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!

‘Adam and Eve’ By Frank Eugene 1910 {{PD}}

Today we may be so stressed with power issues, with sorting out the ‘rightness’ of our choices and life direction, and/ or in dealing with actual material developments that seem to point out just how out-of-our-control most of the world really is (in terms of us being able to lasso and subdue it), that we may find refuge in more simple things, ones that at another time we’d barely notice. Complementarity, the condition of two like yet distinctly different things by their cooperative interaction bringing out the best in each other, is where we find our peace. Man and Woman, Anima and Animus, Chocolate and Vanilla, Growth and Decay, Laughter and Silence, you get the drift. When it all becomes too much, find a happy counterpart, and relax.

(T-sq with Vesta as arm to the Nodal axis, Saturn nov Ceres, the latter of which is contra-parallel Hygeia, Venus sxt Mars)

You can see my encounter with an unhappy commenter here–

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

For those born with the Sun at 24 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). Is the crisis this coming solar year, through to your next birthday, over Love or Money, and is it because of what you did, or what you didn’t do? Solving this riddle will quite literally give you all you need to know to move forward successfully–and if you feel like this doesn’t apply to you, then you REALLY need to think about it, because it means you’re in the middle of that action or inaction that will cause said crisis. It will also help immensely if you just accept certain things as actually having been positive for you: all the recent changes to your reality picture, all the ways that the rules have changed, all the things that have been ‘taken away’–these are all, yes all, absolutely in your best interest–and accepting them means you will be much better equipped to deal with the Love or Money crisis when it appears (and don’t panic, this ‘crisis’ may actually be ostensibly positive–a lottery win or a new, exciting love interest–but that doesn’t mean it won’t need as much ‘managing’ as any problem). Good luck, Taurus!

By Lost Dutchman Rare Coins for image, James B. Longacre for coin – http://www.cointalk.com/t204039/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26801182

Your Daily Word Image is a pair of people who appear to be different as night and day, but who are actually just two sides of the same coin. This image is a warning not to be fooled by the radically different presentations of two individuals who are actually working together to achieve some end–and specifically, that end involves persuading you do something, hand something over, or agree to something. Whatever you were thinking of agreeing to or signing on with, take a pause and give it another thought.

‘Whispering Noon’ By Lawrence Alma-Tadema 1896 {{PD}}

There’s this whispering–is it coming from the walls, the wind, the gods, a demon, is it in our own minds? Whatever its source, it’s urging us to ignore our own instincts–and that’s just wrong–we need them more than ever, as reasoning, communication and the mind (Mercury) once again contact the illusive, the deceptive, the confusing, the inspiring (Neptune). Even worse, relationships we might usually rely on are nowhere to be found, transformed into something shimmering, ephemeral, hard to pin down, and if we prod them, looking for answers, they (or rather, the interaction) can turn destructive. Here’s the most effective approach: channel that Neptunian mist into creative forms, and then, when you’ve got that funneled somewhere, make all your actions, choices, and moves with an eye to the future, and to where you specifically want to go. That should do it.

(Black Moon Lilith sq Sedna, Mars parallel and Venus sesq NN, Venus semi-sq Pluto, Merc conj Neptune)

Today’s word image is dressing up as your alter-ego for a party, you must put on a name tag; what does it say? That is, how do you want to present yourself to the world, when what you’re doing is simply bringing forward a part of you others don’t often get to see, but which is vital to your own concept of your identity?

By © Derek Ramsey / derekramsey.com, GFDL 1.2, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1612827

For those who have the natal Sun at 12 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). What fateful move will you make this year, Aries? You know, there’s no need to be so tense, so sure that each flap of your butterfly wings will bring down a civilization. I hate to be the one to break it to you, but in spite of your Aries Solar status, you are just not that powerful–except in those ways you can affect your own life, so concentrate on that. If you can adopt that more humble approach, this year you’ll find you are deeply in touch with your instincts, and they’re easily accessed, if only you can get the drumming thoughts and imaginings out of the way so you can hear those instinctual prompts, as well as allowing that info that lurks just below consciousness to surface. It’s a year when a subtle approach and more introspective mentality can be truly beneficial.

‘La Lutte’ By Émile Friant 1889 {{PD}}

Reality seems so, um, inflexible today, doesn’t it? Where, we might wonder, are all these restrictions coming from, these obstacles, barriers, insults to our sovereignty? Here’s a secret: we’re making our own boundaries, every time we insist on re-fighting (or re-creating) a power struggle from the past. We may think that’s the furthest thing from our minds, but we refuse to acknowledge the need to let go–and so we enact the issues over and over, sometimes dressed up as something completely different, sometimes as a startling replica of the original. Too, speed bumps are showing on the road to ambition fulfillment, thrown before us by our instincts and inner knowing, that sense where we ‘know but don’t know’, warning us; just like with the reality picture, these are our own creations, needed so that we take our time, vet our spontaneity and original thoughts and impulses against our enduring values. It’s just a precaution, but one we’ll be glad we took. Our biggest rewards today, though, come from letting go of a compulsive need to feel powerful, and in cleaning out the psychic closet, ridding ourselves of hangovers and negativities, especially those with which we have a long, dark history.

(Zeus contra-parallel Sedna, Saturn qnx Juno, Pluto and SN conj and nov Venus, Mercury semi-sq Uranus and parallel Vesta)

The fruit of Bixa Orellana, also known as the lipstick tree, the source of annatto. Photo By Challiyan – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5085240

Today’s word image is ‘old’ seeds (packed for previous seasons) are planted and sprout, perfectly. ‘It’s never too late to do what you want to do’–we hear this all the time, but how true is it? Obviously, there are some things we can attempt younger that older bodies rebel at or are unable to accommodate, but aside from physical restriction, does this hold for all our ideas, hopes, dreams? Yes, it really does. I’ve been faced with this question myself lately, ‘Am I too old for X?’ The feedback the Universe has offered has seemed to be a rousing, No, go ahead! Though I do wonder, since it’s been delivered under Merc retro conjoined Neptune 🙂 But since this concerned a dream/ goal of sorts, I saw that as a positive expression: reconsider (Merc retro) that dream (Neptune). So I did, and I have, and I am going forward. How about you? What dream from the past, if revived, would not just ‘sprout’, but make your world a whole lot better?

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

For those born with the Sun at 09 Aries (check your natal chart for your Sun degree!) What you do, and what happens to you this year, dear Aries, is going to feel very public, even when it happens in private. You’ll just have to accept this as a ‘living condition’, for now, and conduct yourself accordingly. Too, it may be a year that’s like walking the length of a live high-tension wire, where actions and choices seem visible only through a highly emotional, reality-focused lens–and this will be wearing as heck, especially if your natal emotional make-up is of the more sensitive or non-verbal variety. I don’t mean to be so negative, but this is a period when you’ll spend a lot of time trying to determine what’s wise, what skills you need to acquire, what’s the smart move–and it all will have major impacts on your future, and your life direction in general. You may feel as if your mind is made up and clear on a number of issues, just after your birthday, but the reality is you’ll need to be flexible enough to allow healing, as well as open enough to receive some real-world conditions around Love or Money that are darn near ideal–congrats on that!