Happy Birthday Aquarius. The sun starts out the month in your sign, as it always does in February. Time for a big birthday celebration. On the 7th, there’s the annual full moon in the sector that governs your relationship with your significant other; you may learn something about him or her around this time.

The sun moves into Pisces on the 19th and the annual full moon in this sign takes place on the 21st. Pisces represents your financial sector and also your possessions. Pisces is an indefinite sign by nature, and it tends to take a vague approach to your possessions. If you need to go shopping this month before the 8th when Venus is in Pisces, take someone with you. It’ll be more fun. If you can wait until the 8th or later, Venus in Aries will make it much more obvious what you want. Otherwise, all this Pisces energy basically means it’s time for you to do your annual financial review.

Mars is now moving retrograde through your solar 8th house of intimacy, which makes him wonder–what exactly is the purpose of your relationship these days? This happens to be a good question, and well worth pondering if you have the time. If something is the matter in your intimate relationship, it’s time to ask questions. This may not exactly set the stage for a super-romantic Valentine’s Day, but your chart is actually far more interested in knowing the reality than super-romance.

What about your year ahead? Let’s start with your ruler Uranus, which is moving forward through the early degrees of Aries, in your solar 3rd house. The 3rd house represents basic knowledge, facts, curiosity, statistics, superficial contacts, learning, studying, thinking, and writing. Anything your ruler emphasizes, he wants you to emphasize in your life. Uranus will stay here throughout the year and indeed for about 7 years.

Interestingly, Saturn is in your other knowledge house right now, and he stations this month before turning retrograde on the 7th. Saturn rules rules! That’s right, he governs things such as regulations and principles that can be applied to a sphere of activity. Saturn wants you to structure your understanding of the world, to take the basic and superficial knowledge Uranus has you gathering and turn it into generalizations and principles you can actually use in your everyday life. That sounds kind of abstract because Saturn’s in an abstract house.

But the basic idea can be brought down to earth by doing things such as planning a daily schedule or routine or your yearly goals based on the realization that you must have the intellectual stimulation Uranus wants for you. Structure satisfying your curiosity into your life, and both Uranus and Saturn will be happy. Both planets want to know what is actually happening, and Saturn wants to know how you will choose to interpret things. Uranus is the collector; Saturn is the analyzer and the creator of reference points. Creating your yearly plan is perhaps the most important thing you can do this month. Saturn will stay here, analyzing and creating reference points until October, when he’ll turn his attention to your career.

The other big news of the month is Neptune moving out of your sign for good, for the rest of your life. Neptune’s the planet that wouldn’t know a fact or a statistic if it slapped him in the face, who hates analysis and who operates without any reference points whatsoever. The fact that he’s leaving your sign essentially means you are getting your regular Aquarian mind back, and you’ll be able to think straight without his foggy interference. You haven’t been able to do that since 1998!

Where will Neptune go? Well, he’ll join Chiron in your second house of financial and personal security. Neptune and Chiron can both be favorable financial planets and you may actually find your finances to be in good or at least satisfactory shape as Neptune works his way (for another 14 years) through this part of your chart.

Meanwhile, Jupiter continues to grace the area of your chart that relates to your actual house, the building where you live. Make yours as nice as possible while you’ve got Jupiter’s help to do so. Remember that Jupiter’s motto is bigger is better, and he loves exaggeration. If you do, too, you’re in luck; otherwise temper his enthusiasm with a bit of caution. In mid-June, Jupiter will move on to the sign of Gemini and your solar 5th house of general happiness. Yes, Jupiter will be in a happy mood here with just about everything in your life, including love and relationships.

Finally, let’s talk about Pluto in Capricorn in your solar 12th house. Pluto also emphasizes learning by experience, but he has another agenda as well. Pluto represents power; in Capricorn he represents the combination of power and prestige or perhaps the power of reputation. Pluto here in 2012 (and many years beyond) is trying to sneakily get you to extend your influence behind the scenes and thus increase your power and prestige.

The month opens in Aquarius mode, with the sun and Mercury in this sign. Mercury in this position suggests that what you learn this month will be about people and not things, or at least that it would be in your interests to focus your fact gathering on the people you know and need to know.

The last third of the month, in contrast, is strongly Piscean. There’s a bit of a battle between your ruler Mars, which is hanging out in Virgo for as long as it possibly can, and the sun, new moon, Mercury, Venus, and Neptune, all of which spend some time in Pisces. Virgo loves processes, doing things step by step. Mars in Virgo loves to put processes into action. Pisces hates processes, and it doesn’t much care for action either. Pisces likes to use the drifting in the ocean method of getting from place to place, sort of like driftwood can travel from one continent to another without actually doing anything but bobbing on the waves. The peak of this bobbing vibration occurs at the Pisces new moon on the 21st, and you may just as well give yourself over to aimless drifting around that time. You’ll cover just as much ground that way, even if it’s an irritating and patience-trying method of achieving your goals.

When Mercury enters Pisces on the 13th, expect communication to get more theoretical and less concrete. In other words, people will want to talk about ideals rather than reality. In fact, the whole month is pretty darn idealistic in your solar chart, which makes it a good month for saying nice things and repressing the more critical things Mars in Virgo might be thinking. If you can use the combination of Virgo and Pisces to give form the indefinite, you’ll be way ahead of most people. If you can even figure how to give form to the indefinite or what that even means, you’ll be way ahead of most people.

An inner planet moves into your sign this month, also. That would be Venus on the 8th. This is nice for you financially, as it combines with Jupiter in Taurus to make your chart both open to financial improvement and not facing any major obstructions or obstacles to such improvement.

Saturn switches its direction of motion this month, going retrograde on the 7th. What this means is that it is going back to cover old ground again–specifically old ground in your relationships. Whatever the issues in your relationships, it’s deja vu all over again: sort of like Groundhog’s Day, Saturn keeps you giving chances to redo things until you get them right. Expect this vibe to be in effect on Valentine’s Day.

Saturn contrasts with Uranus in your own sign, which is scooting forward and is only interested in things that you’ve never encountered, things that haven’t existed before. It wants you to try new things in your life, and at some point, you will hear its message loud and clear.

The final big news of the month is Neptune switching from Aquarius to Pisces on the 3rd. In Aquarius, Neptune has been interested in information, especially information technology, and all that Facebook kind of social networking stuff. It’s been the sponsor of the idea that no one could possibly have too much information about his or friends and contacts. Neptune in Pisces is interested in connections, too, but it doesn’t necessarily believe that you need technology to make them. If you love your iPhone more than life itself, this switch may not be entirely to your liking. On the other hand, if you’re open to the idea that maybe there are other ways to gain knowledge, you may find Neptune in Pisces to be oddly and subtly refreshing.

In February, Pluto reaches 9 degrees and starts moving really, really slowly. In your solar chart, Pluto is responsible for scrutinizing the idea of common sense (something your sign likes) and figuring out how to turn common sense into a moral code. That may seem like an odd thing for Pluto to do, but he’s taking the project seriously. There’s an awful lot of conflict in the world today, and times are tough economically, as you may have noticed. The planets want you to have a very firm grasp of your moral stance, because it may very well be challenged in 2012 by all kinds of weirdnesses you never anticipated might cause a moral dilemma. Tough times sometimes call for tough choices and Pluto, prudently, wants you to be prepared.

Otherwise, the month of February is awfully darn Piscean. Pisces represents your solar sign of groups and hanging out with other people. Not the month to go solo in any of your activities. The new moon in Pisces occurs on the 21st –a good time to meet people or attend any activity that involves a crowd. I should warn you that Neptune in Pisces this month has a rather expansive view of your social life–its idea of a good development would be for you to meet all the people in the entire world. If that seems a bit overwhelming to you, you’ll need to set your own boundaries, because Neptune won’t.

For those of you seeking a new place to live, there’s a full moon in Leo on the 7th that could bring your search to a successful conclusion. Don’t delay your efforts on this front.

For the career minded, there’s a bit of Aquarian career energy left for you, through the 18th. Long-term changes are afoot in your career, though, in the sense that Neptune, which has been in your solar career house for about 14 years, finally leaves on the 3rd. Things that have been undefined for a long, long time could get more defined. The structure of your employer could change–to become more structured. An example would be when a merger takes place and the smaller company has to adapt to the bureaucracy of the larger one. All of a sudden, there’s someone to count the paper clips. This energy actually previewed itself during April through July of last year, so you should have some idea what the new regime will be like.

Venus moves into Aries on the 8th. You may learn about a behind the scenes supporter you didn’t know you had. Finally, your Valentine’s Day looks to be either spent with friends or rather pragmatic–as in let’s just stay home and watch basketball on TV rather than trying to go out on a weeknight.

Your living situation continues to get attention from the stars in February. There’s a full moon in Leo on the 7th that relates to your neighborhood and Mars continues to haunt the sector of your solar chart that relates to home and home improvement matters. If you have work to do around the house or a neighborhood project to complete, time to get on it. Note to DIYers: Virgo values quality over quantity and is a bit of a perfectionist; don’t expect your project to be completed soon. If you hire someone to do work around your house, get specifics, especially regarding the estimate and don’t neglect to handle issues that are structural but not visible. Check and double-check all work done.

The other inner planets mostly congregate in Aquarius and Pisces this month. Aquarius represents your solar 9th house of knowledge and information, a rather inactive house. Unless–you want to travel, in which case you’ve got some planetary assistance all the way through the 18th.

The sign of Pisces, on the other hand, relates to work. Specifically, your career. Your career house is lit up 6 ways from Sunday in February, and it plays host to gas giant Neptune for the first time this year. You will soon discover that when Neptune comes to visit, he moves in and installs his gigantic, amorphous self into your work life and gradually rearranges it to his liking. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it can mean that your work will swallow your life, so to speak, as your chart places a great deal more emphasis on career. You can find yourself living at the office.

Since, as we noted, you have living situation energy in your chart at this time, there’s a bit of a conflict. Not a horrible conflict, but a conflict. Both home and work want your attention in February, maybe a little more than you want to give either. In the long run, Neptune will win because he’s bigger and he’ll stay for longer. The good side of this is that Neptune is a very hopeful planet; if you want something to happen, sooner or later he’ll try to make it happen for you.

Yet another area of interest for your chart in February is your social life. Venus moves into your social life sector this month on the 8th, brightening things up. Uranus in this sector is encouraging you to broaden your circle of connections, to include people you might once have thought of as hopeless weirdoes. At the very least, it looks for alternatives to the same old folks you’ve always known.

Finally, if you want a nice Valentine’s Day, try celebrating it the weekend before rather than waiting for Tuesday. Neptune will want you to get your rest on a work night.

The most practical planet in your chart right now is Mars in Virgo in your solar 3rd house. Mars may be the only planet actually interested in doing something this month, in being useful. Fortunately or unfortunately, he is parked in the sector of your chart that deals with daily life. Mars in this house often indicates that just dealing with everyday life takes up most of your time and energy.

Venus in Aries just might be useful, too, for she it makes the time period from the 8th on ideal for making requests to bosses, authorities, governments, and other official type entities. On the 9th, Venus and Uranus link up–a good time for making career connections.

The month also starts with the sun, Mercury, and Neptune in Aquarius. Here they hang around mysteriously, not doing much of anything, although you could put them to use if you need to get a loan. Starting with Neptune on the 3rd, all these planets file into the sign of Pisces. Pisces in your solar chart represents the sign of knowledge, and apparently you are intended to soak up a bunch of it.

If you’re applying to any kind of an educational institution, you’ve got windows of opportunity, especially around the new moon on the 21st. I should point out, though, that Neptune can be a mixed blessing. Neptune is the sort of confusing planet that can make you realize that everything you’ve already learned is completely wrong. Neptune’s not big on conventional wisdom, unconventional wisdom maybe, but not the kind of thing you learn through common sense or everybody telling you something is true. In Neptune’s world, all human beings are fools, and he’s only to happy to point that out to you when he gets a chance.

Pisces and your solar 9th house are also representative of your ability to see the big picture, to see relationships between parts and the whole. This can be a marvelous thing, strangely comforting and healing when you ‘get it’ with regard to pieces of your life. This doesn’t have to be on a grand scale either. Pisces rules glamorous things like fashion, and Neptune in Pisces in your solar 9th can be as mundane and fun as suddenly seeing how the pieces of an outfit can work together (or not work together) to make a fabulous whole.

Saturn starts retrograding in your home sector on the 7th. Saturn’s not breaking any new ground here; he’s just confirming whatever you already learned about the state of your residence.

Finally, Pluto is inching forward in your relationship house. Pluto is trying, whether successfully yet or not, to get you into contact with someone who will expose you to what you need to know about your relationship patterns, which, in Pluto’s world, usually means what you need to change in your relationship patterns. He’s not the happiest Valentine’s Day planet in the world, especially if you’re already in a committed relationship. A better year to stay in and get real with your significant other than to try to go out and be light and fluffy when your chart’s not feeling that way.

Get the facts about your significant other. That’s the basic task when the sun and Mercury travel through Aquarius, the sign that represents your most significant and committed relationships. Now is the time to learn what makes your man or woman tick. The primary period for this information gathering lasts until the 13th. By the way, this is also a great time to go out and do things with your sweetheart (Valentine’s Day!), especially festive activities where a lot of people gather.

Meanwhile, Pluto is in your solar 6th house of work and health, slowly pushing forward toward a breakthrough in mid-April. Issues with either of these areas can be addressed through realistic experimentation, looking for what works and what doesn’t work. Common sense helps too, as Pluto is in Capricorn and Capricorn loves common sense and using your rational mind to address problems. Finally, if you are lacking in skills, Pluto encourages in-depth training in practical procedures that will help you manage and control potential problems.

Since work is all business, the planets have kindly offered you an option for experiencing the lighter side of life. Venus and Uranus meet upon the 9th, and they urge you to try something new, just for fun. Spring a pre-Valentine’s surprise on your sweetie, and go have an adventure of some sort. This is also an excellent aspect for writers and public speakers–it’s a time of inspiration.

On the not so lighter side of life, Saturn stations and turns retrograde this month, one of the more significant astrological happenings in February. Saturn is in the part of your chart that represents thinking, the mind, mental stress, communication difficulties, and what Saturn wants is for you to get your mind right. The time of maximum stress is at the full moon in your own sign on the 7th. Full moons are a bit unstable by nature, and Saturn doesn’t like that. The bottom line is that this is a time to think before you speak and to determine whether how you feel now is how you are likely to feel in the future. Don’t let your emotions run away with you.

Now on to the other big news of February: Neptune moving out of Aquarius for good and into the sign of Pisces. Neptune in its own sign is going to be giving everyone lessons in how to deal with a lack of specifics, definition or clear-cut direction. In your case, this lack of specificity revolves around power issues. Who’s got the power? Why? How? How much? It’s hard to tell and things seem to keep changing.

On the other hand, Neptune in your solar 8th house can be very productive in the long run for things like psychotherapy, things that deal with the subconscious mind, memories, buried feelings–and even mysteries. Neptune in Pisces (which lasts for 14 years) can be one of the best things that ever happened to you–but before you reap the benefits, you’ll need to learn how to handle a lot of not knowing. At least all the rest of us will be in the same boat!

Every year in February, inner planets slide from your solar house of work and health into your relationship sector. During the first half of February (actually until the 19th), you get to do your Virgo thing and review how efficient and effective you are at your daily routines of job and personal maintenance. The pure Virgo type is the quintessential knowledge worker, because knowledge is what your sign likes to trade in. So this is when you ask yourself if you know what you need to know to do your job and run your life effectively. If you don’t, then in true Virgo fashion, you make a plan to correct any gaps. That’s how it’s supposed to work anyway, and I hope it does for you.

After the 13th, your ruler Mercury is in your relationship sector, and this is when you review whether or not you are getting the intended results in your relationship. If not, again, make corrections or at least express your concerns. Jupiter in your sector of seeing the big picture is making nice angles to the inner planets in Pisces (your relationship sign) this month, so you may get some help from him in making improvements in your relationships, if necessary. Valentine’s Day looks pretty decent, by the way, especially if you’re already in a committed relationship.

Meanwhile, Mars is still in your own sign, and the person he’s reviewing is you! Yup, Mars retrograde is a perfect time for you to learn about yourself. You are as important as your job and as your significant other–are you getting the intended results from yourself? You’ve got the chance to re-think your personal style if you want to.

Now for the outer planets. Saturn turns retrograde this month, on the 7th. This could have one of two opposite effects. One would be that your finances would start looking up as Saturn backs off the financial pressure a bit. The other is that your financial situation could take a downturn as Saturn moves backward. In either case, expect a bit of a change in the days around the 7th. If debt is your problem, deal with it as forthrightly as possible while Uranus is moving forward in your sector of financial obligations.

The big news of the month is Neptune moving into your relationship for a stay of oh, about 14 years. This the super-gigantic version of the Mercury review of your relationships we talked about earlier. It takes a long time. It’s thorough. It’s mysterious. And it’s unfocused. With this placement, your mind will be on relationships, one way or another, for a long time to come. That’s not exactly new to you, the cosmos have been putting emphasis on your relationships for a long time. For awhile, it seemed intent on busting them up, and maybe it succeeded a few years ago. Now it is looking to make them more sensitive, gentle, refined, dare I say–peaceful? Neptune will go about this project in a random and unorganized fashion, but the results will probably be more than worth putting up with the strangeness of Neptune’s methods.

This month the sun, Mercury, and Neptune move into solar 6th house of work and health. Venus and Chiron are already there, and a new moon will take place in this sector on the 21st. That’s a lot of emphasis on work and/or health. Put bluntly, your work (or health concerns if that’s your primary focus) will have a tendency to creep through your life like a spreading fog until it takes up all the space in your life. Do a reality check if this starts happening to determine whether work creep is really necessary.

Another possibility is that weirdness will pop into your work life or health status and refuse to leave when told to. This could actually work to your benefit in the long run; a dose of weirdness could give you a whole new perspective, especially if your concerns are health-related. Whatever you do, try not to worry, brood, succumb to anxiety attacks or otherwise overthink things that don’t need to be overthought. Instead, decide what’s important and expend your mental energy on that. Or–use all that Pisces energy on creativity or following your inspiration.

Saturn also goes retrograde in your sign on the 7th of this month. Saturn has a tendency to use this change of direction to present you with a choice–a rock and a hard place kind of a choice. It’s not that you don’t know what to choose; atypically perhaps, that’s not the problem. It’s more that you’re not thrilled with having to do what you need to do or not enthusiastic about making the commitment you have to make. You’ll do the right thing, though; it’s in your nature.

This is also Valentine’s month, and single Librans may be happy with the general tenor of the skies. Venus and Uranus meet up in your relationship sector on the 9th–a great opportunity to start a new relationship, just in time for the holiday. Oh, I’m not promising eternal romance or anything like that, more like a date a for the otherwise dreaded V-day. Of course, the aspect won’t bring anything if you don’t actually try to get a date, but if you do try, the planets may help.

Pluto in your solar 4th house hasn’t forgotten you, either, especially if you were born during the first few days of October. Pluto is attempting to affect your living situation, residence, real estate, or possibly your family. He’s trying to box you in to some situation, force you to take a stand. Or–he’s attempting to bring depth to a situation you hadn’t examined very closely before. Whatever he’s doing, give these matters some attention now so that Pluto doesn’t have an excuse to pounce on you in April when he turns retrograde.

Let’s start with Venus in your solar 6th house of work and health as of the 8th. The universe has been trying to nudge you toward changes in one or both of these areas, and it’s starting its 2012 campaign on that front this month. It’s not asking you to do much right now–just start off with something small. You can decide for yourself what an appropriate small thing would be, just as long as you get moving ever so slightly forward.

Now for some other highlights of the month. Mars is exploring possibilities in your solar house of dreams, testing which ones are worth pursuing and which ones aren’t going to make the cut. Join him in this endeavor by reviewing your goals. Jupiter is trying to give form and substance to your relationships with others, which is excellent if you are seeking a relationship or seeking to put an existing relationship on a more permanent, committed basis. If you’re not in a relationship, it’s a good time to meet someone or to get to know better some of the people already in your circle. Which brings us to Neptune.

On the 3rd, Neptune moves into Pisces and a supportive angle with your sun. He’s leaving Aquarius and won’t be back in your lifetime, which is good. It’s good because the sign of Aquarius is not in a supportive angle to your sun. Now Neptune can work with you, not against you. He can be particularly supportive in the area of love relationships, and that’s a good thing regardless of your current relationship status. There are a whole mess of other Pisces influences this month, too, which makes for potentially a very nice Valentine’s Day. Even if you’re not in a relationship or don’t have a formal date, do go out and spend some time with other people. If you absolutely cannot stand the thought of venturing out into the romantic madness, at the very least luxuriate in some self-indulgent ‘me’ time; it’s too nice a day to waste.

We can’t leave out your ruler Pluto. Pluto is in your solar 3rd house of curiosity, communication, and the mind, and he’ll be there for a while. Now that Neptune has moved into Pisces for good, you have an opportunity to use these two outer planets together. Not only can third house activities like learning and writing be positive for you, they can also open up your creativity and help you put together the pieces of the puzzle of yourself. Think, write, and learn your way to mental health and self-knowledge!

We’ll start with the third house in your solar chart, the one represented by the sign of Aquarius. This is a house of casual interactions and get-togethers, such as with acquaintances, neighbors, relatives, friends, the people you see every day. Popping in for a drink with your co-workers might qualify. It is also, strangely or not so strangely, the house of the mind, and of mental stability. There’s big news in your solar third house this month.

At first, it seems like like a normal Aquarius month. The sun’s there, so is Mercury for half of the month. But…this February, Neptune moves out of your solar third house, a spot it’s lived in for about 14 years. It moves into Pisces and your solar 4th house on the 3rd of the month, followed by the inner planets. Whereas the third house is outgoing, the 4th house is about your inner world, your home, family, and private time. That’s a big shift, although I doubt you’ll wake up on the 4th of February and shout “I’m shifting a major focus of my life from going out to staying in!” You might, but the effects will probably be more subtle. And more long-lasting.

Meanwhile, Mars remains in the opposite sign of Virgo, focusing on the most outward part of your life, your career and public standing. Mars is retrograde now, but that doesn’t mean he’s stopped trying to bring something into being in your career. He still cares about it, although he may be pausing a bit to strategize. This influence remains in effect until July, so you cannot neglect your career. I’ve been hammering on about this for months, and I will undoubtedly continue to do so. Mars doesn’t spend this long in your career house very often.

He definitely doesn’t focus on your career house for so long at the same time as when Jupiter is transiting your 6th house of job and daily work. This lasts until June, and again, I will keep repeating that this is a rare professional opportunity for you. Jupiter doesn’t just represent your job itself, it also represents your co-workers (the ones you may occasionally have a drink with), and it encourages you to do things with them. They are your allies during this cycle. Work this cycle as much as you can.

Finally, do something creative for Valentine’s Day, if you celebrate that holiday.

There’s a big emphasis on your knowledge and information houses in February. Neptune moves into your solar 3rd house of information on the 3rd of February. He joins Venus there, and the sun and Mercury follow him into the sign on the 19th and 13th respectively. There’s also a new moon in Pisces on the 21st. The third house is the house of common sense, everyday knowledge, not advanced learning or anything.

The strange thing is that Neptune is a planet of uncommon sense and cosmic knowledge. This suggests that Neptune is going to try to have you integrating all sorts of information that you’ve acquired over the years into some sort of big picture understanding of how daily life works. He’s a compassionate planet, too, and he may urge you to think more about other people and their problems and to become more sensitive in your daily encounters. Neptune’s a big, important planet and this indicates that what you learn during the next 14 (14!) years will be both valuable and significant in your life.

Meanwhile, Mars in Virgo continues to travel through your sector of advanced knowledge, the 9th house. Virgo is a practical sign, like your own, not all that cosmic. If you are going to delve into advanced knowledge during his stay (until July), and he’d like you to, he wants it to be knowledge about tangible stuff–things, objects, useful items. He’s the sort of planet that will encourage you to research things you’d like to buy so you can become an expert and get the best deal by knowing exactly when prices will be at their lowest. He likes to plan, and if you have big ticket items to purchase, he can be very helpful if you use him and don’t purchase on impulse.

The 9th house is also a travel house, which brings me to Valentine’s Day. Jupiter, the travel planet, is in your solar 5th house of romance, and he’s in a decent mood with Mars in your travel sector. Combine these two influences and you possibly get a romantic trip this month, which would be a wonderful way to celebrate the season and either escape winter or embrace it with a bit of downhill skiing or the like.

I can’t leave without also mentioning Saturn in your career house. He stations this month on the 7th, and then starts retrograding. Sometimes you will see a development in the affected area when a planet stations and changes direction. Saturn’s been in your career house for a long time, and he’s traveling over old ground for the final time before he leaves in October 2012. Look to the time period between very late October 2011 and now for clues as to what issues he’ll be revisiting.

I hope you’re in the mood to see the big picture in life, Pisces, because Neptune’s moving into your sign on the 3rd and he’s not just about the big picture; he’s about the gigantic, cosmic picture. At some point during his stay in your sign, Neptune will try to cram and stuff so much insight and revelation into your head at once that you’ll feel isolated from ordinary folk who only see the ordinary picture. Unless you’re born on the first day of Pisces (around February 19), this won’t happen right at once. Instead, it will creep up on you, as it creeping up now.

For the next 4 months or so, Jupiter remains in your solar third house, prepping you for your Neptunian future by trying to expand your mind in a less dramatic way. Jupiter is content to have you learn by directly communicating with regular people; Neptune will try to give you the sensation that you’re communicating directly with God, the cosmos, alien beings, guardian angels, or whatever your belief system is predisposed to recognize as a legitimate source of information. Whoever you’re communicating with, it will make you feel as those the dots are finally being connected.

Neptune’s the big Kahuna in your chart in February and for a long time to come. To have your ruler in your sign (for 14 years no less) is a big deal. You can cooperate with Neptune by thinking globally and educating yourself as much as you can about the larger world. Chiron, also in Pisces, provides support for Neptune, and both emphasize compassion and a desire to help others.

The sun is in Aquarius until the 19th, when it moves into your sign. Mercury is in Aquarius until the 13th, then Merc moves into your sign as well. Oddly enough, the sun and Mercury in Aquarius extend these themes of compassion and helpfulness, for they travel through the house that Neptune rules during the early part of the month. Your annual birthday wish new moon occurs on the 21st. Since the moon will pass right over Neptune on this day, it could be a very eye-opening new moon.

Uranus and Venus in your second house want you to do a little early birthday shopping for yourself and buy new stuff on impulse; Saturn stationing in the opposite house this month, definitely doesn’t. Saturn wants you to save your money, as in literally building up your savings. Who will win this month? Up to you. The full moon on February 7 could relate to new developments in your work or health. With Mars still retrograding in your relationship house, give your significant other precise specifics about what you want to do for your birthday or Valentine’s Day. Neptunian grandness won’t cut it with this particular influence.

Happy New Year Capricorn. As your sign continues to enjoy favor from planets in all of the earth signs, let’s start by talking a bit about the Jupiter in Taurus part of the equation. Jupiter is in your solar 5th house, the one associated with creative projects. With the sun in your own sign until the 20th, you have a double dose of energy relating to imagination, originality, and new ideas that Jupiter in Taurus can help you capitalize on productively.

If you’d like any of these potential ideas to pay off in a financial sense, then January is good for that also. You have quite a number of planets in your solar 2nd house of finances, including the sun when it moves into Aquarius on the 20th. You’ll need to plan and set goals that can be developed reasonably quickly (by mid-February), but you can do that. Aquarius is a team-oriented sign, so collaborations are especially favored from the beginning of the month (because Venus is already in Aquarius as the month opens). With planets in all the earth signs and Neptune moving into environmentally conscious Pisces, “green” projects seem promising. Note that Jupiter in Taurus also relates to activities involving your children, so don’t feel you have to be scraping around for money-making ideas if that’s not your interest.

The other big earth sign energy of the month is Mars in Virgo, which stations on the 23rd and then starts moving backward. Mars is a restless planet, and he’s spending a lot of time in your solar house of travel. He gets claustrophobic and itchy when he can’t get out and move, so you may need to accommodate him either via actual travel or by just getting outdoors and into some nature or some sports activities that will let him burn off a little energy. Mars stays in this area of your chart for fully half the year, so expect the need for movement and action to continue throughout much of 2012.

Now let’s talk a little bit about the rest of your year ahead in 2012. We’ll start by talking about your house. Your literal physical house. It’s represented in your chart by the sign of Aries, the sign that Uranus is currently inhabiting and not planning to leave any time soon. In 2012, Uranus spends a lot of time challenging Pluto. Really challenging. You can see this in world affairs in a multitude of countries wherein people are standing up to government or authority in one way or another, including in places like Syria, where doing so is really really dangerous.

Pluto is in your own sign, and it may annoy you greatly to see Uranus trying to challenge a planet in your own sign. You may consider what Uranus is doing potentially dangerous to your habitation. Therefore…you might want to take Capricornian precautions against damage to your house in 2012–by getting things inspected, repaired, fortified, secured, and generally made less potentially dangerous. Uranus may not affect your physical house so much as your family or the group of people you live with. The time to watch is mid-July, which is when Uranus stations.

The second thing to know is that Neptune moves out of your solar second house of assets early next month and doesn’t come back. Neptune’s been concentrating for well over a decade on typical material assets like possessions and property and so on. Now, however, he’ll concentrate on a different type of asset–assets of the mind and character, such as skills, talents, physical and mental capabilities and so on. That doesn’t mean you’ll lose all your material assets–it just means you should be conscious of husbanding them because Neptune won’t be focused on trying to endlessly expand them anymore.

Pluto in your own sign will continue with his general mission of taking you on some sort of a journey that you’re pretty sure you didn’t sign up for on purpose. He’s still concentrating on those folks born in December, so if you are a January birthday Cap, you can breathe a sigh of relief. If you’re a December born Cap, it may help to remember that the point of a journey is to actually get from one place to another. Pluto is not trying to take you any place that you don’t actually want to go. What you didn’t realize was that the route to the place you want to go wound through such unfamiliar territory. Pluto knows what he’s doing.

Pluto’s an extremely competent guide. He knows more than you do. It sounds facile to say ‘trust in the process,’ so I’ll say something perhaps a bit more to you liking. Trust but verify. Hang on and don’t give up. You’ll be amazed at where you end up.

Jupiter will move from your solar 5th house to your solar 6th house in mid-June. This will move Jupiter’s areas of attention from creative projects and children to work and health.

Finally, we can’t wrap up without mentioning your ruler Saturn, who has perched his risk-averse self at the top of your chart where he can put his nose to the grindstone of your career and eyeball the specifics of your professional life with incredibly detailed attention. Saturn will leave this spot in October and you may find the change to be a real liberation. Saturn in the 10th house can be productive but also quite discontent without quite being clear what you can do about the problems he points out. Once he leaves this spot, you may well be able to take judicious risks again, be more assertive, more playful, and more powerful. Put bluntly, a Saturn transit often pays off when it’s over, not while it’s in progress. So you have something to look forward to.

Happy New Year, Aries! The year opens with all the planets moving peaceably forward throughout the month–with the exception of your ruler Mars, which we’ll get to in a moment. So let’s tackle things topic by topic.

Topic #1: relationships. Saturn in Libra has been making a strong argument for continuing in an ongoing relationship–even if you don’t always feel like it. Meanwhile, Uranus in your own sign has been advocating for changes and trying to push your intuitive perceptions about your life up to the surface. If you can get these puppies on the same page, you can figure out how changes in your own life can foster a more open, vibrant relationship. If that’s too much work, at least you can take advantage of Saturn’s happy relationship with Neptune this month to enjoy associations and friendships of all types.

Topic #2: work and/or health. Mars spends the entire month in Virgo, stationing and then turning retrograde on the 23rd. Virgo is a knowledge-seeking sign, an information-gatherer. When a planet goes retrograde in Virgo, it often means the planet is trying to figure something out. It is trying to take the information gathered from various sources and put it together like a puzzle. Hence, it’s a good bet that one of your main tasks during this month and beyond is going to be to figure out some puzzle related to your work or health. When the pieces all fit, you’ll be ready to move forward on something of importance to you.

Topic #3: money. Jupiter in Taurus started moving forward on Christmas, and that’s good news for you. Taurus is your money sign, and Taurus operates on intuition and instinct. It follows its feelings. Now that Jupiter has stopped squirreling around, your own intuition regarding financial matters is likely to be less clouded. You can follow your instincts and make some progress.

Topic #4: career. Which, in astrology, is a bit different from work and/or money. This month, the sun, Mercury and Pluto spend time in your career house. Pluto will be here for a long while, with one of his missions being to help you identify what’s wrong with your career path if anything is. The Aries solar chart is rather acutely attuned to the potential for problems in career anyway (your solar career sign is the worrying Capricorn), and each year the sun visits this sector to help you set course and figure out if anything’s the matter or needs to be attended to. With Pluto in this sector, your annual career check-up should be even more conscientious and prudent than normal. Really get in and dig deep to see what needs to be fixed not just in January but in your entire career path. That’s a worthwhile endeavor that can pay off big time down the line.