Sun Into Capricorn 2012-13: The Valley of the Shadow

    The Sun and Santa Claus may be coming to town, but you better watch out, as the old song says, for Pluto.  This year’s solar trip through sober, provocative Capricorn will see the planet ruling power, death and the subconscious make direct connections with most of astrology’s personal planets.  Closely allied with staunch Saturn in transformational Scorpio, the cycle is set to help us confront blocks and fears. to clear our paths of psychic debris and to lay more ascension groundwork.  But before we can plant the seeds of change, we have to locate our seeds of self-destruction.

    I once was lost
    But now I’m found
    Was blind
    But now I see
            - John Newton


    The Sun will move into determined Capricorn at 3:12 A.M. PST on December 21st and by the 30th it will be conjunct (at the same degree as) Pluto.  Ambitious and assiduous, Capricorn sets its intention and achieves its aims.  In traditional astrology, this Cardinal earth sign is associated with career and industry, and in our heavily materialistic culture they are in turn primarily associated with monetary reward.  In the new paradigm, life purpose may be the more appropriate and helpful term when defining our work, and satisfaction and happiness are equally important indicators of the worth of our endeavors.  Under Pluto’s waxing influence, stated business ethics will increasingly have to match industry practices.  So when the Sun contacts honest, purifying Pluto these days, evolved interpretations of success will apply to our professional lives and surviving institutions.  When Pluto connects with Mercury on January 6th, we may be forced to examine inconsistencies.  Are they based on fearing or trusting life?  When Pluto aligns with Venus on the 16th, we may have to look at our relationships and values.  What have we been sweeping under the rug for the false sake of peace?  What changes are we ready to make?  Plutonium is after all a key component of nuclear power.  We can think of these Pluto connections like coming into contact with internal nuclear energy.  Anything less than our complete authenticity and a commitment to carefully disposing of our accumulated toxins would be like ignoring proper maintenance at a nuclear power plant.  Body work such as massage and acupuncture may be especially helpful at this time.  As Saturn continues its transit of Pluto-ruled Scorpio, the pressure to clean up our acts, systems and planet will only increase.

    On December 26th Pluto will form a sextile to Capricorn’s ruling planet Saturn.  This structuring planet is just getting settled into the shamanic sign of death and rebirth, and this is only the first of the exact sextiles it will form with Pluto over the next three years.  Fortunately for us, the influence of a sextile is astrology’s kinder and gentler cleaning mode.  Still, these forces are intent on fully exposing flaws and falsehoods and washing away blockages and distortions.  Scorpio’s candor will help us see the issues clearly.  It will sextile Mercury on January 6th, under a Scorpio moon, and it will sextile Venus on January 17th.  Conversations shift from image to substance, and substance determines consequences.

    All of the self-exploration and clearing are in preparation for the new Capricorn moon of January 11th.  On that day five of astrology’s ten planets will be in forging, security-conscious Capricorn.  This first new noon of 2013 will make connections with Pluto and the Sun and will receive propulsion from Innovative Uranus in activating Aries.  Capricorn can lay a solid foundation for growth, and its work toward principled goals builds enduring systems and legacies.  Looking ahead, 2013’s full Capricorn moon will take place on June 23rd, when the Sun will be in the Cardinal water sign of nurturing Cancer.  This reference point comes only weeks ahead of one of the year‘s most influential events, a grand water trine.  Exact on July 17th this trine will see Neptune, Jupiter and Saturn merge from each of the three water signs, Pisces, Cancer and Scorpio. 

    The enormous wave of heart wisdom they create is beginning to form now.  This is where and when feelings, language and spirituality begin playing a greater role in determining reality.  This wave will envelop all three of the year’s Mercury retrogrades which will take place under the water signs.  Capricorn is the domain of astrology’s ancient sea goat, so now is when can begin to master navigating between the material world and the watery home of heartfelt intelligence.  Pluto’s transit through Cap lasts until 2023 and Neptune’s voyage through Pisces until 2025.  It is into this larger context that the Sun enters competent, capable Capricorn.  Evolutionary Pluto stands in its path, poised to purge us of impediments to our progress.  Are we ready to face the music and to sing a new song?


When you've seen beyond yourself
then you may find peace of mind is waiting there
And the time will come when you see
we're all one
and life flows on within you and without you

               - George Harrison

Sun Into Scorpio 2012: Eliminate To Generate

“Come to the edge,” he said.
They said, “We are afraid.”
They came.
He pushed them....
They flew.
- Guillaume Apollinaire

    Emotional, fixed Scorpio thrives on intensity and change, and the Sun will dive into its purifying waters at 5:14 P.M. PST on October 22nd.  Material matters will surface courtesy of a full Taurus moon on the 29th and a total solar eclipse conjunct the lunar nodes on November 13th.  A provocative full Cardinal cross will precede the Mercury retrograde that begins on Election Day in the U.S.  Saturn and Pluto will begin strengthening 2013’s evolutionary Uranus Pluto squares.  And, Neptune and Chiron, turning direct in reflective Pisces, will connect us more directly with our intrinsic truths.  In the grand scheme of things, new dimensions and higher levels of awareness are opening up to us.  To access them, we must journey through solemn Scorpio’s passageway.

     October 29th’s full moon in physical, security-oriented Taurus will be opposed by restricting Saturn and the willful Sun in truthful, transforming Scorpio.  This super moon is connected to 2012’s Venus occultation, 2013’s Uranus Pluto squares and the lunar node placements lasting into early 2014.  It is a call to strike a healthy balance between the our spiritual essence and material needs.  It is also an opportunity to examine and release the financial fears that ironically limit us.  Occurring two days before the Celtic holy day of Samhain, it is a summons to look within, reconcile losses and dedicate ourselves more fully to the spiritual work we came here for.  This meaningful moon will receive a friendly trine from evocative Pluto in industrious Capricorn.  Infused with this lunar wisdom and inspired by practical plans for the future, we enter a Cardinal gateway of Light the first weekend of November.

October 29, 2012

     Abundant Venus has two celestial abodes, and she will be residing in her harmonious Libra lair when the moon comes home to its native Cancer from November 3-5th.  With Pluto and Uranus settled into Capricorn and Aries, the cosmic stage is set for initiation.  If the full moon or Samhain/Halloween purging has worked its magic, then new offers and opportunities will begin materializing in early November.  Discouraging unwisely impulsive decisions, clever Mercury will turn retrograde on November 6th.  Lasting until November 26th, this transit will provide ample time for studying details and carefully reviewing facts and figures before moving ahead.  And with the Messenger traveling all the way back to 18 degrees of probing Scorpio, deceit, abuse and deception will be exposed.  Mercury, Saturn and the Sun are intent on clearing corruption and instituting the honesty and integrity now critical for planetary evolution.  

    Mercury re-enters sacred Scorpio on November 13th, the day of a total solar eclipse.  This new moon eclipse in Scorpio is conjunct the lunar North node.  In general terms, the moon’s South node describes the past and its North points the way forward.  The Taurus Scorpio opposition created here concerns resources and power.  In late August the Nodes shifted into Taurus and Scorpio, where they will be in influence until February 2014.  Here they will intensify the current Scorpio directive to fully integrate our spiritual beliefs with our economic practices and the care we give to our physical bodies. 
 
    The “let go to grow” mantra being sounding now will be booming by the time we reach 2013’s Pluto Uranus squares.  They will take place on May 20th, the final day of the Taurus Sun cycle, and on November 1st, in the midst of next year’s Scorpio solar sojourn.  By then stern, structuring Saturn will be adding more of its considerable weight to the equation.  The ringed-planet is after all Capricorn’s ruler, so it supports Pluto’s presence in the sign of pragmatic progress.  Reciprocally, Pluto respects Saturn’s disciplined prowess in its home sign of destructive Scorpio.  In short, Pluto in Capricorn and Saturn in Scorpio understand and mirror each other.  In these placements, their energies are complementary and mutually fortifying.  Mars will amplify their power when it moves through ambitious Capricorn from November 16th through December 25th.  This is the fuel for setting and ultimately reaching conscious goals.  The Sun’s coming placements in Taurus and Scorpio on the exact days of the next Pluto Uranus squares will reinforce the work we undertake now.

    Scorpion change is often dramatic, turbulent and obvious.  By contrast, fellow water sign Pisces works more like waves upon rocks.  It dissolves so subtly and gently that its influence is usually only recognizable over time.  The planet it rules, Neptune will turn direct on November 10th as will healing asteroid Chiron on the 14th.  Both are in holistic, integrating Pisces, the sign that also completes the zodiac.  Thus the planets in these collaborating water signs are on message: release to regenerate.  The Neptunian element here assures us that even in the midst of great upheaval, peace is always available.  The boundless, artistic planet instructs us to turn inward.  There we can center ourselves.  From the void of a quiet mind, inspiration emerges.  Aligned with its clarity, we know precisely which steps to take next.

“And now I see with eye serene,
the very pulse of the machine
A being breathing thoughtful breath
A traveler between life and death”
William Wordsworth

Sun Into Libra 2012: Dare To Care

    The Sun will shift into harmonizing Libra at 7:49 A.M. PST on September 22nd, but this cycle’s main event will take place on October 5th.  That’s when lesson-baring Saturn will move from graceful Libra, where it has been since October 29, 2009, into passionate, purifying Scorpio.  The transit will last until December 23, 2014 with a retrograde revisit scheduled from June 14th to September 16th of 2015.  Before that celestial changing of the guard, we have some ideal aspects for brainstorming and another Cardinal portal of bright beginnings to travel through.  Also during the upcoming Libra cycle, active Mars will move into adventurous Sagittarius, mental Mercury will delve into intense Scorpio and artistic Venus will beautify service-oriented Virgo.  Joining Jupiter in Gemini and Neptune in Pisces, Mars and Venus will form more Mutable squares and oppositions, further encouraging release and renewal. 

    The Libra cycles gets off to a lively start when the moon moves into Cardinal Capricorn on September 22nd.  In alliance with powerful Pluto, the moon will square Uranus, the Sun, Mercury and Saturn through the 24th.  These energies are bound to stir us up and spur us into action.  Aligning our thoughts, words and deeds with high frequencies of awareness, the moon will next head into lofty Aquarius.  There, with the Sun, Mercury, Saturn and Jupiter in fellow air signs, it will beam rays of sheer brilliance to us through the 26th.  The last of Saturn’s transit through balanced, deliberating Libra will lend soundness to the ingenuity coming during these days.  October 8th, with its exact Sun Jupiter trine, is another five-star day for bright ideas.  Putting the wind beneath our wings, or lighting the fire under our arses, a full Aries moon is set for September 29th.  Rambunctious, pioneering and ever provocative, Ram’s irrepressible spirit will inform and infuse us until October 1st.  Much more than the mere turning of a calendar page, October 1st marks a turning of the celestial tide.  That week Venus, Mercury, Mars and Saturn will change signs and generous Jupiter will turn retrograde.  The most significant planetary shift is that of Saturn.

    We are in the midst of a fifteen-year Pluto journey through reforming Capricorn and a three-year series of Uranus Pluto squares.  Their propulsion will be strengthened in 2014 when Jupiter traverses Cancer and forms more major planet Cardinal crosses.  And recently, on August 29th, the moon’s nodes shifted to the Taurus Scorpio axis.  It is into this eventful context that Saturn’s transit of Scorpio occurs.  I’ll be writing more about the implications of the lunar node shift in the Sun Into Scorpio edition of the newsletter next month.  For now, understanding more about the Saturn Scorpio transit is what’s important.  Because it has as many implications as it has interpretations, I highly recommend reading the work of many astrologers about this transit. 

    Its icy rings have been visible since 1610, and they’ve reinforced Saturn’s reputation as the planet symbolic of boundaries, discipline and limitations.  Saturn is astrology’s authority figure, and it teaches us to earn life’s rewards.  Scorpio, represented by the scorpion, snake and phoenix, is the sign of metamorphosis.  Amongst its many gifts are honestly, intimacy and death.  This is a call to truthfully examine ourselves, and to change.   For the next three years, each time an emotional button is pushed or a psychological issue is triggered, resolute Saturn will offer Scorpion medicine.  Blocks to intimacy can be revealed and healed.  Mortality is another Scorpion awakener.  In the gifted hands of the planet governing time, respect for death’s inevitability can help us live on purpose.   Sober, abiding Saturn will help us face and overcome the fears preventing us from living our most cherished dreams.  Immensely connected with the Neptune and Chiron transits of Pisces, this is cosmic transformation of the deepest magnitude.  Indifference is not an option.  For the resistant, this transit will be harsh.  Saturn is as inflexible and it is relentless, and in emotional Scorpio it will be intent on getting to the heart of matters.  For the hearts and minds bravely committed to personal and planetary evolution, this transit is alchemist’s gold.  We can release all heart chakra blockages and experience new levels of awareness and intimacy.  Our first treatment is scheduled on Oct 10th when Saturn trines Neptune.  The challenge for us will be to not deny that we care, but to fully acknowledge how dearly and deeply we do.

October 15, 2012 New Moon

    To gently usher in the beginning of this great change, the cleansing energies of the Mutable signs will be in evidence for the reminder of the Libra cycle.  With Jupiter in Gemini, Venus in Virgo, Mars in Sagittarius and Neptune and Chiron in Pisces, each Mutable point of the zodiac’s wheel will be occupied.  Strong messages about what to let go of will be reinforced by Mercury’s presence in detecting Scorpio.  Dates to watch for these invitations to reflect and release include October 7th, 12th, 16th and 17th.  Saturn’s presence is Scorpio will add resonance to the clarity coming through far beyond this Sun cycle. 

    On the whole, the sweeping shift we are all experiencing is unfolding over many years, and the Saturn transit through Scorpio is poised to play a major role in it.  For now, the Sun is entering diplomatic, instigating Libra to initiate us for the life-altering sojourn.  It arrives here each autumn to start the new season and to remind us of our relationships.  Spiritual growth doesn't happen in a vacuum, and Libra shows us where and how we can evolve through the people in our lives.  Often reprinted at this time of year, the Prayer of St. Francis, elegantly expresses the wisdom and grace of this evocative sign.  This prayer also reminds us to get outside of ourselves long enough to support those we are blessed to have in our lives.  Its essence activates a deep internal shift that moves our Light and love outward.  At a point of such tremendous planetary change, its transformational simplicity is well worth practicing.  Happy Birthday Libra!


The prayer of St. Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace 
Where there is hatred, let me sow love
where there is injury, pardon
where there is doubt, faith
where there is despair, hope
where there is darkness, light
where there is sadness, joy

O Divine Master, 
Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console 

to be understood as to understand

to be loved as to love
For it is in giving that we receive
and 
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned 

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life

Sun Into Virgo 2012: Tuning In And Turning On

     Shortly following the Sun’s entrance into rational, discerning Virgo at 10:07 A.M. PST on August 22nd, passionate Mars will move into psychic Scorpio on the 23rd.  There, the planet of drive and desire will be in the highly intuitive company of alluring Venus in caring Cancer and seductive Neptune in perceptive Pisces.  These three planets in the feeling water signs will set an internal, reflective tone that will resonate throughout much of the forthcoming Virgo cycle.  Fireworks and forward momentum are set for mid-September when Cardinal forces mount under the second Uranus Pluto square.  In between, strong full and new moons are on tap, purifying Pluto will turn direct and Neptune, the planet in Virgo’s opposite sign of Pisces, will be exert its indelible influence.

    The Sun’s annual journey through principled, practical Virgo is usually when we consider the balancing of polarities.  The days and nights are becoming equal in length as the autumnal Equinox approaches, and this cycle always features a full Pisces moon.  Under its ethereal pull, the intrinsic, intangible essence of Pisces mingles with the analytical, methodical Virgo Sun.  In 2012 several planets will join the struggle for balance along this axis of sensitivity and sensibility.  On one side of the equation, Neptune and Chiron will be in imaginative Pisces, in resonance with Venus and Mars in fellow water signs.  This group will inform us through gut feelings and intuition. Counterbalancing them, and keeping us connected to our intellectual capacity, will be the Sun and Mercury in mental Virgo.  Pluto in fellow earth sign Capricorn will share a healthy dose of pragmatism with the Sun, Mercury and us.  The dance begins on August 24th when Neptune opposes the Sun.  The planet of artistry and illusion then goes on to challenge Mercury on September 1st, while healing Chiron opposes the Sun on August 30th and Mercury on September 4th.  On August 29th the Sun and Pluto form a supportive, harmonious and decidedly grounding trine.  Finally, on August 31st, the full moon will see thinking Mercury return home to logical Virgo.  The subtle, internal tensions that ebb and flow during this time are inviting us to experience life from a more enchanted and connected perspective.  The planetary powers in the realistic earth signs will help us remain rooted and responsible.  It’s a complex mix, one in which inner guidance, applied carefully, will light the way ahead.

September 15, 2012

    Strengthening our psychic power, aiding our quest for answers and prompting needed change will be Mars in shamanistic Scorpio.  Its presence in the fixed water sign will strengthen Pluto’s influence.  Pluto is after all Scorpio’s ruler, and on September 17th it stations from a five-month-long retrograde.  No life is immune from the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, and no planet is better at forcing us to face, and heal, the pain they inflict than unrelenting Pluto.  Since the start of its retrograde back on April 10th, we have been on the annual hero’s journey through Pluto’s unsettling Underworld.  In this abyss, we have likely encountered people and events intent on reshaping our lives.  If, like ancient Percephone or Odysseus, we’ve wisely summoned our hero’s courage and accepted the challenges, we are now nearly ready to surface.  Aggressive Mars traveling through transforming Scorpio will intensify these final weeks of the sojourn.  If it unearths a few more betrayals, breeches or inconvenient truths, we are richer.  These are precisely the experiences and lessons that shape us most.  If we are willing to change, vast reserves of Neptunian insight and Chiron healing from compassionate, holistic Pisces will be available.  Also lending immense support will be Virgo’s dedication to virtue.  Reformed, we can complete this year’s cosmic quest.

     According to German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, “that which does not kill us makes us stronger.”  As we ascend from the dark realms, the new Virgo moon on September 15th signals a stellar new dawn.  The next day Mercury will move into Cardinal Libra where stoic Saturn is finishing its two-year transit.  On September 18th another of those mammoth Uranus Pluto squares will take place, the second in a three-year series of seven.  Finally, on the 22nd, the Sun will enter instigating Libra.  This sizable and seismic gathering of Cardinal energies is a portal to brighter and better new worlds.  It is a turning point at which we can shift from destruction to creation and from disarray to wholeness.  To prepare us, organizing, ethical and meticulous Virgo has arrived.  It will close the summer of 2012, bestow a little more time for study, analysis and planning and issue its annual call to service.  With authenticity, bravery and consistency, those who heed the call can begin building the future.

Sun Into Cancer 2012: Momentous Times

If the first half of 2012, with its unusual and lengthy Mars retrograde in detailed Virgo, felt like getting stuck on a major freeway during rush hour, with travel reduced to one lane, then the Sun’s entrance into initiating Cancer at 4:09 P.M. PST on June 20th heralds the end of the cosmic traffic jam. Occurring within three days of an historic Uranus Pluto square, the celestial crab season will also see Mercury turn retrograde in fiery Leo and feisty Mars move into Libra on a full Cardinal Cross moon. At the height of the bottleneck in early June, we moved through six of astrology’s ten planets in the completing Mutable signs simultaneously. By the full moon of the dawning cycle, we will experience six planets in the instigating Cardinal signs. The contrast from endings to beginnings is clear, and the Divine Wisdom of preparation for the new through purging of the old is equally obvious. As lanes open, Intuitive, caring Cancer arrives to nurture and prod us, and its 2012 luminary companions are poised to push us far beyond our previous limitations. It’s time to step on the accelerator.

 In astrology much psychological and cultural significance is attributed to the discovery of a planet. The idea is that such findings deeply impact the human psyche and the course of collective evolution. For example, destabilizing, innovative Uranus was discovered in 1781, the time of the American and French Revolutions and the beginning of the Industrial Age. Pluto, associated with death, destruction and the underworld, was discovered in 1930. That decade saw the splitting of the atom, the rise of Hitler and the proliferation of organized crime. On June 24th, Uranus and Pluto will form an exact square, the first of a series that will last until the spring of 2015. Revolutionary Uranus is in provocative, independent Aries, and evolutionary Pluto is in institutional, pragmatic Capricorn. From demonstrators challenging the authority of their rulers in Moscow, Damascus and Cairo, to the battle lines being drawn during an election year in the United States, to continued opposition to austerity measures in the European Union, one need only scan the headlines to see the reforming forces of the Uranus Pluto clash at work. In an increasingly transparent world, we also see Uranian humanitarian beliefs challenging Plutonian deception and despotism at every turn. What if instead of viewing the seven coming squares between these colossal powers from a dualistic perspective, old versus new, right opposing left, or conservative against liberal, we choose to dedicate ourselves to the triumph of Universal Truth?

In this paradigm, Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s recent tour of European capitols would serve as a model for harnessing the Uranian Plutonian dynamic in service of human evolution. She challenged the political status quo (Uranus) and consequently lived under house arrest for 15 years, a sentence that would ultimately make her more powerful (Pluto). Only 19 months after being released, Suu Kyi is now traveling abroad to lobby for economic investment and development in Myanmar, and strengthening a government that once repressed her. Suu Kyi’s extraordinary path can be as instructive as it is inspirational. From a holistic perspective, the Uranus Pluto squares can function more like cornerstones than collision points, and their truths can reconcile, resonate and reverberate. We know that tyranny can only be temporary, for it is innately inhuman. When we heartily accept the inevitability of death, we are awakened. Realizing how little time we have here, we can live fully and vigorously. When we embrace the hurt and trauma encompassing our shadows, with the intention to heal, we no longer unconsciously project them. And when we shed the us against them mindset, our connectivity and collective power increase.

If we’re going to transform our lives and positively change the world, we’ll need a little chutzpah. Offering lessons in confidence and courage, and ample supplies of enthusiasm and stamina, mental Mercury will move into spirited Leo on June 25th and fearless Mars will enter diplomatic Libra under the full Cardinal Cross moon of July 3rd. On June 27th Mercury will hit the shadow point of its forthcoming retrograde at 1 degree of Leo. That is the point it will return to at the end of its July 14th through August 8th retrograde. June 27th is also the day Venus turns direct. What we get to practice throughout the shadow and Mercury retrograde is speaking truth to power and saying yes to the new opportunities being presented. Spontaneous Uranus in unflappable Aries will beam supportive rays to Mercury in a fellow fire sign, and it will be part of the grand Cardinal cross of July 3rd. That full moon will host six planets in Cardinal signs, with at least one at each of its four Cardinal points. Early that day lively Mars will charge into Cardinal Libra, energizing the great forward thrust.

That moon, the start of the seven Uranus Pluto square series and the Cancer cycle now getting underway are a powerful portal into the future. They are part and parcel of the greater sea change we are experiencing here on Earth. On one hand domestic Cancer craves emotional intimacy and security. On the other, emerging from beneath its safe, trusty shell to venture onward is the crab’s cosmic imperative. As brave new worlds are born, we find ourselves in this paradox, wanting to cling and needing to grow. For guidance, nostalgic Cancer reaches back in time (it keeps exactly one copy of everything for just this purpose you know), to the reassuring wisdom of one of its most eloquent natives, Henry David Thoreau. In 1854 he offered the following:

“I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws will be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings."

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.