The end of 2019 will be like a diving board, springing the whole world into the heralded year 2020 which as everyone has projected will be one for the ages. I will analyze 2020 at another time. Right now I am predicting that it will be a Jupiter/Uranus trine that puts the energy that propels the show down at the Capricorn corral, featuring Jupiter Saturn and Pluto, I use this old west analogy to point out that Jupiter will be a catalyst for a huge amount polarizing energy in most pragmatic element, earth. This will be with the help of Uranus so we know something exciting is going to happen

Jupiter will bring all the energy of transiting through its home sign of Sagittarius when it ingresses into Capricorn with it trine to Uranus in mid December 2019. With all the conjunctions in 2020, it is worthy to note that this is the power in springboard. Uranus has been stirring up Taurus for a while and that electric energy which is shaking up this fixed sign of the bull and emitting the news that change is coming.

The energy of these two planets will supply a thrust for shaking things up. Uranus is the rebel, the desire for independence, the inventor, the progressive, the seeker originality and uniqueness, the resourceful, and the free. It can at times also be the radical, the impulsive that needs to be reigned in. That is its polarity to Taurus. It wants to make the fixed sign change. This will then be passed on to cardinal sign of Capricorn.

Jupiter is coming full of the expansive energy of Sagittarius which it rules. It wants openness, optimism, higher law, spirituality, liberal values, idealism, cross cultural awareness, confidence, dignity, humanness, and benevolence mention a few of the planets many traits. It brings the mutability and a flexible approach to maters of self and individuality. It aims high, to the stars, even.

This Jupiter/Uranus energy is a trining energy, which hopefully will bring some type of amelioration to the darker Pluto/Saturn that lurk deeper in the waters of 2020. Think of it as a shoehorn that helps slipping into Capricorn a little easier. It will certainly make December 2019 one to remember. With all this energy at two degrees of earth, certainly the winter solstice might pick up a little of this momentum and make the ingress to Capricorn a little special.

Solar Return, Two Eclipses,Planets at Crisis

When one is seriously thinking about the stars of fortune coming up, it appears to be a stressed configuration. A mix of heavy duty, polarizing energies are going to be released and the solar return of President Trump could well be a topic of interest. The solstice June 21 is coming up, right after the president’s birthday, June 14th. Trump is such a powerful man that his chart has been talked and written about by the best of astrologers trying to get some perspective, so lets start with him. At one frightening level the idea could well be argued, that as Trump goes, so does the country.

If you are into studying the planetary patterns, then Trump’s chart is a field day because there are three triangular configurations, two yods and a mutable T square with Neptune in Pisces at the focal point in second house which makes me worry about the softening of the economy as his political vision will be stretched to a point that boundaries in national and world affairs are going to come to such flux that aggression will dominate the national tone. This Neptune T square finger is part of a grand water trine as Neptune trines Moon in Scorpio and Mercury in Cancer. So the stress will be emotional, and hopefully will handled in blustering controlled negotiations. The kettle boils as issues with China, North Korea, and Iran. At home the state of the balance of the powers of the House of Representatives, the senate and the Supreme Court will be tested.

T square opposition is Mars and Saturn is exact at 18 degrees of Cancer and Capricorn. This is a powerhouse of a configuration. I don’t see how this cannot mean a large complexity of issues will cause a crisis. The solar return’s Saturn and Pluto are in the 12th that some large issue will come out. Maybe the Mueller report will be released? Perhaps. Yet I see the problem more in foreign policy where Iran will be an issue to be dealt with. Korea would be my next guess and China the last.

The summer solstice puts the powerful opposition of Mars and Mercury in Cancer in the 12th and Pluto and Saturn in the 6th into play and suggests that these problems will carry on for some time. The July 16th Lunar eclipse puts the continued power of stelliums in collision. Now we have the moon conjunct Pluto, while Saturn is in exact with Venus. Venus, sun and north node bring attention to the third and ninth houses. Venus in the third is in a wider trine to Neptune in the fifth. Communication, and flustering and saber rattling will be the norm. However the tight walk is close here because one slip could bring a war or some skirmishes which I fear will happen. Lets hope that the hot heads will cool down a little. Across the mundane playing field there are points that also place the US government in a constitutional crisis. Take your pick.

There are so many things happening it is a puzzle of power and personalities that exact dates are difficult to predict yet the zeitgeist is clear. We are headed into a few months where the United States will be the center of this looming storm. It is like a storm that will proceed to the problems brought on by the powerful conjunctions in 2020. The yods indicate that the way will not be easy and the resolutions will take a lot of insight and patience. It is a clash of cultures. Consider this time as a trailer to the main event of next year. The roller coaster we are on will then shift in high gear. More to come later. Late summer will be even more interesting as the retrogrades of the big planets will shift to direct and start moving. The game is on.

Eris is the goddess of discord and she will continue with her influence in 2019.
The year of 2019 will be a springboard for the great cardinal conjunctions of 2020.
Eris will be in 22-23 degrees of Aries, and along with Uranus transiting the end of Aries and the early degrees of Taurus will add the drive for more changes in women’s rights, and the LGBT movements. The drive for freedom from old customs and prejudices will expand as the year moves on.

Who is Eris? She is a dwarf planet beyond Pluto, but slightly larger than Pluto. She is the goddess of anger and revenge caused by not being invited to a meeting of the gods of Mt. Olympus. She shows up to the party and creates discord with her anger and revenge against the harmony of the gods’ party and manages to create discord and the final result is the Trojan War.

The “war” that will continue into 2019 is the persistent clash between the status quo and the growth of the drive for freedom to minorities. The “#MeTo” will now become more focused on “#NeverAgain” movement to establish clearly defined laws on building a better legal structure to promote the ideals of personal freedom and fight the restrictions on civil liberties. We will see more women’s marches.

What will be a large energy of 2019? Jupiter is one of the big keys to creating the energy for propelling onto the vast implications of 2020. Already the astrological community is focusing on 2020 and kind of passing over the implication of Jupiter in Sagittarius, a sign of expansion, and emphasis of legal, religion, communication, and cross cultural values. With its energy it will square Neptune deal with the ideals of defining those values of cultural goals. The clash will become stronger as the year progresses. The trade wars may become more dangerous to the world economy, 2020 will expand this complex situation even further.

Mars and Venus will not go retrograde as they did in 2018 and this will help propel the energy of both gods as they make hard and soft aspects as they transit the zodic, which will make spots of excitement as they take their impact on a personal level, especially Sagittarius and Pisces.

I will continue this with further and more individual notes at the year moves on.

Venus goes retrograde from October 5th to November 15th. During this time Venus with descend from being the Setting Star in the West — disappear– and emerge as the Rising Star in the East. This cycle was not missed by the Chaldean Priests whose myth of Inanna takes this sequence and has Inanna descending into the darkness to see her sister Ereshkigal who is having a hard time as Queen of the Underworld. After a soap opera of sibling rivalry, Inanna emerges in the East rather upset. The myth actually says East Rising Inanna Inanna is an aggressive maybe nearly volatile. The Mayans go further and name this phase of the retrograde the emerging Venus is more like Mars. Go figure. Cross cultural myths are always so interesting.

Anyway, that myth aside, Venus retrograde should at first be looked at as the part of the “re” (add key word).
Review, rethink, reexamine re-plan,re-imagine,regroup. This method is helpful and can lead to some great renewed perspectives in this introspective journey into the self.

However, I would like to suggest write down key words for Venus that show the polarities of the energy field.
On the one positive side Venus: beauty, gentle persuasion, balancing, affection, flirting, love, social graces, etc. On the negative side can be: not so beautiful, unbalancing, overly ambitious, envy, jealousy, slut, all around problem child of moods and twisted passions. This examination of the polarities should be a clue as to the field or spectrum of the planet. Old lovers could calls, a dangerous affair might be broached, a back stabbing. Or it might be re-birthing and energizing. The Chi may be enlightening. This could be a time of discovering past mistakes and make plans to do better, to try harder, to be more sensitive, or not as sensitive.

Change will happen. First I recommend breaking up or seriously rethinking all relationships which have gone flat. Or worse relationships which are like a vampire of spirit, sucking you dry of energy and time. We all carry some freeloading friends who take much more than they give. Time to weed the garden and get the ground open for new seeds of growth.

There can be a karmic aspect to this time as in retrospect you identify particular karmic points in your life and the positive and negative energies you have gone through. Sometimes even a phone call, a chance meeting, remark, can have more meaning when re-examined from a retrograde and reflective period. It can be quite rewarding to see the pattern of the flow of one’s life. This can also lead to spiritual matters which yield insights for personal and spiritual growth. Mystical experiences brought on by reflection is know to have happened. Also the theme of passing through a time of darkness is very instructive to help when depression or bad moods hit. All will pass.

Let’s not forget that Venus starts at 10 Scorpio and goes to 25 Libra. Note your fixed and cardinal sign configurations in your natal chart to see what aspects the retrograde will make and the possible results. Remember, the Chaldeans would say that Venus rising in Libra will be a more aggressive goddess with some active plans for action on settling scores. Since this will be during the 2018 election cycle will prove more that interesting.

Mars is going retrograde at the 26th of June to the 27th of August, two months for this cycle that happens at a key time this year. This time includes three eclipses (2 in July, 1 in August) and a Mercury retrograde (7/23 – 8/18). The first word of advice from this corner is to have a lot of patience. The energy streams around this ole planet will be going in various directions and it is wise to take one’s time and cope with an ambiguity that makes this easier to say than to do. A pilot has to trust his/her instruments when going through the clouds and the same is true for this personal period of time. Trust deep instincts be cautious, watch for riptides in the metaphysical wind which challenges directions. Check temperaments as the days move on.

A second word of advice is to go to the old standard and very true skills of coping by using the big “re” principle. The “re” stands for the prefix of action, rethink, review, re-plan, reconnect, research,regroup,restore, reassess,rewrite, re-edit, redefine, reconsider goals . . . etc.These actions are time tested. Expect confusing speeding up only to have a slowing down.

For most people the energy goes inward as the desire is to look at internal and personal modes of acting and receiving. This leads to the overview of the self and where you are at this at this time. Boundaries may need repair to protect from being overrun by outside and challenging activities or seductions that should be firmed up so that this work on soul and self can have some internal core that is the working self with the tendency of the ego involvement is something that must be coped with.

The core of Mars is exposed during this time, there is ripple of passive aggressive. Sure, sometimes there will be anger that strikes out, yet most profound is that this slowing down, this realizing that the heat has been turned down. The old fight or flight in Mars at this time is in thinking about both fight and flight as a type of flux of vibrations that can be looked at with more dispassionate eye and heart.

The inner self can look at sex and the physical strength as being slower and easier to understand because the retrograde motion sends the planet back from Aquarius to Capricorn where it will pivot. First imagine Mars in the realm of Uranus: which is shaking up with its entry into Taurus) as bringing electric amperage in a level of spark and synapses which bring cracks in what is looked at from this fixed sign ethos of struggling with the status quo. Sensitive awareness to this energy, a person is like a seismograph. There will be quakes as old ideas crumble to new ideas which promise more success and growth.

I gave a lecture recently and advocated that the best way of dealing with this is to work with a notebook. What is going on? Write it down, think about the implications. Note the eclipses and Mercury rx times and see what spice they add to your dreams, both as an aspect in a goal, dream job, etc. and the dreams you have at night. Dreams should be taken as notes from the subconsciousness to consciousness – actually like a message from the realm of archetypes. Past moments, future projections as well as hints of past lives which lurk in the substrates of the instinctive self and soul in dialogue. Check out the aspects and houses in your chart. Remember this is the time to review, etc.

Look forward to this retrograde for while this retrograde starts in Aquarius, an exulted Mars will go direct in Capricorn and the pragmatic and practical will return with the plan to get things properly grounded with the energy field and growth worked out. Then Mars goes down the road to re-square Uranus and the spark plug will start integrating and expanding on the new/learning it has gone though and changes will come. It will be interesting.

Wow! After 7 years in Aries, Uranus enters Taurus. This will not be pretty, even though Venus rules Taurus, Uranus has the greater trump power. Two signs could not be fathomed more different, and both are fixed and stubborn.

In a game of chicken one loses by being a “chicken” swerving out of the way of the other car and there by having common sense and self interest. In the game of the gods, one trumpets the call for change, even rebellion, and then there is Taurus Venus, staid pragmatic and in love with the big, the pricey, but still not gauche or beyond the common rules of esthetic.

Uranus is nervous, the uncle who always tapped his foot when he visited for Thanksgiving. Cud chewing Taurus is an earth Venus sublimely sitting in a green pasture, grass to eat. Always lurking in this content is the power of Taurus, the bull. When angry the power of Taurus is born of horn and muscle and an attitude that is extremely volatile. It is this bull that will test Uranus the Aquarian. There will be collateral damage as the social dust blows away.

There is a bit of growing chaos in some of Uranus energies — all of which Venus will have to take awareness of, and sensitive to, for she is diplomatic and esthetic, socially skilled, masterful in the acts of love and art. Yet to the electricity and high voltage of Uranus there must be surrender, for the status quo cannot be sustained and a brittle point will mean there will be fissures on political and social allegiances that will precipitate an energy when the fear of what is happening?? A good question to ask, but who knows, really, The shock waves of the growing instability of profound democratic institutions is something that needs to be met with elasticity and willingness to pull the ropes of the contest to the side of Taurus. It will need to be flexible and still pull off the needed earthy stability. The bull is too strong to be just shunted away, even by Uranus.

Either way we look at it, the only thing we can bet on is that this transit of Taurus by Uranus will last seven years and then it is hello Gemini. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We have, immediately facing us, is the knowledge that the year 2018 will be a politically hot one, not that it hasn’t been inconceivably hot enough at present with all the different fronts that are now blazing like little fires that are about to come together to create a huge blaze that sets new records. We have seen fires like that, coming together and becoming a monster of flames and doing some real, measurable damage, some of it quite painful. Seven years, remember, and we have ringside seats. Sit back and hold on.