January 2008 Astrocast

Key Events:  

New Moon:  01/08/2008

Full Moon: 01/22/2008

Mercury Retrograde: 01/28/2008

Other RX Planets:  Mars until 1/30; Saturn until 05/03 

As an Astrology 101 refresher, Jupiter, the biggest gas giant in our solar system, is all about expansion and escalation, so whether his influence is good or bad depends on who he's in cahoots with and where.  Since he's in stuffy and conservative Capricorn, this alone will dampen his effects to some degree, which in this case is actually a good thing because Neptune can't be trusted any more than your favorite magician or escape artist.  Rather, the King of the Deep is the master of illusion, and while he can inspire, enlighten and produce vivid dreams that you may enjoy tremendously, he can also cause delusion and deception or dissolve what he touches like one of those seemingly benign enzyme cleaners.  Since Neptune a.k.a. Poseidon, is in your Natural 11th House of groups, friends, hopes and wishes, be wary of anything coming out of one of those venues that upon closer examination resembles Pandora's Box.  Also note that with the Full Moon in Leo on the 22nd, an ending or new phase is in work that involves either your children, lovelife, ego, or a creative project, indicating it may be time to move forward with new endeavors.

Just be glad that Jupiter is no longer in Sagittarius or this could create some major temptations to which an impulsive Aries could easily fall prey.  In Capricorn, however, he will be the voice of caution and wisdom that counters every questionable proposal put forth by ol' Neptune.  This is not to say that you should discount anything that isn't rock hard, in writing, and notarized, only that you need to read the fine print and do the necessary math to determine whether it's fact or illusion.  Patience and research isn't usually one of Aries favorite toys, but Jupiter in Cappy should help with this, even if it manifests itself through one of your Earth Sign friends.  You may tend to discount most of what they say as typical naysayers, but in this particular instance they could turn out to be the best friends you have, so listen up.

From January 1 - 3, practicality and common sense will be on a roll as the Capricorn Sun trines Saturn in Virgo.  Structured and disciplined Saturn should be quite at home in organized and meticulous Virgo, especially with the Sun also highlighting the Cappy traits.  It will be short-lived, however, so if you have some planning or organizing to do, put it at the top of the to-do list for January and use this astrological boost while you can.  If you miss it, like for example you're reading this after the 3rd, you get a big of a second chance between January 10 - February 1 when Jupiter trines Saturn.  This also will reek with practicality and discipline, and is likely to be quite beneficial as it relates to your job and career, since Jupiter is in your Natural 10th House of career and reputation and Saturn in your Natural 6th House of work, health and pets.  The New Moon on the 8th is also in Capricorn, indicating a new phase in your career, which is likely to give yet another boost to this area of your life.

Your ruling planet, Mars, is retrograde (RX) until the 30th, so for all intents and purposes you have another month of driving with the brakes on.  This may be just as well, however, because when the God of War opposes the Lord of the Underworld, a.k.a. Pluto, between January 1 - 13, the fact that Mars is a bit inhibited should be a good thing.  Mars has been RX in your Natural 4th House of home environment for a while, stirring up repressed anger and preventing progress there, but now he has backed into your 3rd House of thoughts, ideas, local environment, neighbors and short journeys.  You can probably do the math on what this will stir up.  At the least, you'll probably be irritable the first half of the month and if you wonder why, you need look no further.  Sources of these tug-o-wars are likely to originate with power trips or transformation attempts related to 9th House issues, e.g., higher education, long distance travel, legal or cultural matters, or possibly religion or politics.  While Mars was in Cancer, this was likely to soften this reaction somewhat and perhaps stir up hurt feelings more than anything.   Now that he's in Gemini, it will be more logic-based.  Also, bear in mind that the suppressed anger thing is likely to go very deep and have transformational effects with Pluto involved.  It will be cleaning house much more than Mars alone, but your likelihood of resolving it once and for all is quite good.

In other words, any involvement you may have with these areas should display some Plutonian undertones of one sort or another.  Pluto has been tearing things up in Sagittarius like a runaway backhoe since November 1995, and the good news is that he moves into new territory, i.e. Capricorn, on the 26th.  What this means to Aries is that he will then start some major remodeling on your career and reputation from that point forward, so be prepared.  Actually, you've have roughly 12 years to get prepared, so hopefully by now you are.  On a positive note, around this same time, i.e. from January 30 - February 4, Jupiter and Venus will be making out in Capricorn which should bring some big-time luck, perhaps in the form of a financial windfall or promotion or raise, or perhaps something new will fall in your lap that gives you a few other options.

From January 4 - 9th Venus will square off with Saturn, which will likely cause about a week of conflict between whatever you have going in that now-famous 9th House and your work or health.  Just realize that this will be relatively short-lived, so don't overreact and do something typical Mars-like that makes it worse than it is.  Just take a chill pill and count the days until the 10th, when the conflict should be resolved.  At the end of the month, from January 25 - February 2, Mercury will be trining Mars, however, which could work well for resolving any old issues related to your career or reputation in a practical and disciplined manner.  This is likely to relate to certain ideas or opinions you've had that were perhaps not too well received, but have a good chance at being resolved at this time if you do so in a dignified manner. 

The bad news is that on the 28th our friend, Mercury, goes into another one of his unpopular retrograde cycles, which happen about three times and year and traditionally mess with all sorts of communications as well as anything mechanical.  It's good for reworking or replanning, but not much else.  This will last until February 19, so be wary during this time about trying to have any critical conversations and absolutely avoid buying anything electronic or mechanical because it will probably turn out to be a piece of crap.  The good news is that your very own Mars comes out of retrograde on January 30th, which should release that brake at last and allow you to move forward in your chosen Ram direction with your usual energy and drive no longer inhibited.

This should be a very busy and eventful month for Rams, especially in the career, work and groups arenas.  Don't be discouraged if things seems to be all honked up still, because once Mars goes direct at the end of the month, everything should get in gear and start moving in a manner that should make you happy.