‘ Luna’ By Evelyn de Morgan 1885 {{PD}}

It’s a sort of face-off between two sets of aspects today: Mars sesquiquadrate Pluto and contra-parallel Jupiter, and Venus quincunx Zeus and sextile Saturn. Mars’ open and very active conflict with Pluto puts the upstart individual or Willful Warrior into a death roll with the powerful and ruthless, the destructive and, taking a positive form or not, the transformative. This is a ‘go it alone’ position even in the midst of a crowd, the staking of an angry or defiant or ‘end of my rope’ claim to something that confers power–and meeting the resistance of those who already feel it’s their prerogative. Do we get what we aim for? Probably not, for the simple reason that we don’t believe we should. That recommends our attention go in the other direction: toward adjusting our ambitions to suit our relationships and/ or our finances, or vice versa, adjusting what we invest our time, energy, and resources in so that it serves our ambitions. This can have a real-world impact, and makes best use of that restless or defiant energy, giving it a constructive, and probably highly successful, outlet.

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

For those who have the natal Sun at 22 Aries. 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–that offers a more complete picture of your year ahead). This year, dear Aries, you may face a number of challenges involving power scenarios from the past. You may be called upon to re-litigate them, to find your own best expression of them, or you may be asked to claim or eliminate those power structures, whatever may be best for you. It’s generally a matter of clearing yourself of old strictures against using the power you know you have, and of letting go of old bugaboos that no longer apply. You may also face a health issue, but if you take it head-on you’ll not only beat it, you may rid yourself for good of some condition that has plagued you, maybe life-long. Beware, too, of big talk; don’t be misled by a too-rosy picture, but do keep your own thoughts optimistic. This year is meant to prepare you for the massive amount of bounty, and the many opportunities, that will begin to arrive not long before your next birthday.

Noli me tangere, fresco by Fra Angelico, Photo By User Torvindus on sv.wikipedia – {{PD}}

What you hear today, what’s communicated, might be discouraging, but if you listen more closely, what you’ll realize is that it’s about pulling back a bit in order to preserve relationships, assets, or options in the smartest way possible. Adjust toward the practical, use skills to their utmost, and be unafraid to take a good hard look at where you’re going and where you’ve been–with time, you’ll see that it was worth it.

(Venus nov Hygeia and qnx Pallas, Mercury sq Jupiter, Sun sq Nodal axis)

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

For those who have the natal Sun at 21 Aries. 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–that offers a more complete picture of your year ahead). This Solar year, through to your next birthday, might be a time of testing, eliminating, learning to deal with restrictions and follow the rules, and all of it aimed at making serious choices about the life path, where you want to go and what you want to accomplish. I know that doesn’t sound like much fun, but it is important–and there are other rewards along the way, including a sudden and largely unexpected emotional blossoming, a genuine opening of the heart, and the fact that pursuing ambitions and desires will actually be the smart thing to do at this time. You’ll reach your next birthday, Aries, operating at a new level of ‘Ready’–and that’s a really good thing.

‘The Baths at Caracalla’ By Lawrence Alma-Tadema 1899 {{PD}}

A note for today, the 8th: Saturn squares and Mars sesquiquadrates Pallas, almost daring us to do something unwise or impractical–obviously the answer is, just don’t! What pushes us is the way we feel our power and mobility threatened by the social order or ‘the facts’, or by an outright power struggle with our opposite number (Jupiter opp Juno)–but we should all know by now that being reactive is a poor way to go through life. Do your best to pull yourself together–the danger is we’ll go down a mental or emotional rabbit hole it will be hard to extricate ourselves from, as it will seem like reality–and try to be proactive in some reality-based arena that doesn’t rely on our interpretation of events, that instead has objectively measurable standards by which we can judge our efforts.

For the 9th: Perhaps strangely, considering the influences, objectivity is enhanced today–we cut to the chase, internally and in dealings with others, and the result is we are likely to get somewhere much quicker than we thought we could. Take advantage of this by strategically not looking the proverbial gift horse in the mouth; plow forward, enjoy the serendipitous breezes and beneficial surprises (and they will be beneficial, even if right now it seems they are not), and don’t try too hard to make sense of things for the conscious mind–that’s the one practice that can slow you to a crawl. Instead allow things to come together, respond from and to them, and enjoy the ease with which some things are, almost miraculously, accomplished.

(Pallas conj Zeus, Chiron conj Vesta, Venus conj Neptune and semi-sq Uranus, Mercury nov Uranus and trine NN, Sun opp Pallas-Zeus and contra-parallel Zeus)

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

For those who have the natal Sun at 19 Aries. 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–that offers a more complete picture of your year ahead). Aries, your ambitions and desires come under direct scrutiny this year, by yourself and by others; it’s your job to recognize what’s wise in your aims, and what misses the mark and is impractical or just plain not worth pursuing. Though you may feel discouraged by this vetting of goals, ultimately it will weed out what’s wasting your time and resources, and so leave you more than ready to implement ambitions and wishes in real-world terms. Assets this year include emotions that will support your choices, making actions that much more effective, and instincts that, if you listen to them, will tell you just when and how to deal with those less pleasant facets of life that really shouldn’t be ignored. Good luck, Aries–the dream awaits!

Les Laveuses à la Laïta (Laundresses at the Laïta River) By Paul Sérusier 1892 {{PD}}

It’s in our own best interests to tread carefully, to hold a healthy amount of skepticism and doubt, particularly when dealing with those in power, and in relationships where the other individual may discourage our instincts or our notions of what supports us–and why would anyone do that? Because to present an empowered Self is to threaten the power structures all around you. It’s like making a statement to the Universal energy: I’ll do what’s best for me, and I don’t need permission–and if that doesn’t throw the powers-that-be into chaos and emergency mode, I don’t know what will! All power structures run on the assumption that each individual must acquiesce, and that that facilitates maintenance of the power structure itself–from which each individual garners some benefit, but with most of the reward going to those at the top, those who use others’ individual energies to their own ends. But you know this, right? That being a cog in the machine keeps you out of the rain, but requires that you move when the other cogs do–and only so far as the whole mechanism allows. So avoid entanglement, but don’t do anything to bring yourself into the focus of the mighty eye of the power structure, either. It’s a fine line, but one worth walking.

(Hygeia sxt Black Moon Lilith, Juno qnx Pluto and SN, Venus semi-sq Hygeia and contra-parallel Sedna)

I’m sick and have been working through it, but find I must take a few days off–it’s been too much. I’ll be back as quickly as possible. Scroll down for the New Moon report.

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

For those who have the natal Sun at 15 Aries. 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–that offers a more complete picture of your year ahead). Why is it that there seem to be more and more challenges, tangible and intangible, to your stated goals? I’m sure, Aries, it feels unfair–and in a way it is. You deserve to have your dreams, and to work toward making them realities, just like everyone else does–but what you’re not getting is that these challenges are about two things: refining your dream, so that you can better create what you truly want, and showing you how to get there. It may be that right now you’re pursuing a path that won’t take you where you want to go–and the Universe is kindly pointing that out. Take the message, or find yourself soon enough in a situation that forces you to change, like it or not. This year also promises to show you how it takes your personal action to heal wounds–that healed state won’t be magically handed to you, you have to do something to achieve it.

‘Boxing’ By Maurice Denis 1918 {{PD}}

It may feel as if energies are being pitted against one another in various, tense combinations. Power clashes with Power, and many of those dances will resemble the past; the reality picture points out every conflict we have in trying to realize ambitions or fulfill desires; actions are inadvertently destructive or are power grabs that we may not immediately recognize; and we may have trouble believing what we’re seeing, which is a classic trick ‘they’ use to ‘get away with it’ right in front of us–or at least, that’s how it may feel, as if the world and its varied components are against us.

So where to go from here? What tack to take when every push out into the world meets its own special resistance? For some the best course is to lay low, stay out of it, especially if being more assertive is just your thing–to jump into things with that attitude now will only buy trouble; for everyone else, it’s a chance to review what worked to bring you power in the past and then to transform it, to re-frame it with today’s knowledge into the ‘perfect’ (that is, the best way to work it) response to the environment and its events.

(Pallas contra-parallel Ceres, Pluto conj SN, Saturn sq Zeus, Mars contra-parallel Pluto, Sun contra-parallel Neptune)

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

For those who have the natal Sun at 14 Aries. 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–that offers a more complete picture of your year ahead). This year, Aries, you will get to see how you handle the world as a sheer force of Nature–and this goes well or not depending on how in tune you are with your own elemental qualities. The more you can embrace your personal authority, your wildness, and at the same time take complete responsibility for your domain within your world, the better. Health is a factor in all this, and will be affected by your ability to accept your own power and the consequences of its exercise. Re-visiting the past may be tempting, but could result in stripping away illusions you’ve come to depend on. It’s a year to enjoy things, to really live, but to remain as aware as possible of the real-world picture and the effect you can have on it–and of course, the effect it can have on you.