Chapter I
INTRODUCTION
THE MEANING OF THE TIME
Many people assume that astrology is used to predict events,
and that a recognition of astrology's validity implies an
acceptance of fatalism and a denial of individual free will.
Over the centuries, astrological prognostications have
certainly played an important role in the lives of world
leaders and the fate of nations. But predictability, and the
fate which it implies, are far more complex issues than simply
a destiny written "in the stars", about which the individual
can do nothing. In the following pages, your birth horoscope
is analysed according to the planetary movements which are
occurring over the next year. On one level, it is a
"predictive" analysis. But its purpose is not a foretelling
of concrete events. It is an exploration of the inner changes
and cycles which occur in every individual and which often
mysteriously coincide with events in the outer world. These
planetary movements will not tell us what WILL happen. They
describe the stage the individual has reached in his or her
life, and what kind of responses can be expected to external
situations which might occur at any other time, but mean
something special because of the special time at which they
are occurring.
The German poet Novalis once wrote, "Fate and soul are two
names for the same principle." This profound perception of
the identity of inner and outer worlds is often difficult for
the person unfamiliar with the deeper psychological dimensions
of astrology to recognise. Carl Jung echoed Novalis'
sentiment when he said that a person's life is characteristic
of the person. We are complex creatures, made up of many
facets, and all the different dimensions of the human psyche
will seek, sooner or later, to find their place in the light
of day and achieve expression in the outer world. But some
aspects of the personality are inherently in conflict with
other aspects. Some will elbow others out of the way because
we identify with these at the expense of other, less developed
attributes. Human development, like that of any other living
thing, proceeds in stages, in an elaborate dance of interwoven
themes. When the time is right, certain aspects of the
individual will strive for expression. In order for us to
achieve that expression, we may need to create, or find
ourselves drawn to, external situations which make us
conscious of what we were unaware of before.
Some life events are not the expression of any individual
need, conscious or unconscious. They reflect great collective
movements into which we may all be swept up. Wars, plagues,
famines, and holocausts may supercede any individual effort at
self-awareness or choice. But in those spheres where our
lives are our own, and not merged with the collective, we may
have many levels on which to fulfill the expression of our
individual horoscope patterns. We cannot be certain whether
particular events are inevitable, or whether, with foresight,
they might be avoided or transformed. We cannot be certain of
the extent to which we are required to act out or redeem
conflicts which have been part of the family psyche over many
generations. These things contribute to what we loosely call
"fate". Also, the choices we make at any point in time may
have unforeseen and far-reaching consequences on the kind of
events which occur later on. Cause and effect may play more
of a role in "fate" than we realise. What is clear from the
study of astrology is that no outer event is devoid of
meaning, or unconnected with individual psychological issues.
"Good" luck and "bad" luck are not luck at all, but
reflections of what in ancient Greece was known as kairos -
the right moment.
Analysis of the year's planetary movements by computer is
necessarily limited, primarily because no computer can
ascertain what an individual has learned from experiences
which have occurred in the past. Every stage in life is
processed by individual consciousness, and the degree to which
we are self-aware, and have some understanding of our deeper
needs and conflicts, may have a powerful effect, not only on
how we respond to events, but on the events themselves.
Consciousness, rather than fate, may determine whether we are
able to turn a painful or difficult time into one of inner
strengthening and self-knowledge, and whether we can take
advantage of the right moment to develop abilities or pursue
goals which previously we might not have realised were
possible. Our choices may be circumscribed by our genetic
inheritance on the physical level, and by social and
collective factors which place limits on our possibilities for
growth. We may also be circumscribed by our own self-doubt
and blindness, and wind up fating ourselves through reacting
blindly to the emotions which a particular situation stirs in
us.
The paragraphs which follow only sketch in the barest fashion
the possible areas in which outer events might occur,
according to the year's planetary movements. They focus
primarily on the inner developments, conflicts, changes and
realisations which reflect the real meaning of the time. We
perceive the outer world through deeply subjective eyes, and
interpret events in accord with our own highly individual
psychic constitution. One person might look at a glass of
water and say, "Ah, it's half full, there is plenty for me to
drink." Another might look at the same glass and declare,
"Oh, it's half empty, there isn't enough for me to drink."
One person might view rejection by a loved one as a reflection
of the other person's failings. Another might view it as an
opportunity for a deep examination of his or her expectations
and assumptions in matters of love. When a group of people
describe the same event, they describe it in as many ways as
there are people in the group. What matters in the end is the
meaning of the time for each of us as individuals, and what
the time can offer us in terms of the greater unfoldment of
the essential self.
Chapter II
THE YEAR'S MAIN THEMES
The paragraphs which follow describe the main planetary themes
which are likely to dominate the year, and which may permeate
virtually every area of your life. They are like the bass line
in a piece of music, and set the underlying tempo and key.
Although other planetary movements may form a musical
counterpoint, highlighting specific issues in different ways
at different times over the next twelve months, these main
themes provide the overall backdrop for this particular stage
of your development.
The dominant energy
Because you tend to live in an imaginal, romantic world, you
are likely to gain a deep satisfaction and fulfillment from
the underlying energies at work over the next year. Even if
you encounter some disappointment or upset in your personal
life, this is likely to be accompanied by increased confidence
in yourself and a renewed appreciation of your worth as an
individual. Your senses may be unusually alive and open to
everything beautiful in life, and your encounters with others
will probably be deep and meaningful, although not necessarily
always harmonious. During this time you can refine your
tastes, open up new creative or artistic channels, redefine
your values, and focus on what really makes you happy. Such
self-definition may also involve discovering what makes you
unhappy, since one makes no sense without the other. This is
why you might have to face certain challenging relationship
issues, and deal with such important matters as compromise,
rivalry, and the question of commitment. But even if the ride
is occasionally bumpy, this is not likely to prove a sad or
depressing time. You are opening up on emotional, sexual and
aesthetic levels, and you have the opportunity to discover
what truly makes your heart sing. Even if more universal
matters have preoccupied you in the past, during the next year
you are likely to understand at a profound level why your
personal contentment is an essential part of any aspiration
toward higher levels of experience.
Conflict in love
prog. Sun square Venus: Mid June 2011 until end of June 2013 |
Feelings of frustration are likely to disturb your personal
life right now, and you may experience disappointment,
indecision or hurt in your close relationships. Your
developing individuality has now come into conflict with long-
held ideals and preconceptions about love, and you may be
called upon to either change those ideals, or leave behind
relationships and values which you have outgrown. The problem
is that you may not fully realise that it is you yourself who
are changing. You may blame your unhappiness on a loved one
who seems to be moving away from you or seeking affection
elsewhere. Yet it is possible that, deep down, you yourself
are needing breathing space or the chance to find a happier
life, for the values which you once held may have proven, over
time, to be no longer viable for you to live by.
Your ideals in love have probably tended to be focused on the
uninhibited expression of high romantic dreams. It is not that
your ideals are wrong. But right now you may be striving for
greater freedom and definition as an individual, and this may
be intrinsically incompatible with those ideals in the form in
which you have espoused and lived them. You do not need to
abandon values which matter deeply to you. But you may need
to change the structures and levels on which those values have
been expressed in your life. If you are unable to do this,
you may have to face a parting of the ways with someone who
acts out for both of you the need for change and growth. A
sense of deep disillusionment may accompany the changes you
experience during this time. But be careful not to jettison
all that you have believed in. If your dream of love has been
sound and right for you, you will be able to go on living it -
within an existing but much improved relationship, or with
somebody else.
Try to avoid extremes of anger and jealousy. Jealousy may be
a major issue at the moment, since one of the ways in which
you may be called upon to face the dichotomy between your
individuality and your past values in relationship could be an
'eternal' triangle in which you come face to face with a
rival, or are torn between two people with whom you feel
strong bonds. Issues of rivalry in relationship are always
difficult and painful, but they can also serve to illuminate
those qualities which you yourself might need to develop but
which, at the moment, appear to belong to someone else.
Rather than blaming others for spoiling your life, try to
remember that no third party can destroy what is solidly built
between two people; but virtually any third party can topple
an edifice built on weak foundations. You may have a bumpy
ride for a time, but it will pass. And although you may feel
hurt and angry now, you may discover that happiness is
possible for you in the future only if you are prepared to
accept the overhaul your personal life is now likely to
undergo.
Hearing otherworldly music
|
Neptune trine Venus: End of March 2011 until mid January 2014
The same themes are also emphasised by:
Neptune opposition prog. Venus: Mid April 2009 until end of January 2016
|
This could be a magical time in your personal life, for your
romantic imagination is being powerfully stimulated and you
may be seeking a union of souls which transcends ordinary
physical and emotional needs. Your feelings are likely to be
quite mystical and deeply compassionate, and you may
experience pity as an important dimension of love during this
time. You may be deeply attracted to those weaker than
yourself, or those who have suffered in life in some way.
Your open heart may also be extremely responsive to music,
poetry, and other media which communicate the ineffable
dimensions of love and human longing. If you are involved in
creative work, this could be an immensely productive time, for
such heightened feelings can bring depth and universality to
anything you create, as well as increasing your appreciation
of beauty on all levels. On the romantic side, while the time
may be magical, it may also be deceptively enchanting. Your
ideals of love may be too high, and you may believe you have
found perfection. But when the enchantment has passed, you
will need to come to terms with a real human being, and you
may risk deep disillusionment if you believe you have found
something superhuman instead.
Your feelings may contain a strongly self-sacrificial element
right now. This propensity for self-sacrifice has always been
part of your ideal of love, and it is likely to be especially
intense at the moment - perhaps too much so for your own good.
You may wish to transcend any love of pleasure, and put more
energy into making others happy. While such feelings, and the
actions and decisions which could arise from them, could bring
you a profound sense of peace and unity with life, you might
be wise to remember that you will not always feel quite so
much disregard for your own individual value and needs. At
the moment, your ideals of love and human relationship are
probably heavily weighted on the side of self-abnegation,
perhaps because of spiritual convictions, and perhaps because
it feels so good to be taken out of yourself. But as time
passes, you may regret giving away quite so much of your own
needs, resources, and boundaries. Try to keep things in
balance right now. Follow your vision, honour your sense of
higher realities, and give your heart and loyalty where you
feel you must. But try also to honour your own self, the body
you have incarnated in, and the material world into which you
have incarnated; for these too deserve your love and devotion.
And don't expect redemption through a loved one. You may
glimpse salvation and immortality in your beloved's eyes. But
the vision may fade, and eventually you will need to deal with
an ordinary person, as human as yourself.
Another important theme
There is another important dynamic at work this year, which
may sometimes support and sometimes contradict the energies
described above.
You tend to live close to the world of myth, and life needs to
be larger than life for you to feel you are truly alive. For
this reason you will probably respond positively and
creatively to the new perceptions and experiences you are
likely to encounter over the next year. Your sense of future
potentials may be strongly activated, and you will probably
find the necessary confidence and spirit to try out all kinds
of new ventures and possibilities. You are not usually afraid
of taking a gamble with life, and over the next twelve months
you may need to take some risks to make the most of the
opportunities likely to come your way. This does not mean
that everything will come up roses, without any effort. You
may have a tendency to feel so special and lucky that you lose
contact with reality, and get yourself in trouble through
carelessness, extravagance, arrogance, or a tendency to make
an exhibition of yourself in a bid for attention. Try to be
aware of your weaknesses as well as your strengths right now.
This could be a time of golden opportunities and a great burst
of creative energy. A little restraint, and a semblance of
humility, could help you avoid angering others who might feel
you are treading on their toes.
Great expectations
|
prog. Sun trine Jupiter: Beginning of July 2010 until mid July 2012
The same themes are also emphasised by:
Jupiter square Sun: Beginning of August 2011 until beginning of April 2012
Jupiter opposition prog. Sun: Mid May 2010 until beginning of February 2011
|
You are likely to feel full of hope and confidence right now,
but not in an excessive or naive way. Your aspirations and
dreams for the future are in harmony with your real
capabilities at the moment, and this means that what you aim
for is likely to be an authentic reflection of who you are.
You may therefore encounter many excellent opportunities
during this time, as well as benefitting from the support and
encouragement of those around you. Your intuition is probably
working well and you are inclined to take a positive view
toward life. These qualities, in combination with a tolerant
and generous spirit, are likely to win you many rewards and
advantages. Most importantly, you are likely to believe in
yourself, and this may go a long way toward healing any hurts,
disappointments or failures from the past. You may be
realising not only that you are acceptable just as you are,
but also that you can create a better life through your own
talents, efforts and vision. You may understand at a profound
level that you are not limited by the circumstances in which
you find yourself; nor are you likely to be frightened by the
prospect of following your hunches to pursue a goal others
might not have the courage to seek.
You may feel particularly self-assured and expansive in your
sense of connectedness with a higher or deeper reality and
life-source. Creative inspiration or a profound spiritual
commitment may open the doors to a feeling of compassion for
and unity with others. At the moment you are probably feeling
more than usually generous, tolerant and understanding of
others' foibles, and this could be reflected in renewed warmth
and affection in long-standing relationships as well as the
possibility of new bonds. If you enter a new relationship
now, it is likely to prove extremely positive for you in the
future, whether or not it is romantic or endures indefinitely.
This is because, whatever other aspects might enter the
equation, you are likely at present to form deep friendships,
based on intellectual or spiritual affinity, which will retain
their sincerity and mutual respect even if the romance
eventually grows cold. People who enter your life now may
prove to be in some way connected with the pattern of your
future and your continuing growth; and whether your
involvement with them is emotional, sexual, intellectual,
material or spiritual, the course of your life may be changed
for the better.
This could prove an extremely rewarding time, and unpleasant
crises are unlikely because of your own balance and inner
soundness. If you do encounter difficulties, you will
probably handle them with a high degree of confidence, faith
and good judgement. Try to take advantage of the
opportunities which come your way, rather than merely sitting
back and feeling good. Any seeds you sow now will probably
yield a fine harvest later on, and it is worth combining
enthusiasm, optimism and intuitive vision with some hard
practical work in order to ensure that this time of seeding
and expansion is anchored in solid reality. Any sense of
renewed faith you experience is not likely to be based on
blind belief or the promise of future rewards. It is probably
soundly anchored in a sense of your own unique identity and
destiny, and in a positive but realistic appraisal of your
strengths and weaknesses as an individual. Your judgement is
therefore likely to be sound right now, and your sense of
life's essential goodness can, like a magnet, attract the
goodness that is all around you.
The sky is the limit
Jupiter square Jupiter: End of May 2011 until beginning of February 2012 |
A time of restlessness and "itchy feet" is likely to occur
now, and you may be conscious of all the potentials you
haven't developed and all the opportunities you have passed
by. Although such discontent is neither negative nor entirely
unfounded, nevertheless you may need to carefully review your
life over the next weeks to determine whether you really need
to make radical changes. You might need to rethink the ways
in which you treat spiritual matters, and relate to the inner
world. This may involve spiritual or psychological
exploration of a nonorthodox kind. Although you may be full of
intuitions and hunches about possible future directions, this
is probably not the moment for action and decision-making. It
is a time when you can expand your viewpoint and look at life
from a broader perspective; and this can help you to see where
you may have been too identified with old structures, or too
closed in your thinking.
Don't be too impulsive right now, however restless you might
feel. You are in a state of flux, and although new ideas and
new visions may emerge, nothing is likely to take clear shape
for a while. Examine those areas where you might need greener
pastures and broader horizons. Travel might be good for you
right now, not just for enjoyment, but also as a way of
getting a new perspective on people and life. Exploration of
ideas and subjects which help to expand your intellectual and
spiritual viewpoint could also prove inspiring. You may feel
very bored with the status quo, and inclined to feel
restricted even if no one is restricting you. This could be
because something in you has grown beyond your previous
confines, leaving you feeling as though your life isn't
fitting into its usual container any more. This time is a
kind of antechamber, in which you may need to pause and take
seriously the feeling that there are more chapters unwritten
and more paths to explore. The real time for action may come
a few months later. But seeds for the future are being
planted now, in your mind and imagination, and you should try
to be conscious of just what kind of seeds they are.
Chapter III
SIGNIFICANT TRENDS
IN EACH SPHERE OF LIFE
Because the cycles of the planets create a complex and
intricate pattern in the heavens, not every movement in your
horoscope will dance to the same rhythm at the same time.
There may be periods when the year's main themes seem to fade
somewhat, because some special issue has brought other
feelings, attitudes and responses to the fore. Some of these
trends and patterns may be brief and some longer-lasting,
giving variety to your life experience during the course of
the year.
1. The sphere of emotions
There may be periods during the year when matters concerning
your emotional life take priority in a particularly fulfilling
way. When your heart is happily stirred, other, more difficult
issues may recede in importance, and perhaps rightly so; for
if you are at peace on the emotional level, you can cope with
other areas of your life in a more open and confident way.
Pleasure in companionship
prog. Venus sextile Venus: Beginning of September 2011 until end of April 2013 |
This may be a time of deep emotional contentment. You have
reached a period of your life when you are able to value who
you are and what you have achieved; and this increased sense
of self-worth can help you to relate to others in a more open
and generous way. This in turn is likely to attract the
spontaneous support and affection of those around you, and you
may be able to lay many old conflicts to rest and repair
relationships which have been damaged in the past. You may
also make new relationships which bring harmony, pleasure and
companionship into your life, and this is likely to be a happy
time for socialising, enjoying the company of friends and
family, and taking pleasure in the beauty of the natural
environment.
You may experience a time of creative productivity. Such inner
serenity and confidence could heal many old insecurities and
doubts, and could renew your faith in life and in yourself.
Whatever difficulties you may have experienced in your
emotional life in the past, over the next months you have the
chance to make peace with your own and others' mistakes and
shortcomings, and to establish a new level of trust and
openness in all your future encounters.
There may also be periods when emotional difficulties arise,
which you would be wise to deal with in the most honest and
generous way you can.
Sorrowful thoughts
|
Chiron opposition prog. Venus: Beginning of April 2009 until end of January 2012
The same themes are also emphasised by:
Chiron trine Venus: End of March 2010 until beginning of February 2012
|
Many old wounds may be healed during this time, especially in
the sphere of love and relationship. But as part of this
healing process, you might experience emotional unhappiness
of some kind. Equally, you may just feel depressed and moody,
without apparent cause. If you do not experience painful
events in your external life, you are still likely to feel
loneliness, rejection, and hurt on the emotional level.
Whatever occurs right now, try to be as conscious of the
process taking place within you as you are of what is
happening around you. All your ideals of love are being
challenged at the moment, and the trigger for change may be an
experience of unfairness or disappointment in an important
relationship. But although you may find this time difficult,
the inner changes are likely to prove healing and
constructive. The realities of life, and the limits of human
nature, may be colliding with a certain romantic idealism. You
may be facing the fundamental complexities of human nature and
the inevitability of flaws in any close bond, rather than
someone else's insensitivity or intent to injure you. If you
are being hurt at this time, it could be because there really
is no other option based on the personalities involved. It
could be most important that you try to recognise this, rather
than casting blame or sinking into a trough of self-
denigration and self-pity. Although you have probably managed
the semblance of acceptance of limits in love, deep down early
experiences of hurt may have made you secretly negative in
your expectations of personal happiness. Try to see where
such expectations from the past are affecting your objectivity
in the present.
This period is likely to challenge not only the authenticity
of your values, but also the viability of your relationship
expectations. It may not be easy preserving a sense of self-
worth while letting go of what is no longer viable or valid in
your life. Try to maintain faith in yourself and your ideals
in love; but recognise at the same time that no person is
without wounds or problems in one sphere or another, including
you. You may feel rather unlovable at the moment, and you are
likely to be low in energy and optimism. This may be partly
linked to what you experience through others, because they may
find it difficult to respond to you as you might wish. But a
conviction that others are letting you down may contribute to
their letting you down, because they might feel they simply
can't get it right with you, and won't bother to try any more.
Try to be conscious of a critical, angry, or resentful
attitude within yourself, which could taint your emotional
life even without external cause. Such an atmosphere could
trigger others' withdrawn behaviour. And so could a tendency
to blame them for not loving you, when in fact you might not
love yourself enough.
You may be drawn into a new relationship at this time. If you
are, keep your eyes open. Because you are likely to feel
inadequate and unsure of yourself, you may be peculiarly
fascinated by those who are themselves wounded and need your
support and care. Such people may make you feel needed and
valued. However, once your confidence has returned, you may
find yourself involved with someone who proves to be a heavy
burden because he or she needs your constant support and
devotion. You may feel deeply compassionate toward others'
hurts right now, because you are so deeply connected with your
own. This could be fruitfully channelled into helping or
healing work, if you are so inclined. But taking on the role
of the healer might not be the most suitable frame of mind in
which to enter a new love relationship, because you may wind
up with a patient rather than a partner. The experience of
your own woundedness could help you to see your life with
greater objectivity and compassion, allowing you to relate to
others in a more open and honest way. If you do not expect
too much from others right now, you can direct your energies
within, where, at the moment, they probably belong.
Emotional disappointments
Chiron square Moon: End of April 2010 until mid December 2012 |
This is potentially a formative and deeply strengthening time.
But the process at work may make you feel a little vulnerable,
and you are likely to be unusually sensitive to hurt and
rejection at the moment, and you may even imagine it where it
is not being inflicted. Your feelings may be rather raw, and
you may unconsciously expect to be rejected even if loved ones
are trying to show you their support and appreciation in every
way they can. Because mistrust and defensiveness may cause
you to inadvertently strike out at those you feel are behaving
in an insensitive or unfeeling fashion, you may find yourself
doing to them exactly what you accuse them of doing to you.
Thus you may provoke the very rejection you fear, because your
emotions are likely to be in turmoil and your perceptions of
others' motives and actions may be distorted by your own
fears. Moreover, this is probably not the first time in your
life that you have unwittingly created the very hurt you have
been seeking to avoid. You may carry within you an
association of emotional dependency with pain, which probably
springs from childhood experiences and may subtly colour your
assumptions and expectations in close relationships.
Your emotional security is largely dependent on a safe and
containing home and family life, and it is in this sphere that
you may feel threatened, undermined, isolated, or let down.
Your pride may also be at stake, and you may be acutely
sensitive to being seen as weak or dependent by others right
now. In short, you are likely to feel very touchy and
insecure, and perhaps more than a little sorry for yourself.
But you could take this time and use it as an opportunity to
discover where excessive dependency - overt or unconscious -
has prevented you from learning how to nourish and validate
yourself. Perhaps you have expected others to provide you
with a feeling of worth which you need to discover within
yourself. At the moment you are likely to feel anything but
worthy, because others are probably not willing to play the
game. If you try to extract reassurance from them by
manipulative means, you may find that it backfires badly.
At the moment you may interpret the actions and words of
others through the lens of your own experience of past hurts.
This may cause you to deeply misunderstand what others are
doing, and why they are doing it. You may wind up hurting
them, by accusing them of wounding you when they are simply
trying to be themselves. You may be critical, demanding,
irritable, angry, and perhaps even downright childish. Yet
there is a healing process at work within you, which could
increase your understanding of yourself and your needs, as
well as helping you to be more tolerant and compassionate
toward others who possess a temperament and emotional nature
different from your own. This may not be an easy period
emotionally, but it could be a deeply constructive one - if
you can resist the indulgence to vent your resentment on those
whom you feel should love you more than you love yourself.
A time of instability
|
Uranus conjunction prog. Moon: Beginning of October 2011 until mid June 2012
The same themes are also emphasised by:
Uranus sextile Moon: Beginning of April 2011 until end of January 2013
|
Emotional tension may disturb your life during this time, and
you may need to struggle to break free of old patterns of
relating. Frustration with existing relationships, or a vague
sense of some imminent explosion or unpredictable upheaval,
may make you anxious and uneasy. Such feelings of anxiety and
imminent change are probably familiar to you, and may be
particularly disturbing at the moment. Certain emotional
patterns, inherited from your family background and first
formed in childhood, are now likely to be challenged. You
have probably outgrown many habitual responses which have long
been taken for granted, and you may now be waking up to new
emotional experiences and a strong desire for greater freedom
of emotional expression. Over the years you may have
developed a tendency to rely on a sense of family or community
for your emotional security. This may be a reflection of
instability in early life, which might have made family bonds
and a secure domestic environment essential. But you may be
too dependent on others for your sense of safety. Now you may
have to learn to discover inner security, so that you can
relate to loved ones in honest and spontaneous ways.
You may experience an important separation during this period.
You might be the one who initiates it, or it could be forced
upon you by others or by circumstance. Such an experience
could prove particularly disturbing, because any relationship
which ends now has probably constituted a source of emotional
security. The prospect of living without it may fill you with
anxiety and negative forebodings about the future. But if any
person passes from your life during this time, try to remember
that, on the most profound level, this may be necessary for
your development. Whatever pain you might experience, you are
being challenged not only to learn greater emotional self-
sufficiency, but also to move beyond old ways of interacting
with others. You may not have to face such an obvious
upheaval in your external life. But psychologically you are
undergoing a process of emotional separation which is
analagous, on the most profound level, to a child leaving its
mother and venturing out into the bigger world. Such a new
beginning is bound to cause anxiety, even if you also feel
exhilaration and excitement at the prospect of change.
You might also enter a new relationship which seems
fascinating, exciting, and full of future possibilities.
While it may be right for you to follow your feelings into
such new encounters, you may also need to be aware of the
turmoil and confusion that are likely as old emotional
patterns are broken down and long-buried needs begin to
express themselves. What you feel now may not be what you
feel in six months' time. People coming into your life now
may only be there for a short time, and could act as catalysts
who open the doors to change but who will not prove compatible
in the long term. Try to be open to change, but equally,
don't bind yourself too tightly at the moment through
decisions which cannot be undone later. Probably the most
productive attitude you could take during this unpredictable
time is one of receptivity to the new individual who is
emerging from within, leavened with a good dose of common
sense. Impulsiveness and extreme mood swings may trouble you
for a while, and you may need to flow with these yet still
maintain emotional containment while you discover who you
really are as a feeling individual.
2. The sphere of the physical world
Matters concerning your physical and material life are also
likely to prove important, and some of these may prove very
rewarding over the next year. You may enjoy the fruits of a
long period of hard work. Or new opportunities, arising as if
out of nowhere, may give you the sense that things are really
working for you on the worldly level, and that you now have a
chance to express yourself in ways that create tangible,
financially and professionally satisfying results. Try to make
the most of these opportunities; you may surprise yourself by
what you are able to achieve.
New directions
Uranus trine MC: End of March 2010 until beginning of January 2012 |
Opportunities may come your way to claim greater independence
in your working life during this time, and your goals are
likely to change and broaden. You may need more freedom to
run your life according to your own rhythms and timing, but
you may also need greater involvement with the world around
you. Ideals and spiritual convictions could assume greater
importance for you right now, and you may seek to express an
innate desire for challenge and struggle in ways which can
make some positive contribution to the world in which you
live. Unexpected support may come to you through those you
have just met, and you may also benefit from contact with a
group of like-minded people with whom you can share your
ideas. Try to take advantage of any opportunities which come
your way, for you are ready for a change in direction - even
if this does not constitute a change in job - and you may also
be seeking some sense of participation in the larger human
family. Therefore new ideas and new areas of study,
particularly of an unconventional and progressive kind, may
prove well worth pursuing.
On a deeper level, this period marks a time when you are
"leaving home" in a psychological sense. Although you may
have physically moved away from your roots and family
background long ago, you may still have unconsciously
transferred expectations from your early life into your adult
life and into the ways in which you define your professional
objectives and role in society. In this sense, you may not
yet be free to be the person you are, and have been
circumscribed by the necessity of fulfilling obligations
placed upon you by your family inheritance. Now you can
affirm your right to be an individual, without having to
antagonise or alienate those close to you. Inwardly, you are
likely to have more confidence in yourself, and are probably
able to demand your right to live according to your own ideals
and aspirations. This does not mean repudiating the legacy of
the past, or the people who have helped to support you. But
it may mean acknowledging that your future is in your own
hands, and your worldly objectives need to be truly your own.
However, you may also have to deal with some less pleasant
mundane issues. You may have to face challenges which make you
question your work and your place in the world, and
frustration may bring your temper to boiling point or generate
a sense that you have failed. Try to keep your mind focused on
what you can learn from such situations, because you could
turn them into strengthening lessons which, when the time is
right, help you to achieve what you want later on.
Frustrated goals
Chiron square MC: Beginning of May 2009 until beginning of December 2011 |
You are being challenged to define who you are on the world's
stage. Because this is a formative process, you may experience
difficulties at work or with those in authority right now.
You may feel as though your goals are being blocked or
undermined, by others or by unfair circumstances which leave
you feeling angry and humiliated. It may sometimes seem that
any efforts you make to get others to recognise your need for
emotional involvement with your work are doomed to failure.
Because of this, you may feel very discontented in your work,
or hemmed in by social or financial factors which seem unjust.
You may also encounter conflict with an employer, or
experience a painful social rejection or snub which leaves you
feeling very unsure of your acceptability in the eyes of the
world.
Despite their unpleasantness, you could turn such experiences
into a constructive process of learning and change, if you are
prepared to look hard at your present goals and question how
authentically they reflect who you really are. The image you
present to others may be designed solely to please, or might,
over the years, have gradually become too rigid or false. You
may also need to face life's unfairness and inequality in a
more tolerant and compassionate spirit. This is not a good
time to indulge in a full-scale battle with those in
authority, or to make a public statement of your rights in a
spirit of anger or rebellion. You may wind up feeling even
worse, because your judgement and timing are not likely to be
very sound at the moment, and you may be full of an anger
whose roots lie not in the present but in the past. It is
possible that you may need to examine where old expectations,
going back to your childhood, are colouring your present
dealings with others, and also the role you have chosen to
play in the world. During this time you could let go of
unhealthy or unrealistic expectations, your own or those of
others, which have made you disloyal to your deeper needs and
nature. Before you pick a fight, start a crusade, or walk out
of a job in a huff, try to look inward and understand what
kind of internal conflict may be reflected in the external
circumstances with which you may now be dealing.
Questioning the future
Jupiter square Saturn: Beginning of May 2011 until end of May 2011 |
Thoughts of mortality and feelings of life's sadness may be
with you much of the time right now, and you are likely to
swing between feeling the future is just opening up and
feeling it is closing down. You may experience a depressing
mood which saps your energy and leaves you feeling tired and
vaguely ill and unhappy. But you may also realise that a
certain fear of losing control might have made you bottle up
your emotions, and that beneath depression might lurk powerful
feelings of anger and passion. You have probably always had
some difficulty in reconciling natural optimism and enthusiasm
with a defensive emotional withdrawal following difficult
experiences, and this conflict may have contributed to your
being both foolhardy and excessively cautious at different
periods in your life. Now you may be trying to come to terms
with a gap between your faith in life's bounty and your
awareness of life's limits, and there are moments when you are
likely to feel deeply dispirited, fearful, depressed, or
cynical about beliefs and ideals you once held. Try to take
plenty of time to make decisions of any kind, since your
swings in mood may make you feel overly optimistic one moment
and overly pessimistic the next. Many opportunities may lie
waiting for you to take them, yet unreal expectations or
indecision may make you overextend yourself. Equally, you may
have to keep on going, even if a cynical inner voice tells you
to quit. You will probably have to make important decisions
during this period, particularly in relation to your working
life or a domestic situation which you find restrictive or
limiting. Yet you are not likely to find such decision-making
easy.
Although it may seem that others are responsible for any
feelings of hurt or restriction you experience at the moment,
you may discover that it has really been you, at least in
large part, who has secretly ensured you could not be hurt
through adopting rigid or defensive attitudes. Experiences of
loss, separation or financial or professional difficulty may
be the triggers for deep insights. Try to see whether or not
you might have contributed to a present crisis - or are
responding to challenges in ways which are more negative than
they need to be. Something deep within you is being freed
from bondage right now. Your sense of your own failings and
limitations may be too great, and you may have denied yourself
many emotional and creative outlets because you feared failure
or rejection. Now you may be able to see where these blocks
lie. You are growing and moving beyond the structures,
internal and external, which you have built around yourself
for reasons of security and social acceptability. You may
need to pursue a new field of work, or a new relationship; but
such changes, if they are required, need to be made with care
and reflection, not impulsively out of frustration and anger.
Try not to indulge your impatience; you are more likely to
need calm reflection and a recognition of your own
contribution to any present impasse. This could be an
immensely fruitful time, if you can maintain the balance
between a realistic assessment of your limits, needs and
abilities, and a growing sense that life holds many
possibilities which have previously been denied you and which
you may now be urgent to pursue.
3. The mental sphere
The development of your mind, and the cultivation of new
skills, may also occupy a lot of your energy at different
times during the year. The life of the mind is as important as
the life of the heart and the life of the bank account, and
this time could prove very important in enhancing your level
of knowledge and the application of your talents. Try to take
advantage of any opportunity to pursue new areas of study and
new spheres of interest, and if you have the chance to acquire
useful skills on the practical level, make use of the time in
the best possible way. Such opportunities may not always be
available, and you might be surprised at how life opens up
when your perceptions are changed and expanded.
Fresh inspirations
|
Uranus trine Mercury: Beginning of June 2010 until end of March 2012
The same themes are also emphasised by:
prog. Mercury sextile Uranus: Mid September 2009 until beginning of June 2011
|
Your mind is likely to be highly stimulated right now, and you
could be drawn to new subjects, new studies, and an entirely
new way of viewing life. Old attitudes which you have been
carrying around like surplus baggage over the years may be
overhauled or abandoned, and you may find yourself attracted
to unconventional or so-called "New Age" subjects which give
you an entirely different view of human nature, society, the
world, and yourself. You are probably quicker and sharper
than usual, and also able to take an overview and see the
connections between diverse issues. You are able to think
universally and inclusively at the moment, and you may find
yourself deeply and genuinely tolerant of differing opinions
and attitudes because you can see the common ground between
them. Broad-mindedness, tolerance, inspiration, and a
willingness to explore rewarding new spheres of interest are
likely to be some of the most creative aspects of this time.
During this period you might benefit from exploring ways of
restructuring your everyday use of time and energy, and
developing new skills which can enhance your relationship to
your body and your environment. Whatever you have believed in
before, your world-view is likely to change - but not in a
rigid or fanatical way which might make you feel trapped or
torn. The awakening which may occur on the mental level is
harmonious and constructive, and you may be able to build a
new vision of life and the future, while preserving those
values and attitudes which have proven themselves sound over
the years. Although you may be thinking in an inspired and
unconventional manner right now, you are not likely to be
cranky or fixated in your opinions. For this reason you are
likely to make many new contacts with whom you can agreeably
share and discuss the themes which interest you. Take your
interests and inspirations seriously during this time; for the
energy at work within you is extremely creative, and any
efforts to apply it can greatly enhance your life.
However, you may also encounter some problems, especially in
communication with others and in the general tenor of your
mental attitude during this time. If you find yourself
unusually negative, critical or depressed, try to find out
what is really troubling you, rather than taking it out on
others or inadvertently causing difficulties in material
affairs because you are not conscious of your own negativity.
Burdensome thoughts
|
prog. Mercury square Saturn: End of September 2009 until mid June 2011
The same themes are also emphasised by:
Saturn conjunction prog. Mercury: Mid November 2011 until beginning of October 2012
|
You may be passing through a sober and serious time, when your
thoughts are heavy and deep and you are called upon to deal
with irritating problems in your external life. Financial or
health issues may worry you, or you may experience a
communication breakdown with someone close to you. Or you may
simply feel burdened, tired, cynical, or inclined to mistrust
others' motives. Yet even though you are likely to encounter
difficulties of one kind or another, this does not have to be
a destructive period. On a deeper level, you have the
opportunity to discover many areas in which old patterns of
thinking, and old defences from much earlier in your life,
have been restricting your ability to interact freely with
others and remain open to new ideas. Your mental attitudes
are changing, and at the moment a conflict seems to be
occurring between your deepening perceptions and certain rigid
inner structures which may be reflected by structures in your
outer life. If the outer ones are threatened, it may be
because the inner ones are past their sell-by date.
You may feel very lonely and misunderstood right now, and you
may be inclined to be extremely critical of those close to
you. Such feelings are probably not new to you; nor is the
serious outlook which you are now likely to have toward life.
You may experience a separation of some kind, and you might
have to say goodbye to a past chapter of your life. Events of
this kind, even if transient, may trigger deep feelings of
inadequacy about your mental and physical balance and well-
being, and such feelings may have their roots in early
experiences of hurt, deprivation, or isolation. At the moment
the past and the present are merging. If you are honest with
yourself, you may recognise that what you are feeling right
now is not new. You have been here before, and this could
account for the unusual negativity which may now afflict you.
This is a time for deep reflection and introspection, and for
concentration on difficult or complex studies or tasks which
require you to withdraw from involvement in the outer world.
Don't try to fight against any feelings of depression you
might experience; explore them instead. Try not to feel sorry
for yourself. Self-pity will not help you to sort out
external problems, and it may block your ability to see the
importance of the inner process which is occurring. You have
the opportunity to face certain areas where you may have
unconsciously defended yourself against life, and closed down
communication with others. It is only through facing such
inner inhibitions that you can open the doors to a freer and
more spontaneous life.
Too many ideas
|
Jupiter square Mercury: Beginning of June 2011 until mid February 2012
The same themes are also emphasised by:
Jupiter opposition prog. Mercury: Beginning of May 2011 until end of May 2011
|
Your mind is probably seeking new challenges and new horizons
right now; and this may make you mentally inattentive,
restless, lacking in concentration, and inclined to come up
with exciting new ideas which, an hour later, are forgotten as
even grander ones arrive to take their place. During this
time you could expand your intellectual perspective and
explore new subjects and fields of learning. But because you
may be reluctant to pay too much attention to the fine
details, it is not a particularly good time to work on
projects or business ventures which require thoroughness and
concentration. Preparing accounts for the taxman might be a
bad idea at the moment. Go for the big picture, in spheres
where your interests will not suffer because you have
overlooked some important detail or planned carelessly. There
are many positive elements at work in your life right now, for
you are likely to be open to new and expansive ideas and
probably eager to explore the world, literally or
intellectually. This could lift you from humdrum routines and
stale attitudes, and give you fresh creative inspiration. But
you may also need to be realistic about your capacities at the
moment; and patience and concentration are probably not among
them. In fact, it is likely that they never have been; for you
have a restless and inquiring mind which may be best suited to
making broad connections and generating progressive and
inspired ideas for which others can provide the detailed
backup. You will probably need to work particularly hard
right now to ensure that you keep your feet firmly on the
ground.
Your mind may be occupied with how to change or enhance your
practical knowledge and skills, and you might benefit from
developing new interests and activities along these lines.
Travel might also be just what you need at the moment,
particularly if this involves learning a new language or
encountering unfamiliar customs and beliefs which open your
mind to other world-views. But be careful in all your
financial dealings, as well as in your judgement of others.
You might not be watching where you are going right now, and
may exaggerate or simply ignore important facts and feelings
which could cause difficulties later. Most importantly, don't
gamble -either with money or with emotions. You will probably
back the wrong horse at the moment, or exaggerate your idea of
your own or someone else's infallibility. In any speculative
matters, move slowly and cautiously, or, better still, don't
move at all. This is a fertile and creative time for ideas
and exploration, both through travel and study. Make the best
use of it by working within the limits of the kind of energy
available to you; and stay away from pots of gold at the end
of rainbows, which could cost you a lot more than you thought.
4. The spiritual sphere
What gives meaning to any emotional, material or intellectual
challenges and changes you might encounter is your spiritual
life, and here too you may experience certain important
changes in perception and attitude. Such changes may be subtle
and slow to register on your awareness, but they may
profoundly influence the way you experience and interpret what
happens to you over the next year. However, you may find
yourself in some difficulty. You may experience moments of
doubt and disillusionment, and you may wonder whether what you
believe in is really worth the investment of energy and faith.
Such periods of spiritual depression could, however, prove
rewarding in the long term, because they may provide valuable
insights into unrealistic expectations or too rigid a world-
view or spiritual perspective. If you can reflect on what is
happening, rather than falling into cynicism, the testing
times you experience may ultimately help to shape an enduring
faith in yourself and in life.
Clouded vision
Jupiter opposition Neptune: Beginning of July 2011 until mid March 2012 |
This is likely to be a time of enchantment and great idealism,
and your thoughts and feelings may often be exalted and
otherworldly. You may feel particularly concerned with human
welfare, and especially compassionate toward those who are
unfortunate or suffering; and you are likely to be unconcerned
with your own welfare and interests. This is an ambivalent
time, when your heart and spirit are probably open to many
hidden levels of life. But you may also be unusually gullible
and open to exploitation. You could also be unrealistic about
your own luck, and you could feel inclined to gamble with
resources you cannot afford to lose. You have always had an
intuitive sense that you can put your faith in the invisible,
and this has probably worked for you sometimes and got you
into trouble at other times. Your innate idealism, even if
cloaked with a more pragmatic attitude, is a valuable quality
which has no doubt been vindicated, at least some of the time.
But at the moment you need to be especially careful to watch
where you are going, and with whom. Your ideals will not
protect you from self-deception or misplaced trust. The line
between feeling connected with a higher or spiritual source
and feeling exempt from life's rules and requirements is in
fact a thin one, and at the moment you might not be paying
sufficient attention to where it is drawn.
You may need to be especially careful in matters that concern
your religious and spiritual ideals. You may be on the
lookout for a redeemer or a saviour at the moment, and your
faculties of discrimination may not be functioning very well.
Because you are likely to be feeling very idealistic right
now, you may be seeking perfection or redemption through
another person, or through an opportunity which looks as
though it could solve all your material problems. If you give
away responsibility for your own life in this way, you could
be opening yourself up to great disappointment and
disillusionment later. The ideals which you espouse right
now, and the deep sense of connection with life you may
experience, are important and valuable, and a feeling of unity
with your fellow humans could be one of the richest and most
rewarding aspects of the time. But your feet may not be on
the ground, and you may need to learn to keep at least one of
them there so that you can spare yourself disappointment and
loss later. There is no such thing as a free lunch, but at
the moment you may expect this -and free dinners too. Try to
be realistic about yourself and the people you meet; avoid
deception, which is likely to get you in a mess; and don't
gamble, emotionally or materially, with what you cannot afford
to lose.
Losing direction
Neptune square MC: Beginning of March 2010 until end of December 2012 |
This may be a poor time to make important decisions regarding
your professional advancement or direction in life. You are
likely to be in a state of confusion about where you are going
and what role you are expected to play in the world, and you
may mistake fantasy for reality and underestimate or
overestimate your actual abilities and limits. Perhaps the
image of intensity and dedication which you tend to project to
the outer world is not being expressed in the right ways, or
is proving too limited in the manner you are living it. You
are changing at the moment, and this may require the pursuit
of new possibilities in order for you to feel fulfilled
through your work. But you may not wish to acknowledge this
need for change, for it may require certain sacrifices.
Moreover, your rational ego is not wholly in charge at the
moment. Circumstances of an unpredictable and unusual kind
may interfere with carefully made plans, and you may also
unconsciously sabotage yourself by making poor decisions or
involving yourself with the wrong people. A sense of
discomfort and annoyance that you are not fully in control may
make you retreat into fantasies of how you want things to be.
This could make you unrealistic and cause problems in your
dealings with those in authority if you expect too much too
quickly. For this reason it might be wise if you did not try
to make any major changes just yet. If changes are
unavoidable because of external circumstances, try not to
react impulsively, and keep any feelings of anger or self-pity
in check. And above all, don't involve yourself in any scheme
or plan to improve your position which is anything less than
open and honest.
On a deeper level, you are being challenged to let go of the
past. Many aspects of the image you project to others may be
rooted in expectations and assumptions from your family
background, and you may, without realising it, be trying to
fulfill others' hopes and dreams rather than your own talents
and aspirations. You are moving beyond these patterns at this
point in your life, but this could cause you guilt if your
family made many sacrifices so that you could become what you
are now. To relinquish a role chosen by your family may hurt,
and could make you feel very lonely and separate - especially
if you are not fully conscious of what is happening. You may
also, on some profound unconscious level, project your past
onto your present, and perceive those in authority as parental
figures who will oppose or undermine you if you make any
effort to move in an independent direction. This could make
you evasive and secretive, as well as extremely insecure and
unsure of yourself. Try to be aware of such patterns at work
at the moment. The greater the clarity you are able to
maintain about any deeper emotional issues which might lie
behind your present confusion, the better equipped you will be
to recognise clearly which changes are required and which
choices can lead to the right course for the future.
5. The sphere of the Inner Self
Deeper and more profound than events occurring in any of these
spheres is the development of the Self, which underpins
everything that happens to us in life. This is the real heart
of the mystery of fate, because if there is truly a destiny at
work in individual life, it lies within, and the astrological
configurations only reflect, at any given time, opportunities
for this hidden development pattern. You may only experience
glimpses of this inner pattern at work, through realising that
some experience is vitally necessary even if it is painful.
You may also sometimes sense the purposefulness of what is
happening around and within you, even if you cannot find a
rationale for what you sense. Through particular feelings and
situations which make you grow, you can establish a strong
connection with the inner world, even if your heart is sore or
you are encountering trouble on the mundane level. But this
kind of connection depends on how willing you are to look
inward at the deeper pattern of your life, regardless of how
you are feeling at the time, or toward whom you feel it.
The meaning of the story
Pluto trine Pluto: End of February 2010 until end of December 2012 |
During this time you are likely to experience a subtle but
pervasive sense that your life has a deeper purpose or
"destiny". Your attitudes toward marriage and partnership may
be profoundly affected by a sense of inevitability, or a
feeling that something other than your conscious ego is gently
moving events toward an unseen goal. Whether or not external
circumstances provide a trigger for such changing perceptions,
you are likely to spend a lot of time thinking about life's
mysteries, and trying to understand the complexities of human
nature with greater insight.
However, although changes are likely in your personal outlook
and attitudes toward life, you are also experiencing a shift
which is affecting many people of your age group. Certain
values which you hold in common with others of your generation
may assume new meaning, new forms, and a greater emphasis in
your life. This may be partly because you have arrived at an
age when maturity is deepening your perspective, and partly
because the collective, like the individual, undergoes changes
in consciousness at various junctures in time. Although you
may not spend time thinking about it, your sense of survival,
like others of your age group, depends on a harmonious
relationship with nature, and an orderly life which respects
the material environment. This "bottom line" of survival may
rarely, if ever, be fully mobilised, except in crisis
situations when you must fight to maintain your material or
psychological ground. But at the moment circumstances in the
larger world may constitute such a crisis point, leading you
and many others to look more deeply at what matters most to
you - in terms of your ability to survive and cope with life,
and your capacity to develop new resources which help you to
express your values in creative ways.
The repetition of the past
Chiron conjunction Chiron: Beginning of April 2010 until mid February 2013 |
During this time you have the opportunity to leave behind you
many difficult experiences from earlier phases of your life.
Echoes of the past may haunt you at the moment, particularly
incidents and experiences which left you feeling unhappy,
hurt, or powerless in the face of life's unfairness. This is
not likely to be an easy period emotionally. You may lose
self-esteem, or be acutely aware of the difficulties you have
often had in expressing yourself confidently to the outside
world. It is likely that some incident or situation in the
present is serving as a trigger for certain past hurts.
Feelings of angry disappointment may be extremely powerful,
because there could be a backlog of past grievances and
resentment spilling over into your present life. On a deeper
level, you have a chance to confront and work through old
wounds which may have been covered up but never really healed.
But first you may have to recognise what these wounds are, and
a lack of inner awareness may be the reason why hurtful
situations in the present are having such a powerful effect on
you. Instead of reacting with rage, resentment, or self-pity,
try to see where you have been through similar experiences
before. You may need to follow a long path which winds back
to the early part of your life, when events may have taken
place which left you with an ongoing sense of inadequacy or
self-blame.
At the moment you are completing an important life cycle,
although you may not realise it. Every individual experiences
some kind of hurt through the fundamental unfairness of life,
and such hurts usually lie beneath the threshold of
consciousness and are only activated when a similar situation
repeats itself. But these hurts can also affect us
profoundly, making us inadvertently defensive and closed to
life in certain ways. This may be true of you now. Early
encounters with human failings and human suffering may have
made you determined to protect yourself, so that you never
feel so vulnerable again. Such defensiveness might have made
you close off to life. Now you have the chance to open the
door and express yourself more freely and openly. Discovering
healing through hurt is a process which requires a lot of
self-honesty and self-awareness. Armed with these attributes,
you will be able to turn what may initially seem an unhappy
situation into one which can help you develop as a more
confident and compassionate person.
A philosophical attitude can be of help right now. Such an
attitude does not imply cynicism, but is a willingness to look
beyond personal losses or grievances to a deeper and more
universal pattern at work in life. You may realise through
this kind of objectivity that there are many things in life
about which individual human beings can do nothing. Such
circumstances are beyond our control, although our responses
are our own and subject to our free choice. A philosophical
outlook is not the same as resignation either, however. It
implies a willingness to recognise that the human ego is not
the most powerful force in life. Whether your present
circumstances open up the possibility of deeper spiritual or
psychological questioning is up to you. But this is an
excellent time to explore such terrain, so that you understand
more about yourself and can define more clearly what you
really believe in. If you feel you need help in understanding
your own complexity, do not hesitate to seek it. Pride,
particularly of the stiff-necked variety, may not prove a very
helpful quality at the moment, and you may need to know that
others have been burned by the same fire as you. If you are
willing to look within during this critical time, you may
discover that beneath the surface of present events lies a
profound process of freeing and healing.
Danger: high explosives
|
Chiron opposition Pluto: Mid April 2011 until end of February 2013
The same themes are also emphasised by:
Pluto sextile Chiron: Beginning of January 2010 until end of October 2012
|
This is likely to be a disturbing time. You may encounter
powerful emotions within yourself which threaten to upset your
self-image, your view of life, and certain structures on which
you have based your security. External circumstances of an
unpredictable and possibly hurtful kind may trigger these
feelings in you. But the feelings may be out of proportion to
the event, revealing deeper dimensions of your inner world
which you may have tried to avoid facing in the past. Your
fundamental survival instincts are being activated at the
moment, and this could make you react to external pressure or
disappointment as though everything were a life-and-death
struggle. If you let yourself be overwhelmed by such
feelings, you may try to assert power over others to defend
yourself. Or you may sink into a black mood of passivity and
martyrdom. Neither response would be very helpful to you at
the moment. You could discover hidden resources of strength
and tenacity right now, as well as profound insights into your
deeper nature. Life is likely to challenge your previous
assumptions, and require that you examine the emotional
undercurrents and "hidden agendas" in your close
relationships. You are not likely to gain anything by
responding to the world as though it were trying to hunt you
down. Newly awakened survival instincts need to be put in the
service of your own well-being and self-understanding, rather
than utilised to control or do battle with others.
It may prove tricky to hold your own ground without taking the
role of the aggressor. If you strike first, or indulge in
retaliation, you may incur strong opposition which could leave
you feeling defeated and humiliated. Try to cultivate
detachment, and a perspective which can allow you to recognise
and honour your feelings while containing their more primitive
elements. On a deeper level, the discovery of such inner
intensity and power could transform not only your view of
yourself, but also your understanding of human nature. But
such a transformation depends on your being able to accept the
darker elements in yourself and in life. You may be
particularly aware at the moment of life's unfairness, and of
how easy it is for human destructiveness - including your own
- to be unleashed. While this may not be a pleasant
revelation, it is a realistic one, which could give you the
objectivity and strength to cope with life situations which
are distressing but which happen to even the nicest and most
decent of souls.
There is no easy formula which can tell you what to do right
now. You are being challenged to accept dimensions of life
which may conflict with your personal values, religious
convictions, or ideology. But you might benefit from
acknowledging such issues even if you don't like them. Try to
tap your own resources of strength and integrity without
joining the power games which occupy the time and energy of so
many people. You may feel very angry, hurt, or betrayed
because of external events occurring in your life at this
time. Your feelings may be totally justified. But it is
where those feelings lead which is so critical, and you
probably have many more choices than you realise. Pretending
that everything will be fine if you just think positively may
be too naive a response. Telling yourself that any means are
justified by the end may be cynical and destructive. This is
a profoundly important time, when subtle choices are being
offered to you which can lead to the firming up of values and
ethics which truly matter to you.
Building character
Saturn square Saturn: Beginning of October 2011 until end of September 2012 |
You have arrived at an important turning point in your cycle
of development, and life is likely to test the solidity and
authenticity of your goals and sense of personal identity. You
are now in what is called the 'prime' of life - young enough
to have many productive years ahead of you, yet old enough to
have been burned by, and learned from, past experience.
Although the outer world may see you as having 'arrived',
inwardly you probably feel anything but clear and confident at
the moment; for you may be recognising all those areas where
you have had to betray yourself in order to achieve security,
as well as those spheres where you have not sufficiently
prepared, emotionally as well as physically, for the process
of growing older. You may need to give up certain old
attitudes and patterns, and begin new ventures or new
relationships at thistime, based on an increasing sense of
self-sufficiency and more mature goals and aspirations. But
you are likely to be challenged not only by the outer world
but by your own fears, and what you begin now may have to
prove itself in the face of competition or difficulty. You
may experience opposition or obstruction to what you are
trying to achieve, and certain external situations may trigger
deep insecurities. Yet if you are able to stand firmly behind
what you know to be right for you, you will emerge from this
period with a much deeper sense of your strength and survival
capacities, and a greater acceptance of your human limits.
You may have to define yourself more clearly in terms of your
relationship with the inner world. Health difficulties or
irrational worries, moods and fantasies may make you look more
deeply into yourself, and you may need to examine the ways in
which hidden fears springing from childhood might have made
you overly controlled and frightened of your spiritual,
emotional and intuitive side. Issues of personal boundaries
may need to be dealt with, and also the question of just how
self-sufficient you truly are. You may experience a strong
sense of separateness, even if you are in a stable and loving
relationship, and this could leave you feeling lonely and
isolated. You may also have to let go of defences or props
which you have been using to give the illusion of strength and
competence, so that you can develop greater authenticity and
more genuine self-respect. Don't pretend that you are
something you are not. If you discover areas of weakness
within yourself, or find that external situations are not as
valid or stable as you thought, you may need to be prepared to
face this honestly and do what is necessary to build better
foundations. And if some area of your personal or
professional life proves to be truly unviable, you may need to
let it go.
This is a time of weeding out, consolidating, and defining
your ground. It might be better if you don't rush into new
relationships or new ventures until you feel more solid and
secure within yourself. Don't be afraid of the challenges of
this period. Life is not trying to be malevolent; any
difficulties or obstructions you experience are highlighting
where you need to work on your life, and if you understand the
message you can establish much stronger foundations for all
your future choices and endeavours. This is also a time when
you may experience a kind of psychological separation from
your family background and the collective around you -
regardless of your age. You may have to define who you are
even if it means severing the unconscious fusion or
identification with others which previously made you feel safe
and secure. Hopefully, this process of separation will not
involve actual physical parting from those you love. But if
it does, it could mean that such a relationship has fulfilled
its purpose, or can no longer allow you to grow and mature as
an independent individual. The most painful issue you may now
be facing is a profound and archetypal sense of aloneness. If
you can learn to cope with this, you will be able to use this
time creatively and constructively to build a better future.
Learn to respect restrictions
prog. Mars square Saturn: Beginning of October 2010 until beginning of October 2013 |
You may be feeling rather like Hercules right now, with the
Augean stables to clean out and only a spoon with which to do
it. This could be an aggravating time, and you may feel beset
by obstacles and problems which make you feel extremely angry
and constellate your desire to fight blindly against the
limits you experience. However, it might be wise, before you
call out the armed forces, to reflect on what is really going
on. The sense of frustration and restriction you are likely
to feel may be due only in part to external factors. You may
be confronting some rigidity or defensive pattern within
yourself, which makes you act erratically, like someone trying
to drive the car with the brakes on. You may be pushing and
pulling at once, urgent to assert your will and take charge of
your life yet fearful of failure and humiliation if you try.
Although in the past you may have found it easier to accept
limitation because of a fundamentally realistic and self-
disciplined attitude, nevertheless you have probably always
experienced some frustration and conflict between your fears
and your desire to assert yourself. The deep sense of anxiety
around your efforts to get ahead may, at the moment, also
cause you to doubt your effectiveness as a man, and may even
cause you unnecessary worry about your sexual potency or
capacity to maintain your independence in close relationships.
The more you are able to see where your own conflict might be
exacerbating - or perhaps even causing - any external
difficulties, the better you will manage this difficult but
potentially very creative period.
You have probably always been rather fearful, albeit secretly,
about your own forebodings, moods and feelings of physical and
emotional unease, and you might not have realised how
entrenched you have become in particular ways of protecting
your vulnerability from the onslaught of the outer world. You
may not appear anxious or fearful; in fact you may have
overcompensated, and convinced others and yourself of your
strength and self-sufficiency. But that apparent strength may
now be challenged, and you could discover that beneath it you
are not really sure how to cope. There may be many complex
factors at work behind your anxiety, particularly early
experiences of hurt or frustration which have left you
determined that no one will ever hurt or control you again.
Now you could be realising that, in order to get what you want
in life, you may have to face these fears and move beyond
them.
You will not achieve this by engaging in battle with those
around you. If you become defensive and aggressive, you may
antagonise others and cause yourself problems with authorities
and employers as well as with loved ones. You may also need
to keep firm control of your temper, so that you do not
attract aggression or violence from others and do not behave
clumsily when handling a car or other mechanical equipment.
But at the same time, don't try to suppress your anger, for it
might emerge in covert ways which prove destructive to your
health as well as your relationships. You could discover
great tenacity and endurance in yourself during this time,
which could give you greater confidence and self-esteem in the
future. But you will need patience to contain your anger, and
also compassion for those fears which may have secretly made
you avoid or defend yourself against necessary life
experiences. Your real battle is with the past, and with
those elements in your own nature which have responded to
life's inequalities and unpredictability through attempting to
control the world around you. Stick to your deepest
convictions, and put your energy into achievable goals. But
try to recognise when life is telling you to slow down,
compromise or let go; and don't manufacture enemies outside
when they are not really there.
Friction and fruition
prog. Moon opposition prog. Sun: Mid October 2011 until mid April 2012 |
You are reaching the peak of an emotional cycle which began
around fourteen years ago, when your needs and emotional
attitudes underwent deep changes and seeds were sown for an
entirely new way of responding to life. Emotionally, you may
not find this period especially easy, since you may be acutely
aware of how far you have moved from the patterns of the past
and, perhaps, the people who have been in your life for a long
time. You may need to integrate what you have become with
what you were, and this may require adjustments, compromises
or the airing of long-standing tensions and conflicts. But
although you may not always feel at peace within yourself,
this is potentially a time of emotional flowering, when you
may be acutely aware of your own individuality and can
perceive others with unusual objectivity and sensitivity. The
issues on which you are likely to be focused are your material
and emotional self-sufficiency versus your need to share with
others and rely on their support. Although conflicts and
changes are likely in terms of your material security and
ability to express financial and emotional independence, these
may reflect values and needs which have been developing for
the past fourteen years.
If you have allowed your need for closeness with others to
obstruct your need to be a separate individual, you may be
challenged to assert your own values and ideals with greater
honesty and openness. External conflicts and relationship
issues may highlight the fact that you need to achieve a new
and more creative balance between these two sides of yourself.
Although you may experience tensions or friction with those
close to you, this could prove an extremely productive period
which will put to the test all the efforts you have made in
the past years to honour and express both aspects of your
personality. And if you have not got the balance right in the
past, you will have ample opportunity to do so now, laying the
groundwork for a more flexible and more honest way of
interacting with life in the years to come.
Chapter IV
CONCLUSION
The Greek philosopher Herakleitos once wrote that nothing is
permanent except change. The human psyche is always in a
process of change and unfoldment, and the planetary
configurations which reflect your pattern of development over
the next year will change to new configurations which reflect
new patterns over the years to come. When we miss
opportunities, they usually come back again in a different
form and on a different level, because life not only changes
but moves in cycles, reflected by the planetary cycles in the
heavens. Whatever "fate" might be, it is not a rigid design
which denies us freedom to choose, grow, make mistakes, re-
choose, and grow again.
Each of the sections given above describes planetary patterns
which, at core, will be shared at some time and in some way by
other human beings. What we experience is not as unique as we
might think; we all go through joy, pain, good fortune, loss,
loneliness, togetherness, light and darkness, and we all have
certain needs and drives in common. But the timing and
distinctive expression of your constantly changing growth
pattern is unique to you, and so too are the individual heart,
mind, body and spirit which experience that pattern. Whatever
might occur in your outer life over the next year, finding
meaning in it, and connecting that meaning with who you are
and what you really seek in life, can unlock previously
unsuspected funds of energy and creativity, and can give you a
greater range of choices in the future. We are taught as
children to "use time wisely". What does this mean? Perhaps
the most profound meaning is that time has qualities, and each
moment of time has a special meaning for us as individuals.
And understanding and working with these qualities and meaning
can transform how we experience the circumstances of our
lives.
APPENDIX
Suggested further reading
On planetary cycles and movements:
«The Gods of Change» by Howard Sasportas (transits of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto)
«Transits: The Time of Your Life» by Betty Lundsted
«Transits» by Rob Hand
On individual planets and their meaning:
«The Astrological Moon» by Darby Costello
«Prometheus the Awakener» by Richard Tarnas
«Venus and Jupiter» by Erin Sullivan
«The Inner Planets» by Liz Greene and Howard Sasportas
«The Luminaries» by Liz Greene and Howard Sasportas
«Exploring Jupiter» by Stephen Arroyo
«The Outer Planets» by Liz Greene
«Saturn» by Liz Greene
«Neptune» by Liz Greene
«Chiron and the Healing Journey» by Melanie Reinhart
On the subject of fate:
«Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle» by C. G. Jung
«The Astrology of Fate» by Liz Greene
Other Astro*Intelligence reports written by Liz Greene can enhance the value of this report, because
the greater your understanding of yourself, the more intelligently you can work with the meaning of
the time. For an in-depth analysis of your birth horoscope, you can order the Psychological Horoscope
Analysis. For deeper insight into your relationships, the Relationship Horoscope can offer a new
perspective. If you are still looking for your vocation, Career and Vocation can provide new impulses
for you. And for a greater appreciation of the unique personality of your child, or of your own
childhood, you can order the Child's Horoscope.
A wider view of your personal perspectives for a period of six years is offered by the Long-term
Perspectives.
You can order these reports at the same sales point from which you received the report you are
reading.
Technical Information
In order to create this analysis, the following astrological factors have been examined:
- major progressed aspects (conjunction, opposition, square, trine, sextile) of the Sun, Moon,
Ascendant, MC, Mercury, Venus and Mars to natal planets and angles.
- major aspects ( conjunction, opposition, square, trine, sextile) of transiting Pluto, Neptune,
Uranus, Chiron, Saturn, and Jupiter to both natal and progressed planets and angles.
- conjunctions and oppositions of transiting Mars to both natal and progressed planets and angles.
- aspects between progressed planets, especially progressed new and full Moons.
Special importance is given to stations of transiting planets close to natal planets and angles.
Importance has been given not only to the nature of the specific progressed or transiting planet and
aspect, but also to natal configurations which echo the progressed and transiting aspects, to house
positions of natal, transiting and progressed planets, and to the overall balance of elements and
configurations in the birth chart. Internally the results of the Psychological Horoscope Analysis are
used for the evaluation of each chart.
Because the importance of any transit or progressed aspect is not limited only to the time of the
precise aspect, but extends for some time before and after, orbs of aspect have been used. These
recognise the buildup and gradual diminishing of the energy of a particular planetary movement.
Consequently some configurations are described which may not reach exact aspect until the following
year, but which are already beginning to show their effects, or which have already made an exact
aspect in the previous year.
The report which results from these considerations is assembled from selected interpretation text
sections. Not all transits or progressions which occur during a year are included in the printed
report, only those selected by Liz Greene's model of interpretation. As in all works by Liz Greene
the Placidus house system is used.
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