2020 is without a doubt a year for books. So far, it has brought us the coronavirus pandemic and the world’s perhaps largest civil uprising calling for justice for black lives and police reform. What’s even crazier is that this year is only halfway.
We still have to navigate the presidential election of 2020, the second (or third?) wave of coronavirus, and with six months to go, who knows what else awaits us. So, yes, 2020 is officially nutzo but the astrology of 2020 might explain why everything was so chaotic, intense, and action-packed.
In fact, astrologers have warned us about 2020 for years, as this year delivers a number of rare, intense, life-changing planetary moments that are actually shaking our foundations personally, politically and socially, and forcing us to adapt to an entirely new meaning of “normal”.
Our daily lives, as well as the global landscape, have changed dramatically since we rang the New Year’s bells, and this theme will continue for the rest of the year as we usher in an entirely new astrological era.
“The astrology of 2020 has been a hot topic in the astrological community for years. And not only astrologers but leaders of many different cultures have referred to this year as a portal, a threshold that humanity will cross in order to start a new era,” says astrologer Narayana Montúfar. “Astrologically speaking, the cycles of many different planets are coming to an end, bringing about radical changes that will take place over the next 30 years. ”
Astrologers have long known that the rare and epic celestial events of 2020 scattered throughout this year would bring about large-scale changes, cataclysmic events, and full paradigm shifts but no one knew exactly how these energies would play out in real-time.
Read on for the mid-year scoop on some of the major planetary events that have made 2020 so absolutely crazy so far and what cosmic chaos is yet to come. Bustle asked some astrologers to explain why the astrology of 2020 is so intense.
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The Great conjunctions:
Conjunction in astrology is a planetary aspect that describes two or more planets hitting the same degree of the same sign at the same time, which makes that their energies often combined and intensified.
Conjunctions are common, but when they involve certain slower-moving planets, they become much rarer and much more powerful. There are actually three major planetary conjunctions on the agenda for 2020, all of which involve the social and transcendental outer planets and bringing major changes in our lives.
“At the center of the rare transits this year are the conjunctions involving Saturn, Jupiter, and Pluto,” says Montúfar. “The three of them meet at Capricorn with the general aim of deconstructing and reconstructing the basic structures of our lives, all for the good of our personal and collective evolution.”
Let’s start with the Astro events of January because 2020 started with a cosmic kick and gave us no time to adjust. We started the year with Capricorn season’s lunar eclipse full moon on January 10 but this celestial event fades in comparison to the effects of the rare and intense Saturn/Pluto conjunction in Capricorn on 12 January, which was the first of three major conjunctions.
This planetary meet-up started to turn things up on a personal and global level. It was the first time that Saturn and Pluto (which represent restriction/structure and destruction/transformation respectively) have met under the sign of Capricorn since 1518, more than 500 years ago. And this is important, because every time these two cosmic players meet under any sign, we undergo serious global shifts.
And global changes have happened: in just a few days from the eclipse and the Saturn/Pluto conjunction, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that a mysterious coronavirus-related disease was spreading in Wuhan, China, a disease we know now is COVID -19.
As we can see in hindsight, this was the start of massive change and a global collapse of the power structures that were on the verge of emerging with the global pandemic. Astrologically, it is easy to see how this intensity was propelled forward by planetary energy.
Because this conjunction marked the first of the three main events to occur in 2020, the disturbing energy of “things are just beginning” of this planetary meet-up makes sense. It was the first major Astro quake of the year, the aftershocks of which have been felt ever since.
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The Capricorn stellium:
When several planets come together near the same degree of the same zodiac sign, it is called a stellium. The January Saturn/Pluto conjunction was actually part of a larger Capricorn stellium, as a slew of other planets joined them in the same area of the zodiac, causing a huge flux of energy concentrated on traditional, patriarchal and power-oriented energy of this zodiac sign and some of the main planets continue to dominate this zodiac sign throughout the year.
“The Capricorn stellium has forced us, especially those of us in the United States, to come face to face with our karma and how it’s impacted our nation’s infrastructure,” astrologer Shawnte Cato told Bustle.
“The authority and power of our government are under review. Think about what happens when you have problems with your mom and she threatens to tell your dad.” Some astrologers compare the sign of Capricorn (and its governing planet Saturn) to the energy of a stern, tough-love-driven father figure, and this year we are fighting against the ultimate father figure: patriarchy.
This was more than clear through the civil uprising and the global protests that took place around the world during the summer. The planets have and will continue to regroup under the traditional and authoritative sign of Capricorn during the rest of 2020, which gives us a lot of time to reckon with the energies linked to these traditional structures and rigid institutions. This one feels like a revolution.
A lot of retrogrades:
Even if you are not deeply immersed in astrology, you probably know that retrogrades do not have the best reputation, because they can cause all kinds of incidents, confusion, trip-ups, and general damage. But these backspins that occur regularly are not really bad, it’s about reviewing the past, taking decisions into account, and being forced to slow down and take stock of everything from your beliefs to your goals.
So it’s no surprise that virtually all of the major planets will be retrograde in 2020 at one time or another, even those that retrograde less frequently, like Venus and Mars.
“The retrogrades of this year have a rare nature, as many of them perform unusual astronomical movements,” says Montúfar. So far, certain months of the year have brought more than five retrogrades at once and if we are to look at current real-world events in 2020, it is important to consider that Mars and Mercury will be retrograde during the 2020 presidential election period (which has never happened before in history).
Retrograde Mercury creates confusion about thinking, scheduling, and sharing information, which casts a shadow of concern over things like vote-counts, people making logical choices, and transmitting accurate information.
With retrograde Mars 2020, we are dealing with the possibility that repressed rage will surface, as well as a general lack of initiative, endurance, and passion, circumstances which could also have disturbing or at least notable influences on the energy of the election.
The Influence of Mars in Aries:
Mars entered Aries on June 27, which is remarkable because Aries is Mars’ home sign, and Mars is the most stubborn and aggressive while it is here. Mars rules things like war, violence, and even the physical body, so this placement is intense, to say the least, and could have all kinds of implications for everything from continued civil unrest, abuse of power, or even the spread and toll of coronavirus. “Mars in Aries is explosive, no getting passed that,” says Cato.
But it’s not just the explosive energy of this placement that we need to keep in mind, it’s the fact that Mars will be in this zodiac sign for a very extended stay this year because Mars retrograde 2020 takes place right in the middle of its journey.
“The extended Mars in Aries transit will place us in a privileged position to direct our energy first towards change,” said Cato. “But it will also inspire impulsiveness, violence, and certainly rumors of war.”
Throughout the second half of 2020 (Mars will not emerge from this sign until early January 2021), we will be dealing with the primitive impulsive and furious energy of Mars in Aries, which could spur anything from bad tempers to straight wars.
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The Cancer and Capricorn Eclipse cycle:
Eclipses in astrology (which occur in series that take place about twice a year) represent sudden changes, ends, beginnings, and revelations that align us with our destiny so they are always intense.
But the eclipse cycle on the Cancer/Capricorn axis (which started in summer 2018 and just ended on July 4, 2020) particularly affected us both personally and collectively because it had us all dealing with issues of our security and safety, comfort zones, traditions, and relationship to authority.
Eclipses have been one of the main forces that dominated the flow of 2020. We started the year with a full moon lunar eclipse in Cancer on January 10, which was both chaotic and transformative, and as mentioned, has occurred on the day of the WHO announcement (a coronavirus-related disease spreading in China).
Fast forward to summer, which heralded the next eclipse season: a full moon lunar eclipse in Sagittarius occurred on June 5, which coincided with the national uprising calling for police reform and racial justice the day after the death of George Floyd. Because this eclipse was the first of a new eclipse cycle on the Gemini/Sagittarius axis, it had the energy of a new start. This fight is just beginning.
The following month, two additional eclipses occurred: a new solar eclipse moon at Cancer and a full moon lunar eclipse at Capricorn. Both were intense, but the full moon eclipse took place on July 4, aka the United States’ birthday. This turned things upside down in terms of the power structures and authority figures who run this country and we’ll see that happen for the rest of the year.
The Great conjunction:
Remember the main conjunctions that are exploding 2020? Well, the last one should be the most intense. On December 21, Jupiter and Saturn (the greater benefit and the greater malefic planets in astrology) meet in a conjunction aspect in the aerial sign of Aquarius.
These planets both deal with issues of large-scale authority and leadership in different ways, and when they come together, they are called a “great conjunction”. This only happens every two decades. “The Great Conjunction in December will be the first in 20 years, and the last that was in Aquarius since 1623,” astrologer Lisa Stardust told Bustle.
“We can expect to have a lot of ambivalence and confusion about the next steps we need to take to evolve or move forward.” In other words, our minds and hearts will receive mixed signals, and we won’t know what to prioritize or focus on.
This confusion is likely to extend to a societal and political level as well. “We can expect a new outbreak of coronavirus or confusion about the precautions to take because we will be told different things,” said Stardust.
“But it will also be a time of upheaval and revolution, one that will create a better life over time.” According to astrology, 2020 definitely doesn’t seem to have a Hollywood ending, but all the mess, the pain, and the confusion are just paving the way for something better.
What’s next?
Knowledge is power and we have to trust that all this intensity is necessary for our collective growth and to help us adopt a whole new way of being. “Ultimately, all of these transits combined should prepare us for a whole new era, the Age of Aquarius, which will be in full swing once Saturn, Jupiter, and Pluto are all in Aquarius,” said Montúfar.
“This is extremely important because, for 200 years, Jupiter and Saturn have met in earth signs, focusing our energy on material gain and security. But as the Age of Aquarius begins, humanity will focus on the innovative and socialist means that only the air element can generate for us. ”
2020 has shaken us all to the core and helped reveal the cracks in the foundations of our society. We have all experienced a change in our relationships with power and safety, so we should consider this year as the training wheels for a few revolutionary couples of years to come that could change the way we relate to our communities and what we value in society.
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