February 2007 Forecast

Key Events:  

Full Moon 2/01/2007

New Moon 2/17/2007

Mercury Retrograde 2/14/2007

Things may be picking up at work, where your responsibilities may be increasing, or perhaps you've been working on health-related issues.  You may even be one of the few who is still working on losing that holiday weight.  This can be attributed to Jupiter transiting your 6th House, which also covers pets of the small animal variety. Jupiter is a benefic planet and usually brings along good luck and expansion to whatever or wherever he happens to drop in.  He's been in this neighborhood since November, so if things have seen an upsurge since then, Jupiter's the one who deserves the credit or blame, as the case may be.  Probably the credit.  If there is someone to blame relative to this part of your life it's probably Pluto. 

Pluto is still less than thrilled about his demotion to dwarf planet last year.  Here is a good example of an area where size does NOT matter.  His effects are noticeable, long-term and inevitably transformational.  For one thing, he moves v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y, taking 248 years to make one trip around the Sun.  Doing the math on that one tells you that he's in each sign/house slightly over 20 years.  That is definitely a case of someone wearing out his welcome.  He's on the tail end of Sagittarius, which is good news for your 6th House, but when he moves into your 7th House of relationships in a year or so you'll probably wish he'd go back.  Pluto plows through the areas of your life defined by his resident house like the proverbial bull in a china shop.  Anything fragile or breakable is going to get hit and you'll be forced to decide what you like enough to put back together with super glue and what will simply go in the trash.  The good news (yes, there actually is some) is that his effects are transformational.  Just like it's a good idea to clean out your attic or garage once in a while (which I know is something that Cancers don't do very often, if at all) Pluto definitely will clean out an area of your life in such a manner that, painful though it may be at the time, it ultimately heals up better than before, somewhat like lancing a boil.  (I hope you like analogies because there were certainly enough of them in that paragraph.)

So with respect to your 6th House, if there is anything about your job that isn't working for you, by the time Pluto is done having his way with you the odds are good that you'll know what needs to be done and you'll have the courage to take care of business.  Pluto may not "clear his neighborhood" according to the astronomers, but he will definitely "clear the neighborhood" of the House he's visiting in an astrological sense.

Moving away from Pluto and on to the current activity in your 7th House of relationships, Mars is transiting through there until February 26th when he moves into Aquarius.  This will lend some extra energy to this area on a positive side and perhaps a bit of aggression on the negative.  Watch your temper and make sure you don't get riled up too easily and say things you'll regret later.  Hopefully it will manifest in a friendly way that will liven up your relationships, but knowing how Cancers tend to be moody, you're likely to get a little of both before the month is out.

There is a lot of action in your Natural 8th House this month which governs sex, death and regeneration and other people's resources.  The Sun is there until the 19th, which will highlight this area in some way.  At the least your libido may be higher than usual.  Or perhaps you're trying to borrow money or maybe it simply relates to the Pluto transit mentioned previously as far as the regeneration of something in your life.  Neptune is likewise in residence, and he's another one of those slow movers who has been there a while and isn't leaving anytime soon.  He tends to imbue the relevant areas of your life with a little extra dreaminess, idealism or perhaps even unrealistic expectations.  So be sure to make a conscious effort to consider the facts relative to any of these areas, especially sex. 

With Mercury also there, data gathering will be relatively easy, at least until the 14th.  But planets can be fickle and wouldn't you know it, on Valentine's Day the little bugger goes retrograde (RX) again until March 8.  This will skew communication channels as it always does and mess with anything related to Mercury's domain including computers, TVs, cars, cell phones, cable connections, traffic lights, land lines, radios or anything else in this realm.  My Palm Pilot still hasn't recovered from the last retrograde.  I'm hoping that maybe this next one it will repent of its evil ways and return to the handy device it used to be, but I'm not holding my breath.  So if you need to transfer data of any conceivable kind, do it before the 14th.  Since he's in your 8th House, if you're trying to borrow money try to get everything in place before the 14th.  If you need to buy something new, especially if something dies during this period that needs to be replaced immediately, be sure you get the best possible warranty.  Elective purchases should be put off until after March 8.  The positive side of Mercury RX is that it's a good time to redo, rewrite or edit something already in place.  For example, if you don't get your income tax return sent off by the 14th, go over it with a fine tooth comb for mistakes and then mail it on March 8th.

Sweet, benefic Venus is in your natural 9th House of higher education, long distance travel and legal matters until the 21st.  If you have anything you need to do in any of these areas, this a good time to do so.  You will be viewed favorably and present yourself well during this transit so exploit it for all its worth.  Uranus, planet of change, surprises and unexpected events, is there as well, so you may find yourself surprised by something whether you foresee it or not.  With Venus in the same House, any upsets should be to your advantage sooner or later.

All in all, indulge yourself in little pleasures this month to help you relax and think through some of the areas that may be a bit challenging or on which you need to work.  Do some thinking about your job, especially if it's where you want to be in five years or so.  If not, think hard about the alternatives.