Month: December 2014

We have two good signs in the sky this New Years to help us make plans for 2015. I am not a fan of “resolutions” because I feel we make them under pressure and therefore they are often unrealistic. However, if you are prone to make them this year would be the time because we have Pluto, the change agent, and Vesta, the asteroid that makes us overcome obstacles, on the Sun (our inner energy) on New Year’s Day. Therefore, we can focus on the changes that we need to make with intensity and the drive to put them into action.

The other good sign for change is a Saturn/Pallas conjunction in Sagittarius. As I said last week, two days after the Solstice, on December 23, 2014 Saturn left Scorpio and, for the first time in 30 years and moved into Sagittarius. It will remain there, after a short retrograde back to Scorpio from June 16 – Sept 18, 2015, until December 20, 2017.

Sagittarius vibrates to the ninth house of higher education, foreign affairs, international travel, publishing and personal spiritual and philosophical growth. Its planetary ruler is huge Jupiter, with control over ideals, education, religion and laws. Pallas was the goddess of both war and peace – of fighting the good fight and then reveling in the peace afterwards by building arts centers and hospitals. She takes up the causes of the underdog and makes us fight the good fight. That is a lot of energy in Sagittarius – the seeker, the wanderer the sign most interested in intercultural, inter-religious exchange. In short, it is a lot of energy of learning, growing and moving forward that I hope we all use!

Happy New Year and keep these positive energies in the sky in mind as we open the door to 2015

Merry Solstice, Happy Yule – yesterday was the Winter Solstice, also called the shortest day and longest night of the year. From this day forward, the light will gradually return until the Spring Equinox when light and dark are again in balance. As we emerge from the inward darkness energy into the light again it is a good time to reflect (no pun intended) on the inward light that shines from us.

Two days after the Solstice, on December 23, 2014 Saturn will leave Scorpio and, for the first time in 30 years, move into Sagittarius. It will remain there, after a short retrograde back to Scorpio from June 16 – Sept 18, 2015, until December 20, 2017.

Sagittarius vibrates to the ninth house of higher education, foreign affairs, international travel, publishing and personal spiritual and philosophical growth. Its planetary ruler is huge Jupiter, with control over ideals, education, religion and laws.

Saturn rules structure, authority and requires us to pay attention to rules while Sagittarius, although not one to mock authority, hates being hamstringed by outdated rigidity. This is a perfect time to re-evaluate religion and conflicts between extremist and hard right “religions” and true religions of goodwill and peace will be prominent. This will be most prominent in 2015 because Saturn will make hard aspects with Neptune, the planet of spirituality. Sadly, this could lead to some bloody clashes in areas where religion and violence doing a sorrowful dance.

New educational techniques will come to the forefront ad well and explosion in computer learning. I hope that we will take advantage of this passage to loosen the economic bondage now forced on students seeking higher education in this country.

Foreign boundaries can change as they did 1980’s. The recent opening of Cuba with the help of a progressive Pope is a perfect example of the energy of Saturn in Sagittarius. In fact, the whole idea of a Pope shaking up the bureaucracy is a Saturn-Sagittarius energy so expect some more surprises from Pope Francis.
We should see new forms of publishing and other methods for reaching the public that shake up the already shaky book industry.

Most importantly look for Saturn in your personal chart. What house is it in? What aspects does it make? Saturn brings worry and responsibility. For instance, with Saturn in the first you will put too much pressure on yourself and battle with depression or despondency. How can you use the expansiveness of Jupiter to lessen that burden, that constant pressure you place upon yourself to perform?

Remember Jupiter and Sagittarius encourage us to grow, seek, expand and explore!

With the recent attention on the problem of police shootings of unarmed African American males, many of them teens and young adults, many are questioning our system of law enforcement. While many people of color life their lives in this atmosphere of shoot first and interrogate later, the awareness of these actions and the anger they are causing to a much wider community are getting more media attention. What can be causing this astrologically? I attribute it to the slow but insidious work of Pluto as it moves through the sign of Capricorn that governs government and authority structures.

Pluto spares nothing when it comes calling. The planet forces us to go deep within and make changes as it transverses each sign. Now in the sign of Capricorn, the domain of which is authority, government and literally the fabric and formation of society. We have seen the banking system unravel, church scandals, sports scandals, etc. since 2008, when Pluto enter Capricorn. Now the dirty little secrets of policing awaken. Capricorn will host Pluto until 2026. Yes, we have a long way to go.

Pluto requires change but the changes made are up to us. Frankly, I think we have done a terrible job of it. We elected President Obama and then expected him to do everything to “change” the government. When the right wing yells we progressives retreat and allow them to have their way. The architects of the banking collapse received no punishment, the one percent are getting richer and the middle class is crumbling. If Capricorn rules structure well our infrastructure is also crumbing because no one has the guts to say we need to spend money.

We have a choice in the next 10 years to demand the real change the Pluto requires. This is especially true because The United States is about to undergo a Pluto return. Pluto takes 248 years to make a revolution through all of the signs and in 1776 on July 4; it was at 27 degrees Capricorn. It will make that return by 2020 back to 27 degrees Capricorn. This is a classic case of chickens coming home to roost. If we have all of this upheaval but fail to solve root problems then it will be a very difficult Pluto return for this country and one sadly we will not recognize in the very near future.

Today the Moon floats into fiery Aries and forms a grand trine with Jupiter in Leo and Venus in Sagittarius fire signs. While this can make tempers flare, it is also a perfect time to make plans for growth (Jupiter) and money (Venus). In addition, Mars is in staid and steady Capricorn and making a positive aspect to Capricorn’s ruler, Saturn. You can’t ask for a better time to organize, analyze and evaluate. All of those New Year’s resolutions, that we hear so much about, should be germinating in you now! There will be no better time before the New Year to take stock and make lists.

The December Full Moon takes place on December 6 and will be on the Gemini (Moon), Sagittarius (Sun) axis. (I love that axis is because that is my North and South Node axis.) Sagittarius is all about formulating ideas and Gemini is communicating those ideas. Hmmm, do you see a pattern here?

With the Sun conjunct Mercury, Ceres and Venus that day there is no reason for you not to start moving your new ideas into the public arena. No excuses – think it, believe it – do it!