Libra, the Scales in the year 2001

Lady of the Heavens

The eve and the day of New Year are resonant with joy and celebration. Venus, your ruler, is radiant in the sign of Aquarius and your solar fifth house of romance and children, as the old year fades and the new millennium bursts into song!

Gatherings are in order for you and your legion of friends, charming and unusual, weird and wonderful. Your unpredictable children (if you have them) could make their mark as well. Honour the occasion by going to a different place or doing something different this year. Extremes are called for! Some of you may be drawn to wild and extravagant fancy dress or perhaps a flight to Paris. But remember, what one Libra does, another must do the opposite. There is always that other side to your sign so some of you may opt for a simple evening at home and the company of friends and family. Whichever one of these options you choose, it will help you set a tone for the kind of year you want. But remember also, if you choose the extravagance express, you can’t stay on it all year long. If you try to, you’ll come a cropper sooner or later.

The emphasis this year is on enjoyment, social intercourse and the infinite variety that friendship has to offer. Venus in Aquarius assures this, along with connections between yourself and groups that share common interests or common ideals. This could be a year in which you’ll join some association of this nature in order to explore new social or even spiritual horizons. Some of you born early under the sign of the Scales may even be drawn towards a path of dedication and spiritual or social commitment. These are new avenues that can be rich ones to travel, but such decisions could well affect the balance of friendships around you. What you gain on the one hand through connections with foreigners, people involved in education or communication, teachers and writers, you may lose on the other through friends or associates that do not support the interests you have come to hold. This is part of the cycle of balance through gain and loss that is intertwined in the pattern of the year ahead. And as matters run this way for friendship, so do they run for money.

Working Overtime

This year is going to have you working overtime to keep the scales in balance. Some areas of your life surge ahead with achievement and further promise while other areas fall prey to the kind of disruption that only those who dislike conflict the way you do could possibly appreciate. It’s really a year with everything in it, including the unpredictable and the unexpected. Home and family might suffer some disruption or be the source of some real disagreements. Work is resonant with possibilities. There could be advancement, promotion or interesting changes of direction but these won’t come without a few struggles and some arrivals and departures. Creative ventures and pleasure pursuits are very highly favoured as is travel, but the jangle of purse strings and the slitherings of the credit card could come back to haunt you if you don’t keep your head. Communications and business advance with all the intensity of a front line conflict. The battles and disagreements will be offset by the exciting pace of life and the learning situations you encounter, though you will have to watch your frustration levels in the second quarter of the year. You will finish this year much wiser and better placed for the working cycles to continue to grow while a whole new cycle in your home life and emotional life is making ready to begin.

Money Matters  

Last year, many a man or woman born under the sign of Libra will have had money on their mind for there was a welter of activity in your solar eighth house. The eighth house rules the activities of investment and finance, especially those that involve joint finances and work with other people’s money. Legacies, inheritance, taxes ... all of these come under that same umbrella. Somehow last year, money will have been a focus or become one. You may have made or lost it in quantity. You may have succeeded beyond your wildest dreams or been engulfed by debt. You may have simply emerged at the end of the year with little to show for all your efforts.

This year your financial affairs will show a very different character. First, a prohibition! With Venus squaring Jupiter in Gemini in your solar ninth house as the year turns, you will have to be careful of any form of speculative risk and make gambling a no go zone! It may be that you won’t know when to stop and any gains you make could be wiped out by going on for the thrill. It may be that the risk will just fail. Yet, you could find you are the beneficiary of gifts, even extraordinary or extravagant ones that come to you out of the blue. Be willing to receive but don’t put your dough at risk on the turn of a card or at the gee-gees! As far as work and investment go, money from these could be tighter and will need to be managed effectively. With Venus also squaring Saturn in Taurus in your eighth solar house, don’t put your shirt on the stock market unless you fancy the ‘Rambo’ look for later on. This is especially so if other people’s money is involved or others have control over your financial destiny. However if you invest wisely, keep a cool head and a high level of control over what’s happening, you could come out of this year very well. New ventures or businesses are favoured, especially if they involve communications and overseas connections. Just don't forget to put in the hard work to get them off the ground and don’t get snowed under with too much investor capital. Keep it light and mobile.

On the whole, this is an area to be watchful in. With Mars in Scorpio in your second solar house of personal wealth and resources at the start of the year, you may be inclined to take risks in this area by pushing too hard. But Mars is also squaring nebulous Neptune in Aquarius in your solar fifth house, indicating that weird and wonderful ideas may take your fancy. But this can also mean that you are more prone to being deceived or misled. You may be acting from fear or anger without realizing it. You may be drawn to expend energy needlessly by chasing false or illusory goals. You may simply mistake a very bad idea for a good one and race ahead with it too quickly or you may get your hands on a good one but neglect the groundwork. A cool, wise head can do very well this year. Watch that you don’t expend energy by indulging too much in any area (Libra, indulge? Never!). These matters also have some bearing on your health.

Health and Wellbeing  

Watch for any weakening conditions this year, ones that show signs of fatigue or energy loss. If you find that you’re unable to go about your business at the usual rate of knots, pay attention. You may be feeling worn out or you may be working obsessively and pushing yourself to the point of exhaustion. Whichever road you’re on, a good plan of health management will be important. While you can enjoy yourself this year, it is not a good time to test your tolerance to toxins in any form. Chemicals, additives and over processed or refined food should be avoided. Keep the junk to a minimum. Allergic reactions to food or drink that you haven’t had before will be a telling sign that something is wrong. Take notice of what’s happening and make change.

The Mad March of Time  

The year begins on a note of pleasure and enjoyment but a lunar eclipse on January 10th may throw a little uncertainty or upset into work and working relationships, especially where women are involved. Be careful of any manipulation or deceit at this point. Events at work could impact on the home or family in some way. There is the potential here for some quite extreme shift of mood or feeling but this will either move you on to something new or pass back to the old state quite quickly.

January 25th is a landmark day for us all with the two giants of the Heavens, Jupiter, the monarch, and Saturn, the taskmaster, both moving forward again after the retrograde phase that followed their conjunction in May of last year. Don’t expect miracles, but the shackles that have been holding you back may start to loosen and your spirits may begin to lift, filling you with some sense of what can be done from here.

Jupiter begins the year in Gemini in your solar ninth house, encouraging and promoting communications, growth through education, connections overseas and with overseas people, travel and the path of the higher mind. Saturn is still lowering his way through your solar eighth house, so money and joint finances might still be on the agenda. As the eighth house also bears on matters of desire and lust, you might also be dwelling on the fallout from the attention last year’s stellium in Taurus created for you. Are you happy in your sex life? Are your desires being fulfilled? On April 21st, Saturn then moves into Gemini and your solar ninth house, following the trail of Jupiter. Study or travel could become part of your responsibilities at this point. Take a more contemplative view of things and begin to examine how you think.

February will bring confusion as Mercury the messenger turns retrograde (reverse motion) in your solar sixth house (work, daily routines) but moves quickly back into your solar fifth (lifestyle, creativity, children). When Mercury moves backward, communication tends to fail us. Messages can get lost or altered, arrangements are often misunderstood, travel and transport are subject to confusion and delays. Equipment and machinery can also be problematic during the retrograde phase, often failing because for the want of an overdue service or the demise of some minor part. Minor work matters could become an irritation at this point. Your daily routines might be disturbed or interrupted. Work problems could be translated into a wider consideration of where you’re going and what you’re doing. Give such matters some thought. Are you really on track for the kind of life you want? Do your job and your daily life allow you the room to move that you need? Give these issues some thought as well but don’t make any decisions just yet.

Children or people you know socially could also be the cause of disruption around you now. Make sure that everyone understands one another and that all arrangements and appointments are clear and checked twice. Retrograde Mercury is a good period to treat the mechanics of life with some caution and also put matters of a larger nature on hold or under review. Avoid final decisions and the signing of any vital documents. Give the bigger issues some thought. The time to act on them will come later.

Love and Partnership  

The months of April and May will bring some difficulties and even outright conflict in the partnership arena. Venus, your ruler and the goddess of love, turns retrograde (reverse motion) in the sign of Aries and in your solar seventh house, that of partnership and one to one relationships. There could be a sparks, a few flames or even a minor blaze. When the goddess turns her face inward, it’s time to hold off a little from giving and put energy back into yourself. Alternatively, you may have to work harder for partners or give more to them out of their need. It may also be difficult to really communicate with partners or close associates on the subtle and wordless paths of deeper contact. You may not understand what they are doing. Alternatively, they may not understand what you are doing. Both of these problems could become the cause of fireworks. Young people (Venus in Aries) might prove hard to manage or difficult to communicate with at this time. There might also be money problems related to partnership that will cause dispute. If there have been secret or underhand dealings of any nature, they may find their way to the surface and cause problems. There could also be problems between one relationship and another because of differences between the people involved. You might even meet someone of whom your friends or family disapprove. An old flame or contact from the past could come back into you life and you might find yourself with the choice to renew something.

The most important thing is that you don’t rush off precipitately, making rash decisions or causing them to be made. Once again the retrograde phase of any planet calls for some degree of evaluation and review. For those of you in relationships, problems may not be as bad as they may initially seem. Sometimes a little bit of a fiery discussion can remind us that passion may be lacking in other areas of our lives. Go over things together and look for the means to renew what you have. If the breach is more serious than this, it will still be important to give things time. Venus is retrograde from March 10th to April 21st. For the single Libra, it may be time to look at where you’re going and what you’re doing in your love life. Have you been going along in the same old pattern or among the same old crowd? Look to fresh fields and a new approach. Money management could also use a bit of examination at this time, especially if it involves spending where other people are concerned. If there are issues about money between yourself and someone you’re close to, then they will need attention.

Mars, Chiron and Pluto  

For some years now, Pluto the transformer has been at work in your solar third house, stirring up some lively debate in your business life, with siblings perhaps and increasing in general levels of discussion and disagreement. There will have been strong encounters, new ideas to be dealt with and changes of opinion and attitude that will sometimes simply have been enforced by circumstance. Your thinking and your style of operation is in the process of change. Keep riding the waves as there is benefit in the impact experiences they provide. Pluto through the third solar house provides an expansion of the mind and the ideas and cultivates the ability to think things through at a new and greater depth so that serious issues and matters under consideration are seen in a new light. However, one of the side effects of this is conflict (and therefore conflict resolution) but this conflict itself teaches new ideas and brings you in touch with the way others think and see the world. With Jupiter in Gemini in your solar ninth house until July this year, time spent in learning and education with be of great value to you.

Chiron, the wounded healer, is also moving through the sign of Sagittarius and your solar third house, making a landmark conjunction with Pluto at the beginning of last year. Chiron shows us where the hurt is from the past. Here, in the third house, he is helping you to examine the attitudes and beliefs you hold. Are your strongest beliefs or opinions in place because of pain that you conceal deep down rather because you genuinely are committed to their value? Sometimes the weakness that can show here is the one of the wounded adviser, the person who gives the good advice to others and knows full well what they need to do for themselves ... but then never does it. Are there deep rifts between you and brothers or sisters because of the events of long ago? Ask yourself the question then search deeply for the answer. Often though, the answer from the mind is the deceptive one. Look for the answer that your behaviour reveals.

Mars on a Mission  

There could be a little havoc and frustration in your business life, communications and relationships with siblings come the month of May. Mars the warrior enters Sagittarius and your solar third house in mid February. He gives us all a boost but also a dose of fractious display in the 3rd week of March when he makes a conjunction with Pluto. Remember! Beginnings and endings can flow from the events of this time so be careful to keep a lid on things if you don’t want to say goodbye. But, by May 12th, Mars too has taken to backward cycling and turned retrograde. This will be a period of some frustration and even some explosions in the world of communications and business for you. Bottled up frustration may come to the surface either on your part or the part of others. Your projects may hit snags or delays, especially if overseas contacts, communications or people are involved. Review how far your actions have taken you and look at how ideas and beliefs are actually going into practice. Is what you’re working on still the thing that you started out doing? Mars stays in retrograde until the middle of July so it will be important for all of us to work with the conditions and not try to push things ahead too much when they’re actually trying to go the other way. Sometimes too, retrograde Mars can bring a project to what seems to be a complete halt, yet later on, it can start up again if we’ve taken the engine apart and had a good look at what’s wrong.

The Solstice and the Solar Eclipse  

June is jumping again with a retrograde Mercury in Gemini in your solar ninth house. With all the other factors and necessary precautions thrown in, this is still a bumptious and uncertain time with confusion, exaggerated reactions and a lot of frustration coming to the surface. Sail through gracefully, but don’t take anything as read. The solstice comes on June 21st bringing with it a solar eclipse of the New Moon. Expect changes at work that could affect family life. Arguments or conflicts of ideas could seriously threaten your status quo for a time. Money issues could be tied in again, especially if you are an early-born member of the balance club (Libra). Once again the key is to be calm and negotiate your way through. Talk, but try not to talk at cross-purposes. Try to really hear what is being said to you and understand it. This way lies a happy ending.

The Grand Trine  

Those of you born later might reach a point of fulfillment or achievement due to a grand trine between your own Sun sign and Jupiter speeding through Gemini and revolutionary Uranus in Aquarius. Honours could be yours or recognition for your efforts. Unusual or unexpected contacts and connections could come into your life and make a considerable difference. It could just be that regardless of all the trials, you can float through this period with an easy grace, something you generally love to do. However, if there is anything important that you have neglected or ignored, it could catch up with you here, bringing loss or the dwindling of effort or past achievement.

Giant Steps  

July 14th sees Jupiter, monarch of the Heavens, enter the sign of Cancer and your solar tenth house, that of profession, career, how you take authority and your dealings with people or bodies in authority. Success, advancement and growth will all figure in the journey of the year from this point. There may be a promotion or a successful venture. Or there might be blockage that is holding back what you have deserved. Writing, teaching, publishing or some kind of care or service work could be at the core of all this. Make the most of any opportunities, especially now that Mars has come out of retrograde phase.

Watch finances around the 3rd week of July as Mars comes out of retrograde in opposition to Venus, your ruler and Saturn in Gemini and in your solar ninth house. Don’t be wasteful or opportunistic. Count the pennies carefully as there are demanding times ahead for all. There could be a little uncertainty around love and sexuality at this point too.

Battle of the Titans  

August sees Pluto the transformer and Saturn the taskmaster in a wrestling match between your third and ninth solar houses. This contest will in fact keep up intermittently between now and next year, though August and October are the strongest months this year. There might be communication problems once again as well as power struggles or clashes with people or bodies in authority. Try to hold your own here, but watch especially the month of October as Mercury turns retrograde in your own sign and in your solar first house. You could become the victim of your own confusion and uncertainty. You might be unsettled, wondering which way to go or what to do next. Put yourself under the microscope and work hard at communicating clearly. Take a ‘safety first’ attitude! Doublecheck everything, even if it becomes boring to others while you do so. Remember to take time out to wonder about you and how you’re doing without any interruptions.

As well as retrograde Mercury, warrior Mars now in Capricorn and your solar fourth house takes on giant Jupiter in Cancer in your solar tenth house, opposing his influence in early October. There could be ructions as the little man takes on the boss or just hot words and hotter actions as everybody sprays emotion like tomcats. Aspire to rise at work by keeping the balance at home and not making every difficulty into the next world war. Don’t be over idealistic or pin your hopes on futile possibilities. Confusion and stress will catch you out if you don’t remember to slow down and think things through. Be sure you’ve got all the right information before you speak or act.

The Run Home  

November will keep you focused on practical matters of management of both money and resources. Keep your head down and get on with things. There are stresses and pressures to deal with as part of the fallout from the battle of Pluto and Saturn (to be continued next year). December then livens up communications and business once again with a pair of eclipses, one solar, one lunar. The solar eclipse on December 15th might free up some energy in the creative department or with people with whom you work creatively. Get the juices flowing and see what can be done even at this late stage of the year. It might be a very good time to set some new project in motion. The lunar eclipse on the bell of the old year bodes not quite so well. With Mars the warrior in Pisces in your solar sixth house making a square to Pluto in your solar third, there could be conflict (once again), related to the work place and having repercussions for financial or family matters. There certainly are clashes of temperament and strong action that could lead to uncertainty of outcome. Sail through gently on this next New Year’s Eve. It simply doesn’t have the ambiance of the last so don’t board the extravagance express. Nonetheless, your efforts in 2001 could stand you in good stead for a strong twelve months in 2002.