Benazir Bhutto

Taken from my forecast Nov 19th to Dec 2nd 2007:

"Jupiter edges closer to Pluto and to the end of its reign in Sagittarius. This aspect creates a resurgence of intense philosophical discussion and fervour. The warrior-like stance of this sign and the black and white thinking of Pluto could create an interesting recap of some or many events that we have each or collectively experienced since 1997 (also refer to my Forecast for 9/11 written for the Rainbow News at the beginning of 2001). The period between the 23rd and 25th will see some very interesting information surfacing too with new developments raising eyebrows and hopefully bringing a fresh sense of freedom."

The days might be slightly out but this aspect definitely triggered and brought back memories of 9/11 when Mars was in Sagittarius, the sign of the idealistic warrior.

Where is Splodge the Dog?

Where is Splodge the Dog?
Question Asked: 4:39pm 20 November 2007
Lat: 40S55 175E01
Asc: 14 Aries 41; MC 17 Cap 07

BACKGROUND: Our immediate next door neighbour was called away to a sudden funeral. She asked our 13-year old daughter to walk and feed her six-to-seven month old black Labrador puppy during her absence. The neighbour had left two bowls of water at the rear side of her house but placed a can of dog food and leash on the porch at the front. Upon returning home from school, the girl dutifully attended to the task. Since the house was right next door, all she had to do was walk up a small bank and she was there. Looking over the gate of the fenced yard to check that all was well, the dog growled at her. Having taken the dog for walks on other occasions, she knew that this was just a reaction so she went in, patted it and then went back out to get the leash. Having closed the gate behind her there was no way the dog could have got out so imagine her horror when she returned to find that the dog had mysteriously vanished into thin air. She searched all around the house, out on the street and alongside the creek before returning home frightened, puzzled and mortified that she had lost the dog. Of course, this created a flurry of lectures about being responsible and of possibly leaving the gate open and after swearing black and blue that she had closed it, her father, mother and brother helped her search the small, compact garden to no avail. Not believing the girl and scolding her for her carelessness, daughter, brother and father set off in the car to scour the neighbourhood. When they couldn’t find it anywhere, they returned home and rang the local dog pound just in case it was sited roaming the streets. All sorts of scenarios of sobbing children and dead dogs were conjured up and when nothing else could be done, the question was asked “Where is Splodge the Dog?”

SIGNIFICATORS: Day ruler is Mars, Hour ruler is the Sun. Aries is on the Ascendant showing the girl in a state of agitation and rushing around. Mars squares Venus exactly depicting the conflict at home. Ruler of the querant’s 2nd, this also shows that the dog was in the girl’s possession. Gemini is on the cusp of the Third of the neighbour, Mercury is in the 8th in Scorpio conjunct the part of short journeys. The 8th also represents her pet – 6th from 3rd. Conjunct the part of short journeys in the 8th shows that the neighbour had to travel overnight to attend a funeral and would return within the day. With Aries representing the querant and Scorpio on the cusp of the neighbour’s turned 6th, the significators for the dog and the querant are the same and this shows also that the dog had been in her care.

OUTCOME: With the significator of the dog and querant in moveable/Cardinal Cancer - this horary was solved very quickly – within 11 minutes. Seeing that Mars was in the Third House of the neighbour and very close to the boundary of the 4th House, it could be immediately deduced that the dog was still there in the yard! How? where? - it seemed improbable because the yard was very small and there were no bushes or dark places for the dog to hide in. In Cancer, a water sign, we looked for somewhere where there was water and, with Mars being so close to the cusp of the 4th and the Moon near the 12th House cusp, we needed to look around the perimeter of the neighbour’s yard. Scorpio on the 8th and the Moon in Pisces in the 12th indicated that it was in a dark, damp place. How could this be when the garden was so sunny and flat? We went to the only place where water could be located and this was near the dog’s bowl. Finding a hose nearby, we followed the hose to where it was attached to a tap at the side of the house. Lo and behold, there was a small entrance to the basement of the house. Straight away it became obvious that the half-grown puppy had got scared and had run to hide under the house!! Two minutes later, the tail of the dog could be seen. The boundary issue could be seen by the very small gap between the side of the house where the gap and tap were and the fence adjoining the next property on the south side.

REFERENCES: William Lilly says on page 326 of Christian Astrology of Beasts stolen or strayed that “if the Lord of the house of the Moon, or Lord of the second do separate from their own houses (if the goods be fixed) it is stolen; if moveable, fled of his own accord” – the dog ran to hide. He also says on page 325 “In Pound or not: for the most part Lord of the twelfth or sixth in the twelfth or sixth, they are kept close” On page 325, he says under “Another Judgement: watery signs, in water, or under the earth, a pavement, foundation of houses etc”.

On the same page, he goes on to say under “In what place they are: If the Lord of the sixth be in an angle, the Beasts be of small growth and in Pounds, Closes or houses.”

On page 327 “In what ground they be: If the Lord of the sixth be in moveable signs, they are in hilly ground”. The neighbour’s house sits on a small hill overlooking the reserve and island. It is located in a south-westerly position.

On page 54, he assigns the colour of the dog - black - to the 6th House.

Horary Astrology: Where is Dad's Phone

Where is Dad’s mobile phone?

26 September 2007 7:40pm
Paraparaumu, Wellington, New Zealand
40S55 175E01

After already losing one of a pair of mobile phones purchased by her parents in a double discount offer, a 13-year old girl lost the second. Her father was very upset at her continued carelessness and especially so since it was his phone and contained his photos and contact numbers. The phones were not cheap and were identical apart from colour – the first one she lost was silver and the second was black. Upon searching high and low in the house and contacting her friend to no avail, she asked me to set up a horary chart.

The family had not noticed that the phone was missing until three days later as it had become a spare phone for the children to use when away from the parents. Unsure of where she had last used it, they retraced the events of that day and deduced that she had visited horses in the paddock behind the family home and later visited a friend. The young lady was convinced that she hadn’t lost it in the paddock because she remembered using it at her friend’s home. Her friend is ruled by Saturn which sits in the turned chart’s second house of the father. Did the friend have the father’s phone? Upon discovering that the phone was missing, she rang this friend who had not seen it but promised to search for it. Our young lady asked her to look in their car as well as her house because the friend’s mother had dropped her back at home after dark and it could have fallen out of her pocket and nobody would have noticed. The friend reported back that she couldn’t find it in the house or the car but would keep an eye out for it.

There are no considerations and the chart is radical, especially so because the Ascendant, Aries, falls in the hour of Venus, which corresponds to the distraught girl’s ascendant, Libra. Aries describes this 13-year exactly as she is extremely physical, always on the move and sporty by nature. Along with the separating square from the Sun to Mars and applying square from the Moon to Mars and the opposition to the Sun, it also shows that she is in a state of agitation and arguing with her father. This chart shows she has good reason to find the phone: her father!

Venus is in Mutual Reception with the Sun, the ruler of the phone, but even though there is no aspect between them: according to Lily, this affords “protection” so we can tentatively deduce the phone is safe. Venus is in Leo, the same sign as this girl’s Venus and is just outside of the five degrees required to place Venus in the turned Second House of her father’s possessions (Olivia Barclay, Horary Astrology Rediscovered, Pg 181). Mars, the girl’s significator, is in Gemini in the Third House of communication devices showing clearly the nature of what she was asking about and searching for. The Third House also rules cars and short journeys so, having been dropped off, we might deduce that she was in a car at the time of losing the phone.

With Cancer on the cusp, her father is represented by the Fourth House, the same sign as his Ascendant, Moon and Mars sign. The Moon, ruling her father but also co-significator of the question, is in Pisces right on the cusp of the Twelfth/Eleventh Houses. The Moon perfects the square to Mars within less than three degrees and the opposition to the Sun in seven after changing signs.

Since the phone belonged to her father, it is signified by the Sun, in its Fall in Libra, as the ruler of the father’s Second House of moveable possessions – the radical Fifth. Saturn is also in this house in Virgo and describes the colour of the phone: black. The Sun is in the father’s Third House of communication devices and short journeys, again drawing us back to the friend’s car and the daughter’s short journey home.

Within a day of asking the horary and four days after losing the phone, on the Thursday the same friend invited our young lady to stay the night. In the early afternoon she rang me to say they had found the mobile phone in her friend’s family car and that since they had two cars the friend had forgetfully looked in the wrong car.

Horary: Where Are The Books

Where Are The Books?

Question asked: 12:16pm, 3 May 2007
Lat: 40S55 Long: 175E01
Asc: 17 Can 15; MC 11 Tau 59

Background: A precious set of books disappeared into thin air during the shift of our costume hire shop from one premises to another. The books were purchased over the course of time as reference material when helping customers choose costumes. They ranged in content from the history of western clothing through the centuries to famous Hollywood actors to the history of rock’n’roll. Needless to say, they were extremely useful when helping customers choose costumes.

On the day of the shift (March 25th 2007), we left the items most used around the counter until last so that we would know exactly where they were when opening shop again and I thought I had packed up the books with the eftpos machine and phone to be taken home rather than risk losing amongst all the boxes and racks that were being stored in the garage at the front of the new property. We still had to renovate the new shop and it would be some while before we would set up again (mid- to late April). In my mind, I labelled this the “counter box” and took it home leaving it downstairs in a large, darkish basement room that contains the washing machine, dryer and a pool table. This box sat on the pool table in full view for quite some time so imagine our dismay when setting up the counter and finding that the books were not where we thought they were.

Back-tracking over the course of events to determine what might have happened to them, on the day of the shift, we engaged two friends and my sister to help with the move. My sister had arrived during my absence and my husband left her to guard the shop while he went with the two male friends to take another truckload of costumes to the new premises. Thinking she was helping, my sister randomly packed up the bits and pieces that are left once all the big stuff has been shifted and this is the point where we felt things had gone askew. She, however, had no recollection of seeing the books and swore she never left the shop unattended.

My stomach dropped at reading that Saturn, as ruler of the 7th of thieves, being placed in the first of the querant (Lilly) meant there was the possibility that someone had taken the books but we quickly abandoned the idea that one of our very trustworthy friends had taken the books since what use would they be to them? Also wouldn’t it be obvious if we went to their house and spied them? We thought that perhaps my sister had left the shop unattended at some point and someone had walked in and walked out with them. After searching extensively for six weeks and then giving up the search completely, I exasperatedly asked the question “where are the books?”

Considerations: Despite Saturn being in the First House and sounding a warning for this self-asked question, the ascendant is in Cancer in the Hour of the Moon. Not only do I (and also my partner) have the Moon in Cancer, but I also have Saturn in the First of my natal chart square the Sun, as in the horary. I immediately connected with the chart and felt it able to be read.

As an overall view of the chart and whether the books would be found: Lilly’s indications are that they would (CA pge 355 – Saturn ruling the Eighth in the Ascendant). The Moon is in its Fall in damp, dark Scorpio but separates from significators Mercury and the Sun so the goods are laid down and forgotten. Being angular in the Fourth along with the books’ significators – Sun and Mercury - angular in the Tenth, the books had to be somewhere near me (angular houses in horary represent the querant’s physical self and his/her everyday physical locations such as home and work). This makes sense as there was nowhere else for them to be but at the shop or in my home. Despite the Cardinal Ascendant, the significators are in Fixed signs so recovery would not be immediate.

Significators: The significators of this chart describe the situation extremely well. The Sun, as ruler of the 2nd house and ruler of famous people in the 10th, perfectly describes the content of the books – famous rock and movie stars. Not only that but it sits in an exact conjunction with the natural ruler of books (CA, pge 353), Mercury, which also rules the intercepted Second House of Virgo. Mercury is within 12 minutes of cazimi – in the heart of the Sun (refer Skyscript, Horary, Combust), so I knew straight away that the books were safe but totally obscured from view. In Taurus, in Venus’ term and also in Mutual Reception with Venus in Gemini, they could be close to the ground, in a low room such as the garage at the shop or the downstairs laundry at home as I first thought (CA pge 352). Again, knowing that the books could just as easily be at the shop as they could at home, the Sun and Mercury conjunct the MC perfectly described our place of business, which is in fact an old house that has been converted to a shop and which sits in full view of a busy railway station, main commercial centre and highway that runs north/south.

The Moon on the other hand, being in the Fourth in Scorpio, suggested that the books could indeed be at home in a damp, dark place such as our laundry area downstairs. I don’t know how many times, I went down there to make sure I hadn’t missed them the other ten times I had searched! I had complete faith in this chart but how puzzling.

In the end, with the Fixed Sign significators suggesting it would be some while before we recovered the books, we had to give up searching since once the garage was emptied of stock, we had nowhere else to look.

Outcome: Exactly three months and a day to the date of this question – August 4th 2007 - my daughter came in to the shop and asked if one of the books had a certain title. When she said the title, I knew immediately that the books had been found! Where? William Lilly says that brothers are ruled by Mars. The book she referred to had been in my brother’s flat out the back of the shop and she had seen it sitting on the table. Wondering how he would have it, he explained that the evening before he had been in the run-down shed (Lilly describes ruinous buildings as ruled by Saturn) immediately adjacent to his flat and which houses his washing machine and had been playfully scaring his children with the mannequin and its body parts that we had stored there (note Mars is in Pisces and he has a Pisces ascendant). Conjunct Uranus, the books turned up suddenly and were in the least likeliest place! His children (exact sextile between the Moon and Jupiter in the 5th ruling the 5th of children) had pulled an arm (Jupiter opposition Venus in Gemini!) out of the bag and discovered the books, one of which was the book my daughter had seen in his flat. When we went out to this low-roofed building, there was the red, white and blue striped bag on the ground with all the books totally safe and sound! This was the room described by both the sign of the Sun and Mercury in Taurus – low-roofed and low to the ground – and by the Moon in Scorpio in the Fourth – damp and dark – in all its ruinous glory as deemed by the square from the Moon to Saturn and Sun and Mercury!

Since the books were under the arms, Venus in Gemini in the 12th in Mutual Reception with Mercury immediately came into play! Not only that, but Venus describes the fact that our business deals in costumes, clothing and fashion and that the items they were concealed under modelled the costumes. Venus also rules the Third House of brethren (CA pge 52) and according to Lilly “doth rule shoulders, arms, hands and fingers” (the mannequin’s body arms and hands were all in the bag obscuring the books!). My brother had said he had brought the bag into the shop when we first moved there but we told him to take it back out to this shed because we weren’t using the mannequins – little did we realise the books were at the bottom and this is where I suspect my sister packed up stuff that she hadn’t realised had been put aside especially. Lilly suggests that if the ruler of the First (Moon) separates from Saturn, then the item was lost due to forgetfulness (CA pge 321) and lo and behold, the Moon separates from Saturn by 22 minutes! In modern astrology, Neptune would also contribute to forgetfulness and oversight and it also squares the Moon and opposes Saturn.

The distance from where I asked the question – at home – and the place of the books is, I am pretty sure, described by the opposition of the Sun and Moon as stated by Lilly (CA pge 350). Moon separates from opposition by six degrees – we are pretty sure that it is approximately 6 miles away by car to the shop from home where I asked the question!

Just about all the traditional planets involved but, now that the mystery has been solved, it really is very simple. Perhaps Saturn in the First did point out that I would not be able to figure out the book’s location and that the mystery would be solved when they turned up of their own accord.

Meeting Chrissie Hynde

With Chrissie Hynde and SAFE Member receiving framed signed t-shirt backstage at the St James Theatre, Auckland, New Zealand. Chrissie has been on tour promoting their fantastic CD and DVD Set Pirate Radio. This set spans 3 decades of their music



What a fantastic week my family and I have just had. Having already bought tickets to see the Pretenders live in New Zealand, a member of the Talk of the Town list who lives in the US fortuitously spotted an auction on Trade Me that I was lucky enough to win. This auction was run by NZ animal rights group SAFE for a framed T-shirt signed by Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders during their last tour in 2004. Part of the package was to meet Chrissie and be presented with it backstage after the St James Theatre show on February 6, 2007. With all her courage and conviction, she is a great inspiration and a fantastic role model, especially to the younger generation! Chrissie has a huge conscience and never loses sight that she is a normal human being just like the rest of us - no airs and graces, just a plain down-to-earth, kick-butt attitude. Thanks to her other fans who contributed money to this cause too - without them I might never have had this once-in-a-lifetime experience. It just goes to show that even though you never know what is around the corner, when you do encounter it, you just have to seize it.

Mercury Retrograde in 2007

February 15 to March 8 2007 - Retro 10 Pisces/Direct 25 Aquarius
June 16 to July 10 2007 - Retro 11 Cancer/Direct 2 Cancer
October 12 to November 2 2007 - Retro 9 Scorpio/Direct 23 Libra


SAY WHAT? Mercury is the planet that has rulership over our thinking processes and communications. It rules the signs Gemini and Virgo. It highlights our ability to express ourselves verbally and in writing, therefore on an everyday level, it influences correspondence, electronic communications, meetings and conversations. It also rules, commerce, transportation, young people, books, magazines, short courses, written and verbal contracts (especially the small print which can contain hidden or double meanings), electrical appliances and, on a larger scale social level, unusual disruptions such as industrial actions.

HOW? At least three times a year, Mercury appears to slow down, station and then move backwards through the sky, and this period lasts for approximately three weeks (see above for precise timeframes throughout 2006). Of course, Mercury is not actually moving in backward motion, because this is physically impossible. What is happening is that the Earth moves faster than Mercury and in closer proximity, which then creates the classic optical illusion that occurs when two trains are running side by side. If one starts to move more quickly than the other, the latter looks as if it is going backwards. In astrological talk, the term for this is “retrogradation”, and all planets, except the Sun and Moon, are capable of this phenomenon. The most potent times are the actual dates that the “station” takes place i.e. the beginning and end dates. The time in-between is the phase of integration and digestion of events and thoughts. The beginning is the dragging of the undertow while the end is the thrust forward, which can be a powerful experience if there are other significant astrological indications to accompany the surges.

MEANING? Back on Earth retrogradation has quite an impact, especially in the areas listed above. Confusion and misunderstandings can occur that are significant enough to create havoc in our lives where previously all has been plain sailing. However, this does give us a chance to see if that situation or project is really worthwhile, and we can reconsider points that are not satisfactory or that we hadn’t been clear upon. Astrologers generally consider these periods to be poor for starting projects, buying important items, or for signing contracts – perhaps because our conscious minds are saying one thing but our unconscious is saying another. Chances are something will have to be changed or we will receive further information or we may even change our minds once Mercury resumes its normal direction. There is usually a lot more information that needs to surface during these phases that will put another slant on what we already know. On another level, anything that we do undertake during one retro period might considerably be affected during the next, or perhaps we see flaws in what we had initiated during a previous retro phase. Oftentimes, one retro period is linked to other times, sometimes even years ago.

On an everyday level, electrical or mechanical items bought at these special times have a reputation for breaking down or needing new parts, so it is wise to put off purchases of this sort until a later date. With regard to communications, transportation and everyday devices, we may have problems trying to contact people, or people have problems trying to contact us. Answering machines go on the blink, computers develop a mind of their own (avoid upgrading or changing the way the computer is set up if it is running well), the car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, timetables go awry, travel plans fly out the window, washing machines and fridges break down, messages are undeliverable or undelivered, and letters go missing. Sometimes if we have been caught in the crossfire of what we think we want and what we really need, this can be a blessing in disguise – for example if we scribble out a letter in anger and then post it but it gets lost, after we have calmed down we might be glad that the recipient didn’t receive it after all! We might find that we had our facts wrong in the first place and we find ourselves at the wrong end of the stick. There are no guarantees during this phase!

HELP! So, what are the positives and what can we do to minimise disruption? When you stop to think that Mercury rules the discriminating sign Virgo, you’ll see Mercury as an efficient little cosmic secretary concerned with purely analytical, stocktaking tasks who comes in from time to time to remind us that order and review are needed in some area (usually the position that transiting Mercury is in our chart and the area it rules and occupies in our birth chart). These periods can be highly constructive and creative times where we are given space to reshuffle and reclassify – but we must slow down and allow this to happen in order to avoid experiencing the less comfortable side of this energy. These phases are also wonderful for reflection and analysing, and for planning new strategies for the time when life resumes its normal rhythm (the end date). We can use this time to tidy up, sort, mend and reorder, whether physically, emotionally or mentally. By allowing plenty of space and time in matters, especially those that are apparently unavoidable, we can minimise future confusion or present delays and misunderstandings. We can avoid having our well-laid ideas unravelling and coming apart at the seams because of one loose end. Adopting a flexible attitude will lessen the stress created by the prevailing fluctuating circumstances. This is the perfect time to do without doing.

If we make a note on our calendar of the days when Mercury turns retrograde and then, three weeks later, direct again, we will observe that we often feel as if we are in an intellectual void of some sort during the week leading up to the change. We may feel restless, bored, dissatisfied, and we may think our world does not provide the stimulation we need. It simply does not seem big enough. This is a temporary phase where the intellectual and the unconscious are merging. The energy, both inwardly and outwardly, is assimilating itself in our psyches and it can be most exciting when we realise that this is the most discernible and most obvious sign of a change in consciousness that we can experience directly from the cosmos – basically it is as tangible proof as we can get that our solar system really does include us, that we do not stand apart from the fluctuations – this is astrology in action.

These phases always pass, and we would do well to put off acting too hastily on the inner blank we have arrived at. Something is happening but at a level we cannot see. At other Mercury retro times, life moves along at a furious pace, everything seems to happen at once, and perhaps major decisions are made for us that we can’t always control. And again, we might just need to allow ourselves to be swept along, for who knows, we might have left an important life-changing decision unmade if it hadn’t been for the bizarre combination of events. Again though, we might keep everything as flexible and open-ended as we possibly can, for often life will change again further down the track leading us to yet another avenue that we least expected. After all, Mercury is known as the “trickster” and “prankster”. Expect change.

WHAT’S MY SIGN? Are you a Gemini or Virgo? Mercury retrograde periods affect everybody at the same time, some of us are born during these peculiar phases, but the signs Gemini and Virgo are affected more than most through Mercury’s rulership over these dual signs. Virgoans and Geminians, being nervy signs anyway, fare better by holding yourselves back in the world of ideas and communications, for often you are woolly headed and for once lost for words, if not clarity. You are more likely to make mistakes and misjudgements then. You can use these periods to take a mental holiday, to stop thinking so much, to allow other inner states to take over for a while, for your signs are intellectual and analytical by nature, life is experienced through your brain.

WHEN WAS I BORN? For those of you born during a Mercury retrograde phase (ask your astrologer about this), you might find that despite your unique brand of genius you are regularly misquoted and misunderstood by others, and that your communication style is very different (what don’t they understand about the word “no”). Often you need to take a long, leisurely way to get to the point, arrive at your destination or make yourself understood. You could often be involved in mix-ups and muddle-ups that take an inordinate amount of time to sort out (why does it always happen to me?). During these phases each year, you are in your element (ha, so that’s where that phrase originated from). Suddenly, because everyone else gets the chance to experience life the way you do suddenly you’re understood and don’t have to repeat everything! You can also get a great deal done during these phases from writing to sorting out the office to getting bills organised and letters replied to.

Have fun!

© Tracey Rizvi, 2001

Forecast for 2007

Define your mission statement in 2007

LOOKING BEYOND 2007: In the Chinese year of the Fire Boar, as 2007 begins Jupiter will be travelling full steam ahead through its own sign Sagittarius. Acting as landlord, inspector and diplomat to Pluto, who has been a long term tenant in Sagittarius since 1995, and escorted by Mars who enjoys the fiery environment of the sign of the Archer, Jupiter is currently travelling through a super-sensitive area of the sky. It’s of particular relevance that Jupiter was in Sagittarius just prior to Pluto transiting into this sign in 1995 and will also be here as it exits in January 2008. Venus retrogrades in Virgo and Leo between August and September bringing a year when we need to backtrack in our values and spending quite quickly – use these months to review needs and desires. A year is not a long time in astrology because once a planet changes sign, suddenly we find ourselves in a whole new era. In hindsight, we can see when and where the clues were littered. 2007 is the year to get accounts into order while the sun is shining because in 2008 we get to meet cosmic auditor.

Whenever a planet returns to its own sign, astrologers agree that particular attention should be paid to that ruling planet since the energies associated with the planet, sign and lastly houses in individual charts will be super emphasised and highly receptive to whatever we have been doing in this particular area of our lives. Any tenants in that sign will receive a rental checklist from the landlord if he happens to be around and since powerhouse Pluto isn’t just any old tenant, we need to be alert to the fact that there are likely to be some very hot tenancy issues arising between these very influential members of the cosmos. Since a cycle is closing we are likely to experience mini-versions of whatever has transpired during the past 12 years and by reliving key situations we are able to move on into the next cycle. Compounding is one word to sum up issues this year. Pluto’s message will be to get rid of the rubbish because having old garbage sitting outside the back door is the least desirable way to enter a fresh era. The trick will be to work out what is rubbish and what is not!

A pivotal make-it-or-break-it year, by December 2007 - after having gathered up and made some sense of Pluto’s passage and the evolutionary meaning of its tenure through bling-bling, expansive Sagittarius during the past 12 years - Jupiter will finally pass over Pluto which is currently upon the Galactic Centre, and into the grey corporate world of Capricorn, the sign of its Fall. A big change is on the horizon as we switch from the bright, shiny energy of Sagittarius to the sign of traditional institutions and the global accounting package. Forget about exploring space when there is so much to sort out on planet Earth! By starting at the end of 2007 and looking ahead to the significance of Jupiter’s transit into Capricorn, we can make better use of the coming year’s experiences, and attend to our trials and tribulations in different ways than we have become accustomed to. We will see that the cosmic energy up until December is providing an opportunistic window in time to realign our radically changed ethics and beliefs to where we find ourselves today so that we can manifest what is true, just and right in our own and other people’s lives. Our world views might have changed forever under the Saturn/Pluto opposition of 2001 but it’s simply a matter of taking up the slack and moving with the times. As Rickie Lee Jones sang, it’s the Last Chance Texaco to fill our tanks with good quality fuel of the spiritual, intellectual and ethical kind while it is on extra-special offer.

The negative side of Sagittarius is superficiality and we have been persuaded by the media and advertising to want the biggest, the best, the fastest and the shiniest______ (fill in the blank with your favourite consumer product, fad or service). As a result we’ve developed a tendency to come to expect everything to move at lightening speed, and the mutability of Sag means we switch from one superseded aspect of our life to the next, including husbands and wives. Our mantra now is to flit from one fad to another, to disregard the laws that all societies need to live by such as respecting one another rather than shooting each other down. All this is going to seem highly superficial once we enter the realms of Capricorn in 2008 and we are going to want to invoke the traditional rules that all families need to survive and produce healthy people. Despite the terrorist wars that have been invoked by key organisations and people, or the harmful drugs that are destroying our youngsters (and this includes computers and gaming machines) the Pluto in Sagittarius era is going to seem like a one huge party once we have settled into the coming Capricorn era and can look back at how good we have had life during this last decade.

During 2007 we can expand, explore and extricate ourselves from no-win personal, financial and emotional situations, and within our investments of time, energy and money. We have the chance to play catch-up, casting off eroded or outmoded beliefs and to at last become conscious of those extremely deep insights that have bobbed for so long just below the surface. We want to take an honest look at our setups so that we are not caught with the garbage at the backdoor just when we discover another way to live. We can be left at the starting gate, holding the hot potato and wondering what went wrong. With a correct birth time, an astrologer can tell you which area of your chart this applies to. What we believe is likely to come true this year so we need to be absolutely sure that we are in the right space with the right intentions and travelling in the right direction. Jupiter is big on truth and justice, and he encourages looking at the future rather than the past, so if we find that old habits are hard to shift, then the surge in cosmic energy will indeed be intense as our global and personal subconscious minds attract the experiences that will knock us on the head to make us see. If we have been doing what is good for our development and soul, then a personal sense of power will be evident within. People born under the signs Sagittarius, Pisces, Gemini and Virgo, or those who have these signs dominant in their charts, will have experienced massive amounts of change at varying times during the past 12 years. They are the ones to experience the most significant shifts this year. Narrowing it down even further, people born in the last three days of these mutable signs along with the first day of Capricorn will be in the cosmic spotlight this year too.

PLUTO REACHES THE END OF SAGITTARIUS: Just as numerologically this is a number 9 year and therefore a year of endings that will allow brave new beginnings to take seed the following year, Jupiter’s entry into Capricorn at year’s end will once again pave the way for Pluto when it shifts into corporate, strait-laced Capricorn in January 2008. A new era will dawn within the structures of our material and economic world and we will find ourselves gradually descending from the realms of flight and loftiness toward a more earth-bound, stay-put, basic existence. Rather than magnifying issues as they have been magnified during the past 12 years – i.e. a boom time and a global village that has created massive wealth but also massive debt - Pluto heralds an era of streamlining, conserving, shrinking and deflating during its Capricornian tenure. By the end of its transit through Capricorn in 2023, we will be left with the bare bones of an economic world as we know it and unless we can educate ourselves and our children in the new economical structures that are sure to emerge, we will find ourselves heading into a tightly controlled life budget and less control and freedom in the outer world. Stripping everything back to basics, Pluto’s message suggests that we will need to capitalise on Earth’s resources as best we can in a healthy, organic sense rather than taking a materialistic, grasping stance. Pluto is the destroyer but also the giver of life while Capricorn represents the capitalist within and without. If our actions are based purely on the desire to chase and worship the almighty dollar and consumerism, then Pluto’s message will be an especially strong one if we continue to violate natural laws and the earth. Just as we have seen our belief systems picked up and turned inside out in light of what has taken place before and after the Saturn/Pluto opposition and 9/11, then we are likely to see a collapse of fiscal economies in a similar way.

Saturn shifts into Virgo in September 2007, supporting Pluto in Capricorn’s attempt to bring everything back into line again. Saturn will square the 2001 Saturn/Pluto opposition degree in September 2008. Acting as a tripwire, the stimulation of this sensitised point will be an interesting test of nerves and mettle as we pull our belts tighter and tighter. Virgo is all about efficiency and healthy systems, bodies and minds so rather than succumb to the over-indulgent aspects of Jupiter as it travels its own sign, we need to take up the gauntlet and devise new diets and activities and head for the healthier alternative rather than the proverbial takeaway.

We can look forward to using the positive qualities of Pluto in Capricorn to take action in a strategic, practical, no-nonsense manner for the good of all. Industries that deal in preservation and conservation, recycling of material goods, inorganic waste or creating organic products that are unadulterated by the human touch are likely to stand head and shoulders above the crowd. And they can only do this if there is consumer demand. Returning to our grass roots and the traditional way of doing things rather than the mass-produced hype of the way things should be done is likely to become more evident. Manufacturing goods that last that much longer, or doing without all the high-tech gadgetry stuffed in our cupboards, may also become a growing trend. Capricorn is known for its tendency to compare and compete with its peers, and while we have enjoyed the ability to have what the rich have because of globalisation, free trade and easy finance, we will begin to look with a more realistic eye at the influence that celebrity-endorsed products have over our buying decisions. It’s been fun hooking our shadow on the stars of today, allowing them to act out our hidden desires, but now the general public will be more interested in what Mr and Mrs Smith really stand for and in what they are doing in the practical sense rather than what they wear, buy or do in their leisure time. The let-it-all-hang-out-anything-goes-as-long-as-you’re-taking-notice-of-me trashiness of the past few years is likely to be replaced with an almost inhibited Victorian stiff upper lip attitude, and while the exposure of the hips and thighs and midriff have become popular fashions under the Sagittarian theme, we might find that the attention shifts to the knees, shins and ankles.

Capricorn and Virgo are also the organisational aspect of our lives so systems that increase efficiency and free up time will become sought after. This is the year to start sowing the seeds that will flourish under the up-coming trends. While the outgoing Sag energy was extravagant, thrill-seeking and flippant, we are likely to become more thrifty, cautious and penny-pinching, and businesses that teach or promote self-sufficiency are likely to bloom. Items such as compost and recycling bins that leave no mess or wastage will also become popular – wringing every last ounce out of the bottle is a true Capricorn habit. Budgeting services and good financial advisers will grow too. And as rents and pollution taxes pull our purse strings tighter, we are likely to defend our economic positions by needing less. This may be how the economies of the world begin to diminish in size – when Joe Public takes responsibility for his own decisions rather than looking to the media or government for guidance. As unfair as it seems, since Capricorn represents the aged, taking care of the older generation will be part of the reason that the next generation will have to get by on less as they wait for their turn in the sun. Hire businesses might see a surge in custom since Capricornian energy is very good on getting by with less and it will steadily become wasteful and embarrassing to have garages and cupboards full of machinery, equipment and gadgets that barely get used but take up space and send insurance bills to the top end of the scale, not to mention filling up the landfills. The international flavour of Sagittarius has brought us many gadgets that help us brew coffee like the Italians, but again in the upcoming trends we will end up coming back to the traditional way of cooking, eating and sleeping. In true Capricornian style, we might ask ourselves why buy something when in such a short time it becomes superseded or made obsolete by an even more streamlined version. Capricorn is also associated with architecture so there is bound to be a big emphasis on the design, style and safety of buildings. A return to traditional craftsmanship that focuses on making secure, solid structures could mean that a revolution will occur in the way apprentices are taught their trade. The appearance of buildings may begin to take on new dimensions too.

Personally-speaking, so that we can move into this next phase, dredging the manure and toxicity from the planet will be Pluto’s theme in the years to come, and if we can’t keep up with, or would rather pretend it wasn’t happening, then we will still feel the effects but in a much more negative way – we need only look at weather patterns to see this; whether its global warming or the natural evolution of the planet, we cannot afford to speed this process up, and in any case what is wrong with being conscious of what you throw out or where you buy your products. It matters that children are being exploited in sweatshops, or that people are paid a pittance to produce the latest designer brand. These shifts in cosmic energy tie in very neatly with some of the non-astrological theories concerning the effects of a huge proportion of the world’s population reaching retirement age (a very Capricornian theme) and changing the way pensions and other financial investment plans will be managed. 2007 is the year to take a good look at the proverbial nest egg to ensure it will survive the coming climate of change. Sagittarius is the sign of higher education, so grab the books, talk to the accountant and take charge of your money and future security rather than handing money over, crossing fingers and hoping for the best. Taking a gamble is a true Sagittarian characteristic that has worked over the past 12 years but which is quickly running out of steam when 2007 is drawing to a close and the upper limits of profit are reached. Conserve and manage your equity in whatever investments have grown during the boom-time rather than milking it for what it’s worth in terms of current consumer consumption. Cash will be king for those who have managed their money well because Capricorn, being an Earth sign, means there will be a big emphasis on land and real estate, which will go through an interesting time.

To verify that Pluto does indeed impact upon the world’s consciousness in very subtle but very obvious ways, we only need to look back over the last decade to see how the Sagittarian themes of religious beliefs and ideals, and the way we travel and explore the world, have changed so dramatically. Globalisation has awoken areas of the world that are now destroying themselves in their race to cater to the needs of Western civilisation’s worship at the Temple of Consumerism. Pluto’s erosion of Sagittarian themes such as family, religious and community ethics means we are going to be that much more at the mercy of the power of advertising and media this year as big business realise they are imploding. Do we still want to be manipulated by a herd mentality that is controlled by big corporations for their own ends? The biggest and the best companies, governments and corporations who have little respect for the common person or environment are the ones who are likely to go through the most shrinkage in the coming years, but as they realise the falls they will be exposed to as the world’s consciousness enters another phase, they will fight tooth and nail to hold on to what they have. As a result, we are likely to be bombarded at the last minute by the power of publicity and propaganda. We, as upstanding citizens of the world, have more power than we realise. We can influence thoughtless output by asking questions about who will pay for this destruction of cultures, rivers, land and seas. Moving offshore to have goods made cheaply is great for business, but who will pay for the effects of the pollution that less educated communities are experiencing? How long will this last before taxes are imposed in a bid to clean up the global mess? As enlightened people coming out of the influences of the sign that represents ethics, we need to wake up this year. By the same token, small businesses may flourish as they cater to local needs and cultural biases.

Coming back to the present, with an optimistic Jupiter in Sagittarius being the trump card for the grand opening of 2007, our heady excitement is at an all time high as 2006 comes to a close. It might be timely that Saturn, ruler of earthy Capricorn, is retrograde and therefore reminding us of the realities and responsibilities that await us at the beginning of yet another working year. Another interesting collision of cycles, Saturn was in Leo at the beginning of the baby boom era (roughly 1946 to 1964) and will be in this sign just prior to Pluto moving into Capricorn, the beginning of a new economic order. Capricorn likes us to invest rather than consume and we will soon be rapped over the knuckles if we have overcapitalised or overextended our resources and budgets. This is the year of the spirit and the spiritual if we are to tune into what lies ahead rather than being a year of continuing in typical optimistic Sagittarian style, racking up debt and hoping for the next lucky break. Lucky breaks will happen though if we are in the right place at the right time with the right intentions. Resolutions this year might include striving for higher aims, developing a greater belief in the spiritual aspects of life, or travelling beyond the everyday boundaries of our mundane existence so that we can look at ourselves from another angle. Certainly, it would pay to be very sensible regarding anything that means we are biting off more than we can chew in the coming years.

To get a sense of the layout of the coming months, we might need to slow right down in January and February to digest the fiscal damage of the festive and holiday season. And even if we’ve overspent, waste little precious time worrying and instead find a means to pay off debt as quickly as possible. The fact that there are no social or outer planets travelling through practical Earth signs until Saturn transits into Virgo on September 3rd (NZT) means we need to consciously tune into the gravitational pull of bean-counting Saturn if we are to achieve the glittering goals or opportunities that will open up this year. The explorer within emerges in its own special way in each of us and we are less willing to be obstructed and weighed down by material possessions and economic debt if it means we have to deny ourselves true experiences or time with children who grow up while we are looking the other way. Inspiration is the keyword and with the fire of Leo and Sagittarius, we’ve got the creative power to bring our lives back into line with what we need to be healthy, wealthy and wise. As the saying goes “the secret to life is not to have everything you want, but to want everything you have”.

© Tracey Rizvi, January 2007