Starcodes for the week of January 16-22, 2026
The planets are busy and will bring an industrious and muscularly willful energy over the next few weeks; we need to use these muscles wisely. Bring compassionate competence and real wisdom to direct this torque and make it work for the benefit of all as Venus, the Sun, Mars, and Mercury run close together in strategic Capricorn, then pile into Aquarius and conjunct Pluto. These aspects will play out in a very different way in our personal relationships versus the big political picture but will resonate across the board. Look for the whole range of how they could be expressed to feel like you have more choice.
When the Sun activates, our history percolates, life on earth, particularly our political life, inflames. Right now, Jupiter – on one side of the earth – opposes the Sun, Venus, and Mars on the other side. Last week the Sun flared towards Venus and Mars, charging these two planets which symbolize our emotional milieu. Next week a large sunspot is expected to spit out a coronal mass towards earth, sending the charge this way.
Venus, the Sun, Mercury, and Mars, one by one,enter Aquarius this week and conjunct Pluto, symbol of power, death, and rebirth. Here they ask us to question our priorities in the face of life, death, and the underworld. These planets conjunct Pluto annually or semi-annually, so we know how to handle them individually, but we don’t usually feel them echoing off one another in the same week. All these Pluto conjunctions ask us to confront tough realities; they can invoke power struggles, and, eventually, empowerment. Just ask Persephone.
This Capricorn-Aquarius lineup can bring real competence, but not always common sense, and it can infuse competence but to both those with whom we profoundly disagree as well as our own team.
On a more personal note, these planets in Capricorn Aquarius do not bring particularly personal energies, it’s easy to miss signals from our dear ones because our mind is focused outwards, on the big picture, the political circus. This can wear us thin and stress our families. We have to choose to pay attention to dear hearts and to what enriches our in the face of storm clouds. A moment of laughter and love, of tenderness, helps us re-own the paradigm, remember what matters, and keep working. So, laugh together, hold hands, nourish one another; enjoy the winter sunlight on the mountain tops as a form of bravery. Then get back in there and work for a better world. We have to pace ourselves on this one- for weeks- maybe years.
This weekend starts out with a brooding Scorpio Moon underlining that tightly controlling lineup of planets in Capricorn. Those control issues run rampant through the New Moon in Capricorn on Sunday and as Mercury conjuncts Mars, sharpens our minds, thoughts, and speech. Be very careful and intentional about what’s confronted and what systems are challenged through the weekend, whether a political system, abusive edge of a relationship, or ornery boss; it could be time to set clear boundaries as Mars conjuncts Mercury but document each step.
Those planets in Capricorn shift to Aquarius on Sunday through next Friday. As each planet goes by Pluto at 3 degrees Aquarius, let’s watch that we do not devolve into either a power struggle or into depression, a feeling that we’re going to hell in a handbasket and can’t get off that train. This is the time to find power within, to find a deeper place as a source of strength.
Neptune enters Aries next week; in these last few weeks of Neptune in Pisces, we’ve been given a tour of all the confusion, lies, delusions, and misunderstandings of the last decade. We also have access to the inspiration, magic, and spiritual context we’ve created over the last decade, but we have to reach for it.
Friday, January 16: Note foggy competence; the Moon squares confusing Neptune, enters Capricorn and pushes us to accomplish, but that residual Neptunian fuzziness can leave us assertive without clear purpose, manipulative without aim. We need to provide the purpose and clear goals and give that Capricorn momentum somewhere to go to keep it out of trouble. We have access to a creative work-around or healing vision as Venus sextiles Neptune but have to seek it to find it. Let’s do what’s needed until our soul no longer itches. Tonight, we can drop into our imagination or into magic. A tender moment furthers.
Moon square Neptune 4:18 AM, Moon enters Capricorn 4:46 AM.
Saturday, January 17: It’s a good day to build, add grace and beauty to our organization, compassion to political action, as Venus sextiles Neptune in structural Capricorn and then enters Aquarius. Express creatively in heartfelt conversation at home or ingenious engagements in the streets. This isn’t an emotionally intimate time, it feels like there’s so much work to be done that it can be hard to just go to those tender places and stay vulnerable. So, hold hands even when busy, give positive feedback in the tough times. Let art and affection feed the heart while we face dark corners. The Sun trines Uranus and we have to believe that good change can manifest over time. Evening can bring a feistier and more accident-prone mood as Mercury conjuncts Mars right after midnight. If an argument starts and does not feel constructive, bear witness but get out of there.
Venus sextile Neptune 1:33 AM Sun sextile Saturn 3:41 AM, Venus enters Aquarius 5:43 AM, Sun trine Uranus 9:58 AM, Moon opposed Jupiter 6:13 PM.
Sunday, January 18: Caution with sparks that could become arguments or accidents as Mercury conjuncts Mars this morning. Explore the need to set a clear boundary, a line in the sand, but don’t pour oil on the fires. Let’s mean what we say and say what we mean, and keep the heart connected. Set intentions, be clear with others about consequences under the New Moon in Capricorn at 12:51 PM MST and as the Sun enters Aquarius at 3:17 pm MST. Write politicians. Make game plans. Listen to pronouncements and investigate what they say about the pronouncers. Get information needed for the next step. Tonight, Mercury sextiles Saturn and trines Uranus and encourages sanity, organization, and consequences. Look for hints towards the new chapter.
Mercury conjunct Mars 12:40 AM, Moon conjunct Mars 8:11 AM, Moon conjunct Mercury 8:47 AM, Moon sextile Saturn 10:21 AM, Moon trine Uranus 10:38 AM, Moon conjunct the Sun 12:51 PM, Moon sextile Neptune 12:51 PM, Sun enters Aquarius 3:17 PM, Moon conjunct Venus 7:02 PM, Mercury sextile Saturn 9:08 PM, Moon conjunct Pluto 9:38 PM, Mercury trine Uranus 10:37 PM.
Monday, January 19: Feelings run strong for the state of humankind this morning. We look outwards with the Sun newly in Aquarius, yet ponder both the world’s woes and our own; they echo off one another as Venus conjuncts Pluto in Aquarius. Do not be a martyr unnecessarily and watch for the mourning of one who truly is; this conjunct brings our mind to loss or the fear of loss. Contemplate how the world’s politics affects our inner world. How do our friends, family, and community affect us and what we can do for them as we look at our place in the collective. Those perceptions can trigger healthy action this afternoon as Mars trines Uranus and sextiles Saturn; prepare to shift to gears.
Sun sextile Neptune 2:54 PM, Sun enters Aquarius 6:44 PM, Venus conjunct Pluto 9:04 PM, Saturn sextile Uranus 10:19 PM, Mars trine Uranus 10:56 PM, Mars sextile Saturn 11:01 PM.
Tuesday, January 20: Dream big as Mercury sextiles Neptune then enters Aquarius this morning; see the bigger gestalt and imagine a way through a labyrinth. People are open-minded but stubborn, so step back from details and talk about the over-arching themes. Be willing to look at some tough realities but do not give up hope over the next few days as Mercury approaches Pluto, just know it’s going to take creativity and spirit to get from here to there.
Mercury sextile Neptune 7:34 AM, Mercury enters Aquarius 9:40 AM, Moon square Uranus 7:16 PM, Moon enters Pisces 11:49 PM.
Wednesday, January 21: Take a deep breath. Catch up with feelings, cry if need be; support the most tender connections and be there for one another. Feel the magic of camaraderie under this sensitive Pisces Moon. Objectivity will be sparce, though there can be some good theoretical perspectives, our emotions, and desires infiltrate logic with Mercury combust/conjunct the Sun in Aquarius. Notice echoes of karmic relationships, patterns that began in another life, earlier this in this lifetime, or around the time of the last eclipse, and see what can be done to heal and unknot. Keep actions clean, direct, and honorable; don’t take any karmic shortcuts, they will boomerang.
Sun conjunct Mercury 8:48 AM.
Thursday, January 22: Events bring the tenuousness of life, liberty, and democracy close as Mercury conjuncts Pluto. Our thoughts could take their own deep dive, whether into hyper-focus, investigation, introspection, or our own inner underworld. Do the work, but don’t get lost on those inner channels. Investigate a mystery, get to the bottom of a problem, don’t perseverate. If we pull too far away and too deep into our own world, others could have their feelings hurt and will need reassurance with the Moon in sensitive Pisces. Notice what feeds the soul in this tender time. Tonight, Mars sextiles Neptune and can help us let go of some anger or fear to find a more balanced perspective but be moderate with intoxicants and careful around water.
Moon trine Jupiter, Mercury conjunct Pluto 10:14 AM, Mars sextile Neptune 11:39 PM.
Provided by Heather Roan Robbins www.roanrobbins.com
