The following is an excerpt from my 2012 Astrological Almanac.  This handy tome contains descriptions of every day, monthly summaries, horoscopes, an ephemeris, a yearly walk-through, and more. It’s available as a paperback or eBook, so if you like what you read, be sure to get one!

THE BREATH OF THE DRAGON

2012 comes to us already swathed in a gauzy cocoon of mythology.  It started with a reconstruction of Mayan astronomy/astrology a few decades back, but like a snow ball rolled down hill, ideas about 2012 have gathered mass and momentum with astonishing speed since then.  At this point it seems that everyone with hopes of salvation or fears of damnation has found a way to pin them on 2012.

In one sense, this layering of myth atop the year serves to distract us from its actual contents and dynamics.  Yet in another, perhaps more profound sense, it is an entry point into the year’s character.   Although we will not actually have to deal with Mayan Gods calling an end to time, Jesus’ wrathful return, a mass enlightenment or any of the other cartoonish end-scenarios, we will have to confront the currents of hope and fear that these fantasies represent.  The world is changing very quickly and neither nations nor individuals are sure how, exactly, to adapt.  The result is a variety of fantasies based on hopes of salvation and fears of damnation.  Each of these is a simplification, an escape from the present.  But there is no escape from history.

We are in the midst of a historic transformation.  On a political level, the epic process of globalization is changing the internal and external politics of every nation on earth.  On an economic level, the flow of capital and work are changing dramatically.  Exposure to the internet is causing cultures to mutate at an extraordinary rate.  On top of all of these changes to the human realm, the natural world itself is changing.  And you know what?  There’s nothing you can do to stop any of it. And that’s scary.

It is easy to say that change is good. We all believe in progress and evolution and all the rest of the comforting 19^th century myths.  But economic change means that the whole career path you plotted may not actually happen.  Cultural change means that the way you live your life might be very different from that of your children or parents.  Climate change means your house might not be there tomorrow.  It doesn’t matter whether things are changing for the better or not, real change always involves destruction of one sort or another.

The great World Serpent, which encircles and defines our little world, is restless.  Its slow, inevitable undulations reshape nations, economics, cultures and individuals.  Appropriately, 2012 is the Year of the Black Dragon in the traditional Chinese calendar.

The Black Dragon is the dragon of the water element, whose potent breath mists us with mind-fogging fear.  The year has not yet begun, yet it is already shrouded with this foul vapor.  Fantasies of salvation and damnation appear and disappear in the rolling banks.  This veil covers the concrete challenges of 2012, making them difficult to identify and therefore impossible to solve.

Our greatest challenge this year is not the actual conditions we face, or the changes required of us.  These are all problems that, once diagnosed, can likely be solved.  No, the greatest challenge we face is our individual and collective desire to look away from them out of fear, or to let a secretly terrified hope blind us with a vision of false salvation.

Some might think that times such as these, with challenges such as these, can be mastered only by persons of titanic ability, heroes and demi-gods.  This is, however, false.  All that it takes is a commitment to staying with the world, moving with it, and trying to understand.  All it takes is the strength to abstain from false hopes and exaggerated fears.  All it takes is a solemn oath to pay attention.  It’s time to saddle up that dragon and ride.

2012 WALKTHROUGH

1st Quarter:  Calcination

The quarter begins on a relatively harmonious but delicate note, which leads quickly into Mars’ retrograde through Virgo, which dominates the first quarter.  The retrograde officially begins on January 23rd and will last until April 13th.  The first quarter gets steadily more unstable as we move through the months.  Early February adds Neptune’s hallucinatory entry into Pisces to the drama, but it is March’s incendiary Mercury retrograde that sets the whole thing afire.  The first quarter ends with powerful but uncertain shifts afoot, with many questions not resolved until April.

January

January begins on a somewhat pleasant note, with Jupiter now direct and the sky free of toxic celestial configurations.  This relative stability endures for the first two weeks or so but is troubled as we move toward the end of the month, where Mars’ retrograde station is waiting.  Mars goes retrograde on the 23rd, the day of Chinese New Year, kicking off a whole season of challenges.   Mars will be retrograde for the rest of the 1st quarter, and well into the 2nd, as the red planet does not station direct until April 15th.

February

Mars’ retrograde irritations continue unabated throughout February, yet the red planet’s rogue journey is not the only thing that colors the month.  Early in February (the 3rd) Neptune enters Pisces.  Neptune will be in Pisces until 2025, amplifying religious experiences, seeding psychosis, reviving communism, dropping acid and generally thinning the veil.  Get ready for things to get weirder this February, drip by psychoactive drip.

March

March is one the most complicated months of 2012.  Its violent Full Moon and erratic Mercury retrograde would mark it as the worst, but these configurations run side by side with a massive Grand Earth trine and an extremely auspicious Venus-Jupiter conjunction.  There is chaos here, no doubt, but within March there is also the capacity to undertake massive adaptations to a changing world.  As befitting the sign of the twinned fishes, it is a volatile mixture of the best and the worst.

2nd Quarter: The Fixed and the Volatile

The 2nd Quarter starts out by bringing an end to March’s madness, with Mercury and then Mars ceasing retrograde motion during the first half of April.  This pair of direct stations allows things to mellow out a bit, but only for a month or so.  2012 doesn’t have a lot of down time, so you’d be wise to take the period from mid April to mid May to get your affairs in order before facing the second half of the season’s challenges.  On May 15th, Venus goes retrograde, which is followed swiftly by a solar eclipse on May 20th, a lunar eclipse in early June and Jupiter’s decisive shift into Gemini.  Things move in an increasingly frenetic manner as we enter the last month of the quarter.  June ends with a series of T-Squares and Crosses as well as the first exact square between Uranus and Pluto, the perfect segue into the chaotic state of affairs that colors much of the 3rd quarter.

April

The first half of April reins in the chaos a little, with Mercury and Mars stationing direct in the first half of the month.  After Mars’ direct station on the 13th, we hit a relatively sane patch of terrain.  The rest of April leaves us some room to acclimate to the events of the preceding months and make some progress forward.

May

May begins on a similarly peaceable note, with things proceeding along expected lines.  But by the middle of the month we plunge back into the weird.  Venus goes retrograde in Gemini on the 15th, followed swiftly by a Solar Eclipse in the Twins on the 20th.  The rest of May is dominated by the strange and intensely personal landscapes of the eclipse tunnel.

June

June begins with Venus retrograde, and hosts a variety of swift changes.  The month begins with a lunar eclipse in Sagittarius, completing the pair of eclipses that began in May.  Then Jupiter changes signs on the 11th, entering Gemini.  The big planet will be in Gemini for the rest of the year and half way through 2013, as well.

The second half of June has plenty of surprises too.  There is a rare 2nd New Moon in Gemini on the 19th, the first lunation in the sign to not be eclipsed in 2 years.  This emergence out-of-darkness is complemented by Saturn’s direct station on the 24th and Venus’ direct station on the 26th.  All of this would make the end of June a rather comforting retreat from chaos if it did not hold the first exact square between Uranus and Pluto.  This clash of the titans kicks the civil unrest and general chaos up a notch, and makes a wonderful lead in to July’s bevy of chaotic Grand Crosses.

3rd Quarter:  Riding The Wheel

The 3rd quarter is chock full of maddening configurations.  To begin with, Uranus and Pluto will spend the entire quarter in a tight square.  In fact, the two dueling powers will not separate by more than a single degree all season.  As the other planets go about their courses, they form a number of T-Squares and Grand Crosses with the volatile pair.  The bulk of these messes are played out in July, with a retrograde Mercury joining the mix mid-month.  The difficulties get taken down a notch in August, but do not truly subside until the Sun enters Virgo on the 22nd.  The Sun’s time in Virgo, from the end of August through the middle of September is a (relatively speaking) clear patch of road, empty of the complicated configurations which color the rest of the quarter.  Toward the end of September, Mercury and the Sun trigger another T-Square with Uranus and Pluto, testing what balance we’ve achieved.

July

July is absolutely overrun with Grand Crosses and T-squares.  These complicated configurations amplify ambient levels of chaos and create problems where none need exist.  A variety of real disasters and small crises wait in the winds of July’s storms.  Mid-month a retrograde Mercury joins the fray, intensifying an already confusing set of affairs.  July will be a challenge, so plan accordingly.

August

August’s shitstorms are not so intense as those of July, but the month is no stroll through the tulip fields. Mercury does goes direct on the 7th, but the middle of the month sees Venus create another T-square with dark Pluto and revolutionary Uranus, as Mars nears conjunction with Saturn at the end of Libra.  This marks the 13-22nd as host to another set of not-so-auspicious events.   The end of August sees things shift dramatically, as Mars enters Scorpio and the Sun rolls into Virgo.  Things shift from managing the chaos to considering what opportunities wait to be harvested from the confusion.

September

The first half of September sees a mixture of fierce practicality and imaginative reverie.  There is a potency in this mixture of dream and detail.  In fact, the first two weeks of the month are some of the year’s finest soil.  But as the equinox approaches, the T-square party starts up again, with Mercury and then the Sun getting beat up by Uranus and Pluto during the last week of September.  Here we’ll work to maintain what stability we’ve managed to create during the first half of the month.

4th Quarter:  The River of Metamorphosis

The 4th quarter is our exit from the state of affairs that has held since 2009 – scampering to maintain balance amidst environmental changes, social chaos and a rapidly changing world.  With Saturn’s entrance into Scorpio on October 5th, the skies shift to encourage a full-on engagement with the numerous mutations necessary to adapt to the financial, natural and cultural changes in full swing.   Looking over the data, it is almost as if the 4th quarter belonged to a different year, as we will engage with Saturn in the sign he will be in for the next 2 ½ years and are introduced to the eclipse cycle that will run for the next year and a half.   Welcome to the next phase.

October

After 2 ½ years in Libra, October 5th sees Saturn enter Scorpio.   It is from the Scorpion’s tunnels that Saturn will be setting the pace of manifestation for the next 2 ½ years.  Most intriguingly, Saturn spends all of October in a trine with Neptune in Pisces.  This dark bridge between the Dreaming and the Real wreathes the month in a strange halo.   The Sun’s time in Libra during the first 21 days of the month sees us trying to find our balance amidst this confusing shift, while the Sun’s entry into Scorpio on the 22nd redoubles the emphasis on the new direction things are beginning to take.

November

The end of the first week of November kicks off a Mercury retrograde which will endure for the rest of the month. The middle of November sees a solar eclipse in Scorpio (the 13th), the first in a series that will run for the next year and a half.  This eclipse emphasizes the shift into the dark, weird and transformative that Saturn’s movement into the stingered sign last month hailed.  Mercury, which retreats into Scorpio the day after the eclipse, spends the second half of the month emphasizing the importance of the myriad processes of transformation already in play.

The messenger’s direct station on the 26th and the lunar eclipse on the 27th point directly at what we must let go of in order to engage fully with the swiftly mutating present.

December

December comes as a bit of relief after an intense November.  No huge planetary conflicts or retrogrades complicate the last month.  There is only the long awaited solstice of 2012, which sees the Sun rise in perfect alignment with the Milky Way, which according to reconstructions of the Mayan calendar system, marks the end of one world and the beginning of another.  We’re not likely to see time and space unravel, but perhaps there will be an interesting shift in the subtle energetics.

YEARLY HOROSCOPES
♈ ♉ ♊ ♋ ♌ ♍ ♎ ♏ ♐ ♑ ♒  ♓

It’s important to remember that horoscopes are not the whole story, although they do make a good introduction.  Read your Ascendant if you know it.  If you don’t, look it up!

Aries:  The Ram

Much of the first quarter of the year is dominated by Mars’ retrograde through Virgo (Jan 23^rd-April 13^th).  On an external level, the 3 month retrograde indicates challenges to both your fiscal and physical health.  It’s an excellent time to work on reforming bad habits.  Internally, Mars’ retrograde is about the importance of being precise in your application of personal power.  It’s not the size of the sword, it’s  whether you stick the right person with the pointy end.

On February 3rd, Neptune returns to Pisces, where the other blue planet will be for until 2025.  You’ll see the sea monsters of suppressed issues and the glowing pearls of sorcerous power wash up on the shores of your waking mind.  Expect to get a little bit more introspective and a bit crazier.

Venus’s retrograde through Gemini (May 15^th-June 26^th) will see you rethinking your relationships, particularly those with siblings.  There is an underlying focus on becoming more aware of how you communicate and the impact it has on the people you relate to.

On June 11th, halfway through Venus’ retrograde, Jupiter leaves the slow growth fields of Taurus and enters Gemini, where the big planet will be until June of 2013.  Jupiter’s time in Gemini will offer you opportunities to improve your communication skills, as well as expand the sphere of those who can hear you.

Saturn moves into Scorpio in early October, marking the beginning of a 2+ year period which emphasizes the deep structure of exchange between yourself and other people.  The underlying focus here is on building equitable and satisfying connections.

Taurus:  The Bull

Mars’ retrograde through Virgo straddles much of the first quarter and some of the second (Jan. 23^rd– Apr. 13^th).  This 3 month period places an underlying focus on refining the way you apply your personal power.  You’ll become aware of inefficiencies in the way that you allocate your energies and have the chance to change the way you distribute them.

On February 3^rd, Neptune returns to Pisces, where the distant planet will be until 2025.  During it’s time in Pisces, Neptune works on slowly dissolving the boundaries of your social life, allowing new people in and enabling you to slide into new social spheres.  Of the people you will encounter, a number are likely to exhibit typical Neptunian characteristics – romantics, mystics, artists and liars.  Have fun with your weird new friends.

Venus’ retrograde through Gemini dominates the last 6 weeks of the second quarter (May 15^th-Jun. 26^th). Venus’ time retrograde will see you rethinking your relationships, as well as your fiscal situation.  There is also an underlying focus on what’s important to you – what truly has value and what you simply desire.  On a practical level, keep your eyes peeled for kinks in your financial flow during this period.

On June 11th, Jupiter leaves the slow growth fields of Taurus and enters Gemini, where the big planet will be until June of 2013.  Jupiter’s time in Gemini blesses you with a little extra financial luck, as well as a series of lessons on what really has value.

Saturn’s movement into Scorpio in early October marks the beginning of a 2+ year period which pushes you to confront the demands of partnership and better understand the limitations of your approach to relationships.

Gemini:  The Twins

Mars’ retrograde through Virgo straddles much of the first quarter and some of the second (Jan. 23rd- Apr. 13th).  Externally, Mars’ time in the Virgin’s fields will pull your attention to fixing issues with your living space and addressing friction with family members.  On a deeper level, Mars’ time in Virgo entails a slow, backward journey into where you come from, and how those origins both empower and disable you.

On February 3rd, Neptune enters Pisces, where the blue planet will be until 2025.  Neptune’s time with the Fishes dissolves the boundaries of your professional aspirations, allowing forgotten artistic and spiritual influences to leak into your ambitions.  This process of career weirding will be ongoing for quite some time, so get used to it.

Venus is retrograde in Gemini from May 15^th-June 26^th.  This 6 week period will likely entail a relatively intense emotional transformation.  You’ll be dealing with the full complexity of your likes and dislikes, desires and hatreds, which will tend to complicate both you and your relationships.  You’ll need to settle into ambivalence and let the complexities and contradictions teach you what they will.

On June 11^th, Jupiter leaves the slow growth fields of Taurus and enters Gemini, where the big planet will be until June of 2013.  Jupiter’s time in Gemini will bless you with a little extra luck and a lot of extra confidence.

In early October, Saturn moves into Scorpio, marking the beginning of a 2+ year period which emphasizes the importance of dealing with small problems before they become big ones.  There’s an underlying focus on establishing and maintaining responsible habits in spite of your inconstant passions.

Cancer:  The Crab

Mars’ retrograde through Virgo dominates the first quarter and some of the second (Jan.23^rd-Apr.13^th).  The red planet’s time there will entail a 3 month reconfiguration of the way you apply your personal power to your daily life.  Consider fixes for the various inefficiencies in your schedule and watch out for random assholes.

On February 3^rd, Neptune re-enters Pisces, where big blue will be until 2025.  Neptune’s time in Pisces opens up your view of the world, allowing new ways of looking at our human universe to slip through the dissolving boundaries of your paradigm.  This a very spiritual transit, but also carries with it the risk of letting insane and vague ideas take root in your opened mind.

Venus will be retrograde in Gemini from the 15^th of May until June 26^th. This 6 week period will see you becoming aware of desires you didn’t know you had.  A variety of strange and contradictory passions will surge to the surface during this period.  Watch calmly as the likes and dislikes emerge and recede along the shore of your subconscious.  You just might learn something about yourself.

On June 11^th, Jupiter leaves the slow growth fields of Taurus and enters Gemini, where the big planet will be until June of 2013.  Jupiter’s time in Gemini will grant you the opportunity to better reconcile the dualities within yourself, and may bring an expanded knowledge of occult topics.

Saturn’s movement into Scorpio in early October marks the beginning of a 2+ year period which challenges you to carefully structure the way you output your creative energies.  It may not be very fun, but it will most likely be very productive.

Leo:  The Lion

Mars spends most of the first quarter retrograde in Virgo (Jan.23^rd-Apr.13^th), indicating a 3 month long focus on identifying and solving financial issues.  Therein are a series of lessons on the relationship between resources and personal power.

On February 3rd, Neptune re-enters Pisces, where the other blue planet will be until 2025.  Neptune’s return opens up the flow of resources between you and other people, dissolving boundaries and ultimately teaching you to share.  While you’re learning to be a communist, your sexuality and psychic sensitivity will also be heightened.

Venus will be retrograde in Gemini from the 15^th of May until June 26^th, marking out a 6 week period which has at its core a reorganization of your social sphere.  You’ll consider the way you define friendship and who you do and do not want to stay connected to.

On June 11th, Jupiter leaves the slow growth fields of Taurus and enters Gemini, where the big planet will be until June of 2013.  Jupiter’s time in Gemini grants you an expansion of your social sphere, as well as benefits from friends and contacts.

Saturn’s movement into Scorpio in early October marks the beginning of a 2+ year period which emphasizes your obligations to home and family.  The mystery of your personal history, the role of family and your living situation itself are all within the sphere of Saturn’s concern for the next several years.  Look to your foundations.

Virgo:  The Virgin

Mars’s retrograde (Jan.23^rd-Apr.13^th) dominates the first quarter and some of the second.  It will entail its fair share of Virgo rage as well as a series of insights into what personal power really is.  You’ll learn plenty about the use and abuse of martial energy.

On February 3rd, Neptune enters Pisces.  Neptune’s movement into Pisces opens up your relationships, allowing new people into your life and stimulating your romantic side.  Unfortunately, you might want some of these strange new people to leave after a few weeks of sleeping on your couch.  You’ll have plenty of time to work out your relationship to the weird, though, as Neptune will be in Pisces until 2025.

Venus will be retrograde in Gemini from the 15th of May until June 26th, demarcating a 6 week period which will find you reconsidering how you feel about your career path. Don’t be surprised if you’re beset by sudden desires to completely change professions.  Venus’ retrograde may also complicate professional relationships.  You’ll spend plenty of time considering the relationship between business and pleasure.

On June 11th, Jupiter leaves the slow growth fields of Taurus and enters Gemini, where the big planet will be until June of 2013.  Jupiter’s time in Gemini will send you a little extra professional luck, a boost of career oriented confidence and a modicum of ambition.

Saturn’s movement into Scorpio in early October marks the beginning of a 2+ year period which emphasizes the way you structure your daily life.  Expect to experience both support and restriction as you struggle to build the best skeleton for your schedule.

Libra:  The Scales

Mars spends most of the first quarter retrograde in Virgo (Jan.23rd-Apr.13th), indicating a multi-month expedition into the cracks and crevices of your psyche in search of long lost personal power.  Expect moments of confusion amidst cutting clarity.

On February 3rd, Neptune enters Pisces.  The azure planet’s return entails slow changes to your perspective on physical health.  This influence sensitizes you to the subtle energies at work in your body and in your environment.  A fine thing, but the tighter mind-body connection may also lead to a higher incidence of psychosomatic illness.  Just avoid toxic people and places. You’ll have plenty of time to figure it out, as Neptune will be in Pisces until 2025.

Venus is retrograde in Gemini from May 15^th until June 26th, marking out a 6 week period of vacillation between divergent long term goals.  Expect your feelings to swing one way and then another as you consider possible paths. Take your time, and don’t tie yourself to one future or another until the way is clear.

On June 11th, Jupiter leaves the boring pastures of Taurus and enters Gemini, where the big planet will be until June of 2013.  Jupiter’s time in Gemini will see your worldview expand and grant you greater confidence in pursuing your long term goals.

Saturn’s movement into Scorpio in early October marks the beginning of a 2+ year period which emphasizes the structure of your finances as well as the way that you handle your resources.

Scorpio:  The Scorpion

Mars spends most of the first quarter retrograde in Virgo (Jan.23rd-Apr.13th), kindling latent conflicts in your social sphere.  Mars time in reverse will also entail a series of insights into just how important social skills are.  And how annoying people can be.

On February 3rd, Neptune re-enters Pisces.  Neptune’s return to the Fishes calls a rising tide of creativity, slowly bringing the hidden depths of your imagination to the surface. Neptune’s time in Pisces is also likely to dissolve the restrictions you’ve put on your lifestyle, exposing you to a variety of new experiences.  Enjoy, but avoid the brown acid.  Neptune will be in Pisces until 2025.

Venus is retrograde in Gemini from May 15th until June 26^th.  Venus’ time in reverse entails a reorganization of the way you exchange time, money and energy with other people.  You may see alterations to existing exchange-based partnerships, such as business partnerships or alimony situations.  Remember to stay fair with people and approach problems with patience.

On June 11th, Jupiter leaves Taurus and enters Gemini, where the big planet will be until June of 2013.  Jupiter’s time in Gemini will offer you an increased ability to draw on other people’s resources, as well as a number of lessons on the nature of generosity.

Saturn’s movement into Scorpio in early October marks the beginning of a heavy 2+ year period with an emphasis on responsibility, obligation and structure.  You’ll carry the weight of these themes, but bearing this pressure, like jogging with weights, will make you stronger.  If it doesn’t destroy your knees.

Sagittarius:  The Archer

Mars spends most of the first quarter retrograde in Virgo (Jan.23rd-Apr.13th), heralding a set of important changes to the way you apply personal power to professional situations.  It will be easy to ignite professional conflicts, so carry that big stick, but remember the walk softly part.

On February 3rd, Neptune enters Pisces.  Neptune’s movement into Pisces brings an emotional depth to your life, prompting a slow surge of your deepest feelings to the surface.  Greater insight into family dynamics and a more harmonious living situation are both on tap as the blue planet makes its way through Pisces.  Neptune will be in Pisces until 2025.

Venus is retrograde in Gemini from May 15th until June 26th.  Venus’ time in reverse will entail a reconfiguration of your partnerships.  Not only will there be changes within your relationships, you can expect your attitude toward your relationships to change, as well.  Expect to see a number of different feelings about the people close to you surface during this time.

On June 11th, Jupiter leaves the slow growth fields of Taurus and enters Gemini, where the big planet will be until June of 2013.  Jupiter’s time in Gemini will send a variety of interesting people through your life. Some of them will likely be potential romantic partners or benefactors of some sort.

Saturn’s movement into Scorpio in early October marks the beginning of a 2+ year period which emphasizes the structure of your subconscious.  Have fun exploring the labyrinth of banished feelings and in which all manner of mystery resides.

Capricorn:  The Goat

Mars spends most of the first quarter retrograde in Virgo (Jan.23rd-Apr.13th).  Mars’ reverse journey will involve a close scrutiny of what your long term goals really are.  The challenge here is to define and refine what direction you want to go.  Your answer to that question will be your vehicle for getting there.

On February 3rd, Neptune re-enters Pisces.  The azure planet’s return to Pisces’ seas opens your mind to foreign ways of thinking and communicating, stimulating imaginative modes of expression.  This influence also increases the flow of weirdos into your life.   You’ll have plenty of time to practice non-verbal communication with your strange new pals, as Neptune will be in Pisces until 2025.

Venus is retrograde in Gemini from May 15th until June 26th.  Venus’ time walking backwards will involve some changes to the way you approach fiscal issues, as well as an inspection of your emotional habits, your patterns of reaction and processing.  As normally automatic circuits of feeling break the threshold of consciousness, you’ll have the chance to do some rewiring.

On June 11th, Jupiter leaves the slow growth fields of Taurus and enters Gemini, where the big planet will be until June of 2013.  Jupiter’s time in Gemini will provide some relief from nagging fiscal and physical difficulties and denotes good fortune in regard to employment.

Saturn’s movement into Scorpio in early October marks the beginning of a 2+ year period which emphasizes the skeleton of your social world.  You’ll scrutinize your list of friends and contacts and consider the flows of time, money and energy between people.

Aquarius:  The Water Bearer

Mars spends most of the first quarter retrograde in Virgo (Jan.23rd-Apr.13th). Mars’ retrograde will entail an exploration of the potential empowerment and pitfalls of joining your resources with others.  Consider the power of teamwork but be cautious about potential allies.

On February 3rd, Neptune re-enters Pisces.  Unlike the others signs, you may find that this ingress actually relieves you of Neptune’s confusing wavelength, as the blue planet has been in your sign for the last 14 years.  You’ll likely notice a lack of Neptunian features rather than an overabundance of them.  Neptune’s energy shifts to the side, affecting your finances rather than your mind and body, connecting your income stream with the spiritual and the imaginative in new ways.  Neptune will be in Pisces until 2025.

Venus is retrograde in Gemini from May 15th until June 26^th.  This 6 week period brings up what you’re doing with your energy.  You’ll alternate between indulgent pleasure-seeking, dreaming up mad schemes, and doing strange art projects over the next 6 weeks, as you work out all of the different things you could be doing.  The question is which one your heart is truly in.

On June 11th, Jupiter leaves the slow growth fields of Taurus and enters Gemini, where the big planet will be until June of 2013.  Jupiter’s time in Gemini blesses you with a boost to your creative energy, though you may find yourself with one too many projects to invest yourself in.

Saturn’s movement into Scorpio in early October marks the beginning of a 2+ year period which emphasizes the skeleton of your professional life.  You’ll be pushed to take more responsibility.

Pisces:  The Fishes

Mars spends most of the first quarter retrograde in Virgo (Jan.23rd-Apr.13^th).  Mars’ time in reverse will test how well you handle conflict in your relationships.  There’s a lesson here on a strange species of personal power – the power to manage and dismantle interpersonal conflicts.

On February 3rd, Neptune re-enters Pisces.  Neptune’s movement into your sign will leave you feeling like the Pisces you always read about.  Dreamy, mystical, sensitive and psychic.  Live with a poet’s style, but don’t get so deep in those waters you won’t be able to swim back.  You’ll be exploring ill-defined realms for quite some time, as Neptune will be in Pisces until 2025.

Venus is retrograde in Gemini from May 15th until June 26th.  This period will oversee you rethinking your relationship to your family as well as your living situation.  Venus’ retrograde may also oversee some instability in relationships with people who share your living space with you.  Look to deeply ingrained emotional dynamics to understand the feelings and events that Venus’s retrograde will trigger.

On June 11th, Jupiter leaves the slow growth fields of Taurus and enters Gemini, where the big planet will be until June of 2013.  Jupiter’s time in Gemini blesses your heart and home with opportunities for abundance, lending you a hand in solidifying your foundations.

Saturn’s movement into Scorpio in early October marks the beginning of a 2+ year period which emphasizes the importance of long term goals as well as the power of your worldview to shape your world.

The preceding was an excerpt from my 2012 Astrological Almanac.  This handy tome contains descriptions of every day, monthly summaries, horoscopes, an ephemeris, a yearly walk-through, and more. The first 20 people to enter the coupon code “YEAR” during checkout will receive a 20% discount.  To secure yourself a copy, go here.