For the next 4 months or so, Jupiter remains in your solar third house, prepping you for your Neptunian future by trying to expand your mind in a less dramatic way. Jupiter is content to have you learn by directly communicating with regular people; Neptune will try to give you the sensation that you’re communicating directly with God, the cosmos, alien beings, guardian angels, or whatever your belief system is predisposed to recognize as a legitimate source of information. Whoever you’re communicating with, it will make you feel as those the dots are finally being connected.

Neptune’s the big Kahuna in your chart in February and for a long time to come. To have your ruler in your sign (for 14 years no less) is a big deal. You can cooperate with Neptune by thinking globally and educating yourself as much as you can about the larger world. Chiron, also in Pisces, provides support for Neptune, and both emphasize compassion and a desire to help others.

The sun is in Aquarius until the 19th, when it moves into your sign. Mercury is in Aquarius until the 13th, then Merc moves into your sign as well. Oddly enough, the sun and Mercury in Aquarius extend these themes of compassion and helpfulness, for they travel through the house that Neptune rules during the early part of the month. Your annual birthday wish new moon occurs on the 21st. Since the moon will pass right over Neptune on this day, it could be a very eye-opening new moon.

Uranus and Venus in your second house want you to do a little early birthday shopping for yourself and buy new stuff on impulse; Saturn stationing in the opposite house this month, definitely doesn’t. Saturn wants you to save your money, as in literally building up your savings. Who will win this month? Up to you. The full moon on February 7 could relate to new developments in your work or health. With Mars still retrograding in your relationship house, give your significant other precise specifics about what you want to do for your birthday or Valentine’s Day. Neptunian grandness won’t cut it with this particular influence.

Uranus in your solar second house of other kinds of investments, the financial kind, is on the move, briskly attempting to conquer new territory in your financial life and dragging you along for the ride. He’s also dragging Saturn in Libra along for the ride, and Saturn doesn’t seem too pleased. Bottom line: caution is the better part of valor when it comes to finances–still.

The bigger news, however, has to do with Neptune, which is inching ever closer to leaving Aquarius forever and entering your own sign for a 14 year stay. He’ll actually commit to your sign early next month. While in Aquarius, he has been urging you to go within for awareness and insight. Hopefully, you have indeed been doing just that. When he moves into your own sign for good, presumably he’ll want you to go somewhere else–although where is not yet clear.

What is clear is that he’ll want you to grow–substantially. Because that’s what Neptune does. Increase things, make them bigger, greater, much more expansive. Neptune is idealistic, so he may want you to become much more aware of social issues, of how to link your personal awareness to the rest of the world.

On the 20th, the sun moves into Aquarius, joining Neptune and Venus already there. On the 23rd, there’s a new moon in Aquarius and on the 27th Mercury moves in. It’s quite the gathering to say goodbye to Neptune. It would actually be quite a nice time to hold a new moon party, although of course you could call it whatever you want. Whatever you call it, it’s a nice and special time to spend with others.

There’s also a lunar eclipse in Gemini on that day, falling in your solar sector of home and family. 4th house eclipses often have the deepest effects on us, because the 4th house is so personal and forms the bedrock of our lives. The most traditional manifestation of such an eclipse is some sort of surprising event or news regarding your domestic life, or a sudden decision that needs to be made.

This is also Pisces traditional career month, the time when you are asked to give your all to your professional life, including attending events and participating in social activities in the community or workplace. Mercury stays in this sector of your chart all month long, spending the first 13 days retrograde. Mercury moving back and forth often indicates that much of the month is spent making arrangements and then re-arranging what you’ve already done.

December also puts renewed emphasis on your friendships. Venus starts the trend, having moved into your friendship sector on November 26. The motto in your chart these days is: true friends are old friends, and a real friend tells you the truth whether that’s what you want to hear or not. Your annual friendship-related new moon takes place this year on December 24; feel free to honor it appropriately by remembering your friends at this time of year and considering how much a part of the structure of your life they are.

Venus moves into Aquarius on December 20th, bringing help to the sector of your chart that deals with chronic conditions and ailments. If you suffer from any sort of ongoing physical (or psychological) ailment, this is a good time to ask other people for assistance, especially if the ailment is puzzling.

Mars remains in your committed relationship sector, doing his perhaps annoying best to help you develop trust in a relationship through working out conflicts. Try not to internalize your feelings; the spirit of the moment is to get things out into the open through communication and interaction.

Uranus in Aries gets stronger this month, as it slows in preparation for stationing next month. You may feel this energy in matters related to your possessions, as if something is coming to a head. The sun is in your solar 9th house of journeys and long travel, while Jupiter is in your solar house of short travel. The short travel end of the stick gets some pointed attention around the 9th of the month, when there’s a full moon in Taurus in addition to Neptune moving forward.

Then there’s a new moon eclipse in your solar house of career and material ambitions on the 25th. This represents a new beginning or opportunity in your professional life. The sun, Mercury, and Venus also crowd into your career house this month. Mercury, the patron planet of communication, actually goes retrograde early on Thanksgiving in the US.

Mercury retrograde is usually said to scramble communication and cause problems, although I rarely see that in practice. Meanwhile, Venus in Sagittarius from the 2nd through the 25th will try to make everything in your career go more easily and make obstacles less difficult to overcome, especially after Mars moves out of your job sector on the 10th. Speaking of Mars, it moves into detail-oriented Virgo this month to begin a 7 1/2 month stay. Virgo is the relationship sign in the Pisces solar chart, so this means your relationships will be getting a lot of critical attention from Mars all the way until July of 2012.

Mars will want to get everything buttoned down in your relationships during this time period even if means you have to forgo some of your own desires or ideas. Flexibility is going to be key for a long time, so it is fortunate that yours is a flexible sign by nature!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.