Midlife Transits

Lots of Capricorn energy this month; Mars enters the sign on the 7th. The sun, Mercury and Pluto will also be in this sign during December. Capricorn is a sign of conformity and realism. This isn’t exactly where the sign of Pisces lives; it’s the subconscious or internal world, neither conforming nor realistic, where Pisces and its ruler Neptune make their home.

Still, Capricorn can be good for you. It’s the sign of friendship for Pisces and can indicate that fact-oriented friends can help balance out your own sign’s more artistic leanings. It’s also the sign of your perspective on society and can help give you a healthy respect for tradition and structure–helpful at this most traditional time of year. With so much action in Capricorn this December, you should have energy for plenty of getting together with friends and doing the traditional holiday things. Sounds like fun.

If there are any flies in the ointment this year, they come from those pesky outer planets. Pluto in that same sign of Capricorn is attempting to change you and your attitude toward friendship and society both. While he’s doing so, you can feel a little awkward where you used to feel comfortable. Also, Uranus is going direct in your own sign this month, as of the 5th. Uranus is too itchy and restless to be truly comfortable anywhere, and you may get zinging sensations of discontent when he goes direct.

There’s also action along your career and home axis this month. December is traditionally career month for Pisces; this year is no exception. What is exceptional is that this year there’s also a lunar eclipse in Gemini, your home sector, on December 21. If this is a mild eclipse, you may notice nothing more than that your family members bought all their clothes for you in the wrong size. No problem! You can return them after Christmas (when Jupiter conjoins Uranus in your sign) and get even better ones!

If it’s a more energetic eclipse, you could get sudden news or a surprise regarding a family member. The nature of the surprise is unpredictable. Bottom line: it’s a fun but restless month.

Charming Venus retrogrades in November from sexy Scorpio back into your sexy solar 8th house. Believe in your own powers of attraction and allure this month. The sizzling, even sinful, energy is at its peak during the first week of the month, but continues throughout November in some form.

Your chart is just not in a dutiful mood right now, even though duty may call in the form of Sagittarian career energy throughout the month. Indeed, there’s so much travel energy in your chart, it would rather be on vacation while keeping a close and watchful eye on your significant other. The absolute ideal month would involve somehow persuading your employer to send you on an overseas business trip that your significant other could tag along on. You’d work quietly behind the scenes, negotiating some tricky deal during the day while spending the nights on more romantic pursuits.

Since that’s probably not going to happen for most of you, you may have to settle for doing what you can to spice up your sex life, while not letting career matters slide. If you can insert a little travel time into your schedule, the time around the 15th looks good. That’s when the sun in your travel house makes a good angle to journeying Jupiter in your own sign. Remember that you don’t so much need a reason to get away as an excuse.

If that looks impossible, make a travel wish around the 5th or 6th of November, near the new moon. If that fails, scoot out of town for a quick getaway around the full moon on the 21st. In short, do something to get a little adventure into your life.

Well, it’s possible that your chart will spend a fair amount of time in a bad mood in October, thanks to the sun, Mercury, and the new moon in Libra, the sign where Saturn is now residing. Libra represents your solar 8th house, the house in a person’s chart that likes to brood over past wounds, damage, and harm done. Saturn only intensifies that element of the house because Saturn kind of likes to brood, too. Of course, Saturn may not do that in your chart, but he does get a bit grumpy in the 8th house, if only because he’s worried about money. As the inner planets mill around Saturn, you may become aware of whatever it is that has his undies in a bunch. Admittedly, Saturn almost always has his undies in a bunch; that’s his job–to point out problems. Might as well find out what yours are, while the other planets are querying him.

In a twist of fate, the other main influence of the month is Scorpio energy via the sun from the 23rd and Venus and Mars all month. Scorpio is the patron sign of brooding over past wounds. If no one stops the sign, it will whip itself into a neurotic frenzy. In your solar chart, Scorpio represents your sector of understanding the big picture. Hence, if you want to understand your circumstances this month, you might as well understand what childhood or later wounds you are carting around and figure out what annoys you about your life. This is actually very healing for Pisces people and nothing to be afraid of. It’s actually good for your soul; it gets you in tune with your deep feelings. And your sign kind of likes that.

Capricious Jupiter remains in your second house of finances until the 9th. Jupiter’s idea of a good time is to pretend that you don’t have the resources or cash you need for something important to you, and then to swoop in and stage a magical intervention at the last moment so he can bestow some sort of blessing on you. So try to roll with any financial ups and downs during the first third of the month.

After the 9th, Jupiter joins Uranus in your sign, where he’ll be even more capricious. Do not expect things to go as planned or to have complete control of your life for the moment. However, these two are usually not harmful and can even be good when teamed up on your behalf.

Both Venus and Mars switch from Libra to Scorpio this month. Libra is the sign of your past, including your past history with your family. There’s going to be a continuing emphasis on this area of your life for awhile, as Saturn has settled in a for a couple of years. The early part of the month might be a nice time to reach out to your grandparents, and maybe even suggest an oral history project. A trip to explore your past could be a nice idea too.

Also in September, Pluto in your solar sector of groups has mostly stopped picking fights with the other planets. He does get irritated with the sun around the 25th, but mostly he can go back to his long-term task of transforming your sense of belonging. He’s interested in your past too, by the way, so there’s a bit of a theme in the air.

Pluto in your 11th house of friends makes many difficult aspects this month. This may not affect you unduly unless you have powerful friends and supporters, as Pluto in any sector relates to powerful and influential people. If you do have such supporters or backers, there seems to be some sort of a to-do about money that doesn’t look entirely pleasant.

Meanwhile, your ruler Neptune is gliding majestically through the last degrees of Aquarius in your solar 12th house, as is Chiron, the wounded healer. By April of next year, Neptune will make his foray into your own sign, and we will literally standing on the edge of an end of an era. It will mark the end of the gadgety and Interwebby Aquarian era that has overtaken our society since the mid-1990s. Your ruler will be doubly strong in your own sign.

In preparation for this hand-over (which won’t be complete until 2012), Uranus moves from Aries back into your sign at the middle of this month. Uranus in Aries relates to money in your life, but it also encourages you to be more proactive about allying yourself with others who share common values. In your own sign, Uranus becomes more passive and instinctive regarding allies and perhaps even repels them. The next 7 months represent something of a last gasp in your chart’s long effort to get you toward as much independence as you can stand, so that you can form your later alliances productively. The difference is that this time around, Uranus is not being opposed by Saturn. Uranus in Pisces won’t be at war any more and what that means is that you may be able to practice being independent and in relationship at the same time. And that’s a good thing.

There’s a new moon eclipse in Cancer on July 11 that can signal a fresh beginning in your personal life–specifically your love life, your creative projects, or your relationship with your kids.

Sometimes eclipses in the 5th house (which is where this one takes place for your sign) correlate with a surprise pregnancy–so take precautions if that’s not a desirable outcome for you. Even if you don’t have children, young people could be lucky for you this month. If your children are grown, one of them may be starting out on his or her own new beginning, such as by getting married.

Eclipses have unpredictable effects, so it’s hard to say what other forms the new beginning would take, but new moon eclipses are favorable more often than not. So good news there. In fact, there is favorable Cancer energy until July 22, which makes you one of the luckier signs this month.

There’s also a lot of Leo energy in July, which puts the spotlight on your job and health. If you have health problems, take action, and don’t be afraid to look for an unconventional solution. The Leo energy also allows you to creatively express your personality on the job, especially after the 22nd, when the sun moves into Leo. Before that, from the 9th through the 27th, you can expect lots of conversations with your co-workers, as Mercury moves through this sector of your chart. All in all, a pretty nice set of influences.

Now for the not so nice influences. Mars is opposing your sun all month and Saturn is too for the first 3 weeks.  Meanwhile, Pluto, Uranus, Saturn, and Jupiter are all being very disagreeable with each other and this is taking its toll on the collective mood. Finances and friends are the issues of contention in your solar chart, and it will be enough to make a self-respecting Pisces just want to escape the nastiness. If it all gets to be too much, feel free to steal away by yourself to refresh and recharge.

There’s a lunar eclipse in Capricorn this month, on the 26th. Capricorn represents the part of the Pisces chart dealing with ultimate aspirations, hopes and wishes, big dreams, grand schemes, great works, and so on. All very appropriate for the sign of Capricorn.

Pluto is already circulating through this part of your chart. Pluto’s the most powerful planet in astrology (sorry, astronomers, Pluto’s still a planet to me), which indicates that large transformations are eventually indicated for you in this area of your life. The lunar eclipse represents one step in that ongoing process of transformation. This series started last year and wraps up next year. Once this cycle ends in 2011, you won’t see eclipses dealing with your aspirations for about another 10 years.

So…this month, you need to make sure yours are realistic. Make adjustments as needed. Your hopes and dreams are part of your long-term guidance system–make sure it’s calibrated.

Meanwhile, good news on the work front. Although Mars is leaving your work sector on the 7th, Venus enters it on the 14th. Meanwhile, Jupiter enters your income sector on the 6th. Translation: money. Your finances may be unstable in the years ahead, but right now, if you exert some effort, you could make some money while there are good aspects between money planets in your income and job sectors. Go for it.

Finally, when Mars leaves your work sector, he enters your relationship sector. There he joins Saturn. The idea seems to be that you want some sort of tangible result for all the effort you put into your relationship or relationships. You may try to finally nail down some sort of a commitment before the end of July.

Mixed bag in May for Pisces folks. On the good side, Venus moves into Cancer on the 19th, which activates your solar sector of entertainment and fun. Cancer is an emotional sign and it finds emotions both entertaining and cathartic. Venus in Cancer provides a good opportunity for a tear-jerker movie festival, a DVD-a-thon of your favorite prime time soap operas, an extended date with the TiVo. Cancer is a homebody sign, but you can go out, too, and  take in some quality entertainment with a partner of your favorite sex.

A little entertainment could be a good escape from some interpersonal conflict that could arise at work. Mars in your work sector is annoyed with Taurus planets this month and sometimes that translates into individuals being annoyed too.

Meanwhile, Saturn is back in Virgo and your sector of committed relationships. And Saturn does mean committed. He is bringing his usual mania for precision and definition back to the table when it comes to your spousal and spousal-like relationships and he wants some definite statements of intention or direction by mid-July.

At the end of the month, Uranus leaves your sign for the first time in for-freaking-ever (since 2004) and darts into Aries and your solar financial sector. Uranus’s initial foray into Aries only lasts a couple of months, but ultimately Uranus will spend 7 years studying the role of money and its value in your life. This means that you will likely be thinking a lot about it too, and learning a great deal.

During the week of the 5th, carefully define your soul’s intentions, your goals, hopes, and wishes. Pluto is stationing in the sector of your chart that relates to your long-term aspirations, which makes it especially powerful. Pisces born in February benefit the most from this influence.

Another kind of definition is in order for Pisces born late in the sign. When Saturn moves back into Virgo on the 7th, you get your last best chance to define what you want in a relationship. There’s still a real tug of war between Saturn and Uranus in your own sign. Some of you will feel this as struggle or ambivalence in an important relationship. Other Pisces have gotten used to the ongoing conflicts in their relationships and have developed a system for handling them by now.

Saturn’s move does take some pressure off your money situation. The days between the 7th and the 20th represent your astrological best shot until June at regaining any financial ground you have lost. Religion and travel (long-distance travel) are also highlighted for your sign until early June.

Otherwise, the inner planets are mostly focused on the busy little tasks of daily life, at least until the 25th. At that point, Venus moves into Gemini and you get some good family vibes. Meanwhile, your ruler Neptune is still wandering around in the part of your chart that relates to your sense of the divine. Neptune hates definition almost as much as Saturn and Pluto love it these days. In the real world, you may have to take a stand with someone, but in your chart’s heart of hearts, it just wants to kind of hang around and wait to see how things turn out if it doesn’t do anything.

Your solar chart is still absorbing a tremendous amount of information about the world courtesy of your ruler Neptune in your 12th house, which meets up with Chiron again this month. Visions of healing are dancing through your chart’s head like sugar plums or fairy tales. What this actually will mean to you varies, but if you’ve got chronic problems of any sort, you might as well meditate on them during the week of the 7th. Couldn’t hurt.

To the 17th, this is also your time to share what you know, due to Mercury, the sun, Venus, Jupiter, and Uranus in your own sign. If you’ve found some secret to happiness, let the rest of us in on it.

From the 17th on, your chart’s mind turns to money and financial matters as Mercury moves into Aries. You will actually have 3 planets move into your money sector in March. Sometimes this brings in money, but in many folks it signals instead a desire to spend it. You will probably need to exercise caution before whipping out the checkbook or the credit cards, as Saturn in Libra is currently looking at any spending you do as a symptom of some sort of a horrible disease it wants to cure. Save, Saturn says, save, for the love of God, save your money. Saturn’s probably right, but perhaps you could sneak in a small birthday indulgence or two without breaking the bank.

As for the rest of your year, the money theme will continue to be important. Your chart is gearing up for a semi-wild ride through a rollercoaster of changes in both income and outflow. You could make big money and spend big money both. The changes in how you spend money will reflect the changes in your value system that have been gradually accumulating over the past 7 years. You’re actually on the threshold of big changes in your life. A new romance could come into the mix as well. Friendships could come and go.

The thing that may well ground you during the year is your spirituality or religion. Pisces is a spiritual sign by nature anyway, and that theme is greatly amplified in your chart during 2010. Communicate with your version of God and let him/her/it or them communicate back with you. Your own internal sense of the divine is probably your best navigation tool through what looks to be a very interesting year.

Woo-hoo! Venus is in your sign from the 11th on, and then the sun is from the 18th on. Venus in your sign is traditionally said to make you popular or at least involved in lots of pleasurable social interaction. Venus in your sign can also mean money coming in, although the sign of Pisces tends to be oriented more toward intangibles than cold hard cash.

But wait! There’s more! Jupiter is in your sign as well, giving not only February but the entire first 5 months of a the year a playful feel. Jupiter in one’s sign encourages lots of tries, even at things you’re not normally good at. The spirit of adventure pays off with Jupiter at your side.

The other planet in your sign is Uranus. He’s been there for a good long while, so you’re probably used to that. Uranus is changeable and disruptive, but when he’s in your own sign, you’ll often find your life paradoxically stable, as you process the inner changes. When he leaves your sign, though….the outer changes often start appearing. As it so happens, Uranus will leave your sign for the first time since 2004 in early June of this year, so things may start moving around in your life in 2010. Just a head’s up.

Meanwhile, Mars is still in your work and health sector, giving you the ability to solve problems in either arena. With Saturn in Libra in your 8th house, you’ll do best if you solve them tactfully and discreetly.

Happy New Year, Pisces! Jupiter enters your sign this month, on the 17th, and that’s generally considered happy news indeed. Jupiter is often beneficial in a financial sense so you may see an increase in this area while Jupiter is in your sign. Jupiter will be there from January 17 through June 5. Then he’ll be in Aries until September 9. The back to your sign for the rest of 2010.

Saturn in Libra in the deep and mysterious 8th house also squares off against Pluto in your social 11th house during the second half of the month. Saturn wants to do things like curl up in the house with a good book and explore the depths of the past or the psyche, while Pluto wants to put the stress on your friendships and social obligations. Pluto will probably win because he’s got an eclipse on his side, one that occurs January 15. The eclipse is also in good angle to Uranus in your sign, so there may be a bit of excitement in the air.

As for 2010, it’s quite a year. Uranus will leave your sign briefly for the first time since 2004, taking away both pressure and excitement from your sign. Uranus in Aries is forceful, and will have an impact on your finances. The weightiest influence of the year is Pluto in Capricorn, urging you toward power in how you relate to society. Saturn and Neptune will be influential, but in a more subtle way. But the single most dominant energy of the year is that of cardinal dynamism. Cardinal signs have lots of energy, are inclined toward action, vigor, and force, while putting a premium on effectiveness. We can all expect a more dynamic year in 2010 than in a long time.

December is the happy time of year for the Pisces career. If you’re going to get good news, this would be the month you would get it. Try not to take too much time off before Christmas, except maybe a day during the first week. Do, however, accept all opportunities to socialize with the boss or with important colleagues.

You’ll need to work for your career rewards, no doubt about that, as go-go Mars is still burrowed into the part of your chart that deals with your job. And Mars in Leo does require that you be very organized in your work. It’s just that Venus in Sagittarius can help you really stand out from the crowd. The week of the 13th is most fortuitous for this; after that, things may decelerate a bit.

After Christmas, Venus moves into your sociable 11th house, essentially making yours the popular sign. Expect calls from friends or make them yourself; this is not the time to hang out by yourself.

At the very end of December, there’s a lunar eclipse in your solar 5th house. Lunar eclipses, when they affect a person, usually require the person to let go of something they have–a relationship, a project, a hobby or activity that drains energy. Not always easy to do, but beneficial in the long run.

November’s a pretty active month astrologically, but first priority is channeling your energy into constructive activities on the job. The best thing you’ve got going for you all month is an optimistic combination of job and career energies. This is most prominent at the end of the month, but there is strong energy in your job sector all month long. Even better, Jupiter in Aquarius is now zooming direct, which should have the effect of brightening your outlook on life.

Watch out that Jupiter doesn’t encourage you to bite off more than you can chew the week of the 8th, when it squares the sun and Mercury. Jupiter is the least of anyone’s problems this month, though. The big problem comes from Saturn in your 8th house of joint finances and debt, because it will be squaring off with Pluto in Capricorn in your solar 11th house. This is the kind of big deal major aspect that can be associated with large-scale events that affect society at large. Not always, but it can be.

We’ve seen a bunch of those here lately, what with global economic meltdowns, health care screaming matches, historic elections, and generally interesting but unsettling times. Since this hits one of your financial houses, you want to keep your butt covered by excelling on the job. No need to put yourself at risk if your corporation undergoes a fit of downsizing. The aspect itself is exact on November 15, but you should figure that the tense energies could be in play from the week of 8th through the end of the month. Stay positive, and you should be able to remain on top of things in a proactive manner.