Midlife Transits

This month, there’s a dust-up between Saturn in your solar second house and Pluto in your solar 5th house. Saturn in the 2nd relates to money. It means (most often, not always) reduced income or the need to make serious purchases, such as buying a car. This  trend has been in effect since October, so some of you have already made a big purchase.

The 5th house represents pleasure, kids, love, creativity. The dust-up indicates that your financial obligations are at odds with your desire to enjoy yourself. On the one hand, there’s an eclipse in this same 5th house that indicates the possibility of new love or a fresh start in some creative or pleasurable area of your life, especially since happy Jupiter is entering your 7th house of relationships. Indeed, a major theme for all of 2010 is relationships.

On the other hand, there’s a long-term trend toward financial pressure, as Uranus is now bearing down on your 8th house of debt, preparing to enter there in June. I suppose the message is enjoy yourself now, but prepare for the future and look to managing your expenses, even if you do fall in love this month! Finally, a reminder that Mars in Leo has got your subconscious mind vrooming along with energy. You may want to keep a dream journal or record your inspirations.

As for 2010, if you can keep a clear head when it comes to relationships and money–you should do all right.

The month starts off with a full moon in Gemini in your career sector. Sometimes a full moon signifies a low point in the cycle with regard to the affairs of that house, especially if you work in a Gemini-related field such as writing, office work, and the like. You may lose or complete a project, or just feel low energy in your career.Try not to make careless errors, and shrug off temporary annoyances.

The 16th sees the annual new moon in your home and family sector. Usually, there’s ton of energy in this area of your life in December. This year, a bit less so. For one thing, Pluto is gone from this area (yay!) and for another, Mercury spends almost the entire month in Capricorn instead of Sag. You may actually get a break this year and find the holiday season to be more refreshing than usual–or you may miss the usual hubbub at your house.

The end of the month sees a rare lunar eclipse in Cancer. The most straightforward meaning of this would be that you would have to give up something in your perpetually overcharged schedule. A friendship, a bit of your social life, a community involvement. Something’s got to be purged, so purge it and empty your calendar a bit.

New moon in your 3rd house of reading, writing, and arithmetic this month, Virgo, on the 16th. If you’re a book-loving Virgo, haul out the reading list and indulge. Exercising your active brain may be more important than you realize in November, as wacky and difficult aspects make a retreat into the mind an appealing way to cope.

First, the pleasant stuff. Venus in Libra from October 14 through November 8 may tempt you to spend money socializing. Go ahead and splurge a little, because there’s not much splurging ahead for your sign over the next few years.

On the 22nd, the sun moves into the sector of your chart that deals with home and hearth, just in time for the holiday season to begin. In fact, Thanksgiving may be the best day of the month as warm-hearted Mars in Leo teams up with Mercury in Sagittarius to make things merry and bright for a family get-together.

It’s that middle period, between the 9th and the 22nd when you may want to grab that book and hide.

Cardinal people are scheduled to go a little nuts, or at least exhibits sign of stress (Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn are cardinal signs). Fixed sign people are scheduled to get all confused and weird (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius are fixed signs). All at the same time. That doesn’t leave a whole lot of people who won’t accidentally be trying to fry their relationships under the influence of quarreling skies.

Another possibility is that there will be some sort of event that affects a great deal of people at once, and they won’t be happy about it. Hopefully nothing too upsetting will happen, but still, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to make a mental note that snuggling under the covers with a flashlight and a novel may not be the worst way to spend the week of the 15th.

There’s still energy in your sign in October, but the focus is switching to the sign of Libra and your second house of income, possessions, and property. Libra is a social sign, and the emphasis indicates that your financial gains come through interacting with others and staying in contact with them. You’ll need to be adaptable and accommodating, most likely, for best results, although it’s possible that the upcoming switch of Saturn in Libra will make you feel like being a bit less accommodating than usual when it comes to finances. Your financial new moon occurs on the 18th, though, so make a wish then (or set an intention) if you have issues in that area.

The Libra sun is also in good angle to Jupiter stationing in your health sector. The week of October 11 is a superb week to get a health issue addressed. If you’ve been praying and hoping for a breakthrough, you may finally get it.

The sun moves into Scorpio on the 23rd of October. There it’s in your third house of being on the go. Accept invitations, get your errands done, take a short trip. Bottom line: you’re starting to get a nice break from some of the pressure your sign’s been under, a development that should ultimately make your life simpler. Good show!

The one part of your chart that is not supposed to be hopping with energy right now is your work and health sector. All three of the placements there (Jupiter, Neptune and Chiron) are retrograde, and for once they’re not doing much of interest. So you can leave that part of your life as is for awhile.

The main part of your chart, however, is locked in a fierce battle with itself. Should you jump into something (perhaps something romantic) and think about the consequences later? Or should you do just the opposite: think about the consequences now and jump later, if at all?

You’ll probably do a combination of the two–jump now and think now. Which maybe wouldn’t be a bad solution to your dilemma. After all, Pluto is trying to thoroughly overhaul your love life, and he’s stationing this month. Maybe it’s time to take a step forward–worries and all.

As for the next 12 months: well, you should finally be getting a chance to do a lot more jumping and a lot less hesitating. Saturn will move out of your sign, so he’ll stop holding you back. You’ll get some Jupiter in Pisces action, which should help the romantic and partnership jumping. Uranus and Jupiter will also both visit Aries, which is a jumping combination of energy if there ever was one.

Oh I’m not saying there won’t be any holdups, because there will be. Saturn will be getting all nasty with Pluto over the next 12 months, and the cardinal signs will all be sniping at each other.

But you’re not a cardinal sign; you’re a quick-moving mutable sign. And finally, much of pressure will be off. The planets will get off your angles and you’ll be able to get off your butt because you won’t have so much inertia to contend with. Little dancing buds of freedom will sprout and you may be dancing along with them.

The big news is that the sun and Mercury move into your sign this month. Mercury does so on the 2nd, the sun on the 22nd. That makes three placements in your sign this month, cuz Saturn’s there too as he has been for a long time. There are also 3 placements in Aquarius (Jupiter, Neptune, and Chiron) in your solar 6th house, the house associated with your sign.

That puts a really big emphasis on the service-y side of your Virgo nature. Virgo lives to serve, and you happen to have been born under the most useful sign in the zodiac. You people volunteer like no other sign does, are constantly busy, usually helping others, and you’re responsible for a big chunk of the good works of any society. Plus, you never really take credit for it!

The skies have put a spotlight on all your service-y tendencies this month in an attempt to get you to un-sign up for one of your many exhausting activities. Maybe you need to quit going out with your work friends, so you can have some alone time. Maybe you need to un-volunteer for something. Maybe you need to give up some duties and control on the job. You know better than I what you need to relinquish.

Relinquish now to gain some energy and some of the time you need to replenish–so you can live to serve another day.

Summer! Time to get outside and hang with your friends. Yeah, I know you need to work. Maybe you even need to work like crazy this month, but you need your social time too.

Take a walk in the park with your best buds, catch up on all the gossip. It’s not just that you need the refreshment of companionship (which you do); it’s also that your senses need refreshment. Feast your eyes on the greens of nature and feel your mind calm down. Wear your hat, of course; we don’t want your delicate Virgo skin getting a sunburn.

If you have to stay inside, your chart still needs you to be sociable and involved in group activities. There’s a sociable vibe in the job sector of your chart, for example, so maybe you can benefit from being part of a small team at work (about 3 people would be ideal).

Finally, if you’re single, I have to tell you one more thing. You may or may not be looking for love, but it’s entirely possible that love is looking for you. The days around the 22nd will let you know if you’re on Cupid’s hit list. I’m not guaranteeing anything will happen, I’m just saying….you know, it could. Have fun.

At the full moon on June 7, you will probably be concerned primarily with something having to do with your family. Whatever it is, it is not a new issue, but something instead that you are trying to wrap up. It’s possible that you will need some additional information in order to resolve the problem. Trying checking out a new book for inspiration.

At the new moon on June 22, you begin a period of playing mother to your friends. Or maybe they’ll be playing mother to you.

Another theme of the month has to do with a lot of activity in the sign of Taurus. Mercury, Venus, and Mars will be in the sign during June. Taurus represents your solar 9th house. This house has to do with a variety of things. One of them is travel; another is religion, and a third is education. You know better than I which of these areas is most likely to be important to you (maybe all three). Perhaps you’ll be traveling in order to further your religious education. Could happen. But I’d put my money on a bit of a summer vacation. Whatever it is, enjoy!

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.

Since Saturn’s in your sign, he’s in your solar 1st house. One of the meanings of the first house is vitality, health, well-being, energy, physical issues.

So let’s say Saturn in your first house has been giving you arthritis-like pains. Saturn loves to give people arthritis-like pains because they make people feel old and cranky, just like Saturn always feels. Saturn is the patron saint of feeling old. Most people, on the other hand, do not appreciate arthritis-like pains at all. So they try to do something about them. And still their backs hurt or hands hurt or knees hurt or wherever.

Then, come the time around May 16 when Saturn goes direct finally they find something that alleviates the pain in their joints. Maybe it’s just one of those arthritis bracelets, but whatever it is, it seems to work and the pain subsides. Woo hoo!

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.

Well, for once your horoscope is clearer than most, Virgo. May is pretty solidly about your job and career. At least that’s true near the end of the month when you have your annual career new moon (in Gemini on the 24th). I don’t know that this new moon will have you make any rash or abrupt changes in your career plan, for Pluto in Capricorn is in good angle to your sun and feeling rather conservative. Plus, Saturn’s still in your sign and he always feels conservative.

Still, if you get a call offering you a career opportunity, take it, as you’re likely to be pretty popular this month. Your ruler Mercury also opens the month in your career house, although he does go retrograde on the 6th. Don’t let that inhibit you from taking action though because dang you have some incredible energy in your solar 6th house of job stuff to back up Mercury.

The energy in your job sector is all about unity and cooperation. If you don’t get any big opportunities handed to you, you may be able to band together with your co-workers and create some. In what are tough times employment wise for many, you’ve got a lot of planets on your side right now.

April is one of those very mixed months. The three dominant signs as far as personal planets go are Pisces, Aries, and Taurus. Aries energy will get along well with the Jupiter and Neptune in Aquarius vibrations that play such a big role this year. It won’t have much in common with the Saturn in Virgo or Uranus in Pisces influences that we’re all contending with. And it positively doesn’t like the Pluto in Capricorn energy that we’re also all contending with.

The Taurus energy on the other hand will mix smoothly and graciously with Saturn, Uranus, and Pluto, while not mixing at all well with Jupiter and Neptune. Mars and Venus in Pisces will play the wildcard roles and probably confuse everybody.

So what does this mean to you?

Well, the Aries energy is potentially a healing energy for you, and you can take advantage of its pleasant mood with Jupiter and Neptune in your solar 6th house of health to do things to make yourself feel better physically or mentally (such as, you know, actually staying home from work or school if you’ve got one of those nasty cold/flu things that’s been going around). You could also indulge in deliciously healing and sensible things like sleeping when you’re tired (hint, hint). If that sort of thing doesn’t appeal to you or seems unnecessary, April is also a very nice month to take a stroll down memory lane to sort out how you got to where you are now. And you can take advantage of the Taurus energy to make realistic and sensible plans about how to make your life better in the long run (as in maybe you need more recreation time and less work time, hint, hint).

The unpredictable Pisces energy, on the other hand, represents the love and anger that others give or take away from you at this time, and I’ll leave it to you to figure out how to handle that. The days around April 4 are heavier on the anger side of the equation, while the days from the 11th to the 23rd a little stronger on the love side of the equation. In other words, it’s a typical April month. A little sunshine, a little rain, some unpredictable gusts of this and that, some nice bright flowers, and some fleeting dark clouds.

It’s a Pisces kind of month, Virgo, and that means there’s a lot of activity in your hard-working 7th house of relationships. Of course, the sun’s in Pisces as the month opens, but Mercury and Mars enter the sign, too. Mercury’s in Pisces as of the 8th and Mars joins on the 15th. Both of these planets join a long Uranus transit already in progress. So what does this mean?

One thing it means is that if your life is going to work at all, it’s going to have to work for all parties involved. The ongoing tug of war between Saturn in your own sign and all those visitors to Pisces emphasizes over and over again how important it is to have win/win solutions these days if you’re going to survive all the tumult.

Another way to think of it is to imagine that your ruler Mercury has entered Pisces for the period between the 8th and the 25th just so that you’ll have a chance to learn about your key relationships by studying the communication going on within them. If it’s as though your partner’s speaking French while your native language is English, you get a bit of a chance to learn what he or she is talking about. The point of all this activity, if you’re wondering, is to eventually make you very skilled in the handling of relationships. You won’t be entirely off the hook until Uranus leaves Pisces (starting in 2010), but thank goodness your sign is one of the best at gaining and putting knowledge to good use. Because you’re certainly get more than your share of chances to learn about the mysteries and intricacies of other people these days.

The second thing you may get a chance to learn about in March is the truth of the things that have been hidden. The end of March marks the annual emphasis on your solar 8th house of hidden truths, represented by the sign of Aries. The sun will move into that sign on the 20th; Mercury will join in on the 25th, and there’s a new moon in Aries on the 26th.  Venus is in the sign all month (and will be in Aries for an unusually long time this year, due to retrogrades). The emphasis on Aries, a blunt and frank sign, gives you a chance to ask for and get real answers to any questions that have been troubling you, in relationships or otherwise.

Venus in the 8th house, by the way, can also pertain to intimacy and romance, as in flowers from a loved one, or nice romantic evening with dinner and drinks. In short, it’s worth buffing up those relationship skills, as the payoff can be quite handsome. Last but not least, Venus in the 8th can also relate to favorable settlement of a financial claim, as, for example, one resulting from an inheritance or insurance claim.