Sun Into Gemini 2012: Gentle Release

When the Sun enters agile, inquisitive Gemini at 8:16 A.M. PST on May 20th, it will usher in a cycle of review and release.  Venus is already traveling retrograde in the mutable air sign, and preparing for a historic June 5-6th occultation.  Mercury will transit curious, affable Gemini from May 24th through June 7th, and giant Jupiter will enter the domain of astrology’s twins on June 11th for a one-year stay.  The eclipses of May 20th and June 4th fall along the Gemini Sagittarius axis, where the moon’s South and North nodes are also presently positioned.  Add Neptune and Chiron in Pisces and Mars in Virgo to this major mutable mix, and we can see the cosmos making way for the new through clearing and closure.

To every thing there is a season, and nature’s four seasons end under astrology’s four mutable signs: Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces.  Adaptable and flexible, the gentle mutable signs teach us how to bend and move with the tides of change.  They also prepare us for the new beginnings represented by astrology’s cardinal signs, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn and Aries, the signs that start the four seasons.  In 2012, the Gemini prep time is leading us right into the first of seven exact Uranus Pluto squares.  The last time we experienced a series of squares between Uranus and Pluto in cardinal signs was during the Great Depression.  Regarded for their ability to facilitate systemic reform, these alignments, which will take place through the spring of 2015, portend great societal shifts.  Uranus, in instigating, revolutionary Aries, and Pluto, in ambitions, pragmatic Capricorn, will be at a relatively early eight degrees when they collide under a cardinal Cancer Sun, at three degrees.  The seismic force being unleashed by this alignment is about initiation and ignition.  What we bring to life and where we land on this evolving landscape will depend greatly on having and holding a clear, integral vision, for ourselves and the world we live in.

Representing what we value, Venus began probing our thoughts under Taurus skies when she began her retrograde on May 15th.  In mental Gemini, her love quest is guiding us on a journey into our hearts.  She is helping us take an emotional inventory of sorts.  Sometimes becoming keenly, if not painfully, aware of what we lack is the key to defining what we want next.  From her review vantage point, Venus may speak to us through the language of yearning and loss.  The longing and desire that emerge may point us in the new directions we need to take.  Some points of inspired illumination ahead include June 1st, when Venus meets up with clever Mercury, June 4th, when the full moon eclipse occurs, and June 5-6th, when Venus crosses the Sun’s path.

The Sun, Venus, Mercury and Jupiter in the sign of travel, communication and technology support dialog, open-mindedness and the exchange of ideas.  These transits encourage us to think about and express what we want individually and globally.  As our visions become clearer, what we need to release also becomes evident.  Several contentious points, especially amongst the planets in mutable signs, arise during the forthcoming cycle.  Neptune and Chiron are transiting holistic Pisces, and Mars is gaining momentum opposite them in meticulous, detailed Virgo.  While they engage in an argument about the nebulous and the intuitive and the precise and analytical, they will form squares to the planets transiting Gemini and to the full Sagittarius moon.  That full moon itself presents a challenge.  Gemini loves to meet, mingle and learn.  Sagittarius needs to find the deeper meaning behind all of that information.  The South lunar node in Gemini and North node in Sagittarius intensify this struggle, and the June 4th eclipse is the final one taking place with the nodes along this axis.  We are being asked to strike a balance between frivolity and taking life too seriously.  Mercury squares Neptune on May 25th and Mars on the 30th, the Sun squares Neptune on May 23rd and Mars on June 7th, and Venus quarrels with Mars on the full moon.  If we look at the issues that surface on these occasions as matters asking for peaceful resolution, then we will see how to bridge divides or completely let go of unproductive situations and patterns.

The Gemini cycle of course concludes when  the Sun moves into aggressive Cancer.  What immediately follows this year is that Pluto Uranus square on June 24th and Saturn and Venus turning direct on the 25th and 27th.  This is a cosmic thrust forward, one intent on progress.  We get to chose its application.  To decipher what’s ahead and what to shed, we need look no further than the evening sky.  There resplendent Venus will be shining like a beacon.  If we bathe our spirits in her intrinsic beauty, attune our ears to her celestial songs and behold her gracious majesty, friendly, brilliant Gemini will mapquest us our directions.

Sun Into Taurus 2012: Love And Money

    When the Sun moves into sturdy, dependable Taurus at 9:12 A.M. PST on April 19th, it initiates a cycle abundant in earth sign resources, and one that includes a full Scorpio moon and the beginning of a Venus retrograde in thinking, communicative Gemini.  This cycle is also preparing us for a set of powerful eclipses on May 20th and June 4th, the Venus occultation of June 5-6th and the Uranus Pluto square of June 24th.  As more systemic change approaches planet Earth, the patient, powerful Bull arrives to share its enduring wisdom.  Its ruler Venus is traveling close by and urging us to make love our guiding principle, a choice that will make all the difference.

    Astrology’s earth signs are associated with nature, finances, health and the physical realms of reality, and Taurus is renowned for its capacity for construction.  Whether a personal chart is heavily aspected by planets in earth signs or not, the cycle ahead is loaded with ample opportunity to turn thoughts into things.  First and foremost, the new Taurus moon of April 21st. with Its trines to Mars and Pluto in fellow earth signs Virgo and Capricorn, sextiles with Neptune and Chiron in Pisces and conjunction with expansive Jupiter, now also in Taurus, offers a sound and inspiring foundation for building.  The Sun follows suit and bolsters our enterprises with a Neptune sextile on the 22nd, Mars and Pluto trines on the 23rd and 29th and a Jupiter conjunction on May 13th.  Those harmonious angles to indelible Neptune and healing Chiron in holistic (water sign) Pisces are important. Taurus’s easy going style agrees with Piscean gentleness, and this combination helps us access our creativity and intuition.  On May 8th, our minds also acquiesce to the Bull’s calm assurance when Mercury enters centered Taurus.  From there it sextiles Neptune on the 10th and trines Mars the 13th and Pluto on the 14th.  On May 16th Mars and Pluto trine, and on May 18th the Moon returns to Taurus.  The earth sign stamina, solidity and stability available throughout this cycle provide especially fertile ground for seeding our immediate and long-range goals.  They can also instill a sense of security that will prove useful as 2012’s larger events (the 99% Spring, earthquakes and changes at the Fed?) unfold.     

     To counteract an unhealthy emphasis on the material side of life, every Taurus cycle includes a full Scorpio moon.  Destructive and transformation, Scorpio demands honesty and necessary change.  This year the annual battle between the tangible and impermanent takes place on May 5th, the same day Mercury, still in independent Aries at the time, will oppose unyielding Saturn in arbitrating Libra.  Our Taurus quest for sensual pleasure and gratification is accountable to no less than the truth, and individual desire must be reconciled with communal concerns.  Part of a larger global trend, these aspects remind us that the exploitation of resources via our economic and environmental practices must be brought into line with our values and balanced with our impact on others.

    In case anyone misses the memo from the full Scorpio moon, pleasure-seeking Venus turns retrograde on May 15th.  Transiting Gemini, this retrograde will ask us to reflect upon what we value and to speak and act from a loving place. Lasting through June 27th, this extremely significant retrograde includes the solar and lunar eclipses and occultation.  Long before cherubic depictions of romantic love and Victorian notions of femininity, Venus was a Roman Goddess associated with sex, fertility and military victory, along with her familiar roles in love and beauty.  Similarly, the full scope, power and meaning of the planet Venus has been understated over time.  However, giving us time to review our resources and priorities through alluring Venus is only part of the 2012 mission.  

     Occurring roughly six months prior to the culmination of the Mayan calendar, this Venus retrograde is a proverbial return to love, with self-love as its starting point.  If we enter this retrograde with a willingness to shine the Light of unconditional love onto our shadows first, completely forgiving and embracing all of our being, the healing begins. Call it Bull medicine.  Call it the Power of Love.  Call it evolution.  The cosmic message is clear; love is the alchemical solution to all that ails us and our planet.  Aligned with its transformative truth, we and the world will shift. If we do the internal work during this retrograde, by the time Venus goes direct in late June, we will emerge lighter and brighter, with a much greater capacity to give and receive love. In the meantime, the celestial Bull is here to ground and nourish our dreams. Happy Birthday Taurus!

Sun Into Aries 2012: New Pathways Emerging

Typically when the Sun enters bold, inpatient Aries, it initiates a cycle that brings us a renewed sense of drive and dynamism. As the days lengthen, flowers bloom and temperatures rise, the invigorating energy of this Cardinal fire sign fills us with the annual impulse to forge ahead. With Mercury, Saturn and the Ram’s ruler, Mars, already retrograde, and a Pluto retrograde and some Mutable crosses in the immediate forecast, the action will be much more subdued in 2012. In the bigger scheme of things, a set of eclipses, a Venus retrograde and occultation, and the first of some massive Pluto Uranus squares will occur during the coming three months. The decidedly more cautious pace of this Aries cycle is signaling a season of discerned development. The careful application of Aries firepower can help us make mindful and meaningful progress as the game-changing variables in the offing unfold.

Irrepressible and indomitable, enlivening and enthusiastic, Aries starts the spring and inspires us with confidence and courage. On March 19th at 10:14 P.M. PST, when the Sun enters this initiating sign, that sense of possibility and provocation will be heightened because the Sun will meet up with thinking Mercury and inventive Uranus already in Aries. On the 22nd, the new Aries moon will add more fuel to the inextinguishable fire, and activate some Cardinal cross energy. Like intersections, astrology’s crosses represent perpendicular points of planetary collision. One force must yield to another in order for one to progress. By March 29th the Sun and Pluto will be in such an alignment. The Sun in Aries signifies personal will with an emphasis on individuality and independence, and Pluto in Capricorn represents a sober assessment of available resources. One of this cycle’s key yellow-light dates. this square is advising us to take a long-range look when making significant decisions about how we use time and money. The Mars retrograde in rational, methodical Virgo will help quell our passions long enough to weigh the options carefully, and Mercury’s backward movement into integrating Pisces, where dissolving Neptune also is, will support holistic solutions. By the way, Mercury will go direct on April 4th and Mars on the 13th.

The placements of Mercury and Neptune in Pisces and Mars in Virgo point to another important feature of this Aries sojourn, the Mutable influence. The Mutable signs, Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces, end their respective seasons and are generally associated with closure, completion and change. On April 3rd, Venus moves into inquisitive, talkative Gemini. From this position Venus will square Neptune on April 5th, Mars on the 7th and Chiron on the 12th. The Sagittarius moon of April 9th through 11th will create another series of Mutable squares. With much less harshness than their Cardinal and Fixed counterparts, the adaptable Mutable crosses teach us flexibility and gentle release. 2012’s spring cleaning can be literal and physical and biological and neurochemical. The Mutable crosses support freeing ourselves from the past, and the Cardinal crosses endorse sowing the seeds of our desired new realities.


Like music behind our intentions, Venus can play a major role in shaping those new paradigms. The implications of the planet of love, relating and possessions in the sign of information, communication and technology are enormous, and this transit is a unique one. It will last for four months and includes a retrograde and occultation. Venus will reach the retrograde shadow point of 7 degrees Gemini on April 12th, and by May 15th it will be at 23 degrees when the retrograde that will last until June 28th begins. During the retrograde, the Venus occultation and next set of Gemini/Sagittarius solar and lunar eclipses will take place. Similar to an eclipse, during the occultation, Venus will appear to pass in front of the Sun. Venus occultations occur in pairs separated by eight years, but these pairs only take place every 121 years. The June 5th event is the second half of the 2004 set. Though I’ll be writing more about the eclipses and occultation in the Gemini edition, their influences will start during this Aries cycle when Venus enters Gemini.

The squares Venus will make to Neptune, Mars and Chiron in April are part of a larger spring trend. One possibility is that they will expose some of the fault lines in our psyches, the uncomfortable corners where the intent to change meets the old, internal resistance stored in our habitual negative thinking and emotional bodies. The presence of Venus in Gemini will beam constant reminders of life’s intrinsic beauty. The more often we recognize it, the more often we experience the Venus effect. As this template upgrades each individual operating system, the greater the possibility for collective planetary evolution. Excitable and unflappable, Aries is arriving to point the way forward and to cheer us up and onward. Though a few retrogrades may cause some pause, it’s time to celebrate this invincible force of spirit.

Sun Into Pisces 2012: Resolve To Evolve

Within hours of its arrival into sensitive, otherworldly Pisces, the Sun will merge with oceanic Neptune for an exact conjunction. Luring us further into the vast, multi-dimensional realms of psychic Pisces will be Mercury and Chiron, the communication planet and healing asteroid, already transiting the mutable water sign. Completion, integration and wholeness are themes often associated with this the final sign of the zodiac. Before forging ahead into the next turn of the wheel, holistic Pisces gives us an annual pause for reflection and release. To make sure that we don’t wander too far off into the worlds of fantasy, this year Mars will be opposing all things Pisces from analytical Virgo, Mercury will snap out of the celestial dreamtime for a breath of invigorating Aries air, before turning retrograde, and a cantankerous Cancer moon will stir things up on March 2nd and 3rd. But none of that should deter us from swimming to the deep end of 2012’s Pisces pool. After all, any upset we perceive is merely some place in our being asking for compassion and closure. Finally, a Grand Earth Trine coming late in the cycle will fortify the insights, Angelic messages and healing energies emerging during the dreamy and daunting days ahead.

The voyage begins at 10:18 P.M. PST on February 18th when the Sun moves into boundless, artistic Pisces. At 12:41 P.M. PST on the 19th, its conjunction with dissolving Neptune will be exact. Much more than a good time to meditate, this is a stellar invitation to venture far beyond the limits of reason. It’s the chance to wade into the waters of our wildest imagination where nothing is impossible. We can emerge from their depths with solutions to complex problems, a sincere desire to heal old grievances and inspired strategies for the path ahead. Even a Mars opposition to thinking Mercury in feeling Pisces on the 23rd will be no match for the exceptional creativity, empathy and sense of Oneness that will abound through the new Pisces moon on the 21st and a Sun Chiron hookup on the 24th. Like returning from a weekend retreat, early March will bring some aspects that may road test our new found state of Zen.

On March 2nd Mercury abandons spiritual Pisces for spirited Aries, and later that day the moon heads into Cancer where it will form contentious angles to Mercury, Uranus, Venus, Saturn and Pluto through the 3rd. Also on the 3rd, Mars and the Sun will form an opposition, as will Venus and Saturn on the 4th. Mercury, Uranus and Venus in agitating Aries are probably indicating where we need to be more self-advocating and assertive, and that emotional Cancer moon is up to its own form of instigation, say on behalf of our inner needs. At first glance, this may not seem like the woo woo world of “love and light” espoused by the spiritually inclined. However, when we view any conflict and discomfort that arise at this time through evolved Pisces, we can see a kind of metaphysical acupuncture at work. In this scenario, the Aries needles and Cardinal provocations may be precisely the medicine we need to feel and experience for awareness and growth. After all, that Mars retrograde in Virgo that began in January is also still uncovering old wounds and encouraging healthy expression of our needs. As the toxins emerge, we can look to the Sun, Neptune and Chiron connections in Pisces for messages of understanding, forgiveness and release.

On March 5th Venus moves home to grounded Taurus, heralding the way to a Grand Earth Trine. Whether the goal is physical or financial, medicinal or material, earthly abundance arrives between the 12th and 16th. On the 12th, powerhouse planets Jupiter in fertile Taurus and Pluto in industrious Capricorn form a constructive trine, the final one of a series of three that began last July. The earth sign support continues on the 13th when Venus trines Pluto and lines up with Jupiter. On the 14th Venus trines audacious Mars in fellow earth sign Virgo, and then Mars trines Jupiter and Pluto. Finally, the moon moves into hardworking, ambitious Capricorn on the 15th to close out this highly productive week.

The Mercury retrograde that begins on the 12th, amongst this confluence of planets in earth signs, signals new opportunities to showcase the gifts we already possess. So often we believe that happiness is something to seek out there. This retrograde is a celestial reminder of the gold within. In our most excruciating pain, lies our most profound healing, in our greatest adversity, our greatest strength and in our most formidable challenges, our most meaningful lessons. Under perceptive Pisces care, this retrograde can help us see the hidden treasures buried in our experiences and recognize our talents and resources. As we clear away old blockages, embrace the good and prepare for the new astrological year that will dawn on March 20th, the path to living more peacefully and creativity will be revealed. Dream big, and move gently.

For a sample of the Pisces energy happening at this time, please join Elizabeth and Angel Therapy Practitioner and author Kristy Ayala for a guided meditation with Archangel Sandalphon on Wednesday, February 22nd, at 11:00 A.M. PST on Blogtalk Radio. Archangel Sandalphon is the Angels of Musicians, and Elizabeth will play harp accompaniment to Kristy’s meditation for healing the artist. The show will be archived as well.

Sun Into Aquarius 2012: Walking the Line Into the Mystic

During the cycle ahead Mars, the planet of passion, aggression and battle, will turn retrograde in orderly, detailed Virgo. Saturn, the planet of limitations, authority and discipline, will also go retrograde. While those two go into review mode, creative, deceptive and intoxicating Neptune will return home to Pisces for a 13-year stay. To launch our journey, the Sun arrives in original, detached and progressive Aquarius at 8:10 A.M. PST on January 20th. This time out, the celestial emphasis is on conflict resolution, and the eccentric perspective and brilliant ingenuity of this fixed air sign can help us weave the seemingly disparate planetary threads of Mars, Saturn and Neptune into cosmic coherence.

Synchronistically enough, Mars turns retrograde on the new moon of January 23rd. That new moon initiates the Chinese Year of the Dragon. The mightiest sign of the Chinese zodiac, the Dragon, like Mars, is associated with ambition, strength and dominance. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with any of these forms of power in and of themselves, the challenge lies in finding healthy ways to express their key ingredient, aggression. According to psychological astrologers Liz Greene and Howard Sasportas, for aggression to be healthy, it must meet the following criteria:

“Healthy aggression (1) serves as protection against predatory attack, (2) is a positive impulse to comprehend and master the external world, a force deep inside us which provides the impetus to learn new skills, (3) is the basis for achieving independence and breaking away from those who would dominate or overprotect us and (4) endows us with the will to unfold more of who we are and grow into what we are meant to become.”

While road rage, domestic violence and murder are obvious examples of unhealthy expressions of aggression, the greater danger may lie in repressed aggression. Metaphysical teachers theorize that, in the larger context, projections of collective aggression into the mass conscious result in everything from threats of nuclear warfare, to suicide bombings, to full scale war. In personal terms, Mars will be retrograde until April 13th in Virgo, the sign of service. In the context of serving our evolutionary needs, this transit can help us uncover the true sources of our internal struggles, and outward behaviors. With that understanding, Martian aggression is transformed from the lead weighing us down and holding us back into the Alchemist’s gold that fuels our development.

February 7th marks the full moon of this Aquarius cycle and is also the day of another important retrograde. Like Mars, Saturn is known as a malefic planet. In modern astrology these can be thought of as forces that help us see, and heal, our shadows. When Saturn turns retrograde at 29 degrees of Libra, it will be only a half degree away from Scorpio. The later degrees of each sign are considered the most potent. So it’s interesting to note that rather than progressing on to the next astrological sign, the planet of lessons, restraint and responsibilities will have to travel back through Libra’s most intense territory. On June 25th when its retrograde is complete, Saturn will be all the way back to 22 degrees of Libra. Retrograde in the sign of partnerships, balance and deliberation, Saturn will encourage us to weigh the effects our actions have on others.

The theme seems like an agreeable one to integrating Aquarius, a sign also concerned with fellowship and cooperation. Where the Sun and Mercury (transiting Aquarius from January 27th through February 13th) may beg to differ from Saturn, and Mars in perfectionistic Virgo, is on the subject of “the rules.” Saturn and Mars will want to enforce them, while Mercury and Sun in freedom-seeking Aquarius will want to break them. Fanning the revolutionary flames with provocative angles to Saturn and Pluto in conservative Capricorn will be Uranus and Venus in instigating Aries. Amid these conflicting energies, understanding the origins of our aggressive impulses, courtesy of the Mars retrograde, will go a long way towards causing healthy rebellion and conscious change.

It blurs, dissolves and dilutes, and it will infiltrate the cosmic conversation on February 3rd when it returns to holistic Pisces. Generational Neptune’s influence is anything but obvious and its impact is indelible. One tiny sip from its enchanting chalice can be the gateway to addiction, delusion and loss or the nectar of visionary creativity. When Mars completes its retrograde on April 13th, it will have traveled all the way back to 3 degrees of Virgo where it will be only one degree away from a direct opposition to Neptune. As that opposition builds, illusion, glamour and escape lure us to one side of this tricky axis, while practicality, logic and organization hold down the other. Is this a message to accept our imperfections so that we are less judgmental of others? Even the Laws of Physics make allowances for bends and inconsistencies in the four known dimensions. Or, have we been shrewdly enrolled in the precarious and unprincipled agendas of others? Radical and inexhaustibly inventive, Aquarius can rationalize the most outlandish schemes, sometimes tragically to the point of total alienation. Seductive and nearly imperceptible, Neptune can make fast matchstick girls out of those who fail to recognize its influence. Listening intently to our intrinsic truths, even when they speak to us in the uncomfortable language of anger, conflict and contradiction, is one way to decipher. At the oracle of the temple of Delphi the great axiom “Know Thyself” is written. For 2012’s celestial mavericks, its wisdom is their ancient bridge to the future.

Sun into Capricorn 2011: Collisions, Decisions & Visions

When the Sun enters conservative Capricorn on December 21st at 9:30 P.M. PST it will usher in the cycle that will bring us into auspicious 2012.  Much of the astrological world is already abuzz about two of 2012’s biggest events, the exact Uranus Pluto squares taking place on June 24 and September 15th.  These are the first in a series of seven occurring until March of 2015, and their influence is widely anticipated to be a major source of the great societal, cultural and institutional transformation ahead.  While those seismic events are building on the cosmic horizon, the immediate Capricorn solar journey before us will give us a sense of their essence. It will also offer some creative strategies for staying on track during changing times. In part that is because Pluto is already transiting sober, pragmatic and dedicated Capricorn, and on January 7th Mercury will enter this Cardinal earth sign.  The full moon of January 8th in Cancer will contribute to the Cardinal crossfire.  It will also nurture empathy, trust and security.  In addition to the squares they form with Uranus in Aries and Saturn in Libra, the planets in Capricorn will form supportive earth trines with Mars in Virgo and Jupiter in Taurus.  This cycle will also host innovative air sign trines, mainly courtesy of a Venus transit through inventive Aquarius.  In short, momentous 2012 is dawning under a Capricorn sky that will bring issues to the fore as quickly as it serves up ground-breaking solutions. The art of working toward the realization of our dreams while sea-change abounds is the gift of austere, determined Capricorn, and the cycle ahead will offer many occasions to master it.

Shortly after the Sun enters conventional Capricorn, it will collide with Uranus in spirited, independent Aries in the form of a square.  The disruption unleashed by squares presents opportunities to address nagging issues and to release ourselves completely from unsustainable situations. Venus, newly arrived in original Aquarius, will offer some objective insight and ingenious ideas, and benevolent, expansive Jupiter will form a supportive trine to the Sun. In astrology planets travel from zero to twenty-nine degrees through each of the zodiac’s twelve signs.  Zero represents a starting point is associated with moments of infinite possibility. At the start of this Capricorn cycle Uranus and Jupiter will be at zero degrees, and the faster moving Sun and Venus will move from zero forward. This signals a time to find new ways at looking at old problems or the right time to make a fresh start by clearing the slate altogether.

   The initiating energies are bolstered on the 24th under a new Capricorn moon, and on the 25th another force of renewal is activated when Jupiter turns direct. The plentiful planet has been retrograde since August 30th. In constructive earth sign Taurus, its forward motion will breathe life back into shelved projects and give weighty momentum to new endeavors. By the 29th the Sun will be conjunct (exactly aligned with) Pluto at seven degrees. Capricorn’s long-range perspective fueling the Sun and Pluto makes this a stellar time to work on big-picture ventures. To only think about New Year’s resolutions under these influences is to be shortsighted. This is Capricorn’s most industrious power and it can sustain the enterprises to which it is applied for years to come. Marking the days from December 22nd through New Year’s Day with the phrase “Life Vision” and spending some quality time contemplating its meaning wouldn’t be a bad idea. To underscore the point, a motivational Aries moon arrives on December 31st, kicks off 2012 under its bold, brave influence and stays through January 2nd. Happy New Year!

The Cancer Full Moon of January 8th creates a Grand Cardinal Square involving six of astrology’s ten planets. Mercury, Pluto and the Sun will be roughly 90 degrees away from Uranus in Aries which will be about 90 degrees away from the moon in Cancer. It will in turn be 90 around degrees from Saturn in Libra which will be approximately 90 degrees away from the planets in Cap. Of course oppositions are formed along the Cancer Capricorn axis as well as the Aries Libra line. Symbolized by the mountain goat, ambitious, resourceful Capricorn sets its goal and takes one deliberate step after the next to attain it. Dutiful, responsible and relentless, its standards are high and uncompromising. The confrontational aspects occurring while this moon reaches its zenith, under a complete Grand Cardinal Cross, suggest the unmasking of those unprepared to walk this exacting walk. After all, Pluto is a major part of the eventful equation. Cancer’s mission is to provide protection and safety and to foster emotional security, Uranus in Aries signals an awakening and Saturn in Libra champions fairness. As the cosmic waves crash over the weekend of January 7th, the true architects and custodians of the New Age will emerge as those committed to dispelling fear and competition with stability and trust.

Beaming brightly throughout this cycle will be a nearly exact trine between powerhouse planets Saturn in fair-minded, harmonious Libra and Neptune in progressive Aquarius. Also traveling through broad-minded, humanitarian Aquarius will be loving Venus. Aquarian airwaves of brilliance, originality and mental electricity in her care will be especially clear on January 13th when she trines Saturn and conjuncts Neptune. This air-sign trio will ring the bells of freedom and justice from higher octaves throughout the Capricorn cycle. If we tune in, we’ll be able to view all arising challenges from a wiser and wider perspective. As the Capricorn season closes, Venus moves on to holistic Pisces. This too is a harbinger of an important aspect that will be in effect far beyond 2012, Neptune’s transit through Pisces. Pisces is dedicated to unity and integration and Neptune offers a pathway into our innate creativity. Neptune will reach its watery home on February 3rd where it will remain until 2025. Artistic Venus will lead the way, showing us how to begin tapping into these vast and visionary reserves now.

It's Day 6 of the 12 Days of Giving

Hello,

I hope that your holidays are going really well. I just wanted to post a quick update on the 12 Days of Giving Promotion. First of all, thank you to everyone who is participating. It has been so much fun catching up with so many of you. It has also been my pleasure to give you readings as we all prepare for momentous 2012. So far my daily winners have picked a wide range of great causes, and I am completely honored to donate to them.

The contest details are all spelled out in the two previous posts below, so please read those for details. Finally, it's Friday and that means that the Hay House Book Club will be on at 11AM PST on Hay House Radio. Today's edition is our interview with Scott Blum from the DailyOM, whose book "Winter Moon Rises" is one of the books contest winners can choose from the 2011 Hay House Book Club Collection. I hope you will tune in for this show. With the Hay House Radio App, you can listen anywhere. It's free and a great resource. Lastly, our 2011 rewind show has been moved to the 23rd.

There you have it! Thank you again for your likes, calls, retweets, etc. Happy Holidays!

With love,
Elizabeth