Our new year begins with a cluster of planets in Capricorn setting a serious and rather intense mood for 2013. The best use of these energies would be to give some serious thought to the point we have reached on our individual and collective journeys. Before we embark on 2013, we need to be clear about what we do and don't want in our lives. We need to shed as much of our baggage as we can so that we can embark on a new voyage of discovery. The seriousness may lay in the realization that we still have a lot to do — not in the sense of attending a vast array of ascension-orientated workshops, although these things may well help, but more along the lines of letting more love into your heart and operating from a position of compassion and kindness.

The New Earth isn't interested in how clever or questioning you are. Nor is it interested in how many hours you spent in meditation if you snapped at your partner for interrupting you. It won't make any difference whether you went to one healer after another getting yourself attuned, having your DNA tweaked or alien implants removed. What will matter is whether you checked up on your elderly neighbor and made sure she was warm enough and had enough food to eat. It will matter how you speak to your children when you've had a difficult day. And it will matter if you put some food out for the starving birds during the coldest spell of winter. As Mother Teresa said, "Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier."

This is a simple recipe for the successful evolution of our species, yet when we look around and see that most of us are too embroiled in the details of our own lives to see the bigger picture, this is when we realize we have work to do. Capricorn is a sign that doesn't shirk from work, no matter how arduous the challenge, so the collective mood may well be one of "okay, there's much to do — let's get on and do it." This point of realization and acceptance of the task ahead of us is likely to come around the time of the new moon on the January 11. At this point, no less than five planets will be residing in Capricorn, making this side of the zodiac rather heavy. It is, however, an incredibly productive combination of planets, and we can make enormous progress under this kind of energy. Instead of allowing feelings of bleakness to overwhelm you (which is a possible side effect of too much Capricorn energy), try instead to write down your goals along with a plan of action. Capricorn loves this focused commitment to getting things done, and whatever you initiate around this new moon will carry within it the seeds of power and success. So whether you want to drop an unhealthy habit, lose a limiting belief, or make changes to your work, relationships, home, or finances, now is the time to set your intent.