Aries Mars is traversing Aries through mid-February. This increases your courage and strength, but shortens your patience. Focus attention on projects that you can manage alone during this period. Mercury retrograding in Aries during April may play havoc with your calendar. Family concerns and property matters will occupy your attention throughout the year. This is emphasized in January, May-June, and October-November. You have a desire to improve on health and daily routine through September. Beginning in October, opportunities for travel, and/or education, love life, and partnerships are multiplied. Give special attention to who or what is beginning in late November, early December, as it will bring favorable things to your life. For those already betrothed, this period brings increased intimacy and improvements in shared resources.
Taurus The Bulls embrace love, and much of this year you will frolic in the pastures of romance land. Be alert in mid-January or mid-March for a new playmate in the pasture. (For those not interested in "romance," read this as fun, play, and creative activity.) In February-March you are energized and more assertive than norm for the grazing bull. Venus, your ruling planet, turns retrograde on May 17, symbolizing a breather from relationships while you tend to personal and financial issues through late June. During the last quarter you will have a desire to take on one or more programs of self-improvement. You may be offered a better job or improved circumstances in your career life at that time as well. The full moon eclipse of October 27 represents a turning point. What is working well and what is not will become fully clarified. You'll change that which is not.
Gemini "Retrograde" will be your middle name this year. As January begins, your ruling planet, Mercury, is retrograding until the 6th. During April, August and December it will also be retrograding. In these periods it is most workable to return to unfinished projects. Mercury retrogrades three times per year so it is nothing new in your life, but it is helpful to know when it will occur. During late May and early June, Venus will also be retrograding in your sign. This suggests a tendency to drift into outworn patterns of relationship. Some of you will choose to back off and reevaluate an ongoing relationship. Old issues may resurface. Your personal resources have been reduced in recent months. It will probably require two years to fully recover, but the long-term investment will be worth today's sacrifice. Beginning in October for one year, you have favorable aspects for love, romance, children and personal creativity. As Uranus moves through Pisces (see lead paragraph), you may feel the need to break free from any structure that binds.
Cancer Since last summer you have been challenged to become truly "real." It requires sacrifice of a self-image that has been important in the past. Now you are invited to cross a new threshold and take on the work of building a new self. The former self-image actually was no longer relevant to your direction. You are asked to reeducate yourself, to learn fresh skills. You don't have the self-assurance that you had in the old life, but it will come in time. Cancerians are Moon-ruled. It is important to be aware of the eclipse seasons because your feelings will be intense and perhaps exaggerated beyond proportion. There are two in '04. The first eclipse season begins in mid-April through May 10. The second eclipse season occurs in mid-October through early November. In the last quarter you will be interested in making home and property improvements that may require a year to complete.
Leo You are undertaking self-examination. Your psychic energy may feel depleted, probably because you have become bored with the regular grind. Leo is not a quitter, so you may not have gone that far yet. But the truth is that you are tired and in need of a two-year sabbatical from everyday issues so you can reconnect to your center. You could be moved sideways, into a job that is not so pressured. This is not pleasing to the ego, but your psyche would be grateful. Sometimes the physical body provides a convenient escape hatch so we can rest. None of us is able to develop all our capacities at once. At this point one or two ignored traits or talents are knocking at your door and begging for recognition. They want admission into your life and it is best to "invite" them to the party or they may break through at embarrassing moments. During the next year let yourself explore previously ignored talent.
