Midlife Transits

January is mostly a very common sense month. It’s all about the practical decisions of daily life. For Sagittarius, this includes decisions about individual and joint property as these are two areas highlighted for you in 2010. This month, some new energy comes in with regard to individual property via an eclipse in Capricorn on the 15th. Joint property matters were highlighted at the eclipse of December 31, but some of the energy may be present this month as well. Use your natural intelligence in all financial matters.

On the other hand, your sign is also benefiting from the long stay in Leo of fiery Mars. This is more interesting to you because it highlights the non-common sense your sign is blessed with and highlights your prophetic powers.  Jupiter also leaves independent Aquarius this month, on the 17th, a shift that will tone down your revolutionary rhetoric somewhat. This shift also decreases the emphasis on language and words in your chart, as well as on public-minded or community activities. Hopefully, you have found some acquaintances who share your interests during the past year that Jupiter has been in this sign.

As for 2010, at last there’s some good energy in your home and family sector. Your home can now be your fortress, your refuge, your haven. If you haven’t found your dream home yet, you have until June 2010 to find it. Get cracking!

This is the time of year when planets in your own sign clash with Uranus in Pisces in the sector of your chart that deals with home and family relationships. The week of the 13th is the trickiest. Decide to do what you like for your own enjoyment even if other people don’t like it. On the upside, clashes with Uranus can actually increase inspiration and creative solutions to life’s problems.

This is also the time of year when planets in your own sign make nice angles with Neptune and Jupiter in Aquarius.  The week of the 13th and the week of Christmas are particularly nice for this. More potential inspiration and creativity. Chiron gets in on the act too, during the aspect-packed week of the 13th, teaming up with your ruler Jupiter. Jupiter will take the hits so you don’t have to. Your birthday new moon also falls that week, on the 16th. Make a wish!

The week of Christmas also sees some difficult meet-ups between the sun in Capricorn and Pluto and Saturn in Libra. The holiday week could be labor intensive, or you could be concerned about finances. And end of year eclipse in your marital finances sector may make hashing out differences challenging but important.

As for your year ahead, 2010 will not be a typical year because so many placements are moving into new signs and then retrograding back into previous ones. People born at the beginning or end of your sign will feel the most effects. Chiron will confuse some of you with a move into Pisces, bringing a fresh attempt at healing family wounds.

Uranus, on the other hand, will delight some of you when it briefly leaves Pisces for Aries. This should make cantankerous family members easier to deal with and may bring good or exciting news about one or more of your children. Problems with your house may also briefly disappear.

Saturn will move back into your career and reputation sector for about 4 months in the spring and summer, which ain’t great. But then it will leave that area of your life alone for close to three decades. And that is great.

Jupiter will move into Pisces and then Aries. If you haven’t moved in the past 7 years, 2010 may be the year when you actually do it, as aspects are good for buying or selling a home. Jupiter in Aries just adds to the good fortune surrounding your children (or, if you are single, your love life). Quite the mixed bag!

Energy moves into your sign this month, yay! Mercury enters on the 16th and the sun on the 22nd. Your sign is associated with enthusiasm, foresight, and last but not least, the holiday season. By the end of the month, you’ll probably be having lots of family contact, including contacts with siblings, cousins, and other relatives. By the beginning of next month, a major residential matter is scheduled to turn a corner. Things will be falling into place and you’ll start feeling productive and achievement-oriented as soon as you get a dose of energy in your sign.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. The month starts out well with Venus in Libra in the sector that governs your social life. Venus actually enters this sector on October 14 and stays until November 8. Fun times. After that, all of society sort of falls apart or gets into a screaming match with itself (we’ve seen a bit of that already this year, haven’t we?). You may find yourself having to educate yourself on the issues of the day, because many people will apparently be upset about them.

The madness and mayhem continue right up until Mercury enters your sign and your Sagittarian optimism brings a ray of hope to the beleaguered. The major aspect in question involves Pluto in Capricorn (in your 2nd house of finances) squaring off with Saturn in Libra (in your 11th house of society at large). The signs most directly affected will be Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn. Maybe you’ll want to hide in your bedroom until the storm blows over or maybe you’ll want to participate in cheering up your friends in these signs until they get a grip on things. Your choice.

Nice full moon for you on October 3rd, Sagittarius. Normally, full moons aren’t too big a deal, but this one’s in your house of fun and recreation, giving you a great excuse to socialize. Speaking of your social life–changes are afoot in that area. Saturn is moving into your solar 11th house of friendships at the very end of this month.

Sagittarians theoretically prefer friends who are accommodating and compromise-prone anyway, and Saturn in Libra may very well further accentuate that trait. Saturn in Libra is generally of the opinion that other people should do all the compromising in a relationship because he doesn’t like to. He thinks that other people should correct their behavior, because he can’t imagine that his own would ever need adjustment. Saturn in the 11th house therefore tends to put stress on friendships and a person’s social life.

This could be a good thing because it puts your friendships up for examination. On the other hand, it’s probably wise, if you value your social relationships, not to let Saturn talk you out of showing your touchy-feely side. A little touchy-feely can go a long way toward alleviating Saturn’s instinctively stern approach. Your friendship and social life new moon takes place on October 18, so you can make your wishes and resolutions then.

What’s going on with your career these days, Sagittarius? You’ve got major energy in the sector of your chart that deals with how you rank in the world, and for most people that means career. But the energy is all–well, wacky right now. Mercury retrograde, Saturn opposing Uranus–those don’t sound too good. Sun and Venus in the sector, though; those do sound good.

What’s going on, in a backhanded kind of way, is that your chart is anticipating a big transition when Saturn moves out of Virgo in a couple of months. A couple of months might seem like a long time from now, and it kinda is. But your chart’s all abuzz with anticipation and in the process it’s partially getting its undies in a knot. But soon enough, you’ll get your promotion or you’ll get the heck out of Dodge, whatever the case may be. Or–you’ll finally get a job if you’ve been unsuccessfully looking.

And that’s a good thing.

For Sagittarius people, Leo month is the month that highlights your thinking, your attitudes, your beliefs. You may be a very flexible sign, Sagittarius, but you tend to be very fixed in your beliefs, uncompromising, maybe even a bit self-righteous in your attitude.  You get your annual chance to re-assess all that from July 22nd to August 21.

Prime time for such reassessment, if you’re interested, is the week of the 16th, when Neptune and Jupiter and Chiron will be trying to soften up your attitudes toward the environment around you. On a lighter note, you could just use the energy to take a vacation!

Those of you who have just moved or are planning to may be a bit stressed this month by hecticity especially during the last week of the month, but the upside is that you should have plenty of energy to beautify your home in a creative or natural way.

There’s also a lot of energy around your career this month, as Virgo mode is in full swing thanks to Mercury and the sun. It’s like you are very very close to reaching your goal and yet there’s just one more test you have to pass before you can pick up the keys to the executive washroom or whatever it is that you want. It’s a bitch of a test, though, so do not give up this month. You are so close to getting a break from the pressure in this area of your chart.

First up, Sagittarius, I’ve got to warn you about something. July is the first month in which a series of eclipses in your financial houses will take place. In my experience, solar and lunar eclipses in the financial houses are more strongly correlated with loss through theft than anything else I’ve encountered. Keep a watchful eye on your handbag, don’t take risks, and take appropriate security cautions with your home if you’ll be away on vacation this month.

Of course, for most of you nothing untoward will happen. Still, you may be faced with major changes in your financial life over the next year or two. They may be wonderful changes that will have you singing happy songs, but with eclipses there is usually something of an adjustment period.

There may also be some brief issues or upsets on the home front during the first part of the month as Mercury clashes with Uranus. The good news is that there’s also great energy for getting out and about with your partner or spouse this month.

You may be busy at work, but your partner is still likely to be lovingly attentive, calling to check in with you. And that’s a nice thing.

June is one of those ‘however,’ and ‘on the other hand’ kind of months. All month long, there’s energy in your 7th house of striking a balance and looking at both sides of things. As any Libra can tell you, a keen eye for the howevers and on-the-other-hands can lead to indecisiveness. So you may experience a bit of that. If you persist however, you’ll be able to come up with win-win solutions to life’s little daily dilemmas. And, as any Libra can tell you, that sort of thing increases harmony in your life all around.

Take note, too, that the long happy transit of Venus to your solar 5th house comes to an end at the end of the first week of June. Enjoy, while the enjoying is good. If you’re looking for news about lovers or children it may finally arrive.

Last but not least, there’s a whole bunch of energy in your job and health sectors. Expect many comings and goings in these areas of your life. Mercury will be in your solar job and health sector for the first half of the month. Venus will be in your job and health sector after the first week. Mars will be there throughout the month. Basically, this mixed bag of inner planets indicates that the general however and on-the-other-hand vibes will play out (perhaps most prominently) in these very areas of your life. Or, as the French say, c’est la vie.

Saturn’s going direct in Virgo today. Take a look at this post if you want to see what that means in general. Below is information for your particular sun sign.

Here’s an example of how to do a short little horoscope for yourself using keywords. (I have a list of keywords on the Practical Astrology home page. Scroll down to see them.) Also, if this mini horoscope seems off, you can look at the one for your rising sign if you know it.

Okay, so our keyword for Saturn in Virgo is going to be gloomy or gloominess, since that’s what Saturn in Virgo has seemed to bring. If there are people out there not having a gloomy time with the Saturn in Virgo portion of their lives, they’re not telling me about it.

Virgo represents your solar 10th house.  The keyword for the 10th house is career.

So Saturn going direct in the solar 10th house on May 16 could mean: a break in the case regarding gloomy situations or feelings about your career. If you haven’t been sure what to do about your career these days, a way forward could semi-magically appear in your mind.

Things like that can happen.  Maybe not that exact thing, but things like that. Again, take a look at Practical Astrology if these keywords don’t suit.

Good times! Venus is still in your happy solar fifth house of good times. Still! Boy did you strike it lucky, especially if you’re in the hunt for love.

If you haven’t found it yet, by the way, just keep trying. This month you’ve got Mars on your side, too. If ever there was a symbol for just keep trying, this would be it. Yes, you can give online dating a whirl, although the usual cautions continue to apply.

If you’re all set in the love department, well then enjoy good times with the ones you love. Your ruler Jupiter is trundling along in your sector of daily life in a super-good mood. What’s not to like? I mean, really, I have nothing else to say except have a good time.

Whole lotta Aries going on in April, Sag. The sun, Mercury, Venus, and Mars all drop by for a visit to this, one of your favorite signs. Aries in your solar chart represents things like children, fun, self-expression, spontaneity, and doing the stuff that makes you feel whole again after a long bout of winter (or, if you live in the Southern Hemisphere, a long bout of summer). That sounds pretty good to me, and the energy is there at your disposal all month long.

Also take note that there’s a nice harmony of Venus and Mars in this sign occurring from the 24th on. Given the way the fast-moving planets are transiting this year, you have an unusually long period of time in which to take advantage of solar 5th house energy–all the way into early June. Some people feel that the 5th house is the most important house in the horoscope because it’s the natural house of the sun. Planets in the solar 5th are naturally in harmony with your own sun, and a long bout of 5th house activity can make you feel as though everything is revolving around you for awhile.

Meanwhile, in the middle of the month, Venus will spend a couple of weeks hanging out at 29 degrees Pisces. If you are born very late in the sign of Sagittarius, this is likely to affect you the most, although it is not supposed to affect you in a negative way. Mars will also be in Pisces at this time, and it will conjoin Uranus in Pisces too. If you were born in the middle of December, you may feel somewhat wired in mid-April, or even overly hyped up.

This rather intense Pisces energy is most likely to affect you on the home front. You may need to briefly drop all that fun Aries stuff to concentrate on being of service to your family. Mid-April is not really the time to try to get away from family obligations. Even if you decide to take a trip, the issues will still try to follow you. But that’s a minor complaint in an otherwise great time of year for you.

There are a couple of themes for Sagittarius in March. One is love relationships, courtesy of lovely Venus spending all month in your lovely solar 5th house of love relationships. In fact, Venus is spending the better part of four months in your solar 5th house this year, thanks to retrograde motion. It spent most of February there, and now it will spend not only all of March there, but a couple of weeks of April, all of May and a week in June. Wowie zowie! If you didn’t feel Venus’s beneficial influence last month (and you probably did), you should at least be feeling it by March. Enjoy!

A second theme is expressing your ideas more clearly than you might be used to. Lovely, but totally unclear, Neptune has been hanging out in your solar 3rd house of expressing your ideas for more than a decade now. So everybody’s probably gotten used to you expressing yourself in a woo-woo intensive manner, being a bit unclear, being compassionate and lovely but vague, and so on. Neptune tends to make a person communicate nicely, but with a bit less of the crisp Sagittarian bluntness that people of your sign are said to possess by birthright.

From time to time that dynamic changes. Indeed, during the early years of the Neptune influence Uranus was transiting the sign as well, so there was a bit more spark to your expression and your ideas. Uranus left Neptune’s side for good in 2004, though. In February and for half of March, though, Neptune’s got Mars by his side, and Mars likes to express ideas clearly and forthrightly, just like your sign usually does.

Mars in Aquarius is good for the expression of ideas for everyone, as Aquarius is an ideas and communication-oriented air sign. But doubly so for you, because it falls in such a favorable place. Put your thoughts into words! Even better, combine Venus with Mars and put your feelings into words and share them with your lover. Speak your mind, share your opinions, start a blog, take a public speaking class, recite some poetry, hang out with friends and enjoy stimulating conversation, and otherwise have a blast with these favorable influences.