After the past two difficult years we’ve all experienced, it is with a tempered optimism that I can share that the astrology of 2022 offers us some lightness and, dare I say, joy. As the planets continually move in their orbits, they are always forming friendly and contentious relationships to one another, so every year has its ups and downs. However, 2022 has a definitive change of tone over the past two years, particularly with the cosmic party boy Jupiter spending most of the year in its home sign of Pisces. I’m going to take you on an astrological whistle-stop tour of 2022, so grab your drinks and hop on. Toot toot!
On Jan. 1, Jupiter is already in its home sign of Pisces and will be until May 1. Jupiter is a happy camper in Pisces because it has immediate access to all of its stuff – it knows where the remote is, it’s sleeping in its own bed, and it doesn’t have to answer to any of the other planets’ house rules. A happy Jupiter is a happy society, because Jupiter brings abundance, joy, and expansive cohesion at the level of the collective. When Jupes is in Pisces, we can expect the first half of the year to have an air of spiritual and emotional celebration, as if all of the local musicians slipped “Kumbaya” into their set lists and we collectively held hands down Duval Street smoking Delta-8 (for legal purposes). Can you feel it already? Toward the end of January, Jupiter slowly begins a conjunction with Neptune, amping up the dreamy quality of this party.
Our year also opens with Venus in retrograde motion until January 29, encouraging us all to continue to reflect on what we truly value. Venus, the alluring seductress, is joined by Pluto, the mysterious ruler of the underworld, and Mars, the celestial go-getter. The beginning of the year calls us into therapy, into the bedroom, or tapping into the bank account (or all of the above). Get in touch with your true principles very early in the year to ride the upcoming planetary waves with a solid ballast.
Turning the focus onto Mars and Venus, from late January until late April the planetary lovers come together for their amorous rendezvous, a steamy meeting that occurs every two years. After getting right with our values during the Venus retrograde, we’ll have the opportunity to let the rubber hit the road with willful Mars injecting some serious energy into our relationships and all that we cherish. This is a really sexy time of the year, so pull out your dancing shoes, practice your flirtations, and make your bed because it is time to fall in love with someone or something.
At the end of this love fest, Mars and Venus meet up with stodgy Saturn, who attempts a cold kibosh on the sweethearts’ tryst. To us humans, this can mean the end of love affairs or the beginning of serious relationships. Either way, the romanticism meets hard reality in which the only option is to end it or get serious about it. The quicker-moving Venus flitters off and leaves assertive Mars with Saturn until the end of April, causing some frustration. Think of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. During this time, wield your energy with self-control.
From mid-March to early May, Jupiter tightens its conjunction with nebulous Neptune, who has been chillin’ in Pisces since 2011. When these two get together (which they only do every 13 years or so), things get real trippy. Imagine one of Ken Kesey’s early acid parties with the Grateful Dead – major hallucination, spiritual celebration, dreamy dancing, dissolving institutions, and mass confusion. During this period of time, we’ll all have the opportunity to experience spiritual release, but remember that every peak experience is followed by a coming-back-to-Earth, so don’t get lost in the ecstasy. We can expect a lot of creativity flowing into the cultural sphere during this time, so look out for music bops, mind-expanding movies, and other artsy flights-of-fancy.
At the end of April, our lil’ lovers Mars and Venus are starting to drift apart, but not before coming to the Jupiter-Neptune kaleidoscopic funky-fest. Throw in a solar eclipse on April 30, and the end of April/beginning of May promises to be lit, so make sure you have water and a buddy. The air will be filled with love, stamina, cheer, dreams – a blissful new beginning is beckoning.
On May 10, Jupiter will leave its Pisces home for a jaunt into Aries, changing the collective dynamic until it retrogrades back into Pisces on October 23. Jupiter represents societal cohesion. If the first part of the year is marked by social unity centered on spiritual and emotional communion, most of the second half will be marked by coming together around a common warrior’s cause. What will we fight for together? Pay attention, because Jupiter will return to Aries for most of 2023.
We will look in depth at the second half of the year together in June, but one major transit to prepare for is Mars retrograde in Gemini from October 30 through January 12, 2023. The end of the year will feel a bit stunted, as confident Mars prefers to move forward. While this will not be the best time for active socializing, it will be a good time to assess how we put energy into social, intellectual, and communicative pursuits.
It is my hopeful opinion that next year will be much more buoyant for all of us after the rather traumatic two years we’ve all gone through. Everyone’s experience will be unique as these world transits will hit everyone’s birth chart differently, but the overall picture appears decidedly more festive. My overall advice, put your party pants on, but clean as you go.
*Note to astrologers: I use fairly large 12-15 degree orbs of influence for world transits, consistent with the archetypal school of astrology.
