By Patrick Rock – Imported from 500px (archived version) by the Archive Team. (detail page), CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71350340

Is there something actually menacing in the way authorities exercise their power, or is it that we’re carrying forward inaccurate pictures of overreach from the past? This unease is really about our grasp of and exercise of our own prerogatives; how empowered are you, and how empowered do you feel? If there’s a disparity between our effectiveness and our perception of it, it could be feeding our paranoia, especially if we’ve recently failed to achieve a wanted status, or even to be heard. Stay focused on the reality picture, as the physical can ground us, and helps us avoid our own negative projections on those with clout–and, bonus, being highly aware of the real-world situation means we’ll see exactly how far we can reach, and so won’t waste time trying to enact power-fantasies.

(Ceres parallel Black Moon Lilith, Juno sesq SN, Vesta contra-parallel and Uranus nov Juno, Sun sxt Saturn)

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

For those born with the Sun at 18 Pisces (check your natal chart for your Sun degree!): You’ve worked ‘it’ out, at least you think you have–so why are things caught in the doldrums? Because it’s time for review: of ambitions and desires, of aims and goals, of your own skills and gifts. You’re not in the same place, anymore, after recent endings/ beginnings, and you’re up for a reassessment of each and every life area, so you won’t swim too far in what the new and improved You considers the ‘wrong’ direction. Later in the year holds a lot promise, ripe with opportunity–but it can’t be hurried, so take this time to get your house in order–excitement, or maybe just surprising change, arrives soon enough, and you need to be ready.

‘The Golden Hour’ By Thomas Moran 1875 {{PD}}

Looking for the New Moon? It’s right here–

It seems every major religion has some version of The Golden Rule, aka ‘Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You’. Not that I’m advocating for any religion; I see it instead as a consistent effort across civilizations and through time to offer human beings a simple, empathetic standard against which to measure themselves. A good policy, to treat others as we would like to be dealt with, and one we are absolutely required to follow today. Relationships and financial matters must be held to the highest standards, because it’s a sure thing that whatever you put into those areas today will multiply. The energy rushes out into the social sphere, becomes amplified, and we see our vision, our intention, our ideal, or nightmare, presented to us. It’s a real case of, to borrow another Biblical expression, ‘reaping what you sow’–though today those results arrive much quicker than we thought possible.

(Venus nov Vesta and semi-sq Jupiter, Mercury semi-sq Mars, Sun conj Vesta-Neptune)

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

For those born today, with the Sun at 17 Pisces (check your natal chart for your Sun degree!): Your year ahead is one where ideals, commitments, and what you find sacred are all tested, and your word is not just your bond, but may come back at you a thousand different ways–so taking real care with communications, with promises (including contracts), and even with your thought-world are high priorities, this year. All this tumult is aimed at creating a baseline, real-world and health-wise, against which progress can then be measured. You’re likely to feel vulnerable emotionally, but the up side to that is that intuition will be clear, penetrating, and able to locate the information you want. Don’t be afraid to change direction, to alter or let go of things no longer working, or to move toward a long-held dream. What comes out of all this? Stability, as in a real-world base that feels secure, a sense of purpose greater than what you held before, and aims that are more true to your Soul’s intents than they ever have been.

‘Trompe l’oeil with Studio Wall and Vanitas Still Life’ By Cornelis Norbertus Gysbrechts 1668 {{PD}}

We’ll do anything not to deal with the unpleasant and the outrageous; it seems smart to just ignore things, but at the same time we’re aware that can’t possibly be a good idea–in fact, we know it inclines the mind to fantasize–we just can’t help but fill in the blanks! Though normally we want flow with the grain of the day, so to speak, today it might be better to stay neutral, to accept our desire to avoid and just put our heads down and do what needs doing–no confrontations, no dealing with the messy or the hard to face, no going against the grain–and with any luck taking this approach will mean we’ll get something useful, but not especially splashy or definitive, done.

(Mars contra-parallel Black Moon Lilith, Sun contra-parallel and sesq Pallas, and parallel Neptune)

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

Happy Solar Return to those born with the Sun at 14 Pisces! (See your birth chart for your Sun degree!) Consciously or not, you’ll spend the year measuring, weighing, re-assessing to what and whom you’re committed. It may seem too low-key, but the reality is you need this time, a kind of retreat, in order to know what really matters, and so know what to honor, make promises to, and work to secure in the future, when you’ll be called upon to answer the hard questions. Until then, embrace the fact that you are closer to manifesting your ideals than you may think, and it’s a life filled with what you envision that all this prep work is for. Stay strong, don’t expect easy or definitive answers right now, and know that you’re aligning yourself with what you will become, no matter how modest the current circumstances or how far away it all may seem to be.

Photo By zeevveez from Jerusalem, Israel – מים מסמלים רגשות CC BY 2.0 File:מים מסמלים רגשות (8765164478).jpg

What happens to the atmosphere when Venus enters the coolly intellectual sign of Aquarius? Maybe we ought to inspect what that Venusian energy is coming off of: a square to Uranus which is at 29 stressful degrees, suggesting sudden surprise, crisis, revelation, or accident that pushes a Love, Money, or values matter ‘over the edge’; then Venus moves into Aquarius and contacts Chiron, freshly into Aries–and that suggests hurt, maybe in the form of a challenge to the Self-concept, the ‘I Am’–but it can also suggest rapid healing, as Mars noviles Chiron, offering brilliant ways to address hurtful matters. What does Venus end up with, then? Understanding, another Aquarian watchword, a sensibility that sees how power within situations isn’t always fair, and that what we dedicate our energy to must bend to what’s wise, what’s practical, and this is the way we identify the obstacles in our way forward, and handle them.

(Juno contra-parallel Zeus, Vesta sesq Pallas, Mars nov Chiron, Venus squares Uranus, then enters Aquarius and sextiles Chiron, Sun sesq NN)

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

Happy Solar Return to those born with the Sun at 11 Pisces! (See your birth chart for your Sun degree!) What is it you want this year? It seems that, more than anything, you want to know what the future holds, how to move forward most effectively, how to make your best life, as they say, happen. That’s reasonable, but truly difficult for you to master this year. Too many things cloud the vision: you know there are problems with the Love or Money situation, and yet you can’t seem to get a handle on them; you’re questioning your own wisdom, as things aren’t panning out quite how you thought they would; and it seems to be some kind of stand-off telling you there’s a choice to make: be original and daring, or be smart! That’s no choice at all, is it? Do your best, this year, to listen to instinct, to work as directly as you are able with circumstances that may involve your ‘blind spot’, and be willing to act on what you ‘know but don’t know’. As long as you’re truly following instinct, and not the mind or emotions masquerading, you can go farther than you think, as opportunities will come that you never would’ve seen, if things had gone as you’d hoped.