Midlife Transits

On the 9th of September, Jupiter moves from Aries back into Pisces. In this shift, he moves from the area of your chart related to politics and society into the part of your chart concerned with your personal reputation, profession, and career. This, I suppose, is great news if you’re sick of contemporary politics. Jupiter and Uranus will team up to try to make your own career more interesting than anything going on in the  rest of the world. Could be fun.

Mars also switches signs this month, moving from Libra into Scorpio on the 14th. Mars in Libra encourages competitive play, games, and tests of skill, strategy, and endurance. It also favors witty conversation and socializing. Not too bad.

Mars in Scorpio is typically not as fun. It’s more about surviving on the job. In late October, Mars in your job sector will team up with Jupiter and Uranus in your career sector to try and make a bold move in your professional life. For the moment, however, it’s more about hanging in there and seeing what happens, especially around the 16th or so through the 23rd or thereabouts.

In astrology, the job sector is also the health sector, so if you don’t have much going on at work, Mars could take an interest in your health. The thing about Mars is that he is a bit reckless and not too careful. If you get all sporty in the first half of the month, you could pay for it in the 2nd half. A wee bit of caution with your body is advised.

Pluto in your 8th house spends almost the whole month nursing grudges against various other planets. He squares off against no fewer than 4 planets this month. In your chart, all of these dust-ups have to do with relationships in one way or another. The action is so intense that it sounds like a good month to just go into the backyard and do some gardening, hiding out from everyone. You’re better off connecting to something tangible, like the earth, than operating in your normal air sign arena of thoughts and conversation.

Another possibility is to escape through travel. Neptune in your travel house is one of the few major planets not getting involved in any major arguments this month. A nice long trip could even be a healing endeavor. Try to go during the first 2 weeks before Uranus moves back into your career sector.

If you must stay in the fray the whole month, prepare for an involuntary education in the ways of society, because ours is likely to be rife with conflict. If you are able to ignore the angst in the general population, then the aspects may take you on a more personal journey. What is happening during the first part of the month is that Jupiter in Aries in your solar 11th house is squaring off against Pluto in your 8th. Jupiter in Aries represents, on one level, your powers of reasoning and judgment, because that’s what Jupiter specializes in. Pluto, on the other hand, represents the volcanic sub-surface instincts that ruthlessly promote survival, no matter the cost. Pluto specializes in the non-rational and cares little for conventional wisdom and judgment. You can actually bulk up your rational mind during the first half of the month by challenging your own instincts and discovering what lies below them.

Toward the second half of the month, Pluto squares off against Saturn in the part of your chart that governs love affairs and children. The same dynamic applies, but is even more intense. The bottom line is that if you are going to engage with people on anything other than a superficial level this month, you’ll need to be ready to check yourself so that your reactions don’t become overly intense.

The bulk of the planetary action in July continues to revolve around your solar 11th house of your social life, friends, clubs, and casual relationships. All Uranus and Jupiter in this area of your chart want to do is be friendly and hang out. Is that so wrong?

Apparently, Pluto and Saturn think so, because they make frowny faces at Uranus and Jupiter for most of the month. Why is anyone’s guess. Saturn in Libra could have something to do with disapproving children or lovers, but what’s gotten under Pluto’s skin is hard to say.

If I’m going to guess, I’m going to guess that Pluto has gotten tired of Jupiter’s happy mask. Pluto digs on honesty in a serious way, and he is mindful that Jupiter and your sign of Gemini will both conspire to put on a facade of cheeriness that Pluto could be sick of trying to sustain. Pluto doesn’t feel like being cheerful. He just wants to get to the point and leave the bubbliness behind. It will be up to you to decide how much of Pluto’s honesty to reveal.

Perhaps you can get away from conundrums like these by spending the new cash that the eclipse in Cancer on July 11 is scheduled to deliver to you. Nothing like a shopping spree to perk up the spirits. I wish I could promise that all Geminis will see some sort of material reward in July, but not all eclipses affect all people in a sign. Still, some of you will have reason to celebrate, and that’s a good thing.

Lots of shifts in June. Eclipse season starts with a lunar eclipse in Capricorn on June 26. Mars moves into Virgo after spending about 8 months in Leo. Jupiter joins Uranus in Aries. Basically, the summer heats things up in an astrological sense. So let’s go over what some of this might mean for you.

First off, the eclipse: This eclipse series, which started last summer, has been more powerful than the one before it, in 2007 and 2008. You may remember the craziness of last summer. This eclipse happens to fall in your deep and mysterious 8th house, where the deep and mysterious Pluto is currently traveling. Sometimes that means that something surprisingly deep and mysterious will happen. Usually, however, it doesn’t. What it usually means is that something not all that deep or mysterious will happen that will later prove to have surprisingly deep and long-lasting effects. Example: woman got into a minor car wreck. Decided she got into it because she was going out to get cigarettes, decided to quit smoking, which had, of course, long lasting effects. Man finds out he needs minor surgery for intestinal polyps, which leads him to change his eating habits for the long term. Woman gets her purse snatched walking her dog, which leads her to move to a new neighborhood. Small things that end up having big effects.

Mars in Virgo can also be kind of deep because it’s at the bottom of your chart, hanging out with the relatively deep Saturn in the same sign. Strangely, they also like to focus on  the small stuff. These two planets would be digging around for problems and/or opportunities in your home and family life. As in small stuff that bugs you deeply. Or small stuff that could be corrected for big gain.

Jupiter and Uranus in Aries–not so deep. They are making more of a lateral move out of your outwardly focused career house into your also outwardly focused  sector of social life and community participation. The real change that they are making is that they don’t care quite so much what other people think about your career or reputation any more. They care more about what you want. If you want to put lampshades on your head and dance around on tables til dawn, they will pretty much support you. Their motto is that while you may only be young once, you can be immature forever. Your job will be to figure out what kind of immaturity suits you best at this stage of your life.

As for the rest of the year, the energy of this month will be in play for much of the next 12 months, with a big exception. Energy will shift away from home and family and toward love, creativity and children. As it shifts toward love, creativity, and children, the deepness aspect gets depthier and depthier. Layers and layers of creative emotion will be there to be explored if you care to explore them. This is not exactly supposed to be easy, in the sense that the aspects are supposed to be difficult for all the signs over the next 12 months. However, your particular isn’t scheduled to be hit especially hard, and nothing especially negative is likely to happen based on your sun sign. It really is just a matter of how much exploring you want to do.

The inner planets are moving along at a good clip (with the exception of Mercury) as we go through May of this year. Venus will zip through your sign from April 25th to May 19. The sun will enter your sign on the 20th, so you’ll have plenty of personal Gemini energy to work with all month. Venus moving into Cancer on the 19th will also mark a shift in the skies toward a more compassionate and caring attitude than we’ve seen lately. For Gemini, Venus in your own sign and the next represents an opportunity to consciously place value on acts of caring, kindness and empathy all month.

Venus will also oppose Pluto on the 23rd. Pluto in Capricorn is located in a part of your chart where it can represent physical healing and regeneration. When Venus opposes Pluto, you may benefit from a small ‘healing crisis.’  It’s a good time for a physical detox program. The 17th is another good day for healing, albeit healing in more a spiritual or psychological sense.

In other news, Uranus will move from your career sector on the 27th into your solar 11th house. The 11th house represents a lot of things, but one of the main things it represents is sociability. It relates to activities such as getting together with friends, parties, and social occasions of all sorts. The most straightforward interpretation would be simply that you will be doing more of these things in the months ahead and that you will place more emphasis on them or at least that Uranus will want you to. He’s getting tired of thinking about your career and wants to see what’s going on with other people. In general, this is a less stressful place to host Uranus and more fun, so we’ll file this astrological development under the heading ‘good news.’

Probably the biggest news for Gemini in April is that Saturn moves from Libra back into Virgo. You’ve been through this drill before. Saturn is the sign of self-discipline, and Virgo is a sign that’s hot for self-improvement. As a client told me today, “My friends and I are all kind of tired of self-improvement and personal growth right now.”

You might be too, but there are just a little over 3 months to go of Saturn being in a sensitive spot in your chart. After August, you can give self-improvement a nice long rest. But in the meantime, you’ve got to make sure you’ve got your act together, once again.

Have a habit of running late? Time to break it once and for all. Or whatever your self-identified fault might be–it’s time for to use your intelligence in training yourself to achieve what you want to achieve in terms of personal habits. As it so happens, you’ll have lots of help this month from the inner planets. They’re all rooting around in your subconscious mind, trying to dig out the real reasons for why you act the way you do. By and large, they should be happy to share their information with Saturn, which could make it much easier for you shift things without having to use excessive force.

If excessive force is to be applied, it will come from Uranus, who is once again fighting with Saturn, still in your 10th house of career, still determined to bring about changes, no matter how doubtful you may be. Another spin on the month’s energies might be that reality is going to be what you interpret it to be–so you’ll want to get your story straight.

Which brings us to another element of the month’s energies. Your communication skills are likely to be put to the test–especially with family members and/or with authority figures, government officials, bosses, and the like. Nobody is likely to know what’s going on, and you’ll be looked upon to sort through it all in a grounded, factual fashion. Fortunately, this is something Gemini can do with great skill.

This is your career month, Gemini. There are 5 placements that move through Pisces, your career sign, in March. There’s also a new moon in that sector on the 15th. Three of the placements come and go pretty quickly. Venus leaves Pisces by the 7th, Mercury by the 17th, and the sun by the 20th. Jupiter and Pisces last a little longer.

Of these, Jupiter is the most important one because it can bring long-lasting benefits to the house it travels through. It is often associated with learning new skills or even formally attending a school or university of some sort. If you haven’t yet signed up for any career-related learning opportunities, you’ve got plenty of supportive energy for that in March.

This trend can tie in with the eclipse series in Cancer and Capricorn that’s in effect in 2010. The universe can help you substantially increase your earning power this year if you’re willing to play ball. The earlier you act, the better. In fact, if you’re reading this February, get started now. Venus can help you. Next month, planets will start rolling into Taurus, the part of your chart where they take a nap. It will theoretically be a little bit harder for you to operate at your usual peak mental efficiency.

If you don’t have a traditional career, you can still indulge in recreational learning and/or schooling this month. You could even study an occult subject or a metaphysical one if you’re interested. You would probably greatly enjoy the process.

February is Aquarius month. That makes it your travel month. With a bunch of planets in Aquarius and Mars in the opposite sign of Leo, you’ll want to go somewhere, to get out of the house. If long travel is not in the cards, at least take some trips or get outdoors. It’s not good for your sign to go stir crazy during the winter months. Of course, remember to bundle up or at least wear a hat when you get out and about if you live in the northern hemisphere. Gemini is not a sign that tolerates the cold very well.

Aquarius is also the sign of friendships and group activities. A getaway with a small group of friends would be ideal, especially during the long President’s Day weekend, when a new moon favors getting out of town.

After the 17th, you’ll need to get out in a different way–to see and be seen. The sun will move to the top of your chart, the part where you are most visible. This is a lucky spot for you this year, and your career prospects are enhanced. With Venus in Pisces from the 11th on, make sure you look good when you go out. Invest in some new apparel if your image needs an upgrade. This is also a good month to splurge on Valentine’s Day; take your honey someplace swank or drop some hints that you’d like to do it up right this year.

January is Capricorn month. That means there’s an emphasis of the basics of everyday survival for everyone. Party time is over. An eclipse on the 15th highlights this theme. Attend to business, especially in joint financial matters, as the overall economic outlook is still rather difficult. Your ruler Mercury is also retrograde in this same sector of your chart that deals with marital finances, until right around the time when the eclipse takes place. This indicates that a reversal could take place mid-month. Hopefully, it would be a positive reversal, such as your spouse’s financial situation unexpectedly improving.

After the 19th, the emphasis shifts slightly to the less difficult energy of Aquarius, as the sun moves into that sign. In your solar chart, Aquarius is the sign that represents your beliefs, your spiritual practice, even your daily rituals. Time to get back to your meditation routine or whatever similar practice you use to calm your mind.

At the very end of the month, there’s a full moon in the creative sign of Leo. Leo in your solar chart represents skills, crafts, and daily self-expression. This would be a great time to complete a creative project or to indulge in some artistic play, just for yourself.

As for the year ahead, it’s a good one for Geminis with a scientific or technical bent (which many of you have). Energy in Capricorn, Aries, and Libra puts a focus on the more rational elements of life at which you excel.

For some people, December is a predictably stressful time of year. If you typically get overloaded, you might want to force yourself to meditate or otherwise slow yourself down and step back from the hustle bustle. A lot of excellent aspects in the detached sign of Aquarius will support you if you do so, and the exercise could be marvelously healing.

This is also the time of year when the sun is in the sign opposite yours. This indicates you see the best of people and you see the worst of them this month. A little marital tension is par for the course. Once the sun enters Capricorn on the 21st, you have permission to stay home and decompress for the rest of the month.

You may also want to make a note to sneak away and spend some time on your own on the 2nd, when there’s a full moon in your sign. Get yourself an early holiday gift, and just take a bit of time to check in with yourself.The new moon that symbolizes getting gifts for others takes place on the 16th; useful especially if you are not buying the same old gifts everyone else is getting but are choosing more unusual or hand-picked gifts.

Finally, there’s yet another lunar event this month. A full moon eclipse in Cancer takes place at the very end of the month. This sign has to do with your values, your tastes, and your income. Some will not be affected, but some will come to a realization regarding these matters or get some surprising news.

Health month for Gemini! The sun’s in Scorpio, your health sign. Time to eat those fruits and vegetables, get your annual checkups done, and all that jazz.

It’s also relationship month, starting on the 16th, when your ruler moves into your relationship sign of Sagittarius. We’re talking exclusive, committed relationships here, not casual dating relationships. Nope, the dating relationship sector of your is a whole nother story. In fact, your solar chart is now firmly opposed to casual relationships and it may start pushing you toward marriage, even if you don’t want to be pushed. Saturn is taking your relationships very seriously these days and this is NOT the month to be caught playing around on your girlfriend or boyfriend. Trust me on that.

Another possibility is that you will have some fairly serious matter to deal with regarding your children. Saturn in your 5th house of children is squaring Pluto in the middle of the month, and that’s a stressful aspect. Fortunately, things are better by Thanksgiving, and you should enjoy your holiday.

Friendlier skies for Gemini in October than in September. Gemini is a pretty darn adaptable sign but even so, there may have been a bit too much to adapt to here recently. October puts much more of an emphasis on simply having a good time, whatever that may mean to you, whether it’s indulging in a good book or doing a little entertaining.

Admittedly, money may be a bit of a stressor in the first half of the month, as Mars in Cancer wants to spend it, while Pluto in Capricorn wants to keep a tight-fisted and wary eye on your budget and investments. Pluto in Cap is anticipating tough times down the road, and perhaps he is wise to do so. He may be overly pessimistic about your personal prospects, but give him props for being prudent. As a heads up, Pluto’s scheduled to be even more financially annoyed in mid-November (by Saturn in Libra), so plan ahead.

On a related note, if you are worried about your financial future and feel the lack of marketable job skills, October’s an excellent month to invest in some education. It could be formal or informal, depending on your needs. Even some on-the-job training from colleagues could be helpful.

Finally, Saturn’s move into Libra at the very end of this month is a plus for you, and it puts the planet in a much easier position for you. Saturn is scheduled to stop bugging you about your family and start stabilizing your sometimes naturally volatile energy levels. That’s kind of nice.

Read this early and prepare. Change is coming and the universe is planning to kick up a fuss about it in September. In your personal life, this probably means that you need to get everything taken care of around the house to get things in good condition. Saturn’s leaving your sector of home and family at the end of September, and he wants those lingering problems taken care of pronto.

Unfortunately, he wants this just as Uranus in Pisces is planning to throw all kinds of wild cards into the mix to create chaos in your professional life. Planning and preparation are your friends. Make a calendar, make a plan. Decide what needs to be taken care of and how you can get things to run on auto-pilot while the skies go wacky.

Pluto also goes direct in September in your house of healing and medical procedures. Gemini’s who need surgery can make plans for that also now. There’s a lot of Virgo health-oriented energy in the skies, but it’s all out of kilter right now, so you may want to schedule procedures for after the 20th, when things are a bit calmer.

It’s Leo month, Gemini, and that means it’s time for living large. It’s also an Aquarian year, and that means it’s a year for thinking large. Transiting Chiron’s been working with Jupiter and Neptune to scrub your mind clear of limiting and narrow plans. If you’re still clinging to a limiting or fearful belief, let go of it around August 6, time of the lunar eclipse. Your chart wants you to think, plan, and dream big.

Depending on your personality that could mean anything from attempting to be more saintly, understanding, compassionate and healing in your dealings with others to a big push toward being a millionaire. And a whole bunch of stuff in between.

Now that big-hearted Leo energy is adding fuel to the fire, you can translate some of that big dreaming energy into your daily life and activities. Best time for turning over a new living large leaf would be around August 20, time of the Leo new moon.

Final random note: Leo’s the sign of the back, the spinal column. If you’ve got problems with yours, this is the month to get it fixed.