Mental Mercury and the Sun move into ingenious Aquarius on January 19th. There they’ll be set to rub elbows with trend-setting, rule-bending Uranus and expansive Jupiter. Crackling with evanescence, 2013’s Aquarius cycle will host a full Leo moon and see Jupiter turn direct. Though Mars and Mercury will head into mellow Pisces in early February, vivacious Venus will keep the electricity flowing when she enters exciting Aquarius at the same time. Quirky, colorful and always original, Aquarius insists on marching to the beat of a different drummer. Truth be told, the fixed air sign of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart prefers to pen entirely new compositions. Our hearts and ears delight in the ensuing magnificence. But before any singing along begins, some brazen soul must step forward, willing and eager to explore unfamiliar frontiers. Fortunately for us, history ultimately celebrates the best of these revolutionaries, and the incoming solar cycle is awash in inspiration and moxie.The most courageous waves will be beaming brilliantly from Aquarius’s ruling planet Uranus. It is in pioneering, unabashed Aries and it will make favorable connections with Mercury on January 22nd, the Sun on January 24th and Venus on February 6th. Those hookups will immediately be followed by bounces from benevolent Jupiter, on the 22nd, 25th and 6th respectively. The flow of good fortune picks up momentum after January 30th when giant Jupiter awakens from its retrograde slumber and begins its annual forward motion. The planet of plenty is transiting sociable Gemini until late June, and its current connections with fellow air sign Aquarius will be highly harmonious.
While contemplating the deeper essence of unruly Uranus, a great astrologer once noted, “If you’re not pissing more than a few people off, then you’re not expressing Uranus correctly.” Ok, I made that up. But one likely consequence of living life on the Uranian side is what author Howard Sasportas more elegantly describes as unleashing the Furies. That is to say that Uranus, the first planet located beyond conventional Saturn, represents a break from tradition. When we challenge the status quo, be it in the family, workplace or larger society, we will more than likely uncork, and become the target of, the submerged frustrations of others in our group. Our ability to pull away confronts them with their own stagnation, and challenges them to grow. Awakened Uranus sees all involved with compassion and without judgment, completely respectful of everyone’s right to be exactly who, where and what they are. A advocate of the alternative, it lovingly understands and accepts even its dissenters and detractors as part of a unified whole. Further, Sasportas writes that we will also likely experience internal conflict through the change we attract, consciously or subconsciously, from Uranus. In provocative, uproarious Aires, the wakeup calls to action are loud and clear. They will continue ringing throughout the Pluto Uranus square series lasting through 2015. We can either play victim to “unwelcome” changes that were “forced” upon us, or sit high and proud in the saddle, with the reins firmly in hand, and enthusiastically direct these maverick energies.
The false and fear-mongering are in for a rough ride though; this is the terrain of real revolution. These wild and unknowable realms will take those pursuing purely self-serving agendas to task. This is transparent and transpersonal territory, and altruistic Aquarius puts the welfare of the collective above individual comfort and self-interest. Its privileged pantheon includes Thomas Paine, Susan B. Anthony, Jackie Robinson, Abraham Lincoln, Christopher Marlowe and Galileo Galilei. All took immense risks, endured alienation and made substantial personal sacrifices when their ages required progressive leadership. Our times are no less trying. The day to pay homage to and to further the work of the bright Ones who bravely blazed before us has dawned. As the Sun arrives in inventive, innovating Aquarius. we are reminded of our ability to counter crisis with nobility. As our daily practices reach our lofty ideals, the common good advances and heaven flowers here on earth.