Ultimately, the only power to which man should aspire
is that which he exercises over himself.
Elie Wiesel (writer, activist, Nobel Laureate, and Holocaust survivor)

Yesterday, I began my discussion of 2023 as the year of The Chariot by explaining how we arrive at the notion of a Tarot Year card. Then we explored some of this card’s more important symbols and attributes, especially those that might impact you on a personal basis in the coming year.

Since it affects us all, we’ll now look The Chariot’s wider, global influence. A good place to start is by examining several of my colleagues’ astrological forecasts for 2023.

Please note: all of these forecasts use the tropical astrological model. For deeply wise, always inspiring predictions using sidereal astrology, be sure to sign up for my dear friend Sally Nurney’s Lunar Lowdown video reports. And Sally also offers an excellent explanation of the differences between sidereal and tropical astrology.

The Chariot and the Stars

The new year is a time many of us are eager for a fresh launch of projects and priorities. But throughout much of January, there are still some important planets in retrograde. Yet even though retrogrades tend to throw obstacles, detours, and delays in our path, The Chariot insists that there is no going back.

Instead, use this slowed-down period to plan, dream, and make a framework for the time ahead. By month’s end, the stuck, stalled feel of recent months segues to as much advancement as you could want.

To explain, our wise friend Elisabeth Grace discusses the biggest shifts in store for 2023. And one of the biggest arrives in March, when Saturn exits Aquarius and enters Pisces (on the 8th). Elisabeth explains:

Saturn seeks to structure, cut and control. Pisces is the ocean.

Good luck controlling that…but then again, cuts and controls in better managing our watery resources — including water itself — would be something Saturn in Pisces would inspire humans to do.

Pisces is empathy and suffering — especially among those who are most vulnerable.

My sense is that Saturn in Pisces will inspire a more sobering, serious, ambitious effort to heal so many who have been traumatized by (fill in the blank with your choice of overwhelming global crisis). Seeds for that structured healing may be planted in 2023…and when Saturn gets to the back half of Pisces in 2025, we’ll see some notable progress.

So while February sees us picking up steam, look for Saturn’s focus and control to also increase momentum. As Isaac Newton posited, “An object at rest remains at rest, and an object in motion remains in motion at constant speed and in a straight line unless acted on by an unbalanced force.” In the short term, it looks like there is little to veer us off course (and for more about that, keep reading).

Also in March, hang onto your charioteer’s crown, because, as Elisabeth tells us —

Pluto dips its toe into Aquarius on the 24th. This is huge. At 0° Aquarius, Pluto will amplify the potential of the 2020 Great Mutation of Jupiter-Saturn at 0° Aquarius. Here’s a lengthy article I wrote about that a couple of years ago.

I highly recommend a re-read because it strongly resonates with The Chariot’s mission, as we “reimagine the future.” As Dorothy so aptly pointed out, “We’re not in Kansas anymore.”

Elisabeth continues:

Great gobs of power and resources will be poured into this potential…with efforts to put extremes of control into place. Power grids and all the ways we connect with each other virtually may be affected.

Humanitarian values are likely to prevail over values that prioritize stuff over people. Pluto at 0° Aquarius will activate the horoscopes of President Biden, King Charles and Queen Elizabeth.

Pay attention to what happens during Pluto’s brief dip into Aquarius, which ends on June 12th. It’s a sneak peek of life on Earth for the next 20 years. Pluto at 0° Aquarius will amplify whatever was going around March 6th, 2022, too.

“Pulling extremes of control into place?” Nothing could be more like The Chariot!

Adding more context, my friend Diotima Matineia also offers a comprehensive and deeply wise analysis of the year ahead. The Chariot certainly comes to mind when she writes:

Let’s consider what the astrology suggests about how we can prepare ourselves to navigate those changes so they lead to a better future.

You may feel that you’d happily pass on the changes, and be fine with a bit of stability, maybe even boredom, back in your life after these last few years. But we are in the middle of an era of massive social, political, and environmental upheaval, and are unlikely to be bored anytime soon. However, change always brings opportunities with it, and 2023 is rife with opportunities.

The astrology of the upcoming year plants the seeds of a collective awakening to reality that the coming years will bring to fruition. We’re encouraged to recognize the power of community, and consider what we bring to our communities. The planetary patterns galvanize personal searches for truth, and bring shifting power dynamics to the collective and in our personal lives.

Our journey, set in motion in the past, is fully underway, and picking up speed. The best choice, then, is to steer your life, incorporate all you have learned so far (hearkening back to how The Chariot contains elements of all the prior Triumph cards), and keep your eyes on the prize.

Legendary astrologer Steven Forrest had this to say when Jupiter moved into the sign of Aries in late December 2022, and how it will continue to affect us all in the months ahead:

On December 20, Jupiter return[ed] to Aries after a little vacation in Pisces. It won’t be there long – just five short months, crossing into Taurus in mid-May 2023. The effect of that quick passage is sheer compression – opportunities will appear and disappear like tricks of the light.

The phrase “seize the day” will actually work literally – make your move today because tomorrow will be too late. But what move? Doors will open, but not all of them lead to places you really want to go. Split-second decisions can shape the rest of your life, for good or for ill. You’ll need the reflexes – and the discernment – of a fighter pilot.

Or a very skillful, determined chariot driver.

Last but certainly not least, the famed Stars Over Washington astrologer, Jude Cowell, sums up the year ahead by pointing out:

As astrologers know, upon occasion, a year is devoid of Great Conjunctions between planets Jupiter through Pluto so that current planetary cycles and energies can carry on as-is, at least affording societies a sense of stabilization, however minor or temporary.

This doesn’t mean that during a conjunction-free year all conditions are positive, of course, and variations still alternate and morph into new conditions, but there is some sense of relief from new cycles of combined planetary energies suddenly adjusting our lives with their strong influences.

Thus, Isaac Newton’s law offers Chariot-like insight for this year. Our challenges in 2023 are no longer about lift-off or other rare, double-whammy planetary dramas. Instead, our transport has reached cruising altitude. The challenge will be to ensure we are headed where we want to be going, and keeping a steady, trouble-free pace that gets us there safe and sound.

Wheels On the Ground, Head in the Stars

Having just watched the embarrassing debacle in America’s House of Representatives, it is clear that we have been shown two profoundly different forms of leadership.

In one, the aspiring majority leader had to beg for four days. He eventually had to make unprecedented concessions to a tiny radical group in his party, to win his position. This is not leadership at all, but the horses driving the rider.

The other, the minority leader, was supported unanimously by his party for every one of the fourteen repeated roll calls. This was clearly the fruition of many years of service, experience, and his steady demeanor. His acceptance speech made clear he was profoundly different from the other would-be chief.

Thus, in a government and a country that is seeing tremendous, even violent polarization, we could hardly have a more fitting ally than The Chariot. If any progress is to be made, we will certainly need the strength and skill of the charioteer to harness and drive forward these nearly matched, oppositional forces.

It is worth noting that while the driver may need to hold a wand in his hand, he does not hold a whip. He doesn’t even hold any reins; it is by the will of his glowing heart (covered by the square that represents four-fold elemental matter) that he guides the vehicle’s direction.

Similarly, I invite you to strengthen your composure and optimism, especially in the face of discord and doubts. Lean into your relationship with the Guardians of Air, Fire, Water, and Earth.

What do you wish you could claim mastery over? How might you become more impartial, and less buffeted about by both successes and setbacks? What abilities are you developing, to achieve your unique vision of success?

Are there activities, tools, teachers, or knowledge that could help you polish your skills? What lingering effects from losses or insecurities are you ready to see recede in your rearview mirror?

When we collaborate with Life fearlessly and directly, honoring our dreams and goals, not only will we reconcile the strife of opposites, we can turn potential friction into creative forward momentum.

We are heroes on the ride of our lives. Let us resolve to reach for what we truly desire.

Happy New Year!