Venus in Aries just might be useful, too, for she it makes the time period from the 8th on ideal for making requests to bosses, authorities, governments, and other official type entities. On the 9th, Venus and Uranus link up–a good time for making career connections.

The month also starts with the sun, Mercury, and Neptune in Aquarius. Here they hang around mysteriously, not doing much of anything, although you could put them to use if you need to get a loan. Starting with Neptune on the 3rd, all these planets file into the sign of Pisces. Pisces in your solar chart represents the sign of knowledge, and apparently you are intended to soak up a bunch of it.

If you’re applying to any kind of an educational institution, you’ve got windows of opportunity, especially around the new moon on the 21st. I should point out, though, that Neptune can be a mixed blessing. Neptune is the sort of confusing planet that can make you realize that everything you’ve already learned is completely wrong. Neptune’s not big on conventional wisdom, unconventional wisdom maybe, but not the kind of thing you learn through common sense or everybody telling you something is true. In Neptune’s world, all human beings are fools, and he’s only to happy to point that out to you when he gets a chance.

Pisces and your solar 9th house are also representative of your ability to see the big picture, to see relationships between parts and the whole. This can be a marvelous thing, strangely comforting and healing when you ‘get it’ with regard to pieces of your life. This doesn’t have to be on a grand scale either. Pisces rules glamorous things like fashion, and Neptune in Pisces in your solar 9th can be as mundane and fun as suddenly seeing how the pieces of an outfit can work together (or not work together) to make a fabulous whole.

Saturn starts retrograding in your home sector on the 7th. Saturn’s not breaking any new ground here; he’s just confirming whatever you already learned about the state of your residence.

Finally, Pluto is inching forward in your relationship house. Pluto is trying, whether successfully yet or not, to get you into contact with someone who will expose you to what you need to know about your relationship patterns, which, in Pluto’s world, usually means what you need to change in your relationship patterns. He’s not the happiest Valentine’s Day planet in the world, especially if you’re already in a committed relationship. A better year to stay in and get real with your significant other than to try to go out and be light and fluffy when your chart’s not feeling that way.

This annual financial review is symbolized by planets moving into Aquarius, your solar sign of managing money. This year, the planets can hardly wait to get started and so Venus actually opens the year in Aquarius. The sun and Mercury follow on the 20th and 27th respectively. This is also the last year of your life when Neptune, the foggy planet of ‘where the heck did I put my receipts? I can’t remember’ will be in one of your financial houses. Which means it may the first year in over a decade where you can actually form a semi-realistic financial plan. Your time to do this is around the new moon in Aquarius on the 23rd.

One of the things you might want to budget for is work on your house. With Saturn continuing his journey through the bottom sector of your chart, the time is right to shore up your foundations in a literal sense–or at least get any necessary home repairs done. Another thing you might want to budget for is your future–your goals, dreams, and retirement plans. Once Neptune leaves Aquarius, he’ll be turning his attention to your future and he’ll want you to invest in it somehow.

January is also committed relationship month for Cancers. Continuing relationships get scrutiny from the sun in Capricorn every year at this time. This year, Mercury also stops by to check out your relationship from the 8th to the 27th. The big gun in your relationship world, though, is Pluto. He’s not just checking things out, he’s actively working to determine what’s wrong in your relationships and circumstances, not what’s right.

Pluto can be quite harsh in his assessments and he is aiming his criticisms directly at Cancers born near the end of June. If you are feeling the heat from Pluto, you need to actively work to determine what issues need to be addressed ASAP, so you can get Pluto off your back. Now is not the time for any Cancer sun person to be complacent about relationships.

The nice thing is that the vibes from Venus this month start out in the stable sign of Capricorn (your relationship sign), giving things a wonderfully reassuring atmosphere of constancy. As the month progresses, the sensual energy gradually builds up. Make love while that loving feeling is in the air! (Note that Pluto may be having an entirely different and less pleasant effect on your relationship if you were born at the end of June.)

One of the other major influences of the month is not the least bit sensual, though. It has to do with work and enjoying your work with the help of the sun and Mercury in Sagittarius. It’s true that Mercury is retrograde until the 13th, but believe me, being retrograde has never stopped Mercury from enjoying himself. Don’t let it stop you either.

December is also the month of giving, and your chart is down with that. Yes, it does have that sensual thing on its mind, whether it’s contemplating slightly risque gifts to embarrass your friends or more coyly naughty ones for your significant other. Indulge!

There’s a lunar eclipse this month, too, on December 10. This falls in a hidden sector of your chart and will probably have either of two effects. One, you won’t notice a thing. Eclipses in these houses are often mild. Two, you’ll notice something hidden come to light and you’ll easily identify the eclipse energy by your feeling of shock or surprise.

Now it’s also possible that you’ll experience a bit of frustration or resentment in December as well. Mars is in your solar 3rd house of communication throughout the month and for many months to come (into July). Mars specializes in frustration and resentment, and he can try to stir it up by making you feel overly busy or rushed during the holiday season. Most of us are easy marks for that kind of over-scheduling during the holiday months.

You’ll either need to schedule yourself up with things you really like to do, rather than things you think you ought to do, or you’ll need to accept that expressing frustration can actually help bring people closer together. I will say that this does not look to be an easy month for travel for you. And, if you’re heading home for the holidays, expect that a heavy atmosphere will continue to prevail. Saturn, Mr. Heaviness, has been parked in your home sector for over a year now and will stay there for almost another year. It won’t last forever, but it’s not scheduled to lighten up this month.

Uranus in your career sector also stations this month, on the 10th, lunar eclipse day. He’s been going backward for months now, so not much has been happening with him. He probably won’t instigate the breaking of any new ground in your career just yet, but you may feel the activity level perk up as conversations and plans for the future stir about in your professional life.

Finally, two random notes. Best day for a hook-up: December 20. Potentially most frustrating day: December 22.

This month, however, is Scorpio month, your chart’s traditional month for focusing on lovers. This doesn’t guarantee that a new lover will pop into your life, but it doesn’t hurt to put a little energy in that direction if you are so inclined. It’s worth making the effort to find love. I will admit that the love energy does fade a little bit right around Thanksgiving, but it picks up a bit at the end of the month when Venus moves into your sector of committed relationships.

Move toward love not away from it, even if Pluto in Capricorn has made you a bit wary. Capricorn energy focuses more on specific existing sexual or romantic relationships, by the way, so it is not just about finding new relationships this month, it is also about strengthening existing ones. In existing relationships, the combined influence of Scorpio and Capricorn, along with Neptune stationing in Aquarius, might highlight joint expenditures this month.

The month also starts out with Mars in Leo in your second solar house of money and things. It’s been there since mid-September so I’ve mentioned it before. It will stay there until mid-November. Leo likes things, nice things, so Mars here can indicate getting new things or sometimes repairing or replacing quality items that need refurbishing. Mars in a certain sector of your chart can sometimes point out matters that need to be addressed or fixed.

The same concepts will apply when Mars moves into Virgo mid-month, except now Mars will be in the sector of your chart that governs cars and automotive transportation. Fix what needs fixing on your car or get a new one. You don’t have to do this immediately necessarily–Mars will be in this part of your chart for almost 8 months! I can’t promise you’ll replace your car by July of 2012–but when you do, remember that I told you so!

There’s also an awful lot of energy in your solar job and health house this month. If you are unemployed or looking for alternative employment, this is the kind of energy that can get you a new job. Some of you may have already gotten one in October. If you are already employed, you will probably keep your job but there will probably be changes, unexpected changes, afoot.

The job energy centers around the solar eclipse in Sagittarius on November 25. Sagittarius is a forward-looking sign, so it is possible that instead of actually experiencing a change you will get a glimpse of how you should proceed in the future with regard to your work status. Mercury goes retrograde in this sector, too, so things may be a bit unsettled and unclear at first, even if you do come up with a plan. If you get a new job, there may be many messages flying back and forth or conversations about the scheduling or logistics.

It’s not really a simple month, but if you remember to put relationships front and center so that you don’t stress about the job changes, it will probably not be a difficult one.

As for the emphasis on beautifying your home, October is Libra month. Libra is a sign of beauty and it also represents home in the Cancer solar chart. Even if you’ve been a travel-worshipping Cancer here lately, October is the month when your chart wants to go back home again. The sun will be in Libra until the 23rd.

Saturn is also in Libra this year and for some Cancers, Saturn in the home sector means that it has been or will be necessary to move, perhaps for career reasons or financial reasons. Maintaining a beautiful and soothing home environment is all the more important for the sign of Cancer when it needs to move. It needs the continuity and comfort of a pleasing refuge from the stresses of life. Even if moving is not on the agenda, some sort of structural change in the home life is. Part of Saturn’s job, after all, is to figure out what’s the matter in the area of the chart it visits.

As for the subject of a mate, this could be quite a romantic month for Cancer. I should also mention that the skies are in a pretty sexy mood these days; it would not be a bad idea to play up this element of your nature, too.  For the last 3 weeks of the month Venus in Scorpio will help make you sexily irresistible if you are willing to put a few dollars and a little effort into getting yourself some nice clothes that accentuate your attractiveness. This works best if you have a specific love interest in mind, although others will also notice any effort you put into beautifying yourself.

The new moon in Scorpio occurs on the 26th, and if you want to launch an actual campaign to win someone’s heart, around this time would be an excellent period to put it in motion. You can actually begin plotting around the 14th when Mercury moves into Scorpio.

If this sounds too calculating for you, don’t worry. The love nature of the sign of Cancer in its pure form is both faithful and bent on finding the one and only. It seems entirely reasonable to this love nature to be both conscious and persistent when it finds the one it wants. It’s not planning to do this over and over if possible.

It only makes sense to put real effort into something this important. This is especially true for Cancer these days, because Pluto in your sector of committed relationships is eyeing potential mates and weighing and measuring them against a standard of excellence that few can meet. If you do or have met someone, Pluto will want to stop at nothing to secure for you the long-term relationship it believes you are capable of.

Your ruler the moon becomes full in your career sign of Aries on the 12th. Theoretically, this means that whatever you have sowed this area of your life, you now reap.This full moon is part of Uranus’s continuing mission to push you toward the most success you have ever achieved.

Jupiter, meanwhile, is still in your sector of group consciousness, trying to puzzle out the relationship between the parts of your life and the whole, perhaps trying to figure out where exactly a significant relationship would fit into your life.

This can mean all kinds of different things for you–getting out in nature with a group of your friends. Shifting your buying habits toward more natural and sustainable goods. Aspiring to a diet free from artificial additives. Voting your nature-friendly conscience, joining a nature advocacy group, hugging a tree, and so on. If you’ve harbored a hankering to ‘get natural’ in some way, now’s the time to act on it. Now meaning the rest of 2011 and the first part of 2012.

The consumer or buying portion of this push is relevant in September because Mercury spends the first week in Leo and Mars spends the second half of the month there. Leo represents your solar 2nd house of buying and spending. Leo likes luxury goods, things that are well-made.

When Mercury is in Leo, he’ll like book-y things, intellectual things, communication things. You can combine the two energies by investing in things like beautiful crafted wood bookcases or the like. Mars likes even bigger stuff than that, often including things for your home or property.

As the second half of the month approaches, the inner planets move into Libra. Libra loves to buy things for your home too. With Mars, Venus, the sun, and even Mercury wanting to put down some cash on home furnishings by the end of the month, if I were you I’d shop the sales, the outlets, and even the thrift stores for yummy finds. Your shopping-loving Libra full moon takes place on the 27th, so you might make a note of that.

That’s one theme for the month. Another theme is inner planets in Virgo, in your solar 3rd house of conversations, gossip, text messages, emails, reading, and people in your neighborhood. The sun and Venus open the month in Virgo, with Mercury following a week later. So right off the bat, your month is likely to be people or talk-intensive. A great day to go out with friends and relatives is the 2nd, when the sun and Jupiter make a nice trine.

Okay, now I have to mention that if you were born during the first week of your sun sign, you may be facing some sort of a problem or dilemma that you’d like to escape. Pluto is hovering dangerously close to an exact opposition with your sun all month. And he won’t budge. He just sits there.

Pluto probably represents a relationship, because oppositions usually do. Pluto is at his most intense around the 16th of the month. Before that, there’s a full moon in Pisces that relates to looking at things holistically (on the 12th).

See if trying to look at both the parts and whole help you get some perspective. If you are affected by Pluto’s station (what it’s called when Pluto slows down and then turns direct), you’ll probably feel some relief after mid-month. With Mars in your sign until the 18th, the tension seems to be building to a turning point and then a decisive move eases the pressure.

And Jupiter in your sociable solar 11th house thinks you’d be a fool to labor too hard when you could be enjoying fun times with your friends. Even Mercury is retrograde and disinclined to exert himself. None of the planets really wants to get anything done this month or they’d be getting out of each other’s way so that they could bustle ahead with their agendas. And that’s not what they’re doing in August.

I may be exaggerating slightly, but still it’s the last month of summer when the living is easy, and the skies do seem to reflect the general torpor of a humid day in the heat. Not that there’s nothing useful about the energy of August. There’s a whole boatload of planets in Leo that you can use to plump up your self-confidence. You can set goals, refine strategies.

You can prioritize your financial life by going through your records and deciding what principles will guide your spending. You can calculate your assets and liabilities. In fact, the first thing you should probably do in August is take stock of your resources. Neptune slides back into your sector of joint financial affairs and debt and may very well try to confuse the financial issues at hand. Don’t let it. Strive for comprehension and realism regarding your finances. Once you understand your money situation, you should be able to decide how much you have to spend on the fun stuff! That’s the whole point of budgeting anyway–to figure out how you’re going to get what you want.

During the last third of the month, the sun and Venus move into your solar 3rd house of information and communication. Mercury, the communication planet, will still be retrograde. So you may find that there’s a bit of time during which you are going back to conversations that previously took place and following up on them or clarifying what’s been said and agreed to. When it comes to communication, it’s a revision-heavy month.

When I say ‘act’ I mean the way you present yourself. An eclipse series in your own sign is partly about the facade you adopt when you’re out and about in the world, performing actions where other people can see you. Everybody needs a decent protective facade, a set of habits of behavior that will get them through the day until they can get home and lie around in their underwear or whatever it is they like to do.  The universe has been trying to help you buff up yours so that you will easily appear reliably competent, accomplished, or whatever you like. If you’re not quite happy with your own act, do something in July to tweak it toward being closer to your ideal.

Of course, in addition to getting your act together, you’ll probably be getting other things this month, too,  such as birthday presents.  Leo energy from Mercury would like to get its hands on some luxury possessions, so if your gifters have the resources you might drop a few luxury-oriented hints. If you want a birthday gathering (why not?), Venus in your sign will smile on your get-together from the 4th through the 27th.

For those of you who are technically inclined, it might be good to know that math-loving Mars is in math-loving Gemini all month. Strangely or not, given the Cancer sun sign reputation, a flair for geometry and such is one of Cancer’s hidden talents. (Your sign is good with that spatial thing.) If you care to make use of the energy, it’s there bubbling in the background of your chart.

As for your year ahead, the two big things are Uranus in Aries and Neptune in Pisces, both relatively new energies for you to get used to. Uranus in Aries affects your solar career house and it wants movement in your career. Fast movement. It’s particularly strong in July, because it stations this month before going retrograde.

When Uranus wants movement by the way, it wants movement away from things, rather than toward them. It’s a planet that dislikes intimacy and it will encourage you not to get too close to bosses or people at your company, partly because it may want to jump ship at some point for a more exciting venture. Just so you know.

Neptune in Pisces wants movement too, but more along the lines of long-distance travel, which it is eyeing longingly. If it can get you on a plane or a boat, it will do so. Pluto in Capricorn will be stirring up relationship issues for some of you and Saturn will be stirring up home issues for some others. Those not directly affected by exact transits to their natal planets are probably used to the influences of these planets by now, though.  Jupiter in Taurus just wants to have a good time. But hey, who doesn’t?

Happy birthday!

Uranus is still in Aries, which isn’t a change, but he’ll be slowing down in preparation to station at 4 degrees. What that means is that those with Cancer planets near 4 degrees of the sign (born around June 25, 26, 27 or so) will be feeling the heat. Also, the sun and Mercury move into your sign this month. Mercury enters on the 16th and the sun on the 21st.

The sun pushes toward action, whereas Mercury pushes toward getting in the car and driving around with the top down. Well, not necessarily with the top down if you’re not lucky enough to have a convertible, but Mercury is a restless planet and the patron saint of hopping in the automobile for quick trips. There are usually plenty of reasons for quick trips during the first month of summer, and you’re scheduled to think of them all.

If that’s not enough to get you moving, then a whole mess of Gemini energy should be. Ruled by Mercury, the sign of Gemini loves to get in the car too. Its motto is something like “Anyplace is better than here. Let’s go somewhere!” The sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars and a solar eclipse all spend some time in the sign of Gemini in June. More about the eclipse in a second, but suffice it so say that  by the time Mars moves into Gemini on the 20th, your chart should feel positively compelled to go somewhere.

Saturn also stations in your sector of home environment this month. Saturn tends to bring forth crises to be dealt with in the area he’s affecting in your chart, and he’s quite strong all month. This could indicate a semi-continuous state of crisis on the home front in June, or it could give you just more reasons to hit the road before you go stir crazy.

Okay, now the eclipses. The first one is on the 1st in the sign of Gemini in a quiet, hidden part of your chart. There is a pretty decent chance that absolutely nothing will change in your life as a result of it. The other decent possibilities are that you will stumble across some information that was previously hidden from you or discover the nature and identity of a hidden enemy.

The lunar eclipse in Sagittarius on the 15th is potentially more problematic. If it affects you, it most commonly relates to job layoffs (I hope not) or to changes in personnel or environment in your workplace, or to upsets that arise due to miscommunication. If misunderstandings or job-related upsets pop up  this month (or next), forget everything I said earlier about hopping in the car and make attending to the job situation your first priority. Many Cancer folks will not be affected by this eclipse, but if you are, you’ll want to deal with it expeditiously.

Taurus for you is the symbol of being part of the collective. This month, the new moon in Taurus occurs on the 3rd. Venus here from the 15th emphasizes the good side of being included. Mars in this sector from the 11th can emphasize the other side of this aspect of life: the desire to separate oneself from the crowd. The idea is to be included while maintaining some emotional distance from group-think.

As for the career stuff, this is the last month when Jupiter will be in your career house for next dozen years. Jupiter’s role is to take you further than you normally go, to bring in additional career resources or roles or recognition. Sometimes Jupiter also symbolizes travel for career purposes or in connection with an honor.

The best  time to really use the career energy is at the beginning of the month. Mars will meet up with Jupiter on the 1st, so go for your ambitions in the days surrounding this aspect. Uranus will continue in your career sector for about another 7 years. Uranus’s role is to make you stand out, appear to be unique in some way.

May also sees a lot of activity joining Mercury and Venus, first in Aries and then in Taurus. This energy lasts for about a week, from the 9th through the 16th. On the 11th, Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter cluster together in Aries, making for lovely career vibes. On the 16th, when Mercury and Venus meet up in Taurus, it will hopefully be time for a celebration of your career successes with your friends.

At any rate, it is important to get out and be with people, not the time to hole yourself up and go it alone. Another possibility for the potent time around the 11th is love, perhaps not new love but expansion or furtherance of an existing relationship. Since the excitingly limitless energy of Jupiter is at its most active during the first half of the month, May is a time to hit the ground running as they say.

It might help to think of an argument as simply a discussion, not necessarily involving anger, that explores differing points of view. Arguments are often really good things, especially in career matters, because they help lead to better decisions than any one point of view can produce alone. Start learning to love them right now, and you’ll be way ahead of the game. Using your words (instead of your emotions) constructively can also help establish you as an equal among people who were previously kind of above you. And it can help hone your leadership skills and put you in charge of projects or people.

The other nice thing about Aries energy is that it is a ‘go’ energy rather than a wait around and hesitate energy. Over the long haul, Uranus in this spot in your chart can help you develop a real passion for your career. That’s good for Cancer, and there is nothing wrong with loving your career for anyone.

Neptune also moves into Pisces this month. Neptune in Pisces energy is like the opposite of Aries energy and it will be pervading your solar 9th house of journeys. It can provide a nice break from the Aries onslaught but don’t expect it to do too much, as it is quite the lazy and unambitious vibe.

March is the month when that swimming with sharks energy moves into your career house. Aries is the sign that represents your career in your solar chart, and various planets are circling around the sign in early March, getting ready to enter. Jupiter is already there. Mercury enters on the 9th. Uranus enters on the 11th. And the sun enters on the 20th. In April, Venus and Mars will join the sector making for one crazy swirling set of energy at the top of your chart. It’s not what you’re used to.

The newness of the energy bursts out forcefully around the 21st when the sun becomes conjunct Uranus in Aries. Then newness and oldness clash on the 28th when the sun and Pluto in Capricorn clash. This could represent things like you being new on a job encountering unbudging resistance from someone with more experience. A similar clash occurs on the 13th between Mercury and Pluto when different ways of looking at things diverge and can’t find common ground. If there’s one thing to keep in mind during this transition period in your chart it is to keep your cool. Don’t react to provocations with anything less than dignity and determination, and you may very well end up more successful than you would ever have dared hope only a few months ago.

The planet that will provide the most stimulation will be Uranus in Aries as of March of this year. Uranus is a planet associated with hysteria and irrational behavior as well as quick leaps forward. This month, Jupiter will ease the way forward with a somewhat less overwrought vibe. This is therefore a very good month to practice not panicking, not getting hysterical, and not behaving irrationally when there is more career in your career than normal. There is good stuff on the other side of the gate if you proceed with an attempt at confidence no matter what challenges get thrown at you at work.

This month, Mars is also in Aquarius, which works rather well with Jupiter in Aries. Mars here adds a bit of passion to the equation and gives you a little bit of hidden influence if you care to use it. I should note that Mars’s passion while in Aquarius may not expend itself at work but rather on your most intimate relationship. Which can be good too!

Finally, Jupiter is the patron saint of travelers. Where once you traveled for pleasure, now you may travel for business.

For the past year and a half (since July 2009), there have been a series of eclipses in your sign and in Capricorn. The eclipses in your sign relate to your self-image, the mental image of yourself and the physical image you project to others. You may have made adjustments to your hairstyle, clothing, or weight as well as to your thinking about yourself. The final eclipse in your sign occurs on July 1, 2011. At that point, you will be done with the cycle of updating your image.

The Capricorn side of this eclipse series relates to relationship, to allowing others to see you in a new way that draws them to you or moves them out of the picture if they are no longer compatible with the updated you. The eclipse in Capricorn on January 4 is supposed to hook you up or re-establish a tie with someone who is compatible with the updated you. Sometimes this means a wedding or engagement; at other times it is a more informal way of establishing the tie. So that’s big news.

The eclipse energy dominates during the first half of the month. During the second half of the month, your consciousness is scheduled to take things to the next level, to be exploring the deeper meanings of intimacy. You should be ready to move forward with the relationship, to absorb the energy of the updated or new relationship.

That by itself is enough for any one month, but Jupiter also moves into your career house on the 22nd. In March, Uranus will join him. In short, 2011 will see a lot of focus on your career. Additionally, Neptune will move into your 9th house of travel and will be strong there from April through July. This is the sort of influence that could have you taking a very long journey to a very far location. 2011 is full of new frontiers for you.