Willem Claeszoon Heda 1634 {{PD}}

It’s a new emotional start for you this coming year, Aries, and by extension a new identity. This offers fresh, and perhaps excessive, confidence, and may foster exaggerated Willfulness–but you’re not exactly a retiring Soul, anyway, so what’s the harm? As long as you are willing to honestly and openly deal with all matters you may have been ignoring or in denial about, you can clear the way to do what you please, with the knowledge that what will go best for you will both honor your highest values and use your creative talents to the max. This coming Solar year, through to your next birthday, the world’s your oyster, Aries–the only other thing to watch out for is, about midway through, a tendency to allow yourself to be too destructive in trying to bring about change, and this comes directly from your earlier successes at imposing your Will. Happy Birthday, and good luck!

Those ignored things you need to confront won’t be anything you can’t handle, Aries. Urartian Fresco {{PD}}

You seem to be having trouble getting life to ‘jell’ into something clear and easy to handle, dear Aries; it’s like you feel your own power but can’t quite connect to it, you know who you are but can’t find anything to anchor that idea to, and matters hidden, denied, neglected, or ignored keep throwing criticism your way from the sidelines. Too, there’s a current tendency to slide into nostalgia for the past, in the incorrect belief that you were somehow a better ‘You’ then. What to do? First, how should you handle that criticism? By confronting those ignored matters and dragging them out into the light–that will almost miraculously silence the critical voices, inside and out. Then you must take inventory of your assets available through the coming Solar year, to your next birthday: boundless energy, relationships and resources that offer the support and status you need to earn successfully, and an inspired creativity and imagination that can guide you toward fulfillment of your highest goals, if you let it. Your biggest mistake would be failing to believe in yourself; this year you’ve got everything you need to ‘make it’–as long as you face those matters you’ve ignored or are in denial about. Happy Birthday, Aries, and good luck!

Carl Locher – ‘Fishing Cutters in the Moonlit Night’ 1887 {{PD}}

You may be in the doldrums at this point, dear Aries–expect to rest becalmed (if I can overdo the sailing metaphors) for at least the first quarter of your upcoming year, through to your next birthday–but after about three months, things will definitely pick up–and you may find yourself starting something brand spanking new, out of crisis, necessity, or a serious sense of adventure. Some advice for smooth sailing (ow!): parse words, thoughts, communications carefully–keep mental activity grounded in reality, for best results; embrace the wisdom of practicality; be creative in the home, with the mate, and allow inspiration to drive to what and how you dedicate yourself and your life energies; and look for change to come from partners, through shifts in ambitions and desires, and from opportunities you pursue on your own, without the aid or knowledge of others. Happy Birthday, Aries, and good luck!

Antoine Chintreuil 1868 {{PD}}

Thoughts and actions are in harmony this coming Solar year, through to your next birthday, dear Aries–but not with who you are! It will be the major irony of your year that you are thinking and doing at one-remove from your core intent–and we can blame a fuzzy emotional state that encourages delusion, fantasy, and creativity over connecting with the here-and-now. In one way that’s great, if you’re a creative type (though you’ll still have trouble controlling the manifestations of that creative urge) but not so great if you’re more reality-oriented. Balance could be found if you’re willing to take a unique material Path and take complete responsibility for where it takes you and what you produce–if are willing to do that, you’ll not only achieve equilibrium, the world will open up to you in a whole new way. Happy Birthday, Aries, and good luck!

Don’t let communication difficulties devolve into outright conflict, Aries. Alexander Pope – ‘Emblems of the Civil War’ 1887 {{PD}}

Communications reach crisis proportions for you this coming Solar year, dear Aries–but why? It could be because, instead of your usual straightforward approach, you are distracted by the subtleties of who has what, who owes what to whom, and/ or by the demands of artisanship or attaining security. You can balance this successfully (and save communication channels from disaster) if you’re willing to face those matters hidden, ignored, or denied and then ‘trim the fat’, transforming them from problems into assets. Strengths this year include your ability to be truly original and to apply this appropriately to the ambitions. Bonus: other potential points of difficulty include matters of the natal Houses where you find Gemini and Virgo–forewarned is forearmed. Happy Birthday, Aries, and good luck!

Don’t let distractions de-rail you, Aries. Darío de Regoyos – Vendredi Saint en Castille (Good Friday in Castile) {{PD}}

Maintaining equilibrium, riding above the fray, meeting life with intellectual acuity and understanding may be a conscious goal this coming year, dear Aries, but in approaching things this way you may miss opportunities, ones that you will only see if you allow yourself to focus on yourself, and your needs, wants, and Self-expression. This year, through to your next birthday, may call for you to stop being so reasonable and to start concentrating on yourself. The crux of the matter is that you may need to learn to operate totally trusting your instincts while being ever-watchful for that material that is hidden in your mental ‘blind spot’ and that threatens to de-rail your best efforts–and all this really requires you make yourself the focus for the year. Doing this successfully will free up creative energies that are aligned with your highest values (making them that much easier and more productive to manifest)–and that’s a goal worth having, isn’t it? Happy Birthday, Aries, and good luck!

James Carroll Beckwith 1886 {{PD}}

You may feel you’ve reached the end of the road along your current trajectory, both physically and emotionally, dear Aries–now what? It’s likely that your attention and energy, over the coming Solar year, through to your next birthday, will be drawn to unearthing those unique parts of yourself that at some point you ‘packed away for later’ (to gain greater acceptance, for instance, or to avoid distraction) and applying them to realizing the ambitions and desires–because you will begin to see with almost alarming clarity where those unique expressions fit in and enhance your chances of meeting goals and living dreams. In a way this will be a time of major Self-discovery, and your choices and even the smallest personal ‘experiments’ may draw to you fortune-altering events, circumstances, and people. It’s also a period when you can be more creative and involved more deeply in your own spiritual development than ever before. These events can take almost any shape, though you must be aware that big, permanent changes will almost certainly occur–and you will be a different person by the end of the year because of them. Happy Birthday, Aries, and good luck!

Spring’s Peaceful Message, c. 1736, by Giuseppe Castiglione (Chinese name Lang Shining) {{PD}}

You ‘got the message’, dear Aries, one way or another; now what are you going to do about it? You’re in the mood to make some stark, even drastic, changes, and reform of what’s not working, or the resurrection of what might work now that didn’t in the past, is something you’re looking toward–but what must you keep in mind this Solar year, through to your next birthday? Know that your Willingness to adjust life direction to accommodate creativity will be important, as will a Willingness to act on inspirations; be aware that, though you’ll tell yourself you’re being practical, you’re really being emotional, and feelings really can’t act as a reliable guide for you at this time, being at once both too constrictive and too harsh in the impulses they provide; and know that where you see opportunity at this point will be the only place you’ll see it for some time–don’t rely on the passing of time to float other options into your arena–you must actively go out and create them. Happy Birthday, Aries, and good luck!

“Albrecht Dürer – ‘The Large Turf’ {{PD}}

Something planted during Merc’s last retro period comes to light or fruition today, dear Aries–what will you gain? A further sense of independence, a position of leadership, confidence, the Will and energy to assert yourself–plus the ability to communicate throughout this coming Solar year, through to your next birthday, loud and clear–now the question is, What will you do with those abilities? You may feel more than a little distracted by an almost overwhelming itch to go directly for ambitions and goals–but these are changing even as you read this, and to pour your energy into those aims would be to waste it–as soon as you arrived, you would realize that what you want has changed irretrievably, and so you would need to begin again. No, it’s much smarter for you at this time to concentrate on healing wounds, exploring your mind, and really getting to know who you are–your new wants will grow naturally from the discoveries you are bound to make–and of course, a healed individual has a completely different wish list from a wounded one. Happy Birthday, Aries, and good luck!

Francois Boucher – ‘Study of a Young Woman’ c1740 {{PD}}

You may feel unusually constricted and constrained this coming year, through to your next birthday, dear Aries; this may be the fault of a combination of the influence of organized groups, the discovery of knowledge previously unknown to you, and internal, Higher Mind restrictions designed to keep you safe and on track. You’ll get the message soon enough as to why your progress is being slow-tracked, and there’s a very good reason for it: you are in the midst of serious, intense, deep-down personal change that will radically change your ambitions and wants, as well, so that to get what you currently want would, in the end, be a disappointment. Accept that there’s wisdom to the timing of the Universe, accept that it’s ultimately working for your own good, and by your next birthday you may have a whole new set of priorities and goals, and be very glad you didn’t get your wish now. Happy Birthday, Aries, and good luck!