After a strong year for recognition and career, 2009 brings the reaping of many benefits from this increased respect for what you do. Your business income improves, and you now focus on going after your fondest hopes and wishes, not only material and career goals. 2009 is a fabulous year for networking and establishing pleasant (and, in some cases, possibly even profitable) friendships and group associations. You continue to be especially ambitious this year, and there is a little less focus on family and personal matters, although changes are likely in the home, which can include moves, repairs, and changes in the structure of the family. In the last two months of the year, some will face relationship tests and trials, but strong partnerships survive and mature. Many Aries will be forming solid new business partnerships at this time. March and April bring some backtracking in the areas of relationships, partnerships, and finances. Take this time to review these matters with an eye on improving them. However, from the last week of April and through May, romance sizzles. Wonderful opportunities to make money occur in June and the first week of July. November can bring challenges, with career and partnership goals clashing. Changing roles on the career front figures strongly this year, as you take on more authority and power. 2009 brings wonderful benefits from networking--get connected!
2009 Details. Jupiter, the planet of abundance, graces your solar eleventh house this year, bringing benefits and fresh energy to networking activities, the formulation of broad long-term goals, acquaintances, clubs, and organizations. You can rely on your friends for their help and support, and your circle of friends may increase during this fruitful transit. Your long-term goals and wishes tend to be broad and perhaps unusual or ahead of the times, and you take great joy in dreaming up ideas for the future. Achieving your goals comes more easily in 2009. Others tend to value your advice and often turn to you for help. You could become more active with friends or in your community. You may have opportunities to join or lead clubs or groups. Group activities and associations could be avenues for fulfilling your own goals. You may take special joy in sharing ideals, a common cause, or a sense of belonging with others. You are especially hopeful and more inclined to believe that if you wish it, it will be! Income from your business or career is likely to increase. More tolerance of others is displayed now, and you are inclined to take interest in alternative subjects. Reaching out beyond your personal circle can certainly open doors to you and bring joy into your life during this cycle. These positive circumstances won't necessarily fall into your lap, and are unlikely to come all at once. You need to keep your eyes open for opportunities in these areas of life.
The most favorable periods for these matters occur while Jupiter is in direct motion in your solar eleventh, from January 5 through June 14, and then from October 14 through December.
Saturn continues to transit your solar sixth house until the end of October. Saturn's presence in your sixth house isn't completely new to you--it's a cycle that began in September 2007--but continues to affect your life this year. Saturn turned a critical eye to work, daily functions, habits, and health at the beginning of this cycle, and you likely experienced some feelings of pressure at this time. You likely found yourself more accountable than ever when it came to your work and output. You may have initially felt bogged down by what seemed like undue pressure in your routines. The key word here is "seemed", simply because the nature of Saturn is such that the pressure it brings is never truly undue. In fact, Saturn knows better than us, and it is in reality very much "due". Why? Because things we may have previously neglected or disregarded now come up for inspection. Some of the questions that this cycle calls up include: How can you make best use of your time? How can you manage your day-to-day life, and your body, better? You became more and more aware of all of the "fluff" that you had surrounding your daily routines and your work, and spring cleaning became necessary. This is an excellent period for starting new regimens to better your health and well-being, such as regular exercise, more structured and productive use of your time, and so forth. In fact, you may have experienced events and circumstances that forced you to do so, or at least provided you with the motivation to get your act together. Traditionally, this transit was associated with health problems. Generally, though, if health concerns manifest, they are ones that are manageable. They signal the need for change in diet, routines, and habits. Because this transit is already underway and past its acute period, in 2009, being more productive, healthy, and focused comes more naturally.
Saturn transits your solar seventh house from November forward, but will mostly affect early Aries (those born March 21-25, and those with an Aries Ascendant of 0 to 5 degrees). Saturn motivates us to do "spring cleaning" in the areas of life it touches. In your case, significant one-to-one relationships need to be considered and understood during this transit. This is a time when you need to define, understand, and crystallize your significant relationships with others. If you already have a partner, this is a time when any issues surrounding compromise, flexibility, and the ability to give your heart to your partner will surface. Initial frustration in the early stages of this transit this year may take the form of feeling criticized and "examined" in this area of life. By the end of the transit next year, however, you will have learned much about commitment and compromise. Those of you who are single are likely to feel the initial pressures of Saturn transiting the seventh house as well. A feeling of loneliness is possible in either situation (whether you have/had a significant partnership or not), but instead of an issue of re-committing, the single person will seriously think about commitment in general. If involved in a casual love relationship, when Saturn transits the seventh, a pressure emerges concerning the need for evaluating your commitments. Often this transit corresponds with an urge (or pressure) to make a commitment or a re-commitment. Healthy partnerships can be the outcome of this transit, whether they are new ones or strengthened existing partnerships. Saturn always brings with it a fair measure of reality and objectivity, so that whatever relationships you may have now or want to have will be defined and re-defined. Relationships are seen now as serious matters! Partners are no longer simply for amusement or mirrors of your ego. Responsibilities to partners, the need to compromise, and the realities of the needs of others, become clear. You are forced to begin seeing others as individuals, and to improve the manner in which you relate to and with others. Depending on your age and life circumstances, "significant partnerships" can mean partnerships with loved ones, business partnerships, and even deep friendships. By the end of this transit, quantity in the relationship department will have been replaced with quality, and this process involves time, soul-searching, frustration, and eventual fulfillment. The acute effects of this transit occur from November 2009 to October 2010, after which it will be easier to see the positive side to Saturn's influence.
Saturn opposes your Sun (those born March 21-25, and those with an Aries Ascendant of 0 to 5 degrees) from November forward, demanding that you take a good hard look at where you stand in your close personal relationships, and in terms of your life path. Frustrations in your relationships with a significant other and with authority figures can arise now. You might find that your plans are opposed now--events seem to conspire in such a way that you must slow down. You could also find that people are not as sympathetic towards you than they are normally. It's time to assess what is most important and worthwhile to you.
Saturn teaches us about the value of moderation and caution. Perhaps the best way to "handle" hard Saturn transits to your Sun is to avoid fighting these lessons. Accept that, at this time in your life, things may move at a slower speed (even a snail's pace). Saturn wants us to work hard, put our energies into practical, useful, and meaningful projects, and to live in the here and now. This period in your life is a time for building a solid foundation. Understand that moderation at this point in your life is necessary for your spiritual growth and your physical body as well. Avoid blaming others for where you are at now--doing this will only lead to feelings of melancholy and anger. Know that this period in your life, while temporary, is a time for learning about your personal limits as well as your inner strength. Carry these lessons as you move beyond this phase, because how you handle your life now will make all the difference the next time (approximately 7 years from now) Saturn makes a hard aspect to your Sun.
Jupiter conjuncts Neptune in your eleventh house three times this year--May 27, July 10, and December 21. A spirit of altruism and generosity, making connections with others from a different background, widening your mind through unusual or different experiences, expanded faith, and a feeling that anything is possible if you set your sights high enough are all themes. With the ruler of your ninth house and the ruler of your twelfth house aligned, you could experience a more spiritual philosophy of life, or belief system, this year. Faith is strong. Being too opinionated, however, can backfire. Opportunities to travel or further your education can come seemingly out of the blue, and sometimes come from past connections. Spiritual teachers may come into your life. Friendships may be quirky and at times confusing, but also bring a lot of pleasure into your life. You could find new friends in people with strong Pisces and Sagittarius traits. Friendships with people whose cultural background is very different than yours could be enlightening.
Uranus continues to help release you from unconscious habit patterns, perhaps stirring up your private life (your private life has certainly become more "colorful" in the last few years), and interjecting some unusual coincidences into your life. This whole process will continue throughout 2009 and beyond, acting to slowly but surely detach you from the past. Neptune continues to move through your solar eleventh, adding some color and imagination to your social life. In the past few years, you may have faced the need to draw some boundaries with friends and the demands of others. Your loyalty to certain groups or friends may have been misplaced, for example. You have experienced, and will continue to do so, a subtle yearning to belong with a friend or a group who shares your own ideals. This can lead you to attach yourself to unusual, more spiritual, or downright wacky friends...well, colorful ones at the very least.
Fundamental changes in the way you see yourself, how you treat others, and in the direction your career is headed are in store for those of you born with an Ascendant of 0 to 4 degrees Aries and those born March 21-24. How you have handled issues of personal power and the sharing of power with others in personal and professional relationships come to the fore. You are likely to experience events that highlight the necessity to share and trust. This year, events and circumstances are such that you learn about your own personal strength. You may have to deal with willfulness and issues of power and competition this year--in others and in yourself. There are likely to be times when you feel on edge, volatile, or even threatened. There is an inner drama taking place this year, and a feeling that external circumstances are undermining your own feeling of powerfulness. In the process, you may be able to get in touch with your internal motivations. A tendency to want to control your life through some form of manipulation is strong during this influence. Meeting with obstacles in your path, however, can force you into the position of using all of your resources to fight back, and you can discover resources you never knew you had in the process! You may slowly uncover a new direction in your career--one that reflects more of the “true you”. You may also experience tangles in your close personal relationships, perhaps more so with males. Watch for jealousies and manipulative behavior. Things will not go in your favor if you resort to tactics to get what you want. If you have been feeling somewhat of a victim in your job, for example, then this will be a year when you feel it more acutely and feel the need to do something about it. You could have problems staying calm, cool, and collected at times. Buried resentments come to the fore and demand to be dealt with.
January's Solar Eclipse falls in your eleventh house. In the first half of 2009, you will be learning about letting go of your attachment to the drama of romance and personal relationships, as well as your willfulness. You are called upon to learn about the value of the team. You may need to give freedom to your romantic partner instead of expecting him or her to follow a script of your own making. You learn the value of brotherly love and the benefits of a sense of belonging to a community. Events are such that you move towards a more objective approach to your life and you cultivate true friendships. February's Lunar Eclipse falls in your solar fifth house. A romantic affair may be tested. If love is true, there's nothing to fear. The demands of your larger goals in life may have been eclipsing your pleasure-seeking activities. Also possible, your children may be going through their own changes and "stages", and need more attention now.
July's Solar and Lunar Eclipses fall in your fourth and tenth houses respectively. It's time to take steps to improve your family and home life. You may need to review and change your career goals as well. Career matters come to a head. You're called to perform, perhaps on a moment's notice, and it's best to keep your cool and do whatever you can to show your competence.
The August Lunar Eclipse falls in your solar eleventh house, and friendships may be tested, or your relationship to groups or organizations. You're looking for validation from friends and group activities now.
Your strongest financial periods in 2009 occur from April 19-30 and June 6-16. Watch for overspending especially from June 1-14, however. Also, the period from March 6-April 17, while Venus is retrograde, can mean some backtracking and review is necessary when it comes to your personal finances. Avoid making major financial decisions during this period (this is also true for close partnerships).