Do you compare yourself unfavourably to others? Are you envious of their
style, allure or possessions? Do you fantasise about money or power erasing
persistent dilemmas and bringing you happiness? Then 2008 is your year of
reckoning.
Being fashionable is fun, but if your desire to keep up is undermining your
personal values, you’ve become dependent on it, a sort of trend junkie.
Without it, who are you?
Pluto is behind this cycle of reckoning. It’s been in Sagittarius for the past
decade, inviting us to face deep and complex inner issues – a few have taken
up the offer, but most have preferred the distractions of glamour, gadgets,
luxury brands and increasingly absorbing online worlds. Pluto symbolises
truth, toxins – and transformation. Its move into the exceedingly practical
Capricorn on January 26 begins the actual process of reckoning. From that
point on, there will be no turning back.
This period is about discovering and eliminating the activities, habits, goals
or toxic thoughts that undermine your own genuine self-esteem and,
therefore, power.
This is more complex than it seems. Once, outside authorities – religion,
family and social standards – dictated what was right and desirable. As
their clout wanes, setting standards becomes a doit-yourself job. You then
begin to create your own set of values, decide who your heroes are – and
create your own life, consciously and joyously. Fashion and fun won’t
vanish, they’re just sidelined by the excitement of self-discovery and being
in control, possibly as never before.
W ARIES, MARCH 20- APRIL 18
You begin the year with your usual list of goals.
If this were an ordinary year, you’d check them off, one by one. During
2008, however, between jarring events and personal insights, you’re soon
re-evaluating, then rewriting, that list. You question whether having a
faster car, beating your personal best in your next marathon or wedging more
into each day are actually worthwhile. Instead, people become a priority —
with amazing results. And you finally delve into the scary issues that you’d
feared would make you feel vulnerable, only to discover a rich world within.
There is no single turning point, rather a series of realisations. With
Jupiter triggering dazzling offers all year, revolutionary ideas and
unexpected opportunities soon spread into every element of your life, until,
by the year’s close, you’re living more simply, and doing less, but somehow
achieving more — and deriving more joy from it all.
TAURUS, APRIL 19-MAY 19
Nothing makes a Taurus happier than a diary full of dates with those whose
company they adore and activities they enjoy. So you’re unlikely to be
thrilled when events — a family wedding somewhere unfamiliar, or a dear
friend’s passion for an activity you regard as questionable — throw those
plans into disarray. Yet this is only destiny informing you that your world
is about to become bigger — and more interesting. So, when events take you
into new or foreign settings, you prepare yourself and enjoy the unfamiliar
immensely. Similarly, changes in existing relationships, new passions or
even developments involving children draw on unfamiliar feelings. If, at
first, you’re wary, you soon realise that there’s a wonderful payoff for
taking chances. Thus, when November’s enforced changes reorganise your
emotional life, instead of battling to keep things as they were, you’ll go
with the flow and enjoy every minute of the adventure.
GEMINI, MAY 20-JUNE 10
The uncomfortable facts you acknowledge and deal with during the first two
months of 2008, while Mars is in Gemini, set you up for the year’s often
unsettling changes. As you clear the clutter from your personal and
emotional life, and set goals in everything from your health to close
relationships, your long-term perspective becomes more constructive. But not
everybody will have conducted such a thorough review, which means that
others will struggle, causing delays. Instead of grumbling, get involved.
Your recent experiences will prove helpful, and working together on problems
draws you closer. Having overindulged in both work and life’s pleasures in
the past, achieving balance in these and other areas of your life becomes
your focus. Finally, you’ll have time to concentrate on the rewarding
studies or pursuits you’d noted earlier in the year, but couldn’t fit in.
You do, and discover joys you thought beyond your reach.
CANCER, JUNE 20-JULY 21
Some Cancers try to pretend they’re tough, but even they reveal their
rich emotional nature in their approach to life, friendships, relationships
and pursuits about which they are passionate. Jupiter and the planet of
rebirth, Pluto — which are in your opposite sign, Capricorn, during 2008 —
intensify and transform almost every element of your life, mostly because of
others. While this will often be pure pleasure, there will be moments of
anxiety and the occasional serious doubt. The latter, however, will be about
breakthroughs, trust and taking chances. This could mean that certain
long-standing arrangements are crowded out, but, sad though such farewells
seem at first, what comes to replace them appears soon and is a stunning
improvement. Take this as a lesson about this year of transformation and,
when the unexpected appears, instead of regarding it with suspicion, as you
once might have done, you’ll realise that it’s an opportunity to bring
something new and wonderful into your life.
LEO, JULY 22-AUGUST 21
Being told that you’re going to reorganise your life during 2008 may not sound
exciting. Not until you look back on changes and realise how much you’re
enjoying life, will you realise how much clutter has gone. This is thanks to
the clean sweep that Pluto, which accents such matters, brings. That gives
the expansive Jupiter a chance to introduce new activities, from ballroom
dancing to serious bread baking, that you’ve had no time for previously.
Usually, you’re the one who comes up with the fun plans, so being able to
rely on others is a relief. Their ideas take you in entirely new directions.
It’s the same with loved ones — it’s a voyage of discovery. Sticking to the
familiar may streamline things, but the sooner you embrace the unexpected,
the more swiftly you’ll realise that you’re in the midst of one of the most
creative years of your life.
VIRGO, AUGUST 22-SEPTEMBER 21
Most Virgos have lived with their relentless inner critic for so long that
life without it is almost unimaginable. During this year of reckoning,
however, you’ll realise where it comes from and, more important, discover
how to eliminate it and its incessant judgments. This process is triggered
by the uncompromisingly truthful Pluto, which, combined with the benevolent
Jupiter, introduces you to people or situations so positive, there’s simply
no room for negativity. Initially, such happiness may seem unlikely,
especially around the unsettling Virgo eclipsed Full Moon in late February.
But this actually highlights what must go. Begin this clearout — personal
and emotional — of your habits and even your goals, and opportunities will
soon replace what has gone. Suspicions about such amazing good fortune are
natural, but you swiftly realise not only that things are as good as they
seem, this happiness has come to stay.
LIBRA, SEPTEMBER 22-OCTOBER 22
You regard close friendships and relations with family and loved ones as an
investment and work hard to maintain harmony. So, when changes that
influence your work or lifestyle threaten to upset the balance, you’re
tempted to back out. You can’t. With powerful planetary activity featuring
the uncompromising Pluto and the fortunate Jupiter, you cannot – and
should not – avoid these. You will, however, have to face difficult
facts about how much you compromise in some of those relationships.
Unappealing as this process seems initially, by August, when the
self-possessed Mars moves into Libra, you’re less willing to give up
activities and ventures that you’re passionate about just to keep others
happy. Instead of undermining relationships, as you might fear, in most
cases taking a stand leads to powerful discussions and more fun. Better yet,
you finally get the time for yourself that you’ve always longed for, but
felt guilty even mentioning.
SCORPIO, OCTOBER 23-NOVEMBER 20
It’s no secret that you dislike change. That makes sense, as your ruling
planet, Pluto, takes the longest to pass through the zodiac. So, when it
moves into a new sign in late January, it triggers shifts in many areas of
your life, and you begin an intense process of exploration and, ultimately,
transformation. Dramatic as all of this sounds, with the fortunate Jupiter
also accenting these areas, developments involving your personal and
romantic life, activities that you enjoy and even your health and wellbeing
fall into place almost magically. The only problem is that, as a Scorpio,
you tend to worry that when things come too easy, destiny will exact a price
later. Actually, your biggest challenge is resisting your tendency to settle
into the first comfortable situation that comes your way. Instead, maintain
open-minded inquisitiveness to make the best of this remarkable year.
SAGITTARIUS, NOVEMBER 21-DECEMBER 20
You reinvent yourself regularly, so regard it as part of life. But this year
brings something very different. You’re conducting a top-to-bottom
transformation. This begins when certain restrictive situations disappear,
triggered by Pluto’s departure from Sagittarius in late January after more
than a decade there. This leads to unexpected offers – some different
from anything you’d have imagined. Better yet, with Pluto and your ruler,
Jupiter, together and accenting your material wellbeing and finances, you
have the wherewithal to pursue long-cherished dreams. This could bring the
time and emotional or practical support necessary to undertake these new
studies or ventures. Similarly, as you shift, so do your closest
relationships, romantic and otherwise. As the new you appears, you discover
an unexpected and more relaxed happiness with others. Gradually, you realise
that there is indeed somebody new and far happier living your life –
and that individual is the reinvented you.
CAPRICORN, DECEMBER 21-JANUARY19
Only those who know you best are aware of the self-doubt that overshadows so
much of what you do, either creating anxiety or preventing you from taking
chances. This year, the combination of amazing opportunities and confidence
that comes with Jupiter’s presence in your sign takes you into new territory –
personally, emotionally, romantically and creatively. Meanwhile, with the
uncompromisingly honest Pluto visiting Capricorn on and off, you’re given a
chance to face past issues that have held you back and to eliminate
here-and-now restrictions, many of which you’ve regarded as unchanging. Now
it’s you who are changing, and in ways you’d never imagined possible. You
take chances on new places, on people you’d have found intimidating and,
most of all, on caring about something or somebody with a passion that,
previously, you’d have found far too risky. Now it is part of your new life.
AQUARIUS, JANUARY 20-FEBRUARY 18
As you begin 2008, you may already sense a restlessness. Initially, this seems
odd, because, as interesting as you find the world around you and the people
in it, you cherish the rhythm of your life. By early February’s Aquarius
eclipsed New Moon, which raises questions about some of those habits you so
enjoy, it’s becoming clear that things can’t remain as they are. You’re
tempted by, and often succumb to, opportunities to explore. Then, by the
year’s second Aquarius eclipse, the Full Moon in mid-August, you notice how
much has changed. This isn’t just good, it’s preparation for the future. In
early 2009, the planet of opportunity, Jupiter, visits Aquarius, bringing
with it all sorts of exciting, if not life-changing, offers. This year’s
experiences aren’t merely for fun – they’re priming you for
encounters, events and experiences that will shape your life, loves and
pleasures for more than a decade to come.
PISCES, FEBRUARY 19-MARCH 19
Your biggest challenge won’t involve your own life, but your but having the
discipline not to get overly involved in what others are going through. With
the powerhouse planets Jupiter and Pluto both visiting Capricorn, which
accents life’s structures, everybody – including you – will
be reviewing and rearranging their work, lifestyle, relationships and
values. As somebody whose world is constantly reshaping itself, you’ll enjoy
this. But many complain – and some worry. Reassure them, but no more.
This period is about learning from those changes, as you’ll discover. This
leads to a clear-out of serious proportions, although, at the time, you
won’t necessarily realise you’re saying goodbye to old habits and ideals and
exchanging them for new ones. Gradually, you rediscover pursuits that once
enchanted you and encounter new and promising ones. As you do, you regain
the sense of magic that is your birthright as a Pisces.
Next week Shelley von Strunckel reveals how we will act on our past
actions and transform the world around us, step by step, during 2008.
