Capricorn New Moon: One Foot in the Old World & One in the New

The first New Moon of 2026 arrives on January 18th at 11:50 am PST/ 2:50 pm EST in the 28th degree of Capricorn, illuminating transformation in the foundations we have been working with pertaining to our long term visions.

This lunation comes just weeks before eclipse season opens, meeting in the threshold between planets in late Capricorn (Sun, Moon, Mars & Mercury — highlighting the old ways) and early Aquarius (Pluto & Venus - highlighting the new). This energy marks closing of a long chapter around power, structure, and survival-based living as it aspects Uranus in Taurus, as well as Saturn and Neptune in their final weeks in Pisces.

This is the pause before momentum of the Spring, the breath before the leap, and the moment where integration matters more than speed.

From Cancer’s Waters to Capricorn’s Soil

We are still integrating the emotional revelations of the recent Super Full Moon in Cancer, which illuminated themes of belonging, safety, and emotional need. Cancer brought us into contact with early attachment patterns; where we learned to protect ourselves, to caretake, or to cling in order to feel secure.

Capricorn is Cancer’s counterbalance — containing the emotional waters that Cancer swims through. Ruled by Saturn, Capricorn asks us to take responsibility for our inner world…to slow down, observe patterns, and consciously transform emotional lead into wisdom through awareness, discipline, and devotion. It is the season where alchemical work begins. Alchemy, at its core, is both a psychological and spiritual process: the conscious refinement of our inner landscape so that unconscious wounds no longer run the show or quietly shape our reality from beneath the surface.

Its ultimate aim is inner marriage: the union of feeling and form, intuition and action, receptivity and containment, heart and head. When this union is embodied, we stop building lives and relationships rooted in conditioning or survival. Instead, we begin to build from emotional maturity, self-worth, and a felt sense of wholeness within ourselves.

To move forward, Capricorn reminds us, we must first look back… to reparent what was missing, & tend to what was fractured, so we can lay foundations that actually reflect what we deserve and desire.

The Illumination of Venus & Mars

This New Moon occurs just after the Full Moon phase of the Venus–Mars synodic cycle that began in February 2024, when Venus and Mars met in Aquarius.

That conjunction cracked something open… it initiated a collective liberation around love, desire and relational scripts; especially the ones we inherited without consciously choosing. Many of us began questioning what intimacy, partnership, and autonomy truly mean for us.

Aquarius asked us to liberate, and Capricorn has now been asking us to embody. Early 2026 is less about charging ahead and more about integration. Before spring’s momentum arrives, we are being asked to stabilize what we’ve learned… so we don’t recreate old patterns inside new structures.

Capricorn New Moon & Inherited Beliefs

Capricorn governs the root chakra and the skeleton… the bones that give us structure and the invisible frameworks that hold our lives together.

It is also the realm of inheritance. What has been passed down to us includes wisdom, resilience, and strength, but it also contains generational trauma, internalized scarcity, and beliefs about worth that were never truly ours.

Because this New Moon unfolds in Capricorn, it may also illuminate the shadow expressions of Capricorn energy we inherited… where discipline quietly turns into self-abandonment, and devotion slips into over-identification with work.

Capricorn’s shadow asks a necessary question: How much of your worth is still tied to productivity? Many of us learned early on that love, safety, or approval were earned through effort. That rest had to be justified. That slowing down was indulgent. That our value lived in what we produced, not in who we are.

This lunation may reveal where ambition has replaced nourishment and where responsibility has meant overriding the body’s needs. Capricorn is not meant to extract from us but to sustain us. True mastery includes knowing when to pause and care for the self. This is the deeper alchemy of Capricorn: remembering that worth is inherent, not earned through exhaustion.

Restructuring Relationships for the Long Haul

In the days leading up to this New Moon, many of us have taken an honest inventory of our relationships and attachment patterns… what feels nourishing, what feels draining, and where we may still be over-giving or self-abandoning to maintain connection. Now, the invitation is to actively begin restructuring how we relate, so that our connections are not just emotionally meaningful, but sustainable.

With Pluto tightly conjunct Venus in Aquarius and in an out-of-sign conjunction with this lunation, a profound transformation is ocurring in how we relate to one another, to power, to money and resources, and to the systems we participate in. This alignment asks us to question outdated hierarchies and unconscious power dynamics, and to notice where fear, dependency, or control may still be shaping our choices.

In Aquarius, Venus and Pluto draw us toward forms of relating that are non-hierarchical, authentic, and rooted in mutual support rather than obligation… connections that can actually evolve alongside us.

Survival Wounds & Liberated Ground

This New Moon also forms a difficult (square) aspect to Chiron in Aries, activating old survival wounds around self-assertion and identity. Where were you rejected for being your authentic self Where did it feel unsafe to lead, initiate, or take up space? Where do you still assert yourself from fear, defensiveness, or survival rather than grounded self-trust?

Chiron in Aries reminds us that courage is often learned through pain, and that healing requires us to reclaim the right to exist, desire, and act without apology.

At the same time, the Moon makes a supportive aspect to Uranus in the final degrees of Taurus, offering easeful, stabilizing support. This is liberating energy around value, money, and physical security; helping us break free from outdated beliefs about safety and worth.

Uranus in Taurus reminds us that security comes from aligning with what is alive, honest and sustainable in the long term.

Speaking Desire into Form

With Mercury exactly conjunct Mars, alongside the Sun and Moon in Capricorn, this is a potent moment to work consciously with voice and life force.

Capricorn is the master manifestor and this lunation asks you to say what you want, clearly and without apology. Speak desire into form and move towards it with intention and courage.

Channel this energy through writing, speaking, boundary-setting, or self-pleasure rituals that reconnect you to your creative and erotic life force. When desire is honoured rather than suppressed, it becomes fuel for sustainable creation.

This New Moon asks for integrity, presence and embodiment. As we stand with one foot in the old world and one foot in the new, Capricorn reminds us: What you build now becomes the bones of what comes next — especially as the momentum of Spring picks up.

Much love,

xo Vanja

Where is 28 degrees Capricorn in my chart? What does that tell me about what I am uncovering on this lunation?

Where am I still tying my worth to productivity or output?

What structures in my life feel nourishing, and which feel draining?

How have my relationship patterns evolved over the past year?

Where do survival wounds still shape how I assert myself?

What does sustainable success look like in my body? What am I ready to commit to, slowly and steadily, in this next cycle?

Embodiment: Manifesting through Desire

You’ll need:

– A journal

– A candle

– Something grounding (stone, plant, earth)

– Optional: oil, cacao, or a self-pleasure ritual tool (my favourite is the Amrita WAAND from WAANDS: save 10% with code VANJABANKS)

1. Ground.

   Place one hand on your pelvis, one on your heart (with your WAAND if you have it). Breathe slowly, imagining roots anchoring you into the earth.

   
   

2. Light the candle.

   Let it symbolize the structure you are calling in; the container that will hold your energy.

   
   

3. Speak your desires aloud.

   Let your voice carry what you want to build, embody, or commit to.

   
   

4. Pleasure as power.

   Through slow movement, breath, or self-touch, allow desire to become a source of clarity and vitality.

   
   

5. Commit.

   Name one small, consistent action that aligns with what you’ve spoken, and return to it with devotion; journal, reflect & set intentions.