January 2007: Reviewing your life’s structure in finding a balance for your dreams

January is a month that focuses on group dynamics. It’s a time to review the structure of your life, expand your expectations, understand what challenges will occur, and create a balance as a result of the challenges you face. Basically, the structures that you create during this month and the challenges you meet successfully will enable you to balance your personal needs within the structures you’ve created to live in society.

The year 2007 begins with a full Moon, Sun in Capricorn and Moon in Cancer, and Venus entering Aquarius on January 3, 2007. With the energy of the full Moon, it’s a time to review the foundation of your life style to determine if your daily routine promotes inner happiness. With Venus entering Aquarius it’s a time to determine how you let friends and social contacts control your life and whether you find value in these relationships. Basically, this is a good day to enjoy who you are, not who other people think you should be. If you want to start making changes in your life during this month, focus on family, work, and health.

As Mercury forms a sextile to Uranus on the following day, January 4th, start thinking of new strategies. You’ll see things differently today. You’ll be able to see possibilities where perhaps earlier all you saw were obstacles.

This is a month where it’s very important to put yourself first without alienating others. Basically it’s time to understand just how powerful a person you can be and how important this power is when you function in groups. When Mercury forms a conjunction to the Sun on January 7th, you’ll find that it’s easier to think about your needs and what you want in life. When Mars forms a trine to the retrograde Saturn on January 8th, you’ll start feeling an increased willingness to take actions that propel you towards increased future success. You’ll be able to expand your perceptions of what you really can achieve. And, you’ll see just how important your contribution to society is. This understanding of how important you are to society is a feeling that you’ll have throughout the month of January.

Venus forms a sextile to Jupiter on January 12th and Mars forms a conjunction to Pluto the following day on January 13th. Without losing your identity, you’ll be able to find ways by which you can integrate your lifestyle within various groups. During the next few days, you’ll find that it’s all right to reach out and ask for support from other people. You’ll also be able to give support to friends in your life. Plus, it’ll be easy to separate from those individuals and groups where you feel a lack of rapport. You’ll know how turn down requests for your time from people who don’t give you support. You’ll understand that there’s no need to feel guilty when you say no because you just can’t take on another commitment at this time.

The entry of Mercury into Aquarius on January 15th continues to support this understanding that being involved with groups doesn’t mean giving up your individuality. This is a good day to remedy difficulties you’ve had with other people. It’s a good day to contact old friends you haven’t seen in a while. It’s also a good time to separate from those relationships that no longer give you support in life.

If you feel a little hesitant about separating from those who no longer give you support in life at this time, don’t worry. With Mars entering Capricorn on January 16th and Mercury turning retrograde during the month of February, you’ll have many opportunities to re-evaluate your friendships as well as social commitments.

Mars in Capricorn will be interesting this year. It’s a “quiet” Mars because the only aspect it will make while in Capricorn is a sextile to Uranus at the beginning of February. This means that it will be easy for you to be very subtle with any actions you take. It also means that you’ll have time to re-evaluate the steps you want to take. Through this re-evaluation, you’ll develop a better plan of action and increase your chances for success.

The new Moon, with both Sun and Moon in Capricorn occurs on January 18th. Just a few hours before this new Moon occurs, Venus forms a conjunction to Neptune and starts moving towards an opposition to retrograde Saturn. The new Moon energy usually represents an excellent time to make new plans and perhaps start implementing them. However, you need to be a little cautious during this time because you will still be missing some important information.

Spiritually, Venus and Neptune are seen as the same energy. Both represent the power of love: Venus is self love and Neptune is universal love. When working together on a spiritual level, this energy increases your ability to utilize the energy of love in your group dynamics.

However, sometimes this same energy indicates that you’re looking at things through the lenses of illusion. When that happens, you may set yourself up to be deceived. This deceit may take the form of self-illusion. This is when you want to believe something even though all the facts around you indicate your belief is wrong. This deceit can also take the form of misinformation, usually due to omission. Either way, you don’t have all the facts.

If you’re looking for romance in your life, you may believe that you’ve found your soul mate today. If you’re looking for a new job, you may believe that you’ve found the perfect situation. The key to knowing whether you are on the spiritual path or whether you are being deceived is to listen to your inner guidance. Both Venus and Neptune also represent spiritual protection in a negative situation. This protection usually occurs in the form of subtle red flags that your subconscious tries to bring to the surface. If these red flags occur, pay attention. By paying attention, you’ll be able to make the right decisions.

The new Moon that occurs on this day is also an interesting one. The only aspect at this time is the conjunction between the Sun and the Moon. It’s almost as if this new Moon is a void-of-course Moon. Since the new Moon is in Capricorn, there is a need to look at work-related issues. This is also a good time to see if authority figures in your life really have your best interest in mind. When a new Moon is in late degrees and makes no other aspect, as in the case of this new Moon, it’s really the time to start thinking about the actions you want to take while waiting for at least two weeks (when the next full Moon occurs) before implementing those actions.

When the Sun enters Aquarius on January 20th, there are six energy points in Aquarius (Sun, Mercury, Chiron, Moon, Neptune, and Venus). All of these energy points form an opposition to the retrograde Saturn in Leo. This day signals the beginning of challenges in your life: People may challenge your decisions. The foundation of your life and your daily routine may challenge your dreams. The structures in your life may feel more like strictures that imprison you.

Challenge is actually a good thing. The first few weeks of January really focused on reviewing your life and expanding your horizons so that you could understand the best way to be a part of the world. Through doing so, you also may have come to realize that you needed to make some changes in your life. And, most of those changes focused on your relationship with other people.

People often like to maintain the relationship they have with you. And, if you decide to make changes these people may challenge your desire to create the change. So, during this time period embrace the challenges. These challenges will help you understand whether the changes are necessary in your life. They will also help you free yourself from obligations that don’t support your personal needs. In some instances, the challenges will actually let you see that perhaps you were over-zealous in making changes and may be going too far.

Since the Sun in Aquarius is in mutual reception with the retrograde Saturn in Leo, you’ll be able to find a way to integrate your new concepts with your old or current structures in life. (A mutual reception is when the rulers of two planets are in each other’s signs. The Sun rules Leo. Saturn rules Aquarius. They are in each other’s signs; therefore, they are in mutual reception.)

Challenges from others in your life will continue through the end of the month although the most intense time period for these challenges occurs around January 22nd. On January 22nd, Venus forms an opposition to Saturn, Mercury forms a sextile to Jupiter, and Jupiter forms a square to Uranus.

On this day, people may attack your new concepts through challenging your value systems. If you feel doubt about your new concepts when challenged, it may mean that you haven’t thought everything through clearly. You may need to spend some more time thinking about any changes that you want to make in your life.

On the other hand, you may feel so optimistic about your ideas that you pay no attention to these challenges. Rather, these challenges really let you see the possibilities and how you can implement these changes during the next several months.

The most important aspect that occurs on this day is the square that Jupiter forms with Uranus. This is a square that indicates a paradigm shift in social consciousness as it relates to the world view of events and your own personal view.

This square occurs in a cycle of three with the first one occurring at this time. The next two times this square occurs will be on May 11 and October 9, 2007. When the square occurs for the first time, it brings up areas of concern that you need to pay attention to. It may not be the time for action on these concerns. The time for action may be in May or October. But, at this point, it is time to lay out your plans and analyze possible ways of implementing those plans.

Jupiter is in its natural sign of Sagittarius and emphasizes that Sagittarian energy you felt at the beginning of December 2006. This means that once again it’s time for you to view the world from your spiritual perspectives and needs. Uranus, still in the sign of Pisces, indicates that your individuality is very important to you and not something to lose as you seek your place in society. Because the two planets are in square to each other, you may feel tension as you try to resolve the differences you feel between being your own unique self and still fitting into the world at large. This could be especially stressful if you are a mutable Sun sign, such as a Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarian, or Pisces. There is a desire to serve others. At the same time, there is a desire to just take care of your own life. The key to relieving stress in your life is to understand that you can’t help anyone else if you can’t help yourself. Another way of looking at this is that through loving yourself and treating yourself kindly, you are able to give that same love and care to others.

On a mundane level, this is a 14-year cycle. Historically, this represents periods of time when human liberties, civil rights, and immigration laws undergo changes. In 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. In that same year, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a new immigration law classifying applicants by family condition, refugee status, and skills. In May 1924, President Calvin Coolidge signed an immigration bill that excluded all Japanese and also reduced quotas. The Exclusion Act passed by the United States in 1882 banned Chinese immigrants for ten years from entering the United States. Meanwhile, in 1772, Judge William Murray decided in the Somerset case that a slave was free when he or she landed in England. Matters of workers’ rights and immigration laws will be a major consideration by Congress in the United States. Other world leaders will also find that these are issues they need to address in their own countries.

Feeling that you are being treated in a fair manner is important during this time period. Knowing that you have the same opportunities as any one else is something that is foremost on your mind. What you may see throughout the world are more cries for fair treatment. And, these cries may mean that countries need to look at their economic situations to understand how to generate real solutions.

With Uranus in the sign of Pisces, there may be sympathy between this energy for Jupiter is one of the co-rulers of Pisces. However, this is not a mutual reception. Rather, this is Uranus in the sign of trying to get society to listen to the needs of its people. In some cases, these needs may be those of the minority. In other cases, these needs may be those of a majority which is disenfranchised from the rest of the world.

In a natal chart, Jupiter represents where you need to expand your perception beyond what may be considered normal. It’s the planet that indicates a rebellious streak especially when it’s in its own rulership. There’s a sense of excitement when Jupiter is in its own sign. And, you may feel this excitement in your life.

Uranus is a planet that represents the need to find your individuality in the structure of society. At times, Uranus shows where you choose to be eccentric and not follow convention. At other times, Uranus represents where the fear of progress can cripple you and force you to hold on to old ideals that just aren’t working out.

Initially, a new student may feel that Jupiter and Uranus have a commonality because both planets indicate how you put yourself into new situations beyond those normally found in society. But there is a strong difference between the two: Jupiter may seek spaces beyond those found on planet Earth much like a space explorer seeks new frontiers. Yet, unlike Uranus, Jupiter represents seeking new spaces in order to bring the best of society into those new spaces. Uranus meanwhile, in its most destructive, indicates that total chaos is the best choice for change because trying to make changes through the system doesn’t work. Therefore, in its most extreme, Uranus can also represent the dictator who seeks to change the structure of society through revolution only to promote his or her own agenda.

So, the real challenge when Jupiter forms a square to Uranus is to determine how innovation in your life can expand your ability to create improvements on a daily basis and still maintain justice for all people living on this planet.

(For more detailed information on the mundane trends that this cycle indicates, you may want to read my book Trend Analysis for the Year 2007. You may also be interested in my CD offered through A-C Tapes on Jupiter in Sagittarius.)

On January 26th, Venus forms a sextile to Pluto and Mercury forms a conjunction to Neptune a few hours later. This is a good day to start finding the balance between your values and your plan for life. The operative phrase here is to start finding the balance. With Mercury forming a conjunction to Neptune you may not see everything clearly. Yet, your intuitive abilities are heightened on this day so insights may come to your through your dreams or conversations with other people.

Some people may still try to control you today. They may still try to challenge your dreams. It’ll be easier to feel compassion for these people today. And, with compassion underlying your communication style you may be able to discern whether these individuals are worried about your ideas because you haven’t thought them all through or whether they just don’t want you to change because they fear losing your friendship.

When Venus enters Pisces on January 27th, you’ll find that the challenges from other people start abating. Those who love you will be open to your changes and new ideas. But, just be a little careful the next day when Mercury forms an opposition to the retrograde Saturn. You may feel compassion for others but it’s important that this compassion doesn’t get you off track with the changes you wish to make in life. January 28th actually would be a good day where you keep your thoughts to yourself.

The month ends with Mercury forming a sextile to Pluto on January 31st. Today your voice has more power. It’s easy for you to be honest with people. It’s easy to explain situations to others. And, it’s easy for you to see how working with the right groups will bring success to your plans. This is the time you realize that you don’t need to live your life by yourself.