The Moon Phase this week happens on January 6 - a First Quarter in Aries at 16°55' at 4:56PM Mountain Standard Time

At a First Quarter we take action. And Aries IS the sign of taking action!! It’s ruled by Mars. But Mars has a very unique shift happening RIGHT on the day of this First Quarter - more on that in just a few minutes

How to use the Aries First Quarter

1 - Find the area of your life being activated - what area of life does ARIES represent for you? If you’re a Moon Chat member, check your member email for this FIRST QUARTER, it will tell you. If you don’t know, go to laurakusto.com and pop in your email. I’ll send you a free 14-day trial of Moon Chat, which will bring you a custom email a day or 2 prior to each moon phase, telling you exactly what area of life each moon phase is activating for you and simple steps for how to work with it.

2 - Get your Bearings!

Take the area of life being activated and look at these this date that represent when you set intentions - consciously or unconsciously - in the ARIES area of life:

The First Date - New Moon on APRIL 8, 2024 - Did you consciously write intentions down? And unconsciously - what conversations and experiences did you have? Use your calendar, your email and your camera role to find these things

3 - Take Action

The First Quarter is when the Moon enters into an angle of tension between the Sun and the Earth. This tension is a call to action - to do our part by noticing what we can do to help our dreams along - and DO IT!

The 12 Laws of Nature always come to mind for me at the First Quarter. The most popular of these laws is probably the law of attraction - like attracts like.

But a lesser known law is the Law of Inspired Action states that while setting intentions and visualizing goals are important, it is the inspired actions that are taken that bring about our aspirations.

So get out there and do it -USE THIS ARIES ENERGY! - make the phone call and have the conversation, schedule the meeting, book the trip, pay the deposit. We are looking for commitment-related actions here. When you make a commitment, you’re signaling to the Universe that you are “in” this.

Energies around this FIRST QUARTER MOON

On the 6th…

- Mars in retrograde enters Cancer, earlier in the day at 3:44 am MST so it will be there on this First Quarter. Mars is closer to us and more powerful. Use that “Action oriented energy” but in a nurturing way (Cancer)

- Mercury squares Neptune at 6:55 am MST that day so that energy will be active. This can create misunderstandings and confusion with communication and details. Put things in writing - get things in writing and look over the fine details when committing to something. Good idea - set up a time to take action on the First Quarter, but don’t actually take the action. Just set up a meeting, a conversation for taking it, etc.

ASTROLOGY FOR THE WEEK

Jan 6, 2025

- Mars retrograde enters Cancer at 3:44 am MST. It will retrograde until Feb 23, where it will turn direct at 17 degrees Cancer and it enters Leo again on April 17, 2025. Mars in Cancer brings an element of nurturing and tenderness to our action and assertiveness . What situations in your life can you bring this sort of energy to? What are you nurturing and growing that would benefit from some assertiveness?

- Mercury square Neptune at 6:55 am MST. Will remain active for a couple days, Mercury moves on quite quickly. But it brings misunderstandings and confusion to situations. Not great for business dealings or anything else involving details with high stakes. Save the details and signing any contracts for the end of the week

Jan 8

- Mercury enters Capricorn. Mercury will have moved on from that square to Neptune and into Capricorn which is a productive, goal-driven earth sign. MUCH better for business dealings and details.

Jan 11 - Nodes change from NN Aries/Libra to NN Pisces/Virgo and will be there until July 26, 2026. The nodes change signs about every 18 months and they are where we have eclipses. As the nodes shift, the location of the NN is collectively our growth edge and the SN is our area of release. As we move into North Node in Pisces and South Node in Virgo….it’s about leaning into high vibe Pisces themes - compassionate, empathic, sensitive and imaginative/artistic. And it’s about releasing low-vibrational Virgo-related themes. Virgo, an earth sign ruled by Gemini is very busy, productive and organized. So this is about allowing your over-scheduled/over-organized - CONTROL FREAK type tendencies to rest.