Your 2023 Horoscopes: A Look At The Year Ahead
It might be interesting to reread your 2022 Year Ahead Horoscopes to reflect on what has come to pass. Similarly, your horoscopes at the end of this post are succinct poetic offerings that synthesize the year ahead’s planetary journeys.
This is an excellent time also to review why reading the horoscopes for your rising sign instead of or in addition to your sun sign can yield more resonant themes about what’s in store for you for 2023. Let’s dive right in.
The Outer Generational Planets
- Pluto will move from 27° in Capricorn to 0° in Aquarius.
- Neptune will move from 22°-27° in Pisces.
- Uranus will move from 14°-23° in Taurus.
In astrology, the outer planets (including dwarf planet Pluto) are considered generational markers because of their speed: they move slowly because they’re the farthest planets in our solar system. As a result, they symbolize events and stories on a historical scale for particular cohorts of humans.
Astrology indicates how the quality of time is related to how the planets interact with each other. This year, although these outer planets won’t interact with each other, they will touch base with other inner planets throughout the year. Pluto changing signs this year marks a poignant new beginning happening somewhere in your birth chart. In general, Pluto often brings about profound transmutational changes, Neptune inspires idealism and can make you aware of your disillusionment, and Uranus destabilizes established reality and encourages freedom from stagnation.
In 2023, the biggest outer planet event is Pluto departing from Capricorn and entering Aquarius on March 23. Pluto has been in Capricorn for 14 years—since 2008—and for the first time this year, it’s going to break ground into the next sign in Aquarius. Though Pluto will retrograde back to Capricorn from June 11, 2023 - January 22, 2024, Pluto’s ingress into Aquarius is the first step of its long stay—it will remain in the sign for 21 years (until 2044!).
Pluto transits mark the beginning of a long-term journey of deep changes. In a way, 21 years is a very long time, and if you imagine yourself travelling through two decades of your life, you know who you are at the beginning, and the end of that timeline would be vastly different. Pluto transits are quite the slowed-down death and rebirth process.
What’s helpful to know is that, after the last couple of years of reality rearrangement in the Aquarius house of your birth chart, 2023 gives you a long-range forecast of what you’re slowly composting and turning into useful nourishment over time. It can ignite a profound awareness of your fears and insecurities. This is a good thing—It’s the start of reclaiming power. Pluto functions in extremes, and so this moment is important for becoming more aware of where the balance needs to be restored.
The social planets
- Saturn will move from 22° Aquarius to 7° Pisces
- Jupiter will move from 1° Aries to 15° Taurus
Closer to the sun, Saturn and Jupiter are called the social planets because people around and of the same age share this placement in their birth charts. For 2023, Saturn finishes its time in Aquarius and enters Pisces, while Jupiter also slips in and out of two signs: Aries and Taurus.
Saturn transits often infer a certain level of restriction and may prompt you to question boundaries. Saturn urges people to act with integrity and responsibility and pushes you to look at situations seriously and realistically. Since Saturn is entering Pisces on March 7, people born with Saturn in Pisces in their birth chart are experiencing their Saturn return. This also means that Saturn is leaving Aquarius, where it has been since 2020, and folks born with this placement are finally finishing and graduating from their Saturn return.
The pivotal and cyclical returns of Saturn often mark periods of immense growth, but these periods can also be described as a kind of crisis. And I like to think of crisis points as moments in life where you have to make important decisions to change directions. If you’re 28-30, 56-58 and 87-89 years old, then you are experiencing a Saturn return. Even if you’re not going through a Saturn return, Saturn moving through the Aquarius and Pisces houses in your birth chart indicates a slow and steady maturation process.
On the other hand, Jupiter has travelled through the first 8° of Aries back on May 10—October 27, 2022. For the first two months of 2023, Jupiter will zip through these same degrees and will likely offer resolutions to any issues that may have arisen during those months last year. Jupiter will then enter Taurus in a more uninterrupted fashion starting May 16, where it will stay until May 25, 2024. (Jupiter generally takes one year to travel through a sign.)
Jupiter signifies the creation and maintenance of harmonious order, beneficence, growth and expansion. Jupiter transits to your personal charts can indicate an increase in hope and optimism. It can also mean an abundance of sorts, regardless of the context. Sometimes, not all growth is desired—nor pleasant. But, traditionally, Jupiter is about healing and medicine.
For Jupiter in Aries, reflect back on last year’s new beginnings (hint: look at the Aries area of your birth chart) and where you may have needed brutal honesty to move forward. Jupiter in Taurus, on the other hand, can feel a touch more destabilizing since it’ll be joining with Uranus. Wherever Jupiter travels, it can potentially create issues of excess. If said excess is causing stagnation, you may undergo a thorough shakeup to figure out what’s best for you.
The inner planets and eclipses
Mars starts to move forward on January 12 after being retrograde in Gemini since October 30, 2022. The new year starts off with Mars wrapping things up in the Gemini house of your chart after its extended stay since August 20, 2022. From January 12 until March 25, Mars will start to revisit the same issues it attempted to mobilize and address, and, hopefully, the first three months of the year ahead bring resolutions, even if imperfectly, to the situations you’ve had to deal with for almost half a year.
Venus will be staying for a longer period in Leo due to its retrograde phase in the summertime. Venus will enter Leo on June 5, will station retrograde on July 22, will move forward on September 3 and finally depart Leo on October 8. For perspective, when Venus does not have a retrograde phase (which happens about every 18 months), it usually moves through a sign for about a month. But, because 2023 is the year we have a Venus retrograde, it’s going to be in Leo for about four months. Expect the Leo area of your chart to experience some sweetness—but also a need to reevaluate what you truly desire and value in the topics of life it pertains to.
Mercury, as per usual, has its almost three-times-a-year retrograde cycles. The defining trait of Mercury retrogrades is understanding what elements they are occurring in. For 2023, all Mercury retrogrades will be taking place in the earth signs―Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn. Mercury retrogrades will inspire you to review, reassess and reflect on the earth sign houses of your chart. Mercury retrograde periods are always an excellent time to finish overdue projects.
And finally, eclipses are always points of pivotal change. Astrologers focus on which house axis they occur in to figure out what areas of your life are undergoing major overhauls and adjustments. Since November 2021, we’ve been experiencing eclipses in the Taurus and Scorpio axis. This will continue for 2023, however, a new set of eclipses will start in the Aries and Libra axis. The best way to contextualize this: look at what opposing houses these eclipses ping in your birth chart. Eclipses, along with major planetary events, are often areas of focus in the monthly horoscopes that I write, so stay tuned for more to come as the year unfolds. Read your horoscopes for a succinct integration of 2023’s astrology. May you take good care of yourselves and each other.
I highly recommend that you primarily read the horoscopes for your rising sign. If you don't know your rising sign, you can read for your sun sign (born during the day) and/or moon sign (born at night). Read it all if you like, and take what resonates. To figure out these placements, enter your birth date, location and precise birth time into an astrology app like Time Nomad or online at astro.com. For more guidance on how all of these play together, visit charmastrology.com.
March 21-April 19
2023 will be the year of taking responsibility for tending to your past wounds—the ones that still haunt you and push you around. You may find that through this process of deep internal work you become more discerning about the company you keep. It’s the year of realizing where you place your value, especially when it comes to your need for stability and sense of worth. It’s hard work, but if you centre sincerity as the core of your principles, this work can be a labour of (self) love.
April 20-May 20
If last year felt destabilizing, though perhaps with some moments of genuine excitement, 2023 can feel like respite from that kind of chaos. The work to continually peel away at the layers of your fears and insecurities continues, but this time, you get to ground yourself among peers that want to cultivate the same level of integrity in their lives. The year ahead is about reconfiguring questions of identity and self-expression to make sure they’re aligned with your ever-evolving truths. It’s the year of being more honest with yourself.
May 21-June 21
There is pressure building up for you to step into authority and leadership. Perhaps it’s a question of commitment to a particular life path, something that takes slow time to grow but will bring you the wisdom of experience over the years. It’s a year of flirting with fear as a much-needed challenge to move you along. A healthy dose of fear is not inherently negative—perhaps it gives you enough material to power through challenges in ways that strengthen your core and spirit.
June 22-July 22
The quality of your relationships, new and old, will be under the microscope this year for some much-needed review and overhaul. It’s important that you take note of the kinds of relationships you want more of and not allow familiarity to be the primary reason for getting excited about people. It’s a year of branching out in all contexts, dear Cancer.
July 23-Aug. 22
You’re so much more powerful when you combine your gifts with others who multiply your inherent talents. 2023 is the year of resonance. Surround yourself with people on an upward path so you can inspire each other. Soften your hold on connections that keep you small. Sometimes these relationships are not coming from a malicious place but are just a natural progression of growing apart. Move forward with your heart wide open.
Aug. 23-Sept. 22
Setting boundaries is a great way to get to know yourself better. They represent a level of clarity about what you’re able to offer—and what you’re not able to—in ways that give you a sense of structure. Your task for the year ahead is to know yourself deeply enough to be able to communicate your boundaries. Engaging responsibly in relationships is about knowing who you are so you can show up as your whole self as much as possible.
Sept. 23-Oct. 22
Get ready for a year of cathartic creation. This creativity can be applied to any context, truly, and will deliciously take up a lot of your time, labour and attention. There are stories from the underwater of your consciousness that are dying to be released. Perhaps it’s grief, but perhaps it’s also the desire to live with more love in your life. For 2023, understand what the sensation of feeling internally aligned and emotionally invested feels like for any decision you have to make moving forward.
Oct. 23-Nov. 21
This is the year of working hard at experiencing ease, joy and pleasure. Sure, it’s paradoxical, but taking the reins on what you desire is the kind of growth that’s on schedule. It may sound indulgent, but this kind of clarity is no joke—it requires a deep intimacy with yourself. To know precisely how and why you’re affected requires truth and honesty.
Nov. 22-Dec. 21
The question of belonging will be a huge theme for you this year ahead. You will confront what it means to “come home.” It’s a point of exploration in either a tangible or a metaphorical way. Either way, the question of what it means to belong, especially in a familial sense, is the work that needs your attention this 2023. Find the power you’re seeking so you can allow yourself to take up space to articulate precisely what you mean—and people pay attention when you speak.
Dec. 22-Jan. 19
TBH, 2023 has the potential to be low key—and that’s a good thing. In some ways, it’s a year where there is a need to prioritize and establish stability in your life. Keep your head down to focus on the more important and immediate issues that you’ve been putting off for some time. This can let off the pressure of performance and achievement. And instead, settle into the reliability of routine to live your days ahead, and live them well. Repetition can bring you great comfort.
Jan. 20-Feb. 18
Do you fear your power? What does it feel like in your body when you’re being powerful? For 2023, you’re tasked to get intimate with the somatic sensations of power. It’s time you subvert its meaning and redefine this dynamic relationship with yourself. You may find that what you’ve been fearing all along is not actually true, or even real. Observe people who can inspire you to embody the kind of command you want to experience for yourself. Not all power is about subjugation—most often, it’s about expansion of possibility.
Feb. 19-March 20
Imagine if the limits you set for yourself become the exact medicine you need to manage most of the things in your life you feel out of control about. 2023 is the year of befriending boundaries, especially in relation to your sense of carefree boundlessness. This can show up in many different contexts but, ultimately, this is the year of understanding what being holistically healthy in body, mind and spirit looks like for you.
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