Midlife Transits

Energy is very concentrated around the angles of your chart in March. What that means is that this is a very high energy month indeed, one of many for Capricorn in 2010. It’s also a month (and year) of alternatives. So let’s lay some of them out.

One alternative in March involves concentrating on home, family, your emotional needs, habits and routine. All those homey things that are supposed to give you security and a firm base to stand upon. Another involves concentrating on your career. A third involves concentrating on your own personal interests and fulfillment. Put another way, everything’s competing for your attention.

So how to resolve the competition or choose your path? Well, I’ll suggest that the main focus in your chart is really on your own personal transformation right now, transformation that may involve many areas of your life. Mars is just burning up with energy in your transformation sector and transformation planet Pluto is plunked very solidly in your sign, barely moving all month. When Pluto plunks himself anywhere, he gets very powerful.

The key is just to figure out what area of your life to start transforming first. You could do that by analyzing where your greatest power really lies these days. One thing that could help is that March’s emphasis on family could mean that you can attract desirable assistance and help from family members, including parents. Another thing that could help is using all that Mars energy to get some very vigorous exercise. Moving is its own form of meditation, and just moving your body could help break up any logjams or indecisiveness you feel.

Finally, eat some chocolate. This has nothing to do with your chart, but it’s almost always good advice anyway.

Mars is the planet of the month for Aquarius. It stations (gets powerful) this month and then it moves direct (gains energy). It gives you the opportunity to take the initiative in matters of love or money or whatever it is that you desire. Since it is in the sign opposite yours, you could also feel that it is just taking you to school in March and teaching you stuff that you didn’t really realize you needed to know.

So your first step is…to take your first step in whatever direction you want to go. If you want to sing–start singing. If you want to stay home and out of the spring rains–stay home. If you want to go out with your siblings, neighbors, or acquaintances–go out. In other words, practice doing what you actually want to do–and see how other people react. They may react with alarm or anger, or they may react with admiration and support. Mars’s job is to let you know what effect doing what you want has on other people. Only by getting this feedback can you learn where you really stand with the people in your life.

Your second step is to communicate. Let people know your thought processes. Actually reach out. If no one calls or no one reacts to your initiatives, make the calls yourself. This month is very much oriented around other people, how you relate to them and how they relate to you.

Finally, if all that relating gets a little tense–get some exercise or play a game. That’ll help burn off some of the excess Mars in your chart this month.

All righty, time to budget! Jupiter is officially in your income sector now. Venus is in your sign. Saturn has left your debt sector for the time being. Time to plan your financial life.

Do two budgets. One is the hopes and wishes budget (good time for this is around the 8th, when Neptune and Venus in your sign are feeling all glowy together). The other is the worst case scenario budget. Your actual year should land somewhere in between of course, but however you slice it, things are looking up for you astrologically in this area. Since this is your birthday month, if your budget allows, you might want to invest in some clothing, accessories, or other items to spruce up your appearance.

Your birthday wish new moon is on the 13th. Valentine’s Day looks decently romantic, with Neptune and the sun getting together in your sign. As for the year ahead, there are two distinctly different trends. Trend #1 is more of the same. Pluto’s in your reclusive 12th house all year, pondering things by himself. He spends much of the year challenging Saturn in Libra, which is also pondering things. Somehow or another, your beliefs are being tested and perhaps your relationship to God or the spiritual world too. This trend started awhile back and is an important theme for the year ahead. Neptune also continues to wander through your sign, periodically getting lost and perhaps confusing you in the process. That’s been going on for so long that many of you are used to it by now.

Trend #2 is the opposite: lots of changes. Uranus changes signs this year and darts into Aries for a peek mid-year. This gives your brain a shot of energy it hasn’t seen in quite awhile. Indeed, your mind gets more of a muscle-building workout in 2010 than you’ve seen in years. Jupiter also darts into Aries mid-year, tripling the mental energy. Your solar chart keeps switching from looking at the big picture to the small picture and back again, trying to sort it all out. Partly this is because most of your astrological resources don’t have to go toward sheer material survival. It is so much more up your sign’s inventive alley to be pondering and learning and getting excited about ideas than to be figuring out what to do about out of control debts or similar matters. In many ways, your chart is going to like 2010 a lot more than it’s liked the last 2 or 3 years. Rejoice!

My goodness the skies are thrifty these days, and so, I’ve heard, is the American consumer. You’d probably be wise to follow the trend by making every attempt to live on less than you earn while building up some savings. Pluto is still glaring at Saturn this month, and Pluto is the Grand Planetary Poohbah of debt–so it’s not wise to rile him up by taking on any more than is absolutely necessary. I’m not saying this will be easy, just that it would be a worthwhile effort. Pluto is affecting your chart more than it is many other signs because it is at the very top of your solar wheel, where its influence stands out.

This is also a month with a lot of Aquarian influence. Aquarius governs things like humanitarian efforts, friendships, hopes and wishes. More paradoxically, it governs the need to be a separate individual within the context of a small or large group, the desire to be special and notable yet not alone. Chiron, Neptune, Venus, Mercury, and the sun all travel through this sign in February. Something in your chart wants to heal or be healed, perhaps both. There’s idealism, romance, the desire to help and be helped, to be a part of something larger but to do your part. I say go with it, because these all sound like excellent things to me. If you’re single, Valentine’s Day would be a great day to go out with a bunch of friends. If you’re not single–well just enjoy.

Your sign is perhaps not as affected as many others by current economic conditions, but it would still be a good idea for you to put in place a strong system for saving money. Having money is having freedom, and freedom is something very much on the skies’ mind this month. In your chart, freedom (as indicated by the sign of Aquarius) is represented by your career or standing in society. During the past couple of years, a lot of you have changed careers, either voluntarily or as a result of layoffs. Some of you have had to take pay cuts to do it.

The point of all this is to get Taurus folks into their ideal careers, the careers that allow them creative and mental freedom, the careers that do the most good for the greatest number. To pursue that worthy goal you need a healthy cash reserve. Since this is Aquarius month, your career is very much on the mind of your solar chart. With Venus in Aquarius, you may receive some sort of a career-related gift this month. Maybe it won’t be anything big, perhaps a tip, a lead, a resource, some information, a book with good ideas, or something similar. You may also earn or receive a bit of extra money through your career.

Career is the main theme of the month, but I’ll just mention two other things. There’s a full moon in your home sector on January 30, so you may need to attend to a few things around the house in the early part of the month. Or perhaps you’ll do some entertaining at home. With Mars in this sector, you’ll need to remember to keep your activities budget-friendly! Finally, this is an excellent year to go out on the town for Valentine’s. The aspects are unusually romantic.

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.

There’s a bit of a dust-up in your financial houses this month, as planets in Aquarius face off against Mars in Leo. The trend actually starts in mid-January and intensifies around the Valentine’s Day/President’s Day weekend. For the moment, the better part of financial valor comes through saving and paying off debts. Venus in Aquarius can help ease the financial pinch, as long as you don’t go off and buy yourself some delicious but unnecessary new shoes at Mars’s urgings (Mars in Leo does love to spend on the luxury items, and who can blame him?)

Joint or marital finances also come into the spotlight around this time, as there’s a new moon in Aquarius on the 13th. With Neptune in Aquarius making many aspects this month, somehow or another monetary and sentimental values get all mushed up together. I’m thinking it would not be wise to make investments this month, as your judgment could be clouded by emotional factors.

At the start of the month, Mercury is in the sign of Capricorn, the sign that represents your committed relationships. You may need to talk something through with a partner. After the 10th, there’s also energy in your intellectual 9th house. Venus and Jupiter will be there, which could mean, I suppose, that your VD gifts will tend more toward the bookish than the romantic. Let’s hope not. Perhaps your significant other will spring for a nice little getaway instead (the 9th house also relates to travel).

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.

Saturn in your sign wants you to be concerned about your future financial security, because he’s just that kind of a prudent planet. It’s his job to think about stuff like that. For some reason, he’s getting flack from Pluto in Capricorn this month. Pluto’s in the sector of your solar chart that relates to family matters (including your family of origin), and he’s trying to put family interests ahead of yours. These two planetary heavyweights are just not in a good mood with each other right now, and that makes it a bit hard for people of your sign to be carefree, financially or otherwise.

If family is not a financial concern, perhaps your home is, as the sign of Capricorn also relates to your residence. In addition to Pluto, Mercury starts the month in Capricorn, and perhaps you’ll spend the first 9 days of the month either wanting to stay home or needing to attend to some business there. On the other hand, you’ve still got Mars in your party sector, so perhaps you’ll be sneaking out of the house to get together with some friends and blow off some steam.

The good news is that on the 10th, Mercury moves into Aquarius. Aquarius is the sign in your solar chart that makes you popular with your favorite sex, and there’s energy in the sign all month long. Your phone should ring or your sweetheart should be thoughtful. And that could be enough to make your heart sing.

This the time of year when all the planets are lined up on the opposite side of the zodiac from your sign, leaving you with little personal planetary attention. There is a full moon in your sign on the 28th of February, though, and you can use it to get rid of all kinds of stuff that you don’t need or want any longer, until only the good stuff is left.

There is one good angle between your ruler Mercury and Uranus this month, one that could help your personal life. That’s between Mercury in Capricorn in your 5th house of love and Uranus in Pisces in your 7th house of committed relationships. It becomes exact at 3:02 a.m. on Saturday the 6th, though (Eastern Standard Time), so you and your date will either have to stay up late to get the maximum romantic punch or fudge things a little.

On the 10th, your ruler moves into Aquarius and things get a whole lot more fuzzy and a lot less play-oriented. On the upside, you could see a modest increase in income from your job for the time being. And Aquarius is the friendship sign, so the energy is good for doing things with your buddies. On the downside, your normally precise mind can’t get much traction with the vague Aquarian energy, dominated as it is by Neptune and Chiron this month. Furthermore, Aquarius is the sign in your solar chart that represents work! So for most of the month, your mind is more on work than play.