Hello Friends:

This is a rare week. January is a really productive month astrologically. February and March are a bit strenuous so use January to set the foundations.

Venus and Mars, both out of bounds, each pass through the heart of the Sun in Capricorn. This is a rare reset of the personal planets in the same sign. With Venus old desires get burned down to their essence. What is real in relationships--personal and professional--to your core values. With Mars old strategies lose their efficacy. Choose what efforts are most meaningful even if you don't get what you set out to achieve. What do you want enough to commit to after the novelty and excitement wear off?

Capricorn isn't about motivation (that's Aries), but rather the steady discipline and dedication required for the long haul. This feels especially relevant if you have been showing up daily to the inner work of this Mercury cycle (started November 20, 2025), even when you had no idea where it would lead. If that is you, this is your sign to keep going.

There is a quote from Mark Manson that captures this Capricorn planet pileup theme. He talks about choosing not just the dream, but the struggle you are willing, even happy, to have. This orientation changes everything.

I'm always encouraged by who I become in the process of undertaking a challenge or project.

If you have been reading along, you know I am in the middle of a 117-day Mercury cycle devoted to exploring a business idea that has been circling me for years. I am 47 days in, just over 40 percent, and progress has been astounding.

During the Scorpio New Moon at the end of November, I used the 30-day lunar cycle to confront the habits and identities that had kept me feeling misaligned. Since then, I have ended a major chapter of my consultancy, taught my final Yoga and Sound class at The Yoga Common, closed a four plus year run of monthly lunation ceremonies, and committed to working with advisors and analysts who can meet me at the level of what I am building next.

I have interviewed farmers, visited properties, scoped out my "competition," and, as of today, I have completed Day 1 of 3 of my Farm Stop classes. My chef collaborator, Art of Nutrir, and I have aligned on mission, vision, values, agreements, and standards of quality, unafraid of awkward conversations around feelings to finances. We are using this Capricorn energy to establish a solid foundation on which our creativity can flourish.

Art has been legally setting up his corporation, getting the licenses, testing recipes, and completing the rigorous task of food costing, budgeting, and possible hires. It's a wonder to watch an equally indefatigable, focused business partner.

Neither of us has built what we are envisioning and are honest about our fears and strengths. Thankfully, communication is our top priority so even though how this turns out might feel tenuous, our commitment to taking small steps making this a reality is steadfast. We are grateful for how we are evolving as individuals and as a team.

Many of you are in a similar threshold. The space between who you were and who you are becoming can feel disorienting, even frightening.

My coach Joe Hudson offers guidance I return to often in this process. He says the work is not to navigate the liminal space, but to stop trying to navigate it at all. To stay present. To feel what is surfacing. To resist the urge to immediately reconstruct your life using the same mental models that are no longer relevant

When identity shifts, the how becomes unclear by design. If you rush to resolve that uncertainty, you end up forcing the future into an outdated container. The deeper work is to remain with the unknown long enough for something more clear to emerge. You'll know what to do.

Comic Weather

These powerful cazimis are an ideal time to plant seeds that you want to last. The Venus cazimi (also known as the Venus starpoint) lasts 18 months while the Mars cazimi lasts about two years. Venus asks you to be still and listen. She is in the "underworld" and will rise as the morning star in November. Mars is exalted in Capricorn and is the strategist playing the long game, committing to the hard things.

The Week Ahead

January 6 - Sun conjunct Venus, cazimi​
A renewal of values, relationships, and creative appetite. Experience nourishing pleasure. What feels good in a way that sustains you, not distracts you.

January 7 - Venus conjunct Mars​
Desire meets action. What has momentum right now? Follow up with the conversations, invitations, and collaborations that matter.

January 9 - Sun conjunct Mars, cazimi​
A restart of will and direction. Action is sober and grounded. What are you willing to sacrifice (make sacred)?

January 9 - Venus opposite Jupiter retrograde​
Where does enough become too much? This is a moment to notice your excesses and limits. Discernment keeps pleasure pleasurable.

January 10 - Sun opposite Jupiter retrograde​
Urgency is not the same as importance. With a retrograde, growth happens faster when rest and reflection are integrated.

January 10 - Mars opposite Jupiter retrograde​
Drive gets examined. It doesn't matter how fast you're going when you're going in the wrong direction.

This is not a week for instant answers and habitual action. It is a week for recommitting to the why, especially when the how feels nebulous. Capricorn rewards those who stay in relationship with the work itself. Go on a date with your goals, spend an evening with your finances. Find the enjoyment in it.

Venus Cazimi Spread

This morning I pulled 5 cards, representing the Venus Starpoint today, just before my birthday on the 11th. On a piece of paper, I wrote down what I willingly release and burned it in my cauldron. I placed the ashes in the soil of my lavendar plant on the patio. A pink beeswax candle burns behind Kuan Yin, the goddess symbol of my daimon or "guardian angel." A quartz egg symbolizes longevity, while the eggshell reminds me of impermanence and fragility. The sprays are "Sacred space," "Release," and "Heart Healing." In my journal, I wrote about the seeds I am continue to plant and nurture.

This is from The Good Tarot.

The Page of Fire: Enthusiastic action, beginning a project, acting on a new idea. "I am finding my purpose as I take the first step into something new."

(6) Love: (Today is the 6th for the Venus cazimi!!) Oneness. "We are all reflections of one another. When I choose to see the unity in all things, magic abounds. Love is all around me. I can give and receive abundant love."

8 of Earth: Mastery. "I acknowledge all I have learned and accomplished, the skills I have developed, and the goals I have reached. Now it is time to find new ways to apply what I know, to enhance my expertise. My beginner's awkwardness has melted away, and I know what I am doing now. I have confidence to become more intimate with the work in all areas of my life."

(1) Magician: Alchemy. "When I'm in alignment with Spirit's will, miracles are possible. I'm reminded that my will and skill alone will yield limited results. When I remember my partnership with Spirit, all is well."

9 of Earth: Disciplined self-reliance, reliable resources, restraint and self control (very Capricorn-y). "I know I can rely on myself and Spirit. There are many tools at my disposal, and I use my resources wisely, solidifying the foundation of my security in the material world. I am diligent and disciplined."

May you find a message in it for you in this time.

A Small Favor

I'm very early in the process, but I am building Equanimity Commons. It will be a farm stop and eatery, book shop, apothecary, community spaces and gardens. If you know of about 5+ acres of land and a structure about 2,000 square ft. zoned for commercial in Dripping Springs, Wimberley, Bee Cave, or Lakeway, please let me know.

Ideally we'd love to partner with a regenerative ranch or farm, but not be in the middle of nowhere.

Foot traffic will be important and also parking.

The Sacred Holidays

While planets align and cazimis ask us to plant long-term seeds, life also asks us to stay flexible and present. Gabe's holiday visit was a beautiful reminder of both...

Gabe spent a little over a week with me on Hudson Bend for the holidays. I tend to rent him a car while he's here so he doesn't feel isolated. As he grew up, I bought him a bike, especially during the divorce so he could feel a sense of freedom. In high school it was the '95 Jeep Wrangler YJ where he learned how to change a battery, check his oil, and other things he didn't appreciate. At U of M, it was a Cannondale e-bike and a ZIP car membership. I think it is essential to his Sagittarius IC adventurous spirit. I don't read his chart in depth, but I do know what energizes him, with or without hints from the planets. Thankfully he doesn't read this newsletter. 🙈

He made an impromptu trek to Dallas to attend a Meet and Greet with one of his favorite artists at a record store. We visited bookstores, read a lot, ate like tourists, and I was so grateful that he still enjoys spending time with me. He entered a submission to design the next magazine of another favorite band. On his way home the night before flying back to Ann Arbor, he received an email saying they chose him. He pulled over and booked a flight to New York.

He flew to Michigan the following day, unpacked, packed for Hawaii, and slept. The next day he hopped on a flight to New York to spend time with a friend then meet the band for their project, ate steak frites at an adorable restaurant, before returning to Michigan the same evening, late. After 3 hours of sleep he hopped on a plane to Hawaii, where he'll be for the week speaking at an educator's conference about the research and UX he did for an app his small team at U of M was hired to do. He FaceTime'd me from the beach, reading, before his snorkeling tour. Oh to be young and not tired.

Frankly, the transitions when he leaves is hard for me and it takes me several days to get over missing him.

But when I'm up again, you can find me working on Equanimity Commons, racing sailboats, and maintaining my Ensign, Moondance(r).

The contrast between my slow, foundational Mercury cycle work and his kinetic momentum felt like watching Venus (stillness, receiving) and Mars (action, pursuing) playing out in real time.

Thank you for reading this far and being part of my community.

Please reply and let me know how your holidays went.

Reach out if you'd like a reading or mentorship for what you are building.

Use the cosmic energy to plan your endeavor.

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Peace, wonder, and stars...

And lots and lots of love!

Monica

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