The confusion continues.

January is a very busy month, filled with thinking, communicating, moving around, planning, worry, and a variety of activities. Many planets in mutable signs ensure that our minds and bodies are on the go. They lead us on a merry chase, and we need to take regular time to shut the world out, and to relax.

Sagittarius continues to be the major mutable sign. Sagittarius is on a quest for understanding, and now with Pluto in its sign (1995-2008) that quest is wide and deep. The U.S. chart has Sagittarius rising, and Pluto is now transiting the U.S. ascendant. Upheaval, death of the old, and regeneration are Pluto's way.

(At the same time Pluto is squaring Florida’s Sun in Pisces, and will do so for the rest of the year. Florida is intimately tied to the identity of the United States.)

The Sun’s energy field is now Capricorn, sign of hierarchies, structures, and tradition. Government and business are major Capricorn activities. Our search for the truth, then, is in the context of these Capricorn realms.

The fixed signs are centered, stable, and determined. They rarely change their position until forced by crisis. They establish and maintain power. All four of the fixed signs—Aquarius, Taurus, Leo, and Scorpio— are activated by planets during January.

Aquarius, energy of reform, is dominant throughout these years of crossing over into a new millennium. Independence is its keynote. It is vitalized now by idealistic Neptune, inventive Uranus, and for the next two and half months, thoughtful Mercury. On Jan. 19 Sun enters Aquarius to complete a quartet of Aquarian revolutionaries.

Saturn, especially associated with Capricorn, is very powerful this month. It is majestically sitting still at 25 Taurus. Saturn is a builder. It motivates the construction of frameworks, systems, and organizations. Saturn in Taurus is especially associated with financial systems, as well as with work in general. When Saturn turns direct on Jan. 25, responsibilities will move forward. In the meantime, January is prime cleanup month for all kinds of organizing activities.

This Saturn sits on Al Gore’s Venus in his tenth house of career, and he may feel frustrated by his limitations and losses. But at the same time, he has an opportunity to assume special responsibilities.

25 Taurus is the degree of Algol, a star which is considered disastrous in certain aspects. This is probably associated with Al Gore’s lack of success in the campaign and election (see "Fateful Election," this issue).

Leo energy has been channeled through Transpluto since the start of WWII. Leo is the heart, the command center, the royal sign, and Transpluto is the energy of resurrection. Perhaps the growing movement of every person to be in command of his/her own life is a manifestation of Transpluto in Leo. Transpluto moves very slowly. It has been transiting Pres. Clinton’s Sun for the last couple of years and will do so for a few more years. It is aiding his rebirth into a new role in the world.

Saturn now is squaring Transpluto, indicating rebirth of tangible forms and structures. It can indicate the rebirth of the earth herself. Talk is suddenly turning to global warming, energy availability, and water supplies.

Last but not least, Mars moves through Scorpio through all of January, stimulating the entire gamut of planets in fixed signs with its intense and challenging Scorpionic approach. On Jan. 2 Mars squares Neptune, where it both stimulates ideals and asks for action to make them real.

From Jan.20 to Feb. 4, Mars squares Uranus and then opposes Saturn. This is the same Uranus in Aquarius fighting Saturn in Taurus that brought us the Battle of Seattle. The natives will be restless. Resistance to oppression will be highlighted during these two weeks.

Saturn is not the only planet that turns direct in January. Its working partner, Jupiter, also turns direct—and on the very same day, Jan. 25. Those two planets together refer to the work and the systems of the world in general, and to each individual’s social niche, including his/her work, affiliations, and tastes. The light turns green on Jan. 25, and we step on the gas to speed up all work and worldly activities. After 4-5 months of inner review, we can give rein to our new directions.

This is the day after a New Moon, which gives those directions great impetus. That New Moon is in Aquarius, and thus all activities related to the electronic world, new technology, energy itself, intentional communities, spiritual growth, and all manner of reforms are especially favored. A new future appears before us.

These new doors open just as eclipses are closing out and changing the past. Eclipses change the status quo. Since last July 1 they have occurred in those most conservative of signs, Cancer and Capricorn. The final eclipse in the Cancer-Capricorn polarity occurs in July 2002.

This is also the major polarity in the U.S. chart. The nation undergoes big changes during this eclipse cycle.

We are in the midst of two of those eclipses—the Christmas Day partial solar eclipse across North America, and the January 9 Total Lunar Eclipse. Many situations which have been ripe for change will make a shift this month.

Eclipses occur near the Lunar Nodes, which transit backwards through a sign for about 18 months. The Moon’s North Node is now in Cancer. Usually it takes about two weeks to transit one degree. But now, from Nov. 25 to Feb. 10 the North Node sits in the center of the sign of Cancer, at 16 degrees. The North Node gathers help and associations to fulfill destiny’s imperative.

The sign of Cancer says that emotional security is the goal. This degree is close to the U.S. Sun, and thus pulls in this nation. It is, in fact, conjunct the progressed Jupiter of the U.S. chart, and thus all of the Jupiterian notables, as well as the courts, the media, and the legal and political systems, are brought into the North Node Cancerian mandate.

It is also close to G.W. Bush’s Sun, and squares his Libra Moon as well. This is probably the major indicator of his success now, in this nation. On Nov. 26 Katherine Harris declared G.W. Bush the Florida election winner, and since that time Mr. Bush seems to have fate on his side.

In the meantime all middle degrees of the four cardinal signs—Capricorn, Aries, Cancer, and Libra—receive extra help now to travel destiny’s pathway. Cardinal signs mark the entrance of each of the four seasons, and their function is to take the initiative, to get things started.

Among other things, Jupiter in Cancer can indicate growth for the nation, racial issues, and lots of water.