Even lowly village astrologers can be swept away in the tsunami of modern life, so forgive me for truncating my forecast for May and June. I am deep in the throes of planning for

Aligning to Our Values

Well, here we are, at the end of the Mayan calendar and ready to tumble of the face of the dial. How are you feeling?  Ready to skid off the edges of the flat earth?

When people ask me about the Mayan calendar, I tell them what I see in my mind’s eye: a tired scribe who thinks, “Yes. This is a good stopping point, right before the start of this next cycle.” (Or a carver who runs out of space on the dial…) But not the end of the world as we know it, unless you’re speaking metaphorically, rather than literally.

I do feel the upcoming Uranus square Pluto configuration beginning in June of this will be transforming our world in exciting and unexpected ways, just as the conjoining of these two planets in the late 60s kicked off a new era. More on that in June’s forecast. So, prepare for a trippy journey, but don’t give away all your possessions and wait for the clock to stop ticking.

Though with Mars trine Pluto this month, I doubt even the doomsdayers will be sitting around waiting for the clocks to stop.  We’ll all be working hard and active, active, active through May 20^th!

MAY 5th

May begins with a full moon in Scorpio opposite the Taurus sun at 16°.  Taurus is content with what is. while Scorpio is interested in what’s missing. Taurus is the container of the zodiac, it holds onto what it receives, while Scorpio is the releaser. When these two energies combine, it’s time to think about what you’ve held onto too long and need to shed, be it emotionally, intellectually, spiritually, or materially.

Can you strip your values down to their essential core and then ask yourself what people, attitudes, situations, beliefs, and things in your life genuinely feed you?  That’s what this moon desires.

Secondarily, if you have essential needs that aren’t getting met, don’t be surprised if emotions boil over the days leading up to the full moon. Where you find resentments and frustrations, you find a need unaddressed or a fear untended.  If you find yourself seething, consider it an opportunity to air your discontent and gain clarity on your needs (versus what you simply want).

This tug of war may be particularly loud in interpersonal relationships where expectations, obligations, and desires often get muddied.  Clarifying boundaries will help ease tensions.

Also examine where your faultfinder might thwart your dreamer. With Mars in Virgo opposite Neptune in Pisces and both squaring the moon’s nodes, there’s a need to let go of an old way of acting or behaving and a need to take a more imaginative and fluid approach. Where do you demand perfection from yourself?  Where do you have codified routines?  If you find yourself stuck and an old approach isn’t working, try surrendering the approach. Feel your way through. The phrase let go and let God/dess comes to mind.

MAY 8

Mercury moves into slow-moving Taurus on May 8^th, calming the pace of our minds, asking us to tie down our thoughts and make them more concrete. Plans and ideas of the last two months can now be nailed down and put into practical action – if they’re pragmatic. If not, we’re likely to scrap them.  Take a laid back approach when negotiating with others, as pushing for what you want will have you smacking head squarely against wall: people can get a bit stubborn – shall we say, bullheaded? – when Mercury travels through this sign.

MAY 15

Venus, planet of love of money, will seem to stop in the sky and then turn direction (retrograde) beginning May 15^th until it turns direct on June 27^th. Traditionally, this isn’t the best time to buy big ticket or luxury items (cars, jewelry) but a fantastic time to rediscover what you love, what you value, and what matters to you.  It’s also a great time to revisit your finances to ensure you’re on sure footing.

An oddity of Venus retrograde periods is that they often bring people from your past out of the woodwork, so Facebook might be a flurry of activity this month, as old friends want to reconnect.

Mostly Venus retrograde allows us to discern what is of true value to us and evaluate the real worth of the people and situations in our life.  We begin to notice when a relationship doesn’t really benefit us. Little frictions and disagreements appear to help us notice the differences or unresolved issues we have with others. However, it’s not time to act on our evaluations, but assess the severity and depth of issues, so we can work on them when Venus goes direct in June.

MAY 20

Sun moves into sunny, curious Gemini.  Circulate, share ideas,  and explore your community. Now is a good time to discover where you’ve boxed yourself in a bit too tight and bring in a bit of variety and change.

Now let’s complicate things a bit and make this new sun part of a new moon eclipse at 0° Gemini.  This is a solar eclipse, so look to where your ideas – especially ideas that you hold true about yourself and your identity – are challenged or need revisioned. Communication and mental frameworks become a focus.

Signs and clues lie in your everyday life – the conversation with the local mail carrier that goes off the rails, the comment from your child’s teacher that challenges your ideas – to see where the revisioning will take place.

New moons are tied to new beginnings, but solar eclipses, especially those tied to the south node as this one is, also speak to the need for surrender and release.  A question to live in this new moon: Is there some cherished idea about myself, my life, my past, or my purpose that needs relinquished in order to move forward?  (Clue: if it’s ego-bound rather than value-driven, it may be slowing you down.)

The new moon’s stressful relationship to the Neptune may incline us to ignore a hard truth or refuse to acknowledge what we’d rather not see.  It also can make us less clear of our direction, and less confident we know where we’re heading.

Saturn in a supportive trine to Venus can aid in mooring us when we feel uncertain. Use your core values as your guide. A Venus-Saturn compass might direct us by asking questions such as: What is lasting, of value, and important in the grand scheme of my life? Will [this direction, person, decision] strengthen my ability to connect in a meaningful way with others? Does it foster a sense of self-respect and self-worth?

Dreams worth pursuing in spite of the obstacles life provides are those aligned to the core principles and foundational values that emerge from this kind of questioning.

Have an amazing, magical month!

Gemstone recommendations for the month

Aries

Red coral, Carnelian, Bloodstone

Taurus

White Coral, Emerald, Amber

Gemini

Peridot, Jade, Moss Agate

Cancer

Natural Pearl, Moonstone, Smokey Quartz

Leo

Red Spinel, Rhodolite, Golden Topaz

Virgo

Citrine, Peridot, Jade

Libra

White Coral, Opal, Pyrite

Scorpio

Red Coral, Carnelian, Obsidian

Sagittarius

Topaz, Yellow Jasper, Serpentine

Capricorn

Amethyst, Garnet, Black Onyx

Aquarius

Amazonite, Moss Agate, Lapis Lazuli

Pisces

Aquamarine, Rock Crystal, Angelite

After the refining and reviewing of March, April aims to get the party started  — or at least to get out of the house.

We begin the month with Mercury still retrograde in Pisces, not it’s favorite sign in which to hang. Mercury likes clear communication, data, and straightforward reasoning. Pisces, on the other hand, prefers to keep it loose and tap into the zeitgeist. It would rather capture the feel rather than the facts. In short, communication and nailing down information can be a bit wonky at the start of the month.

On April 4^th, Mercury turns direct and the retrograde period ends. Visually, Mercury will appear to change direction and begin moving forward through the sky. Symbolically, it means communications get back on track and we can begin to put our ideas into effect.  But momentum really picks up after mid-April, so shelve your big plans until then.

Also, on April 4^th, Venus, planet of love and money, leaves Taurus and moves into Gemini, the sign of communication, ideas, and networking. Circulate, my lovelies!

The full moon in Libra on April 6^th shines its spotlight on the need to balance our needs with those around us. If we don’t have boundaries, now is the time to put some in place.  Time alone or with those closest to us will feed us. Note any conflicts between what you want and what you need, and tap into your creativity to bridge the divide.

A square between Neptune and Venus makes us dreamy and idealistic – and perhaps less likely to see the truth about others – but the midpoint to the moon asks us to ground that vision in the day-to-day realm and cultivate allies to support us. Again, use the creativity of this full moon to bring some of that vision into your daily life.

You may find yourself brooding during the days before April 10^th when Pluto stations. Pluto, lord of the underworld, doesn’t want to flit above the surface but to dig deep and ponder.  That’s just his way.  People may be more emotional, intense and resistant around the station. Try to keep your sense of humor and give yourself some outlets: write in your journal, have a heart-to-heart with someone close to you, take a martial arts class. Pay attention to your dreams around this period, as unconscious material can be rich for the exploring.

On April 13^th Mars, planet of drive and action, turns direct in the sign of Virgo after ten weeks of being retrograde. And on April 17^th, Mercury leaves Pisces and enters Aries. Now we start picking up some speed and can act on our ideas and plans. Essentially, these planets are in each other’s home signs; it’s as if they swapped houses for a vacation. They are in synch and can coordinate easily with each other.  Now is the time to start acting on the plans you made and to start seeing progress.  If you’ve been feeling like you’ve been hiking through quicksand or like you can’t keep your forward focus, you may all of a sudden feel like you’ve got your groove back.

The new moon on April 21^st will ground the ideas you implemented midmonth and keep them moving forward. Any unrealistic, pie-in-the sky elements of your plans should be rooted out at this time. Supportive Mars will lend you a hand, keeping you focused and action-oriented. With Neptune sitting opposite Mars this new moon, there’s a need to refine and adjust your dreams without becoming overly sensitive. If you find yourself triggered and bristling, take note. Use any feedback you receive to make your dreams more tangible and effective.

On April 24^th, Mercury will join Uranus in Aries. For roughly a month, Mercury has been focused inward, asking us to rewire our mental patterns and fated beliefs. If you’ve done the work of examining your unquestioned beliefs and ideas, April 22^nd-24^th will be primed to liberate you from old thinking. Epiphanies and breakthroughs are possible if you have used March and April to cultivate the opportunities.  Let your ideas gain momentum, and use your insight during this period to open yourself to the possibilities available to you.

Write down what you discover. Your thinking is highly innovative and spot on during these few days. If you have your breakthrough thinking recorded in black and white, it will orient you when the future is less clear and tangible.

Aries 

The energy keeps building for you, doesn’t it? Watch out for foot-in-mouth disease during the first half of the month. The second half of the month is perfect for long-range planning, the kind you usually hate. Do it anyhow. Gemstone: Howlite

 Taurus

Your mood may be a bit heavy, especially in the first half of the month. Use your need for time alone to look at self-defeating patterns or ancient material you haven’t yet let go. Use any insights to find more constructive ways to parent yourself. Self-care pays off big the second half of the month. Massage, anyone? Gemstone: Apatite

Gemini

Anytime Mercury goes retrograde, you begin to feel a bit sluggish. Midmonth the fog begins to lift and the tempo begins to be more to your liking. Ideas for the future and festivities with friends pick up this month. Don’t ignore practical considerations later in the month, unless you’re fond of re-dos.  Gemstone: Malachite

Cancer

Use the first half of the month to get clear on your direction in the world. Opportunities and solutions exist that you haven’t considered, most likely because you’re so busy taking care of others you don’t expect others to support you. Break that egg wide open and think again. Gemstone: Rhodochrosite

Leo

You feel the power surge coming your way?  Align yourself with your greater values and you will. Breakthroughs in your personal philosophy and a greater awareness of your place in the world are yours if you want them. Be willing to burn through old body armor that used to protect you but only weighs you down now.  Gemstone: Unakite

Virgo

Life was clicking along and then, wham, things came to a halt. No worries. When Mars reverses course midmonth, so will you, and your famous productivity will pick back up right where you left it. Travel – armchair or otherwise –is restorative in the latter part of month, as is time spent in nature. Get outside and enjoy the spring.  Gemstone: Labradorite 

Libra

Keep working on your boundary-setting, Libra, especially with those closest to you, partners and family alike. If you’ve been looking deeply at your expectations around relationships – of yourself and of others – you have the chance to break free of some of your most debilitating patterns. Repeat after me: I am enough. Gemstone:  Pyrite

Scorpio

Watch yourself around the 9^th-10^th of April. If you’re brooding and wanting to push people around to your way of thinking, be careful. Allow people to have their own ideas. If you’re right, they’ll come around. Later in the month, focus on your relationships. Plan a sensuous night with your beloved or a celebratory outing with friends. Gemstone: Kyanite

Sagittarius

You can be a bit unrealistic about people and your desires early in the month, so bounce ideas off of a friend whose judgment you trust. Later in the month, plumb your creative ideas to the fullest. Romance may rear its alluring heads, single Saggies. Don’t commit yourself until after the 21^st of the month!  Gemstone: Hematite

Capricorn

If you find yourself moody and out of sorts around the 10^th of the month, take a few days to hibernate and wait it out. Any wonkiness at home will lighten up after the 13^th of the month. Later in the month, get out of the house and have fun. A spring romance is ripening on the vine. Gemstone: Tourmaline

Aquarius

Watch your tongue until midmonth. You may give away or say more than you meant to. Keep your plans to yourself until later in the month. Your ideas are fresh and inventive right now, so keep a notebook handy. Watch your self-talk. Of all the signs, Aquarius has the capacity to reprogram old beliefs and start anew. Do it.  Gemstone: Sodalite

Pisces

Relationships that have been in a holding pattern loosen up and begin to move. Tackle financial concerns the first part of the month. By the end of the month you’ll be positioned to share what you want and need. Do not hold back. Sharing helps you further define and ground your ideas and feelings. Gemstone: Sugalite

This year’s equinox builds where last year’s equinox left off, with the seeds of change you planted last year beginning to push through the soil. This solar year also hints that we have a foot in two worlds: the life we want to create for ourselves and the life we currently inhabit.

The moon on the day of the equinox is in the last sign, Pisces, and is in its final phase, balsamic. It’s a moon at the end of its zodiacal journey and its journey in relation to the sun. The symbolism points to the past and a need to finish up old business, tie up loose ends, and make room for a future that we sense is around the corner. As the moon is with Neptune and Chiron and sits opposite Mars, we need to look at where past pain and hurt  (Chiron) might be preventing us from acting (Mars) and leaving our dreams in the realm of fantasy (Neptune).

Pointing to the future we have the Sun, Uranus, and Mercury all in the early degrees of Aries, the first sign of the zodiac, which is connected to new beginnings. Then we have the equinox itself, representing the new solar year and the start of spring.

So, this year’s symbolism speaks to straddling the new and the old and living in a state of transition.

This equinox asks three questions: What housekeeping – especially in regards to your own mental baggage – needs attending to?  Where does your passion lie? Are you going to act on your dreams?

As we’ve been talking about the importance of defining our passions and taking small (or larger) steps toward those dreams, this month I want to focus on the housekeeping.

This equinox, Uranus conjoins the Sun and Mercury in fiery and pioneering Aries, calling us to liberate and revitalize the way we think about and define ourselves. Mercury sits midway between the Sun and Uranus, a special configuration astrologers call a midpoint. Thus, Mercury – our mind, our language, our reasoning, the things we tell ourselves and others – holds the key to our freedom and our purpose.

So, let’s talk about little boxes, the kind we put ourselves in without realizing.

The other day I listened to a friend lament about her relationship. Miserable, she listed the reasons the relationship had failed and the ways she felt trapped in it. Some obstacles were real enough – financial concerns, for one – but mostly her thinking, and not the situation, eliminated the possibility of altering the unhappy status quo. Had our roles been reversed, this smart, generous woman would have come up with countless options for me to consider, but she set her own situation in stone: the relationship, her role, his role, and the utter hopelessness she felt were declared permanent.

We’ve all been there: so wholly enmeshed in a situation and convinced of the “facts” that we limit our view. I call these self-created mental constructions little boxes (sometimes big boxes, if you’re working on making them your permanent home). If we tell ourselves the same things often enough, they become our truth and we begin to live our lives crammed into the little boxes we created. We get so used to hunching over that we forget we can use our arms to punch through the cardboard and let in some light.

This equinox reckons to let in some light.

What would freedom look like to you? More time for friends and family? More control over your time? Figure out where you feel trapped and where you need to expand your life, then call upon your creativity to rethink your approach. Why is it you can’t have a bit more freedom? And does saying something is the truth actually make it so? If you’re too close to the situation, ask friends to brainstorm with you. Stay open as the ideas come.

How easy is it to show up and be yourself, unedited, flawed, and completely authentic? (If you’ve not seen Brené Brown’s TED video on connection and authenticity, treat yourself now.) This equinox, Uranus pretty much demands that an unfettered you arrive at the party. If you hamper yourself with reasons why it’s not okay to be you, now is the time to start unraveling those little lies. Repeat after me: I am whole and I am enough.

From there, look to where you code your life in black and white terms: question your inner authoritarian. Terms such as can’t, couldn’t, must, must not, never, always, have to, shouldn’t or should may help you reveal situations, roles, and ideas through which you limit yourself. Once these are identified, try rewriting the script. Entertain new possibilities rather than dismissing or rejecting them. Make “Why not?” your new mantra – and refuse to answer your own question with a litany of limiting rationalizations.

That said, the equinox isn’t an invitation to ignore responsibilities or demand freedom at any price. Rebelling against your boss or other authorities in your life might be tempting, but you’ll have to be willing to face the consequences around March 29^th when Pluto squares the sun. A more effective tactic might be to rebel against the ways we limit our own movement and to make a course correction.

In short, watch your thinking, language, decisions, and self-talk. We are being asked to apply our creativity and sense of purpose (sun) and call upon our inventiveness and sense of freedom (Uranus) and apply them to our minds (Mercury). Ultimately, our identity can be rewired and re-conceptualized, freeing us to be more authentically ourselves, liberating us from stifling little boxes.

Pluto, planet of transformation, applies stress to the Sun, Uranus, and Mercury and will be challenging us to dig deep, to root out and heal the primal wounds and misconceptions from which those self-limiting beliefs and concepts have sprung. This spring, we yearn not only to break free but also to integrate and focus our identity. Asking ourselves why we engage in self-defeating behaviors and when it started can help us at get at the roots.

Where are you a petty tyrant to yourself: agreeing to do things you don’t want to do, stoically abiding a situation that breaks your heart, criticizing yourself rather than offering the same compassion you would if it were someone else, making choices that repeatedly backfire, or beating down your self-worth?

Even if we aren’t actively examining our ideas and need for authenticity, stressful situations may arise in which we must declare ourselves anyway, especially at the end of March and again in December. Can we show up as we truly are, or will fear prompt us to present a bowdlerized version of ourselves we feel others find acceptable?

Other scenarios: Those with a different truth or reality may arrive in our lives. In some cases someone may try to foist their ideas on us, forcing us to define or redefine what we think and believe. In others, our own ideas and truths may be challenged, prompting us to question long-held assumptions.

Again, the reasons such situations develop is to help us see the issues and get to the root of the matter, to free ourselves from old patterns and to heal. If you do this work and untether yourself, you’ll be free to move forward, free to be yourself, and free to pursue your dreams.

You’re worth it.

Refining our Inner Vision

March begins with Mercury, planet of intellect and communication, moving into fiery Aries on March 2^nd. Mercury’s speed earned him the honor of being the messenger for the Greek gods. Aries, too, is a sign of speed and action, so when you put them together you have fertile ground for flashes of insight, exciting ideas, and passionate discussion. Impulsive decisions, short fuses, and impatience also rear their heads. Use the first two weeks of this month to brainstorm about anything which is important to you right now. Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow is a fantasy. In this moment, what matters to you? Use your connection to the moment as generative fuel for pioneering thoughts and new concepts. Heat up your ideas; burn away old mental debris which clutters your path.

But do it quickly! Because on March 12^th Mercury will turn retrograde and the plans which you want to advance will likely bog down and need serious review. It’s as if you’re trying to move a house by winching it to a motorcycle. You just don’t have the horsepower to move it, even though you know where it needs to go.  Rather than impossibly straining at the house or storming off in a fit of pique, park the bike, stroll up to the porch, and really take in the situation. Give it a rest. Have a look inside. Going room to room, what old clothing, paperwork, or useless kitchen appliances could you run to the thrift store? What, with a bit of balancing, can you carry on the bike? Clear out what you can, review what needs to be done, get a game plan together.

Ultimately, it’s a period of hurry up and wait. Use the speed of the early part of the month to generate the ideas, to have the flashes of what could be; then back up and reconsider what it might entail.  Materially executing your ideas won’t be feasible until after April 4^th when Mercury turns direct again—better yet after the 17^th, when Mercury leaves Pisces.

Counterbalancing this potential frustration is Venus, the goddess Aphrodite in Greek mythology. She enters her home sign of Taurus on March 5^th, reminding us to enjoy life and the bounty around us. If you find yourself frustrated and irritable, the remedy is found in the simple pleasures of life: a lovely bubble bath, a good meal with charming friends, a peaceful walk. Accepting our lives as they are – rather than as we want only them to be – can take the pressure down a notch or two this month. Breathe.

The full moon on March 8^th falls at 18 Virgo/Pisces. This full moon conjoins critical Mars and may bring to light what you feel needs fixed – about your life, your body, your relationships, and yourself. Don’t forget, however, that Mars remains retrograde, so it’s not yet time to act but to review and readdress.

Use the days leading up to the full moon to notice how you frame issues that arise. Where do you find perfectionism, rigidly defined expectations, criticisms or resentments?  These are the areas in which you need to expand your perspective, surrender a bit of control and apply a more creative approach. Being less exacting and more forgiving can ameliorate tensions this week. Ideally, your standards will inspire you to reach higher without paralyzing you with self-doubt or hampering your ability to enjoy life as it is.  (And if you find yourself irritable and out of sorts, revisit my section on Venus!)

Use the illumination of this moon to refine and burnish your dreams so you are inspired to act, propelled forward by your vision. Work, then, becomes flow and forward motion becomes sustainable.

I cannot overly emphasize the importance of clarifying and unifying your vision by the time of the vernal equinox on March 20^th and the new moon in Aries on March 22^nd. The new moon sits midway between Mercury, messenger of the gods, and Uranus, the innovator, and it squares transformative Pluto. The potential for blowing apart old mental constructs, limiting ideas, and self-concepts is enormous.

In March, we stand poised for creative renewal and personal transformation, the kind of important work that launches a life into a new phase – but first, a bit of review and care. Such a leap, toward which we began taking steps last spring, isn’t for the fainthearted. A personal unifying vision is critical to provide the context to keep us oriented and the passion to spur us forward.

So harness your dreams and pull them close. Identify where your plans need reoriented, tweaked, brought down to earth, or made more fantastic. Brainstorm, share your ideas with trusted allies, and assess where you stand without bullying yourself, making yourself wrong, or finding yourself wanting. Put a fine shine on your dreams and ready yourself for the next phase of action, which begins mid-April, when Mercury (our ideas) and Mars (our ability to act) turn direct and build momentum.

Each year at the end of March, we mark the first day of spring with the vernal equinox, the moment the sun crosses the celestial equator and moves into the tropical sign of Aries. This moment denotes the beginning of a new solar year, and, for astrologers, this day tells us a little about the year ahead. Readers can look forward to a peek at that new year along with my April forecast. Until then, enjoy a month of bliss and wonder!

 If you know your rising sign (also known as the ascendant), read that forecast in addition to your birth sign. As always, a forecast written for a general audience is a pale substitute for a consultation based on the moment of your birth. If you’d like to schedule a consultation, please feel free to contact me.

Aries: Carry a notepad: Don’t let inspiration catch you unprepared! Ideas can come at any moment and do. Finances are a bright spot this month, or perhaps you simply feel like the Queen’s treasury. Insights into the workplace and your health may have you particularly fired up. Enjoy the rush, but wait until April to put your plans into action. Best stone: Amber

Taurus:  Ahhh, it feels good to be Taurus this month. Treat yourself to a lovely meal, candlelight, flowers, the works. Better yet, let someone else treat you. This month is meant to be enjoyed. Yes, you can feel the change stirring in the background, but some moments are to be savored. This is yours. Best stone: Adventurine

Gemini: Seems like the more you try to work, the more details at home or other distractions pull you off course. Friends and associates keep things lively this month, too. If you’re head spins from the frenetic activity, try stealing some moments to yourself. Even a social creature like you can use a bit of reckless escapism. Best stone: Fluorite

Cancer:  Watch your tongue this month, Cancer. Your sensitive nervous system is frayed, and your normal moodiness can escalate to outright crankiness. Later in the month, you’re prone to hypersensitivity, not helping matters. You find friends particularly calming and nurturing right now, so make time for them. Best stone: Red Coral

Leo:  What a lovely month to define your aspirations. Your guidance system is spot on, so dream large and your chances of landing where you wish increase exponentially. Watch your finances or devise a budget so the details support the grand vision. Single Leos may find love looms large right now. Partnered Leos enjoy that lovely glow, too. Best stone: Larimar

Virgo: You’ve been busy this year, Virgo. With Mars retrograde in your sign, you may have had to slow down of late, but you will find yourself no less productive; the focus, however, now may be inward. Old ideas about yourself are ripe for review and recycling.  Repeat after me: When in doubt, release. When in doubt, release.  Best stone: Chrysoprase

Libra: With Saturn grinding slowly in reverse at the last degrees of your sign, you may feel the need to tie up old business and get it right. Remember: no shortcuts. Do it by the book! Relationships continue to be high-paced and erratic, challenging you to keep your hard won boundaries in place. It’s up to you. Best stone: Yellow Agate

Scorpio: Relationships may have hit choppy waters of late. You’re working on transforming your mental framework, and friends and partners reflect back all our messy glory, even when they share painful truths. Admitting they could be right will quicken the pace of your growth. Best stone: Amazonite

Sagittarius: Home could be a bit chaotic this month, and home provides the foundation for work. So stresses in one lead to stresses in the other. Rein it in and focus. Putting some daily routines in place can help ground you and your life in this moment. If overwhelmed, organizing the space around you helps. Best stone: Obsidian

Capricorn:  Nailing down details might be hard this month, so don’t try. Instead step into the realm of imagination and let your vision stretch. Unattached Capricorns may find love sweep in with the spring. If in a longstanding relationship, you may feel a sense of renewal and a deepening of appreciation for your beloved. Best stone: Iolite

Aquarius:  Grapple with your financial life this month. Use the first half of the month to determine ways you can afford to step out of one life and into another or to create more freedom for yourself. You may feel the “hurry up and wait” of this month’s Mercury retrograde more than any sign, so keep a pen handy and your patience on call. Best stone: Moss Agate

Pisces:  Tap into your beautiful, healing imaginings this month, fishies. Swim in the ocean of what could be. Finances may be rough and tumble, but you should hold your vision strong and keep sharing with others what could be. Take a good hard look at where your shoulds and oughts around money might be keeping your vision tethered.  Best stone: Lapis

We start the month with slow-moving Neptune entering Pisces on February 3rd, where it will remain until 2026. Neptune, aka Poseidon in the Greek myths, rules oceans, so I expect we’ll hear a lot about our waters  — water rights, rising sea levels, water-related natural disasters — over the next fourteen years. Given that a common epithet for Neptune was “Earth-Shaker” — a strike of his trident could create a spring as well as drown a ship — earthquakes may be on the rise as well.

Pisces, the fish, is also connected to unfathomable deeps, underscoring this watery theme. It speaks to dissolving boundaries, metaphorical or literal; an innate awareness of wholeness and interconnectedness; and compassion, in particular a desire to help those it feels are disempowered. The Spiritualist Movement began during the last pass of Neptune through Pisces in the mid-19^th Century, and we should again see renewed explorations into consciousness and its boundaries, with a strong spiritual leaning, during this new transit. Other boundary-dissolving movements and revelations which appeared during Neptune’s last trek through Pisces include Darwin’s On the Origins of Species (unifying the life sciences through the theory of evolution), the suffragist and abolitionist movements (offering equality and empowerment for the oppressed), and the Communist Manifesto (announcing Marx’s dream of a classless society).

February 7^th brings a full moon across the signs of Leo and Aquarius, asking us weigh our needs as an individual against those of our community to determine if we have the right balance. Is our subjective world (what makes me happy, where do I find my joy) aligned with our objective world (what is equitable, where do I contribute)?  Have you become such a good citizen that you’ve stifled the creative, playful child in you, or have you been so immersed in what you want that you’ve neglected the world around you? Use the illumination of the full moon to reveal disparities between your desires and your obligations.

The full moon falls directly between the planets of Venus and Pluto, in a powerful midpoint configuration, demanding we pay attention to our relationships this month, including those to money and values. Fixed and rigid positions are set for reevaluation. If we haven’t been managing these areas of our life well, the following week may shake things up so that we see any discontinuities clearly.

The theme of the full moon continues the next day, February 8^th, when Saturn stations in Libra and Venus moves into Aries.  Saturn, planetary statesman of tradition and duty, desires responsibility and integrity, and Libra seeks fairness, especially in one-on-one relationships. As Saturn turns retrograde – seeming to stop and turn direction in the sky – he asks that we slow down, take stock, and restructure our relationships to bring them into balance.

Conversely, Venus, goddess of love and pleasure, moving into self-reliant, independent Aries on the same day, speaks to honoring ourselves. Between February 8^th and February 15^th Venus makes tense aspects with Uranus (February 10^th) and Pluto (February 15^th).  If handled skillfully, we are presented an opportunity to unfetter ourselves from false burdens. However, acting impulsively or without integrity may lead to sudden upsets or power struggles, financial setbacks, even a damaged a relationship. Remember to proceed with caution this week and to mediate your needs and those of others fairly. A childlike insistence on your own way will only backfire, but so will acquiescing solely out of a sense of obligation.

February 21^st brings a new moon in expansive Pisces and a lessening of tensions. The new moon, tied closely to Neptune and Chiron this month, calls us to tap into our healing dreams and expand our possibilities. Are you at the end of the tether in some area of our life? Are you limiting yourself from going after what you want because of an old wound? This is the moon cycle for applying healing balm and also for entertaining visions of what could be.

A good place to start is to ask a few key questions:

• If reality were limitless, where would I be, what would I be doing, and what shape would my life take?
• Do I feel deserving of my dreams?  What healing do I need?
• What self-imposed limits do I need to expand beyond?

Conjure the ocean of your dreams and splash in the waves. Allow yourself the luxury of being a dreamy, inspired, poetic visionary during this moon, remembering that every great triumph began as a wispy vision and someone daring to believe.

But don’t just sit there. Develop a strategy. Supportive aspects from Saturn and Jupiter this new moon provide an opportunity to start managing the process. Envision your future; then map it out so the process feels controllable. Jupiter gives us the enthusiasm and vision to see ahead, but Saturn gives us the discipline and practical know-how to make that vision a reality.

To underscore this message, this month Mars remains retrograde in Virgo, which also speaks to the need for practical action. Taking a moment to review recent steps and refine plans can help prepare for the hard work of moving forward.

One note: with Mars in stressful relationship to Mercury in Pisces at the new moon, we must eventually ensure that our ideas are realistic. Mars sharpens whatever it touches, cutting away excess, so our minds (Mercury) and others’ minds may develop a critical edge. Those plans and ideas which can’t hold water may be challenged by other people – not so you throw up your hands and walk away, but to help you refine your vision and correct potential problems.

So dream large, my friend. Put no limits on your imagination. Once you have your vision firmly in your mind’s eye—but not before—you can give it proper shape. This moon calls for both limitless imagination and the further definition of dreams.

If you know the sign rising at the time of your birth (also known as the rising sign), read that sign as well as your birth sign, otherwise read your sun sign. If you don’t know your rising sign and would like to find out, click here for instructions.

A broad, monthly horoscope is no substitution for a consultation using your exact birth time. Consult my services page for more information or call me at 800.604.0299.

Aries:  Put on your party dress on and circulate through the first half of the month. There’s fun to be had and an opportunity to meet new (and old) friends, so isolating at home won’t do. Work continues to be demanding this month, but you like a challenge.  It’s all the more reason for you to go blow off some steam when the opportunity arises.  Gemstone: Yellow Jasper

Taurus:  You may find yourself out of sorts this month as Venus heads into Aries. Sticking close to the house helps, as does working through prickly feelings which may be bristling underneath the surface, especially with those near and dear. By the end of the month, seek out friends and share your heart’s desires. You’ll find a supportive audience.  Gemstone: Ocean Jasper

Gemini: The first half of the month is a good period to ask yourself whether you’re walking your talk. If your values aren’t reflected in your day-to-day environment, look for ways to bring them in. Friends can be stimulating or disruptive right now. Paying attention to which of the two categories fit – especially at midmonth –  may be revealing.  Gemstone: Sodalite

Cancer: You’ve been holding your cards close to your chest of late and – so it continues, especially during the first part of the month. Use the time through the 7^th to look at your finances and fiscal plans. Work relationships may be tense the second half of the month. You’ll do well to focus on your big-picture values and what really matters, avoiding any drama.  Gemstone: Orange Calcite

Leo: The fulcrum between yours and other’s needs may be difficult to keep balanced this month, with demands from others running high. Call on your well-known generosity of spirit and vitality to pull you through. Use the latter part of the month to pull back a bit and revisit your finances.  Ensure they’ll meet your needs going forward, no matter how large you dream. Gemstone: Prehnite

Virgo: With Mars moving through your sign, you’re busier than normal and feeling the pressure. Good health routines – enough sleep, downtime, nutritious food, exercise – do much to ease any tension. Midmonth you may find yourself feeling touchy. Take a deep breath: cut wood, carry water. Feeling put upon will only increase the stress and dull your effectiveness. Gemstone: Red Jasper

Libra: With Saturn stationing in the last degree of your sign, you may feel like Sisyphus this month. You’re almost done pushing that boulder, but not quite ready to face the altered reality of finally getting it up the hill for good. Do something fun early in the month; by the second week there’s work to do. If tempers fly or people become erratic, draw upon your graciousness and tact to reel them in.  Gemstone: Selenite

Scorpio: Ideally, what you do in the world aligns with who you are at core.  This month evaluate if your current direction reflects your essential self. Reorient yourself if necessary and shore up your foundation to support your growing sense of new direction. Coworkers can be a source of frustration right now, so lean on friends to help keep perspective. Gemstone: Apophylite

Sagittarius:  Your mind tends to be overactive right now, but unless you hitch your ideas to your fundamental values and motivations you’re likely to spin in place. Better yet, quiet your mind by with the simple remedy of taking care of what’s in front of you, especially on the job. When you need sanctuary, nights at home provide respite.  Gemstone: Howlite

Capricorn: Early in the month you may want to calibrate your finances to bring them under control. Come the new moon, though, it’s time to connect with others. Circulate. You need to share your ideas and do a bit of intellectual cross-pollination. Sitting at home may make you feel stir crazy. Gemstone: Azurite

Aquarius: The ball is in your court, Aquarius, so state your position at the start of the month and let yourself be heard. Midmonth, take care that fuzzy math or inattention doesn’t turn costly. In fact, pragmatic strategies to tackle debt and unfetter yourself should pay off beautifully through June. If, after the first couple of weeks, communications begin to misfire, seek common ground. Gemstone: Blue Aventurine

Pisces:  You may find you have more influence operating behind the scenes in the first half of the month. It’s a good time to evaluative your health and work routines to ensure they genuinely support your wellbeing. Come the new moon, bring the focus to your desires for yourself and the world, and to what work needs to be done in your one-on-one relationships. Gemstone: Chalcopyrite

TO FIND YOUR RISING SIGN (the Ascendant):

You’ll need the following information: date of birth, place of birth, and, most importantly, time of birth.  Go to the following Astrodeinst webpage and select “Extended Chart Selection” at the bottom right section of the page.

• Select the bar which says “Click here to show the chart,” which is to the right and above the “Options” area of the page.
• You should find yourself at another page. Select “Click here to go directly to data entry page.”
• You’ll be taken to the data entry page. Enter your birth data and click on “Continue.”
• Your natal chart with the positions will appear.  At the upper left, look for the information in red text. Your rising sign appears after the word “Ascendant.”
• You can print the chart if you like, too.

If you would rather my monthly astrological forecast come straight to your inbox, then subscribe below:

With so much change in the air, from upheavals in the Middle East to intimations of a revolution even in our understanding of energy and matter, we need to be gentle with ourselves and with each other. Change brings uncertainty, and uncertainty may conjure fear. When in doubt, we should always summon our better natures and the genuine panacea of generosity and humor.

And love. Let’s throw in love, the very essence of our nature once stripped of its mundane concerns and personas. When we begin sharing that essential self, which is whole and never lacking, we can become the presence of love in all we do — not just to family and friends, but to all.

Here’s my New Year’s wish for each of us in 2012: May we walk through this year recognizing the love within us, and may that love touch and heal all we meet. And may that same blessing be passed from hand to hand until all are touched.  By year end, we may realize a revolution indeed.

2012 Forecast

If you know your rising sign (the sign on the ascendant at the time of your birth), read that description as well as your birth sign.  If you don’t know your rising sign and would like to find out, click here for instructions.

As always, a broad analysis such as this is no substitute for a personal astrological consultation based your full birth data.  If you are interested in setting up an appointment, please email me or call me at 800.604.0299.

ARIES              TAURUS           GEMINI                 CANCER                LEO                    VIRGO

LIBRA              SCORPIO         SAGITTARIUS        CAPRICORN          AQUARIUS        PISCES

ARIES

Traditional gemstones: Red coral, Carnelian, Diamond, Bloodstone

In 2011 you began an eight-year cycle in which you will be called to become your most authentic self. Stultifying routines, drowsy habits – any debilitating pattern which shackles your freedom and interferes with your ability to be wholly yourself – will be shaken from its slumber by Uranus’ journey through your sign. The areas of your life that limit your range of motion may be unlocked by liberating jolts from the outside.

It’s not so much that you’ve been untrue to yourself but that you’re life hasn’t kept up with your need for freshness and sparks of the unexpected. If you feel trapped in the identity that you have built for yourself, the next few years will update the way you see yourself and the world sees you. Rams born in March will find 2012 particularly significant, especially during early spring.

The more open to change and the more in need of fresh air you are, the more revitalizing and exciting 2012 has the possibility of being. If you primarily define yourself by what you “do,” i.e., your career, that area is ripe for metamorphosis.  If you define yourself by the roles you play, especially if you are overly attached to a public image – mother, father, successful entrepreneur, spouse, do-gooder – be open to reinvention.

Should you find this disruptive, ask yourself if your current world order is truly an authentic expression of your whole person or whether it is simply comfortable and familiar. Any changes coming in now will help you sweep the relics of the past out the door so you ultimately feel more energized, alive, and fully present.  Think of it this way, when you jump on a roller coaster you have two choices: you can close your eyes and pray that it ends soon, or your can open your eyes, embrace the moment, and allow yourself to relish the rush of adrenaline, the fine line between excitement and fear.

You’ll do best if you relax and enjoy the ride. To enforce control or take a my-way-or-the-highway approach will just frustrate you and those around you.

2012 brings you an opportunity to broaden your values and perhaps to increase your income–that is, if you don’t outdistance your preparations, especially in the first half of the year. In the second half, you’ll be able to sell others on your ideas and have the opportunity to expand your outlook if you have carefully grounded your plans. Hard work and attention to detail in your day-to-day work environment, mapping out procedures, and initiating a new work or wellness routine can pay lasting dividends.

Choose to have an exhilarating ride. If you find yourself clinging to the past, remember that the new day is an opportunity for elation, if you are willing to take the risk.

TAURUS

Traditional gemstones: Diamond, White Coral, Zircon, Emerald, Amber

Opportunities abound for you this year, if you’re open to growth and willing to kick-start the action.  The first half of the year is particularly fertile ground for self-improvement programs that bring you increased self-confidence and a sense of optimism.  If you put forth the effort, goals that may have seemed difficult in the past will find purchase.

Take advantage of this window for expansion. Identify at least one thing you want to change about or do for yourself, and start on it in the early months of 2012.  Self-reassessment works magic this year. Putting into motion a plan, especially the first part of the year, has the potential to profoundly impact your life for the next twelve years.  Roll up your sleeves and do the groundwork early this year to get the momentum going.  Don’t wait.

But keep this in mind: nothing happens without your effort, and streamlined, simple plans are easier to put in place than elaborate ones.  The opportunities are there, but they can’t come into being unless you make the first move. You must be self-directed, action-oriented, and willing to push past inertia or complacency.  If you do nothing, the promise of this year comes to nothing, with the only expansion, sadly, appearing in your waistline.

Have you had a growing feeling that your current direction isn’t everything for which you hoped? Do you feel a nagging tug of dissatisfaction or an inkling that something more magical that awaits you, if you could just put your finger on it? Pay attention to your dreams. They will provide clues to your nascent self and new direction.

If you allow yourself to question your assumptions about life and how it operates, even your beliefs and moral strictures, you open up yourself to profound epiphanies; your entire world order may be turned on its head, and you may begin to see life anew.  Secrets about yourself, your past, and your limiting assumptions may reveal themselves, freeing you to reconstruct your understanding of the world. You may find your spiritual life revitalized in the process.

This questioning and re-evaluation of your beliefs and assumptions will provide the foundation for yet unformed dreams of the future, so while you push ahead to create opportunities this year, also schedule a bit of quiet time to let the slow currents building underneath the placid surface of your life gain power.

GEMINI

Traditional Gemstones:  Emerald, Peridot, Jade, Sapphire

Though you are always adept at tapping into the flow of ideas and information, 2102 positions you to catch a new glimpse of the future, to awaken to intimations of what is to come.

You may have been feeling a little restless the past few years, sensing the need to make a few changes. The next several years will be interesting times for you, as you turn your head away from the life you have now and shift toward a new direction. If your birthday falls in May, you will find 2012 a particularly creative year, with insights and ideas coming in fast and furious. Put them to good use.

Use the first half of the year to dig a little deeper into what it is you want, especially in terms of your career and relationships, and what might be limiting you in those arenas. If there are blocks there, the common denominator is you.  An honest assessment on how and why you might be sabotaging yourself can be extremely fruitful the first half of the year.

Are your home life and finances structured in a way that will let you take advantage of opportunities that crop up, or are you saddled with debts and obligations that could hinder your ability to seize the moment?

You have between now and mid-June to tie up loose ends and take care of details which you may have been putting off, especially concerning your home and family. Now is the time to streamline and create order.

If your life has been a bit chaotic or you’ve been less than attentive to your day-to-day routines, get yourself organized. Clean out your house and take care of your obligations so you have a firm foundation for the second half of the year. Repairing you home, supporting those who live with you, addressing family issues, and reorganizing the household all demand your attention. Get these areas in order before June, so you can propel yourself forward starting mid-summer and into 2013.

Mid-June brings opportunities to break out of your rut and make yourself heard. Sitting at home ruminating won’t do the trick: Fortune favors those who circulate, so connect with others and share your ideas.  If you’ve brought your home life into order, you’ll be better able to tap into the creative flow and win over others with your ideas. You’ll be in the position to ride the wave coming your way.

Part of bringing in the new is acknowledging what is over. As part of the general housecleaning you’ll be doing in 2012, you should be willing to release those aspects of your attitudes, habits, or circumstances – perhaps residual from childhood – that prevent you from moving forward. Late April through the third week of May could bring into focus an aspect of your life which must brought to some sort of closure. This is a threshold, not a dead end, so be willing to eliminate whatever might impede you from moving ahead.

CANCER

Traditional Gemstones: Natural Pearl, Moonstone, Ruby

This year brings big changes to sensitive Cancer, if you’re willing to take some risks in your career and allow your relationships to be transformed.

In some ways the two issues are intertwined. Your caring nature makes it difficult for you to put yourself first, especially if a change will impact your loved ones, but you are being called to do just that: put yourself first, make some selfish decisions regarding what it is you want from life, even though you look crazy or reckless to others, and ask the people in your life to adjust their expectations of you.

More importantly, if you’re attached to being the nurturer and helpmate, it also requires you altering your own expectations about how you love, support, and nurture those around you, as well as how you want others to love, support, and nurture you.

Now is the time to be your own best mother, to offer vital sustenance to yourself and your dreams. Don’t wait for others to provide you with the confidence to go for what you truly want. You have the resources within you. Daily prayer or meditation can remind you just how much support surrounds you.

From now through May, restructure your home life and put your ideas for the future on paper. What changes do you need to implement at home to better support changes to your outer life?  Do you need a home office, help with the household chores, a block of quiet time?  Get those in place now.

Then create a pragmatic, step-by-step plan for what you want to happen in your career and relationships. Putting your vision on paper will build your sense of safety and confidence. The concreteness of the roadmap will keep you on path and ease your doubts and worries. If you become overwhelmed with this process, bounce your ideas off of a trusted friend.

Expect time and activity to pick up pace from May through September. If you feel you’re busy now, brace yourself because the speed will only increase.  Keep checking in: Are you still on task with your vision plan or are you allowing yourself to be distracted from your own work by others’ needs and demands?  The better you set boundaries – within yourself and with others – the more successful you’ll be at managing the changes which will appear.

Change is definitely coming, so set your intentions, and position yourself for the future. This year has the potential to be a watershed for you, moving you into unchartered territory and allowing you more freedom than you’ve ever had, but only if you embrace the metamorphoses approaching rather than clinging to the past.

Whether through wholesale reinvention and rebirth…or change within the modest parameters of an already familiar backyard, the universe is handing you an awesome responsibility, one for which you are prepared and for which you have been waiting. You are ready. Dare to dream large, my friend.

LEO

Traditional Gemstones: Ruby, Red Spinel, Rhodolite, Peridot, Golden Topaz

Over the past few years, your work and daily routines have been changing. Old routines have fallen away and new ones have taken their place. What was once unquestioned may have been undermined or upended so it holds a less important place in your life. In short, what has power in your daily life is shifting, allowing for greater creativity but perhaps also bringing some turbulence as you reevaluate and transform your day-to-day world.

This process continues and strengthens in 2012. Formerly stable beliefs may receive shocks which force you to break from past traditions. New ideas and people may arrive, revolutionizing your way of seeing the world and awakening you to yet unconsidered possibilities. Whether you find this exciting or shocking depends on how attached you are to your current situation and how primed you are for revitalizing the organizing truths of your life.

If you remain open to possibility, you may discover this year to be one of adventure, unexpected travels, and electrifying new ideas that reignite your passion and clarify your worldview. Trusting your enthusiasm and your inspirations will land you in the right places.

Resist impulse purchases through the first half of the year, as what you see might not be what you get. Through June, in fact, economic gains tend to come through sheer hard work and personal effort. If you haven’t been paying attention to the financial details of your life, the first half of the year is a good time to straighten out your finances and create a budget.

Throughout the year you have a knack of being in the right place at the right time to make important contacts with people who can further your goals. Your ability to communicate your creative vision inspires others and catalyzes their support.

With your ability to generate energy and excitement running high, you may want to be strategic with your focus and put the spotlight on only those projects for which you wish to build support, lest you spread yourself too thin.  Do you want recognition for your work? Get out there and let yourself be seen.

When fall arrives, however, it’s time to bring your attention to home and family. You may want to restructure a home office or rebalance your work/home schedule to better meet the obligations of family. Take stock. Is your home your private sanctuary, providing you the stability you need to soar in the world? If not, how might you restructure it to strengthen your foundation?

VIRGO

Traditional Gemstones: Emerald, Peridot, Jade, Sapphire

Think of 2012 as your DIY year. If you want to make something happen, the surest bet is to roll up your sleeves and do it yourself. This is especially true through the first half of the year. As you’re no stranger to hard work, you might as well jump in and get the party started.

You can make enormous gains in any self-improvement plan you initiate, and if you are willing to do a bit of self-promotion, you have the capacity to push forward some personal project dear to your heart or position yourself for a job you want. But this means hustling and nonstop activity for the first half of the year.

Consider: do you want forward someone else’s agenda or your own? This year asks you put yourself and your interests first. Be willing to stand up and take credit for your work, to communicate and network with others about your ideas, above all to keep moving forward. You are enormously creative this year, and primed for a breakthrough if you keep the focus on your creative output and what you want to bring into the world.

If you keep grounded in your true aspirations – big picture, long term – and avoid getting caught up in petty, short-term frustrations or obsessing about what’s broken, you can take a giant step toward your ultimate goal.

In short, it will be your passion, competency, and excitement that wins over others and it will be your impatience, resentment and/or anger that will turn them away. 2012 is a high-energy, high-demand year. You can push you through to a new level or you can let the cumulative pressures of stress and your own high standards undo you.

You can an enormously productive this year, particularly when allowed to work independently. If your work requires you to work collaboratively, find time to decompress. Use physical activity to deal with stress, and work in appointments for self-care, such as massage or walks in nature.

Finances have been tight for the past few years, and you will need to continue to budget through fall of 2012, but with hard work this year, the tide will begin to turn. In short, don’t stop now. With continued effort on your end, the latter half of the year will bring a lighter load and you’ll begin seeing the fruits of your labor.

Relationships can at times feel a bit murky and may be colored more by wishful thinking and fantasy than informed by facts. To avoid mistaken assumptions about another’s motivations or suffering unnecessary ambiguity, make time for in-depth conversation. You can’t err by asking for clarity. Upfront dialogue will help disperse the distorting clouds.

LIBRA

Traditional Gemstones: Diamond, White Coral, Zircon, Opal, Peridot

For the past several years, you’ve been stepping up your game and redefining who you are and how you respond to the world around. You’re finding new ways to put limits on yourself, and you’re less willing to give up what is important to you for the sake of keeping peace with others.

Your ability to set boundaries and define what you want will continue to be an important theme through 2012. This maturation process – a maturation of your very identity – is in its final stages. Through fall of 2012, your work is to continue to redefine your responses to the people in your life, to your family, and to yourself.

Your ability to define your expectations, needs, and limits and to state them clearly and directly will be critical for laying the foundation for the next seven years. Holding others accountable when they do not respect your expectations – rather than discounting your needs or rationalizing their behavior – will also be critical for the continued development of your new authority.

This new maturity in your relationships will steer you well through years when many around you may seem to be falling apart or acting erratically. Calling on your inner authority to guide you in such turbulent situations will anchor you in right action and will in turn help anchor others.

In some ways, you may feel like you’ve been completely reconstituted, right down to the cellular level, over the past few years. If you want to make the most of these transformational times, be willing to dig deep into your past and question everything on which you have built your foundation, including youthful expectations about home, family, and tradition.  Take ownership of where things stand now.

Root out anything that undermines your ability to be effective and responsible in your current life. Let go of anything that limits your confidence or negates your personal power.  Be uncompromisingly true to yourself and release any limiting assumptions that take away your power. You are your own power source.

This period is one of the most profound of your life. Can you control everything? No, but whether this period is fruitful or barren depends wholly on how you choose to define your experience and respond to your life as it is now.  See it as a deep-sea adventure. Time is your ship, and you are the well-qualified captain, at the helm and ready to steer.

SCORPIO

Traditional Gemstones: Red Coral, Carnelian, Citrine, Obsidian

Always perceptive, with a knack of looking through the surface into the underbelly of the conversation, you have always understood that words have power, as do secrets.  In the past few years you have been gaining greater understanding of just how deep that truism runs.

You are at the precipice of a new cycle, which begins in fall.  Until that time, you are behind the scenes, preparing for the change.  You’re feeling a bit restless, ready to act on your ideas, and becoming more bored with the status quo.  This is natural.  However, a few key decisions must be made before moving into the next phase; you must spend the first six months of the year mapping out the details of your plan and rooting out any potential problems with its execution.

In short, you have the seed within you, but if you want your vision to grow strong, you must first fertilize the soil. Otherwise, it may never take root.

In the first half of the year, other people may bring talents and skills to the table that you lack. Trust their insights and their ability to ground your vision in practical steps. If you do not have the expertise you need, be humble, reach out. Consult with those who have the necessary resources. And keep an open mind. Your thinking is profound right now, but sometimes inflexible. Your vision may need to change to accommodate a real world setting.

Relax and let go. The more you try to control, limit, or hide your thinking, the less opportunity others have to facilitate and speed up this ongoing process. Their ideas bring opportunities and plain good luck to your table. If you’re not yet certain of particular people in your circle, revelations around late May will help you clarify any remaining questions.

The second half of the year, pay attention to how and where your money is being spent. Keep your debt under control.

By the end of the year, October through December, serious decisions will have to be made that impact the next twenty-eight years.  Choose well, choose carefully, choose based on well-researched facts and materials.  Take all the advice and information you’ve gathered, and take your first tentative steps into the future.

It may feel chaotic and like time is speeding up, especially come late fall, but this is what you have been preparing for all year.

SAGITTARIUS

Traditional Gemstones: Yellow Sapphire, Topaz, Citrine, Ruby

Broadminded and tolerant, you typically make yourself at home wherever your travels land you, Sagittarius. Lately, though, a sense of belonging – a deep rootedness – has eluded you.

You may be struggling with questions of where to live, or your home situation may be uncertain or unmoored. Creating a sense of stability may prove elusive at this moment, blocked by a deep-seated longing for something you can’t quite describe.

Even with a stable home and family, there may be an underlying dissatisfaction, a lack of charm or delight you may wish to remedy.  In the next eight years, you are on a quest to make home and family a place of sanctuary, to spiritualize your life at its most fundamental level.

You may need to set up an altar space or plant a garden. It may mean creating a little sacred time each day at home, one that your family honors, a quiet period each morning in which you drift, dream, praise, and connect with something larger than yourself. The struggle is to make the ordinary extraordinary: how can you make your most familiar surroundings reflect a little of the universe’s magic?

2011 was an amazingly creative year for you, and 2012 is lining up to be equally prolific. You generate original ideas effortlessly and with a childlike enthusiasm that others find appealing. That said, this isn’t a period for unmitigated risk-taking and wild, faith-based gambles.  Rely on good financial planning with the help of someone qualified to check that you’ve dotted your i’s and crossed your t’s. Simple budgets that help you maintain financial discipline can prevent you from careening off course.

As carefree and optimistic as you naturally are, a healthy dose of caution will help. Try not to take on more than you can easily manage, as you can easily overextend yourself this year, especially during the first six months when your day-to-day schedule and workload are prone to explode in scale.

The second half of the year brings opportunity in the guise of others, but also can also bring confusion to the table. You may meet the right people with all the right information, but they might not be able to deliver as promised, especially in the period between mid-June and mid-July. Avoiding serious contractual obligations during this time – especially pertaining to home, property, and family – might save you a few headaches.  If you do go forward, make sure both parties’ expectations are spelled out clearly and in detail. Then keep the lines of communication open. Unspoken assumptions can create unwonted chaos and misunderstandings.

Finish off the year by pulling in and taking stock.  Starting in fall and over the next two and a half years, you are preparing for a new cycle. Part of this preparation entails a bit of restlessness and figuring out what really matters to you. You can’t start pruning the unnecessary until you become wholly clear on what is essential.

CAPRICORN

Traditional Gemstones: Blue sapphire, Amethyst, Tanzanite, Garnet, Black Onyx

Home and family continue to be rocky and unpredictable, Capricorn. And though it may feel disruptive, trust that a breath of new life will free up additional energy for the profound changes you are experiencing.

Moving or a change of scenery is a possibility, especially if your birthday falls in December.  Even if you can’t move, find ways to bring your home into line with your evolving self. Clear out closets, redecorate, shake things up a bit. Still have the old lamp bequeathed by your Aunt Mary that you’ve never liked? Now is the time to give it to someone who appreciates it (if you can find one) or simply let it go. Traditions are being overturned. So be it.

Sometimes our attachment to the past keeps us frozen in time. Let go. You are being called to transform who you are and your path through the world.  This year you have the energy to accelerate this process tremendously, and this is especially true if you were born between December 28^th and January 2^nd.  It may be a tumultuous time, but it will be one of the most memorable and fruitful of your life.

You need to spend some time alone. With so much inner tumult, you can feel moody at times, and solitude will provide you the space you need to gestate the deep changes going on within you. Look around you. Are the people, places, and objects of your life the right ones? Does its music provide the proper cadence?

If not, be ruthlessly honest and true to yourself. Release and relinquish. Make room for the unknowable, and surround yourself with the people and circumstances that represent who you wish to be. Standing still can only create unnecessary pain.

As pressure builds and wanes through the year, find time for physical activity. It will relieve your stress, move physical energy, and aid in the whole-life detoxification you are immersed in.  As you slough off old aspects of your personality and identity, you may want to support that process with a gentle cleansing routine or breath work to release old emotions.  You may find yourself embracing a new health regime, one that strengthens your body and your emerging new life.

The first half of the year brings opportunity for love and a growing self-expressiveness. Foster it. Though you need solitude, you also need friends and fun.  Blow some fresh air to your hermitage. Grounding yourself in life’s pleasures is a healthy antidote to the brooding and shedding that’s also a necessary feature of the year. Just make sure that your fun aligns with your values and supports the person you are becoming.

By fall, Saturn leaves your house of career and Jupiter sits in your house of work, bringing with it opportunities and more joy in day-to-day routines. You may find your load a bit lighter and sense a hint of renewal in the crisp fall air.

AQUARIUS

Traditional Gemstones: Blue Sapphire, Amethyst, Tanzanite, Moss Agate

2012 presents you with a chance to break free of limiting mental constructs and work with innovative people and technologies. If you aren’t talking, sharing ideas, and connecting with your community – be it through a blog or over a cup of coffee – you miss a point of entry to change and revitalization. The more you network and connect with like-minded others, the more the chains and limitations of your life slip free.

You’ve always been an inventive thinker, but this year your ideas can potentially overturn the status quo, opening you – and others around you – to a new way of seeing and approaching your day-to-day environment. With your sharp eye, you can spot ways to revitalize processes and jump-start stalled relationships. By doing so, you benefit us all.

Endings this year may be as important beginnings. The first half of the year, put your energy into tying down whatever is dangling in your life. You may need to take care of old debts, be they financial or personal, to clear the way for an emerging you.  Pay off old loans, work with your partner on your joint finances to bring them into alignment. Doing so may breathe new life into your home life.

Do you need to acknowledge someone who has been important to you?  Do you need to let go of old resentments that now only tether you to your youth? Look into the shadowy recesses of your psyche to find the cobwebbed relics that must be pulled out, dusted off, and pushed to the curb.

Be ready to acknowledge the ways you hold yourself back, perhaps through inflexible stands around your values, which, in truth, stem from early pain or situations in which you weren’t valued for your intrinsic self. Consciously choosing to apply healing compassion to those wounds will release the ties that bind you to ancient suffering.

A thoughtful housekeeping can free up enormous amounts of energy. If, in the first six months of the year, you finish up projects you’ve left incomplete, you’ll find your physical energy increasing in the process.

Late fall, as Saturn enters your house of career and public standing, you enter a two- and a-half year period in which duties and responsibility build. If you are on track, expect more authority and autonomy – and hard-won recognition.  If you find your professional life unsatisfying or your ability to meet your responsibilities wobbly, reality checks may arise to help you clarify and restructure your role.

Right now your ideas are innovative, original and highly creative. Remember to apply them to your own life, not just your community. Set aside time, both for yourself and with loved ones, to recharge your batteries and loosen ancient tangles. With this downtime, you home life will improve in the first half of the year, allowing for a creative burst of energy in the latter half.

PISCES

Traditional Gemstones: Yellow Sapphire, Topaz, Citrine, Aquamarine, Rock Crystal

You’ve always been comfortable losing yourself in the ocean of life. Your fluidity allows you to see everything around you as interconnected and enables you to tap into an oceanic oneness with the world, from which your enormous capacity for compassion springs.

With the planet Neptune entering your sign, your tendency to diffuse your own boundaries and merge with others and the world will increase. As your sense of separation from others begins to further dissolve, you are presented with an opportunity to deepen your innate mystical gifts and connection to the divine. Those of you born between February 20^th and February 24^th will feel this influence particularly strongly this year. Vision quests and spiritual retreats will renew you this year and support the new direction you sense growing within you.

Taken too far, however, this dissolution may make it difficult for you to tap into what you want, enough that you risk losing yourself in an idealistic – but unrealistic – fog.  Lean on friends with practical know-how and solid common sense as sounding boards for your ideas.

Actively working and doing tasks tied to others – building your relationships, repairing what is broken, advocating in practical ways for others – help ground you, especially during the first half of the year. Taking care of the ones you love, in practical and visible ways, during the first half of the year will help renew home and family in the second half.

Your finances may continue to be a bit erratic this year, so avoid unnecessary gambles.  You have an opportunity to revitalize and renew your values over the next eight years. Part of this shift is a growing appreciation that you are thirsty for enlivening experience, not stuff that bogs you down. Recalibrate your life to reflect that awareness.

On a grander scale, your hopes and dreams are being utterly transformed. What held your interest before no longer retains its shine. People important to you in the past may feel corrupt or flawed, and new friends and people keep arriving, which is a good thing, given your longing for a soul tribe.

You have begun to overthrow the old world order of your dreams, and your trajectory now points in a different direction. This direction may not seem clear yet, but only because your compass no longer points to the same North.

In some ways, 2012 is a year in which you operate on a hope and a prayer.  You sense your old dreams are dying and that you need to attend to the details of this passage by tying up loose ends and dealing with the contingencies that arise, but you don’t have a clear sense of direction yet – only the knowledge that something is coming.

Get your house in order and nurture your spirit.  Call on your most powerful ally: faith.

TO FIND YOUR RISING SIGN (the Ascendant):

You’ll need the following information: date of birth, place of birth, and, most importantly, time of birth.  Go to the following webpage and select “Extended Chart Selection” at the bottom right section of the page.

• Select the bar which says “Click here to show the chart,” which is to the right and above the “Options” area of the page.
• You should find yourself at another page. Select “Click here to go directly to data entry page.”
• You’ll be taken to the data entry page. Enter your birth data and click on “Continue.”
• Your natal chart with the positions will appear.  At the upper left, look for the information in red text. Your rising sign appears after the word “Ascendant.”
• You can print the chart if you like, too.

If you would rather my monthly astrological forecast come straight to your inbox, then subscribe below:

Astrologically, the holidays bring more opportunities to do the work we were assigned at the Spring Equinox: to re-vision who we are as individuals, as countries, and as global citizens and to take action to change the old structures, be they our own lives or our institutions.

We kick off the month with Uranus turning direct after being retrograde since August. When a planet is retrograde, we tend to feel its influence more internally. With the planet of radical change and freedom retrograde, the call to liberate ourselves has been growing beneath the surface, but external attempts at changing may have eluded us at times.

After Uranus turns direct on December 9th, breakthroughs become easier and may happen spontaneously, seemingly from nowhere. Whether you find this process exciting or disconcerting depends on how open you are to change. If you find the changes disruptive, ask yourself if an opportunity lies underneath the chaos. Will there be more freedom and authenticity in your life? If so, seize that opportunity. Ultimately, every change is freeing up energy for growth, no matter how unwelcome in the moment.

The following day, December 10th, we have a full moon lunar eclipse. With the moon in Gemini opposing the sun in Sagittarius, we need to look at our daily routines and mental constructs and determine if they’re truly in line with our vision of the future. Is your talk just that: talk?

A square from Mars in Virgo demands that there be substance to your vision and that you roll up your sleeves and get to work. If you are emotionally tied to ideas that aren’t effective or realistic, you are being asked to release them. Now is the time to take stock of your dreams and bring them into line with the day-to-day details of your life. Nervous energy and enthusiasm aren’t enough: substantive change requires meticulous, practical planning. Watch the tone of your conversations. They can quickly turn intense and escalate over petty matters, especially if you stay in the realm of talk and no action.

A square from Ceres to the full moon points to another area for stocktaking. Do you feel deserving of your vision for change? Sometimes plans don’t manifest because we question our worthiness or we don’t take the time to nurture our dreams. Our self-doubt shows up in the quiet ways we undermine and sabotage a perfectly obtainable goal. Use the illumination of the full moon to root out any underlying messages you may telling yourself that limit your ability to embrace the life you want to create.

Mercury turns direct on December 13th, easing the flow of communication. It remains in Sagittarius, so we need to be watchful of the ways our big plans and visions are more hot air than executable, viable maps to our futures. Dreams which can’t be mapped in detail will remain in the realm of dream. A lovely trine from Uranus provides us an opportunity to see the future in a brilliant new light, pushing some past stalemate.

On December 21st, we have Winter Solstice, our annual calling to turn inward, pare down, and prepare for new growth. This solstice, the sun joins Pluto in the underworld, pushing us to plumb our depths. The moon, too, is in its dark phase, a waning crescent in the sky, its light dying. Every symbol intimates we use our will to prune the unnecessary, to distill our knowledge, and to take the hard, uncomfortable look at those aspects of ourselves of which we are less than proud. Keep your focus on the changes you need to make. Looking outside of yourself will not serve the future you are trying to bridge.

Rather than being filled with cheerful holiday spirit, we may feel turbulent and resentful, especially from the solstice through the 29th. A stressful aspect from Uranus compounds the pressure, adding a healthy dose of recklessness and chaos before Christmas.

We may find ourselves feeling like a pressure cooker with a short in the wiring. If you keep the spotlight on yourself rather than others or the world around you, you’ll fare better. Willful acts of self-transformation that require self-discipline and personal accountability might actually get you somewhere. Seething in frustration and resentment toward others or your situation will only stall your progress.

The new moon on December 24th continues to underscore our underworld theme, with the sun and moon with Pluto receiving a square from Uranus, and a tense aspect between Venus and Jupiter might tempt us to overdo it – too much food, drink, fun – as a way to relieve the pressure.

This year end, we’ll do well by envisioning ourselves on the archetypal hero/ine’s descent to the underworld, katabasis. It’s nearing the end of the journey in which we must face the darkness and our fear of death – be that physical death or the death of some aspect of ourselves or our lives which has served us well in the past.

In the ancient Sumerian hymn, Inanna wasn’t able to enter the underworld until she relinquished her worldly finery and stood naked and vulnerable before her greatest enemy. Use the end of the year to be ruthlessly honest with yourself. What are you willing to give up to move forward and be fearlessly, authentically yourself? What fears must you surrender, what security must you release, what responsibility must you accept? At year end, you are between worlds. Use this period to retreat inward and contemplate your journey thus far and the distance you need to go. Prepare for the journey ahead.

Want to give the gift of astrology this holiday season? Ask me about gift certificates. From now until the end of the month I’m offering a special rate to my readers and clients. For details, contact me by email (michelle@heavenlywriting.com) or phone 800.604.0299/352.378.4664.

If you know your ascendant (the sign rising at the time of your birth), read that sign. Otherwise, read your sun sign:

Aries: You’ll be feeling your oats this month. Now more than ever, you are ready to move into a new role in the world, and now more than ever, you need to have a clear plan and all the details in place. Hunker down and get it right. Stress can run high, as can impulse, so here’s your mantra for the month: Breath, plan, ground. Breath, plan, ground. Gemstone: Red Jasper.

Taurus: With Jupiter in your sign, opportunities and ideas for expansion abound. Aligning yourself with your highest ideals brings you sustainable results. Don’t hesitate to take action in creative ventures. It’s time to make your voice heard. Gemstone: Moldavite

Gemini: Reduce, release, and relinquish. This month is about endings for you, so surrender to the process. Old ideas, self-concepts, and ways of viewing your life are primed for revision or the dustbin. Aspects of your past may also fall by the wayside. Gemstone: Flourite

Cancer: Relationships could be tricky this month or they could experience a renewal. Much depends on your ability to put good boundaries in place and own your end of the interaction. If you start feeling moody, learn to say no and speak your truth in a loving manner. Heart-to-hearts with your closest intimates can bring renewed intimacy. Gemstone: Rhodonite

Leo: The first half of the month, spend time with children or working creatively. As the latter half of the month approaches, it’s time to get to work. Be willing to make serious adjustments around your health and daily routines. If you have bad habits in this area, now is the time to root them out. Gemstone: Aventurine

Virgo: Take action on your creative impulses. Self-expression can flower right now if you trust your instincts and refused to get bogged down in a fruitless pursuit of perfection. Take the risk, put it out there, and recognize your personal best is good enough. Work may still feel ungrounded or unclear, but seek the beauty in it anyway. Gemstone: Amazonite

Libra: Try to clear your mind and pinpoint your direction, especially the first half of the month. If your normal tact and diplomacy fail you, the challenge may be muddied facts or confusion around what you truly want. Family dynamics may be especially intense around the holidays, so spend a time alone to regroup and ground yourself. Gemstone: Onyx

Scorpio: You may be bubbling with new ideas and new ventures, but spend the first half of the month hammering out the details in depth. Acting on big plans without adequate knowledge will backfire. Do your homework. Toward the end of the month you’ll be better prepared to take action. Gemstone: Kyanite

Sagittarius: Be careful not to overstate or oversell your position. Doing so can erode other’s trust in your competency, especially early in the month. The holidays present you the opportunity to rework your financial plan or take a deep look into your fundamental values. Are you living the life that allows you to walk your talk? Gemstone: Chrysocolla

Capricorn: The first half of the month may be confusing, as issues long thought resolved rear their unloving heads. Bringing them into your awareness for a dispassionate inventory clears old material from your psyche. The latter part of the month may find you irritable and under pressure. Become an alchemist: harness your turbulent feelings and transform them into gold. Gemstone: Moss Agate

Aquarius: Your social calendar will be full early in the month, so be careful to pace yourself. The last weeks of the month are good to do a full financial stocktaking. If you want to live a life dedicated to your ideals, you’ll need to listen to your unconscious talk-track around money and to identify the ways it sabotages you. Gemstone: Tree Agate

Pisces: Stresses with work and at home may be a focus this month. Ultimately, you need to clarify your direction. Your vision of the future is in the midst of a transformation, which can unsettle those closest to you. Work on communicating this shift and the realistic plan you have in place to make it happen. If you can’t, start at square one: develop the plan. Gemstone: Sodalite

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When planets station, they appear to stop moving in the sky and stand in place.  It’s as if we’re being asked to stop and take notice of the planet and all it represents. To boot, this month’s planetary stations occur the days prior to the full and new moons, giving them additional intensity.

First Neptune stations, on November 9^th, the day before the full moon. Neptune symbolizes our dreams, our desire to reach beyond the ordinary, our ability to be compassionate and help those who are suffering, and our capacity for sacrifice.

The difficulty with Neptune is that our idealistic yearnings can become so rarified that they exceed what we can realistically hope to attain and, in the process, we become disillusioned. Another problem is we can so enjoy our imaginings that we remain in the realm of illusion and never act.

The second planet to station is Mercury, messenger of the gods, on November 24^th, the day before the new moon/solar eclipse. Mercury symbolizes our ability to communicate, our siblings, but also our rational minds and how we make connections and put together ideas. It’s our linear process, in stark contrast to Neptune’s dreamy, non-linear process. 

So November wants us to stop and pay attention to our wildest dreams and ideals (Neptune), as well as to examine how we think and what we say (Mercury).

Neptune is further activated this month by Mars. Unlike Neptune’s mystic dreamer, Mars represents our inner warrior, which fearlessly goes after what it wants. While these planets dance across from one another, we are being called to act on our ideals and dreams. What is it each of us needs to do to achieve something dear to us, and are we willing to fight and make sacrifices to bring it about?

On a collective level, you can see this energy in the Occupy Wall Street movement in which personal ideals are being paired with action, and those involved are sacrificing their comfort, and in some instances safety, to bring about their vision of the future and to champion those who they feel have been disempowered.

On a more personal level, with Chiron tied the Mars-Neptune opposition, it’s time to look at how our private wounds prevent us from going after our greatest desires. And this can be challenging, as Neptune doesn’t particularly like facing hard or ugly truths; it would rather lose itself in the daydream of something better and bury its head in the warm sands.

If you want to explore this area, here are some questions you might ask:

• In what ways am I crippling myself? Do I tell myself that I am undeserving or not talented/good/capable enough to have what I want?
• What is it I fear? Is my fear justified or do I prefer to dream from the comfort of my armchair to avoid risk?  If so, where do I need to draw on my courage to opt for aliveness rather than status quo?
• Am I blaming others for my inaction? Am I really so disempowered that I can take no step forward? Can I let go of feeling like a victim (of others, of circumstance, etc.)?
• Do I fear I’ll be ridiculed? Is it safer to keep my dream alive and imaginary than it is to let it wither under the scrutiny of others?

The clearer you can become on these questions, the more able you will be to take a few steps in a more fruitful direction.

Around the Taurus full moon on November 10^th you may find yourself or others touchy and out of sorts, as the full moon ties into a fixed cross with Mars and Neptune. Sensitivity is particularly heightened during this moon, so you may be easily hurt or angered, a breeze against your skin feeling like an assault. Taking time to nurse your wounds and nurture yourself is important during the week of the full moon, especially for the fixed signs of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius.

As folks will tend to be hypersensitive and over-reactive during this period, you will fare better if you operate from a place of compassion and understanding. This is easier to do if you ground yourself – regular meals, enough sleep, and quiet time. Taurus moon takes care of those who take care of themselves.

Starting early November, Mercury, messenger of the gods, moves into the sign of Sagittarius and remains here until early January 2012. Sagittarius is interested in the big picture, not the details, and Mercury, which loves to collect data and specifics, is at a disadvantage in this sign.  In practical terms, this can make the holidays – and all the planning around them – a little more messy.

On November 12^th, Mars moves into Virgo, the sign of service and work, where it remains until July 2012.  This underscores our larger theme of needing to take practical action in the real world. Virgo demands we get things right and fix that which is flawed, and it doesn’t hold much stock in grandiose ideas that can’t be applied.

By Thanksgiving, we have all the serious players of this month – Neptune, Mercury, Mars – activated in the heavens.

First, Mercury stations and goes retrograde on November 24^th.  Mercury retrograde periods are great for reviewing paperwork, organizing your office and revisiting and finishing old projects, but they can be challenging periods for communication with others. With Mercury in Sagittarius, this is doubly so.

Vital details can be overlooked or we can speak before we think, placing foot squarely in mouth. We also can get attached to our worldview and slide into proselytizing. Add the stress and the busyness of the holidays, and communications can become complicated.

The best strategy during any Mercury retrograde is to double check your calendar, confirm travel plans, and repeat directions and instructions to ensure you’ve grasped them. Then call on your humility and largess if you’ve misunderstood someone or someone has misunderstood you. Remember, Mercury prefers rational, linear thinking and problem-solving. If the train jumps the rails – be it your dreams or your Thanksgiving plans – getting upset or jumping to conclusions won’t get things back on the tracks. This is harder said than done with the sensitive Neptune – Mars opposition in play.

The day after Mercury turns retrograde, on November 25^th, we have a new moon and solar eclipse in Sagittarius. Solar eclipses tend to bring tension and heightened emotion, and this new moon adds challenging aspects from Mars (tension, frustration, anger) and Neptune (confusion, hypersensitivity, escapism) into the mix.  

So, again, be kind to yourself and others and err on the side of generosity. Acknowledging that we’re all feeling a little touchy will go a long way to smoothing the rough edges.

Ideally, you’ll use the last week of the month to review your goals and realign your actions to better support your long-range vision. The new moon in Sagittarius has a gift for vision and Mars in Virgo the knack for harnessing energy into practical action for self-improvement. Do some stocktaking.  Use the Mercury retrograde period for self-reflection. Take an inner quest: suss out your larger values and where your life falls in line and where it falls short. By mid-December, when Mercury goes direct, you’ll be much closer to a strategy that aligns you with your dreams, your truth, and the world around you.

Below are stone recommendations for those of you who want to support the incoming month. If you know your ascendant, the sign rising on the horizon at the moment of birth, read that sign. Otherwise, just look for the sign associated with your birth month. 

If you are interested in exploring your gifts, direction and purpose, please contact me to set up a personal consultation, which will be based on the exact moment of your birth. I can be reached at michelle@heavenlywriting.com or at 800-604-0299.

ARIES:  You’re in the process of breaking free and stepping into a new life. Make sure you’ve done your due diligence around your finances and long-term planning. It’s easy to slide into impulse buying, so be disciplined when shopping. Impatience  Gemstone: Jade

TAURUS:  Sometimes the easiest way to get what you want is to ask for it. If there is tension at home, air out any wounded feelings, especially at the start of the month. You may be distracted at work, so have a trusted colleague look over important work.  You may need to bring something to a close toward the month’s end. Gemstone: Amazonite

GEMINI: If people are making you a bit crazy this month, take a deep breath. You’re heading into an eight-month period during which you need handle a lot of family details, which can be stressful. A problem-solving approach will serve you best. Delaying will just increase the pressure. Gemstone: Citrine

CANCER: You may find it difficult to stay on task at work this month, as you’re being pulled in a thousand directions, and your responsibilities at home may seem endless. Friends are a bright spot, so make time for them. Spending a little time each day in prayer or mediation provides respite and a sense of gratitude which will fortify you.  Gemstone: Angelite

LEO: One dream may be fading and another growing brighter. Over the next eight months you may need to hone your language or spend time reworking old mental patterns to genuinely step into this new direction. Creativity abounds, but be open to constructive criticism to make the most of this period.  Gemstone: Lapis

VIRGO:  Home and family may feel bit frenetic this month, though you’ll find there’s much to enjoy if you just go with it rather than try to fix it. Until next July, your energies are best spent focusing on yourself and initiating action. Movement comes from pushing for what you want, but don’t expect others to come to your aid. Gemstone: Red Jasper

LIBRA: Through next fall, you have an opportunity to come into your power and become an authority. The catch is you have to take on the responsibility, too. November enables you to state your wants and needs in a way that excites others about the possibilities inherent in your ideas. Only you can speak up. Gemstone: Apatite

SCORPIO:  Resist the urge to spend this month, as it could easily get out of hand. Instead curl up with your significant other and get clear on what matters to you both and where you’d like to be in a few years. If you find yourself obsessing about an issue, ask yourself if it really matters to the big picture you just mapped out. Probably not, so let it go. Free up your energy to focus on what you want to create.  Gemstone: Amethyst

SAGITTARIUS:  What kind of relationships do you want and how you communicate your desires to others? Home, where you feel you belong, your family of choice – the foundation on which you stand – will morph over the next 14 years – so take stock this month. Listen to the feedback you receive from the world, especially in your career, to correct course over the next eight months. Gemstone: Smokey Quartz

CAPRICORN:  You may feel like everything happens behind closed doors this month or that you’re slightly out-of-step with the season: wanting to hole up when you’re required to make an appearance.  Don’t isolate, especially the first half of the month, when opportunities can come through chance and friends. Tie up loose ends, admit where you’re being your own worst enemy, and prepare for a new start in December, when you’ll begin revising your long-range plans. Gemstone: Rose Quartz

AQUARIUS:  Ground yourself in your values, set your sights on your high ideals, but limit the scope to that which is doable. Soon you will go through an eight-month period of release and closure. So, clean house. Determine what is baggage and restrictive, and let it go. Does it align to your dream of the future?  If you’re unsure, the answer is no. Gemstone: Black Onyx

PISCES:  Focus on what you want to do in the world and the possibilities inherent in that vision. Soon you will need to dissolve some part of you which no longer feels real or in line with whom you are becoming. If those around you react strongly, remember you only see a fragment of the whole. Remove the sting of their words and listen for the “hard data” in their feedback to find what you might otherwise miss.  Gemstone: Emerald

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