Well, it looks like a better year, doesn't it??? No heavy duty Saturn, Pluto, Uranus transits. ....Saturn opposite Uranus at the end of the year seems to be the only fly in the ointment. Yet there are planets that are close. Uranus has had the asteroid, Pallas, close, most of 2007. It's still there til March. Uranus is the higher octave of Mercury, indicating a genius mentality when aspected positively, and Pallas is all mental - the goddess was born of Zeus' head, so she's not in touch with emotion - this conjunction will see children born at this time genius in the field of computers and math.....Uranus rules computers and Pallas rules the ability to think in patterns and put things together others wouldn't see.

At the same time, Chiron is keeping close on the heels of Neptune....in fact it will do so til 2014! Chiron is the wounding and Neptune is illusion/delusion....even sabotage sometimes. How are these two going to work? They are in Aquarius - and will move to Pisces before they split up an opportunity to move beyond our limitations. The last time Chiron and Neptune met up, it was 1945. I've heard from people who were children in that time that they were fed some propaganda of sorts from their parents, which, since they were their parents, they believed, and built their life on. It behooves nurturing parents of children born in these years to watch for negative programming by someone. It would depend on which house it's in, who the probably culprit might be.

When Saturn opposes Uranus in November, it will also oppose Pallas, of course, as well. Those who think within the box are not going to cotton to people who think outside the box....and so far outside the box most of us can't comprehend the genius (sort of like "Charlie (David Krumholtz) " on "Numb3rs").

During the first few months of the year, Mars flits back and forth opposing Pluto before it moves on. Mars is the god of war, and the previous ruler of Scorpio before Pluto was discovered. It's usually a time of dark forces. Mars also represents cars, and Pluto is anything with an RE before it, so REpair works here. Keep your car repaired. ...there are 3 types of policemen. #1 is the Virgo type who wants to serve and protect, #2 is the Saturn type where they want you to follow the rules and stay within the box, and #3 are the Pluto types that want dominion and control.....the latter is more likely to be behind the bush just waiting for you to make a mistake.....so watch your p's and q's (literally! that's shorthand for pints and quarts!!) and don't give them anything they can complain about.

Pluto enters Capricorn in January, with Jupiter nearby, and then Jupiter takes off, staying in Cap for the year, to make the ingress a bit more easy. Saturn starts off the year aspectinig a number of planets, and close to opposing Uranus, so we can feel a little of its non-appreciation of Uranus' hippie qualities at that time. In June, Saturn gets close to trining Pluto again, as it did in August of 2007. In July, Saturn and Pluto are still in a pretty close trine, but Mars joins them, conjuncting Saturn. As we saw with the bridge collapse, even a trine isn't good with Mars in the picture.

As we start into the summer months, Uranus is starting to move in to square Pluto, which it won't do til June of 2012, but it'll be hanging in close proximity the whole time. When Uranus conjuncted Pluto in 1966, it started the whole hippie, free love, uncommitted relationships, and being more open in sexual expression.....which brought in Roe v. wade, in 1973. In the coming years, culminating in 2012, we'll probably see more individualism again, and the people standing up to power.

For you Aquarius:

Jupiter trines Saturn from the 12th house of the hidden to the 8th house of mate's money, alimony, inheritances. Saturn may make it harder to get that money, but you have an ally, perhaps, behind the scenes who can help you.

Jupiter sextiles Uranus from the 12th house of the hidden to the second house of money. Maybe mate's job will provide a nice chunk of change.

Jupiter sesquiquadrates Saturn from the 12th house to the 8th. As the faster planet moves away from the trine at 120 degrees, it creates a sesqui at 135 degrees....a little blip on the radar screen to see if you handled the positive energy right.

Saturn Opposes Uranus/Pallas, from the 8th house of sex, inheritances, mate's money, to the 2nd house of your money and talents. Your mate may have some job issues, and you may have to stand in with your resources. Maybe you come in to some money, and you'd better tuck some away in case mate's job has a problem. Could also mean an inheritance doesn't come thru as easily as you thought.

Jupiter inconjuncts Neptune from the 12th to the 1st....Neptune's dissolve can find someone behind the scenes who can come to your rescue.

THE OUTLYING PLANETS

Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are called the 'major' planets because they move slowly. They are the 'directors' of our play of life, and dictate the set and the scenery and outline the major direction of the play.....they would be the ones who write the 'bible' for soap operas - the long range direction of the stories. Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars, on the other hand, are the "personal" planets: they are the actors who trigger the events, and can also be looked at as the 'daily writers' of our individual soap opera who write the daily events. So, in astrology, we look to the outlying planets and see what they are doing to get a sense where the action is going to take place.

Aquarians will find Uranus shaking up the 2nd house of money and talents. There can be sudden ups and downs in the money sphere. You can receive a raise or a new job out of the blue, or if you have money it can suddenly take a dip, a la the dot.com collapse. Be prudent where you put your money during this time, to mitigate any circumstances. Aquarians and Pisceans are prone to help their fellow man, and can get caught up in sharing the wealth to help others. This is fine, as long as your mortgage is met and the kids are fed.

Uranus goes retrograde on June 26th and goes direct on November 27th.

After a rough 2 1/2 years in Leo, Saturn left the lofty sign and moved into Virgo on September 6, 2007. Leos in particular, breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't a good time for Leos. Michael Richards (Kramer on Seinfeld) had his meltdown, Isaiah Washington of "Grey's Anatomy" had a long drawn out meltdown (just quit while you're ahead, Isaiah! He must have Snake energy in his chart somewhere - has to be right, can't be wrong and has to have the last word! - Let it go, for heaven's sakes!). Barry Bonds proceeded towards the home run title under spurious circumstances....if Saturn hadn't been in Leo, the last two and a half years would have gone better, but as Saturn made travel plans to move on to the state of Virgo, the energy lightened up and he got his tying home runs and went on to add to the total. For others, like Steve Carell, his career took off. For Leos, who like to live large, found Saturn more onerous than most planets traversing it. They started to part-eeeeeeeeeee when it left. they felt a sense of relief and 'let out of jail'. That ponderous cloud over their head moved on and the sun came out to shine a bit...yet it went into their money house, so hope you didn't part-eeeeeeee too much, Leo, the bills will come due at some point, and Saturn will wonder why you didn't put something aside in the savings account.

The Baby Boomers of the 40's found that Saturn was going over the same territory (Leo) it did in 1946-48. The problem there being that Saturn caught up with Pluto in 1947, and in 1948, Chiron squared them as they broke up. There was lots of angst during those years, and now, as Saturn moved thru it again - their second Saturn return, and revisiting the S/P conjunct, those in and around their 60's were feeling the aches and pains and emotional blocks of the traumas of those days.

Saturn went thru Leo again from 1976-78, so Baby Boomers had a fresh look at the wound again, and those born later, experienced it for the first time. Those born in the late 60s and early 70's experienced the recycling of the energy as they went thru their first Saturn return, and found the body manifesting the emotional blocks which occurred in their early years. In the 70's, Saturn was squaring Uranus - the 'cop' knocking heads with the "hippie" of the zodiac, but at least not causing the angst of the Pluto connection. For all signs born after the late 70's, this was the first time they felt it going thru Leo, the sign of ego and self worth, so they all felt some ego denying in relation to the house position it was in. Leos particuarly, those born in the early 80's are now in their mid 20's and they had never experienced Saturn riding rough shod on their need to shine.

Now, Saturn is in Virgo. In modern times, it went thru Virgo from 1948-51, and 1978-81. Virgo energy works better with Saturn, for it rules Capricorn and is part of the earth trine. Doesn't mean there aren't lessons to learn and karma to address, but it's a cadent sign and thus, lighter energy. Those who are recycling the energies from the late 40's and late 70's, will find issues coming up again to heal. Emotional blocks which were created during those times can manifest as illness. This is where we can thank Saturn instead of cursing him, because it brings into manifestation what we have been harboring in our souls for all this time, in a tangible expression which, if we detect it right, leads us to the answer.

Taurus and Capricorn will benefit most from this transit, as it will trine their sun sign during this juncture, and they'll find that the 'gods' are approving and bringing rewards for work well done. Virgos will be tested, but they are such workaholics that they probably won't know the difference. Sagittarians, Pisces and Geminis will feel the square energy, and find they have to stand up to authority figures who would like to mold them to their will. Leos, Aquarians, Aries and Libra will find themselves making 'adjustments' as Saturn quincunx (30 degrees) and inconjuncts (150 degrees), their signs. That leaves Cancer, Scorpio in a sextile position to Virgo, which will create a YOD pointing to Aquarius and Aries, respectively; when Saturn tests, your "answers" are in those houses, Moon baby and Scorp....it's up to you to figure it out. *

For you, Aquarius, The last 2 1/2 years were stressful, because Saturn going thru the 7th house, brings up issues with your shadow.....who, it turns out, manifests as your mate and second child. They got in your face, and you had to deal with it. It was a time where, if you were married, your decided to end it, or almost did. You may have decided it was time for your child to get out on his/her own. You had more spine, as they say, to make changes with what wasn't working.

Now, Saturn is in your 8th house of sex, inheritances, mate's money. Your spouse may have a down turn in his/her financial affairs, and you may have to take up the slack. If you got a divorce during Saturn's traverse of the 7th, then getting alimony will be hard won but not impossible. The longer you put off the final papers for an inheritance, and get Saturn out of the 8th, the better for you most probably....alimony, too, for that matter. Your mate will most likely be more agreeable in a couple of years. You may be more reserved sexually, as Saturn goes thru your house of sex.

Chinese astrology - Saturn spent the last 2 1/2 years in the area of the Rooster. The Rooster equates to Capricorn, so you may have felt more fear and apprehension during this time. "The sky is falling, the sky is falling" said Chicken Little.....remember that from childhood? You were getting fearful over things you could not control. "Let it fall" was Turkey Lurkey's answer. You needed to worry about the things you could do something about.

Now, Saturn moves into the Dog overlay. This is your Chinese Animal, Aquari. The Dog has inhibitions and is more comfortable in a group than one to one encounters. This is compounded because the Dog energy, which is the head trip about sex, is overlayed in your 8th house of sex in your western chart. Now Saturn comes in to throw cold water on it. It may be a time where you have less interest in sex, so know it's here to pass, and Saturn will move on.

Saturn is retrograde at 8 degrees of Virgo at the beginning of the year, and goes direct on May 3rd, goes retro on December 31, 08, goes direct on May 17, 2009, moves into Libra on Oct 30, 2009, retrogrades on January 10, 2010, rx back into Virgo on April 8, 2010, goes direct on May 30, 2010 at 27 degrees of Virgo, and then goes back into Libra on July 22, 2010.