Midlife Transits

There’s a lot of energy in your solar 9th house this month, and that’s a house that typically loves learning, knowledge and all that intellectual stuff. It’s possible that you will love all that stuff too in March, but it’s just as likely that you’ll have love of a distinctly more physical kind on your mind instead. On the 15th, you get your annual new moon of carnal love, of rejuvenating your sex life, renewing intimacy, and establishing intimacy through good old-fashioned physical contact. Since man does not live by thoughts alone, perhaps it would be a good idea to invest some time in getting your groove back if you’ve lost it temporarily or simply getting it on if you know exactly where to find it. Your chart really is feeling quite passionate this month.

If the mere thought of passion scares you right now, well, then we go back to the intellectual. You can discharge some of your chart’s energy by interacting (maybe even flirting) through debate, discussion, the exchange of opinions with your peers and so on. If that sounds too abrasive for you, then you’ll need to at least vent some energy through writing, speaking, or doing something creative. If you do have some sort of a writing project you can throw yourself into, aim to wrap it up by the full moon on the 29th.

Last but maybe not least, if money’s on your mind, use the first week of the month to try to scare up some dollars through a joint project with someone you admire.

Half the month’s energy is centered around money, expenses, and work, and half the month’s energy is centered around your significant other. At the new moon in your 7th house on the 13th, if you want attention from your sweetheart this weekend (and you do), be sure to give it as well. For best results in terms of intimate encounters (sometimes known as getting lucky), think through your seduction plan before Valentine’s Day. Do something fancy or quintessentially romantic. A little over-the-topness might not hurt.

On the financial side of the equation, you can solve a money problem around the full moon on the 28th. During the first part of the month (until the 10th), you may need to play politics at work, and make sure you are seen doing a good job. You know how to do this, although it may not be your strongest skill normally.

With Mars still in your own sign, it’s possible that you will want to spend money on yourself as well. If you want to get yourself something for your wardrobe (energy in your own sign often relates to desires to upgrade one’s appearance), do try to get something practical as well as luxurious, such as a winter coat or jacket on sale. A good time to do so might be during the President’s Day sales.

Finally, Saturn is the part of your chart that relates to ideas. You may get a breakthrough good idea during the President’s Day weekend.

How to get a job or how to keep a job. Those are the questions for January. There’s an eclipse in your job sector on January 15th. Eclipses can work so quickly that you end up saying to yourself ‘how did that happen?’ This is a new moon solar eclipse, good news for those of you who have been job-hunting for awhile. You may finally get the job you need.

Mercury is in this same job sector of your chart all month, and he switches from retrograde motion to direct right around the time of the eclipse. If things feel like they are going south at the beginning of the month, take heart, they can turn around on a dime in the middle.

But wait, there’s more. Venus is also in your job sector until the 18th, increasing the chances that you’ll get some sort of a gift or present from the universe in the job-related sector of your life.

At the end of the month, your annual full moon takes place. This can be a bit depleting, so you may want to stay home on the 30th, especially if mid-month was exciting and fast-paced.

As for the year ahead–well, let’s just talk about the first 6 months for now. You’ve got great energy from Mars in your own sign until June, plus, you’ve got Jupiter in the sector of your chart that deals with non-ordinary income. That means things like benefits, pensions, annuities, insurance payouts, royalties, etc. It seems that you’re about to get some sort of money somehow. That’s pretty good news. In fact, you’ve got one of the best year ahead outlooks of any of the signs. Be glad. I’m sure you deserve it.

This is traditionally one of your most enthusiastic months of the year, thanks to energy in compatible Sagittarius. This December, there’s a bit more energy than normal in Capricorn, which represents your job sector, so there may be a bit less enthusiasm and a bit more work to be done. The month also starts off with a full moon in your friendship sector (on the 2nd), which could bring an ending to a matter regarding a friend.

On the other hand, the annual new moon in Sagittarius takes place on December 16. This is the kind of new moon that could get you enthusiastic again. It’s good for taking up the study of something you find interesting (doubly so with Saturn in your 3rd house), taking up a hobby, starting a project with your kids, engaging in a creative project, or even traveling.

There’s also a lunar eclipse at the end of the month. This could signal a few different things. One would be a need to get off by yourself or with a few friends to go visit nature or otherwise refresh yourself by going on a little retreat. A lot of problems melt away when we take the time to engage our spirits instead of our minds.

Other possibilities include not noticing a dang thing or getting wind of something that relates to your occupation. This is part of a series of eclipses that has to do with your work, and changes may be in store in that area of your life relatively soon.

November starts out with a full moon in your career house that you can use to boost visibility if you want, but the real action of the month is in your solar 1st, 3rd, 4th and 6th houses. Mars in your first house burns hot and urges you to put yourself forward. It’ll keep urging until early June so pace yourself, but don’t hold back.

Saturn is in your 3rd house for its first full month of the transit through Libra.  The third house is the house of relatives like brothers and sisters, and, for some reason, this area of your life is in conflict with Pluto in your job sector. I don’t know if this means you will be working when your siblings think you should be attending to family matters, but it’s not out of the question. The sun in Scorpio is transiting the sector of your chart that deals with your family of origin, and the aspects are kind of muddy there, so maybe something’s going on that you need to deal with.

The new moon in Scorpio takes place on November 16, and it occurs right in the middle of all the wacky aspects of the month. If your family life does not prove to be contentious, perhaps you will simply need to attend to some matters around the home. Of course, there are lots of other possibilities for this rather contrary month. Saturn in the 3rd could mean that you are doing a lot of reading or studying and that this somehow conflicts with your job duties.

For more possibilities, you might want to visit my other website Practical Astrology and look at the keywords for the houses listed above, as well as the planets Mars, Saturn, and Pluto. (Pluto’s the one in your 6th house.)

At the end of the month, Saturn moves into your solar 3rd house of short trips, errands, and daily goings out and about. For some this will mean that they’ll be busy when they wish they could have some peace and quiet, and for others it will mean that they’ll be bored and stuck at home when they wish they could be going somewhere. Either way, it’s a small price to pay for getting Saturn out of a financial house where he tends cause a lot of stress.

But let’s not think about Saturn too much right yet, because we’ve got Mars moving into your own sign on the 16th, plus Jupiter stationing in your 7th house on the 12th. Translation: for once, you may be able to get other people to adapt to your needs and your desires. That hasn’t happened in awhile. You’ve been having to do all the adjusting for quite a long time, and your partner’s needs and quirks may have been a bit strange, courtesy of Neptune in your house of committed relationships.

Maybe it’s all been good, all this adapting and accommodating you’ve had to do; maybe there’s been a lesson in there somewhere or a gift. Still, it’s nice to get a break, and I urge you to take advantage. Do something for yourself for a change.

Oh it’s all about the money in September, Leo. Full moon in Pisces, new moon in Virgo–both in your financial houses. Uranus and Saturn in these same houses facing off and calling each other terrible names. Sun, Mercury, Venus and Saturn all in your income sector. It’s all a harbinger of change to come. Saturn will finally leave your income sector at the very end of October, and that should be as welcome a change as planetary changes can get.

In the meantime, get yourself educated on financial matters if you haven’t already done so. Get yourself a book on getting out of debt, tax strategies, estate planning or whatever your problem is. Hole up inside the house and spend the Labor Day weekend reading it. You are so close to a breakthrough if you can wrap your mind around the ideas and knowledge that you need.

There’s good news and bad news in August. Good news–the long and brutal run of Saturn in your solar 2nd house is nearing a respite! The financial pressure you have been under for almost 2 solid years is going to subside for a while. Bad new–before it does, you have to run the gauntlet of an opposition between Saturn and Uranus next month. Prepare a contingency plan now in case difficulties arise next month.

On the positive side, once you get past September, you should know more about the real truth of your financial situation after a long period of uncertainty. Next year, Uranus, another planet that’s been trying to give you financial fits will even move out of Pisces for awhile and into a spot that’s easier for your chart to handle.

More good news. August marks the final eclipse in Aquarius (on the 6th) and that means less pressure on your primary relationships once that final hurdle is cleared. You may feel a bit more certainty on that front as well (unless you were born during the last week of the sign).

In fact, as we look ahead to the next 12 months in your chart things become more and more positive. Planets will move out of signs that are hard on your chart and into signs that are more compatible for you. Jupiter moves into Pisces (more easing of the financial pressure) and then Aries (good for your sign). Saturn moves into compatible Libra. And Uranus moves into compatible Aries.

There will be plenty of bumps and false starts along the way, but at least things are moving in the right direction.

Your partnership sector (read: your mate) has been the focus of so much planetary activity in your solar chart for so long, Leo. It’s as though there’s some never-ending situation for you to deal with–and yet things refuse to settle down and become stable. That’s still the case in July, although the fact that all the planets in Aquarius are now retrograde may make things a little bit less hectic. We can hope so.

In fact, there’s a lot of fixed sign energy this month, including the sun and Mercury moving into your sign. You may even feel like things are slowing to a standstill in some areas, although your social life should pick up this month. You may also encounter some surprising news about your job situation. Hopefully it will be positive.

The first few days of the month may be a bit wobbly as Mars in your career house clashes with all those planets in your partnership sector. Call on your friends for assistance if you need to. Other wobbly times are around the lunar eclipse on July 7 and around the solar eclipse on July 22nd. It’s unlikely that you’ll be affected by both, but there may be a general lack of stability in the air.

Things get better after the 22nd, and the last week of the month should see you feeling fine and having some fun I hope.

I’d love to tell you to take it easy in June, Leo, but you’re probably not going to. After the 21st, the sun will be in your solar house of ‘please let me get some rest,’ but Venus and Mars in your career house will not be tired. Mercury’s already in your career house as of May 13, so you’re probably already quite active with career matters. Mars in particular will want to keep you running when it comes to all things relating to your professional life, no matter how much the sun would like to take a break.

So…if you need to show people samples of your work in order to impress them, June would be the month to do that. In fact, after the 21st it would actually be preferable to let your work do the talking rather than you. If you can rustle up some behind-the-scenes career jockeying, the time for that would be around the new moon on June 22. The nice thing about all this is that with Venus at the top of your chart, you’re in line for some appreciative applause for your efforts. Leo loves appreciative applause, so that should hopefully make everything worthwhile.

On another front, if you’ve got kids or lovers to worry about, set a good example for them around the 7th of the month, as they are likely to be watching you at the full moon in Sagittarius.