Capricorn - December 22nd-January 19th

This is the month for your solar return (birthday) and therefore it is traditionally thought that it is a month when you can shine and certainly the 13th has a feeling of enormous charisma and power to your elbow. However, around the 20th when your ruler Saturn gets in on the act you may feel a little more subdued and you may have to work hard at boosting your confidence.

Between the 8th and 27th when Mercury traverses your sign, you will certainly get a fillip to your intellectual ability and your communication skills, and it also brings the possibility of work connected to travel. Days when your grey cells are particularly activated are around the 9th and 24th.

Before the 14th Venus in Aquarius may augur well for making your creative work pay off in the coin of this world and your charms may go some way towards enhancing your financial security. From the 14th, if born any time up to January 12th your charms and sense of harmony and balance can create much beauty and peace through your communications and you can combine head with heart very successfully, and indeed around the 14th there is definitely a bit of magic in the air.

After the 27th for many of you, it will be a time to put your thinking cap on about how you can maximize your resources, and your communications in this area can pay off.

Mars in compatible to your sign Virgo all month certainly points to a lot of energy being put into either academic pursuits or bashing an ideological drum, or happily it can also point to a very energized, enthusiastic travel, and at the least, dealings with others in a long distance context is to your advantage. This is particularly relevant if born January 10th to 15th. This group will be most energized in terms of ideological passion, intellectual energy, sheer enthusiasm and zealous energy when it comes to exploring far horizons, and certainly your coordinated energies and physical and psychological enthusiasm will drive you far.

However, from the 24th, Mars moves into reverse gear which will affect us all to a greater or lesser extent. It suggests for the above group particularly, but indeed for you all to some extent, that this will be a time when you will come a little more internalized in your view of life, a little bit more watchful, a little bit more passive and a little bit more reviewing, and it is a time to notice the subtleties and to be more deliberate in your actions and to stop and think very long and hard before you do propel yourself into action. It is also a time for developing strategy and not to worry too much if you lack initiative and enterprise. You will want to do things when it instinctively feels right and suits your heart, rather than seeming logic. This retrograde motion will last to mid April so be aware.

Jupiter however is an extremely positive influence now for those born December 23rd to 26th and indeed he has been so influencing you since November. This has brought out your sense of joie de vivre and extroversion and desire to be unique, individualistic and creative and to take advantage of the good things of life. It has also brought bonuses around romance and has brought particular fecundity when it comes to creative enthusiasm and skill, and again travel can be part of this happy picture.

This same group of people who are being benefited by Jupiter, born December 22nd to 26th are also having their lives shaken up a little with uncertainties and unpredictability and this is likely to be coming from the domestic or family front. Change is around and you need to go with the flow and roll with the punches, and know that what Uranus is doing now is merely shaking you out of a rut of necessity, and forcing you to claim your individuality and uniqueness, and hopefully enabling you to make an enemy of paralyzing fear.

Saturn of course is still challenging your sign from Libra and is now directly affecting those born after January 18th. You felt this creeping up last month. This is a period that may last a month or two and it is a time when you definitely need to slow down and face some facts, particularly about one’s work direction and professional potential. It is a time when you need to work extremely hard with great self-discipline and patience and recognize that is only hard slog that is going to bring rewards. It is important that you do not lack confidence and that you face the future believing in yourself. Too often Capricorns can wilt because they really feel defeated before they start. You may well be more tired than usual, in which case you need to honor the vessel you inhabit. Delays, blocks, restrictions are all par for the course, but you just need to keep knocking on that door if it is the right one. For some of you, you may have to wake up and smell the coffee and realize that maybe the direction you are pushing could indeed be inappropriate. Saturn is your ruling planet; you are no stranger to his domain, but used positively, he is a really benevolent despot.

Pluto is of course in your sign for the long haul and has been for some years. He is now directly affecting those born December 29th to January 1st. He is really bringing a sense of being anointed with a certain power of determination to achieve something, thus giving you the strength, purpose and a sense of self reinvention in order to make something of your particular gifts. What you say and do has a big effect on others now so you need to act and speak with great responsibility and be prepared to take the consequences, which can be magnificent if you use this power well. This once in a lifetime anointing is about healing for you and for others because you are finding your voice, but whatever happens, do not succumb to the abuse of power by self, or allow others to so affect you. Your leadership skills are particularly potent now.

Finally the full Moon falls in your opposite sign on the 9th, directly influencing those born on January 9th. This will bring quite an eruption possibly from another person or in a relationship that has been brewing for some time. It tells the truth, even if it is in a dramatic manner and one needs to understand that the power of the unconscious at this time is a messenger, even if it is someone else’s unconscious that speaks.

Thought for 2012: “The only thing we (you) have to fear, is fear itself” (Franklin D. Roosevelt).