely decide what to do, when, how, with whom. They need to feel in full power to take their own initiatives. 

In past years, however, they have been penalized in precisely these values that are so important to them: independence, freedom of self-determination and, even before that, the ability to hold the reins of their lives in their own hands. It was from 2008 that things started to get difficult, when Pluto entered Capricorn forming an opposition with Cancer and a quadrature with Aries and Libra. That’s when continuous obstacles, slowdowns, difficulties in asserting themselves began, and not only because of external circumstances, but before that because of a continuous and latent personal insecurity. This is the real enemy Pluto put them in front of. 

For Aries, it mainly concerned relationships with authorities, with parents and family expectations (at least for the younger ones), with the conditioning of their surroundings, with the difficulty of daring, of making and sustaining their own choices. For Cancer, it mainly concerned the sphere of “dual” relationships with the feeling of needing the other person’s presence in one’s life, and the tendency to accept penalizing situations in order not to make him leave. For Libra, it concerned the difficulty of stepping up, of saying “I’m there too,” of focusing on oneself instead of focusing one’s energy on others. For Capricorn, it involved a constant difficulty in pursuing one’s grand plan, continuing to believe in it even though the rest of the world did not. 

The last 15 years have been pervaded by a constant inner tug-of-war: On the one hand, the desire to break ranks, to get rid of everything that kept them stuck, to say enough to an old system in which they were not free, to take the door and go their own way. On the other, the fear of taking a wrong step, of losing a security, of straying too far from home and from a comfort zone made up of old securities. On the one hand, the desire to raise one’s head, to expose oneself more, to bring out one’s voice and enter the scene; on the other, the fear of not being ready. This scenario became even stronger from 2011 to 2014, when Uranus entered Aries and squared off with Pluto in Capricorn. In those years, many people felt really “stuck,” they felt the desire to break free bubbling up inside and felt at the same time stronger brakes and conditioning. 

Then there was another important three-year period, from 2018 to 2020 with Saturn in Capricorn. I still remember the Cardinal signs at that time, terrified by the idea of Saturn’s visit, by the fear that things would get even more difficult. It was difficult, it’s true, but it’s equally true that that’s when things started to change, because Saturn pushed them to dismantle their fears piece by piece. It forced them to roll up their sleeves and struggle to face their ghosts, to sustain challenges and confrontations before which they thought they would run away. That three-year period was like a “maturity exam” in which to put into practice all the lessons learned in the previous years and score a decisive point on the scoreboard of the battle against insecurities. I know it was not easy, I know you came out of those years tired, harried, perhaps even with some “losses,” but with a clearer sense of your worth.

Why am I telling you all this? Because Because from 2023 Pluto begins to leave Capricorn and take its first steps into Aquarius. In doing so, it leaves that position that has created so many difficulties for these signs in past years! Now that is a liberation! In 2023 you only feel the first “tastes” of it, but from 2024 it will become final and leave you “alone” until 2044! That is why in 2023 a genuine moment of rebirth begins for these signs. They unload a heavy ballast made up of hindrances, obstacles, constant tests of resistance and, even before that, they regain strength, determination and self-confidence. It begins a heaven that allows them to raise their heads, to come out of the darkness and take center stage, to say “this is me, whether you like it or not, and I am no longer willing to (rin)deny it on the altar of seeking an approval that – finally – I find within me and not outside me.” 

ARIES is back to being Aries, rediscovering the courage, resourcefulness and daring that make the sign great, after years held back by fear of making mistakes. It rediscovers the ability to make its own choices, even when they go against the grain, without letting itself be conditioned by what others expect. And with Jupiter alongside until May, someone finds the strength needed to make a change (of job, city, partner or lifestyle) that in past years they felt unable to make. And before that, Aries becomes a parent of himself again, fully free to decide for himself and to dismantle all those old “choices” that cannot be said to be truly free. 

CANCER rears its head again and stops looking to others for the measure of its worth. It was this feeling of needing the other that in the past prompted him to “stay” even when it would have been more right to “go.” That drove him to accept penalizing situations out of fear of being alone, of having to stand on his own two feet, of losing a necessary foothold. That it pushed him to play defense instead of going in conquest. In the New Year, Cancer dismantles the architecture of oppression and says enough of everything that he has accepted in the past only out of fear that he cannot do without it. He stops being afraid of “losing” and this makes him “invincible.” 

LIBRA gains the stage after years spent in backstage darkness. In the prompter’s pit while someone else took the applause. It is the year of a debut, of situations experienced as “challenges,” which, however, push Libra to bring out its voice, to voice its truths without fear of not being ready or speaking out of turn. She has been working subterraneously for years on building greater independence-economic, work, decision-making-and now she is ready to make that breakthrough. She makes me think of Lady Gaga in A Star is Born, when she is dragged onstage and timidly begins to sing Shallow. At first she covers her eyes with her hands, as if to say “what am I doing?” but then the audience’s applause is so roaring that it sweeps away all insecurity. And after years spent unbalanced on others, Libra finally puts herself back at the center of her life. 

And then there is CAPRICORN, a sign that deserves a separate discourse because it is there, at home, that Pluto has spent the last fifteen years, turning the ambition that characterizes the sign into a true “obsession.” It is since 2008 that many Capricorns have been chasing a goal that over time has become a genuine “life mission.” And the harder this peak became to reach, the more they insisted on not giving it up to those who did not believe in it. So much so that many Capricorns come so far wondering “but who makes me do it?”, “is it worth it?”, “do I still want it?”. And lo and behold, in 2023 Pluto leaves Capricorn and this fever subsides. Some people start to slow down a little, enjoy life more, and look within themselves for that spark of passion that ignited the engine in the beginning. And in the year when Capricorn thinks less about the summit, here we are finally one step closer than we have been in years past. 

Everyone has their own story, but for Cardinal signs 2023 is the year that concludes a long process of personal reconstruction, of building greater self-esteem and self-confidence. A process that closes with a strong act of personal affirmation and emancipation, so much so that if I had to dedicate a song to them, I would probably choose the beautiful “This is me” from The Greatest Showman: this is me, whether you like it or not, and I am no longer willing to deny myself, to sacrifice my desires on the altar of others’ fears, conditioning and expectations. If I make a mistake, it will be my own fault. If I am right, it will be my own doing. In either case — I will decide for myself. 

I hope you enjoyed this focus, and I will be back soon with more articles dedicated to the other signs of the Zodiac.
Love,
xxx
S*