#347-"The Light of the Soul Throws Sparks"-Week of Jan. 12, 2026

January is doing essential groundwork for the year ahead. Before the Saturn–Neptune threshold we meet next month, this week asks a quieter—but no less consequential—question: What are you actually standing on, and what are you standing for? This is not an abstract inquiry. It’s a lived one, shaping how we meet both our personal choices and the world we’re participating in right now.

This week unfolds in three distinct movements, helping us integrate January’s larger work: stabilizing what’s essential while preparing for the profound shifts of 2026.

Jan 12–13 | Structural Wounds & Mature Agency: Sun and Mars in Capricorn square Chiron in Aries

The week opens with repeated Capricorn–Aries tension, activating old wounds around authority, effort, and self-direction. These transits don’t ask us to push harder—they ask us to notice where willpower has replaced true authority, and where identity has been shaped by survival rather than choice.

Reflection Questions:

• Where am I still proving instead of standing?
• What action would come from self-trust rather than self-defense?

Jan 14–15 | Discernment Without Overreach: Mercury in Capricorn opposes Jupiter in Cancer, sextiles Saturn, squares Chiron; Venus trines Uranus

Midweek sharpens perception. Big feelings, big ideas, and big narratives arise—but Saturn’s involvement steadies the mind. This is a moment for measured clarity: choosing what is true without inflating it, and opening to change without destabilizing what works.

Reflection Questions:

• What truth feels solid enough to act on now?
• Where do I need fewer explanations and clearer commitments?

Jan 17–18 | Threshold Integration & New Direction: Supportive Capricorn trines/sextiles + New Moon at 28° Capricorn; Venus enters Aquarius

The weekend gathers momentum. Multiple supportive aspects align practicality with vision, culminating in a powerful New Moon bridging Capricorn and Aquarius. This is a structural reset—one that clarifies priorities, long-term direction, and what kind of future your current choices are actually building.

Reflection Questions:

• What structure is ready to be completed, refined, or released?
• What future-oriented commitment wants my consent now?

This is a week to choose fewer things—but choose them well. As you move through the days ahead, resist the urge to resolve everything at once. Let discernment do the quiet work of sorting what is essential from what is merely familiar. The structures you clarify now don’t need to be perfect—they need to be true. What you choose to carry forward from this New Moon becomes part of the scaffolding for the larger changes unfolding in 2026.

And as you make those choices, remember that this work doesn’t happen in isolation. We are shaping our inner foundations while living inside a shared world—one that is asking, again and again, what kind of authority, care, and responsibility we are willing to stand behind. Move slowly. Choose cleanly. Trust that clarity deepens when it’s given time to root—and that how you stand matters.

Podcast Poem: You Were Made for This by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Transcript

0:07

Hello, welcome to Astrology Alchemy. I'm Sheila Bellagio, your host for this podcast. Alchemy is defined as a seemingly magical process of transformation. Spiritual alchemy is the process of pursuing the gold of your true nature. By transmuting the unrefined limiting parts of yourself. In this podcast, I'll offer you inspiring insights from current astrology cycles that support your path of turning your personal lead into gold. More resources are available at the website on the edges of change.com. Hello and welcome to episode number 347 of the Astrology Alchemy Podcast. I'm your host and guide, Sheila Baer, and this is for the week of January 12th, 2026. Oh my goodness. It is time to take a big, deep breath. Let's do that together. A phrase from this week's podcast poem, the light of the soul throws sparks. This is a week where the astrology cycles don't rush us forward. They slow us into discernment. January is doing essential groundwork for the year ahead with its cycles. Before the very rare Saturn Neptune conjunction cycle, which is a threshold that will come to us next month. This, the cycles this week. Ask quieter, but no less consequential questions. What are you actually standing on and what are you standing for? This is not an abstract inquiry, it's a lived one. Shaping how we meet both our personal choices and the world we're participating in right now. That question echoes far beyond our personal lives. This week, we're living in a moment where structures of authority are under visible strain seen in the killing of Renee, Nicole Goode by ice agents here in the us. And in acts of force abroad that openly challenge international law and collective agreements, these events asked us to pause, not to reactively, harden or turn away, but to notice what kind of power is being exercised and what kind of power. Are we willing to legitimize through silence or attention? The astrology cycles this week, don't explain these moments away. They ask us to meet them with discernment, maturity, and a willingness to stand for life, dignity, and accountability as the ground continues to shift beneath us. On Monday and Tuesday, January 12th and 13th, we address structural wounds and mature agency these days. We begin with the Sun and Mars in Capricorn, both squaring Chiron in Aries. Chiron is a Comet asteroid character, a wounded healer archetype in mythology. These cycles are deeply revealing as pairings. Old identity wounds can surface, especially around effort, leadership and self definition where you've had to push too hard, compensate, or prove your worth may become visible again. But this isn't a regression. It's an invitation to mature agency. This is true for us on a very collective level. Also, this, these cycles ask us, what would action look like if it came from authority instead of urgency? That self authority. Here are two reflection questions for this pair of cycles. Where am I still proving instead of standing, what actions would come from self-trust rather than self-defense? Again, that second question is a very important for one for us collectively. What if our actions came from self-trust rather than self-defense? Reminder to my audience? All of these reflection questions are in the show notes for the podcast. My hope is that through the week you will return to some of these questions and really notice what emerges for you on Wednesday and Thursday, January 14th and 15th, we have discernment without overreach. There's a grouping of cycles for these two days. Mercury in Capricorn opposes Jupiter in cancer. Its sextile Saturn and squares. Chiron. Plus Venus trines Uranus. Now let's pause for some of you. That last sentence is Astro Bale, and I am smiling with love and humor because that's one of the challenges for astrologers. We wanna language and honor what the planets are up to as we track them in the heavens, and we don't wanna confuse our people with too much. Technical terms, so I always try to name the cycles that are happening, honor the planets, honor the Zodiac sign they're in, and the energy that brings. And then I always give you the English translation, so ignore. The astrological language if it doesn't fit for you, and some of you love astrology and you like knowing that language, so back to these two days on January 14th and 15th, essentially midweek brings mental and emotional complexity. Mercury, which is a planet about communication. Communicator in you. The storyteller opposes Jupiter, which is about the teacher expanded one in you. So that cycle expands perspectives and feelings. While Saturn, the builder offers restraint and uras, the maverick offers new possibilities. Can you feel how complex is happening just in those two days? Plus, Venus is a relational archetype. Harmonizes with, again, the Uranus, the Maverick. It adds flexibility and creative movement. This is not the moment to decide everything, but it is a moment to hear what's true beneath the noise, discernment now comes from clarifying what matters, not from collecting more information. And first and foremost, these cycles support us with our inner alchemical changes. You can hear in all of this the current collective challenges. Discernment now comes from clarifying what matters, not from collecting more information. Be very, very cautious about Dooms scrolling on your devices. Be very, very cautious about getting fed from any political perspective and not being grounded into your own truths and your own clarification. Here are two reflection questions for the cycles. What truth feels solid enough to act on now, and where do I feel I need fewer explanations and clearer commitments on Saturday and Sunday, January 7th. And 18th, we have a kind of threshold integration in a new direction. There are quite a number of supportive cycles with Capricorn planets and Capricorn making connection to other planets. We have a new moon at what's called 28 degrees of Capricorn and the planet Venus enters Aquarius. Again, we breathe and ground here. The degree measurements are not important for people who don't track astrology, so just recognize it's a new moon. For those of you who track astrology, that degree measurement is important for you and you can look at it in your own chart to go deeper. By the weekend, the energy coheres supportive aspects begin to align effort with insight, responsibility with vision. And then we arrive at the New Moon at 28 degrees of Capricorn bridging directly into Aquarius. Is on Sunday, January 18th at 11:52 AM Pacific Standard Time. This is not a soft reset. It's a structural one, and it's also a very rare one. This new moon gathers an extraordinary amount of force. The sun and moon come together in the final degree of Capricorn conjunct every personal planet. Mercury, Venus, Mars. And then Pluto stands at the threshold. In the early part of Aquarius, this kind of convergence of the planets doesn't happen often. It signals a movement. It signals a moment where inner will failing thinking and action are not scattered but concentrated. At the same time, this New Moon is an active relationship with the larger forces shaping the year ahead. It's in dialogue with both Saturn and Neptune Neuro heading to enormously important connection. In late February, it's in dialogue with Uranus, the Maverick, and with Jupiter the expanded one, linking responsibility. Imagination change and meaning in a single field. This is what's being called an all hands on deck, new Moon, one that touches every layer of life at once, personal, relational, structural, and collective. The question it asks isn't what you want, it's. What you're willing to build, maintain, and steward as the world continues to change. Venus, the relational archetype crossing into Aquarius, the sign of freedom and equality opens a wider horizon, but only after Capricorn has clarified the foundations. What you said in motion here doesn't need to be dramatic. It needs to be true because this moment isn't just about beginning something new. It's about deciding what kind of future your choices are quietly assembling. Here's two reflection questions for you. What structure is ready to be completed, refined, or released? What future oriented commitment wants? My consent now? Listen deeply in both your personal journey and your journey connected to the collective, to the larger circle of life. So taking a breath and giving you a way to bring the threads together this week. The astrological cycles of this week, don't ask for dramatic change. They ask for clean choices made with maturity and care. As you move through the days ahead. Resist the urge to resolve everything at once. Let discernment do the quiet work of sorting what is essential from what is merely familiar. The structures you clarify now don't need to be perfect. They need to be true. What you choose to carry forward from this new moon becomes part of the scaffolding for the larger changes unfolding in 2026. And as you make those choices, remember that this work doesn't happen in isolation. We are shaping our inner foundations while living inside a shared world. One that is asking again and again, what kind of authority, care, and responsibility are we willing to stand behind? Move slowly. Choose cleanly. Trust that clarity deepens when it's given time to root, and that how you stand matters. So the poem for this week that comes to my heart to offer is for all of us to have courage, to be willing. To carry and express the light that we are each in our own ways. It's called You Were made for this by Clarissa Cola Estes. You were made for this. One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times the light of the soul throws. Sparks can send up flares, builds signal fires causes proper matters to catch fire, to display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these to be fierce. And to show mercy toward others. Both are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it. So dear ones, as you attune to the enormous cycle supporting this week, and particularly the powerful New Moon seeding what is yours to seed, may you have the courage to stand up and show your soul so that other souls struggling can catch light and remember. Their own powerful light. Thank you. Take good care of yourself and all your beloveds in this week. I'm so deeply grateful for my audience, my community, and all the support I offer these podcasts to you to feed your soul in the powerful light that each of you are. I wanna offer you an opportunity to join me in a free two hour workshop coming up. Navigate the Edge. It's a free taster workshop of my winter processes. It's on Saturday, January 17th from nine to 11:00 AM Pacific Time. In this immersive two hour winter workshop, you'll work with the edge you're currently navigating. You will explore the power of the winter sky allies of Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces, and let their archetypal wisdom support clarity and direction. In these times of transition and deep change you'll gather on Zoom with a sacred circle of fellow seekers walking the path of inner work. It is a free taster workshop that lets you know about what's coming.'cause I'm all also offering a special six week winter coaching intensive called Navigate the Edge. So this lets you taste the material and decide if you wanna join me. And the two hour workshop on January 17th is completely free. There's no obligations. If you're interested, go to my website. On the edges of change.com. On the homepage, you'll see a link To register for the free navigate the Edge Taster Workshop on Saturday, January 17th. Thank you so much. Okay.