The Atacama Dry lake, in Chile. At the horizon, the Tumisa, Lejía and Miñiques volcanoes. Photo By Francesco Mocellin – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16388421

The world may seem to be divided between the smart and the powerful (and you know what kind of scenarios that implies, usually stupid moves on one side and impotent carping on the other), but the reality is more like this: the truly smart will realize it’s not the time to exercise power, but it is the time to solidify it, to stealthily position things so that they become, in some essential way, immovable. Note: the loudest are also the weakest, putting up a wall under your own control against what you don’t want is as effective at this time as actually reaching for what you do want, and that the fewer things about ourselves we’re trying to hide, the less friction we’ll find between ourselves and the material world. So, putting on the brakes creates the breaks, in ways we hadn’t thought of before, as the method is so oblique–and yet so effective.

(Pallas contra-parallel Ceres, Saturn sq Pallas and parallel Pluto, Sun sesq Black Moon Lilith)

The table’s all set for a Happy Birthday. ‘Open Door on a Garden’ By Konstantin Somov 1934 {{PD}}

For those born with the Sun at 23 Cancer. Check your natal chart for the correct Sun degree (you may want to read both the degree number and the one that follows, if you have minutes on your Sun position–together these offer a more complete picture of your year ahead). You may feel, dear Cancer, as if you’re an open book–but reactions to you and your efforts this solar year, through to your next birthday, may reflect the way others feel either that you have something to hide, or that you are ignoring or denying something vital to the health of the relationship they have with you. It’s important to get this sorted out, but it’s likely to be difficult, so strongly will you give the impression of both being in charge and of seeming independent, in the sense of not needing others. Letting those to whom you’re devoted know how you feel may be a good first step; reassessing how, when, and with whom you communicate is another. Positives this year for you include smart moves socially and the ability to bring values to life within relationships–both will serve you well. Good luck!

‘Nymphs Hunting’ By Julius LeBlanc Stewart 1898 {{PD}}

All you need to know today is this: instincts are healthy and right-on; thinking is confused, obscured by illusion or misunderstanding, or too influenced by our wishes to be accurate. Go with the inner voice, the quiet one that saves you from yourself and prompts you to do the ‘right’ thing.

(Perfecting today: Hygeia conj Sedna, retro Mercury sesq Neptune)

The table’s all set for a Happy Birthday. ‘Open Door on a Garden’ By Konstantin Somov 1934 {{PD}}

For those born with the Sun at 20 Cancer. Check your natal chart for the correct Sun degree (you may want to read both the degree number and the one that follows, if you have minutes on your Sun position–together these offer a more complete picture of your year ahead). Dear Cancer, your Solar Return brings a period, lasting through to your next birthday, that can best be described as an Earthquake. Now consider: earthquakes can be long and frightening as the ground rolls and heaves beneath you, or they can be abrupt as the two plates whack together, or they can be imperceptibly slow, with change coming inch by inch. This change may be obvious, or may be unnoticeable until much later, but in any case offers you a re-making, as well as a new emotional take on your personal authority and how to exercise it, with a consequent opening up of your belief system, your reach, and your world. Good luck!

‘The Parable of Wise and Foolish Virgins (unfinished)’ By Peter von Cornelius c1815 {{PD}}

Could we really have too much wisdom–is that even possible?–or is it that an abundance of practicality surfaces, making for effective decisions even as it may cut us off from creative influences? Balance may be the key today, as it seems duality of choice is ours. Actions and choices may hurt or heal in a big way, simultaneous with either a denial of or pressure from group demands or a denial of our own originality and uniqueness. The central issue, it seems, the one that’s distorting our understanding and so our ability to interpret the energies around us, is a personal conflict we may be experiencing around our ambitions and heart’s desires. What do we want, especially in matters of aesthetics, cooperation, love? (Zeus in Libra) Answer that, and everything else, what we want to change, what we want to secure, falls into place.

(Jupiter sxt Pallas, Mars trine Chiron and sq Uranus, Sun sq Zeus and contra-parallel Pluto and Saturn)

The table’s all set for a Happy Birthday. ‘Open Door on a Garden’ By Konstantin Somov 1934 {{PD}}

For those born with the Sun at 19 Cancer. Check your natal chart for the correct Sun degree (you may want to read both the degree number and the one that follows, if you have minutes on your Sun position–together these offer a more complete picture of your year ahead). Change is a comin’, dear Cancer–you can sense it ’round the next bend, can’t you? Really, you should know that the anticipation you feel will cause more upheaval than the actual endings and beginnings, when they come. Take advantage of your current internal emotional harmony and get yourself ready, chiefly by re-thinking the role you want to play and the image you want to have, and be very conscious of what you envision this solar year, through to your next birthday, as you have an unusually compelling ability to create it or draw it to you–so make your ideals your dreams. Good luck!

By Anders Zorn 1889 {{PD}}

For real: today the more we honor our unique individuality, act on our Soul’s mission, respect ourselves and our inner wisdom, concentrate on using our creative energies in positive and productive ways that truly represent who we are, and avoid power struggles or arguments with those in charge (or those who just think they’re in charge!) the more this day can show us what inventive, clever, imaginative people we are. It’s a day for aiming for the ideal in all we do, a day to accept the gifts of spontaneity and to appreciate the ingenuity of the human Soul, and if you approach all you do in this manner, you’re sure to reach day’s end much more fulfilled than you started it (and more pleased with yourself–go ahead, you deserve to be) .

(Pallas semi-sq Ceres, Uranus parallel Juno, Sun contra-parallel Jupiter and trine Neptune)

‘Cakes, 1963’ Photo By Pplachigo – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28954794

For those born with the Sun at 18 Cancer. Check your natal chart for the correct Sun degree (you may want to read both the degree number and the one that follows, if you have minutes on your Sun position–together these offer a more complete picture of your year ahead). Dear Cancer, where you’re headed, in the largest sense, occupies your thoughts this year, and for good reason: you are shaping the future with big, bold strokes, and will be bringing about the kind of change you’ll look back on later as turning points, as life-defining. Positives involve your ability to take what you’ve learned in the past and use it well; negatives include a disconnect between thought and action. Reconcile these last two, and you could have your best year yet. Good luck!

By Fulvio Spada from Torino, Italy – Isla Espiritu Santo, Baja California, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40014196

Do relationships provide surprise hurt, or a difficult healing, today? Words may be aggressive, but they’re carrying the energy of the retro Merc, a need to do, to act, that we can’t wrap our heads around, can’t sufficiently organize, and the demands of the social order only add to the tension, resulting in, what else? Frustration. One thing we can be sure of: what the social sphere wants is contrary to our well-being. Something else we can count on: the spontaneous, the revelation, the shock, all ultimately deliver a reward. So, we get to the end of the day with some very positive results, even if the getting there was a little rocky.

‘A Little Rocky’–or did I mean this?

(Venus sq Chiron, sxt Uranus, and nov Hygeia, Mercury conj Mars, Sun qnx Jupiter, Jupiter contra-parallel Hygeia)

For those born with the Sun at 16 Cancer. Check your natal chart for the correct Sun degree (you may want to read both the degree number and the one that follows, if you have minutes on your Sun position–together these offer a more complete picture of your year ahead). This solar year, dear Cancer, through to your next birthday, you may face and deal with real-world circumstances and the ways these restrict, confine, or suppress you, and you may also utilize an enhanced ability to bring what you imagine or visualize into material form. It’s a bit of a double-edged sword and may take some getting used to, but eventually you’ll catch the rhythm and find that the more you work to knock down barriers and bring the real world, especially the environment, into alignment with your Soul’s deepest intentions, needs, and reasons for Being, the better your results. Good luck!

‘Cakes, 1963’ Photo By Pplachigo – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28954794