Kathy has EXTENDED the holiday special for readings booked and paid for by January 10, 2010: $160 for one hour or $90 for a 30-minute SWAT look at your chart. Email kbiehl@fortunaworks.com to book.
Ready for a fresh start, are you? Hold that thought. We’ll be revving our engines and letting wheels spins for a while longer before leaping into this transformational and empowering year. If you haven’t gotten around to setting new year’s resolutions yet, you haven’t missed the window of opportunity; in fact, it’s opening wide mid-month.
But first, much remains to process and discard from last year and points beyond. Remember that this month is named for Janus, the Roman god with two faces, one looking forward and one looking behind. Our year-end review didn’t stop at the stroke of midnight January 1. True to Janus’ nature, the aspects are continuing to turn our attention to the past.
We are between eclipses this week, not to mention in the throes of two inner planet retrogrades. All three invite us to go back over past turf, clear out the debris and address, let go of or come to peace with people, situations and memories, so that we can exist fully and cleanly in the present. Our metaphoric luggage is being opened so that we can see what’s tucked in all the pockets and decide what we want to bring along for the next stage of the journey.
The lunar eclipse in Cancer on New Year’s Eve has shone a flashlight into the baggage and precipitated a flurry of tossing. It’s ushered in major culminations, revelations, realizations, emotional outpourings and endings, involving fundamental and all-encompassing issues: Home and family, tribal allegiances, Mommy/Daddy dynamics, career. They boil down to how, where, whether and with whom we feel safe, secure, nurtured and protected. Whatever we’re feeling, considering and discarding now has ties to last July, when the current Cancer/Capricorn eclipse cycle started up again. It’s reactivated themes from late December 2000 – June 2002 and late July 1990 – December 1992.
In some cases people we haven’t seen or thought of in ages are popping back up. In others, the recurrence involves issues (beginning or ending of a major relationship) or decisions (moving from one home to another). In many instances, developments are showing that there’s still something to work out, clear out or come to terms with in a situation that you thought you’d laid to rest long ago. Don’t feel you have to do anything just yet. The process is still in the early stages of playing out, and more revelations, realizations and emotional outpourings are in store this week. Keep your eyes, ears, mind and heart open. Gather information. Honor and express your emotions (if only to yourself). Pay attention to the reaction of your heart and your inner child. All of the data you’re collecting will come into play when the solar eclipse in Capricorn arrives on January 15.
The two retrogrades are providing fodder of a more recent vintage. Mercury retrograding in Capricorn is revisiting his path since December 9, bringing us back for another look at plans and practicalities. Retrograde Mars is just beginning retracing his tracks since October 17, this week retreating only as far back as he reached by the end of November. Pushing is not the optimal way to deal with his current energy. That approach invites frustration and regressive, temperamental behavior, since the planet of action is backtracking through the sign of the child. Instead, watch for opportunities to rework matters that started or jumped into a new gear since Mars entered Leo. Revisit your motivation. Dig more deeply into your wellspring of creativity and see if another way doesn’t develop to further your agenda or express yourself.
These two retrogrades combine into one big caution against starting anything new now. Going back to old matters, yes; launching new ones, no. We’re not done with the old yet, so use this time to work on, investigate and organize what you already have going on, in tandem with the emotional clearing and releasing that the eclipses are triggering. The earliest start date for new matters is the 15th, in the light of the solar eclipse, and even then the starting is best if only at the level of thought and intention. For real moving forward and implementing, wait until the crescent of the Capricorn New Moon begins showing in the sky and Mercury has moved out of his direct station, which he also, not coincidentally, reaches on the 15th.
So for this week, continue pulling together loose ends from last year, from the last decade and from the last two decades. Direct the light of the lunar eclipse into all the crevasses of those times. Get a good look at what’s still in there and clear out as much as you can. Old relationships, old concepts, old possessions — anything that is no longer appropriate for the you of today is up for discarding. If you’re in the process of dismantling a situation in your life (a lot of relationships are collapsing at the moment), don’t feel you have to rush the resolution. Break the situation into steps and aspects and address them step-by-step, first off within yourself. As you clear out, you’re making room for the next year, the next decade and the next nine years or so until the Cancer/Capricorn eclipse cycle comes back around. Clean out vigorously, and soon you will be glad you did. Nature abhors a vacuum.
Monday: Are the holidays really over? Today won’t feel like it. People are going to be running around acting like everyone they meet is a long-lost friend, even though in most cases only a few days have gone by since their last path crossing. A lingering party atmosphere colors the morning, which will ease reentry into the workplace. The indulgent vibe may soften the extremely firm communication you hear (or see) flying from your lips (or texting fingertips). No one’s making concessions to anyone this afternoon, least of all you. As retrograding Mercury meets with the Sun, you know your mind and speak it, unapologetically. If there’s a message you’d like to convey to a certain someone but don’t have an open and direct avenue, experiment with programming it into your dreams tonight.
Tuesday: Have you ever awakened with the sensation that you’d been talking to someone during the night? Or a memory of an interaction in a dream that felt hyper-real? Either is likely to be your experience this morning. Mercury and Venus meet before dawn EST. Even if you’re sleeping when it happens, your mind gets clear and practical about your priorities and values. You’re processing what’s most important to you and may well be figuring out a key to a relationship or financial matter. Use the afternoon to ponder your dreams and their messages. The Moon is void of course for the entire second half of the day. A download of insight could set the tone for the void, which follows a Moon/Uranus opposition. The urge to communicate will grow throughout the void. There’s no need to convey anything of importance (there’s no point, actually, because of the void). Making contact is all that’s important.
Wednesday: It’s one thing to understand intellectually that we’re between eclipses and still in a process of letting go; it’s another to go through this spell without emotional bumps and reactions. They could creep in today. The Moon has edgy aspects that won’t let us coast. Obligations and commitment color early morning thoughts and talk; emotional responses erupt by mid-evening.
Thursday: Early morning dreams continue to chew on relationship issues that have been tugging at your heart sleeves. Shake them off, for the moment. The day blossoms into agreeability and a surprising and welcome sweetness, with a late afternoon time-out for a crossroads moment. Maintain your course; there’s nothing to be gained by succumbing to petulant demands, whether by others or by your frustrated inner child.
Friday: Dreams are fantastical, even romanticizing, but beware acting on them when you first awaken. Hearts and minds are not on the same page, and the same may be true of men and women in general today. These days, the organ to trust, in leading and decision making, is your heart. Your mind and ego may march you into confrontations; your heart will guide you more to your benefit. It’s safe to go with the urge to open up, when it hits as evening rolls along.
Saturday: All the day’s aspects belong to the Moon, and there are only three major ones. Minds race overnight (check your dreams when you wake up), while tempers are volatile midday. If you’ve been stuffing emotions inside, they may find a way to leap out. The desire to be with your fellow humans increases as daylight wanes. A special relationship may deepen when the Moon and Venus have a late date by declination. Whether you’re with someone or alone, watch your heart swell with the certainty of what’s most important to you.
Sunday: This day has been programmed for rest and relaxation. After a night of electric, eye-opening and escapist dreams, the Moon pushes off a Jupiter square into a void from late morning to early afternoon EST. The atmosphere calls for lounging in your robe, lingering over breakfast and the paper and enjoying quiet leisure. Get active when the Moon moves into Sagittarius, but don’t worry about being productive. Fun is the order of the afternoon. Next week will bring plenty enough to do. For now, rest and rejuvenate.
Visit Kathy’s site EmpowermentUnlimited.net for podcasts, mp3s, a discussion forum and more on the eclipses, the Aquarius/Pisces traveling party and the Saturn/Uranus opposition. To join her mailing list, send e-mail to kbiehl@fortunaworks.com.