Sun conjunct Mercury: Think Fast Communication is about to become a major part of your life, in a very noticeable way. Who you are and how you think are one and the same, and will be for the entire year. From business affairs to matters of the heart, you'll know exactly what to say and when to say it. In fact, others may have a difficult time keeping up with you mentally -- but don't worry, they'll catch up eventually! Focus on being as clear as possible, and remember that there are other ways to communicate besides speaking. Writing a note to a special someone in your life is more than just romantic; it's an unexpected, tangible treat that will prove just how much you care. And you don't even have to 'say' a word!Writing, in general, is a great way to make the most of your year. If you ever wanted to be an author or journalist, this is your year to go for it. Keeping a diary or a scrapbook is another way to channel all your mental energy. You might consider joining a book club, as your critical faculties are highlighted. It's romantic if you're already part of a couple, and great way to meet someone new if you're single. Another great way to meet like-minded people is to take a class -- learn to speak Italian, and you just might find someone to travel with you to Italy! Mercury in Aquarius: A Visionary You are becoming a visionary. Your conceptual thinking will be radical and revolutionary, and, if you desire, you can help anyone understand your thoughts and ideas. If you look into the future, you will be able to see all the possible outcomes, and you'll be capable of making connections that others wouldn't even think of. You may even go outside of reality and into the abstract, just for fun. This skill could actually frighten people a bit, so you might want to be careful just how much information you share and with whom you share it. Because you'll be so good at thinking outside of the box, you could actually get lazy about it. You'll become complacent and possibly even dogmatic. Only through keeping an open mind, though, will you be able to reach your true potential this year. No matter how great an idea is, you don't want to hold so tightly to it that you neglect one that's even better. Be careful how you present your thoughts to others. Remain sensitive and realize that much of what you say will be coming completely out of left field to most people. Don't take it personally or get upset if they resist you at first. Venus in Pisces: A Dreamy Unification A beautiful, friendly connection exists between you and everyone with whom you come into contact. Over the coming year, you will develop a great understanding of the depth to which love's power can and must penetrate into this world. You will be able to imagine all the ways in which feelings of unity can bring all people together under the guidance of the heart. And though it might be a challenging task, you will attempt to use your own sensitivities to the love of others to try to bring just that sort of unity to life.You will be a highly compassionate soul, and you will easily see the divine in everyone. However, if you go too far with this, you could over-idealize those you care most about, and at the risk of pushing them away. Your imaginative depth is incredible, and you should use it to put yourself in the shoes of others to see how your energies might be affecting them. This same imagination can also produce the dreamiest, most aesthetic artwork imaginable. You will practically be a vessel for bringing dreams and all their imagery and symbolism into reality. Enact the powers of your imagination properly, and your dreamy demeanor could attract whomever you desire. Venus opposition Mars: Full Of Sexual Tension This could become a year full of distraction. When you're supposed to be working, you can't help thinking about a hot date later on. When you're supposed to be grocery shopping, you can't help wondering what your significant other is wearing. For an entire year, you'll be a mass of sexual tension, and that could lead to problems in your sexual and non-sexual relationships.You'll find yourself pulled in opposing directions as one side of you feels soft and tender and the other is fiery and aggressive. At times you'll be kind and considerate, but those instances will be overpowered by selfish and thoughtless tendencies. You'll be torn between being the subservient partner in a relationship and being dominant. If you can't find a balance, the conflict will no longer just be found within you; the entire relationship will be tumultuous. If you're not with someone, you'll find you're easily attracted to new people -- but it will mostly be physical. You'll have a hard time finding someone worth committing to.Because you have so much pent up energy, your non-sexual relations could be just as trying. You'll be easily frustrated and likely to snap at whoever happens to be in the vicinity. Try to keep control of your temper, and channel that gentler side that's hidden deep within you. Mars in Virgo: Practical And Efficient The epitome of practicality. That's you. Or, at least, that will be you as you work your way from this birthday until your next. Every project your put your mind to will be done in the most efficient manner possible, and you'll meet every deadline. You'll be able to work with both abstract and tangible ideas and projects, which can be a rare ability. No task will be too small for your complete attention -- in fact, the detail-oriented work is where you'll excel. Romantically, you'll find that you become much more sensual than passionate as the year progresses. Your body will be quite sensitive and easily thrown in and out of balance by your mental state. If you start to get confused by your physical reactions to whatever life throws your way, then channel your energy toward doing good work for others. Selfless acts will help you feel good mentally, which will, in turn, balance out your physical drives. You will have great stamina and determination when it comes to improving both your own circumstances and those of others. Again, the detail-oriented tasks will fit the bill well here, as anything that can keep your mind captivated will free up some of the stress that's placed on your body. Mars retrograde: A Shift In Energy Have you ever taken a close look at how you assert yourself or at what gets you motivated? Well, you're about to. And there's a very good chance that whatever got you going in the past is about to change. Something will come up this year that will create some sort of block in your flow of energy, and you'll find that whatever you used to do to keep yourself fired up won't work. That will be your cue that it's time to reassess your actions.Your energy levels will likely go through a complete transformation. If you usually have low levels of energy, they'll increase, and if your energy levels are higher, they'll probably decrease. In either case, you need to pay attention to what's caused these changes in an effort to duplicate the effect or create the opposite. You'll feel a push-pull going on, as you'll have both a desire to put yourself out there and a yearning to become more introspective. Turn this dichotomy to your advantage and focus on the ways in which you draw attention to yourself and get yourself motivated. See what you can learn from your current methods and improve upon them -- or change it all up entirely. Mars opposition Uranus: Angry Rebellion The mundane will drive you out of your mind, and anyone who moves too slowly could create a burning rage within you. Patience will be more than just a virtue for you this year; achieving a mere semblance of patience will be akin to climbing Mount Everest. To get through this year with as little strife as possible, you will have to seek out the unusual -- don't waste your time with anything that appeals to the bourgeois. You'll be so opposed to anything supported by the masses that you could get marked as a danger to their well being. Try to maintain your individuality this year, but without ruffling any feathers. If you feel like the world is out to get you, you may just be right. The general population rarely understands anyone who wants to move against the grain, and they'll be tempted to attack what they don't understand. This doesn't mean that you'll be at risk of a physical attack, but it does mean that your associations will be much more difficult than usual. You'll want to fly into a rage frequently as you face opposition on all fronts, but that will only make matters worse. Defend yourself and your beliefs, but aggression and brute force really won't get you anywhere. Challenge your intellect and come up with thoughtful, rational responses to difficult situations and interactions. Jupiter in Taurus: Earthly Wisdom The world around you can offer up plenty of learning opportunities that you can use to improve your life. It will simply be up to you to uncover these and use them to your advantage these next 12 months. Nature, especially, can provide a wealth of knowledge. From the growth of the plants to the communication between animals, there's a lot for you to learn. One of the most valuable lessons you can learn this year will be to take pleasure in all the small things around you.It's time to unravel any cynical attitudes that may have been holding you back. Your life does not need to be any more complicated than you make it, and only you have the capabilities to make things easier for yourself. If possible, take responsibility for holding down the fort. If you're smart with your investments, you could create some extra time for yourself. Plus, notwithstanding your tendencies to go to excess with food and sex, you'll have a good grasp of the essentials of life, and your love and understanding of security will make you a solid rock that those close to you can build upon. Share your wisdom of creating this ideal life with others -- they may not heed your advice immediately, but you'll have at least planted the seed of knowledge. Jupiter trine Pluto: Selfless Power You will benefit the most when you work to help others. If this doesn't seem logical, try it out. When others get help from you, they're more likely to turn around and help you in return; or someone else with a generous heart will see your good deeds and do what they can to improve your situation. That will be especially key this year, as the less selfish your goals, the greater your personal achievement. On the flip side, if you desire and seek out power for your own personal gain, though you will succeed in the short term, the effects could be negative in the long run.Positive changes will also be your motivation this year, as you'll work to improve your life in many ways. As mentioned above, you'll certainly seek out more power than you've had in the past, but you'll also want to embark on a crusade for 'the truth.' You won't want your life or anyone else's to be ruled by a dogma that is inaccurate, and you will happily put your energies toward becoming a truth-seeker. Intuition will play a role in your life this year, and if you learn to use it properly, you'll easily know if the path you're on is the right one, or if you should change directions. Jupiter sextile Neptune: Imaginative Guidance The imagination is a shockingly powerful tool. It's pretty much the reason we're able to be empathetic toward others. Our imagination allows us to put ourselves in their shoes and at least get a feel for what they must be going through. These next 12 months, you'll see your imaginative abilities grow exponentially, and because of this, your desire to help others will also increase. This will also be a great time for you to grow as an individual as your dreams will help you forge ahead into new territories.Each experience you encounter will teach you a great deal and you'll be able to use what you learned to move on successfully to the next experience. Again, helping others will be an opportune way of letting your knowledge manifest in a positive and useful form. Focusing on what your dreams tell you can also give you a unique perspective to the world, and when you combine that with what you've learned, you'll have quite an arsenal of options for making worthwhile changes to both your life and that of others. Allow your selfless desires to take over this year, and you, as well as those you assist, will be grateful for the results you'll be helping to bring about. Jupiter opposition Saturn: Choosing The Right Path You're coming up to a fork in the road: Should you take the road toward expansion and optimism, or the path that leads to responsibility and achieving goals through hard work? Unfortunately, it's not really a decision that you'll be able to make. During the next 12 months, this dilemma will pop up over and over again, mostly resulting in confusion. Your options will be completely polarized and finding a middle ground could start to feel impossible.You'll find yourself torn between grand life schemes and the details and effort that will be involved in bringing them to life. It would be nice to just be an idea-person, but your ideas can't turn into reality without a lot of hard work. You're going to have to try to find a balance between these opposing forces. And then you'll also be faced with deciding when to fix past mistakes and when to forge ahead with your future. This will require great mental strain and possibly even physical effort, but if you succeed, you could be on the track to great prosperity. This probably won't happen immediately, but rather, by the end of the year, you could be much wiser and on the path to personal, professional and romantic prosperity. Saturn in Libra: Hard Decisions Indecision is waking up, shaking itself off and getting ready to rear its ugly head. You might want to prepare yourself for a lot of unpleasant decisions in the coming months. That doesn't mean that you'll have to choose between a rock and a hard place, but choosing between something like two people with whom you're in love is never a fun choice to make either. As you struggle to deal with whatever options are placed in front of you, you may begin to suffer from feelings of self-doubt.The first step toward fixing these issues will be to accept that they exist. If you're in denial about any of your fears -- and those include fears of compromising yourself or losing your balance in life, as well as indecision -- your world will only become more complex. On the other hand, if you can face your fears and come to terms with them, you'll have a much healthier approach to the decisions you have to make, which will help make your future choices much easier to deal with. Taking on a responsible perspective with your options will also allow a natural balance to come back to your life, almost without any extra effort from you. Saturn trine Neptune: Two Worlds Merge Prepare yourself for an important merger this year -- a merger between the conscious and unconscious worlds. Your dreams and intuition will work in harmony with reality, and your ideals will mesh well with what's true in your life. Creative endeavors can be hugely successful, as you'll be able to take shapeless ideas and turn them into something tangible. One half of you will be structured and grounded, which will allow your other half to give form to the visions and images that emerge from your imagination and subconscious. So pay close attention to your dreams; you never know from where your next great idea will come. Your spiritual life in general will be quite prominent. Whether you follow a structured religion or practice more personalized beliefs, your faith will play a strong role in your actions and ideas. You'll also find yourself more instinctively putting others first. Your needs are important, but the needs of your friends, loved ones and even strangers will seem more crucial and deserving of your attention. Giving selflessly will practically be second nature -- just be sure you don't give away your savings! Try volunteering at a homeless shelter instead of just donating money. North Node in Sagittarius: Personal Belief Systems Yours is an expansive future, one in which you'll have the most success when you can look around you and put everything into a larger perspective. There is a holistic nature to all things, an inherent connection between everything you do and see, and it will be up to you to try to find the purpose and meaning to these events. Create your own belief systems that take everything you understand and use that knowledge to make sense out of the world. This will help you push forward with your own personal development. Intellectual studies, education and travel can all assist you to pursue that elusive goal of the meaning of life. Your ability to collect facts and information will be strong, and you'll be able to piece together ideas and systems of thought and turn them into principles to live by. Once these are in place though, you may discover you have tendencies to stick so strongly to your beliefs that they become dogma. However, it will be your openness to new ideas that will be one of the most crucial aspects to enhancing your life experience and your view of the world. Be spontaneous, optimistic and broad-minded as you venture down your journey of life. Neptune in Pisces: Altruistic Motives The truest compassion is not something that comes and goes depending on your moods or the circumstances, but rather, it's a state of being. It should be given out as unconditional love for all creatures, good and bad. The most real feelings of brotherhood and sisterhood will come to you this year when you are able to develop a genuine empathy for all creatures on earth. You will feel something of a craving to get out and help those in need as much as possible, and that's one craving you should certainly give in to. Volunteer at homeless shelters, children's organizations, hospitals, etc. -- anything that will leave you satisfied with the work you've done.Your spiritual connection will also become much stronger, and you'll feel an overwhelming desire to transcend the rational world and move more fully into your belief system. Again, feel free to give in to the desire. Let your dream world and your imagination guide you along the path to enlightenment. Just be sure you don't fall astray into the world of escapism. Though you might enjoy yourself there, you will not fully complete yourself until you leave the physical realm behind your entirely. Pluto in Capricorn: Societal Transformation Your mission for the year will be a total overhaul of all the outmoded forms of society that can no longer measure up or function as they're supposed to. Sound like a big job? It is. But you can start by just focusing on the structure of your own life and trying to transform that before you even attempt to tackle societal issues. One of the key areas you might want to look at improving, though, will be your social status. The higher you can raise your social standing, the more freedom you'll have to make more necessary changes later on.In fact, if you can increase your social status, you'll actually be on the path to breaking up some of society's most useless structures, which involve placing power in a small minority. Your goal is to work your way into that minority and try to break it up from the inside. Again, this is by no means a small task, and you should only focus on your own life this year. Maybe a promotion at work can help you reset some of your corporate structures, giving you practice for a bigger job later on. If you want to jump right in to freeing society from the power of the social elites, then see what kind of luck you can have in your own town. Volunteer for an elected official or get your own name on the ballot for the next election. Uranus in Aries: The Energy Of Life All beings, all forms of life, everything that moves -- it all requires energy to keep going. Humans are special in that they can choose how they use this energy. This year, your goal, should you choose to accept it, will be to transform yourself and possibly the world with the pioneering and radical energy that will bubble up from within you. Creative and original currents of ideas will course through you, and it will be up to you to see them through to creation. Your mind will be active and engaged, and your inner urges will encourage you to move into action. Any challenge placed before you will be one you will happily meet, but remember that there's more to overcoming adversity than just meeting it: You must follow through, as well. Once you're able to overcome your difficulties, you'll find that your progressive nature is able to bloom on its own. Basically, this all boils down to figuring out the most effective uses for your mental powers. Fortunately, you'll be practically fearless about change and about your approach to life. When you know where to point your aggression and intelligence, a powerful, progressive transformation will begin. Uranus square Pluto: Pressure Buildup Imagine a tea kettle. You've put the water in, and turned up the heat. Then you wait as the water begins to boil, and that's when it starts to get interesting. The pressure builds and builds until so much steam is being forced out of a tiny opening that it begins to whistle -- and then it screams. And if you leave it long enough, the lid might just pop off. Now, imagine that's your life. Some or most of your life is building up a lot of pressure and it's about to explode. Things could get really messy for a while, but the relief you'll feel when the pressure is off of you will be well worth it. You'll finally be able to move on to something else.If you want to make things a little easier, you can find aspects of your life that clearly need improvement and begin to make the changes yourself. That will help release some of the pressure early, so you won't deal with quite such a big eruption. Something you've depended on for a long time will suddenly disappear -- your car might die or your computer might crash completely -- and you'll need to simply accept that as fact and go out and get something better.