Winter 2019 – 2020

The Sun’s entry into Capricorn at the Winter Solstice on December 21st kicks off the winter season, and the imprint of the Winter Solstice speaks to dramatic changes this season with the push pulls of the labor of growing pains. We may all be looking at making major changes, freeing up in various ways but doing so by holding on to the securities of past with anxiety of letting anything go.

The complacency of discontent can hold us stuck for only so long until something triggers a sudden and quick release.

The 22nd of December has Venus square Uranus, and Mars sextile Pluto. Whether we choose to make changes or the universe steps in and forces our hand, this is a day when our intentions can fall apart, all the while that the universe signals to us a better way. Let’s keep in mind that there are times when the universe knows what is best for us, whether we agree with the trajectory or not, and that the universe does not allow a vacuum, that just as space is opened up by some letting go, some thing other fills that space. And so it may be around the 22nd of December.

There always seems something magical around the holiday period. It often feels like the dimensions are so much thinner at this time and that our spiritual connections are so much stronger.

Although Christmas celebrates for Christians the birth of Jesus who would become the Christed consciousness, this time of year astrologically celebrates the Winter Solstice, where in the northern latitudes the light is born from the darkness. For the Winter Solstice in the northern latitudes occurs at the darkest day of the year. From the Winter Solstice to the Summer Solstice, daylight increases as the days grow from the shortest daylight of the year to the strongest daylight of the year on the 20th of June.

The sense of new birthings and initiations can be strong during this latter part of December. The Uranus energy is strong during this time, providing hope of new directions, new ways of doing things, and offering us to work smarter rather than harder.

On the 24th, the Sun trines Uranus prior to the New Moon on the 25th – 26th, which has the Sun Moon conjunction in Capricorn trine Uranus and with Uranus in many locations being the handle to a bucket type chart pattern.

Although there is an archaic saying that states: ‘the more things change, the more things stay the same’; this belief might fly out the window under the strong Uranus influence. The Capricorn New Moon is a Solar Eclipse and imprints a signature on the next fortnight up to the Cancer Full Moon on the 10th of January.

The Capricorn New Moon opens the door to unexpected situations, unanticipated variables. This New Moon, Solar Eclipse, may demand that we keep our antennae up and be open to receive. Wondrous opportunities can occur under this signature, opportunities not so much of our making as our being in the right place at the right time. We just have to be willing not to get stuck in old patterns or fixated on staying on square one.

The universe will assist if we are willing to help ourselves.

The 27th has the Sun conjunct Jupiter. We may feel more confident about our goals, a sense that our plans are both grounded in reality but also provide a venue for our directorial self. We are looking to lead the way along our individual journey and care little whether it meets the approval of anyone else. We are focused on our ambitions and looking to realize our hopes and wishes. And the universe may well assist.

The 28th has Mercury exiting Sagittarius, a Sign in which Mercury is in Detriment with the liability of diffuse thinking and too broad a consideration of possibilities. With Mercury entering Capricorn, we now have five planets in the Cardinal Earth Sign as Mercury joins the Sun, Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn. Our thoughts and our focus can turn serious with our intentions to devise a best practices strategy and to take things step by step, but also with the appreciation that unexpected situations can alter the playing field.

That alteration could come as we close out the month, come to the end of the year, with Mercury trine Uranus on the 30th. We may get some startling insights, learn surprising news, all with the thrust of our doing things in an innovative and streamlined manner.

Despite the heavy emphasis on the Capricorn energy, which could have us more grounded and attentive to the mundane world, we can have our feet firmly planted on the ground while our head is in the clouds, open to the possibilities and even the seemingly impossible becoming plausible.

This sense of ‘all things possible’ may be our mantram as we come into January, the beginning of the New Year of 2020, a Master Number year that speaks to the Master Builder if we live up to its potential, or may merely be another slog-along work year if we fall short in our efforts.

The signature for this New Year on the 1st of January talks both to our own personal destiny along our individual pathway and to the assistance from the universe by unexpected, even inexplicable, means.

A little humility with eager anticipation of the magic and mini-miracles of these paradigm-shifting times along with some elbow grease, grit and determination can open us to wonderful surprises and fascinating opportunities. Increasingly, we may experience evidence of serendipities and synchronicities — the extraordinary reality of ‘being in the right place at the right time’.

The early part of the New Year of 2020 has a Stellium of five planets in the Cardinal Earth Sign of Capricorn. With a thrust of directorial initiative and a focus on our goals for the year, we could develop the right template by which to achieve our plans with successful results.

The 2nd of January has Mercury conjunct Jupiter. Our mind can be sharp and upbeat. We may feel as though we can accomplish whatever we put our mind to. We’re not interested in ‘rushing the river’ but rather in taking our time, drawing upon innovative means, and developing a best practices approach. We might be more serious about what we intend to do, are likely to have nose to grindstone and block out the chattering static of distractions and diversions that truly have little effect on our daily lives.

We have all seen the drama and theatrics play out on the macro stage with people reacting with wild swings of emotions, from elation to despair. And we might feel ‘enough already’ as we turn our attention back to our own individual journey and discount the ‘news’ of the world.

Mars exits Scorpio, a Sign that Mars co-rules with Pluto, to enter Sagittarius on the 3rd. With our blueprint in mind, itinerary in hand, we are ready to launch forward in expanding our operations and broadening our involvements. Not that we are likely to go impetuously forward. On the contrary, we may take things step-by-step with each step fully considered and with nothing falling between the cracks.

The beginning of the New Year can be a productive time to plan, schedule and strategize. Once we have fully considered the conditions and the permutations possible, we can move forcefully ahead to realize our greatest ambitions.

During this year of 2020, it would be wise for us to remind ourselves repeatedly, almost mantram-like, that this year, a Master Number year, can be the year of the Master Builder, a time when we lay down solid foundations for our future. Failing to draw upon our full potential, the opportunities of this year can diminish to just a slog as we reduce ourselves to worker bees rather than master builders. Let’s remember: our choice, always our choice.

The 7th – 8th of January allow us to blend both our ‘sense’ of things with a practical engagement. We may feel clearer about what our own personal pathway is all about, might have a greater sense of our own personal self-worth, and can believe that our journey is guided by forces beyond mere mundane circumstance, guided by spiritual forces such as guardian angels or our ancestors.

As the early part of the new year emphasizes the concept of new beginnings, we might recognize that we are not as hampered by past limitations but rather can draw upon a blank slate to initiate and launch forward with new projects, new involvements, new trajectories. And especially during this new year of 2020 when in truth the ‘force’ might truly be with us.

The mid-part of January can be especially perilous and cautions each of us to be astute, mindful and willing to adapt to changing conditions in virtually a nanosecond of time. Based upon our individual charts, this mid-January period may be especially difficult for some, a mere blip on the screen for others.

Friday the 10th of January has the Sun conjunct Mercury, Uranus turning direct, and a Solar Eclipse with the Cancer Moon in opposition to the Sun and in opposition to the other four Capricorn-transiting planets.

We should say ‘let the games begin’, but these ‘games’ have gone on since January 20th, 2017, right after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th US President and The Washington Post headlined: “The campaign to impeach President Trump has begun”.

Although it has taken three years to come to this point, and with Mr. Trump impeached by the US House in December, this mid-January period can be particularly stressful for Mr. Trump with collateral impacts on a larger scale, some of which may give evidence to the law of unintended consequences.

The 12th and 13th of January may have us quaking as various implosions, explosions and dramatic removals occur.

The 12th has Mercury conjunct Saturn, Mercury conjunct Pluto and Saturn conjunct Pluto. The 13th has the Sun conjunct Pluto, Sun conjunct Saturn, and Venus exiting Aquarius to enter Pisces.

These two days can truly be transformative with the recognition of the phrase for transformation: ‘adapt or die’.

This is a time when we may bear witness to the truth of the saying ‘build upon sand or build upon rock’. That which has been built in a solid manner with basic fundamentals might withstand the shaking at this time, but those things that have more hype, image or appearance than substance and solidity might fall away.

Intensity is ratcheted up severalfold during this time. We might see intensity play out with increased geophysical phenomena of earthquakes and volcanic activity. Atmospheric storm systems may be severe. Institutions, once thought solid, could teeter, even fall.

While this time can be challenging at the least, we might not only withstand the vagaries of these times but out of the dynamic thrust we may be able to use this energy to our advantage and incorporate dramatic changes to our lives as we pick up the pieces.

Amidst the heightened passion at this time, Venus exits Aquarius to enter Pisces on the 13th. Venus is ‘exalted’ in Pisces, and our compassion for ourselves and for our fellow beings could be increased significantly. A sense of ‘there but for the grace of god go I’ may remind us that we are all in this together. Hopefully, we might also recognize that we have chosen this time in which to do our most recent earth journey.

The movement of the personal planets of Venus, Mercury and the Sun into and through Pisces from this mid-January through the rest of the winter season has the Pisces-transiting planets sextiling the Capricorn-transiting planets. There is the opportunity of blending foresight and conceptual abilities with practical application and material manifestation. We can truly have our head in the clouds while our feet are firmly planted on the ground. This period can be a highly productive period of combining our imagination with active engagement.

Venus sextiles Uranus on the 15th of January. Serendipitous encounters may prove of great assistance. We might experience mini-miracles that reinforce the truth to the paradigm shift out of linear, sequential reality into the asequential reality where things can occur in a most extra-ordinary manner. With evidence of the paradigm shift, our anxieties can be assuaged as we recognize that truly things DO work out, even if not in accord with our own particular wishes.

Whatever the kerfuffle may have been around the 12th and 13th, Mercury entering Aquarius on the 16th encourages us to look ahead, to cast our focus on the future and not to the past. Much of the 12th – 13th may have been a cleansing, a release of old limitations, and even if the sense of stability and security being turned upside down is upsetting to us, we can see beyond the debris of the past to new beginnings and a future unleashed from past restraints.

We do have to avoid being carried away with the idea of possibilities, for on the 18th Mercury squares Uranus. I have written it countless times before when we have experienced the adverse aspect between Mercury and Uranus, but this energy configuration is my least favorite for air travel, and I try to avoid flying at such times. Some of our future considerations may crash against the reality of our resources — our talents, our abilities, our time, or our finances. Unexpected news could be disruptive to our plans, and this is a time when we need to be flexible and adaptable to changing conditions. With this energy configuration, communications can be off. We might experience Internet or computer problems, and things those easily managed could go awry. To some degree, this Mercury square Uranus can feel like a sudden jerk on the reins, pulling us back from what we are trying to accomplish.

After Mercury’s exit from Capricorn into Aquarius on the 16th, we have another shift from Capricorn into Aquarius as the Sun moves into the Fixed Air Sign on the 20th of January. Not that we lose the Stellium in Capricorn, for the transit of Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto through the Cardinal Earth Sign will continue on for much of this year with but a brief interruption during the Spring period.

The Sun’s move into Aquarius may have us looking for ways by which we can advance our future goals, empower our autonomy, and embrace ever more our uniqueness.

We might hit a bump in the road on the 23rd of January as the Sun squares Uranus. Although desirous of greater freedom and independence in our affairs, we could encounter various impediments to our doing things on our own terms and in our own ways. We have to be wary of getting pig-headed and trying to force matters. Thanks to the Venus sextile Jupiter at the same time, someone could prove our advocate and also suggest ways by which we can achieve our goals, ways of which we are not aware. During these times of paradigm shift, it is essential that we not assume that the only way forward is straight ahead. On the contrary, these times talk to the success of various approaches — e.g. going around impediments, or over them, or under them, but not merely trying to force our way through them.

The Aquarius New Moon on the 24th of January may have us considering our associations, the people with whom we choose to do the dance, all the while that we are concentrating on the road ahead and not solely what is right in front of us. Since we are living during hugely disruptive times, it will be important for us to plan our movements all with the recognition that unexpected situations might arise that force us to recalibrate and make necessary shifts as we go along.

We are also entering the Chinese New Year on the 25th of January, this Chinese year being the year of the White Metal Rat. The Rat is the first Sign of the 12 animals cycle in Chinese Astrology and consequently 2020 is seen as a year of new beginnings and renewals, as we start the Chinese Astrology cycle. The Year of the Rat can be a highly prosperous year as long as moves are well planned out. The Rat Year may promote a self-assertive attitude with a strong entrepreneurial spirit as people seek to begin, initiate and launch. Progress could be attained through hard work and focused intent.

These times call for us to be adept, light on our toes, and engage the tai chi moves whereby we are mindful of the shifting currents and adapt to any changing circumstance.

Apart from the beginning of the Chinese year of the Rat, the 25th also has Mercury sextile Mars. Our thoughts can be swift and determined. We may be far more interested in what our next steps might be. Our future seems bright, and we are likely to feel fully capable of realizing our greatest ambitions. As we consider expending our involvements, we can feel invigorated, pumped up and with a sense that there is no stopping us now.

Feeling invincible and indefatigable, we might forge ahead but with a tinge of anxiety as to whether we can truly pull off our greatest ambitions, our most heartfelt desires.

The 26th through the 28th of January could have our emotions and our feelings ratcheted up severalfold. This period may feel hugely karmic as our past intrudes upon our present with experience getting in the way of our intentions. We have to be wary that anxieties and self-doubts don’t sabotage our hopes and our interests.

The 26th of January has Venus square Mars, followed on the 27th by Venus conjunct Neptune, and ending on the 28th with Mars square Neptune. Heavy emphasis on the Neptunian and Piscean energies could thwart our progress, as we second-guess ourselves with a liability of falling into a reactive, victim mode. Many of us have been conditioned into a passive role, a belief that life happens to us instead of our engaging a proactive approach and determining through choice the way we decide to move ahead. This sense of waiting for things to occur before we act could be a problem during this three-day period with a tendency for us to see things according to our limited perspective which can veer from irrational exuberance of buying into fantasies to downright despair of accepting worst case scenarios.

It is important that we get a hold on our emotions, engage the Buddhist concept of detachment, the non-attachment whereby we are neither triggered by happiness or sadness but maintain zen-like composure.

Such a discipline may be hard during this three-day period.

Hopefully, we shall have a guardian angel watching over us during this time, since the liability of extreme emotions and actions without much forethought or consideration of consequences, much les unintended consequences, could be huge.

As we come into February, we seem to come back to earth, get more grounded, all with the help of a trusted confidante. We are less likely to buy into the hype, fall into the impressions or be swayed by the images and appearance. On the contrary, we can focus on the essentials, see what is going on, and recognize the true substance to any appearance.

The 1st to the 3rd of February has Venus completing its transit of Pisces and with Venus sextile Pluto on the 1st – 2nd, and Venus sextile Saturn on the 3rd. With us willing to avoid jumping to conclusions and our desire to take the time to see what is really going on, we can dissect situations down to their very core. We could draw upon our past, our expertise developed from experience, and develop a best practices approach by which to forward our ambitions. Foresight combined with practical application may prove a winning formula. We may prioritize and be most effective by concentrating on the fundamental characteristics and then building from there.

The beginning of February can be a highly productive time, a time when we could accomplish a great deal and without being contentious or confrontational. Things may flow easily without our being either aggressive or conciliatory. We might have our head down, nose to grindstone and in the process achieve successful results.

On the 3rd of February, Mercury exits Aquarius to enter Pisces, a Sign of Detriment for Mercury where the critical, rational analysis gives way to more diffuse thinking with a liability of confusion between reality and fantasy. Ideas and thoughts are triggered more by emotion than intellect.

Fortunately on the 5th of February, the Pisces-transiting Mercury sextiles Uranus. Since we are more receptive and open to possibilities and less critiquing and analytical, we might find ourselves privy to the muse of inspiration and en-lightenment. We could experience those ‘ah-ha’ moments when clarity pierces the veil of illusion and provides those magical insights of which we had not been previously aware.

The 7th of February has Venus exiting Pisces to enter Aries, a Sign of Detriment for Venus where relationships might suffer due to people being more self-absorbed to the point of being narcissistic. The transit of Venus through Aries often creates a disparity in relationships where it becomes all about ME.

This push – pull in relationships could be heightened with the Leo Full Moon late on the 8th, early on the 9th of February. The Full Moon occurs at the very beginning of the third decanate of the Leo – Aquarius opposition [Aries for Leo, Libra for Aquarius].

If we had any doubt about issues in our relationships, they can be heightened with this Full Moon, augmented by the Venus transit of Aries with the Venus transit of Cardinal Fire Sign going on until late on the 4th of March. We might be more interested in playing on center stage with a focus on our own personal desires rather than being collaborative or considerate of other people’s needs.

The 16th of February has two contradictory energy configurations.

Mars exits Sagittarius to enter Capricorn, a Sign in which Mars is exalted and adds greater physical force to the determination to work hard, accomplish and succeed. As Mars enters Capricorn, greater weight is given to the Capricorn Stellium as Mars joins, Jupiter, Pluto and Saturn in the Cardinal Earth Sign. We may feel as though it’s full steam ahead as we concentrate on our goals and ambitions.

The other energy configuration occurring on the 16th is the first of this year’s Mercury retrogrades with Mercury turning retrograde in Pisces. Although we may feel a great thrust of energy, we might question our itinerary and how we can make manifest our desires. Timidity and anxiety could vex us even to the point of our putting the pedal to the metal, all the while that we have the transmission stuck in neutral.

Our clarity may be lacking, our fortitude wilting, as we spin our wheels wondering what direction to go in. The convoluted nature of Mercury retrograde is often strongest whenever Mercury is turning direction, whether from direct motion to retrograde or from retrograde to direct motion. It takes some time for us to adjust to the shift in energy.

The 18th of February has the Sun entering Pisces and triggering a Stellium in Pisces as the Sun joins Mercury and Neptune in the Neptune-ruled Mutable Water Sign. Although the following four weeks may have us unconsciously sighing, and often with little reason for doing so, we are all feeling the dead of winter, the end of the Zodiac cycle as the Sun transits the last Sign of the Zodiac, all in anticipation of the coming of Spring.

Before we get to the Spring season, we have much to accomplish both in conclusion of outstanding matters and in development of our ambitions and our goals. We shall be assisted in the process by some of the energy configurations we are likely to encounter over the next four weeks, a productive period so long as we can restrain our impetuousness and a narcissistic liability of putting blinders on and closing ourselves off from any input other than that which we choose to receive.

On the 20th of February, Jupiter sextiles Neptune. With attention to detail and to the presentation, we could expand our goals and embrace new opportunities, some of which may seem to fall into our lap with little effort on our part.

Not only can we develop the right template for our activities with an inner knowing that we are on the right track. The Mars trine Uranus on the 21st and the Sun sextile Uranus on the 22nd of February contribute to the ability of ‘working smarter rather than harder’ as we draw upon innovative and streamlined approaches to realize our plans.

The willingness to release total control over our circumstances and be receptive to the natural unfolding of our projects could be a godsend in producing successful results.

But old patterns die hard. Most of us have been conditioned into a belief that we are the ones who make things happen, that we are solely in control of our circumstance, and that we are masters of our destiny. These assumptions, well engrained from our earliest days, are finding greater resistance during this paradigm shift from linear, sequential reality into the asequential reality. Increasingly, things happen in a most unexpected manner with unanticipated variables coming along that shift and change the trajectory.

We are but co-creators with the universal unfolding of our journey and the paths we ‘choose’ to take.

These are exciting times, disruptive times perhaps, but times that give us evidence that the universe unfolding offers us a far broader palette from which to draw than our own limited perspective would allow.

The challenge for each of us is to let go of our need to control, manipulate, and to try and determine both the direction and the outcome. It is a tall order especially in light of our tendency to focus on the infallibility of the anthropocentric. We have put our egotistical selves at the center of our universe, even to the point of making ‘god’ in the image of our selves.

While we can see evidence of things working out in their own accord, we could still get in our own way and mess things up, a liability that might happen with the Pisces New Moon on the 23rd of February with its influence over the next two weeks up to the Full Moon on the 9th of March.

At the time of the New Moon on the 23rd, the two ‘good guys’ of the planetary realm, Venus and Jupiter, are square to each other. Both of these planets are transiting Signs in which they are uncomfortable, Venus being in Detriment in Aries, and Jupiter being in its Fall in Capricorn. A liability of arrogance with a one-upmanship characteristic could narrow our vision, dismiss the role of the universal unfolding during this paradigm shift of unanticipated variables, and put us back on the pedestal of presumed total control. Talk about a setup!

It would be wise for us to tamp down our own showboating or to avoid those people who make grandiose gestures largely to mask their insecurities and individual frailties.

Our sensitivity is ratcheted up severalfold during this period and with it the opportunity to accomplish a great deal the more receptive we can be to hunches, suggestions and feelings as to what our best practices might be in each situation and to the magic of the universe ever more apparent during these times.

We are living during disruptive times, times when the semblance of stability and security might seem minimal at best. But such times of chaos and frenzy also provide opportunities for us to make significant changes and to be aware of possibilities that might not have seemed plausible under earlier conditions.

Humility is called for with an appreciation of the wise words Ernest Hemingway expressed in this regard:

“There is nothing noble in being superior to
your fellow man; true nobility is being superior
to your former self.”

Much of the potential during this two-week period up to the Virgo Full Moon on the 9th of March could be seen in those times when things seem to happen easily and with little effort on our part, as if we are gliding along on greased wheels with only occasional bumps along the way.

This latter part of the winter season can be a highly productive and effective time, despite the Mercury retrograde, which turns direct on the day of the Virgo Full Moon, the 9th of March.

The 24th through the 26th of February could seem like we have fully engaged the concept of ‘spirit in action’. The 24th has the Sun sextile Mars, followed by the Sun conjunct Mercury on the 25th, and culminating with Mercury sextile Mars on the 26th.

If we would reflect and contemplate on what we want to do and where we want to engage, we can enlist our passion with determination to forge ahead. Few obstacles may stand in our way during this three-day period, but it is essential that we utilize the tai chi moves and recognize the Taoist sentiment:

“Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water
will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot
yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and
yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard.
This is another paradox: what is soft is strong.”

― Lao Tzu

The disparity between the old paradigm of sequential progression and the new paradigm of asequential reality can play out on the 28th of February when Venus squares Pluto and Mercury sextiles Uranus. Like the wolf in the story of the three little pigs, we might try to force our will upon a situation only to get a major pushback. Instead of aggressively trying to secure what we want, we might find that we are more effective by reflecting, contemplating and allowing things to unfold in their own time, in their own way, and what might be a surprising way for them to occur.

Old and new seems very much engaged during this winter season. We have times where we can bear witness to the magic and mini-miracles of these times, other times when by trying to force circumstance to our will we wind up banging our head against the wall.

I always suggest that the universe taps us on the shoulder. If we don’t get the message, the universe taps a little harder. If we still don’t get it, the universe is liable to land a lateral lobotomy to our head. Whatever it takes for us to fully understand the message, to comprehend the lesson.

We come into March still betwixt and between — our old conditioning and the magic of the paradigm shift. It could be crazy-making for those of us stuck too much in the past and attached to our desire for stability and security when in truth these times are more a time of frenzied disruption where old rules no longer apply and things can change dramatically in a nanosecond.

We ended February with Venus square Pluto on the 28th, and we enter March with Venus square Saturn on the 3rd. Old issues, old patterns could trip us up and possibly without our even recognizing that we are falling back into the comfort, or at the least the complacency, of discontent. It’s hard to break free of engrained responses, conditioned patterns. Even if we try to replicate the past, we might eventually realize that the ‘tried and true’ may be tried but no longer is true.

The 4th of March has Mercury retrograding back into Aquarius with Mercury then sextiling Venus just before Venus ends its transit of Aries and Venus enters Taurus, a Sign that Venus rules.

Although the past seven days may have had us banging up against restrictions, dealing with old issues, and feeling disempowered; this early March period allows us to breathe more freely, consider how we can present ourselves in ways that are effective and appealing, and helps us remove the blinders in order to see from peripheral vision options and alternatives that our adamant willfulness could have closed us off from.

Instead of trying to roll the boulder up the mountain Sisyphus-like, we might be more open to suggestions and ideas that run counter to our pre-conceived notions. We may feel less put upon, a sense of restraint that could have been more self-imposed than from external circumstance. The lesson during this winter period is for us not to get in our own way and to engage the necessary behavior during these times of paradigm shift: to be flexible and adaptable.

Either we can go with the flow or we could find ourselves smashing against the rocks — our choice, always our choice.

The 8th of March is likely to be one of those magical days, one of those times when our sensitivity is heightened, and we are more susceptible to the mini-miracles increasingly evident during the paradigm shift. This is a time for us to fully embrace our receptivity and the Taoist sentiment as indicated previously that ‘what is soft is strong’.

There can be interesting chance encounters, and we might decide on a personal makeover. By altering our image and our ways of doing things, we could discover that we have opened up a whole new panorama of possibilities for ourselves. Our magnetic qualities can draw fascinating serendipitous incidents to us. Yes, in deed, this time is one of magic moments.

This end of the winter season can be a highly productive one, a time when the more that we are aligned with the energies, the more effective and successful we can be. The key to our being on the right track is our receptivity and listening to what is truly going on.

The 9th of March has the Virgo Full Moon, also the day that Mercury ends its three-week retrograde cycle and turns direct. By Sign, this Full Moon triggers an Earth Grand Trine with the Moon in Virgo, the two planets of Venus and Uranus in Taurus, and the four Capricorn-transiting planets of Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto.

The sense of conclusions and completions during this end of the winter season can be strong and something for us to consider. We are about to enter the Spring season, the season of promise for renewal, renaissance and rebirths.

We are also about to end the Saturn transit of Capricorn with Saturn about to enter Aquarius in the first week of the Spring season. Saturn will retrograde back into Capricorn in July for a final and brief visit of the Cardinal Earth Sign before Saturn moves fully into Aquarius in mid-December to begin its two and a half year cycle of the Fixed Air Sign.

As we conclude the winter season, the Capricorn and Pisces energies are emphasized. Finishing its transit of Pisces and ending the Zodiac year in the process, the Sun sextiles Jupiter on the 11th, followed by the Sun sextile Pluto on the 14th, and concludes with the Sun sextile Saturn on the 19th just prior to the Spring Equinox on the same day.

Whether we are tying up loose ends of our past or we are preparing ourselves for the new beginnings promised with the coming of the Spring season each year, we may feel mystically guided in regard to right direction and right action.

As the Brits are known to have encouraged each other in preparation for the second World War, this latter part of winter is a time for us to ‘keep calm and carry on’. Even with Mercury re-entering Pisces on the 16th, we need not fall victim to fear or anxiety but to keep in mind that in truth all things do truly work out in the end.

Winter 2019-2020… from the dark into the light…