Learn how to get the most out of my forecasts.

by Brian Habit

NOTE: The following forecast is based on your rising sign (Ascendant), not your Sun sign. If you do not know your rising sign, please visit www.astro.com and enter your birth date, time, and place to determine it.

Happy birthday to those of you who are Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, or Taurus! Several planets change direction during this quarter-of-a-year period, marking various shifts in momentum. In addition, visionary Jupiter and Neptune are dancing an idealistic tango, and Uranus moves from your 10th house to your 11th.

In February, then, aim to move forward to realize ambitions related to earning money or making more strategic use of your sense of self-worth. Strike an inspired, yet more realistic balance between your public and private pursuits. Starting in March, slow down enough to explore your gut-level feelings and where you’re going in your life, when it comes to combining lives or resources with other people. In April, start making inroads in real estate, home, or family matters, based on your expanded vision of what’s possible there. During both March and April, act with boldness and independence to inject some novelty into your routine and follow your unique vision of the sort of future that you want for yourself. In late April and most of May, reflect on ideas that you’ve considered, or actions that you’ve already taken (especially those related to finances or family), before moving toward resolution later on such matters.

That’s the quick blow-by-blow. Now, let’s look at these trends in detail.

On February 16, expansive Jupiter, currently in your 4th house of roots, faces off with spiritual Neptune, in your 10th house of public pursuits.

This aspect will build over the course of several weeks, strengthening as the 16th approaches, and dropping off sharply but still continuing for a few more weeks after that date. Jupiter and Neptune form an opposition about once every 12 or 13 years. Each time they do, it triggers different parts of your chart, so the feel or the theme of it may be similar, but it’s probably playing out in different parts of your life. This time around, this aspect is especially significant for those of you who were born on or near January 30, May 1, August 3, or November 3.

If you were born in early-mid Aquarius, then Neptune is currently passing over your Sun, calling on you to define yourself and express your identity in a more spiritualized or idealistic way. At the same time, Jupiter is opposing your Sun, confronting you with opportunities that are available if you think of yourself as more of a performer than you have customarily done.

If you were born in early-mid Leo, then the situation is the reverse for you: Neptune is currently confronting your Sun. He’s challenging you to redefine yourself as a more spiritual or altruistic being, as more of an idealist with a vision to share, and to demonstrate it through some tangible expression of your creativity. Meanwhile, Jupiter is combining with your Sun, encouraging you to have greater self-confidence and to redefine yourself as a person capable of greater success than you’ve ever imagined.

If you were born in early-mid Taurus or early-mid Scorpio, then both Neptune and Jupiter are squaring off with your Sun. In their own ways, they’re each pressuring you to adjust the way you define yourself and express your vitality. With Neptune, it’s because your ideals or dreams have evolved to the point that you can that your old self-image now acts as a barrier to your realizing them. With Jupiter, it’s because opportunities that were not available in the past are now within reach, but in order to take advantage of them, you’ll need to think of yourself in more flexible terms.

Whether you fall in one the groups listed above or not, this tango between Jupiter and Neptune is activating the same areas of your chart: your 4th house of roots and your 10th house of public pursuits. For about a year, you’re going through a period of strategic withdrawal in terms of developing your Jupiter (your ability to recognize and take advantage of opportunities). Becoming emotionally self-indulgent would hamper your ability to act confidently in the future. On the other hand, tuning into your feelings would help you strengthen your emotional base of support for later, when it’s time to take your exuberance more "public" again. Look for opportunities to start, heal, strengthen, or expand matters related to your home, family, or real estate.

That’s what Jupiter is up to in the long run now. Neptune, meanwhile, sings an otherworldly spiritual song to you from your 10th house of public life. Neptune appeals to your idealism, to that part of you that longs for an elevated experience, far above and beyond "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" of someone trying to make his or her way on Planet Earth. You’re going through a phase of a good 10 years or more in your development of spirituality. In this phase, it’s time to update your career or other "hats" of authority or prominence that you wear in your community, to better reflect your spiritual values and ideals. It’s time to tune in to life’s intangibles (such as your intuition, imagination, or idealistic longing) and declare to the world what your soul tells you. Let yourself build castles in the air in your most public pursuits, but be sure to build a foundation under them, one that can realistically keep them from crashing with a thud. Doing this will help you continue to develop your spiritual side, that part of you that longs for something greater or higher than life’s mundane matters.

Jupiter and Neptune have a lot in common, so they’re often in sync with each other. They’re both visionary, big picture, idealistic planets. In February, however, they might be pulling you in two different directions, with Neptune acting in a less tangible way but still somehow tending to get the upper hand in the struggle. For example, you might struggle with a sense of "divine discontent"-the restless longing for something perfect and transcendent in an imperfect world populated by all-too-fallible humans. Maybe you long for spiritually inspired, imaginative, or altruistic experiences in your profession or in your capacity as Scout den mother, or local political party representative, or some other community figure. Being in such a state might undermine your ability to throw yourself enthusiastically into the more private aspects of your life. Another possibility is that, if you are living in a dream world or misleading others in connection with your reputation or aspirations, Jupiter may magnify that tendency now. Jupiter might muddy the waters for you and a parent or some other authority figure (such as an employer, supervisor or government official).

Now, I don’t want you think that this dance between Jupiter and Neptune necessarily means trouble. It doesn’t. The potential for excess, confusion, and disillusionment is significant; but if you mind the usual cautions that apply with these two, it will help you reap more of the good and less of the bad. Expand on opportunities, but do it in moderation. Don’t outstrip your ability to juggle roles in your public life and private life. Get someone else’s help to play devil’s advocate for you if you’re considering taking on some high-powered role or pursuing some inspiring ambition. Make sure that you’re considering the cons as well as the pros of situations before you dive into them enthusiastically. Take care to communicate clearly. Make sure that what you intended to convey is what actually gets understood. If you’re tempted to act in less than truthful ways in dealing with family or authority figures now, think again. You could find that you’ve dug a hole for yourself or you have to do some major backpedaling later. Verify details before committing yourself. Whether anyone intends to misrepresent the facts or not, it’s a good idea to double-check them. If you’re feeling moved by some idealistic fervor, try to dial it back a notch. Don’t throw it out, but don’t throw caution to the wind either. If you take these steps, then Jupiter and Neptune can serve as your wings, helping keep you aloft as you come closer to realizing some precious dreams during February.

On February 22, no-nonsense Saturn starts moving forward again in your 2nd house of resources.

Saturn retrogrades once a year for almost five months at a time. Whenever he changes direction, some important change is likely to happen in your life in some matter associated with Saturn. Let’s review what Saturn represents and then look at this current development.

Saturn symbolizes that part of our consciousness that has to be practical and strategic in order to survive in the physical world. Saturn has high standards. He demands self-discipline, commitment, and quality. Saturn is how we develop self-respect and faith in our destiny. This taskmaster of the planets also relates to how we make peace with solitude. He’s our ambition, our sense of realism, and our conscience or superego-that part of us that has expectations for how we act. Saturn structures and solidifies whatever he touches.

In addition to what I’ve already said about Saturn, for you he’s also related to your 9th house of experiences that lie beyond your everyday routines and your 10th house of public pursuits. Therefore, this planet symbolizes your approaches to setting goals and associating with others and to achieving your aspirations in our most visible community roles. Currently, Saturn is moving through your 2nd house of resources: earning and spending, worldly possessions, your sense of self-worth (or worthlessness), etc. Given this, Saturn’s current change in direction may also have implications for matters related to these aspects of your life.

In mid to late February, then, you may experience a major change in connection with one or more of the matters mentioned above. Saturn’s change in direction is especially significant for those of you who were born on or near March 12, June 12, September 14, or December 13. At the same time that Saturn starts moving forward, he either passes over your Sun (general vitality and sense of identity), squares off with it, or confronts it. For all of you, you’re going through a pretty serious time when it comes to how you define yourself and express that part of you that needs to shine.

Once Saturn starts moving forward again, focus on using his energy in a freer, more direct way in those matters that are related to this planet. If you’ve used the time that he was moving backward productively (since October 10th) by planning a solid strategy, you’ll be able to go into a higher gear now, supported by the shift in his energy. For example, if you’ve had major reservations about whether to buy something, perhaps you can take action on it now, based on good judgment and practicality. If you’ve faced discouraging delays in earning money, then maybe you can make a breakthrough now. If you’ve been feeling down about yourself and what you’ve got going for you in the past few months, then give yourself a break. Admit that you really do have some useful personal strengths. You’re not an empty bag of tricks! Focus on using them to your greater advantage now.

On March 4, energetic Mars bursts in your 9th house of experiences that lie beyond your everyday routines.

In terms of your current 22-month cycle of developing your will and asserting yourself, you’re almost at a peak now. Between early March and April 21, arm yourself with a sense of adventure, and focus on recovering your sense of wonder in the world. If you do that, it will help you continue climbing toward a culmination of developing your will that you started after this cycle began in March 2002.

Wherever Mars is stomping around, you can expect heightened energy-independent, impatient, warrior energy. Like with conservation of matter, there’s also conservation of energy in a sense. Martian fighting energy will come out one way or another now, in connection with ideas and experiences that help you have a sense of meaning and understanding of the world. It’s just a question of how.

What’s your pleasure? Would you like it to come out in physical ways? Mars thrives on activities that demand physical energy. If that’s the case, then you might go on a strenuous, challenging jaunt to some unfamiliar or exotic locale. Think of the settings used in the TV show "Survivor," and then go put yourself in someplace where you can test and stretch your ability to function outside your comfort zone. You don’t have to go abroad to do it. For example, you could hike part of the Appalachian Trail if you’re in the eastern U.S. You don’t even have to go out of state or out of town. Just go somewhere that’s new to you, some place where you can act with high energy and daring.

Would you like to channel the Martian energy into your interactions with others? Mars is marching through your sector of the principles by which you live, of philosophical and spiritual beliefs, of intellectual thought. Therefore, think about how you might be feeling railroaded or trampled upon at the moment in such an arena, and pipe up about it. Perhaps it’s time to defend your territory in a university-related matter or with someone from a different walk of life (such as a foreigner), or concerning your religious convictions. Confrontation can be a delicate matter. It can be fraught with below-the-belt maneuvers, pushy power plays, or endless bickering. Even so, having a healthy confrontation now and then helps clear the air. It can help keep our relationships honest and clear a path for us to go after what we want. When we face some fear or anxiety-provoking situation, it presents an opportunity to feel more effective. To fight fairly now, champion your own right to self-determination while respecting others’ rights to do the same. Mars is in your house of legal matters, so if you’re headed to court or trying not to head to court, think how you might use such an approach to work for you.

Would you like to throw the fiery drive of Mars into some situation in which you don’t have to accommodate others? Then stake out some horizon-expanding role or responsibility that will be yours and yours alone, something that you can carry out without having to coordinate with someone else or follow another person’s lead. Take a course about some topic that interests you at a community college. Start publicizing some endeavor that’s near and dear to your heart. Take a trip far away to restore your zest for life. Martian energy is pioneering, but it doesn’t fit naturally with being a team player.

Whatever you do, don’t try to ignore or squelch your need to act in high-spirited ways in your routine-busting activities. Doing that would only increase the risk of accidents (maybe of the minor but annoying sort) or resentment that seeps out in unproductive ways. With alternatives available, there’s no need to settle for that.

Come April 21, it’ll be time to go public, to declare who you are and what you’re about, to your community or to the world. From late April till mid-June, aim to reap what you’ve sown since you’ve started this cycle, through developing your will and asserting yourself.

On March 10, freedom-loving Uranus catapults into your 11th house of goals.

Uranus represents our evolving individuality. He symbolizes what we need and what we do in connection with our unique brand of creative genius. Once Uranus starts rumbling through the 11th house of your chart, he’ll be agitating for you to approach the whole subject of your future in a more individualistic way.

You have now finished a stage of going public, of declaring to your community who you are and what you’re about, never mind how others might pressure you to act. During the next seven years or so, it’s time to look toward the future. It’s time to act with greater independence in setting goals. If you avoid setting goals, it will hamper your ability to act with freedom. If you hang out with individuals or groups that encourage you to drift, or to act rebelliously or provocatively, then that could also short-circuit this process. However, if you blaze a path toward the future that reflects what you need in order to be true to yourself, then this will help position you for success in years to come.

Uranus says, "Whose future is it anyway?" The answer is that it’s yours, and you need to act accordingly. That doesn’t mean that you have to alienate yourself from others or provoke them. It does mean that you’ll need to send out bold, clear signals about where you’re headed. Doing this will help fend off people that you don’t have any business with—those who have chosen not to choose a future, and those who want you to follow the herd or the pack, like just another sheep. It will also help you attract the sorts of individuals, organizations, and movements that are compatible with your agenda.

Now, don’t be surprised if other people’s jaws drop or their tongues wag when you start planning and associating in ways that are uniquely you. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds," but try telling that to members of your old garden club when you rumble into town with the Harley-Davidson motorcycle crowd--or vice versa. Faced with social pressure, you may think, "Who needs this hassle?" It is easier in the short run to stick to your original program for the future. It’s easier to run with the same old crowd than it is to come out with surprising new goals or friends. And the pressure to change back may also come from those whom you’d expect to be "on your side." Their intentions may be quite honorable. They may truly just want you to be happy. Nonetheless, with Uranus in town, you can count on feeling alienated from your familiar circumstances, sooner or later, if you try to stick to Business As Usual. Do that, and you’ll be like an empty house that’s been abruptly vacated: the lights may be on, but no one’s home.

With Uranus, the trick is to take the initiative, to inject some necessary creative change in your general approach to life, before lightning strikes and you find your approach shaken up by unexpected or unwelcome circumstances. It’s important to act in an autonomous self-directed manner. This means that you neither kowtow to the way everyone else does things, "how it’s always been done," nor that you do the opposite of what others want, in knee-jerk fashion. That might feel good in the short run, but it may get you attacked in the public square or run out of town for no good reason, and it won’t necessarily be true to your deepest wants and needs.

On March 23, transformative Pluto starts creeping backwards in your house of experiences beyond your everyday routine.

Pluto retrogrades once a year for over five months at a time. Whenever he changes direction, some important shift is likely to happen in your life in some matter associated with Pluto. Let’s look at what Pluto represents.

Pluto represents that part of us that wants to transform ourselves or the world around us, that wants to do something "important." Pluto represents a sense of mission or destiny. With this planet, the question is whether you can identify some sort of wisdom in yourself that could make a great difference in the world, and then fulfill your destiny by humbly sharing it. Pluto offers us tremendous potential for good or bad. If good, we transcend ourselves and become our mission. If we learn Pluto’s lessons, we face the absurdity of life. We accept the fact that we’re mortal, but we also want our lives to count for something. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by life’s absurdity, we decide to make a difference. We identify with some purpose greater than ourselves and this transforms our awareness. With our expression of transpersonal power, power to affect the masses, we become a symbol. We give body and voice to some cause that motivates many other people, and our lives have a profound sense of meaning. For you, Pluto also rules your 7th house intimacy, so he also symbolizes the way you go about establishing and maintaining deep interdependent relationships, whether friendships or romantic or business partnerships.

Currently, Pluto is moving through your 8th house of instinctive, gut-level reactions to emotionally powerful experiences. This part of your chart also represents any way that you make yourself vulnerable for the sake of deep bonding with another—financially, sexually, or otherwise. You’re in a stage lasting 10 or more years, in exploring and absorbing what’s in your psyche, as part of a process of developing your sense of having a personal mission in life. Denying that you feel whatever you’re feeling, because it’s troubling or mysterious, might lead you to feel bleak or bitter, obsess about your plight, or compulsively try to satisfy puzzling drives. However, if you take a deep, comprehensive look at your feelings and motivations now, it’ll help you get on with absorbing them. Knowledge is power, and such knowledge could help propel you more powerfully toward realizing your destiny.

Around the second half of March, then, you may experience a major change in connection with one or more of the matters mentioned above. Pluto’s change in direction is especially significant for those of you who were born on or near March 10, June 10, September 12, or December 11. At the same time that Pluto starts moving backward, he either passes over your Sun (general vitality and sense of identity), squares off with it, or confronts it. For all of you, you’re going through a pretty serious time when it comes to how you define yourself and express that part of you that needs to shine.

Once Pluto starts moving backwards, concentrate on using his more contained energy in a more internal or reflective way. Emphasize make plans carefully in Pluto-related areas. If you do that, then when Pluto turns direct again on August 30, you’ll have your ducks in a row and you’ll be ready to surge forth like a dynamo, supported by his freer, more openly expressed energy.

For example, if you’re considering making a major financial commitment with a business partner or some other associate, and it’s the sort of opportunity that would sill be a possibility in August or September, then you might want to take several months to think it through carefully. In that case, explore whatever feelings it brings up for you, what the exact arrangement would require of each of you, and what it might allow you to do, that you would not be able to do otherwise. If you’ve got the time to weigh the deeper implications and details, then use it to your advantage. Then, once Pluto moves forward again, you’ll be in a better position to act with a sense of calm and a purer burning passion about any commitment that you do make.

On April 3, expansive Jupiter starts moving forward again in your 4th house of roots.

Let’s review what this house represents, and then we can see what to make of Jupiter’s about-face. The 4th house symbolizes everything that relates to your sense of having physical or emotional roots, or your sense of not having such roots. It describes your attitudes toward your home, your private life, that haven that you create from the world and how you relate to family members or other people who sleep (or used to sleep) under the same roof with you. It also describes the emotional underpinnings of your personality. It’s the house of feelings and the subconscious, emotion and intuition. It symbolizes the most heroic and darkest images that you have of yourself ("I’m a superhero," "I’m an evil villain"). Though these images are caricatures of yourself, they do hold vital grains of truth about your hopes and fears—pretty important stuff to understand if you’re ever going to do anything about them.

Now then, in December 2002, Jupiter threw his buggy into reverse while he was bounding through your 4th house. (He makes such a retrograde maneuver once a year or so, for almost four months at a time.) For the past several months, joyful Jupiter has been going backward through your house of roots, and what an experience it has been!

Maybe you’ve found it harder to act with confidence and enthusiasm in your private life. Whether due to your own doubts or also due to external circumstances, you’ve probably gone through some disappointments or delays in expanding on your hopes and dreams, especially those related to your home life, family, or real estate. Has life seemed to rain on your parade on the home front? Have you had misgivings about acting on your enthusiasm there? Hopefully, you’ve used these past few months to reflect on possibilities for expanding on current ventures or starting new ventures in this department of your life. Normally, when we have an inspired idea, we want to act on it and succeed in a big way right away. However, this has been a time to slow down the pace of implementing such ideas. The more you have used the past four months to plan and reflect, the better the position you’re in now to seize new creative opportunities and run with them.

Aim to pick up the pace now in matters related to Jupiter. For you, Jupiter rules your 8th house of instincts and your 11th house of goals, so look to related activities for ways that you could finally move forward on your enthusiasm more freely. Maybe you’ve wanted to improve your relationship with creditors, or investors, or borrowers, and it’s been hard to rein that in. Maybe you’ve wanted to pursue some dream that you have shared with a friend or partner, but financial arrangements have been a tangled mess. See how you could make headway on that now. The same might be the case for some organizational or group endeavor. Mercury starts moving backward in late April, so make what headway you can by late April. Then change gears for a while, to evaluate the progress that you’ve made by then.

From late April until late May, restless Mercury moves backwards through your 1st house of style.

Mercury zips through your 1st house once every year or so, for a few weeks each time. This time he’s there for longer than usual, from early April till mid-June. This is because he’ll first move forward, then backward, then forward again through this same territory. While Mercury moves through your 1st house, act like you’re Gemini, whether that’s your Sun sign or not. Pretend you’re an expert teacher or a consummate networker. Play the role of a journalist or a witness to everything that happens around you. In general, it’s a time to collect information, process it, and share it with others as knowledge, ideas, or opinions. Curious Mercury thrives on varied activities, communication and travel. When a planet is in your 1st house, it takes on some of the flavor of the first sign of the zodiac (Aries). That means that it’s time to communicate in a bold, independent, pioneering way. Now, that’s a generalization about the two months or so that Mercury is in your 1st house. During the middle third of this period (while he is retrograde), it’s time to go into a lower gear temporarily.

Mercury retrogrades three times each year for 19-24 days at a time. Around the times when he changes direction (near April 26 and May 20), you may experience some important change involving communication or travel. Mercury rules your 2nd house of resources and your 5th house of self-expression. Therefore, at either time, it could also involve your income from employment, spending, worldly possessions, or sense of self-worth. In addition, significant shifts could occur in relation to your self-expression through parenting, recreation, romance, or entrepreneurial activity.

In any event, while Mercury is doing his backward boogie, it’s time to slow down your thinking and communicating, to approach Mercury-related matters in a more deliberate, detailed, reflective way. You might be tempted to speak without thinking, or to go on "automatic pilot" in your traveling or routine movements, but if so, resist that temptation. You’ll get better results, and quicker results, if you take a well-considered approach to thinking and moving about.

Use the time between late April and late May to reflect on the results of ideas that you’ve implemented in the past and to "debug" ideas that you’ve planning to implement later, especially in connection with imparting information or ideas to others. Revisit people, places and ideas from the past. For example, clean out old files, or look up past associates, or travel to places that you visited some time ago. Double-check the details of any matters that you don’t want to revisit again before you try to finalize them-contracts, sales, purchases, travel details, etc. Plan carefully for later, and then move forward on your ideas in late May or afterwards. By that time, you’ll probably be able to express act on your thoughts, ideas and information more openly and with less inhibition.

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