The New Year starts off with a bang, a Full Moon and lunar eclipse on New Years eve in Cancer. Those of us in the colder climates may not be getting anywhere on New Year's due to weather conditions. Since Mars goes retrograde in Leo on December 20 and Mercury goes retrograde in Capricorn December 27, the holiday season may well have some technological and postal glitches as well.

On January 14 we have another eclipse, an annular solar eclipse on the New Moon in Capricorn which will happen at almost the same time as Mercury goes direct. This New Moon energy may start our year with seed planting on new projects and our yearly resolutions becoming active.

The second of three Saturn Pluto squares occurs on January 31 in four degrees of Libra and Capricorn. If you have any planets from 2-6 degrees in cardinal signs (Aries Libra, Cancer, Capricorn) or 17-21 of fixed signs, (Taurus, Scorpio, Leo, Aquarius) you may feel this energy in your personal life. Saturn square Pluto is like a tug of war between the old regime and the powers of transformation. Who will win out? And will anything really get accomplished with those planets making a square to the United States Venus at 3 degrees Cancer and Jupiter at almost 6 ? It certainly does not look like a good year for the economy with Pluto still opposing the Venus Jupiter conjunction. Saturn square Pluto occurs once more on August 21 and this time Saturn will be at 2 degrees of Libra and Pluto at 2 degrees of Capricorn. This is not an aspect for peace so we will no doubt see an escalation of war in Afghanistan. Personally, this is a time to let go of non essentials, things in our lives that we can let go of. This could mean simply less spending on dinners out or it could mean parts of our ego that have been obstructing our development. It could also mean having loved ones become ill or die. The important thing here is to remember that Pluto is the planet of transformation or rebirth so whatever we let go of, will be transformed in a new way and we will see the phoenix rising out of the ashes.

Just to add a bit of chaos into the picture, Saturn and Uranus still will be opposite each other on April 26 and July 26. Saturn will have retrograded into Virgo and will oppose Uranus at about 29 degrees of Virgo and Pisces on April 26. On July 26, Uranus will be in Aries and will oppose Saturn at 0 degrees Libra. The first time Saturn opposed Uranus exactly was on Election day in 2008 when Obama was elected. With Uranus we have change and rebellion; new energies are still trying to overthrow the old structure ruled by Saturn. We are challenged to reorganize parts of our life and perhaps change the focus of our lives as well. Uranus can bring unexpected changes which we may resist at first. However, it also can bring freedom from old patterns and old relationships as well as new discoveries which provide us with creative stimulation and excitement. With Saturn in Virgo the past two and a half years, we have been focused on our work, our service to others, our health care and employment benefits. With Saturn in Libra now, we are more open to new types of relationship, to strengthening our old relationships, to creating balance in our own lives and that of society, to sustainability and ways to create a safer and healthier environment. The climate change conference in Copenhagen in December of 2009 may be a small step in this direction.

Jupiter has been in Aquarius the past year and has been conjunct the planet Neptune as well as the planetoid Chiron. Jupiter and Neptune have their last conjunction on December 21, winter solstice. Jupiter Neptune has been about inspiration and hope, spirituality and religious revivals, poetry, dance, and films which transport us to the dream world. It is about "change we can believe in "even if that change has a quality of illusion befitting Neptune. Our dreams don't always manifest in reality but we can't give them up. In the sign of Aquarius, this conjunction has been about dreaming up social networks, communal events and new communities, world wide projects and movements. Jupiter now enters Pisces on January 18 and will bring further expansion into the spiritual and metaphysical worlds. Water and how we deal with the worlds' water will be a big topic this next year. (Interesting note, here in Santa Fe, I see that Maud Barlow, author of several books on the corporate theft of the world's water is due to speak at the Lannan Foundation on February 17.)

This next year also we will have a Jupiter Saturn opposition on May 22 at 27 degrees of Pisces and Virgo and again on August 16 at 2 degrees of Aries and Libra. Jupiter Saturn is a twenty year cycle relating to social and political events. The opposition represents the full moon phase of this cycle. Now we must continue our efforts, persevere in all of our projects, and not give up on our commitments. With the United States' Venus at 3 degrees of Cancer, this opposition will be creating a T square, further challenging our economy this summer.

Jupiter will conjunct Uranus in Aries on June 8. This is definitely the time for planting new seeds both literally, in our summer gardens, and figuratively. To have this conjunction at the Aries point, the beginning of the zodiac, signifies new beginnings in many walks of life. On July 30, the Moon will be conjunct both Jupiter and Uranus while it is simultaneously opposite Mars and Saturn. With a total solar eclipse on July 11, this could be a challenging time. We need to continue with our plans and not become too frustrated with the opposition to both Mars and Saturn. Delay may be on the schedule for July but in August Saturn goes back into Libra and Mars enters Libra as well, so the energies are bound to shift.

Mars retrogrades in Leo on December 19 of 2009 and will not turn direct until March 10. Mars in Leo strengthens our creative force and can be passionate and empowering. When it is retrograde, some of these traits go underground into the subconscious. It is important during this time not to belittle ourselves for our creations or allow ourselves to be hurt by the pride and egotistic behavior of others. Mars retrogrades every two years and two months. In general, our drive and focus can go into reverse gear when this planet of action and desire moves backward. However, sometimes it is necessary to spend more time in inner movement or stillness than outer movement, so perhaps this is the message of the Mars cycle being retrograde. After Mars goes direct and completes its transit in Leo, it will go through Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius until it enters Capricorn in December of 2010. On December 13 Mars will conjunct the planet Pluto; this is a time to be aware of the possible transformations that could happen on the planet since Mars Pluto is like a volcano in action. It can denote violence and accidents in its negative manifestation and in its positive aspect, may point to a deep transformation of organizations and government since it will occur in the sign Capricorn ruled by Saturn.

Mercury always retrogrades three times a year for a period of three weeks. We enter the New Year during a Mercury retrograde cycle in Capricorn. On January 15 it turns direct and all our lost Christmas mail should find us. Mercury retrogrades again on April 17 in Taurus, another earth sign and goes direct on May 11. This is spring planting time so we better label what we have planted or there may be some confusion as seeds and bulbs sprout! The third Mercury retrograde cycle occurs August 20 in Virgo, our third earth sign and the time of harvest. It goes direct September 12. Mercury retrograde cycles are important times to redo or review any projects we have on the table or any writing we have done. Sometimes we connect with people we have known in the past during Mercury retrograde cycles which helps to balance out computer glitches and technological problems that do often occur.

We start the year off with a partial lunar eclipse on December 31, 2009. Another eclipse follows on January 15, an annular solar eclipse at the end of Capricorn. Eclipses occur twice a year and with these eclipses at the beginning of the year, it would seem 2010 would be quite an intense time on the planet. The January 15 eclipse is at 25 degrees of Capricorn, the degree of President Obama's Saturn, and two degrees from the United States' natal Pluto. This may refer to the troop surge in Afghanistan announced on December 2, 2009 and the on going problems with passing health care reform. The eclipse on the US Pluto suggests some transformation is sorely needed in our government, but will we get it in 2010?

The second series of eclipses begins six months later when we have a partial lunar eclipse conjunct the planet Pluto and opposite the United States' Venus and Jupiter as well as opposite our president's Venus. No respite here for the economy though many stimulants will be offered. On July 11, we have a total solar eclipse at 19 degrees of Cancer, not far from the US Sun at 13 Cancer and square the US Saturn at 14 Libra. The United States is heading toward our eighth Saturn return in December 2010 which may indicate some new standards regarding our economic structures and restrictions on banking and financial laws. On December 21 of 2009 we have a total lunar eclipse at 29 degrees of Gemini right before the winter solstice.

For most of us, 2010 is a year to stay centered and hold on to our seat belts. It is important to keep our priorities straight, as money will be tight and many will no doubt lose their homes or not be able to pay their mortgages. We might want to put some energy into helping those who need food and housing, as well as creating more sustainable environments in our towns so we use less of our precious resources and reduce our carbon footprint as much as possible. This seems to be one of the meanings of the US having its eighth Saturn return. We need to keep speaking out on the horrors of war and the spending that goes into it. With Saturn square Pluto, there will be many deaths in these war torn regions and more people will be getting the message that our security is within our own beings here at home and not achieved by fighting on some foreign soil.