Your January 2024 Horoscope Could Get Tense, but Cathartic

Venus enters ethereal Pisces on January 2. Because the love planet is exalted in this magical, mutable water sign, we might all feel sensitive and a bit psychic, especially regarding our relationships. This is major news for another reason: Venus will return to Pisces in late March during a retrograde, so love stories that start at the beginning of the year might have a long tail.

This Piscean playlist is exactly the soft background music we need, because on January 3, mighty Mars in Leo opposes powerful Pluto in Aquarius. This might feel like a harsh call to action in the parts of our chart ruled by these two signs. Just a few days later, on January 6, Mars retrograde returns to the sign of Cancer. In short, these few days could be tense as all get out. Have your yoga mat and bestie nearby in case you need to break that emergency glass for help.

The full moon in Cancer brings all the feels (and more) on January 13. This lunation conjoins Mars, making it edgy and intense AF. This is our signal to release any pent-up emotions we’ve kept locked in our bodies during the last few weeks, especially those that relate to the Cancer-ruled house of our chart. Let that stress out by any means necessary: trying some movement, talking through it, eating an entire sleeve of Oreos, watching 85 hours straight of Love Island, or the traditional Cancerian method of crying until your tears are spent.

On January 20, the sun shifts into revolutionary Aquarius, making us crave liberation from anything that constrains our freedom. The very next day, the sun aligns exactly with Pluto, ruler of relentless renewal. This reminds us of what’s at stake in our lives and how we can empower ourselves in moments when the future feels uncertain.

An uber-intellectual vibe is strong late in the month as Mercury also enters Aquarius. Then on January 29, the new moon perfects in this unpredictable sign. This happens just a day before Uranus, the modern ruler of Aquarius, stations direct in Taurus. This is a “change is the only constant” kind of vibe. Shakeups are possible, but if we open ourselves up to the inevitability of transformation, they don’t have to rattle us much.

Looking for even more astrology insights? Read your full 2025 romance horoscope here.

January 2025 horoscope for each zodiac sign:

Aries

2025 begins with maximum passion, Aries. Your ruler Mars is retrograde in your love zone at the start of January, pushing against powerful Pluto in your social sector. This can be uncomfortable, potentially pitting your romantic relationships against your friendships. The sun moves through your tenth house of professional prowess for the first three weeks of the month. This reminds you of what you’re capable of when you say what you want with your whole chest. The super emo full moon in Cancer in your home zone on January 13 is so close to Mars that conflict could erupt on the domestic front. If your temper is hot (and when is it not, Aries?) don’t make a scene — take a deep breath and know that the planets may blow up something that would ordinarily blow over. After the sun shifts into your social zone on January 20 and the new moon lands here at month’s end, you can set intentions for healthy, thriving friendships in 2025 — the kind that support you to live out your wildest dreams.

Career and Money:

The sun warms up your career zone for the first three weeks of January, keeping you steady and practical on the professional front. But when Uranus stations direct in your money zone on January 30, you might have a sudden, unconventional, and brilliant entrepreneurial idea. Don’t dismiss it until you talk it over with your smartest friends and colleagues.

Love and Relationships:

Retrograde Mars powers up your romance realm through January 6. Translation: if your exes didn’t stampede back into your life in December, there is still time for them to slide into your DMs during the first week of the year.

Taurus

As the new year takes off, your planetary ruler, Venus, slides into your social zone. This brings you softness, sweetness, and light just when you need it, Taurus. The next day, Mars and Pluto oppose each other, bringing your work-life balance into stark relief. You may feel like you need to make a do-or-die decision, but it’s probably not like that. The sun travels through your ninth house of new experiences for the first three weeks of January, ideal for booking (or at least researching) exotic itineraries you’re dying to explore sometime this year. The full moon in Cancer wells up in your communication zone on January 13, making self-expression feel urgent. Get it out of your system so it doesn’t eat away at you. The new moon in Aquarius at month’s end helps you set specific intentions for your next six months of professional success. With Uranus stationing direct in your sign right around the same time, you’re so ready to jump directly back into the spotlight, even if it’s a bit discombobulating at first.

Career and Money:

Your magnetic ruler Venus squares lucky Jupiter in your financial zone on January 14, bringing the potential for an unexpected windfall that has some connection to your friends or wider community. Consider pooling your resources.

Love and Relationships:

A significant change comes to your fifth house of love when the lunar nodes move into Pisces and Virgo on January 11. This is the beginning of a major narrative for your romantic life over the next few years. Relational and creative breakthroughs are incoming.

Gemini

The new year has officially dropped and you’re so ready for what’s coming. Lucky Jupiter remains on Team Gemini for the entire first half of the year, so you head into January with that in your back pocket. Venus enters your career zone at the very start of the month, making your professional prospects shine bright in the coming weeks. With Mars and Pluto opposing one another from your communication zone to your higher education zone, your worldview is changing, possibly drastically. Just be careful about dropping what seem like innocent bon mots — others might perceive your light banter as threatening. The full moon lands in your money zone on January 13, giving financial issues primacy, but helping you identify stale strategies that keep you from making what you’re worth. The sun enters your sister air sign and sets up camp in your house of travel and new experiences on January 20. The new moon lands here as the month ends, practically begging you to plan a trip to a place you’ve never been before.

Career and Money:

Mars returns to your financial zone on January 6, creating an urgency around your relationship to earning and spending. If possible, avoid huge expenditures between now and late February, when the passion planet stations direct and the intensity here begins to wane.

Love and Relationships:

The sun spends the first three weeks of the month in your sexuality sector, while your planetary ruler Mercury enters here on January 8, encouraging a deeper exploration of intimacy. Whether you’re currently partnered or not, use this to get to know your desires better — and to talk about them.

Cancer

Relationships are at the red-hot center of your world as 2025 takes off, Cancer. With the sun in your seventh house of others, you’re micro-focused on partnership issues. But after Mars retrograde returns to your sensitive sign on January 6, your own desires must be satisfied, too. There is an urgency to meet your needs, which may require facing some repressed anger. Try to let it out, Cancer. The full moon in your very own watery sign could be a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. In the days leading up to this lunation, you might swing from one feeling to the next, but rather than shut it all down, allow it to release as needed. Afterward, you should feel cleansed and unburdened of the heaviness you’ve carried around for the last six months (since your birthday!). The sun moves into your transformation zone on January 20, and the new moon lands in the same part of your chart at the end of the month. In short, January brings some choppy waters, but if you listen to your instincts, you’ll ride that wave to the safety of the shore. Owning your power isn’t always easy, but it’s so worth it.

Career and Money:

When Mars and Pluto oppose each other from your second house of income to your eighth house of debt on January 3, your relationship to money and spending could be tense. Even if holiday spending ate into your nest egg, don’t stress because no one is better at saving up than you.

Love and Relationships:

Sweet Venus slides into your sister water sign Pisces on January 2, and when she blows kisses to Mars in your sign on January 25, the vibe is crazy sexy. This is just a few days before the new moon in your sexuality sector, so consider it a very hot prelude—and set your intentions accordingly.

Leo

The new year is here and you’re not interested in wasting a single second of 2025, Leo. The month begins by putting you on a relational tightrope as passionate Mars, still in your stars, opposes Pluto in your partnership zone on January 3. The good news? Mars Retrograde backs up out of your sign a few days later, ramping down the tensions that built up over the last few weeks of the year. You can choose to be a total workhorse this month, thanks to the sun’s passage through your sixth house of work and wellness through January 20. This gets your daily routine back on track for the year ahead. The full moon in your money zone could mean some stress in the middle of the month, bringing up feelings of frustration around your financial situation. Let go of any outsized expectations you built up during the last six months, and think of this moment as a chance to renew your relationship to your bottom line. After the sun enters your relationship zone on January 20, your significant other (or the partner you hope to have) gets main character status in your life. If you want to shift the vibe in your one-to-one relationships, choose the new moon on January 29 to set your intentions.

Career and Money:

When the sun in your daily work zone sends a friendly message to Uranus in your name-in-lights career zone on January 13, you might suddenly feel like you can leap from a job to your true vocation.

Love and Relationships:

Venus saunters into your sexuality sector on January 2 and stays there all month long, bringing ease and pleasure into your intimate relationships. If you meet a new lover this month, pay attention: Venus will station retrograde and return to this part of your chart in March.

Virgo

Love is in the air as 2025 begins, but it’s not without its complexities, Virgo. Venus, the planet of attraction and affection, enters your seventh house of relationships on January 2, and she will remain there through early February (returning in late March during an upcoming retrograde phase). With the sun in your sister earth sign warming up your fifth house of love and pleasure through January 20, a very romantic theme is emerging for you. Mars returns to your social zone for another round on January 6 (he was last there in November). This can make some of your friends a bit critical and cantankerous, or cause sudden arguments to erupt in your group chat. The full moon in Cancer ups the ante in this part of your chart on January 13, and it can bring on a sudden eruption of emotions. On one hand, it’s so healthy to get it out of your system. On the other, hurt feelings could be hard to heal without authentic, deep apologies, and it may take a while for anyone to feel ready to go there. After January 20, the sun heats up your house of work and wellness, putting you back in your comfort zone. Use the new moon on January 29 to set intentions for efficiency, achievement, and a perfectly executed to-do list for the next six months.

Career and Money:

Jupiter remains in your career zone through next June. When lucrative Venus in your partnership zone aspects the lucky planet on January 14, you mhttps://www.wellandgood.com/?p=1216420&preview=trueight just be able to strike a deal or forge a professional contract that’ll bring in some cold cash during the next six months.

Love and Relationships:

The lunar nodes shift into Virgo and Pisces on January 11, auguring in a series of intense relationship-oriented eclipses that will begin over the next eight months (in March and again in September). This is going to be a major area of focus for you during the remainder of 2025 and 2026, so prepare for partnerships to hit different.

Libra

For you, Libra, the first month of 2025 has “fresh start” written all over it. Your planetary ruler Venus moves into your work and wellness zone on January 2, starting the month with sweet vibes at the office or in your WFH setup. The sun is in your home zone for the first three weeks of January, so keeping things cozy and close could feel quite right. Retrograde Mars returns to your career sector on January 6, suggesting there could be more professional stress on the horizon for the rest of the month, or perhaps just an intense drive to succeed. The full moon links up with Mars in this part of your chart at mid-month, helping you release some emotional steam built up during the last six months around your career. Letting go of any professional burdens you can no longer carry is the right thing now, even if you still feel responsible to keep it together. After January 20, the sun leaves your domestic sector and shifts into your sister air sign, filling up your fifth house of love, pleasure, and play for the next thirty days. This new moon lands here on January 29, offering you an opportunity to set solid, specific intentions about how you date, relate, and create during the next six months.

Career and Money:

The intense passion and relentless drive you’re feeling about your career is slightly softened on January 11 when Mars in your professional zone trines glamorous Neptune in your work zone. You might be temporarily confused about your goals, but use this to take a beat, inhale a deep breath, and remind yourself that your work is not your whole life.

Love and Relationships:

January 14 and 25 are banner days for your love life. Your planetary ruler Venus winks at lucky Jupiter and passionate Mars, respectively. Whether these opportunities bring heavy flirting at work, or a planned date night with your significant other, don’t sleep on the sexiness.

Scorpio

Yes, Scorpio, the first part of January is rich in burning intensity—but that’s exactly how you like it best. The new year begins with your two planetary rulers in an exact opposition. On January 3, Mars (your traditional ruler) and Pluto (your modern ruler) are in a testy argument from your house of career to your home zone. This has been boiling for a few weeks, but by the time it comes to its peak, you might actually be near or at a resolution. The sun will be in your third house of communication for the first three weeks of the year, helping you navigate tricky dialogues with people who don’t see things quite the way you do. At mid-month, the full moon in cancer, your sister water sign, erupts like an open spigot into your philosophy zone. This could provoke an emotional encounter with a new idea that shakes up the way you’ve come to see the world. After January 20, the sun shifts into your home zone, and the new moon lands here at the very end of the month. This is the moment to set intentions for your domestic life for the next six months. When it comes to family, chosen family, roommates, or live-in partner, where do you want to grow deep roots?

Career and Money:

Your ruler Mars backs up out of your career zone on January 6, taking some of the edge off when it comes to pushing your professional accomplishments with relentless zeal. Mercury remains direct in your money zone until January 8, helping you to tie up loose ends that came apart during last month’s retrograde.

Love and Relationships:

Venus, the planet of love, beauty, and attraction, moves into your fifth house of love on January 2, where she will bring loads of pleasurable vibes all month long. This is even more important because she will station retrograde and return to this part of your chart in late March. If you meet someone you like this month and you can’t get the relationship off the ground, it may not really be over.

Sagittarius

The New Year kicks immediately into gear for you, Sagittarius. The final month of 2024 was kind of a hot mess up until midway through, but you’re finally feeling caught up and ready to get rolling in 2025. Mercury remains in your sign for the first week, easing conversations about complicated issues. After Mars opposes Pluto and returns to your transformation zone on January 6, your passion could seem unstoppable. People in your life may tell you to slow down, but once you get into a steady trot, no one is going to alter your pace. The full moon in the same part of your chart on January 13 might just temporarily put you on pause, just because it’s so emotional for all. It’s important to let out everything you’re feeling instead of repressing it in favor of staying busy. Whether it’s anger, grief, anxiety, or something else, this mid-month period is ideal for releasing and healing your heart. The sun moves into your communication zone on January 20, followed by a new moon in the same part of your chart on January 29. If you’ve needed to have an important conversation, or hoped to start a podcast in the first half of 2025, this is your moment to set those intentions in detail, on paper, or your notes app.

Career and Money:

The sun warms up your money zone until January 20, with Mercury in this part of your chart during the last three weeks of the month. This enables clear, cogent, and congenial conversations about money. If you’ve been waiting to ask for a raise or to tell clients you’ve raised your rates, do it on January 19, when the communication planet high-fives Saturn and Venus.

Love and Relationships:

Your auspicious ruling planet Jupiter is in your relationship zone through the middle of this year, a net positive for your partnerships. Whether you’re currently single or involved, when Venus flirts hard with Jupiter on January 14, your ability to love feels unlimited.

Capricorn

It’s Capricorn season and whether you’re a December or January baby, 2025 is giving intensity from the start. You’ll need to tune out the noise and tune into the birthday vibes early and often. With Mars and Pluto in harsh opposition on January 3, and the passion planet returning to your relationship zone a few days later, you may need occasional reminders to go easy on yourself— especially in the relational sphere. Helping on this account, Venus slides into your communication zone early in the month, easing conversations with lovers and others. Because Mars re-enters your partnership zone on January 6, you’ll need all the help you can get in this arena. The full moon lands here at midmonth, and one of the upsides of this emo-rich lunation is that it can help you get all your feelings out of your system all at once. After January 20, the sun leaves your sign and enters your money zone, where the new moon will offer lucrative opportunities at month’s end. Set intentions for six months of high earning power, and take specific follow-up steps in the following few weeks. Then watch for your windfall, because you are always and forever that G.O.A.T.

Career and Money:

The Pluto Cazimi hits your financial zone on January 21, and this could make you feel rather intense feelings about money and power. You might even feel jealousy toward someone that you perceive has more than you. This might shock you, but someone in your life could actually see you that way, too.

Love and Relationships:

Even though passionate, aggressive Mars is activating your relationship zone from January 6 on, there are sweeter, softer spots for love along the way. Tune into romance January 19, 23, and 25—all excellent potential date nights.

Aquarius

Happy 2025! Have you noticed that the entire internet can’t stop talking about Pluto In Aquarius? Let’s unpack that for you, Water Bearer. For the first time in about 248 years, the planet of regeneration has returned to your very own sign, bestowing you with enormous power. Yes, this happened several months ago, but it becomes a major event for you at the start of January, when Mars, currently in your relationship zone, opposes Pluto in your stars. This can make you a bit obsessive about partnership issues, or bring your ego to the edge. Even though Pluto will remain in your sign for the long haul, life will soon be easier to navigate. Mars will retrograde back out of your opposite sign on January 6, taking a lot of pressure off of you for the next few months. You’re a bit quieter overall during the first three weeks of January, because the Sun is in your twelfth house of dreams and secrets, encouraging lots of downtime and beauty sleep. You might balk against this near the full moon in your work and wellness zone on January 13, thanks to job-related stress or other daily duties and deadlines. It’s essential to seek stress relief and let it all out, because pent-up emotions are not healthy near this lunation. But just a week later, the sun shifts into your sign, and your blessed birthday season begins on January 20. This is just the prelude to the fabulous new moon in Aquarius on January 29: an opportunity to set all the intentions you can dream up for the first half of 2025. When it comes to love, work, family, pleasure, and changing the world (your not-so-hidden-talent), how exactly do you want to get it all done during the next six months? Map it out and manifest it — the stars have your back at this moment.

Career and Money:

Venus is the planet of attraction, but she’s very well-known for attracting cash, not just love. And because this mega-magnetic planet enters your money zone on January 2, staying there all month and returning in late March during a retrograde, your bank account might just get a major boost soon.

Love and Relationships:

After five long months, your modern planetary ruler Uranus stations direct on January 30, the same day that the sun in your sign makes a positive trine to lucky Jupiter in your love zone. This is a major green flag for whatever you want to pursue romantically.

Pisces

Ooh, Pisces, 2025 starts out so very sweet for you. The first major event of the month is the entry of Venus, the planet of love, romance, and money directly into your own sign on January 2. This is just the beginning of a very important storyline in your life: Venus stays in your sign for the entire month, and then retrogrades in March and returns to Pisces through the end of April. Take notes on what begins this month, and stay tuned throughout the spring. Mars opposes Pluto on January 3, and even with Venus giving you planetary backup, this is not very comfortable, especially for your work and wellness zone. It might bring a bit of insomnia or other stress early in the month. When Mars returns to your love and creativity zone on January 6, your passions are inflamed, but this transit is easier for you than for some other signs. The lunar nodes move into Pisces and Virgo on January 11, starting a relationship saga that will last through 2026. The full moon in Cancer at mid-month opens the floodgates for your sensitive soul, and once you start to let it out of your system, you may not be able to put the dam back up. And that’s okay, Pisces — releasing all of your feelings from the last six months could feel like a necessary spiritual cleansing. After that, you’re ready for the sun’s entry into your house of dreams and secrets on January 20. Cue your month of delicious naps and beauty sleep galore. You have an excuse: you’re just prepping for your birthday month coming up in late February! Use the new moon on January 29 to plan ahead for your next six months of mental health and wellness. Plunging deeper into your psyche is usually something you’re here for, but right now you can set intentions for exactly how you’d like to do it. A lucid dreaming course? A new tarot deck? A new therapist? Just make sure self-care is your top priority.

Career and Money:

Mercury Retrograde may have created some professional problems for you in December, but the communication planet remains in your career zone for the first week of January. It’s full speed ahead, so tie up any remaining loose ends and move forward. Bonus: a healing moment for your relationship with money is possible on January 21 when Mercury in your house of debt squares Chiron in your financial zone.

Love and Relationships:

Some kind of sweet romantic surprise is possible on January 26 when Mercury in your sexuality sector sextiles Neptune in your sign, just as Venus in your sign sextiles Uranus in communication zone. Bonus round: it’s a top-notch day for sexting, too.

Well+Good’s resident daily and monthly astrologer, Stefanie Iris Weiss, has a brand new book! Sex and Your Stars: A Sexologist’s Guide to the Erotic Energy of the Zodiac is available right now.