This may be a tad late for those of you reading 'down under' but it's still 'day one' for some in the West so may I just convey my good wishes for a very Happy New Year.January 1st is the first day of the calendar year but not of the natural year. The former marks linear time but the latter informs us about the Solar/Earth cyclical relationship which begins when the Sun crosses the plane of Earth's equator passing from the southern to the northern hemisphere on 20 March 2009. So, just as those of us in the northern hemisphere have a few months to wait before we observe a profusion of plant growth and new shoots pushing their way up towards the increasing light, we human beings will have to wait to feel any natural, unforced impetus to push forward with new projects and goals.
This is good news for those of you who may have been feeling societal pressure to have formulated resolutions and plans in time for today; resolutions such as where you are going this year and what you aim to achieve. Normally I am a staunch advocate of setting firm intentions- as I know that what the mind can envision and believe, you can achieve, however, at this particular juncture the cosmos is urging us all to become far less rule, resolution and restriction bound this year and to learn to go with the flow. Hang loose and see which way the wind is blowing and take decisions from a place of inspiration and not fear! We are perhaps being asked to cultivate more trust in a natural order and rhythm.
The next two months are going to be action packed. We have two early eclipses on 26 Jan and 9 February. Mars and Pluto have recently moved into Capricorn (and are conjoined heliocentrically until 6th Jan which is why we are hearing of so many terrible fires and there is still such tension in Gaza). Venus moves into Pisces on Saturday and Jupiter moves into Aquarius on 5th January and will remain there for the entire year. Mercury turns retrograde on 11th Jan and Venus meets Uranus on the 24th.
Changing planetary positions always denote changing conditions. Oppositions mean fluctuations between two extremes and conjunctions mean new starts. As above, so below. With so much emphasis on a small number of signs though, the focus will remain on politicians, businesses, in particular airlines, telecommunications, technology and electronics companies and we'll hear of many more mergers, alliances and collaborations. The House of Commons and the U.N. will also be much in the news as will Switzerland and Swiss Banks.
Jupiter in Aquarius is the one to watch this year as it correlates to a Jupiter/Uranus conjunction and this is one of the most unpredictable, life-changing mergers in the astrological pantheon. It's the placement of the extraordinary, the radical, the revolutionary, the miraculous and the unbelievable - in both the positive and negative sense of the words.
The last time Jupiter was in Aquarius we saw all these adjectives put to use. The year was 1997 and it was simply unbelievable that Diana, Princess of Wales should be killed in a car crash; so totally unexpected a fate at that time in her life that we were all left reeling. A mass (AQ) outpouring of grief at her death (JU) united people across the globe. We were also shocked by the shooting of Gianni Versace in Miami.
It was in 1997 that Tony Blair stormed into power with his 'New Labour'. This was an extraordinary defeat for the Conservatives and changed the face of Britain overnight. Meanwhile in the White House the words 'unbelievable' and 'I'm shocked' were undoubtedly being well used as rumours were swirling about the inappropriate relationship of the President, Bill Clinton with an intern called Monica Lewinsky*.
The Internet began its meteoric rise to world dominance and technology in general followed suit in '97. It's hard to believe that it is only in the last 12 year Jupiter cycle that surfing the World Wide Web has become such an integral part of our lives.
Aquarius is the sign of the masses and Jupiter relates to Space and 'the beyond'. Billions of people were transfixed by the sight of Comet Hale-Bopp in the heavens in 1997 and in Phoenix, Arizona the Phoenix Lights phenomena reminded us that 'the truth could still be out there'! The list goes on but the point is that 1997 was a pivotal year of extraordinary happenings and 2009 is likely to have a similarly radical impact on our culture and, for many of us with Leo, Scorpio and Taurus planets, in our personal lives too.
Those of you who have followed my musings over the years will already know why 1997 was an extraordinary year for me. Instead of waiting for the March new solar year, I started out in January '97 with all sorts of intentions and resolutions but by February they were all turned on their head when, after giving up on ever having a baby, I was shocked to discover I was pregnant.
However it wasn't that but the events that followed which marked the year out as miraculous when, with only the assistance of spiritual healers and my own unswerving faith in the power of 'Mind', the rare disorder that was discovered in my unborn child at my 20 week scan literally disappeared, confounding the Doctors and causing them to mutter the words like 'unbelievable' and incredible under their breath!. You can read that story here but, as Jupiter returns to Aquarius, that in essence is what 2009 is going to be all about - having faith in something larger than ourselves. Some organising power is at work and learning how to tap into that consciousness can change the course of events at the individual level and each time that happens it has ramifications for the collective, just like someone new joining the network of the Web adds another fibre optic pathway.
In other words, 2009 is the year where we can start to truly understand our connectivity with each other and our Universe in ways that would once have been deemed unbelievable.That's not to say that bad things won't happen this year but one person can view a job loss as a tragedy and another person can see it as the freedom to pursue a new career that aligns them more closely with their true purpose. Like it says in the serenity prayer we have to accept the things we cannot change; have the courage to change the things we can and ask for the wisdom to know the difference.
For those of you who are really worried by all that's happening in the world and the economy, I'll leave you with some favourite words of mine from the love of my life, Wayne Dyer!:
"Affirm this: What I desire is on its way. It will arrive precisely on God's timetable, not on mine. Everything that I am experiencing now is disguised as a problem, but I know that it's a blessing. What I desire is on its way and it's coming to me in amounts even greater than I can imagine. This is my vision and I'll hold on to it in a state of gratitude, no matter what".
Happy New Year.
*Fall 1997: Tripp to begin taping conversations in which Lewinsky details her alleged affair with the president.
I'd also like to point you towards a link to a fascinating page of information about January 1st and New Years Day
Read about Old Father Time/Saturn, here
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