Winter 2009-2010 begins on the 21st as the Sun moves into Capricorn at the time of the Winter Solstice. There is a great deal of positive energy as we come into the Winter season. We are looking ahead to our possibilities and our future, hoping that the past is behind us and that we have dealt with all the stumbling blocks along the autobahn of our life’s journey. We might assume that now we can put the pedal to the metal and get on with our lives in a free-flowing, fast-moving way. It’s a great concept, and I certainly wouldn’t choose to be a dampener of such upbeat spirit. I do need to suggest that much of this Winter season can have a strong tinge of irrational exuberance redux.
This Winter begins with two planets in Fire Signs, three planets in an Earth Sign, four planets in Air Signs and one planet in a Water Sign. Four planets are in Cardinal Signs, four planets are in Fixed Signs and two planets are in Mutable Signs. Six planets are in Positive Signs and four planets are in Receptive Signs.
We start the season with two Stelliums of three or more planets in a particular Sign. We have a Cardinal Sign Stellium in Capricorn with the Sun, Mercury and Pluto in the Cardinal Earth Sign. We have a Fixed Sign Stellium in Aquarius with the Moon, Jupiter and Neptune in the Fixed Air Sign. Jupiter conjuncts Neptune and Venus sextiles Neptune to begin the Winter.
There is a great deal of hope, possibly even irrational exuberance as we begin the Winter Season. We are likely to be seeing things from a very upbeat, positive attitude and could even fall prey to the old paradigm’s modus operandi of mastering the universe. We could easily assume that whatever we want to make happen will occur by our intention, bending circumstance to our will and believing in some magical secret that allows us to supersede natural law and be a law unto ourselves. Not to dampen one’s enthusiasm but if we have not learned anything from the recent crash and burn scenario that society has gone through and that might have singed us, then we are likely to fall prey to philosopher George Santayana’s well-known and true saying that those who do not learn from their past are doomed to repeat it.
While we may be largely focused on our prospects and our possibilities in the days ahead, this Winter is also a time of stripping away the excesses, the outmoded and the no longer functional aspects of our lives. We are going through a major shapeshifting and similar to any growth spurt we may experience the labor pains of our transformation and metamophosis. We may be reluctant to look beyond our own personal interests, unwilling to take into account other options or possibilities that are not of our own conception. We might vent the frustrations born of our shapeshifting on those who either do not agree with us or on those who just happen to be in range of our releases. Relationships could be a little dicey and it is essential that we recognize that everyone, individually and collectively as a society, are going through some dramatic, life-altering changes. It is important that we cut ourselves and other people a fair amount of slack. Otherwise, we might find ourselves flailing about and willing to throw baby out with the bath water as we seek some solace and comfort during these transitional times.
Although I propose such cautionary advice, the Winter may begin more on notes of irrational exuberance and heightened expectations. We might see only the good in people, the idyllic in our relationships, thereby creating an unrealistic standard that no one could always attain. And there lies the potential downfall of this Winter season. We might hope that the changes we have gone through have flushed out all the problems, all the concerns, all the excesses of the past. We might expect that we can start anew unbridled and unchallenged. If we have such great expectations, then we have to allow for some great disappointments.
While the season begins on a very high, upbeat note, it is not too long before we have to address some of the issues of the past, outstanding matters that we might have hoped to have been resolved.
On the 24th, 25th, the Capricorn Sun conjuncts Pluto and then squares Saturn. We might have to take off our rose-colored glasses, take a far more realistic and clear look at what is going on. We may feel encumbered by situations and feel that we are being forced back to address matters instead of being able to blithely move on with a clean blank slate. It would be wise for us to try and tie up loose ends before we come into the new year.
The 26th has Mercury turning retrograde, with a rare fourth Mercury retrograde cycle in a year. The Mercury retrograde in Capricorn continues into the New Year turning direct on the 15th of January. Mercury retrograding through Capricorn could put a delaying process on our goals and our plans. The key issue of the Pluto transit through Capricorn is raised once again: have we built upon rock or built upon sand?
Even if problems have arisen in our personal lives and in society, the question is whether we have truly addressed the key issue, dealt with it in new and appropriate ways or whether we have merely put a band-aid on the situation, trying to gloss over the fundamental problems by “solving” the matter with tried no longer true ways. Essential factors of these times are a recognition that we have crossed a threshold into uncharted waters and that new ways of looking at things and alternative ways of dealing with things are called for. The past is not a remedy for the present much less for the future.
The latter part of December may have us addressing outstanding matters, looking to clear the decks in order to have a clean desk from which to operate as we move into the new year.
The Sun conjunct Pluto on the 24th and the Sun square Saturn on the 25th is followed by Venus conjunct Pluto on the 28th and Venus square Saturn on the 29th. Pulls from our past and a realization that we might have to let go, release and eliminate certain elements of our lives that are more associated with our past could have us feeling a little low. We can still garner our irrational exuberance but our mood swings can be quite extreme as we realize that we cannot cross the threshold of new beginnings by bringing a lot of our old baggage with us.
2009 ends with the Cancer Full Moon and Lunar Eclipse on the 31st. By Sign, there is a Cardinal T-Square with the Cancer Moon opposed Pluto, Venus and the Sun in Capricorn and square Saturn in Libra. As we celebrate the end of 2009 and bring in the new year of 2010 we may truly be singing auld lang syne.
The New Year may start off somewhat slowly. Not only are we laboring under the Mercury retrograde, we also might find that we are having to continue our tie up of loose ends.
Mid-January has a great deal of twists and turns. On the 13th, both the Sun and Venus sextile Uranus. We are looking to implement changes, wanting to free ourselves up from past routines and seeing how we can best streamline our activities in order to allow for more ‘free’ time in order to explore, experiment and discover. The 13th also has Saturn turning retrograde until the end of May. Reconnections and reunions can be part of our Winter – Spring period but so too are delays and things taking longer than we might necessarily appreciate. If we are reliant on other people to get things done, then there could be times of exasperation as we wonder when they’ll get their part accomplished or if they are even capable of doing so.
The 15th has Mercury turning direct just after the Capricorn Solar Eclipse. At the time of this New Moon, also signaling the Chinese New Year of the metal Tiger, there are five planets in Capricorn —- Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Pluto. And three planets are retrograde — Mercury, Mars and Saturn.
We might feel as though we are engaging the Hollywood dictum of hurry up and wait. As though feeling mired in quicksand, we might have a sense that we are having to put on blinders to deal with responsibilities all the while that our daily tasks are taking longer than we are accustomed to.
Jupiter ends its transit of Aquarius on the 17th and enters Pisces. We have ended the Jupiter Neptune conjunction which has influenced us since last Spring and has contributed to the irrational exuberance of seeing positive new shoots of life despite the continuing backdrop of contraction.
Jupiter entering into Pisces has Jupiter coming into a Sign it co-rules. Our sensitivity is likely to be turned up severalfold and our compassion engaged. This transit can be a highly spiritual impetus for us to seek truth and understanding of our life journey’s true purpose and meaning. It could also contribute to intensification of precipitation during storm systems.
On the 18th, Venus exits Capricorn to enter Aquarius followed by the Sun moving into Aquarius on the 19th and creating a Stellium of three or more planets in Aquarius as the Sun and Venus join Neptune in the Fixed Air Sign. We are looking to affirm our individuality, seek ways of establishing our autonomy and interested in interacting with those people whose lives reveal an exciting and fascinating story. Our personal interests could be in conflict with friends and the interests of the collective good. The more we can explore and express our creative talents in unique formats and innovative ways, the better we can create the slats that make up our suspension bridge from our past into our future. We may see further technological advances of this Information Age and further medical advances through biotechnology.
The Leo Full Moon on the 30th can have us broadening our perspective, looking far afield and interested in foreign intrigue. We may be considering various options and alternatives and certainly the whole realm of green technology could get a fair amount of media play now. This Full Moon feels the influence of the Saturn Pluto square exact on the 31st.
The key influences during these next two and a half years, some of which has been felt since the Autumn of 2008, are the energy configurations between Saturn, Uranus and Pluto and the T-Square created by the Saturn Uranus opposition both square to Pluto.
Since the Autumn of 2008, we have moved into an intense period of dramatic changes, drastic eliminations and major transformations to life as we have known it. We have seen some of the implications of the Saturn Uranus opposition wreak havoc in the financial markets abetted by Pluto transiting through Capricorn. Although much of the extreme changes have been masked by the Jupiter Neptune conjunction that has allowed us to escape into irrational exuberance and assume that the worst is behind us, I would suggest that we have only just begun in the overhaul and shapeshifting of our worlds. All of this is in deed part of the paradigm shift of these times. While we might focus on the eliminations, releases and deathings, we need to keep in mind that we are increasingly moving away from sequential reality of beginning, middle and end.
We need to appreciate the asequential reality that we are moving into, where time-space collapses with past, present, future all in the Now. This new paradigm speaks to the magic and the miracles whereby things can occur in a most indirect and unexpected manner. We might discover that things occur not so much from our making them happen as much as a natural, albeit at times confusing, unfolding. Things can come out of the blue. Things can turn on a dime, with significant changes occurring without a moment’s notice. We are to embrace synchronicity and engage the serendipity of life. No longer able to master the universe, we are asked to be co-creators with the natural unfolding.
One of the key requirements to effectively handle this paradigm shift is mindfulness. It is important that we discipline our mind and come to realize that our mind is an important tool but one that needs to focus on the positive and life-enhancing and not get sucked into a vortex of negative thoughts, a desire to hold on to past patterns, or a feeling of being victimized and subject to the vagaries of volatility. In this process, it is essential that we let go of our need for resolution and completion. No knee-jerk reactions nor fixed assumptions that we know the eternal truth of any situation, for such actions and attitudes could have us basing decisions upon contained information or limited data and closing ourselves off to possible radical changes or unanticipated variables that we have not taken into account yet could drastically alter our perception of a situation.
But the Saturn, Uranus, Pluto T-Square will effectively handle any fallback to previous mindsets.
February seems a far more placid month. We may be far more concerned regarding what is ahead of us than our present day circumstance or past matters.
On the 6th of February, Mercury sextiles Uranus and Jupiter sextiles Pluto. Not only are our insights rapid and spot-on but we might also find ourselves seeking to expand our goals as though a manifest destiny for our lives has taken hold. We can streamline operations and we might discover new technologies being announced that speed up our communications and allow us to be far more productive with less expenditure of energy. In the ashes of past situations that have fallen apart or no longer work for us, we can now build solidly on firm foundations. It is necessary, however, that we attain a degree of humility, a willingness to be flexible in order to adapt to shifts and changes that can alter our plans, our itinerary or our direction.
These are exciting times and if we get with the program of asequentiality, awareness, flexibility, mindfulness, humility and adaptability; then we can find our progress to be a turbo-thrust moving us quickly ahead towards our dreams or towards what is best for our greater good.
The 8th of February has Venus conjunct Neptune. Even if we have vented some of our frustrations on other people, we can now make amends. We are far more appreciative of the individual uniqueness of the people in our lives and people in the world-at-large. A greater sense of community of humankind can be engendered during this month of February, for the energies this month emphasize the two universal Signs of Aquarius and Pisces —- a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood with the recognition that we are all in this together and a spiritual, mystical sense that there is something far beyond our mere mundane earthly concerns, the strength of our spirit, the substance of our soul.
On the 10th, Mercury moves out from Capricorn and enters Aquarius, followed on the 11th by Venus exiting Aquarius to enter Pisces. At the time of the Aquarius New Moon on the 13th–14th the two universal Signs are accentuated with a Stellium of three or more planets in both Aquarius and Pisces with seven planets in these two Signs. The Sun, Moon, Mercury and Neptune will be in Aquarius. Venus, Jupiter and Uranus will be in Pisces.
At the time of the Virgo Full Moon on the 28th of February, there are two planets in Aquarius – Mercury and Neptune – and four planets in Pisces – the Sun, Venus, Jupiter and Uranus.
February can be a highly spiritual month, a month when we are looking more at the meaning and purpose of our lives. Our emotions can be heightened but so too consideration of where we want to go in our future days. But challenges are likely to arise and one of the key challenges during this month of February is likely to be the dualities of market psychology — greed and fear. Some people will emphasize their own personal needs to the detriment of the community. Other people may be blithely into possibilities without considering steps necessary to realize their goals. Either extreme could prove devastating. We are not here to be self-centered or merely focused on our personal desires. But neither are we here to escape from earthly reality whether that escape be through drink, drugs, maudlin spirituality, or various philosophies and ideologies. Earth life is like a school whereby we never stop learning. Maintaining constant balance is required of us and especially during these times demands that we be able to walk a tightrope.
A feel good attitude can continue on into March, if we are willing to accept life’s volatilities and not get consumed by our great expectations. Some people may fall victim, assuming that life is happening to them as opposed to them mastering life. Those people will have lost the balance, or never attained the balance between what we, as individuals, can do and what the energies of natural unfolding are doing. Co-creating… flexibility… adaptability… awareness… mindfulness… humility; all provide the keys to the kingdom.
While our mind is sharp during the early part of March, thanks to Mercury sextile Pluto exact on the 4th, and serendipitous connections can be made, thanks to the Venus Uranus conjunction exact on the 3rd; we might find ourselves going through a sifting of new, interesting developments and of old or past involvements.
To some degree, we might feel the end of Winter to be a real push-pull between old and new. Not only is it appropriate for the time of the year, about to end an astrological year and begin a new astrological year as we embrace the Vernal Equinox with the Sun moving into Aries and ushering in Spring. We also have new, exciting and expansive energy configurations with the Venus Uranus conjunction on the 3rd, the Mercury Pluto sextile on the 4th, Venus trine Mars and Mercury conjunct Jupiter on the 7th, Mercury conjunct Uranus at the time of the Pisces New Moon on the 15th–16th, and the Sun conjunct Uranus and Mercury trine Mars on the 17th. And we have issues of what is real for us and what is not along with a reflection of past matters with the Saturn Pluto square engaged as Venus opposes Saturn on the 9th and Venus squares Pluto on the 11th, followed the next week by Mercury opposed Saturn on the 18th and Mercury square Pluto on the 20th.
The Pisces New Moon accentuates past and future, for this New Moon has the Sun Moon conjunction also conjunct Mercury and conjunct Uranus. This Pisces Stellium is within orb of an opposition to Saturn and approaching the square to Pluto. Some of those energies will become more impactful as we come into Spring.
As we move forward into the uncharted waters of the new terrain of our lives, there will be times when we may have to stop and deal with our past, looking back at where we have been and who we have been, before moving forward unencumbered by our old baggage. In revisiting our past, we can also re-vision it, changing the outcome in our mind’s eye, releasing any long-forgotten but subconsciously held slights or pains, and cleanse ourselves in order to have a blank canvas on which to draw our future by experimenting with our present.
Winter 2009… let’s celebrate the light…
