The first New Moon of 2026 will occur on January 18 at 11:50 a.m. Pacific time at 28°43′ Capricorn, just a day before the Sun moves on to the next zodiacal sign, Aquarius. As with recent lunations, this New Capricorn Moon presents a combination of endings and beginnings, mixed together.
Capricorn is our cardinal earth sign. Think of moving dirt to build something that’ll last. Capricorn is represented by two totem animals, the mountain goat and the mythological creature called a sea goat, which is half fish and half goat. The sea goat reflects the Capricornian quality of being able to operate on both land and sea, scaling heights and plumbing depths. Capricornian personalities are known as achievement and status seekers, which is all well and good, except when the drive to reach a goal can become consuming and short-sighted.
At the January 18 lunation, there’s an abundance of Capricornian energy as the Sun and Moon form a conjunction with Mercury and Mars, both also at late degrees of Capricorn. Mercury is like a tool kit of perception, analysis, and expression, and in Capricorn it wants to manifest as something earthy, concrete. Mars is assertion and instinctual drive, not necessarily with a whole lot of thought involved. Together in a stellium with the Sun and Moon, Mercury and Mars conjoined in Capricorn call to mind the image of a bulldozer. Don’t get in its way!
Mercury and Mars are also making a harmonious 120-degree trine aspect with Uranus, currently in the last period of its stay in earth sign Taurus (until it will ingress Gemini on April 25, until 2033). Mercury and Mars, in trine to the disruptive planetary force of Uranus, spell things not going as expected, and conceivably for things to go: Kaboom! Unless there’s a mitigating, even calming counterweight.
What’s curious about the sign of Capricorn is that its mode is cardinal: go, go, go. And yet its ruling planet is Saturn, the great Teacher of setting wise limits and learning from the lessons of excess.
Saturn also rules the next zodiacal sign, Aquarius. At the January 18 lunation, Venus has already moved on into Aquarius. The Sun and Moon are headed there as well. Slow-moving outer planet Pluto is in early degrees of Aquarius, and will stay in Aquarius as a generational signature until 2044.
Signs adjacent to each other are complimentary and can be seen as a corrective one to the next. Whereas Capricorn’s style is to forge ahead on a mission to succeed, the next sign, airy Aquarius, is more analytical, even detached, as in: Let’s stand back and think before climbing that mountain.
At the January 18 New Moon, with four planetary bodies in Capricorn and two in Aquarius, all of them are under the metaphorical guidance of Saturn. It’s as if the Cosmos is speaking to a need (the Moon, emotions) to build something in a cautious, even objective manner. Or to maintain something in place. Saturn also symbolizes entrenched, unyielding power, even unto death, and we’re seeing a death grip held by the powerful in many parts of the world all at once.
For any New or Full Moon chart, we look to the condition and aspects involving the planet that “rules” the sign of the transiting Moon. Saturn “rules” the Capricorn Moon.
Endings and beginnings. Just as we’re starting this late January cycle, with the Moon at the end of this month’s passage through Capricorn, Saturn is also nearing the end of its three-year stay in Pisces. Neptune, one of the slow-moving outer or “transpersonal” planets, is now in the final minutes of the final degree of its 15-year transit through Pisces.
Saturn and Neptune have been traveling together at the end of Pisces (and briefly in early Aries) since last year. Now, both Saturn and Neptune are about to move into Aries in the next few weeks (Neptune on January 26, Saturn on February 13). In one of the most significant transits of the year 2026, they will conjoin at 0, the first degree of Aries, on February 20, 2026.
Saturn is a force of discipline and wise effort. Neptune’s is the power to dream what seems impossible. Together, they’ll begin a new 36-year cycle, conjoined in Aries, the sign of birth and the instinctual struggle to survive. For astrology lovers, the Saturn/Neptune conjunction at the 0 degree of Aries will be a breathtaking event in the sky and in our heart-minds, a signal to act, with intention for making one’s visions come true.
Blessings for the Capricorn New Moon!
~ Sara
Sara R. Diamond, an astrologer based in the San Francisco Bay Area, is a life-long student and practitioner in several esoteric paths. Her style of astrology combines modern-psychological astrology with insights from traditional astrology. Sara is also an estate planning attorney. In addition, she has published four books on right-wing movements in the United States and earned her Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. You are invited to contact Sara via her website at www.SaraDiamondAstrology.com.
Leave a Reply