It’s hard to imagine that anything could shift our focus from the stunning revolutions sweeping the Middle East and Africa last month. That was expansive Jupiter reaching zero Aries—raising courage and sending through this sensitive degree in the World’s chart the conviction that new worlds are possible. Just as we began to ask ourselves, when and where all this regime change would end, electrifying Uranus entered Aries. This sky lord creates new worlds too, but his action is sudden, violent, and disruptive. An earthquake measuring 8.9 (later elevated to 9) struck Japan, followed by a tsunami that erased whole villages from the landscape, killed tens of thousands and physically moved the Japanese coastline eight feet.

What happens at zero Aries happens to the world. We are all riveted on events in Japan, and through them, we are refocused—on our own vulnerabilities, the fragility of life on this planet, and the necessity of waking up to the needs of this time. Uranus is not just the Great Destroyer; he is the Great Awakener whose message now is clear: Pay Attention! Here is your opportunity to change the way we live on this planet!

There is much work to do. As I write this, four nuclear reactors damaged by the earthquake/tsunami are perilously close to meltdown, and two others are compromised. Thousands are homeless, Japan’s financial markets have already lost hundreds of billions of dollars, and reporters, international leaders, and people everywhere seem incapable of fully grasping what has happened and what might still happen. We are in shock. But we must not stay there.

Next year, Uranus will begin squaring  Pluto, an event that promises even greater global change. Things will get tougher, and how we handle that will largely be determined by how much we’ve awakened from this challenging point on. If you’re creative, organize your projects and get to work. If you’re emotional, send compassionate intentions to those around the world who are in distress. This moment is a tipping point. It’s not the last one, but let us make allies out of Jupiter and Uranus. Let’s rise up. Let’s realize that we are fully capable and compassionate—that we can meet our serious challenges with great energy and a powerful imagination.

Like lucky paparazzi behind the hedges, we’ve been given plenty of god sightings these days. During exciting times—and these are such times—the archetypes walk more boldly among us, teaching or meddling, depending on the day or your point of view.

I never understood why ancient astrologers claimed Saturn was exalted in cooperative Libra. It seems like such a soft or even prissy sign in which to dress the master, but I’ve been schooled. Through events in Egypt (a Saturn-in-Libra nation), Saturn is showing us how to stand elegantly firm with dignified restraint. The thirty-something dissidents—many of whom have Saturn in Libra in their charts—gave us a vital, organized, disciplined, harmonious and successful demonstration of peace in a region that has too long carried the world’s projected shadow of violence. The world’s balance requires the nourishing imagery of Tahrir Square. Let’s remember this 2011 Saturn victory for Libra virtues like equality, justice, and peace.

The events in Egypt also demonstrate a fine way to approach and appease Saturn during his often-dreaded returns. Perhaps we wouldn’t have to dread them if, in whatever sign they occured, we strove to embody the best virtues of the sign. Egypt as a nation, the Mubarak regime, and the young dissidents are all going through their Saturn returns (it’s the first for the dissidents born when Mubarak came to power; it’s the second for the country). Mubarak’s regime is getting one of those crushing Saturn returns that compensates for getting too far out of balance, going beyond the limits of proper responsibility. Wael Ghonim—the Egyptian Google executive whose internet activism and imprisonment helped galvanize the demonstrations—expressed gratitude to the Mubarak regime for taking itself down through its own stupidity. That’s how most bad Saturn returns happen. Ghonim is also riding his Saturn Return, but he’s more receptive. Positive Libran virtues weave throughout his words and gestures, as when he forgave the ones who beat him because he understood how it looked from their eyes—they thought he was the bad guy. When they took his blindfold off, he kissed them. Now there’s an exalted Libra Saturn!

Of course it wasn’t Saturn alone who brought the revolution. Uranus and Jupiter, both fresh from squaring Egypt’s Sun and Jupiter squaring Mars, drove high energy, courage, and enthusiasm into Tahrir Square. But Pluto played an important role. Between the first demonstrations of the youth movement on April 6, 2008 and the revolution declared on January 25, 2011—Pluto opposed Egypt’s Mars five times. This transit is well known—and feared—for its violence and extreme power struggles. An astrologer might easily have predicted this would be when the powder keg would ignite. What happened is instructive. People began filming police brutality with cell phones and posting these videos on Facebook. It shocked the nation and helped it to gather its courage, so that when the first protestors began walking to the Square on January 25, they had gone beyond the barrier of fear. How succinctly this portrays the highest promise of a Pluto/Mars transit! What is underhanded will be exposed and what is disempowered will be transformed.

Of course not every moment was a victory. Resistance thugs appeared. People died. And on February 11, as Venus separated from her conjunction to Pluto, the CBS news correspondent Lara Logan was separated from her crew during the celebration of Mubarak stepping down. She was beaten and sexually assaulted by a mob until finally rescued by a group of women and soldiers. Like Perspehone abducted by Pluto, she has since disappeared. There are no statements from her family or her employer. What do we make of this? Though we might want the gods to be always on our side, we must suffer, respect, or stand in awe of their mysteries too. Perhaps it is a moment for those of us with Pluto/Venus contacts in our own charts to behold the loss of innocence in ourselves, to be the grieving Demeter, and perform the dance that eventually brings Persphone back as a queen.

Of course the gods are also brilliantly entertaining. When Sun and Mars conjoined in Pisces, they marched onto the world stage in the form of two colossal egos, driven mad by their own (drug-induced?) fantasies—Muamar Gaddafi in Libya and Charlie Sheen in Hollywood. Oh let’s personalize this lesson too! Pisces can dissolve us into higher realities, but if not adequately prepared, we might also fall down the rabbit holes of addiction, deception, illusion, manipulation, and victimization. It’s a good time to wonder: with what ego-serving delusions have we been fooling ourselves!?

Great day! The gods are alive in Egypt! Mubarek resigns after thirty years as Egypt’s dictator. There is much to say about the astrology of this event, but as my computer live-streams Al Jazeera’s great coverage, I find myself thinking of Saturn, exalted in its current sign: polite, harmonious, and graceful Libra. When one of the commentators was asked to sum up this moment, he called it “The Dignity Revolution,” praising the calm, kindness, and dignity of the Egyptian people as they held their ground against oppression. For the past weeks, watching the exciting coverage, I saw smiling faces on the long polite lines of protestors heading into Tahrir Square, I saw women standing equally with men, I saw people sharing food and water, parents swinging their children in delight. The Egyptians gave us Saturn in Libra at its finest!

Not surprisingly, Egypt is a Saturn-in-Libra country, heading for its second Saturn return. Mubarak took office during the country’s first Saturn return. If you’ve wondered what Saturn returns mean to countries, these are good events to study. If you’ve got a Saturn return coming up in your own life, know that it’s time to act on lessons learned and change your current structure. But be polite. Especially, be kind to yourself. Act with strength and grace.

Saturn in Libra has been visible in the United States too. There were those embarrassing diplomatic flip-flops in the early days of the Egyptian uprising. That’s the shadow of Libra in Saturn–a government that’s indecisive, vacillating, superficial. But on a more positive note, after the recent horrific shooting of Senator Gabrielle Giffords, throughout the US blogosphere there has been a call for a “new civility” in our political discourse. “Just say No” Republicans sat with “We Don’t Know What We Stand For” Democrats during the President’s State of the Union address. Will their new harmony stick? Will Congress actually work together? If they don’t, Egypt has shown us an interesting way to respond. Remember Ghandi’s example. He had a Libra Sun.

Not much in this life can lay honest claim to being the “best in the world.” But The Mountain Astrologer, born in the mountains of Colorado and now over twenty years old, has consistently been just that. The current issue–devoted to the emerging field of archetypal cosmology–is so rich, I suspect it will become a collector’s item. If you’ve wondered where astrology is heading and why intelligent people are still drawn to its magic, if you’ve wondered about the secrets in your water houses, the astrology of your dreams, or how to deal with Pluto, don’t miss this issue! Check it out online or at your favorite bookstore.

What an auspicious New Moon, occurring on Imbolc–one of my favorite cross-quarter holidays. The need to cleanse and refresh our lives at this time is coded in our DNA, as humans have been honoring this turn on the wheel for milennia. Below is what my good friend shaman and poet Jane Galer has to say about the holiday. She’s launching her new book, Becoming Hummingbird, on this date!

Whether you live in northern snow, or the southwestern sun, or the green and wet isolation of the coast like I do, I hope you come to this day of midwinter with a sigh and a sense of peace. Imbolc (pronounced Im-olc) is the ancient Celtic day that marks the halfway point between the solstice and the equinox. This is a cross-quarter day then, a reminder that time is moving and we have obligations. In ancient times, perhaps we simply cleaned out our fireplace, set aside a burning taper, cleaned out the ashes, and then kindled the warming fires of winter again. This was a safety issue, a housekeeping issue, and yet it has deeper implications. This is a night time moment, a time to clear out the “ashes” of our lives, kindle a stronger fire, a stronger sense of purpose for ourselves. This is a time to notice whether we have done the work of winter. Have we told the stories we need to tell? Have we rested, feasted, and shared our hearth with our larger community?

When Christianity came to the Celts, Imbolc became Candlemas. February 2nd, a fixed date instead of the mutable date engendered by Sun reaching the middle of Aquarius. Candlemas suggests a lovely ceremony. Gather those you connect with around a fire, each with a candle and a prayer; sing, feast, share and encourage the great work of winter. Make a circuit or procession with candle as your only light. Honor grandmother Moon, the candle is her light. Slow down, it’s winter, remember the ancestors and their stories, dream deeply.

Jane Galer, is an award winning poet and author who trained with the Q’ero indigenous shaman of the high Andes of Peru.

As the global elite dined on Norwegian lobster in Davos, Egyptians took to the streets, erupting in protest against decades of oppressive leadership, high unemployment, rising food prices, and lives without hope. It is a dramatic post card, illuminating the collision between the haves and have-nots promised by Pluto’s entrance into Capricorn in 2008 and accelerated by its coming squares from revolutionary Uranus in 2012. There may be debate on which astrology chart is most accurate for Egypt, but this one (from Nick Campion’s world horoscopes) reveals that Egypt’s Sun (its identity) is receiving its final liberating square from the recent Jupiter/Uranus conjunction. In the country’s progressed chart, its Sun is rapidly approaching a conjunction with transformative Pluto. This developing story will not go away quietly.

The news went viral yesterday. Even my son–who never discusses astrology–was shaken. He came into the livingroom with an ashen look on his face: “Did you hear?! I’m not an Aquarian!” Believe me, he is. And the rumors about an astrology shake-up are wildly exaggerated. It’s well known by astrologers and astronomers that the earth wobbles, and over thousands of years, the Sun shifts its position against the background of constellations. (If you’re curious, Google “precession of the equinoxes.”)

But there are two types of astrology. One calculates the horoscope based on the Sun rising against this shifting backdrop of stars. This is Indian, or Vedic astrology. And you may indeed find that in this system you have a different Sun sign as it uses what is known as the “sidereal zodiac.” There is a 23 degree difference between this and the “tropical zodiac,” which is what most Western astrologers use. The tropical system is derived from earth’s seasons, not the stars. It’s calculated using the position of the Sun in relationship to earth (specifically the equator) on the days of the summer/winter solstice and the spring/fall equinox. Both systems work.

The viral news story also mentioned a “13th zodiac sign” known as “Ophiuchus.” There is such a constellation, but it’s off the ecliptic (the Sun’s path), so it has no business joining the traditional twelve. Incidentally, there are actually about twenty-four constellations that touch the ecliptic. Anyone for a zodiac with twenty-four signs? Let’s hope another scientist doesn’t start spouting off (I’m talking to you Parke Kunkle!).

How auspicious! On the day of the Solar Eclipse, Jupiter and Uranus meet. They’re conjunct in dream-weaver Pisces. Together Jupiter and Uranus bring growth, change, expansion, and breakthroughs. Their conjunctions, occurring every fourteen years, coincide with discoveries and great forward leaps. What an inspiring way to begin the year! These are challenging times, but like cheerleading guardian angels, the two sky gods are sending a message. They want us to dream big. They want us to imagine ourselves excited and brave as we set sail, individually and collectively, towards a new world. Soon both Jupiter and Uranus will enter Aries: the sign of adventure and courageous initiatives. This Spring I suspect we’ll be seeing a plethora of action movies with plucky heroes and heroines. That’s one way our collective unconscious will be dreaming us into bolder versions of ourselves. Next year, Uranus and Pluto will begin their explosive, revolutionary square. If we raise our courage in 2011, we might lasso that energy and accomplish something amazing.

I hear there hasn’t been a lunar eclipse like this–occurring at winter solstice–for 456 years. People get excited about rare celestial events. But I’ve seen a few of these come and go. To me it seems the greater rarity now is any moment when a human fully meets the sky. Even if a lunar eclipse occurred every year on the solstice, what matters is how you meet it this time. Pause your busy or mournful or joyful life and connect with the power of the Sun. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Sun is standing still (hence “solstice”) at its southernmost point on the horizon. It is the longest night of the year when we are invited to turn from our cold mysteries to face the bright warmth of new possibilities. The days will soon get longer and the nights will get shorter. Gardens will grow, and so will our lives.

There are many wonderful Solstice rituals involving chants, costumes and Yule Logs (this one’s nice). I like to keep it simple. For my solstice ritual, you’ll need just a candle (or a fireplace or a favorite lamp) and some “Sun food.” This is a magical edible—something to symbolize the power of the Sun. You’ll take it in at the ritual’s climax. Sun cookies–anything round and yellow—will do (here’s one recipe). Lately I’ve fallen in love with greens–kales, lettuces, chard–as a juiced blend of their chloryphyl is the closest thing to liquid sunshine. Be the alchemist as you prepare what’s right for you. As you gather the ingredients, meditate on your experience of the past ninety days.

At your Solstice moment–which is that hour you can give yourself when you have absolutely nothing else to do. Nowhere to go, nothing to get, no one to satisfy. Approach your altar (or your fireplace or your table with your favorite lamp), declare a circle of sacred space. Call in the elements, the snow-capped mountains, the exhilarating winds, the roaring hearth fire, the healing warmth of a fragrant bubble bath. Light your candle or lamp. Turn so that your back faces the altar and the light is now behind you. Close your eyes and feel into the dark. Notice whatever sensations or emotions this brings. Savor it as your experience, your singular expression of the world soul at this unrepeatable moment. Do not judge it. Sink into it. And when you feel ready, turn to the light. Open your arms and draw the energy of the light into your heart. Offer your profound thanks to the Sun, the source of light, life and energy on this planet. Ask the Sun to bless you with health, creativity, and love in the coming days. Eat your Sun food. Savor this thrilling experience of light! When you’re complete, bow to the candle or lamp. Thank the elements and dissolve the sacred circle into a mist of protection that surrounds you as you re-enter the world. Extinguish the candle.

For the Southern Hemisphere, for whom the days will be getting shorter, reverse the imagery. Start with symbols or images evoking the abundance of the garden. Begin facing the altar. Celebrate the experience of warmth and light as the Sun is at its strongest. When you are ready, turn so that your back is to the light. Close your eyes and contemplate the coming darkness. Feel into it. When you are ready, with eyes still closed, eat your Sun food.

It’s worth noting how the gods roamed the earth this past week, as retrograde Mercury rendezvouzed in Capricorn with that explosive pair, Mars and Pluto (exact on December 13). The Warrior and Underworld Lord aren’t known for their subtlety or grace. Their conjunctions can ignite passion, anger, violence, war, revenge–all of which had Messenger Mercury working overtime. There he was at a Florida school board meeting, spray-painting a red V for “vengeance” on the wall, before going out in a blaze of gunfire that luckily missed all targets but himself. In New York, the Messenger brought news from the underworld, as four bodies were found scattered along a highway, likely the remains of prostitutes, victimized by a serial killer. The most poignant Mercury-Mars-Pluto message may be the final words of the dying US diplomat Richard Holbrooke: “You’ve got to stop this war in Afganistan.” But perhaps the most resounding message heard around the world was the frustration of protestors at the widening divide between the Haves and Have Nots. Stuffy Capricorn leaders got served–in Italy, Russia, Greece, and England. Pictured above are Charles and Camilla, heading to a performance in their state-bought Rolls Royce as students (whose tuition just tripled) shouted “Off With their Heads!”

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