Eclipses are harbingers of change. Last month we had two, and this month begins with a lunar eclipse in Capricorn. At the same time, we have Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto all in the sign of Capricorn, amplifying the Capricorn themes of authority, government control, restriction, austerity, and general difficulty. Having all these planets in Capricorn is never easy, and it has prompted astrologers to see 2020 as a turning-point year. But it isn’t just the planetary pileup in Capricorn that is a signpost for where we are now. When we zoom out to look at the bigger picture, we see that we are trying to navigate a changing of the ages — the shift from the Age of Pisces to the Age of Aquarius — and any changing of an astrological age will bring great transformations and chaos.

The planets in Capricorn symbolize the end of 2,000 years of destructive patriarchal dominance, and we are now watching those old systems crumble — financial, educational, environmental, and more. As always, we can choose to take the high road or the low road. The higher expression of Aquarius is love and caring for humanity and the planet. To give greater chance to the higher-vibration fifth-dimensional New Earth for becoming our reality, we first need to live free from fear. That is the big test given to us this year, as we confront our deepest fears: sickness and death, losing loved ones, losing jobs and not having enough money, environmental catastrophe, and so on.

The way to liberate ourselves from these deep fears and anxieties is to put our faith in a loving god or benevolent universe, knowing that our needs will be taken care of. We also need to acknowledge that all fear is rooted in a fear of death, so we need to be courageous enough to look death in the face and not run away from it. When we are no longer afraid of dying — because we know that our consciousnesses cannot die but will simply continue in another form — we become incredibly powerful.