I can't help noticing that if I step outside these days my nose hairs start to freeze. I've also noticed that if I breathe into it, don't fight it -- and I've got my long undies on(thanks, mom!) - a touch of winter is really revitalizing.

We get our word January from the Roman Janus, who was the mythical god of doorways, openings, endings and beginnings. Janus has two faces: one looking back, one looking forward. His role is to mark the progression of time, as we do by turning the pages of our calendars. Romans also used his likeness to symbolize change and transition. He was worshipped and called in to watch over children growing up, as they stepped across the threshold between childhood and maturity.

Like winter weather, Capricorn energy clarifies things. Icy walkways and single digits quickly catalyze your attention, drives your thoughts directly to the basics, such as your very next step (is that black ice, or just a shadow?). This is one reason Cappie is associated with practicality and bottom-line thinking. Capricorn rules the body's structure: knees, bones, and teeth. It rules the inner structure of any enterprise or construct, for example, your family, your house, or the computer you're reading this on. Capricorn bones determine the shape of an outcome by creating a foundation that can hold and protect the integrity of the potential as growth takes place.

If you're like me, the first week of January always feels like an especially potent time of year to write down your goals. I have some new exciting ones, such as finishing my first novel (there's an ambitious Capricornian goal for you), and some perennials, such as practicing meditation and exercising. Rituals that help maintain the emerging structure in your life, such as prayer, writing in your journal, gathering with women (or men's groups) are all supported by Capricorn's grounding energy. Taking tangible steps to accomplish your aims also helps to chase away the winter blues or self-doubts, both of which are manifestations of Capricorn's shadow.

Self-disciplined Saturn, Capricorn's guiding planet, has one main message: do the necessary work, lay a firm foundation, and your reward will be in achieving your aims. To-do lists (which are ever-so-Virgo) make it easier to achieve goals, and nothing tickles Capricorn's happy-bone more than reaching the mountaintop of accomplishment. The beginning of a fresh year, even if it's c-c-c-cold, or perhaps because of it, revitalizes your perspective. January is loaded with fresh possibilities and the blank slate of a new to-do list.

What's on your new year's to-do list? Post one or two goals here. I'll be referring back here occasionally throughout the year to see how we're all coming along.

Tags: capricorn,

This Sunday's new Moon occurs in freedom-loving Sagittarius. Breaking up is awful, but if you've soul-searched and you can admit to yourself that the attraction really isn't satisfying at a core level, it's far better to work with the flow, rather than against it. This week, as the night-time darkness increases and we head into the new Moon, we have a chance to pull up our emotional roots and consider what sort of love we really desire. Even if you're cozily coupled-up, and breaking up's the last thing on your mind, this is a good week to choose one negative trait about your partnership, and see if you can drop it or transform it.

Are you unhappy because your guy doesn't engage in intimate communication, and you want to hear those three little words more often (no, not 'what's for dinner,')? Would you prefer that your partner didn't talk at all while you're doing the wild thing? That he or she be more dominant, or less demanding? Do you wish your sweetie would give more time and attention to the relationship, and less to their work? What ideas do you want to plant and see blossom next month?

Shortly following this new Moon is Jupiter and Pluto's auspicious conjunction, which only happens every 13 years. Jupiter, the planet of expansion, meets Pluto, the force of uncontrollable change. Pluto's job is to transform whatever isn't fully alive anymore, and return it to ash where it can fertilize the next new vital cycle of love or growth.

Where in your life are you about to experience profound transformation? Your relationship could be in for a lifequake, especially if the conjunction occurs in your 5th House of Bliss, or your 7th House of Partnership. Jupiter is associated with idealism, Pluto with truth. When these two biggies join forces, weak relationships can crumble, but good ones may just get better.

Tags: End it on the New Moon in Sag?

While Mars, the planet of action, is retrograde (November 15 - January 30), interesting synchronicities are developing. The Writers Guild of America strike goes on, halting the creative flow of television and film production, as TV viewers turn to MySpace and YouTube to make their own movies. The travesty in Iraq drags on, and we witness the effects of our dependence on oil and the disaster of sub-prime lending on the global financial situation. Michael Quinlon, creator of the wry British newsletter World Wide Words comments on a new word: Slowflation.


Note that Mars stationed on November 15, the day the word "slowflation" was first discussed. I think I'll adopt this word and expand its definition so we can apply to events during Mars retrograde.

If you're an Aries type, nothing ever moves fast enough for you, anyway. However, even Tauruses are reporting that it feels like everything has been delayed a week. When Taurus thinks the world is slow, you know it's gotta be molasses. Wherever Mars is retrograding in your birthchart, you'll have a passionate urge to re-negotiate, like the striking writers. It's in my 9th House of core beliefs, and I've been drawn to study philosopher Ken Wilber's books, and a few months back, I began an Integral Life Practice, which is a distillation and condensation of hundreds of transformative practices from across time and cultures. Mars is coruler of my Scorpio Sun as well, which emphasizes the idea that I'm carefully examining my beliefs. It's true. I get really wrapped up in my ephemeris and in thinking about future astrological alignments, so much so that I am occasionally surprised, as I was last night, by the full moon shining like a silver nickel.

Wherever slowflation hits you personally, whatever house it's in, take a breather. Practice patience. Don't try to push the tide. You really can't, you know, you'll just get wet. It's time to re-do your approach in that territory of your life. Where is life slowing down for you? If it's in the 5th House of bliss, you might not be getting much dating action. If it's in your 2nd House of material resources, you could be experiencing a tide of work that needs re-doing before it will pay off.

Tags: Retrograde, mars, Slowflation

Happy new year!

Today is Deepavali, the northern Indian new year, auspiciously occurring on the 13th day of the second half of the lunar month, or the new moon of Scorpio. I wish a trainload of divine saffron threads to my dear friend Monica Bhide, an extraordinary writer, storyteller, and author of The Everything Indian Cookbook.

Deepavali is a celebration of lights, when colorful paper lanterns are strung throughout the streets, inside peoples' homes, flowers are given, and most importantly, love is celebrated between brothers and sisters and wives and husbands, and everyone else, everywhere. The brilliant lanterns symbolize the inner light which can never go out, called the Atman in Hindu philosophy.

On this day, Hindu stories are told in which good triumphs over evil, and cards and emails pile up with sincere wishes for happiness, wealth and prosperity. During the five day celebration people worship Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, and the elephant god Ganesha, who symbolizes auspicious beginnings. This festival shares cultural similarities and connections with Los Dios de Los Muertos, the Mexican Day of the Dead, as well as the Celtic festivity which celebrates this time of year when the veils are thinnest between the worlds of the living and of the dead.

Tags: Current event Astrology

For the next 27 days -- she moves fast -- Venus is at home in Libra.

Venus in Libra is like the social director on the cruise. She's charming and attractive in pink or classic black with her simple string of pearls. She's cosmopolitan, soft-spoken, and equally polite to all. Venus is decent and refined in Libra's airy atmosphere. She's got an impressive degree in a frame on the wall, plays the piano, paints, speaks several foreign languages and has an interest in working for the UN. She's a sucker for romance and happily-ever-afters. She can be quite flirtatious, but usually in a general sort of way, because she's determined not to hurt anyone's feelings or choose favorites. She's not the same girl she is while orbiting through earthy Taurus, who can sing like a nightingale but may not shave her armpits.

Since our social calendars typically fill up in November, we can expect happy social occasions and festivities this month. Uncle Larry might even turn the sound down on the game while Aunt Liza makes her annual Thanksgiving toast. We desire to relate to other people. Venus here encourages us to be more thoughtful, because Libra is all about Others. Friendships get a boost, and so, of course, do love affairs.

Wherever Libra is found in your chart, this cultivated diva is making her rounds. If Venus has just entered your 7th House of Marriage, you might be getting engaged. With Venus in your 12th House of Spirituality, you could be needed by a loved one who is sick or in trouble. If she's in your 1st House of Personality, you could be attracting a new lover or friend, or you might have a strong urge to dust off your piano keyboard and start playing again.

Venus is in Libra until December 6th. What's she up to in your chart?

Tags: Venus in libra

My family gave me a bread machine for my birthday. One thing's for sure, I won't be making cinnamon raisin bread again soon because it has absolutely no shelf life. It disappeared right under my nose, right into my mouth. As we head into the holidays will the planet of desire, Mars, in nurturing Cancer turn me into a flour-dusted maniac offering yet another slice of pumpkin pie slathered in whipped cream to everyone who crosses my kitchen threshold?

Mars could indeed stimulate your appetite in Cancer, the sign of Ding Dongs, Ho-hos, and home-cooked meals. Cancer, the archetypal Parent, rules the stomach, and food issues such as endless dieting, unconscious snacking, and eating too fast generally have roots in childhood. Mars retrograding through this emotional sign -- from November 15 to December 31 -- is a good time to clear the psychological and physical decks, and face old eating habits with courage. How easy is that going to be? With two major feast days in there, probably not very.

Cancer has a memory like a steel trap. Its memories bolster its sense of security, and so does money in the bank. Now, with the stock market iffy, and news of the war in Iraq drowned out by a presidential campaign, sharing memories and clinking glasses with your people feels good. We genuinely need love and comfort. This may be a holiday season with an emphasis on nostalgia for the past. Already, your grandmother is probably dusting off the photo albums and stacking them in the front hall bookshelf, under your clay hand print from kindergarten hanging on the wall, next to the family portrait where your father sports his 1970s mustache, his rainbow-colored suspenders and his wide lapels.

Mars enters communicative Gemini on January 1st, 2008, and is retrograde until January 30 when it goes direct at 24 degrees Gemini. The warrior planet will once again be swimming in Cancer's sensitive waters from March 5 all the way through May 10, when it enters proud Leo.

Maybe then I can bake cinnamon raisin bread again. Meantime, anybody for a slice of pie?

Tags: mars in cancer

Sean, 47, has Virgo Sun, Cancer Moon and Scorpio rising. He's charismatic; a gifted musician, performer (Leo on the MC), and a schooled psychologist. But, Sean's depressed. As Saturn strides over his Pluto-Sun-Venus conjunction in Virgo he's dealing seriously with the limitations of illness, addiction, the ephemeral nature of friendship, issues of sexual identity, and loss of love. This is not your garden variety gloom. He's clinically depressed. He's negotiating the whitewater of a divorce, and has also decided that it's high time to quit a pot habit after a lifetime of use. He walks around familiar territory downtown, visits the house he and his wife lived in for 9 years, and wonders what went on there that he just can't remember. His memory is shot, he says.

Although the Saturn-Neptune opposition is behind us now, as it dragged out over the past year it's been sort of a cosmic nightmare for Sean, forcing him to come to terms with losing the support of his wife, and facing issues of trans-gender. He started shaving his legs and has given himself a woman's name. In his natal chart, Saturn is in early Capricorn in the second house of self-worth and resources. Neptune tightly conjuncts his Scorpio Ascendant and rules his fifth house, and rules his third house of communication. With strong Saturn, he has the ability to build financial wealth but his Neptunian personality erodes the structures he erects like seawater on wooden pilings.

Saturn in the second speaks of strong identity in a fixed house, and the Virgo stellium in the tenth, another earth house, theoretically points to a grounded, practical quality in his personality. With Neptune on your rising, it's quite possible to fool yourself about yourself for a very long time. The opposition occurred near his MC/Nadir line in the 10th and 4th houses. Saturn sat on top of his Uranus-Mercury conjunction, straining his marriage and forcing him to face the crisis of his newly emerging sexual identity.

Despair is Saturn's shadow territory, and divorce is about boundaries, walls being erected and shattered, and rebuilt again. Neptune, in its most elegant expression, describes the urge to transcend the self and merge with something greater -- the cosmos, God. Neptune of course is also pot's realm, providing escape from grownup Saturnian responsibilities. Neptune rules memories and dreams. You experience Neptune's power of dissolution when you wake up trying to recall a dream but it just disappears like smoke. Neptune's shadow creates blind spots right under our noses. The opposition seems to have occurred at the beginning of a series of Saturn tests.

Currently, Saturn at 4 degrees Virgo is sextile to Sean's Neptune. This should be the start of a lightening-up period, where he may begin to gain some of the benefits of 'growing up,' which for him have meant coming to terms with his sexuality, and quitting a potent addiction during a stressful period.

Tags: Saturn

I can't remember the name of the author but I first learned about this astrological dream writing exercise from an article published in The Mountain Astrologer. Over the past 7 years, I've used it to help identify illness, to work with my psychological shadows, and just as an interesting method of expressing and exploring my dream life. Your dreams are an astonishingly rich source of practical information and spiritual insight. I'd love to hear if you use this method, and what your results are.

Astrology-dream journaling works with the principle that each dream element, person, or place can be associated with one of the twelve houses of the zodiac. In your journal, identify the house that corresponds to the dream element or elements, and write out two accounts of the dream.
Open your journal to two blank facing pages.
On the right hand page, write the date and place at the top, and simply list the houses and the associated elements together. Refrain from judging any of the elements or the feelings associated with them.
On the left hand facing page, write a conventional account of your dream, including your feelings and thoughts, and the story line, such as, 'this happened, and then that happened,' etc.


Meanings associated with the houses:
1 - Your body, your appearance, persona and social mask. Your 'act.' The 'you' your friends know best.

2 - Your personal resources. The money you earn, the material resources you count as your own.

3 - Your siblings, the way you communicate and perceive what's going on. Short trips and errands.

4 - Your home, your tribe, your family connections. Your ancestors, and your unconscious.

5 - Your lover. Bliss associated with acts of creativity. Children. Love affairs, gambling, and risk-taking.

6 - Your daily routine. Mentors and mentees. Your health.

7 - Your marriage. Your intimate friendships. The 'Other' in your life day to day.

8 - Your sex life. Any taboo topic, such as money, sex, power. Other people's resources that are available for your use, such as gifts, inheritances or loans.

9 - Higher education, whatever that means to you. Travel, foreign cultures, foreign languages, and philosophy.

10 - Your professional life. Your public persona. Status and recognition. The public 'you.'

11 - Your long term hopes, wishes, and your friends. Your community.

12 - Your experience with endings. The bardo. Spirituality. Long term illness or chronic health challenges.

Identify, upon awakening, the elements of your dream and then associate them with the houses with the closest matching traits, as outlined above. Observe your journal for emerging patterns, messages from your unconscious mind, and answers to problems.

Tags: dream journaling

This post is part of the Group Writing Project at Seduction Central.

Relationship-oriented Libra looming on the astrological horizon this weekend may offer a breather, now that the Pisces-Virgo eclipses have done their number. But, since Virgos have been under the microscope lately, I thought I'd toss in a few words from a recent conversation with a friend about her Virgo guy and his Pisces Moon. Given that she's a wild-eyed Sagittarius, I know you might think otherwise, but these two cannot seem to keep their hands off each other.

Here's the bottom line: Robbie's Virgo Sun/Pluto/Mercury conjunction is opposite his Pisces Moon. Whatever does this mean to a happy-go-lucky Sagittarius tart? On the one hand, he's got that sexy, sweet Pisces gaze, and on the other, he operates with the precision of a heart surgeon. She finds him irresistible. She can't believe how good the sex is. It's fair to say she's smitten with this earthy fireman (yes, that's what he does for a living). And yes, she loves it when he rushes to put out the fire in her pants.

When it comes to oppositions, you can pretty much count on a fair amount of psychological projecting going on. The Sun represents Robbie's innate masculinity. The Moon, his innate femininity. When these two are in balance, each side expresses itself in the most appropriate ways at the proper times. He will tend to identify with one planet more than the other; in this case, the Sun, and project the qualities of the opposing planet, the Moon, onto the winsome Vixen. We may suspect that when he was a child, the target of his projections was his mother, and that his grownup sweetheart expresses some of Mommy Dearest's best, and worst, traits. (Our smitten Tart happens to have Cancer rising, by the way, the sign of the nurturing mother.) As he projects the emotional qualities of the Moon onto his girlfriend, it's going to be tempting for him not to own many of those qualities in himself. He may in fact, as he has done, choose a macho career, one rich in opportunities to save damsels and others in distress, and be named a hero. He may not recognize his inner need to express the softer parts of his personality. And why should he, especially if she's available, ready and willing to play that role for him?

The question comes down to this, I suppose: is this opposition and its accompanying tendency toward projection causing any problems for our lovers?

Depending on the circumstances, and Robbie's psycho-emotional developmental level, he may swing from one side of the opposition to the other, being kind and compassionate in one situation, and in another coming off as highly critical or analytical. At best, he has learned how to balance these energies, and at worst, he will continue to swing in the direction opposite his shadow self, fearing and also worshiping the un-owned psychological faces of his inner feminine.

With Pluto near his natal Sun, he can be a powerful or intense character prone to seeking out confrontation. And, as with all Virgo dear-hearts, he can be extremely critical of himself. Hopefully, he's taken the opportunity to grow more aware of this trait throughout the various crises that have undoubtedly arisen in his life. Since dealing with crises and emergencies are his normal fare, this would seem to be the case.

But still, where does the starry-eyed Sagittarius girlfriend stand in the midst of this opposition? Aside from being pulled or pushed toward one planet or the other, that is.

Virgo is the sign of the perfecter, a character trait of which he is probably painfully aware. In addition to the tendency toward psychological projection, oppositions create tension. But that's not all bad. Tension can lead to conscious awareness of what has been dormant. To the extent that he accepts and allows his own inner feminine nature, its needs and desires, as well as his inner masculine nature, Robbie's Sun-Moon opposition may help him see and understand his lover's perspective. The cultivation of his inner feminine (as it relates to beauty, love, art, and relating to others) is a good thing. It's also a necessary pursuit, because the Virgo/Pisces polarity risks vacillating between criticizing his adoring girlfriend, and elevating her on a pedestal. Virgo has an uncanny ability to sniff out imperfections. He wants to perfect everything in his life, including his lover.

Now, if it weren't for his ex, the one his Pisces Moon finds it so difficult to reject...but that's grist for another post.

Tags: Relationship Astrology

"I'm boring and closed and probably seem very safe." In the wake of Paris, Nicole, and Lohan, you can practically hear the collective sigh of relief from the mothers of little girls. Role models have been difficult to come by this year in Hollywood.

Anne Hathaway, currently starring in Becoming Jane, is so prolific that her self-assessment above is probably true -- at least for the time being. This is because her progressed Moon is in Virgo, a two-and-a-half year period marked by much fretting, hard work, perfectionism, and diligent application to one's craft. To her fans she is gorgeous (a Libra Moon emphasizes her Venusian looks), charismatic, and at 25, quite accomplished. Not boring. But with her progressed Moon in Virgo she might feel a bit like her character, Jane Austen, is conjectured to feel about the novelist Ann Radcliffe -- Radcliffe may appear to live quietly, but she seems to have "a rather picturesque inner landscape." In addition, Jane Austen herself was a Sagittarius, and Anne may feel a certain kinship with the novelist. Anne's progressed chart shows five planets progressed into Sagittarius.

Born on November 12, 1982, Anne has an intense Scorpio stellium that includes Mercury, the Sun, Jupiter, and Venus. In her secondary progressed chart, Saturn has just shifted from Libra to Scorpio as well. All this Scorpio energy describes a magnetic, concentrated emotional personality particularly suited to acting and theater, with drama's potential for expressing cartharsis. She is passionate, powerfully feminine, and very private, a quality that can make her appear to be "closed." Scorpio-stellium types are secretive and deep, processing everything through their intense feelings. They are capable of obsession, and she dives into her roles with a profound intensity. But Jupiter so close to her Sun also gives her some distinctly Sagittarian qualities. She has a definite need for recognition, and is undoubtedly optimistic and enthusiastic. She can play the comic as engagingly as she can portray a dramatic role. Next year, she will be co-starring as Agent 99 with Steve Carrell in Maxwell Smart.

With Mars, the co-ruler of her Scorpio Sun, in Capricorn, she has strong drives and ambitions, and applies herself to getting what she wants in a methodical, responsible way. In other words, she's incredibly hot, but she has a reserved side. It's highly unlikely she'll be seen doing the wild thing on the 'net, ala Paris. Fortunately, Anne's Venus is Scorpio will further help protect her privacy.

See Jeffrey Kishner's fab new blog, Scorpiolicious, for another take on Anne: Anne Hathaway: A Starlet who hasn't destroyed her career

Tags: Anne Hathaway Scorpio