Happy Birthday Maggie Gyllenhaal!
By Kelli Fox, The Astrologer
Each year, right around the time of your birthday, the Sun returns to the exact position it was in at the moment of your birth. This is considered to be your own personal New Year, and it’s known as the Solar Return. Astrologers have found that if you study the positioning of all the planets at that moment — their relationships to each other and their placements in the signs — you can gain insight into the upcoming year, until the Sun returns again.As you may have noticed, most people tend to feel pretty good on their birthdays, and that’s because of the positioning of the Sun. It’s a time of gifts, celebrations, milestones and reuniting with old (and new) friends and family. It’s a time to rejoice in all that’s happened in the past and to prepare for what’s to come. And the Solar Return reading (also known as a Solar Resolution) can help you prepare by providing explanations and advice about the influences of the year to come. More than a typical astrology forecast, the Solar Return is all about you and your place in this world. It offers a revealing look into the progression of your life and how you can make the most of the events to come — it’s a great way to celebrate your future!
Sun trine Uranus: Let The Radical Ideas Flow
Authors are frequently asked just how it is they came up with the idea for their story, and more often than not, their response is that it just came to them; they have no clue how. You’ll suddenly understand exactly what they mean. Each month you’ll have brilliant ideas ‘pop’ into your head, apparently out of nowhere. Your task will be to take these flashes of inspiration and turn them into a fabulous reality.Some of these thoughts of yours may seem a bit out of this world. Follow through with them anyway. For the most part, you’ll be able to keep your radical ideas from getting too whacky or hard to swallow, and what you’ll present to society will simply be some incredibly progressive thinking. Through this all, you’ll want to maintain your excellent sense of humor. Your out-of-the-box mentality will allow you to see the mirth in even the most mundane events. Host some parties yourself to add a little more life to your activities, and find out what brilliant thoughts others are working on. Let your guests bring whomever they’d like, and see how many new and unique people you can add to your list of friends and acquaintances.
Sun square Neptune: You Are Your Own Rock
Nice as it would be to have a stable support system, your stability is going to have to come from within. Unfortunately, throughout the year, that will be made more difficult, as the harder to try to get a grip on current situations, the harder they’ll be to grasp. You’ll have to be your own rock.Everything in your world will be shifting and moving, making you wish you could just escape from it all. Again, you’re going to have to turn within. Tempting as drugs or alcohol may be, they’ll only cause you even more problems. If you need to escape, visit your own imagination; create a world of your own into which you can disappear when things just get too complicated. Or, if that doesn’t work for you, try something easier like going to a movie or taking a short trip.Romance will also be difficult now. Since your understanding of yourself and your world is inaccurate, and you don’t really see others for who they are, it will be challenging for you to relate to them. Remember that there must be some boundaries between you and others in order for the relationship to work out. Your best bet is to take many personal retreats so you have plenty of time for spend time alone and look within.
Mercury in Sagittarius: Journey Of Understanding
Yours is a journey of understanding. There is no map, and there is no destination. Yet you will continue on with your trip enjoying the opportunities for growth and learning that will be presented to you. You will have the ability to grasp lofty concepts and ideas, and you’ll be fascinated by the history of ideas, beliefs and philosophies. It will be your intent to soak up as much information as you can these next 12 months in order to help put your own beliefs into context.Sharing your beliefs will also play a critical role in the year ahead. Explaining ideas to others around you will help you develop a deeper awareness of the world. Consider writing out and publishing your thoughts as another effort to help people (and yourself) come to terms with the many concepts floating through your head. Be sure you allow your thinking to remain flexible at all times, though, regardless of the direction your knowledge takes. Letting yourself get caught up in the fundamentals of one idea will be a waste of your mental capacities. If you get stuck, then move on to something else. There will always be time to come back later, if necessary.
Mercury conjunct Venus: Sensual Wordplay
It is said that actions speak louder than words. But in your case, the opposite couldn’t be more true. Your mind is turning into a beautifully run machine, brilliantly analytic and poetic at the same time. When you turn that power toward the one you love, your words, whether few or many, will speak volumes.For the next 12 months, you’ll be charming, attractive and brilliant, and your writing and speaking styles will be sophisticated, intelligent and sensual. You’ll find you benefit by this in all areas of your life, but your talents will be most efficiently put to work in literary, social and romantic fields. From writing your own romance to hosting a party, whatever you attempt will prove successful. These skills are also useful in mediation, where you’ll discover you’re something of a miracle worker when it comes to helping people see eye to eye.If it’s love you’re looking for, it’s love you’ll get. All of those qualities listed above will make you desirable and sought after. It will simply be up to you to decide to whom you’ll devote yourself. When you finally do narrow it down to one person (if you haven’t already), write them a poem or song. Your words will go straight to their heart.
Venus in Sagittarius: Forget Commitment
Who could possibly want to be tied down when there are so many options out there to explore? If you don’t feel that way yet, you will soon. This will be a year of constant change and new experiences for you, and you won’t want to waste your time on anything that remains the same for too long. While this may not be an ideal situation for serious relationships, you can bet you’ll have a lot of fun. In fact, if possible, you should probably try to avoid commitment all together — it just won’t be your thing. You’ll be much more interested in going out with as many people as possible and moving around frequently.Travel will certainly be high on your list of things to do, and the more places you can visit, the happier you’ll be. You might even want to consider a foreign romance. If you can’t get to a foreign country, then go out with someone who’s visiting your town. A little taste of something different will be quite satisfying. Keep an eye on how you deal with money throughout your escapades, though. You’ll be awfully tempted to just throw it around, but don’t let yourself go overboard. Something like Las Vegas is a lot of fun, but it’s not a dependable way to improve your financial situation.
Venus sextile Saturn: A Fulfilling Love
This is no time for some lighthearted, romantic fling. The stars have aligned themselves so that your upcoming year will be full with commitment and responsible love. Now it may not seem immediately like this is the most passionate or exciting time of your life, but this is an opportunity for the kind of love that really lasts — the kind that indicates comfortably getting old together. Ultimately, that can be a lot more exciting than any short-term escapade.You’ll have a strong sense of responsibility, which will also benefit you when it comes to your career and your finances. Working hard and saving will be no trouble for you. You’ll be sensible and loyal, which will translate into a good work environment — and also a sturdy love life. As long as you can keep your communications and feelings clear, whatever relationship you’re in now or start soon will have an excellent chance of being both fulfilling and long lasting. If you find yourself having trouble expressing your emotions, try some sort of creative means — write a poem, draw a picture, spell it out with pepperoni on a pizza — just get your feelings out in the open.
Mars in Virgo: Practical And Efficient
The epitome of practicality. That’s you. Or, at least, that will be you as you work your way from this birthday until your next. Every project your put your mind to will be done in the most efficient manner possible, and you’ll meet every deadline. You’ll be able to work with both abstract and tangible ideas and projects, which can be a rare ability. No task will be too small for your complete attention — in fact, the detail-oriented work is where you’ll excel. Romantically, you’ll find that you become much more sensual than passionate as the year progresses. Your body will be quite sensitive and easily thrown in and out of balance by your mental state. If you start to get confused by your physical reactions to whatever life throws your way, then channel your energy toward doing good work for others. Selfless acts will help you feel good mentally, which will, in turn, balance out your physical drives. You will have great stamina and determination when it comes to improving both your own circumstances and those of others. Again, the detail-oriented tasks will fit the bill well here, as anything that can keep your mind captivated will free up some of the stress that’s placed on your body.
Mars trine Pluto: Stimulus For Transformation
Does it feel like you may not be acting on some of your ambitions as aggressively as you’d like? Well, this year could change all of that. The stars are aligning themselves in such a way as provide you the stimulus you need, but gently so that no one around you feels threatened. This will be an excellent time to initiate changes you’ve been wanting to make in your life — or to come up with some new ideas and act on those! A transformation is just around the corner, and you are fortunate in that this will be a smooth, easy ride.You’ve been told in the past to trust your gut and that couldn’t be more true than in the coming months. Listen closely to what your body is saying — it’s never wrong if you take the time to interpret it accurately rather than just jump in with whatever crosses your mind first. You’ll also be extremely motivated when it comes to work, and your leadership skills will be topnotch. Be sure you direct your energies toward a career or project that will benefit others as well as yourself. It’s only through assisting others, even indirectly, that you’ll get the most benefit from this astral climate.
Mars trine Jupiter: An Energetic Perspective
Sometimes you just feel so lucky about everything going on in your life. But is it really luck? Or is it your ability to see both the big and small pictures, and then use that to your advantage? Well from this birthday until your next, it will most certainly be the latter. You’ll be rife with creative energy and positivity, and you’ll eagerly see the good in everything that comes your way.Whatever you put your mind toward finishing will be completed in record time and probably with a bit of pizzazz and flair. Everything from romance to work will keep you well energized and feeling good, and you’ll be able to use your successes to motivate you further, while you’ll hardly even notice any failures (if they occur at all, which is unlikely). Want to make this year even better? Take some of your excess energy and take up a new sport or exercise routine. That will jazz you up even more and you’ll be in great shape by the time these 12 months are up. Remember that, though you feel this good, you’re not completely invincible, and you’ll be able to round out the year with good health, true love and a successful career. Don’t ever let yourself forget that this has nothing to do with luck; it’s all about your perspective.
Mars opposition Neptune: Imperfect Ideals
It will be tempting to project your ideals of a perfect lover onto whomever you’re with. At the same time, you’ll be trying to live up to your own romantic and sexual ideals of the kind of lover you believe you should be. Both cases will lead you straight to disappointment. If you’re going to love, you must do it in the real world. As you’ll learn during the coming year, fantasies are fun, but true fulfillment can only happen when you embrace reality.Unfortunately, this will be a difficult lesson to learn, as you’ll have a hard time even realizing when you’re projecting. You’re going to have to develop a more sensitive, compassionate side in order to really understand how to relate to someone you care about. Until you manage that, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to have a truly happy relationship. This will be an emotionally trying year, but you could find success if you channel your energies into a creative or imaginative project. Focus on accomplishing something, like art, that can provide a bridge between your natural aggression and your need for compassion. Just be sure to avoid addictions like drugs or alcohol, as they’ll only make the situation worse.
Jupiter in Taurus: Earthly Wisdom
The world around you can offer up plenty of learning opportunities that you can use to improve your life. It will simply be up to you to uncover these and use them to your advantage these next 12 months. Nature, especially, can provide a wealth of knowledge. From the growth of the plants to the communication between animals, there’s a lot for you to learn. One of the most valuable lessons you can learn this year will be to take pleasure in all the small things around you.It’s time to unravel any cynical attitudes that may have been holding you back. Your life does not need to be any more complicated than you make it, and only you have the capabilities to make things easier for yourself. If possible, take responsibility for holding down the fort. If you’re smart with your investments, you could create some extra time for yourself. Plus, notwithstanding your tendencies to go to excess with food and sex, you’ll have a good grasp of the essentials of life, and your love and understanding of security will make you a solid rock that those close to you can build upon. Share your wisdom of creating this ideal life with others — they may not heed your advice immediately, but you’ll have at least planted the seed of knowledge.
Jupiter retrograde: Open Your Mind
For hundreds of years, people believed the world was flat. And then, in what was comparatively a blink of the eye, they were forced to change their views and accept that the earth was round. Don’t be surprised if your beliefs go through a similarly drastic about-face, this year. You’ll need to remain completely open-minded when it comes to the values of others because you never know when you might be completely stunned to discover that they could actually be right. This doesn’t mean that you’ll have to disregard the beliefs and faith you’ve worked so hard to develop over the years, but it does mean that there may be more to life than just what you understand at the beginning of the year. Travel as much as possible to open yourself up to new ways of thinking, and then share what you’ve learned. Talk with people you come across, and maybe even think of becoming a teacher. This will be one of those times where you may not even realize change is happening until much later. Just remember that, regardless of what you think or feel about the events and values around you, it’s important to remain open to them — they may just change your life!
Jupiter trine Pluto: Selfless Power
You will benefit the most when you work to help others. If this doesn’t seem logical, try it out. When others get help from you, they’re more likely to turn around and help you in return; or someone else with a generous heart will see your good deeds and do what they can to improve your situation. That will be especially key this year, as the less selfish your goals, the greater your personal achievement. On the flip side, if you desire and seek out power for your own personal gain, though you will succeed in the short term, the effects could be negative in the long run.Positive changes will also be your motivation this year, as you’ll work to improve your life in many ways. As mentioned above, you’ll certainly seek out more power than you’ve had in the past, but you’ll also want to embark on a crusade for ‘the truth.’ You won’t want your life or anyone else’s to be ruled by a dogma that is inaccurate, and you will happily put your energies toward becoming a truth-seeker. Intuition will play a role in your life this year, and if you learn to use it properly, you’ll easily know if the path you’re on is the right one, or if you should change directions.
Jupiter sextile Neptune: Imaginative Guidance
The imagination is a shockingly powerful tool. It’s pretty much the reason we’re able to be empathetic toward others. Our imagination allows us to put ourselves in their shoes and at least get a feel for what they must be going through. These next 12 months, you’ll see your imaginative abilities grow exponentially, and because of this, your desire to help others will also increase. This will also be a great time for you to grow as an individual as your dreams will help you forge ahead into new territories.Each experience you encounter will teach you a great deal and you’ll be able to use what you learned to move on successfully to the next experience. Again, helping others will be an opportune way of letting your knowledge manifest in a positive and useful form. Focusing on what your dreams tell you can also give you a unique perspective to the world, and when you combine that with what you’ve learned, you’ll have quite an arsenal of options for making worthwhile changes to both your life and that of others. Allow your selfless desires to take over this year, and you, as well as those you assist, will be grateful for the results you’ll be helping to bring about.
Jupiter opposition Saturn: Choosing The Right Path
You’re coming up to a fork in the road: Should you take the road toward expansion and optimism, or the path that leads to responsibility and achieving goals through hard work? Unfortunately, it’s not really a decision that you’ll be able to make. During the next 12 months, this dilemma will pop up over and over again, mostly resulting in confusion. Your options will be completely polarized and finding a middle ground could start to feel impossible.You’ll find yourself torn between grand life schemes and the details and effort that will be involved in bringing them to life. It would be nice to just be an idea-person, but your ideas can’t turn into reality without a lot of hard work. You’re going to have to try to find a balance between these opposing forces. And then you’ll also be faced with deciding when to fix past mistakes and when to forge ahead with your future. This will require great mental strain and possibly even physical effort, but if you succeed, you could be on the track to great prosperity. This probably won’t happen immediately, but rather, by the end of the year, you could be much wiser and on the path to personal, professional and romantic prosperity.
Saturn in Libra: Hard Decisions
Indecision is waking up, shaking itself off and getting ready to rear its ugly head. You might want to prepare yourself for a lot of unpleasant decisions in the coming months. That doesn’t mean that you’ll have to choose between a rock and a hard place, but choosing between something like two people with whom you’re in love is never a fun choice to make either. As you struggle to deal with whatever options are placed in front of you, you may begin to suffer from feelings of self-doubt.The first step toward fixing these issues will be to accept that they exist. If you’re in denial about any of your fears — and those include fears of compromising yourself or losing your balance in life, as well as indecision — your world will only become more complex. On the other hand, if you can face your fears and come to terms with them, you’ll have a much healthier approach to the decisions you have to make, which will help make your future choices much easier to deal with. Taking on a responsible perspective with your options will also allow a natural balance to come back to your life, almost without any extra effort from you.
Saturn trine Neptune: Two Worlds Merge
Prepare yourself for an important merger this year — a merger between the conscious and unconscious worlds. Your dreams and intuition will work in harmony with reality, and your ideals will mesh well with what’s true in your life. Creative endeavors can be hugely successful, as you’ll be able to take shapeless ideas and turn them into something tangible. One half of you will be structured and grounded, which will allow your other half to give form to the visions and images that emerge from your imagination and subconscious. So pay close attention to your dreams; you never know from where your next great idea will come. Your spiritual life in general will be quite prominent. Whether you follow a structured religion or practice more personalized beliefs, your faith will play a strong role in your actions and ideas. You’ll also find yourself more instinctively putting others first. Your needs are important, but the needs of your friends, loved ones and even strangers will seem more crucial and deserving of your attention. Giving selflessly will practically be second nature — just be sure you don’t give away your savings! Try volunteering at a homeless shelter instead of just donating money.
North Node in Sagittarius: Personal Belief Systems
Yours is an expansive future, one in which you’ll have the most success when you can look around you and put everything into a larger perspective. There is a holistic nature to all things, an inherent connection between everything you do and see, and it will be up to you to try to find the purpose and meaning to these events. Create your own belief systems that take everything you understand and use that knowledge to make sense out of the world. This will help you push forward with your own personal development. Intellectual studies, education and travel can all assist you to pursue that elusive goal of the meaning of life. Your ability to collect facts and information will be strong, and you’ll be able to piece together ideas and systems of thought and turn them into principles to live by. Once these are in place though, you may discover you have tendencies to stick so strongly to your beliefs that they become dogma. However, it will be your openness to new ideas that will be one of the most crucial aspects to enhancing your life experience and your view of the world. Be spontaneous, optimistic and broad-minded as you venture down your journey of life.
Neptune in Aquarius: Cyber-enlightenment
Enlightenment and technology will come together for you this year, as you seek to achieve a higher state of human connection through the use of global technology and advancements. You will desire a spiritual unity of all people, and you will use such progressive tools as the Internet and computers to achieve your goal. This is the first time in recorded history that such an enormous human connection could even be considered, and you will be at the forefront, helping to make it all come together.Even more exciting is the possibility to experience such large-scale communities and interactions, while still maintaining your individual space. You will break down older New Age concepts and begin establishing entirely new ones in which the individual can connect and remain alone at the same time. If you haven’t already, join some cyber-organizations and start chatting. You can also use the coming year to familiarize yourself with, or improve your skills at graphic design. That’s a great channel for combining your creative imagination with the complexities of computer technology and ability. Just be sure all of your experiences are your own and that you don’t get too influenced or disillusioned by some of the other people out there.
Pluto in Capricorn: Societal Transformation
Your mission for the year will be a total overhaul of all the outmoded forms of society that can no longer measure up or function as they’re supposed to. Sound like a big job? It is. But you can start by just focusing on the structure of your own life and trying to transform that before you even attempt to tackle societal issues. One of the key areas you might want to look at improving, though, will be your social status. The higher you can raise your social standing, the more freedom you’ll have to make more necessary changes later on.In fact, if you can increase your social status, you’ll actually be on the path to breaking up some of society’s most useless structures, which involve placing power in a small minority. Your goal is to work your way into that minority and try to break it up from the inside. Again, this is by no means a small task, and you should only focus on your own life this year. Maybe a promotion at work can help you reset some of your corporate structures, giving you practice for a bigger job later on. If you want to jump right in to freeing society from the power of the social elites, then see what kind of luck you can have in your own town. Volunteer for an elected official or get your own name on the ballot for the next election.
Uranus in Aries: The Energy Of Life
All beings, all forms of life, everything that moves — it all requires energy to keep going. Humans are special in that they can choose how they use this energy. This year, your goal, should you choose to accept it, will be to transform yourself and possibly the world with the pioneering and radical energy that will bubble up from within you. Creative and original currents of ideas will course through you, and it will be up to you to see them through to creation. Your mind will be active and engaged, and your inner urges will encourage you to move into action. Any challenge placed before you will be one you will happily meet, but remember that there’s more to overcoming adversity than just meeting it: You must follow through, as well. Once you’re able to overcome your difficulties, you’ll find that your progressive nature is able to bloom on its own. Basically, this all boils down to figuring out the most effective uses for your mental powers. Fortunately, you’ll be practically fearless about change and about your approach to life. When you know where to point your aggression and intelligence, a powerful, progressive transformation will begin.
Uranus square Pluto: Pressure Buildup
Imagine a tea kettle. You’ve put the water in, and turned up the heat. Then you wait as the water begins to boil, and that’s when it starts to get interesting. The pressure builds and builds until so much steam is being forced out of a tiny opening that it begins to whistle — and then it screams. And if you leave it long enough, the lid might just pop off. Now, imagine that’s your life. Some or most of your life is building up a lot of pressure and it’s about to explode. Things could get really messy for a while, but the relief you’ll feel when the pressure is off of you will be well worth it. You’ll finally be able to move on to something else.If you want to make things a little easier, you can find aspects of your life that clearly need improvement and begin to make the changes yourself. That will help release some of the pressure early, so you won’t deal with quite such a big eruption. Something you’ve depended on for a long time will suddenly disappear — your car might die or your computer might crash completely — and you’ll need to simply accept that as fact and go out and get something better.
