Sun into Aries: Spring It On and Curb Your Enthusiasm!

Bill Gates is taking a breather in the VIP lounge of a major international airline when an Aries enters the room. Outgoing and direct, our Aries friend brazenly bounds right up to Mr. Microsoft "Himself" with the following greeting: "Hi Mr. Gates, great to meet you! Here's how to make Vista work better."

Wouldn't you know it? Across the very same room is none other than Robert Gates.

"Hello, Mr. Defense Secretary, so nice to meet you," begins audacious Aries. "Here's how to win the war in Afghanistan."

Her saucy style and the dynamic beeline she makes straight to the power players is likely to ruffle more than a few of the conservative feathers in this lounge. Some folks on the other hand, will find her boldness and honestly positively refreshing, and even a little admirable. Either “Mr. Gates” will be intrigued by one of her original suggestions. One thing is certain; Aries will make an impression.

In her heart of hearts, she is not being obnoxious, excessively forward nor self-important. She's genuinely trying to help, naturally gravitating to leaders and sees no point in wasting an opportunity. We have something to learn from her sheer gumption, teflon-coated courage and sincere innocence -- the ability to act fearlessly. Saturn and Pluto however, have a few lessons of their own in store, and Uranus, with a little encouragement from Jupiter, has her own agenda altogether.

Like mounds of molasses mired in cosmic fluid, for the past three months the majority of the planets have hovered along the winter horizon of the zodiac as they have made their way to the start of spring at a pace that has put snails to sleep. Even spirited Mars in cheer-leading Leo was in reverse gear for the winter, and tenacious Saturn in Libra also went retrograde back in mid-January. On March 20th at 10:32A.M. PST, the life force returns as Sun enters the cardinal fire sign of Aries. If you've felt stuck, blocked or stagnant for the past few months, all of that is about to change. But your dreams are unlikely to come true overnight.

This year's Aries cycle can be likened to a Cosmic boot camp, one in which your aspirations will be put through the rigors of warrior training under the watchful guidance of some the Universe's toughest drill sergeants, namely Saturn and Pluto. Completing this Aries cycle with dreams in tact and a belly still full of fire will assure you that your ambitions have passed muster, and you and they are well prepared for this summer's T-square. That series of strong configurations will find many of the planetary themes visited during the solar Aries cycle ahead amplified. Ready to be all you can be?

Back to inspire us to kick ass and take names, the proverbial "great ball of fire" in Aries will find willing and rowdy companions in Venus and Mercury, already transiting the sign of instigation. The Aries' ruler Mars will also be picking up speed in indomitable Leo. This rambunctious bunch are ready to rumble to give us some gusto. Themes of personal power, strength and confidence are great morale builders during the first leg of this solar sojourn. To curb our enthusiasm or to sustain Aries blazing ambitions, the Sun will be opposed by Saturn on March 21st and squared by Pluto on the 25th. Venus will move into more sensible Taurus terrain on March 31 and Mercury will follow on April 2nd before turning retrograde in this fixed earth sign from April 17th through May 11th.

All signs have what respected astrologer and author Steven Forrest refers to as a shadow. For Aries, a penchant for starting fights for the sake of provocation is part of its shadow. Failing to read the room and exercise some degree of awareness of others, let alone sensitivity toward them, is another alienating quality. The Cosmic mechanism for illuminating the shadow is a sign's opposite sign. Together the two energies create a polarity, one that integrates the attributes of both signs. For example, where Pisces is too out there and wishy-washy, Virgo, its opposite sign, demands definition and practicality. Conversely where Virgo is too rigid and too much of a perfectionist, Pisces offers flow and compassion.

The antidote to Aries aggression and self-absorption lies in its opposite sign of Libra. With impeccable grace, Libra must relate to others and create harmony for the whole. Presently Saturn, the planet of restriction and lessons, is in Libra opposing the Sun, and during this cycle, it will make its way back into Virgo. Aries, which is never fond of being bogged down in either committees or details, will be forced to reconcile is freewheeling ferocity with austere Saturn transiting both Libra and Virgo. This Saturn transit back into Virgo, in fact, is also highly likely to ask Aries how it intends to fund its ambitions, in real financial terms. Remember, the Saturn through Virgo cycle of September 2007 through October 2009 was the time of the housing bust, the initial bank bailout and the global economic crisis. Saturn in Virgo keeps extremely meticulous books and demands the same of us.

Also checking Aries temerity is Pluto in Capricorn, sitting 90 degrees away and thus forming squares to the Sun, Venus and Mercury as they transit Aries. If Aries is the life force, Pluto is the Cosmic death threat. Without hesitation, it will lay waste to unfounded, overinflated Aries assertions. Now in the sign ruling business, government and institutions, this battle-hardened drill sergeant of planets, along with war buddy Saturn, will push young warriors with all 75 pounds of gear up to the top of the hill, even when the temperature soars well-over 100 degrees. They believe that hard work and discipline are how to make great leaders of their troops. And so it is with the Cosmos during this solar Aries cycle. Only she doesn't think of it as preparation for battle. She is throwing a springtime garden party. To assure that it is a lively affair, she has invited some judicious, sober and heroic guests. She wants to enjoy the hearty discourse amongst them.

Never predictable, always electrifying Uranus is crashing the party. Game-changing Uranus, now in impossible to pinpoint Pisces, is on her way to give Saturn a run for his money and perhaps a boost to some of Aries unorthodox methodology. Though the next Uranus Saturn opposition is not exact until April 26th, its slow-building influence will be in increasing effect while the Sun transits Aries. Uranus, like Aries, lives to liven things up, and the two are equally appalled by "the rules." Buoyant Jupiter, traveling close in Uranus' entourage, will also help check Saturn's more stodgy tendencies. If there is a short cut to getting that gear uphill, Aries, Uranus and Jupiter will exploit it. And they'll receive a medal for their innovation. Just wait until these forces are fully activated in early June when Uranus and Jupiter enter Aries. This battle of creative new strategies versus tried-and-true traditions is just getting underway and it will play out all summer long.

Certainly spring's upbeat beginning with four planets moving forward in fire signs is inspirational and enlivening. The snails are celebrating! But what this cycle's aspects suggest is that our designs are still very much in process, one that will intensify this summer. Old Aries paradigms of act first, think later are met stiff resistance from stern Saturn and Pluto. They argue that shooting out of the gate is the surest path to burnout and they are aiming for a more sustained plan. Yet a Uranian impulse to brush off outmoded rules and unwarranted, cumbersome authority, in lockstep with Jupiter's expansive optimism, will keep our spirits high, ideas flooding in and convention in check. Mercury and Venus moving into grounded Taurus during this solar cycle add some helpful stamina to our visions as well. After such a slow winter, this is bound to be one entertaining garden party. You are cordially invited, and PT is at O six hundred!

Sun into Virgo - Back to School at 12Academy.com

When last we met, our boisterous flamboyant friend Leo the Lion was giving a commanding performance from center stage and contemplating the purchase of luxurious new lair. On August 22nd at 4:39P.M. PST, the spotlight fades, Leo takes his final bow and the clear-thinking, grounding energies of the sign of Service emerge. The observant and practical eyes of Virgo carefully read every line, including the fine print, of all loan documents, have a heart to heart with the calculator and bank statements, and then endeavor to make the final determination based on the financial substance of the matter and Virgo's other bff, fiscal responsibility.

Bookshelf neatly alphabetically arranged by subject, then author, then title? Check.
Foodstuffs meticulously organized in the pantry with packaging uniformly aligned and clearly displayed? Check.
Checkbook balanced to the penny? Check.
Toilet paper and paper towels, dish and laundry soap, sandwich and trash bags purchased in economy-sized, cost-conscious bulk packs? Check.
Vacation bags packed with lysol, aromatherapy oils, detailed itinerary, bed linen from home, and at least three bottles of hand sanitizer? Check.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Virgo. To the rest of the zodiac, Virgo's hyper-organized and extra-tidy way of life seem overly rigid and positively exhausting. But in earthy Virgo's territory, these labors yield that sweetest and most treasured of states, Order. This year's solar journey through Virgo however, with the next Saturn opposition to Uranus, a solar opposition to Uranus and a Mercury retrograde, will insist that Virgo tap into its mutable qualities. High degrees of detachment and flexibility will be necessary to successfully navigate the conflicting skies ahead. Then again, Virgo loves to plan.

According to renegade astrologer Antero Alli, to understand a sign, or style as he describes them, we must know its opposite sign, for the two are polarities expressing a totality. The 2009 Virgo cycle offers a superb laboratory in which to test this theory. On September 4th the full Pisces moon will oppose the Sun, on the 15th Saturn which is also in the sign of Virgo will oppose Uranus, now in Pisces, and on the 17th the Sun will oppose Uranus. On the Virgo-Pisces axis, order must be reconciled with chaos, logic with intuition and form with essence.



Since Saturn, the planet of lessons and discipline, entered mindful Virgo in September 2007, the scales have been decidedly tipped in favor of the tangible, rational side of this equation. Saturn's stay in Virgo has brought quite the comeuppance to Ponzi-scheme based financial markets and the world economy. Between Virgo's exactly analysis and Saturn's uncompromising vigilance, the unsound business practices of the banking, real estate and insurance industries and Wall Street have been brought to light, and many a mere mortal has had some form or other of a financial reckoning under this influence. This is all serving a Higher Order of truth telling on our material plane and is helping us purge our systems of ill-gotten goods, or "earnings" that never really existed in the first place. Pluto, the ultimate planetary force of Truth, picked up the torch late last November when it settled into Capricorn for a 15 year tenure.

To bring balance to the mix, beginning on Election Day 2008, mighty Saturn entered into a series of oppositions with the planet voted must likely to consternate him, unpredictable, rule-breaking, provocative Uranus, placed in that most unfathomable and illogical of places, Pisces. The stability Saturn in like-minded Virgo craves began meeting the innovation imposed by Uranus in Pisces. For example, last November 4th, the date of the first Saturn Uranus opposition in this series, conservatives couldn't conceive of a Barak Obama presidency, yet the Uranian winds of change prevailed.

This time the two sides meet on the battlefield of healthcare reform. Uranian proponents with Piscean compassion for the sick, argue for a radical overhaul of the entire system. At the other end of the spectrum, Saturn hard-liners with a keen Virgo eye on the cost of such colossal reform resist. One only need view a town hall meeting to see how the acrimonious workings of a Uranus Saturn opposition play out in the human drama. What President Obama may have working against him this time out is that Pluto shift from fanciful, optimistic Sagittarius into sober, pragmatic Capricorn. In 1775, during Pluto's last sojourn into Capricorn, the slogan "Don't Tread on Me" emerged and ingrained itself deeply into the self-reliant, hard-working and ruggedly individualist psyche of the birthing American nation. In 2009 "Don't Tread on My Taxes or Medical Decisions" may be the new battle cry.

Throwing the Devil straight into the details, and the fray, of this monumental debate will be Mercury in retrograde orbit. The thinking planet will go retrograde from September 7th through 29th, crossing both deliberating Libra and discerning Virgo terrain on its quest. No stone will go unturned in this one. Piscean dreams of utopia with a free liver transplant for every alcoholic and a government funded triple bypass for every overeater will be brought right down to earth by the Pluto-Saturn-Mercury formation. The president will have to explain how such sweeping reform will be paid for. In Obama's favor will be the visionary voice of the Jupiter (benevolence)-Neptune (spirituality)-Chiron (healing) alliance in Aquarius calling us to a higher consciousness about the collective. Some reform, on things such as unscrupulous insurance company practices are practically assured. But to make it work across the aisle, creative ideas such as a pay-it-forward fast food or junk food tax could also emerge as ways to fund the single payer system Obama envisions. Even arch conservatives have been known to support so-called "sin" taxes. Either way, you can count on a heated debate from September 15th through 17th when Saturn and the Sun will directly oppose Uranus. Fortunately the Virgo cycle winds down with some sweet aspects. Loving Venus enters Virgo on the 20th and Mercury conjuncts the Sun on the 20th and Saturn on the 22nd, when the Sun enters peace-making Libra.

Internally and externally these Uranus Saturn oppositions are asking us to come to terms with life as we wish it to be and the reality of where it is, and the Universe is offering up some new tools to help us bridge the chasm between the two. Synthesis of the ideal and the practical is precisely what the this Pisces-Virgo axis is all about. For the past two years Saturn's influence has been giving us an unflinching dose of reality with the loving and most earnest intention of reshaping our lives for the better as it has asked us what we are prepared to do to bring ourselves closer to our visions of perfection. Perfection is after all Virgo's ultimate aim. Uranus has come onto the scene to generate new ways to problem-solve.

The Sun's journey into Virgo also marks the beginning of the school year. In keeping with the cosmic design and annual pull to learn something new, the 12Family of websites proudly launches its newest member, 12Academy.com. 12Academy.com is an online University of Metaphysics of sorts, offering an array of classes on everything from Animal Communication, to Angel studies, to tarot and A Course in Miracles. With the integrity and renown of the 12House brand, this loving endeavor promises to take self-empowerment to a new level by teaching students the fundamentals of various spiritual disciplines, as well as offering courses for advanced practitioners. As Saturn leaves Virgo it begins a ten-month long square with Pluto, while 2012 and a 2013 exact Uranus square to Pluto build in the background. This online resource of Spirituality, dedicated to self-development and Light could not be in better alignment with the needs of our time and the days ahead. Hats off to founder Mark Husson whose vision for the metaphysical community continuously amazes me. You make me proud to be part of your world. Happy Sun into Virgo 2009!