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In the
last
episode,
we left Saturn somewhat thwarted in his plans to
teach us how to manage time and obligations, his
allies Mars and Mercury being much to moody and
morose to be of much help. Encouraging news came at
the end of December, though, when Jupiter, Sun, and
Mercury ended their adventuresome jaunt in
Sagittarius and moved into Capricorn, ready to take
on a productive project or two.
Saturn,
therefore, is changing his strategy. Being
retrograde now, he is much less bossy and easier to
get along with. He's taken to working less
conspicuously, and being helpful more often than
punitive. He's taken a position as bookkeeper for
Jupiter's new and promising family business.
Jupiter is a little sad to have left his traveling
days behind (he's something of a jet-setting
playboy at heart), but his coming home to roost is
good news for the rest of us - at least to the
extent that we may hope to manifest something
stable and useful in the coming year. The Sun and
Mercury are collaborating with him, lending a focus
and attention to detail that might otherwise get
lost in Jupiter's grand ambitions.
The three
make a great team: Jupiter is the visionary,
the positive-thinking leader with plenty of goals
and even more confidence. The Sun is his able
partner and associate, a great implementer and
energetic worker. Mercury organizes the office,
writes the proposals, and spreads the word. Saturn
sits quietly in the back office with the financial
records and lets the other three take the credit
and believe it was their idea in the first place.
This is a great time to lay the groundwork (or
reinforce the infrastructure) of career and
reputation. There will be many opportunities to
build a solid platform for your undertakings in the
months ahead.
Venus in
Sagittarius feels a little left out at the
beginning of January, still pining for that
romantic get-away in some exotic locale. Her dreams
run afowl of Saturn's sense of duty, however, and
by the last week of the month she has seen the
writing on the wall and joined "Jupiter,
Inc." as graphic designer and image
consultant. This work will not keep her attention
forever, but at the moment, she's feeling involved
and engaged, and the front office gets a much
needed new look. This will be a good time to work
on polishing the esthetics and presentation aspects
of your endeavors.
At the end
of January, Mercury goes retrograde (January 28
through February 18), so it's just as well to leave
the detailed work and negotiations for later
anyway. Mars in Gemini goes direct the next day,
and is itching to find an argument or two to win
for the sake of an ego boost. He sees himself as
the skilled debater, finding just the right words
to assert our ideals. The Sun in Aquarius is easily
convinced to support his tactics, feeling a little
caught up in mind games and perhaps a little
insensitive about the nuances of relationships.
February can bring out some verbal sparring, but as
long as it doesn't get out of hand, Jupiter will
keep the family business humming along and
expanding, and no lasting harm will be
done.
The last
week of February sees the Sun and Saturn in
opposition. The Sun has already lost interest in
Jupiter's efforts and is becoming moody and dreamy
in Pisces, annoyed by Saturn's insistence of
attending to duty and detail. Saturn is telling us
to do our taxes early this year, but the Sun thinks
an evening in the hot tub sounds more appealing.
Saturn doesn't press the point, though, knowing
he'll have the last word either way.
Mercury,
having come out of retrograde, develops an intimate
relationship with Venus that begins late in
February and continues all through March. The two
become inseperable, and indeed make a delightful
couple, witty, beautiful, and charming in every
way. They enter Pisces together in the middle of
March, and Venus becomes positively blissful as the
two dream of fantasy worlds and meditate on the
beauty of nature and poetry of life. Jupiter no
longer has many assistants minding the store, but
he is secretly pleased that he can afford to give
the amorous pair an extended vacation. March will
be a time when many of us feel drawn into art,
intimate conversation, or communion with nature or
spirit.
Saturn is no
less happy about this than we was about the Sun's
similar, though somewhat briefer, lapse into
dreamland. Concerns about self-indulgence (with the
obligatory inner debates) will arise in mid-March.
The tension sorts itself out toward the end of the
month, though, as Mercury and Venus remember their
fondness for uncle Jupiter and start to pitch in
again, vitalized with new creative juices from
their protracted mingling.
March finds
Mars back in Cancer, revisiting his old moodiness
and frustrations. The verbal sparring is done with,
but we're treated to some more inarticulate
moodiness. His troubles are much less revelant this
time, however, since Saturn has given up on him and
is sedately working with Jupiter, who makes a much
more effective partner.
*
Saturn's
concern with our organizational skills and our
ability to create and sustain a pattern of service
to others remains the underlying theme in early
2008. It is an underlying theme now, though:
much less in-your-face than it was at the end of
2007. The difference is that Jupiter is now at work
boosting our pragmatic projects with new
opportunities, a sense of optimism, and a
good-humored appreciation for our need for rest and
relaxation as well as hard work.
These months
provide a valuable opportunity for creating success
and building a good foundation for the future,
particularly in career matters, but in other
aspects of life as well. Taking advantage of this
opportunity requires keeping a balance between
diligent work and nurturing the emotions and
imagination. A certain amount of "playing by the
rules" is part of the picture, but it should comes
naturally and not feel like a burden. If possible,
work on organizational details in early to mid
January, then polish and presentation in late
January and early February. By March, your projects
should be running along smoothly, allowing you to
spend more time in communication with your
spiritual, feeling side, and bring new insights
into your work.
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