Have you ever used a simple lever to move something more easily that was stuck? (Like maybe you’ve used a flat-head screwdriver to open a paint-can, or used a pole wedged against a heavy boulder to roll it along with less effort than simply pushing it.) Or have you ever felt backed into a metaphorical corner, yet feeling yourself there somehow enabled you to push back and regain your space?

Those are two examples of how square energy can feel and be used in astrology. And along with a variety of interesting aspects, squares seem prominent this week in the midst of this zone between eclipses.

People sometimes dread square aspects because they don’t like the feeling of inner tension that squares represent. But that tension is incredibly useful: it generally incites us to take some kind of action to relieve it. And in the process, we put ourselves into a more comfortable position and have an opportunity to integrate what we’re feeling and learning.

The main square of note this week is the last quarter Moon. This is the Moon making a square to the Sun — normally not the most noteworthy aspect in the sky, but this one is special. It marks the midpoint between the total lunar eclipse (and Leo Full Moon) of last week and the partial solar eclipse (and Aquarius New Moon) of next week, which occurs on Feb. 15.

As the Scorpio Moon squares the Aquarius Sun this Wednesday, notice where you are with anything you set in motion with the eclipse, or any intentions you set. You might pay particular attention to things you need to wrap up: details that need to be finalized; anything that needs to be flushed, tossed or washed off/away (literally or metaphorically); feelings you need to express so you can stop holding onto them, and so on. What needs to be dived into or cut away so you can move on to what’s coming next?

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This week opens the first ‘eclipse season’ of 2018. On Wednesday, Jan. 31, we’ll experience the Leo Full Moon, which is also total lunar eclipse — meaning that we’re entering a phase of a couple weeks when you might be able to advance your life in unexpected ways. (The corresponding partial solar eclipse will occur with a New Moon in Aquarius on Feb. 15.)

At 8:27 am EST (13:27 UTC) on Wednesday the Moon in Leo will align exactly with the Sun in Aquarius, with the Earth tucked precisely in between (the peak of the eclipse is a couple minutes later).

If you live in the right parts of the world and have clear skies at the right time, you’ll be able to see Earth’s shadow gradually cover the Moon, making it look a reddish-brownish color. But wait: isn’t Wednesday’s Full Moon a blue Moon? Yes, but that name does not actually refer to the Moon’s color; it’s simply the fanciful term given to the second Full Moon in one calendar month (if you recall, the Cancer Full Moon occurred on Jan. 1).

They’re rare, but not as rare as the colloquial saying would seem to suggest. The Jan. 31 Full Moon is also the third in a series of three straight ‘supermoons’; that is, Full Moons that occur while the Moon is closest to Earth in its orbit, and therefore looks slightly larger than usual.

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The astrology this week appears to speak of building something new, thanks in part to a New Moon in Capricorn. Yet as the week progresses, it looks like you’ll be doing this building with a shifting frame of reference, thanks to several objects changing sign.

One way to think of it is like making a sculpture: each time you walk to a different side of it, your perception of the thing you’re making changes slightly. As a result, you can see new options that might alter what you do next. Another example might be when you rearrange the furniture in your home: when you move an easy chair to a new spot, the vacated area is suddenly open to other possibilities.

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By now, you’ve likely read all kinds of damning and exciting tidbits from the new book that exposes the inner dysfunction of the Trump White House. The current astrology indicates the fallout from it will likely develop this week, and that should make for fascinating news; but here’s the thing: you’re going to want to tear yourself away from social media and your TV to use this week’s astrology yourself.

We have an absolutely astonishing, beautiful and useful aspect pattern in effect right now. Eric has tailored interpretations of it for all the signs in the horoscopes below. I’m going to offer an overview of what’s going on, and look ahead to later in the week.

From now through midweek, there’s a kind of ‘super-sextile’ in the sky. It involves Mars and Jupiter in Scorpio making contact with the Sun, Venus and Pluto in Capricorn.

The overarching theme of this aspect pattern is traction. As in, you should be able to get some traction on just about anything you need to work on, investigate, pursue or develop. The key to enjoying that traction, however, is to take some intentional, active steps toward what you desire. It’s like having really good treads on a pair of hiking boots: those shoes can take you great places if you get out on the trail, map in hand, water bottle and snack in your backpack, and get moving.

Yet the best treads in the world won’t do a damn thing for you if you wear them while streaming Netflix, or if you leave the shoes in the box they came in and never get further than reading the trail guidebook.

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As we close out yet another year in which ‘the unthinkable’ and ‘the unexpected’ became nearly cliché and monotonous, you might be eager to leave 2017 behind and wipe your hands of it. Of course, the turn of the calendar is never exactly the clean break we often wish it were. This year, however, the New Year does begin with an energy peak — a Full Moon — with some surprisingly fitting themes that might help you to transition better.

This is the Cancer Full Moon, with the Moon in Cancer opposite the Sun in Capricorn, at 11+ degrees of their signs (properly known as 12 degrees). This Full Moon is exact at 9:24 pm EST on Jan. 1 (2:24 UTC Jan. 2). At the most basic level, moving toward a Full Moon is likely to amp up the emotional stakes on New Year’s Eve.

Many people (maybe you) pile a lot of expectation and meaning onto how and with whom they spend this particular holiday night. Remember empathy for others’ sensitivities, and to keep things light for yourself. This Full Moon could also feel like someone who’s all business facing off against someone who’s super-emotional and easily swayed by others’ moods. You might be inclined to get practical and solve problems, while a partner just wants to mother everybody (including you) whether they need it or not.

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Whether you celebrate the Christmas holiday or not, I hope some seasonal serenity and joy have found you, and that you have embraced even the most seemingly commonplace opportunities to share it. Mercury is beginning to shake out following its recent retrograde (which ended Friday night, but which might still be reverberating for you), and this should help you to unwind anything that got tightly wound recently.

Continued new activity in Capricorn, a sign of initiative, should assist as well. Tomorrow (Monday), Venus ingresses Capricorn at 12:26 am EST (5:26 UTC), and makes its conjunction to Saturn later in the day.

I’ve gotten the impression that a lot of people have felt this holiday season has been ‘different’ in tone. I can think of a few reasons for that (including Mercury’s recent retrograde and the frustrating and frightening actions of the U.S. government), and there are likely plenty of personal challenges in the mix for many individuals.

While Venus in Capricorn, and especially conjunct Saturn, is not the most effusive situation for Venus to be in, it definitely has its positive qualities and can be most useful. For one thing, you might notice your sense of personal responsibility to your relationships coming into greater focus. By that I mean the idea that your integrity matters in all of your one-on-one dealings. It’s not about trying to prevent negative or uncomfortable emotions in others; it’s about honoring the fact that if you choose to have a person in your life, then you owe it to them and to yourself to treat them with honesty, empathy and awareness.

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This could be the most interesting week in quite a while — and that’s saying a lot. I guess “interesting” is a charitable way to describe the rise of tyranny by ignorance, chaos and pixels, and any possible resistance, and events that seem outside our control — but it’s the holiday season.

On Tuesday, Saturn enters Capricorn, making contact with the Aries Point and commencing the Saturn-Pluto conjunction that will shape and in some way define our lives for the next three years.

Then 36 hours later, the Sun reaches solstice, aligning with the Tropic of Capricorn, thereby entering the sign Capricorn and making a conjunction with Saturn; ramping up the Aries Point activation by an order of magnitude.

Then Friday, Mercury stations direct, releasing a dam of pent-up energy that’s been collecting through these exceedingly eventful few weeks that it’s been retrograde. Mercury is currently stationing direct in mid-Sagittarius, conjunct a deep-space point called Laniakea/Great Attractor, one of the most prodigious, mysterious and indeed massive elements in all of astronomy.

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