The Faculty of Astrological Studies

Sun in Aquarius ♒️

Aquarius is symbolised by the Water Bearer, representing the pouring forth of understanding and knowledge for the benefit of the collective. As an Air sign, Aquarius is concerned with ideas, principles and the exchange of thought, while its Fixed quality gives endurance and commitment to its vision.

Traditionally ruled by Saturn, Aquarius combines idealism with responsibility, structure and ethical awareness. Its modern association with Uranus reflects innovation, reform and the urge to break free from outdated systems.

Aquarius often operates with a degree of emotional detachment, valuing objectivity and clarity in order to perceive the wider pattern. As a Fixed Air sign, it is concerned not only with generating ideas, but with holding them steadily over time so they can take meaningful form.

We wish all Aquarians a very happy birthday as the Sun moves through this sign.

New Moon in Capricorn ♑️🌑 18th January 2026.

This New Moon takes place at 28° 43’Capricorn, a cardinal earth sign, emphasising the beginning of new cycles through structure, responsibility and practical intention.

As an earth sign, Capricorn is concerned with form, substance and what can be built or sustained over time. Its cardinal quality brings an initiating impulse, but one that operates through planning, realism and sustained effort rather than immediacy.

Capricorn is ruled by Saturn, which at this New Moon is positioned at the end of Pisces, conjunct Neptune. This places the Capricorn emphasis on responsibility and structure within a wider Piscean field of sensitivity, imagination and dissolution. The challenge here is to give form to vision without losing clarity, and to build something real without undermining it through confusion or idealisation.

There is a stellium in Capricorn, with the Sun, Moon, Mercury and Mars gathered together. This concentrates the symbolism strongly, bringing mental focus (Mercury), purposeful action (Mars) and conscious intent (Sun and Moon) into a single field. Intentions set now are likely to be serious, considered and oriented towards long-term goals.

Importantly, this Capricorn stellium forms a sextile to Saturn and Neptune in Pisces. The sextile suggests opportunity rather than pressure: a chance to bring imagination, compassion and vision (Neptune) into workable form through Saturnian structure. Practical plans may be informed by intuition, ideals or a sense of meaning, provided they are handled with clarity and discernment.

At the same time, the New Moon is in harmonious aspect to Uranus in Ta**us, supporting steady but meaningful change. This suggests the possibility of building something new without abandoning stability, allowing innovation to emerge through practical adjustments rather than sudden disruption.

This is a New Moon well suited to setting realistic intentions, clarifying priorities and committing to paths that require patience, integrity and endurance. It asks not only what we wish to build, but why, and whether our structures can support both material reality and inner values.

Congratulations to our Autumn 2025 Exam Candidates

At the Winter Solstice, when results from the Autumn exam season are formally released, we are delighted to celebrate the achievements of our students.

We are pleased to announce the successful candidates from the Autumn 2025 examination sitting, whose dedication, discipline and depth of study have been rewarded through the Faculty’s rigorous examination process.

✨ New Certificate Holders – Autumn 2025

• Corina Ionescu
• Ingrid Murphy
• Tiantian G*i
• Ricardo Luz
• Sam Bunch
• Nicola Angiolini
• Orlaith McDonagh
• Kate McLoughlin
• Samuel Harper-Booth
• June Agate Uria Cuesta

✨ Intermediate Exam Passes – Autumn 2025

• Ainara Ugarte Palomero
• Cristina-Felicia Rosca
• Jason Lloyd
• Enrico Lampis
• Elizabeth Doyle
• Nikoleta Kalaitzaki
• Fotini Papadopoulou
• Irina Groven
• Patrick Santucci

These examinations represent a significant intellectual and personal commitment. Success at this level reflects not only knowledge, but the ability to think astrologically with clarity, structure and responsibility.

The Faculty’s exams remain a benchmark for excellence, and we are proud to uphold the Gold Standard in Astrological Education through the work of our students and tutors alike.

Warm congratulations to everyone named above on this outstanding achievement. 🥳🤩

https://astrology.org.uk/

Aspect Patterns Series – Part 2 | This Saturday

This Saturday’s online seminar with Mark Fountain explores two of the most intriguing and often misunderstood aspect patterns: the Kite and the Mystic Rectangle.

Both patterns can appear complex at first glance. Their geometry raises important interpretative questions:
Where do we begin? What do they actually describe in lived experience? And how do we work with them clearly and responsibly in chart interpretation?

In this session, Mark examines:
• The structure and symbolism of the Kite and the Mystic Rectangle
• Common assumptions and misconceptions surrounding these patterns
• How they can express inner tension, paradox and creative potential
• Ways to explain them meaningfully to clients and students

As always, the emphasis is on careful technique, depth of understanding and practical application, illustrated through real chart examples.

🗓 Saturday 10 January
⏰ 3.00–4.30pm (UK time)
💻 Online | £35

You can attend this seminar on its own, or book the full Aspect Patterns Series for a small saving.
Recordings are available if you can’t attend live (booking required).

👉 Enrol here:
https://astrology.org.uk/event/navigating-complexity-and-paradox-working-with-the-kite-and-the-mystic-rectangle/

Last Online Open Evening – Tonight

Our final free Online Open Evening before the January term takes place tonight.

🗓 Tuesday 6 January
⏰ 6.30pm UK time
• 7.30pm CET
• 1.30pm Eastern (US)
• 10.30am Pacific (US)

This session is an opportunity to find out more about studying astrology with the Faculty of Astrological Studies, ask questions about our courses, and get a sense of how we teach.

If you’re considering joining the January intake, this is the last chance to attend an open evening before the term begins.

Sign up to receive the Zoom link:
https://mailchi.mp/astrology.org.uk/january-online-open-evening

The event is free, but registration is required.

We look forward to welcoming you. 😊✨

Don’t forget to join us today for a wonderful seminar with Mark Fountain…

This webinar examines four different aspect patterns, starting with perhaps the two most familiar ones, the T-square and the Grand Trine. The webinar will examine and demolish some of the myths and misconceptions about these aspect patterns. We will then discuss the gifts and opportunities, as well as the potential challenges, that both aspect patterns can represent.

Particular attention will be paid to the so-called apex planet of the T-square, which may provide clues as to how the energies of the pattern can best be harnessed.

How can we get the most out of these aspect patterns if we have them in our charts, and furthermore, how can we explain them to a client who wants to work with them?The webinar will also build on the conclusions drawn about the T-square in order to understand the Grand Cross, and will use our understanding of the Grand Trine to make sense of the Minor Grand Trine.

Book here…

https://astrology.org.uk/event/the-drive-for-integration-and-going-with-the-flow-maximising-the-potential-of-the-t-square-grand-cross-the-grand-trine-and-minor-grand-trine/

Full Moon in Cancer – 13° Cancer

Today’s Full Moon takes place at 13° Cancer, bringing a culmination point in the lunar cycle and drawing attention to themes of emotional security, belonging and care.

In astrological terms, the Full Moon represents a moment of awareness and illumination, when something that has been developing since the New Moon becomes visible. With the Moon in Cancer, emphasis falls on feeling responses, memory, family patterns and the instinctive need for protection and emotional nourishment.

Cancer is a cardinal water sign, associated with the beginnings of emotional experience and the ways we learn to respond to life through feeling rather than reason. At a Full Moon in this sign, emotional needs may press for recognition, particularly those shaped by the past or by early relational experiences.

Ad this is a Full Moon in Cancer there is an opposition to the Sun in Capricorn, highlighting the ongoing tension between inner emotional life and outer responsibility. Questions may arise around the balance between private needs and public demands, or between vulnerability and self-control.

The Moon’s opposition to Venus and Mars further intensifies this dynamic, bringing relationship themes into sharper focus. Feelings around attachment, desire, frustration or emotional expression may surface, asking for conscious engagement rather than reaction. The challenge here is not to suppress feeling, nor to be overwhelmed by it, but to find a way to integrate emotional truth with mature action.

As always, the Full Moon is a time of culmination rather than initiation. It invites reflection on what has reached a peak and what may now need to be acknowledged, integrated or released.

You may find it helpful to notice where 13° Cancer falls in your own chart, as this will indicate the area of life currently brought into focus by this Full Moon.

www.astrology.org.uk

January 2026 Astrology Overview

Written by Faculty student, Zlatina Dimova

January opens as a threshold month, where intention rapidly seeks expression through action. As illusions dissolve, the focus turns toward mature decision-making, ethical responsibility, and psychological honesty. Throughout the month, themes of power, attraction and transformation unfold on both personal and collective levels.

With only Jupiter and Uranus retrograde, growth initially turns inward. This is a time of internal recalibration before outward expansion, inviting reflection on how we use will, authority and desire.

The month begins under a Mercurial fog, as Mercury’s square to Neptune blurs the boundary between belief and reality. As Mercury moves into Capricorn on 1 January, clarity begins to return, helping translate intuition into structure, plans and achievable goals.

Chiron’s direct station in Aries on 2 January reactivates questions of identity, courage and self-assertion. Healing begins through the willingness to act despite vulnerability and fear.

The Full Moon in Cancer on 3 January illuminates emotional memory, family dynamics and unmet needs, revealing tensions between emotional safety and responsibility. As Venus and Mars unite later in the month, desire and assertion intensify, calling for conscious engagement with passion, anger and motivation.

The New Moon in Capricorn on 18 January marks a powerful moment for setting long-term intentions grounded in discipline and realism. Supportive links to Uranus and Saturn–Neptune encourage innovation guided by intuition, helping ambition align with deeper meaning.

January culminates with significant shifts as Neptune moves into Aries on 26 January, initiating a generational movement from passive idealism toward embodied vision and courageous faith.

This is a month that asks for conscious beginnings.

Read the full January 2026 Astrology Overview on our website…

https://astrology.org.uk/astrology-weather-for-january-2026/

✨ First seminars of 2026 ✨

We’re delighted to open the year with a new Aspect Patterns seminar series taught by Mark Fountain.

Aspect patterns can feel complex and elusive, yet they are often some of the most revealing structures in a chart. In this three-part series, Mark brings clarity, depth and practical insight to patterns many astrologers struggle to synthesise with confidence.

These seminars are open to everyone, you don’t need to be a Faculty student to attend.

🗓 Starts Saturday 3 January 2026
💻 Live Online | recordings included

Those who’ve studied with Mark before will know how wonderful these sessions can be. If you haven’t yet, this is a great place to begin the year.

🔗 Book the full series or individual seminars via our website.

Full series - https://astrology.org.uk/event/aspect-patterns/

Thinking about studying astrology in the New Year?

The days between Christmas and New Year often invite reflection. A pause. A quiet sense of what next?

If astrology has been calling to you, our free online Open Evenings are a gentle way to explore what studying with the Faculty of Astrological Studies is really like.

Join us to:
• meet Faculty tutors
• hear how our courses are structured
• see how astrology is taught and applied
• ask questions in a relaxed, informal setting

No prior commitment. Just curiosity.

📅 Upcoming Open Evenings

Saturday 3 January – 11:00am (UK time)
Or
Tuesday 6 January - 6.30pm (UK time)

These sessions are ideal if you’re considering Module 1 or simply want to get a feel for the Faculty’s approach before enrolling.

🌿 Free to attend – booking required

Reserve your place here…
https://mailchi.mp/astrology.org.uk/january-online-open-evening