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 

For the entire month, Jupiter and Neptune are in a somewhat irritating configuration which is likely to show up in your relationships and shared resources.  Jupiter tends to expand what he touches, which is frequently a good thing, but there are certain things we don't want to expand, which is where Neptune comes in.  Neptune is great for inspiration, idealism and dreams, but he also excels at dissolving things, delusion and illusion.  What you need to watch out for is any relationship that ties into your finances in some way.  This could be a spouse or a business partner or anyone else with whom you share financial interests.  This is the kind of aspect that drives people to buy swampland in Florida or a parcel on the Moon.  Anything that comes along that sounds too good to be true probably is (too good to be true), so examine everything with a 60X microscope and make sure you're dealing with facts, not promises. 

There are a few nice aspects out there that will help do battle with any disillusionment, however.  The first few days of the month the Capricorn Sun and Saturn, both proponents of common sense, practicality and responsibility, will be in trine, a nice harmonious aspect that will help you think things through in a nice, logical manner.  Then from January 10 - February 1, Jupiter and Saturn will be in trine, also in Capricorn and Virgo, respectively, which are good, solid Earth Signs.  These will be particularly beneficial for you since you tend to be a bit emotional.  These aspects will help you get a grip on things like the Crab you are and tune into the facts and logical side of the situation so you can make any decisions in a practical manner. 

Your astrological sign ruler, the Moon, will be doing her thing in this same vicinity, throwing even more emphasis that way.  The New Moon on the 8th is alluding toward a new relationship of some sort, or perhaps a new phase in an existing one.  This is not necessarily a romantic relationship, but any one-on-one interaction, including business partners, close friends and relatives, and so forth.  The Full Moon, will usually indicates closure or completion of some sort, is in Leo, your Natural 2nd House of finances, pleasures and possessions.  This pair of lunations may or may not be related, but you should be able to do the math and figure out how they fit into the current circumstances of your life. 

 During the first two weeks of the month, Mars, who's retrograde (RX) until the 30th in your Natural 12th House of inspiration, dreams, transcendence and spirituality, will also be in opposition to Pluto, who's just about to leave your Natural 6th House of work, health and pets.  As a short digression, the fact that Pluto is moving on is probably a good thing since he's been digging things up in your 6th House since November 1995.  More than likely during that time you have come to some interesting conclusions relative to your work and if there were any hidden health issues, they have probably surfaced by now.  Pluto is all about transformation and healing, even though the process is seldom painless.  Bear in mind that the Mars 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.

At any rate, his work should be done in those areas, freeing you to move forward in a new direction.  Mars RX in your 12th House has probably been allowing suppressed anger over a variety of issues to bubble to the surface.  You have probably become acutely aware of anything that's been keeping you from your dreams or affecting your spirituality in a derogatory way.  An opposition often calls for negotiations of some sort to resolve it, so if your spiritual values have been in conflict with your job or health, or power trips at work have kept you in an uncomfortable position, expect a climax of some sort to come about during this period.  Bear in mind, also, that Mars comes out of retrograde on January 30th, which will allow you to move forward in this area at that time.

From January 25 to February 2, Mercury, the Communication King, will be in trine with Mars, which will be a good opportunity to discuss any uncomfortable relationship issues that have been eating at you for a while.  If you feel as if a relationship has been holding you back in some way, affecting your dreams or spirituality, now is an excellent time to discuss it in a productive way. If you have anything new to discuss, however, or need to buy anything electronic or mechanical, be sure to do so before the 28th when once more Mercury will go into one of his retrograde cycles, which happen about three times a year, and will frustrate our lives until February 19.  This is a good time, however, to rework or replan existing projects or subjects.

Financial advancement is possible as Venus transits your 6th House of work this month, though between January 4 - 9, this could encounter some delays or restrictions from Saturn who's currently in picky and critical Virgo, your Natural 3rd House that encompasses your thoughts, siblings, neighbors, local environment and short journeys.  This could mean an unexpected expense, a sibling needing a loan, an unexpected trip that isn't in the budget, or perhaps your own attitude getting in the way of moving forward financially.  If you make it past the 9th without something like that getting in your way, you should be in good shape.  Venus moves into Capricorn on the 24th, where she'll have a nice meeting with Jupiter between January 30 - February 4.  This should bode well for a relationship of some sort, probably in your neighborhood or possibly involve a childhood friend.

This month the action is heavy in the relationship and shared resource areas with some work and financial overtones as well.  These are very sensitive areas for us all and could definitely make for some stressful encounters for sensitive Cancers.  Draw from all that logic, practicality and common sense coming from Saturn in Virgo and all that action in Capricorn to stabilize yourself and not get any more emotionally involved in situations than required.  Put some conscious thought behind your feelings rather than simply rolling with the first wave of emotion that comes along, not only to protect yourself from being hurt, but to also practice making decisions in a more logical way.