Full Moon in Cancer - January 3, 2007

The New Year rings in with the Sun in Capricorn -- serious, withdrawn, a little melancholic. The light is growing after the Solstice, but it is still dark and cold. What better way to combat hardship than by cozying up with the fam in front of the fireplace? A home-cooked meal, a hug from Mommy -- we've stored away acorns all year for this moment. To hide in our little hole in the tree, shielded from the winter chill.

Cancer craves security and that down-home feeling, but unfortunately we have to work our buns off to create a safe haven for our loved ones. If both parents have to slave away at their jobs to afford a Tivo and a full-time nanny, then the boys and girls at home are going to suffer. Yes, they will be able to watch SpongeBob at any hour, but where's the love? In our Capricornian pursuit to have it all, emotional needs are neglected. And when the Moon is in Cancer, our feelings matter.

Capricorn and Cancer may oppose each other in the zodiac, but they can't live without each other. Both want stability, both are conservative, and someone's gotta surrender to Saturn so that everyone else can have the Moon. Cap is willing to make this sacrifice, for he feels more valuable when he can provide -- but spend too much time at the office, and your inner life starts to shrivel. You've got to replenish yourself with loved ones in a cozy environment. It's called home base because work is war, and you have to return once in a while to get your rations and rest on your cot.

This Full Moon is making a 120-degree angle, or trine, to Uranus, planet of revolution. How can you shake things up domestically? We're not talking about breaking down the walls -- a trine is supportive, offering an opportunity to change. We have an awareness of our stagnant emotional patterns or rigid family dynamics, and Uranus provides the impetus to disrupt the usual flow, so we can do something different this time around. Happy New Year!

This Full Moon will mostly affect people with personal planets or angles around 12 degrees of cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn), as well as those with birthdays around January 3, April 2, July 4, and October 6.

Living With an Astro-Agnostic

What's it like trying to convince your partner of the validity of astrology? Twilight offers an amusing view on life with her astrologically agnostic husband.

New Moon in Sagittarius - December 20, 2006

This New Moon is closely conjunct the Lord of the Underworld, Pluto, and also trine Lord of Extreme Hardship, Saturn. I'm not a big fan of Saturn-Pluto (see "9/11"), but this time these hard-core planets are making a generous aspect to each other, with Saturn supporting our desire to transform ourselves -- it is easier to implement change and make it stick. Saturn is trine Pluto through Fall 2007, and the New Moon in alignment with this combo gives us a taste of the larger archetypal dynamics in play for the next year.

Pluto in Sagittarius relates to all this religious extremism we've been witnessing, as well as the uncovering of abuses in the church and publishing over the past few years. Saturn in Leo is hopefully forcing our leaders to be accountable for their actions (GWB!) and making us take our creativity seriously.

The New Moon in Sagittarius is a great opportunity to make a new start in changing our beliefs, pursuing an advanced degree, travelling the world, studying philosophy and world religions. Pluto brings to the surface old belief systems that are no longer in alignment with our true selves (if they ever were). Once we are aware of them, we can let them go and embrace a view of life more in tune with who we are. Saturn's trine supports us in creatively turning these beliefs into reality -- they are more likely to stand the test of time, since we have the discipline and patience to carry them out over the long haul.

If you approach this New Moon with a lack of consciousness, Pluto could simply intensify your current beliefs to such an extreme that you are not open to any other point of view!

This New Moon is most likely to impact natives with personal planets around 28 degrees of mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces) or the very early degrees of cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn). If you've got a birthday around March 18, June 18, September 20 or December 19, prepare to be transformed!

Madonna and Guy Ritchie -- Saturn Transits in 2007

I've written "The Year Ahead" portion of Madonna and Guy: Will They Work It Out? on AOL Horoscopes.

In short, Saturn in Leo is conjoining her Sun and his Mars. Read it!

The astrology of blogging

Twilight has analyzed her own natal chart as it relates to blogging, associating Mercury with writing, Saturn with the discipline to do it regularly, and Jupiter with publishing.

My Mercury is conjunct my Descendant (and is my chart ruler). It is trine Jupiter in my 3rd house of writing, and sextile Saturn in my 9th house of publishing.

My Astrology at the Movies blog is an expression of my angular Mercury (writing) square my angular Neptune (which rules film) at my IC.

Why astrology? The best I can come up with is an Aquarius Moon and Uranus in my 2nd house of God-given talents.

If "the astrology of blogging" were a meme, I would tag April, Lynn, Pat and Neith.

Pisces with Virgo Rising -- A Grand Realization

I was responding to a commenter on my Seduction Central blog -- we both have Virgo Rising yet seem to hate some Virgo characteristics -- and I finally understand how my Sun sign and Rising sign interact.

I've been living with my Venus-in-Virgo, packed-6th-house girlfriend for over 14 years, and her need for order and cleanliness around the house sometimes drives me crazy. I'm not offended if the apartment is clean, but it's not a priority. She, on the other hand, can't function properly when the place is messy.

I could easily walk over cat fluff and hair bands, ignore the piles of unopened mail on a computer chair. (You should see my desk at work!) However, I am obsessive-compulsive about cleanliness and order during one hour of my day, and that is when I do yoga in the early morning. I have to sweep the living room floor, and line up my yoga mat so that the end is exactly aligned with the floorboards. If I sit down and see some debris on the floor, I feel compelled to get up and throw it in the trash.

Why? Because I'm a Pisces! My hour of yoga is the one time during the day when I can truly devote myself to spiritual concerns, and since I am very in tune with my immediate environment at that time, I need it to be orderly so that I can truly let go.