“New Mexico” – Marsden Hartley- between 1916 and 1922 {{PD}}

Taking action on your dreams really is the watchword for you this year, dear Aquarius, though it seems you may be thinking you’ve gone beyond that–it may feel as if you already have, and that you are poised to deal with a sense of disappointment and disillusion, as you convince yourself that your efforts were for naught. That’s simply the recent ’emotional dry spell’ talking; in reality, you are in prime time to expand your world, to explore, to pursue knowledge, and to aim for (and win!) personal ambitions and desires–so don’t give up. It won’t be long before you shake off this rigid emotional outlook and take on a much cooler view of the proceedings–and that’s the point when you’ll be able to successfully engineer the right moves, and to make the right choices, to bring that so far illusive dream into your reality. Happy Birthday, Aquarius, and good luck!

Hollósy Tengerihántás 1885 {{PD}}

You are poised to do what must be done, what you are compelled to do, dear Aquarius, and the key to it all is found in your past experiences. I know–not what you expected, right? You thought the key was to leave it all behind–but there is something incredibly valuable from yesterday that will be instrumental in moving you successfully into the future. Hints include: info gleaned from the past may involve the home, mate, and/ or those causes to which you’re dedicated, and result in a need to face what has been ignored or denied–which, once dealt with, forms the basis of the future you’re now trying to mold. Another hint: emotions may need to be completely contained, alchemized, and transformed into something that will act as a source of personal power. One more hint: look to the social circle for knowledge or support, probably of a kind you never expected–but it’s there, waiting for you. By this time next year, Aquarius, you’ll have honed a Path that has surprising roots in your experiences, and that will point you in a direction that’s only vaguely on your radar now. Happy Birthday, and good luck!

Don’t be sad, Aquarius–now is the time to dream and plan. Lars Hansen – ‘Young Woman’ c1835 {{PD}}

Dear Aquarius: This coming Solar year, through to your next birthday, you’re going to want to take some serious action on ‘the Dream’, and you want to be rewarded for it; the only problem may be that a hidden emotional agenda and the way it inclines you to Self-sabotage could turn positive efforts into negative ones, without your conscious consent. How to fight it? Realize that you are in more of a dreaming and planning phase than a taking action one; know that there is still a power balance that needs righting and what I can only describe as a ‘social wound’ concerning your ambitions or desires that needs healing before you can go forward; and understand that you’re going to benefit a lot more by reaching within and considering what’s there than you will from an active, ‘doing’ role at this time. Don’t worry: by this time next year you’ll be more than totally prepared to take steps to make the Dream a reality–for now, enjoy the psychic quiet, and the chance to heal and line things up, just right. Happy Birthday, Aquarius, and good luck!

Just wingin’ it. “Lunch break, 1907” by Fritz von Uhde – {{PD}}

Dear Aquarius, this coming Solar year, through to your next birthday, it may feel as if you’re wingin’ it, out on a psychic limb, improvising without a net–the only thing you may know for sure is that you must decide, you must take action. For most people, that would be a troubling mandate, as a thinking individual (which you undoubtedly are) would want a plan first–but somehow, this time, that’s denied to you. You must trust in your own ability to know, and to acquire the knowledge that you need, to follow your intuition, and to trust that spark of life that animates and inspires you, a ‘divine urge’, if you will, that can materialize a dream or create from whole cloth, and that can be both engine and guide at this time. Clues to a successful year: be aware of who holds power and what the relationships between power entities really are–this can help you stake out your own power position, forgive hurts and free up your energy for your own use, and listen to the emotions–feelings will convey wisdom. Happy Birthday, Aquarius, and good luck!

‘Blind Woman” by Diego Velázquez -{{PD}}

Will you run on pure instinct this coming year, dear Aquarius, or will you allow the mind to run things and end up letting your ‘blind spot’ (that material hidden from the conscious mind that we’re unaware of but is quite obvious to others) show every foible you have? I vote for instinct–the mind needs a rest, a break from its recent confusion/ stasis–and you’ll feel the urgent need to act, to choose, this coming year, through to your next birthday; what better way to choose than instinctually? Especially considering that the emotional nature and intuition may be under a great deal of stress, using instinct (and by that I mean ‘right impulse’ that arises without conscious reasoning from your core Beingness) as your guide will undoubtedly be the best choice. Now that we’ve got that settled, what else have you to look forward to? A few hints: ‘being yourself’, whatever that means to you, is a naturally strong position; there’s wisdom in action, in education, and, for you at least, in–surprise! the social sphere; and take emotional cues from the material world–make the two ‘match’–as otherwise the feeling state may be undecipherable. Happy Birthday, Aquarius, and good luck!

Rainbow over the ‘Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone’ Thomas Moran {{PD}}

You may spend the entire year, through to your next birthday, dear Aquarius, like you’re just waking up in the driver’s seat, with the emergency brake on and your foot on the gas pedal, engine roaring yet not going forward. Really, it won’t be that bad, but it could feel as if all the energy and go-power in the world is trapped behind a mind that may feel stuck in a rut, with ideas formulated but somehow not offering clear direction, and real trouble integrating new information into what you already know. First, this is temporary, so no need to panic. Second, your job is to turn in the direction of your current strengths and make the most of them, until the mentality is back to form. That means empowerment and effectiveness should be sought by using the intuitive, the artistic inclinations, the feeling senses, the rainbow of relationships, and the assets at hand to create resources and circumstances that are positive and not so dependent on the mentality, as is likely usual for you. This year, Aquarius, you grow a whole new set of abilities. Happy Birthday, and good luck!

You can move right along, Aquarius, but be aware: the hazards are internal ones. Axel Ender ‘Young girl skating on a frozen lake, Norway’ pre-1920 {{PD}}

You’re very focused on taking action this year, dear Aquarius, especially action that takes you in the direction of your dreams. Anything related to ideals, creativity, spirituality, or humanitarian causes gets your attention from now, through to your next birthday–and the only things that stand in your way appear to be two internal mechanisms, one known as ‘instinct’, the other your ‘blind spot’. What we call instinct is often a mixture of inborn animal responses designed to keep us safe and things we absorbed so early that we consider them instinctual–it’s these latter that you may accept as warning you off missteps when they are really no more than expressions of a childhood environmental bias–and with the ‘blind spot’, qualities and attitudes of which you are not conscious but which are openly visible to others may exert their influence, and undermine or surprise. Your biggest task this year, other than actively pursuing your goals, will be to sort out and rid yourself of those factors in these two areas that hold you back from as much (or even the kind of) success you could enjoy. Happy Birthday, Aquarius, and good luck!

Take that first step, Aquarius. Cecilia Beaux, ‘Dorothea and Francesca’ 1898 {{PD}}

You’ll enjoy an unusual degree of internal emotional harmony, dear Aquarius, this coming year, through to your next birthday–but what actions to take and choices to make will also be on your mind, chiefly because, as anyone would, you are trying to determine just where yours might lead. As long as you stay headed toward your dreams, your goals firmly in mind, and as long as you trust yourself above anyone or anything else, you’ll do well–let either of these conditions slip, and the outcome is not so predictable. Take preliminary steps to bring ideals into real-life being and to made those dreams reality, but don’t expect things to materialize overnight–right now you’re at a point when the biggest obstacle you have may be believing that you can do it–that’s why taking a small step or two is so important, and so necessary. Happy Birthday, Aquarius, and good luck!

Everybody has trouble making choices, Aquarius. “Folio 161v – The Temptation of Christ” by Limbourg brothers. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Folio_161v_-_The_Temptation_of_Christ.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Folio_161v_-_The_Temptation_of_Christ.jpg

What’s the wisest course of action for you, the best choice, dear Aquarius? That may be the central question bedeviling you at this time–and the answer may determine both how ‘in charge’ you are of your own Fate and how effectively you are able to deal with matters that so far you have been ignoring or denying (and may be quite angry about). With a willingness to face what must be faced, a careful winnowing of what’s no longer useful will leave only those assets and relationships that are clearly either supportive of your needs or hurtful to them–and you know what to do from there. Aside from this, you need to base choices and actions on two criteria: does this expand my world? and does this serve my ambition fulfillment? If the answer to both is ‘Yes’, then nothing should hold you back. Happy Birthday, Aquarius, and good luck!

“Polaroid sx 70 – foto di Augusto De Luca (3)” by Augusto De Luca – http://www.flickr.com/photos/47210757@N08/7465372416/sizes/l/in/photostream/. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Polaroid_sx_70_-_foto_di_Augusto_De_Luca_(3).jpg#mediaviewer/File:Polaroid_sx_70_-_foto_di_Augusto_De_Luca_(3).jpg CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Are your words true, dear Aquarius? Have you allowed what you communicate to stray into false, manipulative, or misleading territory? It happens to all of us: we see that it’s easier to hide our intentions than have to explain them, and before we know it . . . That’s why this Solar year, through to your next birthday, it’s important for you to re-align what you share, think, say, mean with both your highest values and the real-world results you want. That’s the thing, really: once the message deviates too far from our purpose in communicating, it’s impossible for the reality picture to deliver what we actually want, and we end up with a mere shadow of what we’d hoped for, results-wise. So, make sure thoughts and actions directly support desires (and so clearly communicate what you actually want)–in fact, your empowerment and effectiveness this year depends on it. Also, banish the critical in favor of the cooperative, and recognize just how much others have determined your life Path vs. how much you yourself have done the deciding–that latter will make what you need to do that much clearer. Happy Birthday, Aquarius, and good luck!