New Year's Resolutions and the Moon

If you're planning on making a New Year's Resolution this year you'll be happy to know it's good year astrologically for resolutions.

The best time to start new things and increase the odds of succeeding, is just after a New Moon. And a new moon is a frequent occurrence, it happens every 28 days. But this year the New Moon just happens to fall on December 31st, New Year's Eve (or December 30th, if you live in Europe).

Making a resolution to change some habit in your life will be more effective if started in the first few days after the New Moon. See a previous post on Weight Loss and Astrology Timing as one example.

This next New Moon (where Sun and Moon meet at the same degree in the zodiac) is on December 31st at ten degrees of Capricorn.

The people who are least likely to benefit from this New Year's New Moon in terms of starting new projects at this time, and being likely to succeed with them, are people whose natal Moon's are located between mid Capricorn and mid Aquarius. For this 1/12th of the general population, you can forget about a New Year's Resolution this year as it isn't likely to stick. This is because the New Year opens in your charts with the most non-active and lethargic period of 'the waning moon'; the last stages before the transiting Moon returns to the natal position in your chart.

For everyone else, make your New Year's Resolution with confidence now. Your resolve is much more likely to be successful this New Year as opposed to previous years.

That being said, the New Year is really just an artificial timeline for setting new goals for many people in the Western World. If you are wondering why there were times in your life when you made a habit-changing goal and it stuck...and succeeded, try looking at your natal Moon in relation to the transiting Moon cycle.

There will be a couple of times each year when your Natal Moon or Progressed Moon jives with the current transiting cycle of the New Moon. This cycle (unlike the arbitrary New Year's timeline) will be the most personalized one for you to set resolutions that last.

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The above fine art print is 'Times Square New Year's Eve' by Jerry Driendl

Christmas Gift Idea - Free Horoscope

Here's an idea for a last minute Christmas gift for your friends or family. It doesn't cost anything and it's a very personalized gift that lots of people might enjoy.

If you know their birth data (date, time and city) you can go to Chaos Astrology and get a free report about their personality, talents and special characteristics. This is the best free natal report I've come across on the web, though Astrology3D and Astrodienst would be close to a tie in quality with them.

Print the report on quality paper, roll it up, wrap a pretty red ribbon around it - and voila - you have a thoughtful present that doesn't cost anything.

For other gift ideas for Aquarians, check out a page of ideas here.

Venus Transit in Aquarius

Venus enters Aquarius this Thursday for a teasing visit. The planet of love will only transit through the first couple of degrees of Aquarius in December, as it will turn retrograde on Christmas Eve at 1.5 degrees Aquarius. It will spend all of January and February in Capricorn and not return to Aquarius until early March 2006.

Any Aquarians born around the cusp of Capricorn and Aquarius (on January 21st, 22nd, 23rd and 24th) will be feeling the Venus effect strongly over the next few weeks as Venus will fixate on only the first two degrees of Aquarius over this entire period.

These lucky Aquarian cusp people will find themselves to be unusually magnetic to the opposite sex throughout this several week period. They may also be the ones experiencing the most gaiety and joyful festivities over this Christmas season. This is because Venus will be spending an inordinate amount of time basking on their Sun. (It will be conjunct their Sun this whole time).

Typically a Venus transit over your Sun sign placement only lasts for two or three days. This once a year retrograde just happens to fall on the Aquarius cusp this year and will last for several weeks.

Enjoy the Venusian pleasures while they last!

Update: See also Venus in Aquarius for March 2006

Aquarian Females with Cool Blogs

So I sometimes wonder who reads Aquarian Digest. This site gets about 3,000 page views a month now, and twenty percent of that is usually from repeat visitors.

Here's a couple of examples of young Aquarian females who've provided links from their sites to Aquarian Digest.

Above is a photo of the Cosmic Princess and her friends. Cosmic Princess has a beautiful blog layout - check it out. The quote which serves as part of her header is heavily Aquarian; 'nothing is accidental, nothing is incidental, no experience is wasted'.

Another Aquarian female who's provided a link here is 'Queenie'. She also seems completely Aquarian. Her main interests are coffee, astrology, environmental issues and activism. Check out her interesting site at The Coffeehouse.

Thanks much for your interest and the links!

Mars Turns Direct in Taurus

Mars turns direct next week. If you've been feeling somewhat stalled or lethargic lately, this could provide the push to propel you forward and to begin to see results on any activities you've been working away at diligently over the past couple of months.

Mars turned retrograde at the beginning of October at 23 degrees Taurus. It is now stationing at eight degrees Taurus and will turn direct on Friday.

If you are an Aquarian born between January 27th and February 2nd, (or if you have personal planets at between eight and twelve degrees in the fixed signs (Aquarius, Taurus, Leo or Scorpio) this current Mars station in Taurus is impacting greatly on your birth chart and hence your life. Mars stationary direct, as it will be for the next couple of weeks, can provide you with a period of very concentrated energy.

Mars is not alone in its action now. It is completely tied in to a t-square with Jupiter and Saturn. Saturn is retrograding in Leo (at 11 degrees) and currently squaring Mars. Jupiter in Scorpio at 7 degrees is opposing Mars and squaring Saturn. These three planets will remain in this t-square relationship throughout December.

Any Aquarians with personal planets between eight and twelve degrees of Aquarius will now have the effect of 'a grand cross in fixed signs' in their charts. This is an extremely strong configuration and could create major breakthroughs in some aspect of your life. However if you are the type of person who is predisposed to anger, it could be an emotionally trying or accident-prone time for you. Even very peaceful Aquarians with planets in these degrees may find that people close to them (their 'projected selves') are more irritable or jumpy than usual.

For more on the current Mars transit through Taurus see the previous Mars post here.

Birthstones for January and February

According to the official birthstone list from the American National Association of Jewelers, the gemstones for people born in January and February are the garnet and amethyst gemstones.

The garnet gemstone is sometimes referred to as a 'stone of health'. It is supposed to aid in the circulation of energy. It is said to remove nightmares and depression and help heal various skin conditions. It is affiliated with the root chakra and is said to help stimulate the pituitary gland.

And what about the February birthstone; the amethyst? According to the writers at Wikipedia amethyst is no less than 'a symbol of heavenly understanding, and of the pioneer in thought and action on the philosophical, religious, spiritual and material planes'.

Wikipedia has much more to say about the amethyst birthstone:

Tradition maintains that amethyst assists those who wear it in maintaining their faithfulness, causing peace and calmness of mind. It was often carried by soldiers on the shafts of spears and on swords as a charm against death, being thought to bring calmness and victory in battle. However it is also thought that the protection and long life that amethyst owner has is being drawn from people nearby/enemies killed, thus stealing other's lifeforce in return of prolonging theirs. It is useful for the revelation of prophetic truth. It is said to strengthen wisdom, faith and religion, and is an aid in prayer and in dreaming. It is also said to be a charm against witchcraft, poison (it warns of the presence of poison by dimming), and evil thoughts; it is an aid to chastity, a power against all forms of overindulgence, and a strengthener of the mind. It is used as a charm for securing the favor of people of wealth, influence and power, people with prophetic ability, poets, travelers, publishers, and others. Ranking members of the Catholic Church traditionally wear rings set with a large amethyst as part of their office.

Bound to the left wrist, the amethyst is said to enable the wearer to see the future in dreams. It represses evil thoughts and actions, gives a keen business sense, and warns of ill health. The amethyst attracts love and good luck, and helps to prevent drunkenness.

Geez, with credentials like this, I better run out and get myself an amethyst ;-)

Just kidding but if you are interested in seeing the best birthstone jewelry on Amazon, check out their amethyst collectionand their garnet jewelry collection.