Midlife Transits

I hope you’re in the mood to see the big picture in life, Pisces, because Neptune’s moving into your sign on the 3rd and he’s not just about the big picture; he’s about the gigantic, cosmic picture. At some point during his stay in your sign, Neptune will try to cram and stuff so much insight and revelation into your head at once that you’ll feel isolated from ordinary folk who only see the ordinary picture. Unless you’re born on the first day of Pisces (around February 19), this won’t happen right at once. Instead, it will creep up on you, as it creeping up now. (more…)

Happy New Year, Pisces. Planets start moving into your sign a bit early this year, starting with Venus on the 14th of January. Whenever Venus is in your sign, it’s a good time to invest in your own skills and talents. Your attention may be less on yourself than on other people, however, as Mars is moving very vigorously through the sign opposite yours, Virgo. Mars stations this month and then turns retrograde, ensuring that he’ll be opposite your sign for as long as possible, which in this case means until July. (more…)

A number of astrological events happen in December, two of them on the 10th of the month. On that day, Uranus stations and turns direct in your solar second house of finances. Uranus’s job is to teach you that income and financial affairs are not reliable in today’s world and that you should not operate on trust but on prudence. Around the time that Uranus stations, events often happen in the area it affects, so pay attention to your money around that time. (more…)

Hang in there, Pisces. Lots going on astrologically in November. We’ll start with your ruler Neptune going direct in Aquarius on the 9th. This brings Neptune out of suspension and moving toward your sign, where it will be quite strong. As your ruler moves forward, theoretically so can you. (more…)

One of the interesting things happening in October is that Jupiter, the planet of exaggeration, will spend about a week in your communication house aligned with Pluto, the planet of extremes,  in your friendship house. This happens at the end of the month, as we near Halloween, and I somehow envision Pisces sharing its favorite tall tales of experiences past with friends and neighbors. “The hail was so big, it was the size of my head!” and so on. (Jupiter loves to talk about the weather, and Lord knows there’s been a lot of it in 2011!)

Pluto, for its part, loves the ghost stories and spooky stuff. Wonderful for tales of eerie fog and ghastly happenings or dark and stormy nights fraught with mysterious encounters. It’s an almost perfect alignment for a Halloween party.

This is also a time when you could meet new people with whom you will become very close.  If none of those possibilities apply, then you may become intensely involved in conversations, texting, writing or other communication endeavors.

The month also contains a fair amount of energy in your financial houses. Uranus has been in your second house of finances for awhile and will stay there for a number of years. There’s a full moon in this sector on the 11th as well. Full moons are associated with results or consequences of prior actions, so you may be able to reap what you have financially sown around this time of the month.

Your sector of joint finances is also highlighted in October thanks to several planets, including Saturn, in Libra. This is energy that can bring previously hidden information to light or that can bring new people into your life for possible partnership. By the 9th, the energy in Libra slowly starts to wane as planets enter the sign of Scorpio. Scorpio represents your principles, including your innate fidelity and faithfulness in your long-standing relationships. You may well have a chance to display these qualities in October. Alternatively, you may find yourself traveling in October, whether short or long distances.

Last and maybe not least, Mars is traveling through your job sector this month. What this probably means is that job demands will compete for your attention, even though the rest of your chart might prefer to focus on other things.

Chatty Jupiter in your 3rd house forms part of a trine of planets in earth signs this month. Since Jupiter will have earth signs buddies to talk to this month, you may find yourself speaking so much or so fast that you can barely keep up with yourself. What will you be talking about? Money maybe, since the earth signs are always interested in money and you do have planets across your financial houses this month.

If you do talk about money, you may talk about how you need to pare down your lifestyle and concentrate on the essentials since Saturn is in your sector of paying off debts. If you need to make a resolution to trim your own budget, you can start a new program at the Libra new moon on the 27th. If you decide to institute a sensible financial program, make the changes measurable and specific. Saturn loves measurable!

Maybe you’ll want to talk about fun things like music. Jupiter in Taurus loves music and he may get a chance to share enthusiasm with music-appreciating Venus in Virgo during the first half of September. During the second half of the month maybe you’ll be talking about work or gossiping about co-workers in the office. Mars will be in Leo then (Leo represents your co-workers in your solar chart); Jupiter may have plenty to say about their performance or reliability. He may be impressed by their style or disapproving of their blatant displays of ego.

Maybe you’ll talk about (or with) your friends. Pluto stations in your friendship house this month, so there may be some intense things to talk about.

Whether you talk about them or not (and who are we kidding, of course you’ll talk about them), September is relationships month in the Pisces solar chart. Your relationship sign is Virgo. Virgo is the sign of, among other things, proper behavior, even prissiness when it’s in a bad mood. Your sign is the sign of letting it all hang out. It sees a lot of moral gray area that Virgo doesn’t see. That’s because it’s Pisces job to see the whole and Virgo’s job to see the parts.

During relationship month, your sun is encouraged to help you behave in the way that Virgo energy prefers, or in the way that your partners prefer. So your current job is to honor the parts that Virgo focuses on so that you can nurture the relationship. Translation: if someone wants you to do the dishes and you don’t see what the big deal is–do the dishes!

To whoever is asking it’s a matter of fairness, even if your sun thinks it’s a matter of uptightness or misplaced priorities. During relationship month, your partners are the ones who need you, not the other way round. This dynamic is only increased by the presence of Mars in Cancer in your love life house until the 18th.

You can sort all this out through heavy conversation (there’s that talking thing again) when the sun moves into diplomatic, negotiating Libra on the 23rd. Libra as a sign is more willing to take everything into account than Virgo is. The payoff for focusing on your partner’s needs during the first half of the month is increased closeness during the second half of it. If the we-ness and togetherness of the month gets a little too intense for you, Neptune in Aquarius gives you permission to slip away occasionally for a bit of solitude. It snuck back into your 12th house of aloneness last month so you could get a little downtime.

So first, let’s start with the topic of communications. You’ve got Jupiter in your solar 3rd house of communications, an influence that is said to not only be good for communications themselves but for gaining extra income from that field. More about that in a sec. Mercury is also retrograde for most of the month, an influence that is said to scramble communications.

It’s Mercury in Leo, in your 6th house of workplace matters. More about that in a sec, too. The way I see it, the way to cash in on Jupiter while sidestepping Mercury is to keep two things in mind. One is that your basic Pisces purpose is to be of service, not to be led down the Leonine path of ego and glory.

Second, keep things simple and easy to understand. That almost always works. If not–well Mercury retrograde is also said to be good for revising. After the 21st, Venus moves into Virgo where it works nicely with Jupiter. Venus helps you comprehend what other people are saying, which is essential to all communication. This can be useful in your love life, professionally, in any arena.

Now about the income thing. Using word-based skills is a good way to compensate for the disruptions to your income and financial life that Uranus is either springing on you or planning to spring on you. Don’t be fooled by circumstances if things are going well right now. You need to be an ant, not a grasshopper, and squirrel away some nuts for the coming winter. Wow, that was a lot of animals in one sentence.

Now about the workplace thing. If you keep in mind the Mercury caveat, you have a chance to shine at work this month, thanks to a bunch of Leo planets. This ties in with the income thing because Venus, the money planet, is in Leo until the 21st, so you have a modest chance of raising your income from your job.

Venus in Virgo also marks the start of your annual committed relationship season. It’s all about connections at this time of year. Good time to use the energy is at the new moon on the 28th. Your committed relationship season will continue this year through most of September.

Finally, a random cautionary note. Mars is in Cancer in your solar 5th house this month picking fights with every outer planet except Jupiter. The 5th house is the house of children, creativity, and having a good time. Lord only knows what irritations Mars will work himself into a brief emotional frenzy about this month, but note the keyword ‘brief.’ There is no compelling reason to pay any more attention to Mars or emotional frenzies this month than is absolutely necessary. They will pass.

Piscean finances are subject to erratic bouts of contraction and expansion these days due to the influence of Uranus in Aries in the 2nd house. This month Uranus stations and then goes retrograde, which theoretically indicates that the contraction half of the equation is about to kick in. Prepare accordingly. That’s doubly true if you are contemplating spending money on your house these days, which you might be, thanks to spendthrift Mars in your solar sector of home improvement.

That’s triply true if Neptune in your own sign has abandoned all interest in checking in with the actual reality of your life these days. Not as true if Jupiter in your solar 3rd house has you bringing in some extra money through writing or communication endeavors. If Jupiter in Taurus does not have you bringing in extra money this way, see if it might be possible to do so. Position yourself for further financial growth by exploiting your information and communication capabilities and potentials.

You can also seek a bit more money from your regular job when Venus enters Leo on the 28th. But do the work first, then ask for the money! If I sound like I’m ringing the warning bell when it comes to your finances, I am. Uranus in Aries can behave as if he is declaring actual war on your financial stability, and if he does declare war, he will win it.

The ultimate result of Uranus in Aries for 7 years is a far different financial path than any you’ve been on before, which can be liberating in its own way. But it’s a twisty journey from here to there. Part of the idea, if your financial decisions are entangled with others, is for you to learn more financial independence. Mars in the 4th house is a notorious money suck, pulling your cash down the drain of repairing or maintaining your home.

Ask questions and get specific information before spending large sums of money on anything. Do the math before you commit the cash! Fortunately, Mars will only be in your 4th house until the very beginning of next month and how expensive home maintenance is depends partly on where you live. Fortunately as well, you can use the Neptune energy to escape from any stress–at least for the moment.

Some of you may also be tempted to move to a bigger, nice place this month due to a solar eclipse in Cancer on the 1st. This eclipse falls in your solar house of love and children, but it can affect residential matters too. As in moving in with someone! This of course will make you want to make your new home all nice. Maybe you can do some things to spruce up the place without costing much money if you invest in some do-it-yourself projects.

Occasionally, this energy in Cancer will break up an existing relationship so that you can enter into a new one, but most frequently if you are in a relationship it will just make it stronger. Take a look at your relationship with your significant other or your children over the past two years and see how far you’ve come. Chances are, it’s quite a ways.

There may be adjustments to be made, though. Sometimes this eclipse also signals a new beginning for your children, such as them going off to school or spending the summer elsewhere. Mars in Gemini can also affect your relationships with family members you are close to, sometimes indicating a temporary separation or division.

June is an emotional month,  maybe even a passionate one if you get lucky with the Cancer energy that slips in during the second half the month. Your ancient co-ruler, Jupiter, moves from Aries to Taurus on the 4th. Taurus is a more compatible sign for you than Aries and it is both emotional and passionate when aroused. It puts an emphasis on communicating your feelings, and it will do so for the next 12 months. Meanwhile, Mars is also in Taurus for the first 3 weeks of the month, putting double emphasis on the theme of connecting through words in June.

I should mention that the Aries vibes aren’t completely gone. Uranus is still in Aries, and it is slowing down this month in preparation for going retrograde next month. Uranus is the planet responsible for trying to make your financial fortunes and attitudes move to and fro, as the universe attempts to slowly and fitfully find a new financial balance for you.

Back to the emotions, though. There are two eclipses in June, and eclipses are often emotional. The first one is on June 1, a new moon eclipse in Gemini. The second one is on June 15, a full moon eclipse in Sagittarius. Eclipses are usually surprising in nature, and they require your attention and thought.

Gemini is another communication oriented sign. In your solar chart it falls at the bottom, in the area that deals with home and family. Around the time of the Gemini eclipse, the right words or phrases can help you get a fresh start in a relationship with one or more family members.

The eclipse feeling may not occur right on the day of the eclipse, but within about 4 days or so on either side of it. The eclipse may also affect your physical home rather than relationships. You may have an unexpected expense or need to get rid of something in your home and replace it with something new.

The second eclipse, in Sagittarius, is aimed at your career. It can be useful in helping you to shed yourself of something in your career (or reputation) that you no longer need or want. If you’re not prepared to let something go in this area, the eclipse can be upsetting. Try to look on the bright side when it comes to career developments around this time. Even something as drastic as downsizing can work to your benefit in the long run.

Another odd month for Pisces. On the one hand, we still have a lot of Aries energy as the month begins. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Uranus all open the month in that sign. Aries as a sign favors bluntness, straightforwardness, directness, and honesty.

Aries also builds trust between people by allowing for the forthright expression of anger. The sign knows that conflict doesn’t destroy relationships; it actually creates bonds. For Pisces folks, Aries concentrates its energy on the finances. So far, so good.

Be bluntly honest with yourself and others about your financial situation. Piece of cake. Admittedly, with Mars in Aries until the 11th your expenses are likely to be high or they have been recently. Fortunately, with Jupiter also in this sign until early next month, you are also hopefully moving toward an abundance of income that will cover your immediate outlays. Not too big a deal.

The longer-term trend to be aware of and honest with yourself about is the presence of Uranus in your financial sector for a good 7 years. Uranus will be attempting to kick around your financial situation, off and on, for a long time, so you need to be consistently aware of exactly where you stand. Best days to tackle your finances with purpose are the 8th through the 16th. The 9th is a good day to coordinate financial matters with others or to get a report from a financial advisor.

That’s all pretty simple. The oddity comes from Neptune in your own sign, your solar first house. Neptune in Pisces is anything but direct, honest, straightforward or blunt. In fact, you may need to deal with the Neptune effects first, because they can be quite strong.

Neptune encourages you to wander around trying things that won’t work as it tests the quality and depth of your life. It has the aura of divine discontent because it wants you to experience the delicious subtleties of life by losing all sense of what’s practical. It’s a combination of planet and sign that invites mind fog. Quite a task to reconcile that with Aries financial energy, but it’s worth a try.

Meanwhile, planets also congregate in Taurus this month, including Mars as of the 11th and Mercury and Venus as of the 15th. Taurus is a sign of sensual pleasures, of tasting and touching and music and art and sex too. A great time to savor good food and anything else that’s tasty.

It’s a weird month for Pisces. Six planets pass through the sign of Aries, shouting ‘Wake up!’ while your ruler Neptune rumbles into your sign whispering “Go to sleep.” The Aries planets are examining your financial situation. So the first thing you should probably do is examine your finances too. Perfect day to get started is April 3, date of the Aries new moon. Mercury will be retrograde until the 23rd, so you may find that you need to go through your old financial records, which is pretty common during tax time anyway. Look for connections and patterns in your fiscal status, both positive and negative. Mars will help you ferret out the evidence you need to figure out what kind of circumstances have the biggest impact on your money.

If things aren’t what you want them to be, you should probably set up a system of automatic savings that puts at least some of your money out of reach. With Jupiter in Aries until June, this is the perfect time to squirrel away a bit of extra cash. This is especially important because Uranus will be in the money sector of your chart until 2018. Uranus has a way of getting dollars to leave your bank account, and you need to be prepared for the ups and downs this planet brings to finances.

As for Neptune moving into your sign on the 4th: Neptune is planning to take you somewhere, probably somewhere you’ve never been. The catch is that Neptune is literally the planet of sleep. To take a Neptune journey, you need to rest, relax, stay still, and wait. These aren’t exactly the things our frenetic society values. But if you find you need extra sleep or rest during the next 4 months, well then you need it, and that’s that. Don’t stint yourself on downtime; it will only catch up with you later.

Practically every damn planet in the pantheon is in your sign or in Aries this month. The sun, the new moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, and Chiron all spend time in these two signs. Paradoxically, even though the character of your sign is different from that of Aries, when planets are in your sign, they’re in your solar first house–and they kind of act like Aries planets. Some of this energy isn’t new (Jupiter moved into Aries in late January), but a lot of it is.

The big change is Uranus moving from your sign to Aries on the 11th of March. So what does all this mean–especially the switch in signs by heavy hitter Uranus? It means the word of the time is courage. You may have noticed the individual people in a number of Arab countries showing incredible courage in standing up to their own governments. That’s Aries energy.

Aries energy–courage–faces difficulty with a spirit that does not run away. It stands there peacefully, stays there determinedly, believes in itself and doesn’t back down. It’s not that it goes looking for trouble; it just faces the reality of the troubles that have been there for a long time. This is the exact same job you have,  Pisces. To face your own difficulties.  And what an incredible lineup of support you have to do so in March. Incredible!

Maybe your difficulties are financial (Aries represents your solar second house of money). Or maybe the dangers you face are more personal to you. The word of the day is still the same–courage. Put a sticky note on your desk and look at it at least once a week this month to remind yourself.

Your new moon is on the 4th; this is the time to look at the whole of your situation and make a wish for your coming solar year. I’ll give you a clues as to what to wish for–because it’s a theme all through the coming year what with all that Aries energy dragging you into a new era in your life–quantity. More-ness. Abundance. Lots of-ness. You know it scares you. You know you’re afraid of overwhelm. You’re afraid of asking for and getting more money. You have a right to be scared. But you no longer have the astrological right to avoid the situation or the fear. Courage.

This month, Pluto in your solar house of strategies moves toward a showdown on the 25th with Jupiter in your house of resources. Although the aspect is a square, often considered to be one of obstacles, the two planets share a common goal. They want you to develop skill in taking command of a larger life than the one you’ve been living. Jupiter’s job is to provide the supplies you need as you embark upon the role of commander. The implication of this is that to become more of the person you are meant to be, you need to actually learn about and study the role of resources in your life, whether they be in the form of people you can form friendships and alliances with or in the form of money and material goods.

The second half of the month also sees a steady flow of planets into your sign, starting with the sun on the 18th. On the 25th, just as Jupiter is squaring Pluto, the sun in your sign will be in a sextile with that same Pluto. This gives you an opportunity to face whatever the difficulties in your life are with courage and resolution.

Mercury will also enter your sign on the 21st. Mercury encourages get-togethers with relatives, neighbors, and casual acquaintances. It also encourages writing and speaking, especially about oneself. Remember to include others in your thoughts and conversations, even if it is your birthday time of year!

Finally, Mars enters your sign on the 22nd. When Mars is in your sign, theoretically, you should act with intention and purpose to make best use of his energies. On the other hand, sometimes with Mars, things aren’t always as intentional as one might like. Mars does have a tendency to suddenly insult people that deserve insulting, but that you might have been planning to be tactful around. The cure: choose to confront those that need confronting on your own own terms, rather than by impulsive accident. That takes courage, true, but since Pluto and Jupiter will be giving you some, you can handle it.

Happy New Year, Pisces. This month Jupiter leaves your sign, not to return for another 12 or so years. It throws itself a goodbye party with Uranus at the first of the month, and then moves onto Aries by the 22nd. The Aries energy will add great vigor to your chart, particularly in the area of material possessions and finances.

The Jupiter/Uranus conjunction that fights for attention with an eclipse in Capricorn during the first 10 days of January is not just vigorous, it’s downright reckless. If you read this before New Year’s Eve, do ask yourself if it’s worth the risk to party like it’s 1999 to ring in 2011. In fact, throughout the first 10 days of the month, you’ll need to ask yourself–do I dare do this?–with regard to whatever crazy shenanigans Jupiter and Uranus try to drag you into. You may dare indeed, or you may decide to sit out the explosive impulsiveness that struggles to assert itself during the beginning of the month.

It will be interesting to see how the influences sort themselves out actually. The eclipse in Capricorn happens on the 4th, same day as the Uranus/Jupiter conjunction, and while Mars is in Capricorn too. Capricorn as a sign really believes in law and order, or at least law and orderliness, but it’s a rather lawless and disorderly gang that’s assembled for its eclipse. Capricorn represents the strategizing, alliance-building part of your chart, so keep your eyes open for bold folks with whom you can combine interests.

Alliance building will continue to be a theme in 2011, as your chart is obsessed with this idea and plans to continue to be for a long time. Neptune will move into your sign from April through July; Uranus will leave your sign for good in March. You may not notice much about these sign changes at first. Your sign is already more than familiar with Neptune energy, so it’s not as though it will be a shock to host your ruling planet for awhile. Uranus will eventually impact your finances, perhaps in a good way, although there will be bumps in the road at times. In the meantime, the universe wants you to keep honing your strategies and schemes, and building the network that will bring them into being.