Catherine Urban Astrology

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Thank you, thank you, thank you! What a season!

We are in the period of the Winter Solstice, here in the northern hemisphere. The days are short and the snow is falling, which means we are spending more time inside, relaxing and reflecting. Periods of the dark - dark moons too - are most fruitful for inner work, healing and processing. The Winter is the season of the elder, but new seeds for the future are also being planted. (More on this in a moment!)

I’m pleased to announce that my busy book launch period is finished and feels so complete. Many of my clients ask me if I’ll do more book signings and the answer is no. Isn’t it wonderful to feel whole? In so many other areas of life, the work seems to never end, but I’m so grateful to feel like my three book launch parties were such a success.

To the right is a gallery shot by the fabulous L.A. Carr! I’m so grateful L.A. was able to capture much of the magic we shared at Coven for my first book release. Miranda, owner of Coven, was the best host and graciously opened her doors (and kept em open late) for friends, family and fans of astrology to come through! Following L.A.’s pro photo feed are some randoms from friends.

At all three events, I nearly sold out of books. I also nearly sold out at LCAA’s holiday banquet. It feels so good to walk out the door with less baggage, doesn’t it!? Just like when you go to acupuncture or get a massage!

This next gallery features other random photos from the book launch. The second stop on the tour was Midtown, Manhattan - only blocks from the very first place I lived as a youngin in New York. As I wove in and out of taxis and made my way up to the event space with a pregnant belly in a car full of kitchen supplies and books, I had to laugh. It was like my journey flashed before my eyes. New York and I have a very interesting relationship. Love/hate, but in the end, a lot of love. That love was reaffirmed when the event space filled with friends new and old. My very first astrology teacher, Joe Addeo was there to share in the moment and I finally got to meet my Bon Appetit editor, Alex Beggs. Finally.

To prepare for this event, I called on the help of my event planner, Demetrius Bagley - but most of all, I couldn’t have done it without my friends Megan and Cameron! I stayed at their apartment and whizzed about their kitchen preparing Scorpio’s Thai Peanut Noodles with broccoli, a Sagittarian sweet potato casserole, Leo’s Green Beans with orange vinaigrette, Aries’ Ginger Creams and Cancer’s hot cider. Also, shout out to my husband Eli who helped me pre-make the Roasted Red Pepper the night before I left. Eli also ran to the grocery store for me at 9 pm while I tested my Vitamix’s last nerve.

All in all, the NYC event was the most challenging, but also super rewarding. Though the next time someone asks me to make a 5 course meal out of state, the offering’s gonna have to be extra compelling!

The Barnes & Noble signing was short, simple and sweet - the cherry on top of a year’s worth of hard work to push this book out and promote it. I’ve been getting lots of love from Holiday Gift guides and was most recently featured on Buzzfeed. Pretty cool, eh?!

Capricorn season + 2020: A BIG year ahead

As I mentioned above, we are in a season of endings. In astrology, we observe many, many cycles in addition to the yearly one. We observe cycles as short as the Moon’s 28 day cycle, and as long as Jupiter/Saturn’s 800 year elemental cycle - or even longer, the 26,000 year precessional cycle of the Earth’s wobbling north pole!

2020 is a big deal because several larger cycles are ending and new ones are beginning. In the past few years, it’s been impossible not to feel the inevitable breakdown within the collective infrastructure. With massive issues such as global warming, mass distrust in corrupt political practices, along with the helplessness we feel as the wealthiest 1% continue to increase in wealth, while the rest of us seem to toil harder and harder just to get by. These are all symptoms of the end. We all know that our current order is no longer supportive. The challenge now is to create something new.

This year, Saturn and Pluto begin a new cycle around power, control and global structures. This highlights the power of corporations and governments, issues of privacy and how much control and involvement they are allowed to have. Themes of exploitation and abuse of power come to a head, as well as leadership, law, corruption and money.

Jupiter/Pluto begin a new cycle, also in the sign of Capricorn. Jupiter enlarges the issues Pluto in Capricorn has been drudging up since the housing crisis of 2008. Jupiter here will make these issues too big to ignore and demand our attention.

Jupiter/Saturn begin a new 20 and 200 year cycle simultaneously in December 2020 in the sign of Aquarius. Jupiter/Saturn deal with the economy and moving out of 200 years of conjunctions in earth (accumulation) and into 200 years of conjunctions in air (circulation, digital). The way we do money is changing. And Uranus in Taurus agrees.

On a personal level,

While Saturn, Pluto and Jupiter all spend 2020 in Capricorn and making big waves in the world, we are also experiencing this weight somewhere in our lives. Each sign of the zodiac governs an area of our lives, so wherever we have Capricorn (will be different for each person), is where we are experiencing a big breakdown. There is a need for each of us to redesign an area of our lives to become more supportive. We are all craving more support and more control somewhere. Many of us may be experiencing power dynamics - where we feel helpless to something that feels so much bigger than us, or the challenge to come into our own power in new ways. How do we define power? Brute force or letting go? It depends on the person and the situation. Our job is to navigate these seemingly muddy waters now so that we may greatly benefit later on.


If you are looking to better understand how this Capricorn energy is showing up in your chart, stay tuned. I will be offering a day of mini readings on January 4th!