Jupiter’s clouds as photographed by the spacecraft Juno, at a distance of just under 19,000 km, roughly the distance between NYC and Perth. By NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstadt/Sean Doran {{PD}}

Our attention is on some Jupiterian concept or area of life, consumed with having or getting more, with expanding our world, with the facts, with finding or making opportunity, with ‘getting the word out’ in some form or fashion, with learning or teaching, with beliefs, and with certain forms of freedom, the ‘don’t tie me down’ kind. Some astrologers see this transit as lucky, and it can be, but the luck arises from our concerted focus on Jupiterian elements of our lives, rather than from any external force that randomly bestows favor. It’s a case of being lucky precisely because we are attuned to where we can expand, where we can find more. We’re ready to grab the opportunity or take the advantage as we become keenly aware of it as soon as it’s on the horizon, even feeling it as it approaches. And that’s where we meet the other aspect perfecting today, the Sun quincunx Saturn. This has to make us wonder what obstacle must be removed, what reality accommodated, what restriction gone around, what suppression thrown off, before we can get our hands on Jupiterian abundance. Find the benefit, find the obstruction, and you know just what you’ll need to do, to get your version of ‘More’.

The temple of Jupiter in Baalbek temple complex, in Lebanon.
© Guillaume Piolle CC BY 3.0

For those born with the Sun at 15 Leo. 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 Leo, though it’s important for you this solar year, through to your next birthday, to have a clear idea of what you want and to go after it, it’s also important to know: the facts; what you truly believe; and what stands in your way. If you don’t sort those out, you may end up spinning your wheels, frolicking on a sunny beach, getting and changing nothing–and for some people, that’s perfectly fine. You, though, may be a little more restless than this, and do need to find some way to widen your horizons. Learn, travel, expose yourself to the new (to you) and exotic, and have no fear–you’re meant to break certain constraints this year, and your natural inbuilt cautions will warn you when you’re about to go too far. Good luck!

Today’s word image is a pilot who doesn’t seem to know how to fly the plane! Is there someone in your world who’s supposed to be an expert, who’s ‘in charge’ of important events in some significant way, who’s just not competent? Aside from any suggestion that they’re holding a position they shouldn’t, be aware that as frustrated as you are, they are just as frustrated, just as confused. The incompetence isn’t a feature of this person insisting on pushing their way into something they can’t handle, but more a result of being handed a status they never meant to hold in the first place. Go easy on them, and don’t get on that plane!

{{PD}}

Seeing this Jefferson Airplane poster made me think of a time decades ago when I was babysitting some tweens. These were the days of Jefferson Starship. I joked that they must’ve gotten themselves more modern transportation, because they used to be Jefferson Airplane. The scoffs could be heard ’round the world. I was told in no uncertain terms that if I was going to make up stories, they’d need to be better than that!

By Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59064604

Anyone else feel lately, for want of a better word, ‘haunted’? What we’d like to not think about is right there, isn’t it? Our anxieties are free-floating, and our minds, in trying to deal with them, look around for problems that can explain our feelings of hopelessness and dread. Am I being too dramatic? Maybe, but when we’re so charged-up with worry that we comb our lives for upsetting scenarios to attribute that anxiety to, then we’re cart-before-the-horsing it, and so misdirecting our attention, effort, and energy into trying to solve problems (mostly through worry!) that don’t really exist–and meanwhile, our dreams gather dust and our forward momentum is lost. The antidote? Face what you’ve been avoiding, but don’t let it dominate your thoughts; that is, take action to alleviate conditions, and/ or just move along–half the time those things we’re obsessing about are outside our control, anyway. And try to see how these matters that plague us may have roots in wounds to or some kind of violation of what we see as sacred, to be honored, or as ‘rules to live by’. We often have a very difficult time looking at or even recognizing something so deeply but narrowly traumatic. Tomorrow, the 7th, we see a Sun-Jupiter trine with Sun quincunx Saturn, suggesting bounty, opportunity, expansion, the kind of positive scenario that can’t happen unless we’re willing to deal with and modify the reality picture, to include what’s holding us back.

(Perfecting today: Chiron semi-sq Vesta, Mercury sesq Black Moon Lilith)

For those born with the Sun at 14 Leo. 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 Leo, you can just feel Love, Money, or some other wonderful something sneaking up on you, can’t you? This feeling persists through the solar year ahead, and promises big opportunities and pay offs to come–so what must you do to make these realities? Number 1, match your status and empowerment level to your action level–make effective moves by acting in ways that you’re already empowered to do and in roles and venues that already recognize your authority. Number 2, keep your eye on the prize, not the one at your feet, but the one at a distance, the one that requires a long-term effort, as that’s the one that offers out-sized reward. And number 3, work with your instincts and intuition so that you are not just comfortable listening to them, but can call on and trust them without too much intervening thought. Good luck!

‘Self-portrait in a convex Mirror’ By Parmigianino c1523 {{PD}}

Today’s word image is a portrait: someone who is placed in a position of ‘helping’ who is deliberately placed there because they know nothing about the issue! What does it say, for instance, that someone is in a position to help sell something, but can’t even answer basic questions about the item? To me it says that those selling don’t want to answer any questions, that in fact they want an impulsive, emotion-driven, unthinking purchase to be made–and that may be the case when the seller knows of issues they’d rather not acknowledge. Some people think, the less informed the party buying their sh*t, the better. Do you really want to ‘do business with’/ be involved with that?

‘La Leocadia’ By Francisco Goya c1820 {{PD}}

We’re at that liminal, Dark of the Moon point, just before both the New Moon in Leo and the station direct of Mercury. That means a lot of tension with nowhere to go, a lot of feeling around in the dark, trying to get our bearings, a lot of effort made that won’t quite meet the mark–and that’s okay, really, because at this time we’re likely gaining access to areas of the unconscious that are usually well-hidden by the conscious mind. Wisdom can seep into the mind at this point without our being aware of it, a kind of subtle intake that will only make itself known later. The trick today is to avoid acting on delusion, misinformation, or in misunderstanding of our own values (Yes, this can happen, if one is telling oneself one’s values are other than what they truly are). We learn by absorbing, and especially valuable to us at this time are the lessons we can glean from power entities, those in authority; we can gain knowledge simply by observing their interaction with what they consider their domain. Though seemingly a passive point, there’s a lot going on here below the surface–so relax, and know that no striving is required in order to get things together effectively.

(Pallas nov and Venus contra-parallel Ceres, Neptune sxt Vesta, Mars qnx and Venus sesq Neptune, Mercury parallel Pallas)

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 07 Leo. 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). Well you’re a firecracker, aren’t you, dear Leo? What scene did you just recently blow up, what riot start, what chaos unleash, that you may have to spend the solar year, through to your next birthday, atoning for? Oh, maybe it’s not that harsh, maybe it’s only that you’re being asked to re-construct, resurrect, transform, or tear down to the ground something that’s always been there–and you may wonder why, and why you are the one being asked. Let’s just say it’s because you’re the one that has the correct status, who holds the position that can make it all happen–and you have the energy, and yes, ego, to take it on successfully. A lesser Being couldn’t even approach making this change. The only question you need answer is, Who do I need to surround myself with in order to make the most of that post-change world? Good luck!

Photo By Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada – Skull of Sabre-Toothed Tiger – Museum of Anthropology – La Paz – Baja California Sur – Mexico CC BY-SA 2.0

Today’s word image is another dream symbol, a sabre-toothed tiger. An extinct predator, prehistoric–so we might ask ourselves: What previous danger (one we still see as impacting us) is actually long gone? And doesn’t that suggest it’s time to let that go as a part of the psyche, or even as an excuse for particular responses and views?

‘The Organ Rehearsal By Henry Lerolle 1885 {{PD}}

Today is not about blazing new trails, it’s about refining, even perfecting, those power positions we already hold. In the best version of these influences, we adjust expression of our status or role to better fit our ideal of it, and this includes the task of freeing ourselves, at least a little, from past choices, as well as challenging our sense of Self and purpose to live up to its most original and unique qualities (rather than to shun those very same qualities in an attempt to find greater acceptance). A failure to see how and where our current position can be improved may lead to denial of our own ability to affect things, which only tempts us to return to outmoded ways of choosing and acting, and encourages us to reject those most wild and innovative parts of ourselves.

(Neptune qnx Juno, Mars qnx SN, Sun sq Uranus)

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 06 Leo. 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 Leo, today, right through the solar year to your next birthday, may feel like one great big test of your power and status–and it is. You need to know where you stand, and so to rid yourself of illusions concerning where you’re going. What you think you’re in line for may not be yours at all–and that’s the most important thing you can discover right now. That will then help you see and appreciate some of your more unique and original qualities and abilities, and perhaps in incorporating these into the everyday psyche you open the door to some opportunities only you could take advantage of. Played well, you’ll reach your next birthday facing some exciting choices that hold potential to take you farther than you ever anticipated. Now that sounds fun, doesn’t it? Good luck!

Today’s word image is something from a dream I had last night: someone was trying to persuade me to leave behind a big box of books that I wanted to take with me. Pretty obviously, books to me are knowledge, other worlds, potentials, all to be explored, and as a symbol we might ask ourselves, who’s trying to persuade us not to know, discover, or explore something, specifically because we would be equipped in a way they don’t want us to be? Just something to ponder, in case someone is asking you to ‘remain ignorant’ on some level.

Hélio Oiticica at Inhotim in Brumadinho/Brazil By régine debatty – P1080580, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15856978

The ideas are golden, clear and crisp, and very exciting–but somehow, if we were to materialize them just as we are imagining, they would conflict with our ambitions (or at least, the goals we’ve set) and undermine our personal authority. That’s no fun. We prevent Self-sabotage and get our ideas on the map in three ways: we don’t do anything that chips away at our health: physical, spiritual, financial, emotional; we accept reality, and the current authorities, even if they are wrong and we don’t like them, because we don’t have to like them to see What Is; and, we can use the social sphere as a handy measure: what they revere, we reject, what they say we can’t do (in the ‘you’ll never succeed’ sense), we see the possibilities and see how we can pursue the goal or solve the problem. We won’t change the world today, but we’re building the structures, mechanisms, and alliances that will.

(Jupiter sq Neptune, Mars sxt Hygeia, Mercury sq Zeus, sesq Ceres, trine Neptune, qnx Jupiter, and opp Saturn)

By Anthony26130 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54972509

Today’s word image is a beautiful, full lavender plant that curls in upon itself–is it dead, you wonder?–but that then unfurls as soon as it’s planted. This is about understanding how important the right environment is, and it’s also about not being upset with ourselves if we’re not in full bloom–we just aren’t at the right spot, we haven’t created the optimum environment, yet. Look to your Earth in the natal chart (it’s always, always, always located directly opposite the Sun) for clues as to what environment you need to help you become the fullest, highest, and best expression of who you are.

For those born with the Sun at 25 Gemini. 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). Your strongest ally this solar year, through to your next birthday, dear Gemini, may be your own very clear sense of what’s right, your instinctual knowledge, and your willingness to call out destruction and even evil for what it is. Accepting that ability in yourself makes your way forward evident, and consistently gives you both the power to change things and opens up choice, no matter the circumstances. In some sense this may be a ‘heavy’ year, but it’s also an empowering one, and could lead to bringing some ideals to reality, and to some truly creative, imaginative, and inspired actions and thinking. Good luck!

‘Pond with Willow Tree and Ducks’ By Peter DeWint c1820 {{PD}}

Outrage, anger, aggression, speaking (or more likely showing) Truth to Power, making a point–we’ve all got something we’re trying to impress upon others or the environment, and the more unconscious we are, the more angry and out-of-control we’ll be. A few pointers: don’t ignore realities–work with them, instead; obstacles may be in place for your protection, as they could prevent regrettable, in-the-moment choices; don’t try a two-birds-with-one-stone approach, specifically if you’re trying to further ambitions–it won’t work and may bleed valuable energy from other matters; if you’re going in the wrong direction, the facts may point that out to you–ignore at your peril; beliefs are going to be challenged–bend, willow, don’t break; and finally, engaging in power struggles will cost you assets, including relationships–so make your point and walk away–you’re not the idiot whisperer, and you’ve not been charged with changing others’ minds, with ‘educating’ them, no matter how it may feel.

‘Little Green Willow’ By Helen Hyde 1905 {{PD}}

This energy will put us at odds with the social sphere no matter what, but what’s really important is that we’re okay with ourselves, with who we are. Be clear on that, and refuse to wrassle for power, and you can convert that outward-pushing energy into productive, focused effort.

(Mars sesq Ceres, opp Saturn, sq Zeus, and qnx Jupiter, Venus sesq Pluto, Sun parallel Mars)

Today’s word image isn’t a word or phrase or described image, it’s instead something the Universe has been especially persistent in showing lately, and that is that it’s not speaking in symbols and complex language, it’s shouting at us pretty directly.We’re seeing all around us clear signals about what is happening with each of us, and with all larger entities. Two examples: a particular business entity was scheduled to have their yearly ice cream social today, but the freezer went on the fritz and all of it melted–and this entity is indeed in a state of crisis, in the midst of a slow-motion melt down. My other example comes from a chat I had with someone last week. This person was telling me about someone who runs a particular promotional business, and how she had come to other shop owners, trying to work a deal where she would get her name on their business productions and a cut of the profits, in exchange for . . . what? Her good will? She offered them nothing. The name of her company is supposed to be clever and playful, but it quite literally states that she wants to rob anyone she does business with! Obviously, I can’t name it for liability reasons, but it’s something along the lines of ‘Sneaky Thieves’! So, I think the point is that we need to be alert, look around, because not much is actually hidden, anymore. People are showing us who they are–believe them. And, I’d add to this, that if you’re receiving aggression because you’re showing firm boundaries, first you have my sympathy, and second, as the handmaids say, Latinesque style, “nolite te bastardes carborundorum”

Happy Birthday, you. ‘Cakes’ 1963 By Pplachigo Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

For those born with the Sun at 23 Gemini. 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). Gemini, you may be highly introspective this solar year, through to your next birthday, and that’s a good thing–it’s time for you to excavate what has over time come closer and closer to the surface. What results could be unsettling, to the point of re-writing your current reality scenario, but no matter what, it will help you shed what you no longer need, what’s holding you back, and in so doing open the way for new experience, and a fresh new emotional scene. Expect renewal in many ways; expect, too, for emotional perceptions and intuitions to lead you toward some of the most creative times of your life. Good luck!

Unlikely you’ll find a baby, but you will find something important to you today. ‘The Finding of Moses’ By Giovanni Francesco Romanelli c1656 {{PD}}

Today we can draw power from what’s hidden in the past, especially from the nuances of relationships, the vagaries or just-now-understood factors within our finances, and/ or things avoided or denied altogether that we are reminded of. The value is in seeing how we could’ve modified our expression so that what we did, or our response, would’ve been a better fit to who we are at a Soul level than what we did choose to express. This review helps us skirt, in our current situation, something that might’ve been disastrous in relationship interaction or in financial decision-making if we had followed through on our initial impulse. Accessing this memory and learning from it ultimately allows us to be more unique, more ourselves, than we would without contemplation of that insight hidden in the past.

(Ceres sq Black Moon Lilith, Venus sesq SN, Mercury semi-sq Sedna, Sun semi-sq Uranus)

©JGDemboski 1991

Today’s word image is a much older woman who encounters hopscotch squares in chalk on the sidewalk, and stops to hop through to the end. This may say we’re never too old to play–or is it a statement on human nature, that we are ‘game players’, or just ‘players’, to the end? Maybe it’s about recognizing the eternal spirit in all of us, that willingness to encounter the world that’s so prominent when we’re young. In any case, it’s a reminder to us that we should respond in the way that feels right to us to what we encounter in our environment, even (or maybe especially) if social convention or judgmental others might frown on our activity, tell us we’re ‘too old’, or in some other way judge us to be inadequate.

‘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 21 Gemini. 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 Gemini, this coming solar year, through to your next birthday, what you can count on is change, more change, and a little change, and much of it coming in surprising ways, through accident, revelation, group decisions, or through your own inner stance of rebellion or need to express as a singular, original individual. It’s a tumultuous time, no doubt, but you have excellent emotional perceptions and intuitions during this period and these facilitate ambition and desire fulfillment in a significant way–so listen to what your feelings tell you, and trust them, and as well, trust yourself–you can handle what comes at you, and may gain significant power because of it. Good luck!

Photograph of person using controller to explore a 3D Photogrammetry experience recreating Tokyo. Photo By Tatsuo Kitagawa CC BY-SA 4.0

What bothers us in relationships or finances at this time isn’t readily apparent; it’s seated in matters we may have already forgotten, in what we’ve ignored or denied, or in what so enraged us we had to turn away–but now we’ll be thinking about that past, almost obsessively, and how it’s affected the reality picture. There’ll be some interesting results from all this; here’s how to approach things: ignore the power picture, especially how it seems to be playing out or shifting–it’s not something you can change, and may not even be relevant for your purposes; accept that much of what you’re moved to do today is exceptional, whether there’s a genius idea behind it or just the purest of action-urge intents, and that no matter what drives it, it’s likely a very smart thing to do; be willing to adjust ambitions, goals, and desires to the ‘new reality’ you’re perceiving; and quit picking at your psychic scabs! Let them heal.

(Venus sxt Black Moon Lilith, Mercury trine SN-Saturn, contra-parallel Ceres, nov Mars, qnx Zeus, and semi-sq Chiron)

‘Sudden Shower, Newbury Marshes’ By Martin Johnson Heade c1870 {{PD}}

Today’s word image is the old phrase, “When it rains, it pours.” In what area of your life have you had one thing after another, an inundation of something that may be a bounty, or may be a mountain of issues, one after the other? Has yours been an embarrassment of riches, or a cascade of problems? Or has it been more subtle than that? For me it’s been a series of what seem like bad events, that have actually been blessings in disguise. I believe that the Universe is always working in our favor, and that if we take the time to look, we’ll see the bullet we dodged by not getting what we wanted, and another opportunity presented, that suits us much better.

Setting the table for your year ahead. Art by Peter Ilsted {{PD}}

For those born with the Sun at 26 Taurus. 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 Taurus, This year you may find that you are closer to accepting and incorporating into the psyche your instinctive knowledge and intuitive perceptions more completely than ever before. It’s a threshold moment, stretched out over the year between this birthday and the next, and as such, may hold a number of world-altering surprises. Certainly, what occurs this coming year will connect you more strongly to your life purpose, your reason for being here, and that alone will change the direction of your life, as you fine-tune your way forward. Expect to feel lost, and even lonely, now and then, as changes to honor your path will inevitably mean you leave some things and people along the way. But, the result will be personal empowerment of a higher order, rooted in what you genuinely care about. Good luck!