Chodesh Tevet 5785: A Bridge Over Troubled Water

The Hebrew Month of Tevet bridges the old and new. In the case of this year 5785, Rosh Chodesh Tevet is the bridge between the solar/Gregorian years of 2024 and 2025. Though the waters of this world are surely troubled, Tevet comes to make a bridge over the roiling waves of chaos.

G'di, the Mountain Goat, here portrayed with the tail of a fish, from the 4th Century Hammat Tiberius Synagogue

The New Moon at 9 degrees Capricorn comes December 30; when nightfall arrives, it will be Day 1 of Rosh Chodesh Tevet 5785, and we will light the seventh light of Chanukkah on the Solar New Year’s Eve. Mercury in Sagittarius will be trine to “Wounded Healer” Chiron, now stationed Direct in Aries. The power of speech (remember, we are in the “Pei” decade, and what we say about ourselves has power) can and should be used to heal instead of hurt.

It’s a segula for a positive outlook when we realize that this year, the holiday of Chanukkah itself, is the bridge between 2024 and 2025. January 1st is the 1st of Tevet, Day Two of Rosh Chodesh, and at night we light “Zot Chanukkah” – the 8th and most miraculous night. As Rabbi Avraham Sutton (he should live and be well!) is known to exclaim: “The 8 above the 7!” meaning, the 8 represents infinity, and all that is mystically unknowable to the revealed completeness of the 7. Perhaps the spiritual power of Zot Chanukah connecting the solar years of 2024 and 2025 will imbue the coming months with a special kind of kedusha.

Venus enters Pisces on Friday January 3, with Retrograde Mars in Leo opposite Pluto in Aquarius. It’s a good day to use the compassion and empathy of Pisces to overcome the urge to fight. What is that urge reflecting? Why, it’s just the Mars/Pluto opposition, my friends!

The opposition of Mighty Mars and Powerful Pluto is the energetic theme from November 2024 through April 2025.

The first Mars-Pluto opposition on November 3 was Mars in Cancer opposite Pluto in Capricorn, at their final degrees. Security issues (emotional and material), tradition, and safety took precedence over everything else. The result of the 2024 Election made that clear for all to see.

The next two Mars-Pluto oppositions will be in Leo/Aquarius: January 3 with Mars Retrograde, and April 27, with Mars Direct in Leo and Pluto in Aquarius. Leo/Aquarius is the Individual vs. the Collective, personal rights vs. communal responsibilities. Pluto in Aquarius wants to give power to the people; Mars in Leo wants to fight for personal empowerment.

From a Jewish archetypal view, Mars (assertive energy) in Leo (Tribe of Shimon) needs to make a tikkun for the improper use of power (Pluto) in destroying a community (Aquarius) for the sins of an individual (recall what Shimon and his brother Levi did to Shechem regarding the kidnap and rape of their sister Dinah).

Tevet is the month during which we make a tikkun on the attribute of anger. Shimon’s anger was tied to his feeling of powerlessness against the injustice done to Dinah. Power, or lack of it, is the root of Tevet’s anger.

Our relationship to power – owning our own, accepting its limits – is what is being forged here during this 6 month Mars/Pluto oppositional transit. Note in your personal natal chart which Houses Leo/Aquarius falls, and you’ll see where all the action is happening for you.

Moetzi Shabbos Vayigash, Saturday January 4, the Moon will be seen near Saturn in the evening, and the Lunar occultation of Saturn will occur, while the Sun makes a supportive sextile to Saturn. The Moon, Venus, and Saturn are in alignment on the evening of Sunday January 5. Go outside and look at them!

The First Quarter Moon of Chodesh Tevet, at 16 degrees Aries, arrives Monday January 6. Retrograde Mars re-enters Cancer, and Mercury in his final degree of Sagittarius squares Neptune in Pisces. Aggressive misperceptions and bold attempts at deceit may well shock but not surprise us.

Mercury enters Capricorn January 8, imbuing the planet of communications with a more authoritative tone. The Sun in Capricorn squares Chiron in Aries January 9, illuminating hidden vulnerabilities. The Fast of the 10th of Tevet falls out on Friday, January 10.

On Shabbos Vayechi, The North/South Lunar Nodal Axis – the “T’li” of the Sefer Yetzirah – moves from Aries/Libra to Pisces/Virgo. Unlike all the planets that go forward, the Lunar Nodal Axis goes “backward” around the zodiacal circle. The T’li shifts zodiac signs every 18 months or so; signaling an oppositional refocusing of energies.

We’re transitioning from Aries/Libra (“Me” – “We”) to Pisces/Virgo (“I Sacrifice” – “I Serve”). This transit runs through the end of July 2026.

What does the Sefer Yetzirah tell us about the T’li?

The dragon (T’li) in the universe is like a king upon his throne

The circle (the ecliptic) in the world is like a king traveling through his provinces

The heart (lev) in a person is like a king at war

The “king upon his throne” is the concept of sovereignty and rulership. The transit of the Lunar Nodal Axis through two opposing signs represents the area of energetic sovereignty and rulership emphasized during this time.

With the North Node – the “Dragon’s Head” – pulling us towards the compassion, empathy, and sacrificial energy of Pisces, the South Node – the “Dragon’s Tail” sweeps along everything it has accumulated along the way in Virgo – analytic discernment, critical thinking, a spirit of service. In a person’s individual natal chart, whichever Houses the Pisces/Virgo axis falls in is where all this action happens.

Sunday January 121, Retrograde Mars in Cancer trines Neptune in Pisces, giving that idealistic energy initiated by the Lunar Nodal shift a big boost.

The Full Moon at 23 degrees Cancer arrives January 13/14 (depending on where you are), visible next to Mars all night. The Sun trines Neptune and Venus squares Jupiter. Extreme sentimentality overtakes reason, and reason barely puts up a fight.

The Sun opposes Retrograde Mars on January 16, with Mercury inconjunct Jupiter. Let’s hope it is not ourselves nor anyone we care for who is caught in a big fat bald-faced lie.

The Sun sextiles Neptune on Friday January 17; Venus and Saturn are close together in the sky over the next few days.

The Sun enters Aquarius on January 19/20, with Mercury in Capricorn sextiling the conjunction of Venus and Saturn in Pisces. Serious words must be spoken on the subject of what makes a mature and responsible love.

By January 21, the Sun is conjunct Pluto at the Last Quarter Moon in Scorpio. Deeply powerful instincts must be heeded! Mercury opposes Retrograde Mars in Cancer, and trines Neptune in Pisces, which is sextiled by Mars on January 23/24. Follow your inner truth, but ensure that you don’t mistake the voice of truth for the voice of your obsessive addiction.

Moetzi Shabbos Va’eira and Yom Reshon 26 Tevet Venus in compassionate Pisces trines Retrograde Mars in Cancer. Mercury sextiles Neptune, and Venus sextiles Uranus in Taurus. The rewards of patience and forbearance pay off over time.

Chodesh Tevet winds down with Mercury entering Aquarius, along with the Moon, January 28. The New Moon in Aquarius occurs Wednesday, January 29 (29 Tevet), with Mercury conjunct Pluto at that sensitive degree of 0 Aquarius. As I’ve said many times since 2020, the “Age of Aquarius” isn’t all fairy dust and confetti sprinkles – in fact, it’s nothing like that. Aquarius can sometimes be cold and ruthless for the sake of what he believes is the well-being and survival of the communal/collective society.

Remember with compassion the frail humanity of those imperfect folk everywhere, including yourself.  Let Tevet’s energy this year inspire you to be a bridge over troubled waters.