The arbitrary significance of a year makes us wish for new beginnings and mark time recurrently. So many people scoff at the idea of a new year’s resolution while also celebrating the arrival of midnight. We’re a couple weeks out of that moment now, the precise dripping over into the year having a particular weight this time around, but now in the wake of our first new moon I am feeling the energy of beginnings still. We always get to choose to start again, whether according to a random marker of approximately a sun’s journey, or because we feel we need a fresh start. Every day could have the intentional weight of the hungover morning after new year’s, if we wanted it to.
I don’t think anyone actually thought that it was specifically 2020 that was making things so difficult. It wasn’t 2020: it was centuries of white supremacy, it was environmental collapse and neglect, it was raging capitalism and it was these three things hitting each other in the face at the same time. But it matters to us that we can package our experiences up into a particular calendar year. That we can say: ok, things will continue being shit after that year, but I commit to new coping mechanisms, or new kinds of patience, or the same old coping mechanisms and patience that will help me pull through this next round of slogging.
2021 keeps the lessons going. The year is characterized by a series of squares between Saturn and Uranus from the fixed signs of Aquarius and Taurus respectively. Saturn describes our collective need for security, while Uranus describes our collective need for freedom, while squares are a hard aspect between two planets: so when our desires for security and freedom are at odds with each other, humans tend to not know what to do.
The first of these squares happens from the end of January until mid-March, and begins alongside a Mercury retrograde also in the sign of Aquarius. The second is particulately tough, from the end of May into the beginning of July, and encompasses what I am noticing to be two of the most astrologically challenging moments of the year: June 4-8, when we have *another* Mercury retrograde as well as a heap of other squares, and July 1-4 (eep) when we have a T-square between Mars and Saturn to Uranus. The last closes our year off and begins on December 13th.
So what do we do with this information? On a global level, Saturn and Uranus in tough aspects to each other often correspond with times of mass instability — Uranus was last in Taurus during the Second World War, and was conjunct Saturn in 1941 and 1942 corresponding with many key events of that time.
I’m not here to make predictions, but it’s pretty obvious from our current context that the things happening to us right now will almost certainly be studied in the future and looked at as a Fucked Up Time. For the purpose of writing horoscopes that I hope can help and affirm my readers, I’m going to talk about what houses the Saturn-Uranus action of 2021 is going to take place in for you, and some words to hopefully offer some suggestions for how to work with that.
For all my readers, I advise that you pay close attention to whatever is going on for you in early February and mid-June: these two parts of the year will see the first two of three exact hits of the Saturn-Uranus squares, so whatever goes on in your life here will constitute the major lesson of 2021: they might not be the same occurrences or details, but the thematics will likely resonate.
For these horoscopes I talk more about specific degrees than I usually do because they’re for a whole upcoming year. Lots to talk about! I know that degree placement is real inside baseball, but to quickly guide you: first, check your chart. Your planets will have a little number beside them with a degree: that number is what I’m referencing when I mention them in the horoscopes.
Over on my Instagram I have a highlight talking about checking the degrees of your chart: click through if you want to learn a bit more about astrology today. Otherwise, read on and know you’ll get the gist.
Happy 2021!
Amelia
Find your sun and rising sign horoscopes after the jump!
Horoscopes are written using whole house calculations and are meant as inspiration and affirmation of what you already know. They are written for both sun and rising signs, but specific information is calculated for the rising signs. You can also read the horoscope for your moon sign for extra emotional information. You can access your birth chart at www.astro.com or many other apps and websites using your birth date, time, and location. If you’re interested in getting a reading, you can book one with Amelia here.
Aries and Aries rising
2021 and Saturn and Jupiter moving into Aquarius means Aries placements are free from a lot of the scorching astrology of 2020 and give you a bit of a break from the constant conflict of 2020. That said, you still are alive in the world and to be alive in this astrology is to witness conflict: bring your sense of strength and self into the year to support people around you who you may see struggling the way you did last year.
For Aries rising readers, Saturn and Jupiter’s move brought the gas giants out of your 10th house of career and into your 11th house of community and friends. Think to the kind of energy you experienced around your career and public profile this year: a combination of expansion and restriction, opportunity and boundary. This energy can be expected around the way you relate to groups of people this year. But the set of squares to Uranus could be an indicator of some conflict between the way you relate to your resources and the way you relate to groups. Uranus in your 2nd house since 2018 has possibly brought instability to your physical and energetic resources, or perhaps a serious need to change this area of your life.
This is a change that will take place over years as Uranus stays in this part of your chart until 2025. The squares to Saturn this year could be frustrating, but will be an indication of how to grow through this long term period. Encounters with a sense of “should” from the groups you belong to could be a source of unwanted restriction around this growth: maybe your coworkers think you are being too radical by proposing flexible working hours to protect your energy, or your friends are worried that you’re taking a financial risk too great.
The summer could really exemplify this and see you having to be your own best advocate as this conflict begins to involve your personal expression. The strategy there will be to allow yourself to experience joy and see what safety comes out of that feeling – so at the very least I expect the summer will be active for you. As the year draws to a close you’ll get one last chance to work through these issues between resources and community, so pay close attention in early February and mid June to the conflicts and struggles arising in your life so that you can be best prepared to carry these lessons forward with wisdom.
Taurus and Taurus rising
Your sign is about to get a lot more attention in 2021 as the squares from Saturn aspect Uranus in your sign. In years when our sign is a big part of the astrology, it’s especially useful to read a lot of astrology, and to read the introductory paragraphs astrologers write to our scopes (hello!). We’ll all talk a lot about the energy of Taurus this year and it could be a useful learning opportunity. For those of you who have Taurus placements between 4º and 14º, some of this year’s astrology might be particularly tricky and introduce some likely unwanted upheaval into your life, but also possibly teach you a lot about how to set boundaries, how to innovate, and how to adapt to change.
Taurus rising readers have the squares between Saturn and Uranus between your tenth house of career and your first house of identity. As Saturn and Jupiter moved into Aquarius, they moved from your ninth house of learning and expansion into the part of your chart that has to do with career and public profile: this back to how you dealt with learning in 2020. This can be about travel, encounters with new knowledge, meeting people who help you grow, or religious experiences. The energy in this part of your life moves into the area of your career in 2021, so it may be useful to think about how the way you grew last year could help the work you care about most this year.
This growth and learning however could come with a major setback that shakes your sense of self in 2021. In the summer this could be exemplified as events at home (or relating to your family) get in on the action: maybe a parent disapproves of your career choices and this brings up a long-standing feeling you have about your identity, or maybe a sudden change in your home situation means you have to pivot in your career and causes a bit of an identity crisis. These are some quite literal readings of the astrology that likely won’t happen to you, but these archetypes could speak to the kinds of psychological growth you go through this year.
Since 2018, Uranus has been in your first house of identity and has possibly meant you have had to both be adaptive to change and capable of innovation in the way you see the world and the way the world sees you. Uranus stays here until 2025 so you have a long time to integrate those lessons. This year will be about ensuring that even if you have doubts about what you *do*, you know who you *are*.
Gemini and Gemini rising
Saturn and Jupiter moving into the air sign of Aquarius will offer some support to fellow air signs in 2021 and forwards, so if you feel any opportunity coming on this year I advise you grab it as it could be a real bonus. Support from a figure you look up to, a moment of luck, or just some good moods could be some nice manifestations of this: let yourself enjoy if enjoyment comes!
Gemini rising readers have the Saturn and Uranus squares between your ninth house of expansion and your twelfth house of dreams. As Saturn and Jupiter moved into Aquarius, they left a really difficult part of your chart and moved into a much more chill area, one that has to do with learning and opportunity. Saturn and Jupiter moving into your 9th house of expansion, after a few years of them in very intimate parts of your natal chart. Jupiter loves the 9th house, which is its home territory, so Jupiter in the 9th is associated as a time of expansion and opportunity, but Saturn has a bit of a harder time in the 9th, being that Saturn asks us to restrict and the 9th asks us to grow. The dual energy of growth and restriction here will offer you some opportunities to learn through perhaps having to say no. Multiple opportunities for learning could come your way (learning here writ large), that you may have to be particularly choosy about.
Learn to work with Saturn’s ability to restrict only to that which is needed. Uranus has been in your 9th house since 2018, a part of your chart that will get some attention this year when Uranus and Saturn form their squares in February, June, and December. However, Uranus has been in your 12th house of dreams and the unconscious since 2018: Your dreams might lead you to feel impulsive these days, Gemini, or perhaps you are dealing with some really difficult stuff on your own that is causing you to act out in surprising ways. As the squares between Saturn and Uranus take place this year, peaking in early February and mid June, you will have to fight between a really deep desire for freedom and a need to be a bit more disciplined in your relationship to growth.
It could be that part of you wants things to be predictable but never knows how to deal with that: an opportunity may arise having to do with learning, travel, or spirituality that could make things really quite predictable for you, and you will have to struggle with how much you want that. Pay attention to how these things manifest in the time periods described above, because at the end of the year you’ll have a last chance to manifest these lessons as these planets make their final stand-off before parting ways in early 2022.
Cancer and Cancer rising
You, like your fellow cardinal signs (Aries, Libra, and Capricorn) finally see a break from Jupiter and Saturn’s actions in 2021 after the past couple years of these two planets doubling up on any and all cardinal placements. For those of who have Cancer placement between 20 and 29 degrees 2020 was a particularly wild ride. To all my clients coming into an astrologically easier time in 2021, I say: you might not have challenging astrology this year, but you are still alive and human. And you, Cancer, are sensitive to the feelings of those around you. So even if your chart isn’t being pummeled, you’ll feel it if your friend, lover, parent, or neighbours is going through it: and 2021 is going to put a lot of us through it, astrologically or not.
Cancer rising readers have some interesting times ahead as Saturn and Jupiter move into your 8th house when they move into Aquarius – they previously transited your 7th house of one-on-one relationships, so you can be thankful knowing that the planet of restriction is no longer tightening up your options for 💕love💕. However the 8th house has a lot to do with intimacy – with sex, with our deep entanglements with others. Traditionally we look at these two planets transiting the 8th house as having to do with other peoples’ money – but to take an anti-capitalist reading on this we can think of how you might be entangled with feelings, issues, joy, and energy that are not your own but that you are involved with.
The past year’s brought you a lot of learning in terms of how you relate one-on-one: Jupiter and Saturn in your 8th house will mean you can either deal with the consequences or reap the joys of how those learnings affected people close to you. Meanwhile Uranus in your 11th house of community and friends has been bringing radical changes to your social sphere since 2018, and when it forms its squares with Saturn in February, June, and December, the relationship between your community and your intimate entanglements becomes forefront.
Avoid catastrophic thinking, Cancer, and keep that which you want private truly that. You have a real opportunity to learn how to engage with others in a deeper way this year, but it won’t come without some growing pain, so give yourself the space you will need to learn these lessons with grace.
Leo and Leo rising
Most people with a cursory knowledge of astrology know Leo is a fire sign, but to truly understand what differentiates Leo it is helpful to know that it is a fixed sign. Fixed signs deal poorly with adaptation but are loyal and stalwart. So to think of the qualities of fixed fire we come to some beautiful symbolism: fire that is performative, or spiritual, such as the Olympic flame or sacred fires tended to continuously. Fixed signs are met with challenge this year, as the squaring off between Saturn and Uranus happens in your fellow fixed signs of Aquarius and Taurus, particularly if your placement is between 4º and 14º of Leo. I ask Leo readers to treat these challenges as simply weather: it happens and it can be stressful and cause a lot of destruction, but fixed signs have at their disposal a real ability to sit through something. Even if you don’t like change (and this year will bring change), use your capacity to insist on that which is good for you to get you through it.
Leo Rising readers have Saturn and Jupiter moving into your 7th house of one-on-one partnership, meaning that for the next two and a half years while Saturn is here (and particularly in 2021 while Jupiter is as well), your connections will be a major focus and source of learning. Saturn restricts while Jupiter expands, so this first year of the transit might come with opportunities to connect that you will have to be choosy about. When Jupiter leaves this part of your chart at the end of 2021 you will be left with only Saturn here, and Saturn in the 7th is a time of deep lessons about how you interact closely. Be sure to use and opportunity this year brings to also help you refine who you really want to be in partnership with – and partnership can mean close friendship, romantic connection, or collaboration.
That last category is particularly interesting to me, as Uranus has been in your 10th house of career since 2018. When it forms its squares to Saturn in February, June, and December, it will call on the relationship between your work and your partnerships. If you currently in a work-related partnership, you could see some challenges in those relationships: if you aren’t, you could see some opportunities for these come into your life that will likely not start off easy. Saturn is predictable, and about our need for structure and stability whereas Uranus is unpredictable, and about our need to feel free.
The square between these planets will represent a time of struggle between these needs but also an opportunity to learn: what could happen if you allow connections to happen that will both offer you stability and help you feel free? This kind of connection is rare and complicated, so worth sticking through some challenges in order to foster to its true potential.
Virgo and Virgo rising
I often tell my Virgo clients how much I love Virgo. You folks make the world turn, but quietly, on the sidelines, in a way that no one sees. So while the focus in our media and attention lately has been on “heroes” and leaders, I draw all my Virgos attention to the focus too on nurses and frontline workers: many of these jobs are incredibly Virgo in nature, focused on the drudgery of task that ensures everything else can happen. In 2021 the upcoming astrology can tell us we can predict more of the incredible change that 2020 exemplified, and throughout this time we will need the lunches packed, the laundry sorted, the to-do lists checked: show those around you how to find beauty in the sacred and mundane everyday.
Virgo rising readers have Saturn and Jupiter in your 6th house of routine now, after a chunk of time spent in yout 5th house of joy. The 6th house is Virgo territory, so if anyone knows how to navigate this world it’s you, but Jupiter and Saturn together don’t make for the most predictable pairing. This year could be characterized by a magnifying glass on your everyday life that you don’t necessarily want there, one that is complicated by some necessity to create new restrictions. However these restrictions could be a real opportunity for growth, and you could learn a lot about how setting some healthy boundaries in your everyday life can teach you about the benefits of those boundaries in your emotional life, too. Uranus has been in your 9th house of expansion since 2018, and this year this part of your chart (life) has likely been going through a lot of changes since that time.
The way you relate to learning, to encounters with foreign places, to anything that will help you grow is being shaken up, which for you having Taurus in this part of your chart is not always a welcome shaking. That change gets highlighted this year as Saturn and Uranus form their squares in February, June and December. It’s possible that the change brewing since 2018 will come into your daily life. While change can be hard for Virgo rising folks, I encourage you to think of how growth and learning can become a part of your day-to-day life: what if change was just a daily habit? What if learning a new thing was something you reminded yourself to do with the same incantation that we tell ourselves to drink water?
Welcome new experience into your daily life, Virgo rising, and use the new experience to help us all learn how to do the same.
Libra and Libra rising
Libra, you and your fellow Cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, and Capricorn) get a break this year from the relentless 2020-and-prior slam-fest so my hope for you is to move on into the new year knowing you are stronger for the emotional gains. Saturn and Jupiter moving in your fellow air sign of Aquarius could mean some support in 2021 and forwards, so if you feel any opportunity coming on this year I advise you grab it as it could be a real bonus. Support from a figure you look up to, a moment of luck, or just some good moods could be some nice manifestations of this: let yourself enjoy if enjoyment comes!
Libra rising readers have the gas giants moving from your 4th house of home into your 5th house of FUN. The 5th house is truly joyous territory, and has to do with falling in love, having fun, dancing, creative practices – FUN. Saturn in the 5th is not a transit we would necessarily associate with FUN, and might indicate some tightening up or restrictions around FUN for you, but Jupiter in the 5th is pleasure city. Jupiter will spent most of this year in this part of your chart so try to lean into opportunities for joy as they come, while also preparing to get more specific about what brings you joy in the years to come while Saturn stays here. Uranus has been in your 8th house of transformation since 2018 and has likely brought some deep thematics into your life – the 8th house is subtle territory, and Uranus is not so subtle, so this is an interesting combination. When Uranus and Saturn form their squares this year they will highlight the relationship between your 5th and 8th houses which makes me think of one thing: sex.
The 8th house is also about sex, and being that the 5th house is about falling in love and dating, I suspect that these areas of your life could be activated this year. This isn’t walking-on-the-beach joyful times sex: this is sex that might come with a bit of drama, meeting a person who brings some big changes into your life, or reinvigorating your relationship with your partner through new and maybe scary-to-you sexual practices. Uranus in the 8th all these years may have had to itching to feel a little bit more sexual freedom, and forming its square to Saturn will indicate a pull you’ll experience between a need to feel some stability in your love life with some instability in your sexual encounters.
I advise leaning into these feelings with safety and harm reduction strategies as necessary, knowing that these times in February, mid June, and the end of December will mark the big thematics of 2021 that you’ll look back on in years to come.
Scorpio and Scorpio rising
Scorpio readers who were born earlier into Scorpio season have been hit with an opposition from Uranus at some point since 2018, bringing some instability into your life, but Scorpio is all about transformation and getting through the shit so if any part of the zodiac can teach us how to deal, it’s Scorpio. NGL, The hard astrology of 2021 will be rough on Scorpio placements, particularly if your Scorpio placements are between 4º and 14º of the sign.
Scorpio rising readers Saturn and Jupiter moving out of your 3rd house of communication and into your 4th house of home, so on the one hand any difficulties you were having with speaking and feeling heard in 2020 will not be acvitiated anymore, but on the other hand these planets come to an intimate place. The 4th house is about our physical home as well as the way we relate to home and family. This could be a really useful year for going deep on the way you relate to your family of origin and chosen family. Saturn constricts where Jupiter expands, and together the two act as our breath does. Uranus has been making a journey through your 7th house of partnership since 2018, and has possibly brought a lot of change to your one-on-one configurations.
This year when Uranus and Saturn square in early February, mid June, and late December, they have the capacity to cause some stress between these relationships and your home. This could look like some challenging conversations about moving in with a partner, some stuff going on with your family that causes a problem with a work collaborator, or any other foreseeable combo of these two thematics. Pay particular attention to early February, mid June, and late December as these months will hold the major lessons of 2021 for you.
Some of this year’s astrology can teach you how to transform and grow in intimacy in amazing ways, while also really refining the way you relate to your home and family. Take this energy for the transformative opportunity it is and that you were born for.
Sagittarius and Sagittarius rising
Sag is one of the signs still not badly hit by 2021 astrology, so for Sagittarius placements I continue to ask you to use your reckless optimism to pull the rest of us along. Of course there’s a whole other natal chart there so just because your Sag sun is in the clear it doesn’t mean there’s nothing to report on 🙃
Sagittarius rising readers have Saturn and Jupiter moving into your 3rd house of communication this year, after spending some time in your 2nd house of resources and possibly making some complicated financial and energetic stuff go down for you. In your 3rd house these planets will ask you to specify but also find grow around communication. You may have to really learn how to communicate yourself in new ways, in ways that become more specific about what you mean. Sag is known for being a little bit on the blurty side, so these challenges may be uncomfortable but ultimately of huge value to you. Uranus has been in your 6th house of day to day life since 2018, possibly bringing a lot of instability to your everyday routine.
While Sag can roll with those punches in a big way, when Uranus and Saturn form their squares in early February, mid June, and the end of December, the relationship between your words and your routine will be really called into attention. The 6th house rules our routine and our daily toils but it also rules our health, which make me think that this year will ask you to get specific about how you communicate for the betterment of your health. Boundaries are a real obvious go-to here, but also thinking of when to say what you need to say.
Jupiter may make you a little extra impulsive in terms of communication, so be cautious that if you really find yourself bursting to say something, it’s in best service of your needs and your health.
Capricorn and Capricorn rising
CONGRATULATIONS CAPRICORN: I am so happy for you. You made it through 2020, you made it through a year of people complaining about your sign and the things it stands for, you made it through a shit storm of Pluto/Saturn/Jupiter all careening through your sign. You had this from the start but now you can say you had it, you did it, you succeeded, you survived. 2021 takes the immediate pressure off of Capricorn placements and gives you a chance to pause to think about everything that you’ve learned. Now that you’re in the clear, I get to say to you what I said to other signs last year: if you find yourself doing well while others are struggling (and struggle will come), find ways to be there for people. Find ways to help when you can and be strong when others are not.
Capricorn rising readers have Saturn and Jupiter moving into your 2nd house after having the two in your 1st house and likely bringing on a year of a lot of attention you might not have always wanted. You’ve had to really learn exactly who you are over the past couple years. With these planets in your 2nd house now, your resources come into the forefront: your resources here meaning your money, your possessions, but also your energy, and the people you can count on to support you. Jupiter’s expansion might bring new opportunities here but Saturn’s restriction asks you to be specific.
Uranus has been in your 5th house since 2018 and has possibly brought some unexpected creativity or love into your life. It’s not likely things you’ve been able to count on, but 5th house territory is always fun, even if unstable. When Uranus and SAturn form their squares in early February, mid June, and late December, they bring attention to the connections between your resources and your joy: a very basic and maybe kind of capitalist way of looking at this would be to say you’d have to tighten your budget around spending money for fun, but it we look at this outside of money I think it could be about being more specific about where you shed your energy. Uranus in the 5th has maybe seen you careening from opportunity to opportunity but Saturn will ask you to get specific. Saturn’s lessons are there to help us grow and learn, so try not to begrudge them even if they rain on your parade.
Getting specific will allow you to focus, and Capricorn focuses really well.
Aquarius and Aquarius rising
2021 will bring your sign into close attention, and while that may lead to some astrological discomfort, it also means you get to learn a lot about your sign as astrologers post about Jupiter and Saturn in your humanitarian, freedom-loving, occasionally chaotic side of the zodiac.
Aquarius rising readers have these planets moving out of your 12th house of dreams and into your 1st house of identity. The 12th house is complicated deep stuff, and the 1st house is palpable outer stuff: identity is complex territory for sure, but at least the 1st house is stuff we can see, whereas the 12th house is often invisible to us. This year a lot about you and the reasons you do things will be at the front of your (and everyone else’s) attention – this applies to Aquarian Sun readers, too. Use the chance to figure out where you need to grow and where you need to refine in order to be the most safe, satisfied, and fulfilled version of yourself.
Uranus has been in your 4th house since 2018 and if it hasn’t brought some unexpected events to your physical home, it may have brought some changes to the way you relate to family. When Saturn and Uranus form their squares in early February, mid June, and late December, it’ll call into attention how your identity and your home relate. These would be great times to engage in journaling, talk to a friend or therapist, or do whatever it is that helps you process your feelings about home.
If speaking to family of origin is a good choice for you, it could be a wonderful time to work through some problems, but communication will not likely be smooth or predictable. These squares and three time periods will be some of the major lessons and themes of 2021, so for you, Aquarius, I hope you take this time of being the center of attention as a source of learning about yourself in your complexity.
Pisces and Pisces readers
With all the deep feels of the last year, I suspect you’ve by now absorbed problems from everyone in a 200m proximity. If your neighbour down the street has been going through it, you know, Pisces. I hope you have been listening to all the calls to rest. All the ways that people are reminding each other to lie down, to process, to nap. It’s not worth plaguing yourself trying to solve these things, let yourself be overwhelmed and process that feeling however you need to.
Pisces rising readers have Saturn and Jupiter moving into your 12th house this year, after a couple years in your 11th house of community. The 12th house is Piscean territory, connected to your dreams, the unconscious, and witchy shit. It won’t be an easy ride but I advise Pisces rising readers to connect to their deeper spiritual side. Maybe spirituality is an uncomfortable topic: start by paying attention to your dreams, perhaps journaling them. Accept that there are many things in the world we don’t understand and lean into them as guideposts for the year.
Uranus has been in your 3rd house of communication since 2018 and while Pisceans are not always the clearest communicators, these years might have been particularly hard on that. You may have faced unexpected circumstances that have made communicating your needs and thoughts particularly difficult. When Uranus and Saturn form their squares in early February, mid June, and late December, they’ll call to attention the relationship between your dreams and your words.
What appears to you during these times in moments of un- or semi-consciousness, or even just when you’re drifting a bit, will tell you a lot about what you need to refine in order to communicate more effectively. You might feel called to burst unexpectedly during those times, while also experiencing things that prevent you from doing so.
Remember the 12th house and the lessons of things we don’t understand, and know that to know you don’t understand is the best place to be in in order to come to understanding.
OMG Stars is an astrology column written by queer astrologer Amelia Ehrhardt (@soft_aspects). Every two weeks, on the new and full moons, Amelia interprets the upcoming astrology with a focus on how to navigate current events (astrological and global). Book an appointment with Amelia here.
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