What a start to the year – the eclipse in Capricorn on 4 January, with Jupiter and Uranus aligned on the same day, matches the symbolism of the devastating floods throughout Australia. Eclipses often set dramatic events in motion. Jupiter makes things big. Uranus is the wild card planet often linked with unexpected forces of nature. Jupiter and Uranus were in Pisces, the zodiac sign of the sea. Of all three water zodiac signs, Pisces is the one associated with water spreading out of control. Jupiter in a water sign exaggerates water. Uranus in a water sign brings shocks/ surprises to do with water.
Why Australia? The powerful Jupiter-Uranus alignment in Pisces on the 4th made very close and difficult alignments to Australia’s Neptune (water), Chiron (wounds), Jupiter (amplifying) and Mercury (speed). To add to this, the Jupiter-Uranus trigger made an alignment to Australia’s North Node (destiny). The eclipse itself was on top of Australia’s Saturn and Sun in Capricorn (triggering difficulties).
Of course, the world over is experiencing tumult right now. Some of the most recent turmoil is more representative of Jupiter in Aries. Jupiter finally shifted into fiery Aries on 23 January and since then we have seen political unrest in Tunisia and Egypt. Aries is the zodiac sign of the fighter/warrior. Jupiter in Aries makes fighting larger and bigger than usual. When Uranus also moves into Aries in March, collective ‘people power’ is likely to become even more activated.
In our personal lives, Jupiter’s move into Aries on 23 January brought a feeling of optimism, forward movement and fresh starts. But on 26 January Saturn turned Retro in Libra and instantly brought to mind anything not completed or balanced in life’s weighing scales. Particularly for flood victims, Saturn Retro in Libra has people dealing with the fine print in their insurance policies and Jupiter in Aries helps the fight against any unfair exception clauses.
February therefore starts with Jupiter inspiring us forward but Saturn sending us back. Saturn turns our minds toward Libra themes of relationships, contracts, balance and justice. If something is out of karmic kilter, Saturn will say ‘come on, stop racing forward when there’s an undermining influence to attend to’.
Saturn often works in 7-year periods and could bring back memories of something that happened in a relationship, lawsuit, business agreement, marriage, friendship, social or family situation, job contract etc, 7, 14, 21, 28 etc years ago. Saturn helps us work through difficulties that have accumulated over time, or become chronic, by getting us to slow down and attend to unhealed parts of ourselves.
Saturn stays Retrograde until June, and Jupiter stays in Aries until June. In dealing with the past we free up genuine energy for present adventures. Although there are many zoom-ahead moments over the next six months of Jupiter in Aries, Saturn is the stronger of the two in this push-pull dynamic. If emotions are peaking, or you meet delays and blocks, there’s most likely something real to be dealt with in your body’s autopilot system even if your mind says you should be over it by now.
Under Jupiter in Aries, there’s a tendency to become fired up and energetic about expressing ‘the truth’ and defending it with religious zeal. Many a war has broken out in such a way. Over the next six months of Jupiter’s influence in Aries, Saturn encourages us to stay centered if people around us suddenly start letting fly about their truths. On the positive side, it’s a great time to debate different beliefs and discover new truths. Saturn in Libra reminds us to be fair and civilised about this.
Now more than ever it’s important to listen to what our own inner voice tells us is true and to research the facts. Information quickly goes ‘viral’ these days through social networking; for example, the recent rumours that everyone’s astrological sun signs were out of date and that there’s a new 13th zodiac sign. This is not true. Yet the mix up did raise awareness that there’s a difference in the way Western and Eastern astrologers plot the circle of the twelve zodiac signs. If you’d like to read about these differences and why your sun sign is still the same, check out my article here.
Jupiter squares the Nodes on 3 February (with a window from 29 January to 8 February) and then Jupiter squares Pluto on 26 February (with a window from 20 Feb to 3 March). The Nodes and Pluto relate to karma, destiny, soul agreements and fated change. Jupiter relates to different cultures, beliefs, travel plans, religion, education, breaking fee and charting new territory. This is a very unsettling energy that could see ongoing blow-ups this month from fighting over different beliefs.
Yet! Jupiter squaring the Nodes and Pluto helps us make big leaps of faith into new pathways we have been planning for ourselves. It gives us the courage to face the pain of goodbyes and move beyond old beliefs that have been holding us back. We find ourselves at a crossroads and feel liberated to take the path of our soul’s calling, not the path we are told we should take. It’s a month of souls coming and going through death and rebirth circumstances, sometimes quite literally. It’s a time for the generosity of hospitality, of welcoming home ‘the prodigal son’ and for wishing people warm supportive goodbyes as they courageously follow new paths.
February is a charged month for meaningful change and the Nodes play a large part. Over the last two weeks of February, they significantly align with 00 degrees of the four Cardinal points, the critical degrees of the zodiac that got activated by the Cardinal T-square/cross from mid-last year on. The exact alignment is on 3 March. The Nodes bring back last year’s experience of intensified pressure coming from four critical directions in our personal and collective lives. This pressure isn’t meant to crush or burden us. It’s a pressure applied to narrow our focus so that we can work out what is most important.
The Nodes are amplifying the extremities of the four conflicting Cardinal life themes (1. self 2. home/family 3. lovers/friends 4. career/global concerns). This intense awareness encourages us away from extremes back to centre. Once in our centres we know how to meet opposing demands. We see where we’ve been overstretching ourselves to be liked, to be loved, to be secure, to be successful, to be up with the latest. We say goodbye to stretching beyond our means, beyond our core, and find a unique personal way of living sustainably and in sync with who we are now, not old outdated versions of ourselves.
The Moon in its rapid movement around the zodiac, increases emotions and reactivity when it connects with the 00 Cardinal degree points this month. The dates are: 6-7 Feb, 14-15 Feb, 20-21 Feb and 26-27 Feb. These are days to be gentle and kind to ourselves, and others, as important feelings rise to the surface that ordinarily might remain subliminal. These insights are precious so catch them if you can by allowing yourself some quiet nurturing time.
This month’s New Moon in Aquarius on the 3rd augurs in the Chinese Year of the Metal Rabbit. Mars is also in Aquarius smack bang on the combined Sun and Moon energies, making for a potentially volatile New Moon. Of all the zodiac signs, Aquarius is the most restless for change and evolution. If you’re wanting a breakthrough in your life but it hasn’t quite presented itself, this New Moon could get things in motion. It could also increase global instability and the collective wave of people power.
February’s Full Moon culminates on the 18th in Leo. Mars is once again involved in the Sun-Moon connection, bringing matters to a head in areas of our lives relating to fun, sexuality, creativity, and overall sense of joy. If we’ve lost confidence and feel we have nothing to celebrate, this Full Moon gets us fired up to reclaim the wonder of being alive. It’s a time to stop role playing who we think others want us to be and to relish the immensely transformative creative act of just being ourselves, not in a selfish way, but in an authentic way.
Last, but not least, on 9 February Chiron moves out of Aquarius and into Pisces where it will stay until September 2018. As with every planetary influence, this has its difficulties as well as its benefits, but let’s bask in the benefits for a moment. Chiron is the wounded-healer planet (well, it’s not really a planet, but it’s just easier to call it that – Chiron is actually a Centaur. See my article here for more information).
When the wounded-healer planet goes into Pisces, zodiac sign of compassion, heartfulness and spiritual connectedness, we are given ceaseless opportunities to bridge the divide between science and soul, between ‘out for myself’ and ‘respect for all’, between economics and art, between materialism and nature’s gifts. We are able to heal disenchantment, broken hearts and lost dreams. We are able to free ourselves from addictions and instead get our highs from the heart. We’re able to bridge the divide between the visible human body and the invisible aura, and repair our damaged sixth senses.
Between February 2011 and September 2018, all those possibilities and more exist for immense healing of past splits away from heart and soul, but there are also the difficulties of Chiron moving into Pisces to contend with. At the start of this forecast, I talked of how Pisces is associated with expanses of water. In April 2010 when Chiron had a short visit to Pisces (before heading back into Aquarius between July 2010 and now), the world was shocked by the Gulf of Mexico oil catastrophe and its effects on our oceans.
When Chiron arrives in Pisces again this February, we are reminded of disasters to our oceans, marine life and fragile ecology. We are reminded of the recent devastating floods and recovery efforts. The theme of water, and water emergencies, looms large. Mars makes an alignment with Chiron in Pisces on 23 February (with a window from 21 to 26 February) and could trigger more wounding and healing events through water. For example, the recent floods in Australia have been exceptionally painfully wounding, yet there has also been powerful healing as communities have banded together and reconnected like never before.
Over the next 8 years we’re likely to see more heartrending evidence of how disconnected we have become. Information escalates daily about cruelty to animals, destruction of precious rainforests, unfair treatment of different cultures, hate crimes against minorities and more. Chiron in Pisces cracks our hearts open from the pain of it all so that we snap back into our centres and get active about getting reconnected.
My heart goes out to all who have been affected by the floods and other tragedies. In our thoughts and meditations, let us continue to send loving support over the coming days, weeks and months of recovery, as well as offer practical assistance where possible. With Chiron in Pisces, healing energy can travel more easily than usual through the web of interconnectedness.
The powerful words of Oriah Mountain Dreamer’s poem ‘The Invitation’ keep popping into my mind. They are so relevant to the energies of February that I’ll finish with some quotes from it and a link to the full amazing poem at her website: http://www.oriahmountaindreamer.com/
“It doesn’t interest me
what you do for a living.
I want to know
what you ache for
and if you dare to dream
of meeting your heart’s longing.
…
It doesn’t interest me
what planets are
squaring your moon…
I want to know
if you have touched
the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened
by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.
…
I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.
I want to know
if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
‘Yes.’ …. ”
Wishing you well in this feisty month of change energy, radical breakthroughs and powerful heart openings.