Your Month

FEBRUARY 2012

Your New Money World

From Wednesday February 1^st the money, the business, the house, the flat or the possessions seems certain to take you away from dull reality. From Friday February 3^rd Neptune is in your Second House, which will alter the atmosphere for you, at the bank, for years. You could liken it to a poem. And how could your bank statement ever become a poem? But there is something new approaching. It’s more obvious on the 7^th. And seriously real near the 14^th. Yet you will feel it from around 7pm, London time (GMT) on the 3^rd. You’ve never seen anything like it. It’s your new money world.

Basically, Neptune lets you know that there are other worlds out there, apart from the one you used to know, no matter if it is the cash, the house, the business or the flat that concerns you. And you can read more on Neptune’s impact on your life at The Astrology Show at http://www.theastrologyshow.net. Neptune was discovered in the same year that hash (hashish) became famous throughout Europe, after one writer decided to publish his experiences in a famous French journal of the time. So this is now the dominant factor in terms of your money and all it can and cannot do for you, on February 14^th, 15^th, 16^th. It’s a trip. It’s an escape. It can take you away, away, away (page wobbles in front of your eyes in uncannily realistic dream-sequence).

Neptune is about hazy vision. That is why when you dive into salt water you cannot see. It is also about the haze of smoke in the air, in French hash dens in the 19^th century. Nobody could see then either. When you play saxophone (the sax was patented in the year of Neptune’s discovery) you don’t read the notes on the sheet of music, if you are a typical impro Jazz player. You feel the music, man. You sense it. Are you now getting a picture, Aquarius, of what money will be like in February? And Neptune stays in this zone of your chart until 2025!

That  week of Monday 13^th is really striking, no matter how Neptune manifests. Pisceans, or people with Neptune in aspect to other heavenly bodies in their charts, at 0-1 degrees, may be involved in the discussions or the paperwork. You can check at www.astro.com if you are curious about this, Chiron is also on board in Pisces so there is a strong feeling that there are no boundaries any more. Chiron the centaur is all about testing the limits, to see if there actually are any limits. Classics historians tell us Chiron was the centaur who taught people how to use medicinal herbs. Drugs, to you and I – herbs to the Romans. So there is an increasing sense of the hippy, dippy and trippy coming through your Second House of finance, property and business.

Australia is Aquarian. She was born in the public imagination on January 26^th. Her dollar is Aquarian. It is a floating dollar. Watch it surf, sink, swim and crest like a dolphin after February 3^rd. If you live in Australia and many of my readers do, the impact of the new, loco dollar will also indirectly affect your banking, your income, your debt or your investment. Just watch. You’re in astrology world now!

The New Moon on Tuesday February 21^st seems to be a signal for a decision about your money, property or business, but you must allow for Neptune and Chiron, which are accompanying big new questions about what is sensible. And you don’t know. Because you can’t see. And other people can’t see either. At this point it may literally pay you to bring in people who are so sane and sensible they actually read the fine print. Yes, that’s right. They read it – with a microscope!

This question about what is real, practical, normal with all this, is repeated Friday 24^th, Saturday 25^th. After that, Mercury will be retrograde shadow. So from around the week of the 27^th be aware that so-called absolutes from the 27^th may not be fixed. Plan accordingly, as once Mercury actually goes retrograde from Monday March 12^th, there are no firm guarantees or firm outcomes. This is the case even on Tuesday 28^th, when you’ll want to run a green light. (Allow a day either side, depending on where you live in the world).

Mercury at this point gives the illusion that conversations are reliable or decisions are binding, when in fact, his retrograde motion to come, may well reverse or delay everything. Because this is clearly about your contract, mortgage, lease, password or whatever – be really careful. What seems like a done deal, a firm promise or an absolute in late February could be anywhere and everywhere in March. Or nowhere. Read the fine print and have Plan B. Keep a back-up copy. Again, I have to repeat, you’re in astrology world now!

The Great (Money) Escape

From February 3^rd, Aquarius, you will be shown something that is unreal. Literally, unreal. It feels like some kind of fantasy exit from everything that bores you or even concerns you so much, you deny it. Could it be a new credit card, I wonder? The thing is, you Aquarians all have your own utterly unique financial systems and set-ups. Some of you don’t even use cash any more, you barter vegetables at the monthly local market.

However you are playing the bank these days, observe the new unreal reality carefully all through your birthday month (and just after it, if you were born in January). This is so very shiny and new that you are in the perfect position to make a judgement call on it. Now don’t be vague about the new ‘thing’ later on in the year. Vagueness is not your friend. Take notes, while your sanity and clarity is still about you (You can still remember January, right, before the world of cash became boundary-free)?

Until 2025 I promise you, as a Neptune-watcher from adolescence, that you will be shown a delightful, experimental escape from the reality of your own life and your own personhood. And it will involve money, property or business. Its very appeal lies in the fact that it is not normal or usual. It does not have rules and parameters. It drifts.

Drifting on the tide is the most sublime experience, even if it happens to be in the English Channel, which at time of writing is full of crisp packets. To drift and float involves a complete departure from what Other People are doing. And how they are living. And where they are, full stop.

The trick is to enter into this sublime altered state (hinted at in February, real by March, when the inner planets enter Pisces) in full awareness. So you accept the injection that Neptune offers, in the full expectation that you are about to enter a strange state of being, yet come out of the other side sometime in 2025, blinking in the light.

In the meantime, you can be a controlled swimmer. You can take precautions. Check the weather. See the tides. Monitor the beach. Ask other people what they have experienced. Then and only then, this February, should you really be plunging into the trip of a lifetime. Because this is a trip. It’s going to change its shape a great deal over the next decade, but your starter’s block is right here in February 2012.

Mars and Opposite Numbers, Opposition

People only read their stars when they are peaking or descending, emotionally, with partners. Or former partners. Or potential partners. All of which comes under the jurisdiction of the Seventh House. And of course, this is now where we find Mars. He will stick around until July, so you have about six months of increased tension and lowered tolerance to deal with, in terms of a particular man or woman who you might call your opposite number. Or your opposition.

The Seventh House of your horoscope describes your husband or wife. Your boyfriend or girlfriend. Your work partner. It also describes the person who is your enemy, because of reasons entirely connected to love and sex. And of course, your professional opponent.

Mars, the Roman God of War, is the new tenant in your Seventh House, and he will be rattling around in the basement until July, so some new house rules might be appropriate at this point.

At least the inner confusion has gone. Pisces, I have no idea what you have been up to since 1998, but I know  you covered it up. And I also know it created a constant backdrop of mild chaos in your life. And sometimes total storm-level madness.

It stops on February 3^rd. Bang, Neptune (your ruler) exists Aquarius and your inner world of fubble-fubble and bubble-bubble collapses. What you did (or still do) in secret or deliberately did (or still do) alone is no longer such a big deal. And nobody will ever know now until you tell them.

So, the inner world is strong again. And that counts with you. You have stability and certainty on the inside after February 3^rd, after years of confusion. This will make an epic difference to every single department of your life.

It will help you stabilise the situation with your opposite number or opposition. Mars needs a strategy. He is a great, big, stupid, blundering, aggressive (but scarily effective) force. He may now manifest through a personality change in your opposite number or opposition. Or he may show himself as a change in the atmosphere. Something new is in the air. It feels wild. Reckless. Potent. It feels like it cannot wait!

Because Mars is retrograde, if you cast the first stone now, or throw one back, there will be stones pinging all over the place for the next six months. I know it’s easy to do this. The two of you (your opposite number and yourself) may want to gang up on your enemy. Ping!

You and your opposition (the person you see as the enemy) may want to chuck a few rocks. Ping!

You and your opposite number (the one you shag, or work with so closely) may be tempted to forget this is a partnership and instead treat each other like some kind of footballing opponent at the World Cup. Ping!

Mars is best managed by giving him something to do. He’s in your house, Pisces. Give him some hard labour or sport. That means feeding him within yourself (you do the hard labour or sport) or feeding him within your opposite number (he or she gets to dig the garden or kick the football).

Mars likes a general. So be a general. Tell him you recognise his enthusiasm and energy and appreciate his heartfelt desire to rush at the man or woman in question and rip them to shreds with his bare hands. However, you have other plans. Aggression is not a way to solve an issue which is basically about a lack of tolerance, a lack of time and a sensitive question about territory.

Tell Mars you are the general and you will decide upon a strategy. Then put it in place until July. And stick to it, even when Mars is spitting blood and groaning like some kind of extra in Gladiators. Strategy is Queen! Recognise the issue, respect the emotion, understand the apparent urgency – then formulate, craft, analyse, research….you need The Pisces Plan.

Neptune in Pisces – The Memo

If you entertain fantasies about your reputation or appearance, in February, and if they continue unchecked, then by 2013 you could be in utter chaos. Confused and confusing. I daresay someone, or something, suggests the most fantastic escape to you now. February is nothing if not a promise of an escape route from who you were. And how people see you.

And yet, and yet…if you dive in too deeply, into this very new Me World (The Fantastic World of Me, it might be called) you may never come up again. It can get murky down there, in that strange new reality which is calling you. When in doubt, now and for the next ten years, ask your most plodding, boring, stoic and sensible friend or family member for an honest opinion about the way you have been handling matters of image, appearance or reputation. Like, do you just want to be famous on Facebook or something?

Get real now Pisces. Especially on the internet. The internet is Neptunian. It is full of Wikileaks and Twitter whales. It moves like the sea. It lets everything and everybody in, and everything and everybody travels as it wishes. No rules.

If ‘You’ exist on the internet then Nepune’s ingress into Pisces on February 3^rd is a jolly good time to check that internet presence. And keep on checking it until 2025. Oh it could work very nicely for you. Experimenting and exploring using your name or face, or body, as the raw material can make you feel like an artist. And especially an escape artist. But if you want to skip the usual chaos, you will keep it real. And go on asking that boring, plodding, sensible etc friend!

The Secret Life of Aries

What you cover up from other people is about to assume special significance in your life, beginning around Wednesday February 1^st and accelerating from Friday February 3^rd when Neptune is in your Twelfth House, which will alter the look and feel of what you do alone, and what you hide from the world.

The Twelfth House is ruled by Neptune and the sign of Pisces in astrology. And Neptune himself is about to move in. It rules everything you do in secret and everything you do alone.

Drugs often have to be kept secret, for example (and this really is just an example!) But poetry is perfectly legal, and yet you can’t write it en masse. It’s usually written alone, behind velvet curtains. The poetic experience – inspired and dreamlike – is a good metaphor for what you are about to go through, for years at a stretch.

All experiences which are solo or ‘classified’ fall under the rulership of the Twelfth House. And this is where the unreality, non-reality or alternative reality is about to float in…

Give yourself time to adapt to the odd new world inside your head, and behind closed doors, as this is entirely new and there is no handbook. It can be awfully tempting to just dive in and end up disconnected from normality.

You can read more on Neptune’s impact on your life at The Astrology Show at http://www.theastrologyshow.net. He was discovered in the year that Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning, the two romantic poets, famously eloped together in a secret escape plan. Escapism is a Neptunian concept. From February you will be drawn by the notion of escapism, again and again.

Neptune is the dominant factor in terms of your classified information and clandestine activities on February 14^th, 15^th, 16^th. A flurry of aspects in the heavens suggests an awful lot will impact you very rapidly. That  week of Monday 13^th is important, no matter how Neptune comes to you. Chiron is also on board so there is a strong feeling that there are no boundaries any more in your inner world.

Chiron is the centaur who attempted the impossible and the unthinkable. He takes us beyond, the beyond. And he is also in your house of secrets and solitude. I think any boundaries or barriers which were there before have now been well and truly demolished.

Onto other specific Twelfth House concerns. Meditation is supposed to be good for you. Well, there is a lot of medical evidence to suggest this is so. But what about too much meditation, or meditation that comes with some kind of heavy price tag? It may literally cost too much. This is also a Neptune in the Twelfth House pursuit. It is worth mentioning now, because a Neptune transit usually coincides with a loss of perception. You can’t see what’s there any more. You are easily fooled.

Alcohol is also a Twelfth House concern. And all things ethereal or tried to the etheric realms (psychic experience and mediumship). Both relate to Neptune as ether, the substance,  became world famous in medical and public circles when this planet came into view.

The rule with Neptune is to contain and control the experience, defining that it actually is an experience (rather than blindly stumbling into it without knowing what you are doing). Put in parameters and boundaries and you can make Neptune a joyous experience. Set the alarm clock when you meditate, and know how much you are expected to pay, if it’s going to cost you.

Read the fine print if you are signing up to a ‘spiritual’ organisation that may in fact be a cult. Don’t enter the psychic realm unless you have a good rule book and road map. This is all standard advice for Neptune’s ingress in Pisces!

The New Moon on Tuesday February 21^st seems to be a signal for a decision, but you must allow for Neptune and Chiron, which are accompanying big new questions about what is solid, what is real, what is possible, what is practical.

This question will be repeated on Friday 24^th, Saturday 25^th. After that, Mercury will be retrograde shadow. So from around the week of the 27^th be aware that so-called absolutes from the 27^th may not be fixed. Plan accordingly, as once Mercury actually goes retrograde from Monday March 12^th, there are no certainties at all about your secret, or your solitary pursuit – just a process, in motion, with much likely to alter or even come to nothing.

Neptune is the God who ruled the ocean. The Roman myth still holds. Just like swimming in the sea, swimming with Neptune in the Twelfth House necessarily involves some stratagems. Swim between the flags. Don’t get in too deep. Don’t go out too far, or in fact, go too far out. This is key now because there is nobody to tell you what’s actually going on. You are bearing your own witness here, because Neptune’s processes are necessarily solitary or secret.

Do you have heavenly bodies in Pisces? It’s very common for Aries people to do so. Should one of these fall at 0-1 Pisces then you are about to experience something dramatically important – Neptune will form a conjunction to one of these, over the next few weeks. Check your chart free at www.astro.com and fine-tune your awareness of what Neptune does, again.  If you are serious about your astrology then there are some great books to help you – I have put up a reading list (for all of you who belong to a library) at The Astrology Show website at http://www.theastrologyshow.net. Awareness is all with this planet. Contain, control, confine the strangness and you can enjoy the rapturous break from boring old normality and reality, without paying the price in chaos. This holds for February but Aries, it holds for 2012 in its entirety.

OMG! Normal friendship, normal friends

So now you’re acquainted with what Neptune seems likely to bring, in your time alone or your secret life – let’s look at how his departure from Aquarius will help you totally reshape your social life. For years now, you have had Neptune keeping life confusing and confused, in terms of Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and all the rest. No boundaries. Why? Because these organisations were set up when Neptune was in Aquarius, which rules friendship. So their structure is sufficiently unstructured, that there are no rules any more. No lines. No walls. No barricades. No barriers. The impact on you has been subtle, over an extended period of years, but I would begin with just one word ‘confusing.’ And also, perhaps, confused.

Too many lines have been crossed by your friends, or a group (as a whole) or by individuals within a group. So life became a blur, at times. This is tough for an Aries person, because even if it looks like you can do everything by yourself, you can’t. You need your tribe. So what on earth happened to you, when your tribe became such a mish-mash of muddle?

From February 3^rd social media will go back to normal, or even leave your life (are you dumping Facebook?) It may be that particular people who muddled you or muddied the waters, may also leave your online circle. That would also  help. I suspect that you have drawn in Neptunians and Pisceans for years now. By that, I mean people in your social media circle, in your tribe of friends, or in the groups you belong to – who have astrological charts with prominent Neptune or Pisces placements.

Sometimes you don’t even have to look them up! (Although you can, at www.astro.com). Just ask yourself who in your circle of friends, or Rolodex of group involvements, had the slightly unfocussed gaze. The Nag Champa next to the television (which was hardly ever off). The endless amount of books on alternative realities which led them straight up their own…well. You know.

Neptune is a trip. You have been on a trip, for years now, with your social life, friendships or groups. And sometimes it’s been as divine as a plunge into the Pacific Ocean on a hot day. And sometimes it’s been The Titanic.

Well, no more. You are back on dry land from the 3^rd and it looks as if Tuesday February 7^th is quite the landmark. I expect the Full Moon on Tuesday February 7^th will pull you in two different directions with these people – yet the Sun-Mercury conjunction on the same day is so useful for you. Then there’s more. On Saturday February 18^th you have the benefit of seeing your friends or groups as others see them too. This helps the waking-up process which extends for the entire month. But nobody would be surprised, out there in the world of astrology, to hear that February coincides with the departure of a person or situation which has fogged up your lenses for months, even years. Welcome to your new social life Aries. It’s the old one. Oh, thank the goddess.

A Group Calling

From Wednesday February 1^st the groups in your world (religious gatherings, sports teams, charities, business enterprises) seem certain to take you away from boring old reality. From Friday February 3^rd Neptune is in your Eleventh House, which will alter the look and feel of your social life, group involvements and friendships for years.  It’s going to feel like jazz. Meandering, ethereal, elusive, fascinating (if you are a jazz fan) and awfully seductive – just the way the sea is seductive on a hot day. Of course, a honking sax (patented in the year they found Neptune) can be found in all kinds of music. Not only jazz. Thus, music itself is a good analogy for what is about to happen to your social life in February. Or the more formal group, team or club commitments. You will be hearing a different tune and it will not have any clear beginning, end or middle. The music in your social world, online and offline, is about to become free-form. You know those Sting songs which go for three minutes? This is not a Sting song. This is the kind of music, with friends and groups, that is so strange and unfamiliar to you, that you have never actually heard it before.

Basically, Neptune lets you know that there are other worlds out there, apart from the one you used to know, no matter if it was online friendship (social media) or real-world socialising. If you want to understand what is going to happen to your friendships, you can read more on Neptune’s impact on your life at The Astrology Show at http://www.theastrologyshow.net. Neptune was discovered in the same year that hash (hashish) became famous throughout Europe, after one writer decided to publish his experiences in a famous French journal of the time. So that should give you a firm about the new unreality which lies ahead! Neptune is wafty, escapist and can often generate chaos if allowed to go too far. Just like a 19^th century hash party in Paris.  So this is now the dominant factor in terms of your social life or friendships, and very specifically, group commitments, on February 14^th, 15^th, 16^th.

That week of Monday 13^th is really striking, no matter how Neptune manifests. It may be new friends or group acquaintances in your life, born under Pisces, the sign ruled by Neptune. Or perhaps these people have Neptune in aspect to other heavenly bodies in their charts, at 0-1 degrees. You can check at www.astro.com if you are curious about this, Taurus.  Sometimes you will just draw people who have heavenly bodies in Pisces, full stop. Chiron is also on board in Pisces so there is a strong feeling that there are no boundaries any more. Chiron the centaur is all about testing the limits, to see if there actually are any limits. I would say there’s a definite jazz-meets-punk-rock feeling in your friendships and group involvements in the middle of February.

Substantial changes to your friends’ personalities or lifestyles, or the introduction of new friends, looks so likely in mid-February. And of course drugs and alcohol are time-honoured Neptunian ways to escape the real world. As is anything ‘spiritual’ for want of a better word. The key is the prominence of ether in the year of Neptune’s discovery. This lends itself to the word ‘ethereal’ and there is something truly floaty and ethereal about these new people in your social life, or the shift in personality of those already there.

The New Moon on Tuesday February 21^st seems to be a signal for a decision about your chums or group involvements, but you must allow for Neptune and Chiron, which are accompanying big new questions about what is sensible. Taurus, you are an earth sign. If you are going to skip off with the pixies then make sure you are wearing wellington boots. Keep your hooves on the ground. You are supposed to be the bastion of normality, not the Chief Pixie.

This question about what is real, practical, normal, advisable with your groups, teams, clubs, associations, societies will be repeated on Friday 24^th, Saturday 25^th. After that, Mercury will be retrograde shadow. So from around the week of the 27^th be aware that so-called absolutes from the 27^th may not be fixed. Plan accordingly, as once Mercury actually goes retrograde from Monday March 12^th, there are no firm guarantees or firm outcomes. This is the case even on Tuesday 28^th, when Fortuna, the Sun, Pluto and the Moon’s Nodes align. Oh, you’ll want to press ahead with this mesmerising, faintly addictive new possibilities for friendship or communal commitment. Yet Mercury at this point gives the illusion that conversations are reliable or decisions are binding, when in fact, his retrograde motion to come, may well reverse or delay everything. Even if you are just signing up for a poetry club (Neptune rules poets) better check they spelled your name right before you give a cheque. You can refer to my daily or weekly forecasts to check when Mercury is direct again. But as a rule of thumb, late February ‘decisions’ equals March muddles.

Major, Massive Career Change

Well, Taurus. For an earth sign like you, devoted to solid values (making money, or pursuing alternatives to capitalism) for years now, you have been in Wafty Land. Nothing has been real, in terms of your career, student life or volunteer commitment. Starry eyes? Man, you were singing the song for most of last year. And the years before that. Your other great song, in career or academic terms, has been Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered. Ahem.

For every tempting escape route into projects, roles or tasks when you immersed yourself in the magnificent poetry of it all, you also paid the price in terms of sanity, regularity and manageability. Well, no more. You are back on dry land from the 3^rd and it looks as if Tuesday February 7^th is quite the moment. I expect the Full Moon on Tuesday February 7^th will pull you in two different directions, regarding all this, too. And yet the Sun-Mercury conjunction on the same day is so useful for you, as you must now talk, read or write to get this all clear. Oh, that word clear… How long has it been since you or anyone else in your industry, workplace or university has actually understood it? When people said ‘Let’s get this clear’ at work, any time over the last few years, it was never clear at all. Think Vaseline inside a scuba mask.

Taurus, on Saturday February 18^th you have the benefit of seeing your new professional, academic or volunteer world as others see it too. February coincides with the departure of a person or situation which has fogged up your lenses for months, even years. To really understand what Neptune is all about, and what he has coincided with in your life, see more at The Astrology Show blog at www.theastrologyshow.net.

Astrologers associate Neptune with jazz, anaesethesia and poetry. Why? Because they describe an altered state of mind. Neptune was discovered in 1846 in a big year for all three. Even now we have to laugh at the notion of ‘jazz cigarettes’ (the old-school nickname for marijuana). Yet serious French hashish-smoking societies went public in 1846 too. It was the year they used anaesthetic in surgery for the first time, and also the year the saxophone was patented.

Your mission, position or ambition for the last few years has been as clouded as a jazz club filled with cigarette smoke. About as in touch with reality as a stoned poet. As confusing as anaesthetic. That’s what your solar horoscope is saying, Taurus. It will take you several days to adjust from February 3^rd as reality dawns. And then you can expect an eyes-wide-open moment near Valentine’s Day.

I would say half the reason you have been willing yourself into great escapes (and not so great escapes) is the sheer difficulty of the day-to-day work situation. It may be employment, the daily grind, deadlines, unemployment, difficult people, the pressure of routine – whatever). Maybe your physical wellbeing or health is part of the story.

But there is fear there. And it has been there since Saturn entered Libra, so you felt it through 2011 as well. A tremendous amount of denial or wishful thinking has probably been involved in your life as a professional, student or volunteer. Why? Because it was the easy alternative to grim realities.

Saturn was paranoid in Roman myth. He feared the worst (his sons replacing him) and took ridiculous measures to escape it (he ate them) –  thus making life harder than it ever had to be. Then his wife Ops intervened, and he learned, and became older and wiser, and a venerated God.

I am talking about the original Roman myth here because it’s often the way into truth and understanding when you are dealing with an astrology cycle. And you will need bags of this understanding in February because this career, academic or non-profit sector shift is so extreme.

Basically, ditch the paranoia about what you do for a living. It’s time to be practical, practical, practical. Ask your boring friend (the sensible, successful one) what he or she would do in your situation.

The blinkers are off. The anaesthetic is wearing off, from week one of February. Life is a three-minute pop song again, not a meandering jazz solo. Whoever or whatever addicted you, or mesmerised you, is now in the rubbish bin! I would not be at all surprised if you told me a Pisces person was involved. Or someone with heavenly bodies in Pisces, showing nought degree aspects. (You can check at www.astro.com) In any case it’s been like working with a kipper. No, make that a stoned kipper.

And the best, best news of all, Taurus? From October, your career is completely and utterly back to normal. No more vulnerability. And from April, your relaunch (new reputation or image) is in place. Followed by access to the best opportunities in 12 years to make money or save it. Thus speaks your astrological chart. And if you’re locked into the reality of astrology, your reward is imminent. A new you, or a new version of the old you, is coming.

Your new calling

Your colleague, boss, employee, lecturer, client or fellow student will be there with you on Wednesday February 1^st in terms of your aspirations to go higher.  You may be a professional, student or volunteer but your mountain top is closer then. From Friday February 3^rd Neptune is in your Tenth House, which will alter the look and feel of your career, university life or volunteer role for the next few years. And that is the understatement of the month.

Gemini, give yourself time to adapt to the odd new ‘reality’ of your life as this is entirely new and there is no handbook. Basically, Neptune lets you know that there are other worlds out there, apart from the one you used to smell and touch. And it can be awfully tempting to just dive in and lose yourself.  You can read more on Neptune’s impact on your life at The Astrology Show at http://www.theastrologyshow.net.

Neptune was discovered in the same year they pioneered anaesthetic, which should give you an idea about the new unreality which lies ahead! A lot of what is about to change for you professionally, or as a volunteer, or as a student, falls into the category of ‘Comfortably Numb’ to quote Pink Floyd. It’s a way of escaping the all-too-obvious and all-too-difficult.

Neptune is the dominant factor in terms of your mission, ambition or position on February 14^th, 15^th, 16^th. A chain of aspects in the heavens suggests an awful lot will impact you very rapidly. It may be a new job or project, or the arrival of new people. That week of Monday 13^th is important, no matter how Neptune manifests. Classically, he will come disguised as a Pisces person, or as someone whose eyes are unfocussed in some way! The people who are around you then may have vision problems, or thick glasses, or coloured contact lenses. They may drink or smoke so much they can’t actually see straight (distorted perception or a cloud of cigarette smoke). There are other characteristic Neptune/Piscean signals too. People with unfocussed, staring eyes. People whose field of vision lies far away from yours, in the direction of some unseen, other world. You get the picture. The out of focus person, is in focus, in the middle of this month!

There will be a binding discussion or some paperwork at that point because Mercury is there too, or some solid news which makes a difference.  Chiron is also on board so there is a strong feeling that there are no boundaries any more. Chiron is the centaur who always reminds us that there are no limits until they are tested and proven. Mid-February, in terms of your job, academic life or non-profit role seems to be all “Wow!” with a little bit of “Wheee!”

The New Moon on Tuesday February 21^st seems to be a signal for a decision, but you must allow for Neptune and Chiron, which are accompanying big new questions about what is solid, what is real, what is possible, what is practical.  This question will be repeated on Friday 24^th, Saturday 25^th. After that, Mercury, your planetary ruler, will be retrograde shadow. So from around the week of the 27^th be aware that so-called absolutes from the 27^th may not be fixed. Plan accordingly, as once Mercury actually goes retrograde from Monday March 12^th, there are no absolutes at all – just a process, with a lot of change involved. This is hugely important if there is paperwork involved.

The golden rule with Mercury is to read the fine print and keep back-ups in terms of your career, university life or volunteer commitments. This is the case even on Tuesday 28^th, when Fortuna, the Sun, Pluto and the Moon’s Nodes align so strongly in your chart. It may seem as if the impetus is there, to proceed with this new, rather fascinating phase in your professional, academic or other life. Mercury when he is retrograde shadow is at his trickiest, though, as he gives the illusion that conversations are reliable or decisions are binding, when in fact, his retrograde motion to come, may well reverse or delay everything. Bear this in mind if you are committing, as you need to know about all the variables and remember all the permutations which are possible!

Note: Neptunian projects or jobs may well slide into view in February. These will classically involve the ocean, music, alcohol or drugs of all kinds. Or you could combine them by accepting a gig at a bar on a cruise liner. Truly.

At last, dry land

Okay so now you’re acquainted with what Neptune seems likely to bring in your career or other calling – let’s look at how his departure from Aquarius will help you reach dry land. For years now, you have had Neptune keeping life floaty and rather unmanageable, in terms of your role as student, traveller, lecturer, publisher, teacher or writer. In that category I would also include your role as an internet citizen and a woman/man of the world in touch with other cultures and countries.

For every dreamy moment when you immersed yourself in places, ideas or people where you got to leave the real world behind, you were also baffled and befuddled. Well, no more. You are back on dry land from the 3^rd and it looks as if Tuesday February 7^th is a hell of a moment. At last, you are living in the real world with other nationalities, other cultures, academia, ideas, websites or publications . I expect the Full Moon on Tuesday February 7^th will pull you in two different directions, especially if you are one of those Geminis who also has heavenly bodies in Cancer. (It’s very common – check your chart at www.astro.com if you don’t know).

The Sun-Mercury conjunction also on the 7th is so useful for you, though, as you are Mercury-ruled. It enables you to articulate, to question, to discover – on a level not possible for years. This will make an epic difference to your future plans to travel, study, teach, write or publish. Or your plans to handle people from other cultures or countries in a new way.

Do you want to know what it has been like to operate with Neptune in your Ninth House for all these years? One way to understand it, is to wake up without it constantly in your field of vision! On Saturday February 18^th you honestly will have the benefit of seeing your new travel, publishing or academic reality as others see it too. This alone is the wake-up call, perhaps. But nobody would be surprised, out there in the world of astrology, to hear that February coincides with the departure of a person or situation which has fogged up your lenses for months, even years.

Perhaps there is an American, Asian or European connection there. Maybe this is just about a particular belief system, mindset or philosophy, which has touched you via the books on your shelves or the websites stored on your computer. In all cases, the de-mister you needed for the windscreen of your life is fully functional after years of neglect. This is going to have a huge impact on your future plans to travel, write, publish, teach or study.

Your new, big, wide world

Someone is very much on board with you on Wednesday February 1^st in terms of your aspirations to study, travel, write, teach, publish or absorb foreign cultures. From Friday February 3^rd Neptune is also in your Ninth House, which will alter the shape of the next few years. Life is about to morph and warp. Neptune distorts. A demanding subject or course, a special traditional or digital publishing idea, a fated region or country (or its locals) calls you now. Yet its siren song is just that – something piped in by mermaids. There is nothing normal or real about what is poised to happen. Neptune tends to bend and distort what is ‘real’ almost as if there was a master storyteller skewing the plot of your life. And it’s all so new. You’ve never had this experience before, in this particular way. Ever.

Give yourself days to adjust to the new (total) lack of structure with those areas of life I have mentioned, before you wade into new decisions. Suddenly, life will feel like a sax solo. The saxophone was patented in the year Neptune was discovered. So if particular journeys, publishing commitments, relocations or frankly foreign relationships feel meandering, that’s why. It’s all sax, no drums. You can read more on Neptune’s impact on your life at The Astrology Show at http://www.theastrologyshow.net. (And read my colleagues’ opinions too – April Elliott Kent, Adam Smith, Neil Spencer all have intriguing insights on 2012 for you).

Back to February. Now, Neptune is the dominant factor in terms of other regions or countries, on February 14^th, 15^th, 16^th. And this may be an issue tied to a particular place, or to the locals from that area. The week of Monday 13^th is important, no matter if this is the USA, Asia or Europe exerting a pull on your destiny. There will be a binding discussion or some paperwork at that point. Because Chiron is also involved too (the maverick) there is feeling that anything is possible, everything should be attempted – and there are no boundaries any more.

Chiron (who I was fortunate enough to discuss with Mr Chiron, Zane Stein, at a recent international astrology conference) is about audacity. He is about chutzpah. He is also about going too far and trying the impossible. The outrageous. The audacious. The unthinkable. He was found in 1977 when a baby was created in a laboratory. And punk rock broke. Are you getting the picture, Cancer? Together with wafty, wobbly, watery Neptune, Chiron is going to utterly alter the shape of what you thought you knew, as a student, writer, publisher, teacher, traveller or web user.

The New Moon on Tuesday February 21^st seems to be your cue for a decision on all this, as you are ruled by the Moon but what are you doing, exactly? This question will be repeated on Friday 24^th, Saturday 25^th. After that, Mercury will be retrograde shadow. So from around the week of the 27^th be aware that ‘certainties’ from the 27^th may not be certain at all. Plan accordingly, as once Mercury actually turns retrograde from Monday March 12^th, those ‘locked-in’ plans may be held up or even reversed. This is hugely important if international travel or emigration is involved, of course. The golden rule with Mercury is to read the fine print and keep back-ups. And allow for a possible shambles or reversal. This is the case even on Tuesday 28^th, when Fortuna, the Sun, Pluto and the Moon’s Nodes align so strongly in your chart. Oh, you may want to press ahead then, but remember the trip, the book, the digital publishing idea, the foreign connection, the education plan or the relocation could be a moveable feast until Mercury is safely direct again. It’s in motion. Not final.

Real world finances

It looks as thoughTuesday February 7^th is a real Moment with a capital M. At last, you are living in the real world with money, business, the house, the possessions or the flat. Not vague approximations of reality. You and America both had this cycle since 1998. And what a long, strange trip it’s been. Look at your bank account. Got chaos? Yep, you had Neptune. Got money? Well, it’s a wonder, given that Wall Street has also been thrown by the influence of this stonking Neptune cycle. Watch the headlines in American newspapers around the Full Moon and Mercury-Sun conjunction on February 7^th. Particularly in reference to the Obama administration’s economic decisions and the US sharemarket. In its own way, this will trickle down and touch your cash world. The value of your house or apartment. Your banking. Your income or debt.

Now that Neptune has quit Aquarius you will be eyes wide open, as it has been years since you have been able to deal with cash, business, houses or apartments without the constant possibility of chaos and confusion; the classic manifestations of a Neptune transit. It’s fair to say that if you mixed money with magic (as in magic spells) or money with alcohol (scotch and sharemarket trading on the internet) or money with marijuana (dope and gambling) then you are now wiser. A lot, lot older and wiser. That’s what your chart is saying. Were you a sucker for The Secret? Interesting.

And yet, and yet, the Sun-Mercury conjunction early in February helps you articulate things, not least to yourself. And to crunch numbers without wearing fogged-up goggles. Do you want to know what it has been like to operate with Neptune in your Eighth House for all these years? Remember school swimming carnivals when you couldn’t see and kept bumping into the ropes or the concrete wall at the end? Well, your financial or business life has been like that swimming carnival. There’s been a not-seeing, and also a regular rope-bumping and wall-banging. Thank goodness it’s over. Mercury’s trine to Saturn the day before Valentine’s Day is significant. At that point the reality of your house or flat situation will be brought home. (Or your island ownership situation, if you are Sir Richard Branson). And of course it’s part of the wider story of Neptune’s departure from Aquarius.

Cancer – So far you have coped with the vulnerability or concern that you feel about the property situation, with your own very particular way of managing. Now, at last you can examine it. In terms of the rent, the mortgage, the rental return, the investment and so on – hard question, but is your 2011 coping mechanism still working? The novelty of actually having logic, certainty and clarity with everything you own, earn or owe is a novelty, but as your home is ever important to you, looks like you’ll snap into adjustments very quickly.

On Saturday February 18^th you have the benefit of seeing your financial, business or property position as others see it too. When the asteroid Hygeia is at large on Friday 24^th you will also realise just how much things have changed. (Don’t know about Hygeia? Don’t worry, neither does most of mainstream astrology, but she’s Jupiter’s great-great granddaughter). Now, Cancer, with or without Hygeia, that useful little asteroid, jot only can you see straight at last, in terms of the cash, you are also insuring your world against the future.

Money (That’s What I Want)

Wednesday February 1^st sees a bonding process over money, possessions, property or business. It happens on the same day you feel the heat, and the faster pace, that has been a reality since January. Venus says ‘Let’s bond with this person!’ and Mars says ‘I don’t bond!’ Both archetypes are in your houses of money, property, business and possessions on the first day of the month.

From Friday February 3^rd Neptune is also in your Eighth House, which you are simply not used to, in terms of the cash, the house, the stuff or the flat. Give yourself time to adjust to the new (total) lack of boundaries before you plunge into commitments. And the word is ‘plunge’ or possibly ‘dive’ as Neptune is oceanic in nature. You can read more on Neptune’s impact on your life at The Astrology Show at http://www.theastrologyshow.net.

Neptune is the star of your lifestyle, security and money story on February 14^th, 15^th, 16^th. You don’t have to be an astrologer to know that Neptune rules the sea. The trident he carries hooks fish. And there will be a hook (or an addictive pull) in the situation you are dealing with on the week of Monday 13^th. There will also be a binding discussion or some paperwork at that point, which you need to be extremely careful with. Boundaries need to be there. And they need to be understood and respected. Vagueness is not your friend at this time. Nor is an absence of proper paperwork. Because Chiron is also involved (the maverick) there is an entirely new sensation that there are no limits, no rules, no barriers at the moment. While this may be alluring and exciting on one level, either for you, he, she or they – it can also spell chaos in the future. This new Neptune cycle in your Eighth House of Other People’s Money will last until 2025. So let’s get off to a good start. Let’s not guess anything or make assumptions. Especially if you are signing your life away.

The New Moon on Tuesday February 21^st seems to be a call to action, but what are you inviting into your world? This question will be repeated on Friday 24^th, Saturday 25^th. After that, Mercury will be retrograde shadow. So from around the week of the 27^th be aware that the ‘marketplace’ of your financial, property or business situation will have all the order and predictability of a Women’s Institute jumble sale in a cyclone. The fiscal equivalent of scones will be flying everywhere. Mercury madness!

Be aware that ‘done deals’ from the 27^th may not be done at all. Plan accordingly, as once Mercury actually turns retrograde from Monday March 12^th, those surefire certainties may be held up or even reversed. This is the case even on Tuesday 28^th, when Fortuna, the Sun, Pluto and the Moon’s Nodes align so strongly in your chart. You may want to press ahead then, but remember things could slide all over the place in March. Sometimes this is to your advantage, but as there are no guarantees, you may find caution is your best friend now. Oh, there are Leos who are going to snap up bargain shares, houses or apartments in the nuttiness that is March – but unless you are utterly sure that you have the kind of astrological chart that lends itself to such good fortune, you would be better off taking the usual precautions with finance, business or property from late February. And that means assume nothing is final or fixed. And read all the fine print on paperwork cautiously.

All You Need Is Love

It’s quite true. All you need is love, on Tuesday February 7^th. Not fantasies. Not game-playing with people who are dazed and confused, or going through A Phase. Now that Neptune has quit Aquarius you won’t know what’s hit you, as it has been years since you have been able to deal with sex, pregnancy or questions about children without control issues (Pluto in Sagittarius, before 2008) or the constant possibility of chaos (Neptune, until now). I expect the Full Moon on Tuesday February 7^th will pull you in two different directions, or ask you to put on a good Leo performance while being intensely aware of issues about yourself which make you feel so needy! Yet the Sun-Mercury conjunction on the same day helps you say, or write, what simply has to be put across – at least if you are going to have the kind of clarity in relationships you finally deserve. This person is your former, current or potential lover. And this conversation, letter, e-mail or text message is pivotal. Or are you just going to find out the missing piece in the information jigsaw your love life needed?

There will be a question about how sex or children connect with this on Friday 10^th February, as the asteroid Juno in your Fifth House makes her presence felt. It will be clear that you can have security or prestige in this life, but not without compromising freedom. Juno is very good at polishing floorboards, cooking roast chicken, feeling smug about her wedding ring, talking about My Partner as if being part of a couple was like having a Nobel prize…you get the picture. But Juno has absolutely no freedom. Now, her presence in your Fifth House of sex, contraception, babies, pregnancy, grown-up children and other people’s kids is a real challenge on the 10^th of February. You have much to think about. I think Valentine’s Day is shaping up to be epic for you, Leo.

Mercury’s trine to Saturn the day before Valentine’s Day is significant. The novelty of actually having logic, certainty and clarity with someone (past, present or potential partner) after years of mental fog is remarkable. But this is more than a new thrill. It’s your best chance for a very long time, to be heard and read as you must. And to hear or read, and actually perceive what is real! On Saturday February 18^th you will have the luxury of seeing your former, current or potential partner as others see this person too. It will feel like coming out of a thick sea mist into the dazzling light of day. Your love life will alter course. This will  be evident when Hygeia and Juno align on Friday 24^th. At that point you are protecting yourself and insuring yourself, in terms of this man or woman. And in terms of love, per se. Lord, Leo, you’ve learned so much. But the future is calling you and it’s going to be a future with full clarity!

Farewell Mr and Miss Born Slippy

So who was Born Slippy, for all these years? Because plenty of Leo people have had rivals, opponents or enemies sliding around on the bottom of the ocean floor. The Seventh House of your chart describes your love life, but also people who are openly and obviously up against you. The issue for you has been the total lack of openness, though! Neptune tends to introduce people who have Neptune aspects in their horoscope, or one or more heavenly bodies in Pisces. Dazed, confused and clueless. Or just duplicitous.

Thus, for years now, if you are typical of your sign, you have ended  up with slippery  fish who mean you harm, who infiltrate your world in ways you can barely see until it’s too late. You’ve had some staggering wake-up calls about these bottom-dwelling amoebae over the last few years. After all, Neptune has been in your Seventh House of enemies since 1998.  Yet, the wonderful thing about Neptune’s exit from Aquarius is the end of the situation, or the departure of the person.

You think I’m kidding? It’s going to feel like a door just slammed somewhere, and it’s timed for the ingress of Neptune in Pisces, on February 3^rd. Enjoy the sensation of being able to do what you want to do, in this life, without someone working against you for professional or intensely personal reasons. A sure sign Neptune has gone? Mysterious circumstances which blocked you just melt away. Now fancy that. Want to know why all the Leos have been failing in their role as Queens or Kings of the world since 1998? It’s been down to sneaky, subtle, shadowy men or women slipping in through the back door of their world and causing chaos there. When you actually find out what’s been going on (or who’s been behind it) in February you’ll be shaking your mane for quite some time. But enough already. Time to be a monarch again. Rarrr!

Former, Current and Potential Lovers

From Friday February 3^rd Neptune is in your Seventh House, which you are simply not used to, in terms of your former, current or potential lover. Give yourself time to adjust to the new world. If you plunge in, the way you would plunge into the ocean, you may emerge with a starfish on your face near Valentine’s Day. Or at the very least, a cod wedged in the corner of your mouth. Neptune transits can be like that. Plunge in, pay the price.

This is particularly important if you are single and your potential lover is Pisces or has heavenly bodies in that sign. You can check free at www.astro.com. The other important thing to watch for in their astrological chart is an aspect involving Neptune and other heavenly bodies – if it is only zero-one degree away, then you have a Neptunian on your hands.

Neptunians are easy to spot. They have addictive hobbies or interests which take them away from the real world, so they have difficulty working or paying the electricity bill. They have a need for alcohol or drugs which is unlike other people’s need. They may have issues with memory, or punctuality. So if you are falling in love with a Neptunian, or if your existing partner is hitting a Neptunian phase in his/her life (new!) then you need to  be hip to this.

Unless you are hip to this, you will find that your famous need for method, order, routine and ritual falls apart in the long (very long – until 2025) path of Neptune through your Seventh House.

Now, Virgo – if you are about to plunge into rapturuous sex with someone who has a Neptune or Pisces chart signature, then remember you are utterly different people. You are famous for your methodical, detailed approach to whatever grabs you. Whatever you ‘work’ at in your life involves meticulous filtering and sorting, on a daily basis. Could be the gym. Could be writing songs. Could be operating a crime syndicate from inside jail. You Virgos all get ego points for your nitpicking sense of order.

Now. That is you. And this is them. Piscean/Neptunian types are piscine and oceanic. They slip away, like fish in a current. They can be elusive – like trying to grasp a wet mackerel on a fishing boat. They can get you into deep water and take you too far out, just like the sea.

New potential lovers (just in time for Valentine’s Day!) who also give a very good faux Pisces/Neptunian impression seem likely too.

Poets, jazz fans, stoners all qualify. Are you getting a strong sense of a ‘type’ here, or an archetype? Pisceans and Neptunians famously have no attachment to the real world and little investment in staying where nature put them. They are after the great escape and enjoy faking it until they make it.

All of which is fine. This is going to be quite a trip for you Virgo. But you have to check the extent to which you are going to let the new romantic or erotic unreality, substitute for reality.

Memo for Married Virgos (or De Facto Virgos Who Can’t Commit)

You too will plunge or dive into an unreality after February 3^rd. And the word is ‘plunge’ or possibly ‘dive’ as Neptune is oceanic in nature. You can read more on Neptune’s impact on your life at The Astrology Show at http://www.theastrologyshow.net. Yet Neptune is the star of your commitment on February 14^th, 15^th, 16^th. You don’t have to be an astrologer to know that Neptune rules the sea. The trident he carries hooks fish. And there will be a hook (or an addictive pull) in the situation you are dealing with on the week of Monday 13^th. There will be a binding discussion or some paperwork at that point, which you need to be extremely careful with. Especially if you two are signing documents in both your names, about the internet bill – or ahem, actually getting married.

Boundaries is the magic word and you should tattoo it on your left buttock. And on his or her right buttock. Neptune is in Pisces until 2025, and he will bring chaos. The level of chaos is controllable right now. It can either be nicely chaotic, in the sense that Glastonbury is nicely chaotic – or it can be outright anarchy with lawyers tearing their hair out in both your names. And yours.

Boundaries need to be there. And they need to be understood and respected. Vagueness is not your friend in February. Nor is an absence of proper paperwork. Because Chiron is also involved (the maverick) there is an entirely new sensation that there are no limits, no rules, no barriers at the moment. You, he or she wants to tilt at a windmill. See if the ‘can’t do it’ rule about love, sex, commitment can actually be enforced. It’s like a big old squishy laboratory experiment.

The New Moon on Tuesday February 21^st seems to be your green light, but what are you inviting into your world with this man or woman? This question will be repeated on Friday 24^th, Saturday 25^th. After that, Mercury will be retrograde shadow. So from around the week of the 27^th be aware that binding agreements and firm paperwork could be about as firm and binding as a drunk flailing around in a giant pool of green jelly. Be aware that ‘done deals’ from the 27^th may not be done at all. I wish it wasn’t so. But if you live in Astrology World (and if you read this far, you’re in it) then Mercury’s retrograde shadow, then retrograde, motion is bound to send your love life back to the drawing board.

Here’s a fictional Virgo scenario – you decide on a quickie wedding, in secret, then realise later on (when the anaesthetic of sex or marijuana has worn off) that in fact you have signed your life away to the last person in the world you even want to play backgammon with. Let alone have a child with.

When you contain, control and confine the mad storybook world of Neptunian love – it will feel like an okay escape from the real world. Never entirely real, normal or practical. Yet something you and other people can live with, or at least put up with, in order to see what the Romantic poets promised.

When you fail to contain, control and confine the mad storybook etc etc, then you end up with a level of chaos and anarchy which makes The Sex Pistols circa 1977 look like a bunch of accountants. Welcome to your new shagging world!

Plan accordingly in your love life, no matter if you are shagging, not shagging or wish to shag – as once Mercury actually turns retrograde from Monday March 12^th, those surefire certainties may be held up or even reversed. Could be an unreturned phone call, could be a legally binding document that isn’t, could be a big promise that is no such thing. This is the case even on Tuesday 28^th, when Fortuna, the Sun, Pluto and the Moon’s Nodes align so strongly in your chart. You may want to press ahead then, but remember things could slide all over the place in. Caution, caution, caution Virgo…

Beware Born Slippy People

So who was Born Slippy, then? Because plenty of Leo people can tell you about the last few years in terms of rivals, opponents or enemies sliding around on the bottom of the ocean floor. The Seventh House of your chart describes your love life, but also people who are openly and obviously up against you. And now Neptune is here, you must open your eyes and keep them open. Is anyone jealous of you? Like, a wannabe who hasn’t made it in a field you are successful in? Or is there a big of baggage lying around in his or her, love-life past? What about fierce rivals who want a slice of your cash or popularity? The Seventh House rules enemies and always has. So let’s take a look.

The issue for you will be the lack of openness. Neptune tends to introduce people who have Neptune aspects in their horoscope, or one or more heavenly bodies in Pisces. Slimy, bottom-dwelling amoebae is another way of describing such people when they turn up in your Seventh House.

You will be told or warned so fear not. People may tell you once, twice. Or two people may tell you on two separate occasions. You’ll be mildly surprised. You thought he was so nice. You thought she was so utterly lacking in guile or artfulness. Listen up, and listen well, in February  - a new cycle means your eyes are still open. Check out what or who is in the ether just after February 3^rd and especially near Valentine’s Day, February 14^th.

Neptune enemies are so easily bottled and recycled. By which I mean, when the sulphurous odour of unpleasant gas wafts under your nose in the middle of December –in the form of some farty person who does not have your best interests at heart – bottle it and convert it into something better. I don’t know why so much bad astrology out there scares people with Neptune. You can seriously contain, control and confine any situation where people might be against you. In fact, that’s the whole point of this cycle.

Imagine a moat. Imagine being in charge of Dover Castle, or any one of the other castles tied to the Cinque Ports of England, several centuries ago. How did a moat feel? It felt wonderful. The biggest and best way to repel invaders, sneaks and slimeballs that was ever invented.

You need the psychic equivalent of a moat around you Virgo. Your websites need firewalls. The internet as a whole (which is the most Neptunian thing ever invented) is wide open to creeps. Put walls in. Dig a deep ditch. Watch them fall in. Hell, make it clear you have a moat, so they don’t come near you in the first place.

As a general rule over the next few years, Virgo (and I will repeat this at regular intervals to 2025) you are going to be more vulnerable than usual to people who are against you, for whatever silly reason. These people will seek to infiltrate your space in sneaky or subtle ways and you need to stop it as soon as you detect it. Switch on your radar. Neptune is so easily managed, though. It’s just awareness and a firm action plan. And Virgos are nothing if not practical. Get onto it, from February. The Seventh House is so often about the third person in a love triangle, that near Valentine’s Day, look. And look hard.

The New Work

As early as February 1^st your planetary ruler Venus forms alignments in the sky, which suggest it’s time to see work (however it forms in your life) as a two-way street.  And of course, partnering or sharing is what you do so well. You have been famous for your gift at double-acts, even from childhood, when you paired up with a schoolfriend or relative. Librans do pairs. And pairs do Libra.

From Friday February 3^rd Neptune is in Pisces in your Sixth House, though, which you are simply not used to, in terms of work and your daily routine. This category covers part-time and full-time employment, and also volunteer commitments for the non-profit sector. It also encompasses the work you do as a student, if you are at university. If you are unable to work properly because of health problems, then this too falls under the category of the Sixth House. It’s about your lifestyle. The day-to-day stuff.

Give yourself time to adjust to the new (total) lack of boundaries before you plunge into commitments. And the word is ‘plunge’ or possibly ‘dive’ as Neptune is oceanic in nature. You can read more on Neptune’s impact on your life at The Astrology Show at http://www.theastrologyshow.net. Neptune is the symbol of all that floats. So your daily routine and working life now becomes aquatic. The Life Aquatic, you might say, is where it’s at.

Smart ways to use Neptune in your Sixth House might include some swimming or meditation (but not too much). The issues with Neptune only arise when one uses his great escapes routes as a complete substitute for reality. So if your fingers are wrinkled like prunes and you are meditating so much you disappear up your own bottom, be aware – Neptune has gone too far with you. This new cycle will take a good month to get the measure of. So if it’s possible to avoid signing your life away to new work, academic, non-profit, health or fitness commitments then do so. You have absolutely no experience with the people or situation to come. And it will be with you, in one form or another, until 2025.

The most likely scenario for you in February, particularly around Neptune’s key alignments on the 14^th, 15^th, 16^th is a shift in your career, your life at university or your volunteer role. Or a shift in your health management. By this stage it’s all concrete, because there’s a discussion or some news to process. So what is now so new and unreal, becomes real. You can put everything into words, and also have it articulated to you.

You don’t have to be an astrologer to know that Neptune rules the sea. The trident he carries hooks fish. And there will be a hook (or an addictive pull) in the situation you are dealing with on the week of Monday 13^th. Boundaries need to be there. Because Chiron is also involved (the maverick) there is work-related road ahead which has no speed limit, no stop sign, no map and no parameters. Visibility is poor. Chiron and Neptune both in your Sixth House of work, health and daily routine suggest you need to adjust and adapt early on – waking up prematurely to a cycle of many years’ standing is an excellent way to stop issues before they arise.

Chiron was discovered in 1977, which was a big year for test-tube babies (impossible!) and punk rock (outrageous!) and Apple computers (never heard of such a thing!) So now you know. This centaur is galloping around in your Sixth House of work, daily routine and health in February. And he is being joined by Neptune, who never had boundaries. And never will.

The New Moon on Tuesday February 21^st seems to be a call to action, with a new project, role, goal, program, position, policy – but what or whom are you inviting into your world? This question will be repeated on Friday 24^th, Saturday 25^th. After that, Mercury will be retrograde shadow. So from around the week of the 27^th be aware that ‘done deals’ from the 27^th may not be done at all.

Some of the most famously chaotic episodes in history stem from the fact that men who were all assumption and no facts, made their big decisions and declarations on Mercury’s retrograde shadow period. So when it comes to work or health, be aware: what you assume is in the bag, or a fait accompli, from around February 27^th could come unstuck or hit a snag in March. Read the fine print on contracts in particular very carefully, and if you are in Britain and dealing with the N.H.S. (partly created under Mercury Retrograde) then be utterly aware of all the options.

I’m not crazy about this first rush of Neptune and Chiron in your Sixth House. It’s too much of a commitment, too soon. You’re just not experienced enough with the new ‘no rules’ rules of work, university life, health, volunteering, fitness. Of course, in the years ahead, you are going to have the same kind of glorious escape from reality that everyone else is. When Jupiter in Cancer trines Neptune in Pisces, in the near future, you’re going to have the kind of career highs and professional dream roles, that only exist in fiction.

And yet, and yet. Take your time, as you get into this new swimming pool of professional possibility. And this applies even more strongly if this is about your health or physical fitness. February is the time to inch in, not plunge in.

Children – Yours or Theirs

Librans are so famous for their partnerships. Their marriages, their de facto relationships, and the artful, tactful partnerships they manage to have with their exes, after separation or divorce – especially when children are involved. The only time a Libran will not maintain a fair post-split partnership is when the behaviour of the other person has been so hideously unfair that your internal scales simply will not accept the injustice of it. This is what they call an Astrological Fact.

You may be single,  or with a partner – and you may have children or not – but the good news i,  from February 3^rd, years of confusion about your own or other people’s children will stop. Just like that. You’ll hear the door slam as Neptune takes his trident and heads out of Aquarius by Saturday morning. He may leave a puddle on the floor, or a herring on the mat, but that’s all. The most epically muddling cycle of your entire life, in terms of sex or kids, is now over. Forever!

It may be the end of a relationship or the start of one that signals the change. Or perhaps She’s Leaving Home, just like the Beatles’ song about a girl who grows up and movse out.Neptune will quit your Fifth House of children in an endless variety of ways. Perhaps the addictive behaviour that made your son or daughter, your grandchild, your niece or nephew, your godchild so baffling stops. Maybe the endless befuddlement over your adopted child ceases. What about your adult son, the one who confuses you, and is so confused himself? How about the line you cross (or the line that gets crossed) with your niece or nephew? It goes on. Every Libran has some kind of influence on the next generation, and it may be impersonal (a kids’ school) or very personal (your son). Your situation is unique, but from February 3^rd, the story is the same. The return of boundaries. Or perhaps, the introduction of boundaries, for the very first time.

Adoption, step-parenting, fertility, blended families or contraception are all typical areas for Neptune to muddy the waters for Librans, and he may well have done that for years at a stretch. The mudslide stops on February 3^rd. You will be back on dry land with it all, no matter if you were foxed and befuddled by an adoption agency or just flummoxed by the reality of dating people who have children from other relationships. Or were you buying eggs? Or finding sperm donors? Neptune has taken Librans on all kinds of journeys.

I expect the Full Moon on Tuesday February 7^th will pull you in two different directions, or ask you to put on a good show despite internal neediness.  But the Sun-Mercury conjunction on the same day helps you say, or write, what simply has to be put across. At least if you are going to have the kind of clarity with your own, or other people’s children, which you finally deserve. That is an epic day. I have readers in Los Angeles and Auckland, and the time differences there mean it could hover earlier or later. But near the 7^th, Librans are going to have a major shift in attitude. And maybe it will correspond to an event involving your sex life or the children in your world.

The Fifth House is associated with Leo and the Sun in astrology. So Kings and Fathers, both. It’s where you carve out a dynasty or hand your crown to a pretender to the throne. In modern life, in 2012, this is where you either raise children, or try to have an impact on other people’s kids so that your legacy remains. It may be the legacy of your personality or your money. Whatever. Having no more confusion or befuddlement there, near the 7^th is major!

Mercury’s trine in Aquarius to Saturn in Libra, your own sign, the day before Valentine’s Day is significant. The novelty of actually having logic, certainty and clarity about the question of pregnancy, babies or children – after years of fog – is remarkable. On Saturday February 18^th you have the luxury of seeing your feelings about children and your ideas about their role in your life, at a distance. As if in a mirror reflection. There will be feedback then, or reaction. It will feel like coming out of a thick sea mist into the dazzling light of day.

Your Opposite Number, Your Opposition

Libra, this is all the more pertinent because you are also experiencing the transit of Uranus through your Seventh House of opposite numbers, and opponents. By which I mean your husband or wife, or your boyfriend or girlfriend. And by ‘opponent’ I mean anyone who is against you because of professional jealousy, financial rivalry or romantic enmity.

Now, Uranus has not been your Seventh House very long. But as he describes a process of rebellion and revolution, it is worth looking at his impact on your life in February as Valentine’s Day comes along.

(Saint Valentine, incidentally, had shares in a plastic rose company, and family ties to chocolate corporations. And acrylic teddy bear manufacturers. Are we up on him now? Good. He’s not a saint, he’s a corporate invention).

The Roman myth about Uranus, courtesy of J.Lempriere (author of A Classical Dictionary) goes something like this. Uranus (known to the Greeks as Ouranus) kept his children down. They were confined, trapped, miserable. Then one day they rebelled. Saturn, his son, took his scythe (which should have been a piece of agricultural equipment) and took his father’s balls off. And possibly the rest of his manhood. History glosses over the details.

One might call this defining moment in Roman myth, ‘Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s Uranus.’ However we are astrologers, not people who write for Viz.

Roman historians tell us that the offending Uranian testicles were thrown into the sea, they spawned Venus. Your planetary ruler.  The goddess of partnership. So out of a defiant gesture of rebellion and revolution, came an utterly new idea. And that’s what this cycle is all about, Libran. That’s why I have been banging on about this myth. Your relationship with your former, current or potential partner right now, is about the replacement of the old, with the new, in the interests of freedom. And although painful for some, from that severance will come the welcome invention of something new. And vital.

Uranus by transit always describes a changing of the guard. A challenge to the old ideas about who is in charge. Or what is in charge. So, since 2011, you have been forced to ask this question:

‘Who or what is in charge of my love life? Who or what keeps me down? Or do I keep her down, or him?’

It may be society, or the banks, or the corporations, who share a vested interest in the marriage industry and the big business of weddings. Are they in charge of love and sex, for you?

It may be your husband. The dominating bore! Or your girlfriend – the ghastly old cow! Or how about your former partner? Or the baggage who comes with your partner (this person will not go away) or just the third person in a love triangle…it goes on.

If you are a widow, then perhaps it is the spectre of your husband which rules your love life. You see him in his old chair, but he is not really there. Who or what has governance over romance for you?

Libra, I don’t know if you are single or married, but your love life has as many permutations as most people have peas in the freezer. Thus, I will leave it to you to personalise the old Latin myth about Uranus. In February, though, it’s very, very close to you.

Uranus in Aries in February is hardly significant by aspect, but his presence looms, because the massive wake-up call about children, pregnancy and babies which comes after February 3^rd gives this cycle extra oomph. You are about to wake up from several years of barely-there consciousness, in terms of your son or daughter, the subject of children per se, or deeper questions about contraception and sex, or blended families.

As you come round, open your eyes and blink in the harsh light of day on Saturday February 4^th, you will notice something or someone has come into sharp relief for you.

Neptune departs Aquarius at 7.03pm on Friday night, February 3rd in England – so if that’s the time for your ‘We have to talk’ dinner with your partner, or the time for your date with a new person, it’s highly significant.

No matter which time zone or place you are in, the weekend of February 4^th-5^th is the fully conscious moment you needed to have, which will clearly show you what role the next generation is to have in your life. And all in the context of a long-running process of radical change affecting your view of partnerships.

Children in 2012

Children are about to assume special significance in your life, beginning around Wednesday February 1^st and accelerating from Friday February 3^rd when Neptune is in your Fifth House, which will kick off a cycle extending years into the future – all the way to 2025. The children in question may be your own or belong to other people. It may be one child, as an individual, or kids en masse. But change is coming and you need to navigate it. You would not jump into the sea without knowing how deep it was, or how the tide was running. So it is with your son or daughter, the risk of pregnancy, a partner’s children, or younger people as a whole (your professional or non-profit commitments may involve them too). Time to check out the tides, Scorpio. They’re altering fast.

Give yourself time to adapt to the odd new unreality ‘reality’ of yourlife as this is entirely new and there is no handbook. Basically, Neptune lets you know that there are other worlds out there, and they bear no relationship at all to what you knew before.

A shift in the family may be behind this. Or a new baby? A son or daughter going through a major life change? The permutations are many. This may be your grandchild, niece, nephew or godchild. It may be your lover’s children from another relationship. Just to repeat, it can also be kids en masse, because of your professional or voluntary commitments.

Neptune comes on February 3rd, ushering in years of unreal reality. The potential for confusion is high, so get it right from the start, and consciously see the change, and then make sure by mid February, when it’s all starting to be locked in, you take steps to control and contain whatever (or whomever) appears to be all over the place. Or potentially all over the place!

You can read more on Neptune’s impact on your life at The Astrology Show at http://www.theastrologyshow.net.  Neptune was found in the same year they trialled anaesthetic, patented the saxophone and published a landmark article on hash in Europe. It’s also the year that famous poets became the rock stars of their day.

Neptune is poetry in motion. Not real. Not even remotely real. But the trick with children (your own and other people’s) is to remember it has a place and a time. Just like poetry. If you spouted every sentence, every day in iambic pentameter, your life would be a shambles within about a week. Same with this Neptune cycle. For one reason or another children will be the conduit to an altered state. But it has to be controlled or contained.

Neptune is the dominant factor on February 14^th, 15^th, 16^th. Chiron is there too. Chiron’s influence on the children in your world, and your feelings about  having children (or not) is likely to be this: an awareness that nothing is impossible until you try, and nothing is too outrageous unless you are stopped. Chiron was found in 1977. The year they started locking in plans for the first test-tube baby, Louise Brown. Now, are you one of those Scorpios who is going to try IVF? Because no Chiron researcher of any serious note would be stunned if you did, some time near Valentine’s Day.

But there is no point in  being too literal about Chiron. He’s just a cipher for audacity and temerity. He is a symbol of what happens when you try to extend the parameters of what is possible or acceptable.

If the Fifth House is about your own and other people’s children, and if it’s about sex in the context of deciding to be a parent or not – well. Add Chiron’s cycle in February and you can see where all this is headed. Chiron was famous for his knowledge of music, medicine and shooting. He taught humans how to use plants and medicinal herbs. He was one of those half-horse, half-humans who say ‘Shall we try? What can we try next? What’s not to try?’ And you’re really going to feel him galloping around in your life in February.

In your house of children (your own and other people’s) I would say that test-tube babies might even be pretty tame by now. Gay adoption is more like it.

This is about your life, though. Your horoscope, your kids, your life as an aunt, uncle, grandparent or godparent. Your professional or volunteer commitment to children. Your feelings about falling pregnant, or dating people who already have children. It’s so personal to you, and I have no idea if you even chose celibacy as an option, some time ago!

So on whatever level you are ready to test boundaries and see what you can get away with – well, in February that’s what Chiron will do for you. He’s the punk in astrology who was found in 1977 when everyone was in the mood to test a few rules to see if they were actually there or not. They were not. And Chiron won. This is a little what February will be like for you in terms of sex or kids.

The rule with Chiron and Neptune is to contain and control the experience, in order to keep a handle on it. The New Moon on Tuesday February 21^st seems to be a signal for a decision, but you must allow for Neptune and Chiron in the background then, and again near Friday 24^th, Saturday 25^th. After that, Mercury will be retrograde shadow. So from around the week of the 27^th be aware that so-called absolutes from the 27^th may not be fixed. Plan accordingly, as once Mercury actually goes retrograde from Monday March 12^th, there are no certainties at all. It may be your alleged conception date, your son’s promise to move out or your niece’s plans to involve you in a children’s charity. But really, for a sane diary, remember March will wobble and shift, so February’s plans need to be flexible enough to take that.

Neptune is the God who ruled the ocean. The Roman myth still holds. Just like swimming in the sea, swimming with Neptune in the Fifth House necessarily involves some stratagems. Swim between the flags.

This is especially true if your new lover (many of you will get one now, and it will either lead to pregnancy or step-parenting)  has heavenly bodies in Pisces. Or Neptune in zero orb, exact aspect to other heavenly bodies. Check at www.astro.com.

Neptunian/Piscean types can lead to magical mystery tours, but also muddles of the very worst kind. So research the person you’re about to fall in love with.

The house, flat, family, flatmates

For years now, you have had Neptune keeping life confusing and confused, in terms of the above. No boundaries. No lines. No walls. No barricades. No barriers. The impact on you has been subtle, over an extended period of years, but I would begin with just one word ‘confusing.’

It may have been the tradesman who destroyed your house. Or the fact that you have no idea at all that your teenage daughter is not your best friend and you don’t really belong in her world. How about an adult son who has no concept of normal boundaries, for whatever reason?

Then there are parents who have created a specific atmosphere or pattern within the old family home. Or flatmates who had no concept of where their space stopped and yours started.

Enough already with the history. You will have your own Neptune story about the house, flat, family or share household to tell. But it’s over. It ends on February 3^rd and it may already have started to fold, as you read this.

A Trip at Home

Neptune is a trip. You have been on a trip, for years now, with your concept of what home is. Or belonging is. Might have been the house, flat or garden – might have been the physical neighbourhood or country you feel is your own. And sometimes it’s been as divine as a plunge into the Pacific Ocean on a hot day. And sometimes it’s been like a tsunami from hell. With Neptune you either get the bliss of following what you want and getting it – or the befuddlement of utter anarchy as you realise what life without boundaries is.

Well, no more. You are back on dry land from the 3^rd and it looks as if Tuesday February 7^th is pivotal. I expect the Full Moon on Tuesday February 7^th will be felt on an emotional level as well as visibly seen in the sky – yet the Sun-Mercury conjunction on the same day is so useful for you. At that point you talk or write about it. Or hear news. Or get a question answered. Vive communication.

This so changes the family, house, flatmate or apartment picture. And at that point Scorpio, you realise it’s over. The old dream of a life, the unreality, the non-reality, has gone past you. You are going to wake up to a different world.

On Saturday February 18^th you have the benefit of seeing all these situations from the past as others see them too. This helps the waking-up process which extends for the entire month. But nobody would be surprised, out there in the world of astrology, to hear that February is when there’s a concrete change with the family, flatmate, house or flat which ushers in the new era.

Clear Communication is Coming

Your new, big, wide WWW world

Thanks to Venus, someone is very much on board with you on Wednesday February 1^st and seeing the house, flat, family or share household as a dual carriageway. Then from Friday February 3^rd, Neptune is in your Fourth House, which will change the shape, look and feel of the next few years in terms of belonging to a place, or particular people. Big change. Huge change.

This is the immum coeli of your solar chart, where you hark back to your origins, examine the branches on the family tree, consider your parents and siblings (and their parents and parents’ siblings) and more. Some Sagittarians travel so much that there is no family, or maybe everyone has left; in its place there is a clan of sorts. The immum coeli describes all kinds of non-nuclear family units too. You and the cat. You and your landlord or council. The Brady Bunch arrangement you have, since you married a man with six sons…

February is also about the physical space you inhabit; the flat, the house, the caravan or the castle. Or temporarily inhabit. And extending out from that, the neighbourhood, town or village, and beyond that – your country.

What happens on February 3^rd is a sea change, the like of which you have not seen in your life. The bonding or two-way street you feel on the 1^st is the beginning. The first adjustment comes that weekend of the 4^th-5^th then the really obvious, big stuff is in mid-February, very close to St. Valentine’s Day.

Give yourself days to adjust to the new (total) lack of structure before you wade into choices about the house, the flat, the family, the flatmates, the tenant, the dog. Yes the dog. Anyone you live with who you would term a conscious being. And okay, I will allow for talkative tomato plants too…

Suddenly, life at home, or with the family, from early February, will feel so much like a sax solo. The saxophone was patented in the year Neptune was discovered. So if particular family members or flatmates (or their relationship with you) feels random, open-ended and meandering, that’s why. It’s all sax, no structure. You can read more on Neptune’s impact on your life at The Astrology Show at http://www.theastrologyshow.net. Whatever or whomever ‘drifts’ in your life, so obviously, from February may continue to float for the rest of 2012. If you feel this is going to be an issue (you want your fridge space; you can’t deal with a parent’s approach to the real world) then now is the time to set boundaries. It goes on. There are boundary issues with the landlord, real estate agent or neighbours for some of you.

The thing is, Neptune suits boundaries. That’s why nature invented cliffs. Neptune is the planet of the ocean, and the meandering, random, boundary-free atmosphere that is fast approaching with the family, the flatmates, the builders, the house, the flat, the landlord, the tenant, the neighbourhood…well that’s just typical Neptune stuff. But February is about perceiving, so clearly, what is going on, and how to contain, control and confine it. Because if you want to stop something from becoming chaotic later in 2012 or 2013, then you put in the sea-wall now. You point to the cliff and say ‘That far and no further.’ Because this Neptune cycle extends to 2025 if you are about to buy a property where you intend to stay for the next decade…well. Please have a look at the sea or river nearby, the sewage system, the plumbing, the water supply and so on. Have a look at rainfall levels and flooding. This is a literal interpretation of Neptune in your Fourth House but awareness is all in astrology world!

Once Mercury joins in the picture it looks like there will be paperwork about the house, flat, family or flatmates in mid-February. So if you are buying or leasing a new property then check the rules on boundaries. Fence lines, noise issues, any kind of ‘creep’ that could conceivably happen. Some people simply have no idea. Is there any chance of seepage or creepage of anything? Look at gas. Neptune rules that too.  It’s nice to be paranoid when Neptune just entered your Fourth House of property matters. Nice to be watertight, even if it means feeling just a little bit tightly controlled, while the changeover in your horoscope happens.

Neptune is dominant on February 14^th, 15^th, 16^th. The week of Monday 13^th is important and because Chiron is also involved too (the maverick of astrology) there is feeling that anything is possible, everything should be attempted – and there are no walls or barriers.People can and will try anything. And so will the universe. This is a boundary testing and trying month. Some people (men, probably, or rather old-school masculine women) may manifest Chiron now so in February you will come across those who have no concept at all about what is appropriate, allowed or kosher. And they will try it on. And they may get away with it. And the issue will affect the house, family, flat or flatmates. Full stop.

But what if Chiron is himself, and not cloaked in human form? Then, Sagittarius, the onus is on you to see how much you want to stick to the real world and how much you also want to try it on! (The perfect British phrase for anyone who wants to try his or her luck, when all concerned are raising their eyebrows and holding up the palms of their hands, in a stiff old-fashioned way, like a stiff old-fashioned traffic cop).

Chiron and Neptune in your House of the House in February say ‘What can you, he, she or they actually get away with? Because that is where the goalpost is going to be moved to.’

The New Moon on Tuesday February 21^st seems to be your cue for all this and there’s more, too, on Friday 24^th, Saturday 25^th. After that, Mercury will be retrograde shadow. So from around the week of the 27^th be aware that ‘certainties’ from the 27^th may not be certain at all.

This is a big deal if you are renovating, decorating, taking out a lease, buying or selling a property – or pencilling in plans with family members or flatmates. Plan accordingly, as once Mercury actually turns retrograde from Monday March 12^th, those definite will be jelly. The golden rule with Mercury is to read the fine print and keep back-ups. And get a second opinion if you must. The prospective flatmate who disappears…the window repairs which keep floating in the ether…the uncle who develops a memory problem not entirely disconnected from his fondness for Margaritas….it’s all a sign Mercury is backwards again.

This is the case even on Tuesday 28^th, when Fortuna, the Sun, Pluto and the Moon’s Nodes align so strongly in your chart. You may want to press ahead then, with this new, fascinating, not-real reality world of yours (the one that is so affecting your clan or space). Still, just remember, it could all be a  moveable feast until Mercury is moving forwards. Do not set up wobbly bits in March that could have been avoided by hindsight in February. That’s astrology!

Communication is the state of your nation. And information.

Well, Sagittarius, February 7^th is the moment. At last, you are living in the real world with the written or spoken word.  I would imagine if you are typical of your sign then it is a huge, confused episode of misfired communication that got you, where it really affected you, over the last few years. The trouble with the internet is, it leaks like a sieve. It Wikileaks, like a wikisieve. Google can see your bedroom window. People try to return messages on various channels, ranging from Twitter to the postal system. At all points, in all areas (and you know a lot of people out of town and overseas too) you have had nothing but befuddlement. And, might I add, discombobulation. And then there’s Skype.

Neptune rules the sea, as we have seen. Neptune, the mobile ocean, has been in your department of mobile phones, e-mail, the media, smart phones, old-fashioned phones, dumb phones, your native language, signatures, publishing, multimedia, web 2, web 1 and all the rest for years. And years. And years. It has been like trying to talk under water.

Now that Neptune has quit Aquarius you will be eyes wide open, as it has been such a long time since you have been free to get your message across without baffling atmospheres or dazed and confused people (or systems).

The Full Moon on Tuesday February 7^th will pull you in two different directions, yet the Sun-Mercury conjunction on the same day so much. I would describe it as an epiphany, actually. Everything is so clear, so stark, so revealing. No brain fog. No obfuscation. No more wobbly boundaries or lack of clear signs or rules. When it comes to the written or spoken word – ahem, communication – that period around the 7^th is the real deal. At that point you will be in a position to supply an answer or ask a question that alters the whole story. And the psychic atmosphere. It will feel like fog lifting. I have readers in New Zealand and America, so allow for time zone differences – but close to the 7^th, you’ll feel it, Sagittarius.

Mercury’s trine to Saturn the day before Valentine’s Day is significant. At that point the reality of communication, for 2012 and beyond will be brought home.  On Saturday February 18^th you have the benefit of it all, as others see it too.

If you have been heavily involved in projects or plans online, with people who have heavenly bodies in Pisces, or exact (zero orb) aspects involving Neptune in their natal charts, then one of these people may have assisted in the general flake-out of your communication for the last few years. You can double the flake factor if they drink or use drugs. Or refuse to get proper glasses to see with. Or spend so much time watching cable TV their perception has vanished. Do you know someone who lives in a messy home, who loves ‘the spiritual’ but can’t get it together on the material? Well. He or she may well have been messing with your clear communication channels at any point since 1998 when this cycle  began.

No matter who or what you got involved with in the name of being heard or read as you wish, the time has come to quickly accept the different world you are being invited to join. And to learn, so much, as fast as you can, about what you just went through. It may have been a big deal if communication is your business. If you speak or write for a living, or use images to communicate, then the exit of Neptune from Aquarius on February 3^rd is massive. It’s a new era.

Sometimes it’s the body that gets in the way in a Neptune Third House cycle. Your hearing, your sight, your ability to speak – something there may have been blocked for health or medical reasons. If so, according to all the laws of astrology, it’s going to shift after February 3^rd. Or maybe remain, but no longer be an issue. For many Sagittarians it will be a Kings’ Speech moment.

Your Way With Words

Someone is very much on board with you on Wednesday February 1^st in terms of your aspirations for the internet, your phone or your way with words and images. From Friday February 3^rd Neptune is in your Third House, which will alter the shape of all communication until 2025. Give yourself days to adjust to the new (total) lack of structure before you wade into new decisions about buying technology, committing to websites (for example) or just tackling communication-heavy projects in any particular way.

Suddenly, life will feel like a sax solo. The saxophone was patented in the year Neptune was discovered. So if communication feel meandering, that’s why. If you want to know what it feels like to have Neptune in your Third House of communication for years, ask a Sagittarian.

The WWW is about to become a w-w-wonderful place for you to escape to between now and 2025. It will become a substitute for reality and a fantasy trip. It also lends itself to chaos and anarchy, so be careful. Use February to spot what is happening, before it happens to you. You’ll seldom be as clear-eyed about the change to your potential future, as you are near the 7^th, and again near the 14^th. Go in with your eyes wide open, Capricorn.

You can read more on Neptune’s impact on your life at The Astrology Show at http://www.theastrologyshow.net. But Neptune is dominant factor in terms of speech, computers, phones, faxes, the written word, language and so on around  February 14^th, 15^th, 16^th. And perhaps it will be filtered through your course, or your traditional or digital publishing ideas. There will be a binding discussion or some paperwork at that point, Because Chiron is also involved too (the Mr Try Anything Once of astrology) there is feeling that anything is possible, everything should be attempted – and there are no boundaries any more.

The New Moon on Tuesday February 21^st seems to be your cue for communication changes. This issue will dovetail on Friday 24^th, Saturday 25^th. After that, Mercury will be retrograde shadow. So from around the week of the 27^th be aware that ‘certainties’ from the 27^th may not be certain at all.

Plan accordingly, as once Mercury actually turns retrograde from Monday March 12^th, those finalities and dead certs may be held up or even reversed. Mercury rules mobile phones, computers, internet connections and landlines. So if you are about to lease, buy or repair (or substantially change) any of this, remember the Merco Retro Manifesto, which astrologers collectively created years ago. ‘Don’t purchase, sign, promise or commit if it’s about communication. Unless chaos works well for you.’ Thus endeth the manifesto.

This is the case even on Tuesday 28^th, when Fortuna, the Sun, Pluto and the Moon’s Nodes align so strongly in your chart. Oh, you may want to press ahead then, with the big communication thing, but wait until Mercury is direct. I’ll tell you when on Twitter, to the nano-second if you ask me nicely!

Real world finances

It looks as thoughTuesday February 7^th is epic. At last, you are living in the real world with money, business, the house, the possessions or the flat. Not vague approximations of reality.  Now that Neptune has quit Aquarius you will be eyes wide open, as it has been years since you have been able to deal with cash without the constant possibility of chaos and confusion, the classic manifestations of a Neptune transit. Oh, England had it too. She was born on December 25^th, which is why she’s been befuddled and muddled about her economy and her sharemarket for so many years. Champagne Charlies and too much cocaine. Printing money. Giving bankers bonuses of £1 million when most Brits are saving coins in jars, just to pay for the television license.

You and Britain, born under Capricorn, have been all at sea with the money, the house, the business or the flat (or the possessions) since 1998 when Neptune entered Aquarius. And for every cruisey, floaty, divine moment of transportation from the real world – well, you’ve been overwhelmed too. February is the end of this. From February 7^th, in particular, you feel it’s real. No more swimming goggles, when attempting to read your bank statement.

I expect the Full Moon on Tuesday February 7^th will pull you in two different directions, yet the Sun-Mercury conjunction on the same day helps articulate things, not least to yourself. And to crunch numbers being clueless or dealing with clueless people or organisations!

Do you want to know what it has been like to operate with Neptune in your Second House for all these years? It’s been like the bank manager saying ‘Congratulations! You’ve won a cruise!’ and then taking away your water-wings shortly before a tsunami breaks over your head.

Thank goodness it’s over, oh sensible Capricorn. You are uber-cautious and controlled about your life, to the point of paranoia sometimes – but it does keep you firmly tied to the real world. And now you can be. In full. Particularly with your money, or those possessions.

There are values to think about too. You might be rich to the point of Katedom. Kate Moss or Kate Middleton, Capricorns like you, have also had the same cycle. But it is your House of Values which has also been so heavily influenced by Neptune’s cycle. And as you have been barely conscious about those, again, February 3^rd seems like a wake-up call.

Everything and everybody has a price in this modern world of ours, so what has yours been? February will show you. And you can then put the past few years in perspective. And make some clear new decisions.

Mercury’s trine to Saturn the day before Valentine’s Day is significant. Saturn is your ruling planet, as you know. At that point the reality of it all comes home.