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Putting Your Faith Where It Belongs

The Winter Astrological Forecast

January-March 1999

By Terry Lamb, M.A.

Full Moon

11:15' Capricorn/Cancer

January 1, 1999

Chiron enters Sagittarius

0:00' Sagittarius

January 7, 1999

New Moon

27:05' Capricorn

January 17, 1999

Sun squares Saturn

27:06' Capricorn/Aries

January 17, 1999

Mars opposes Saturn

27:11' Libra/Aries

January 19, 1999

Sun enters Aquarius

0:00' Aquarius

January 20, 1999

Sun conjoins Neptune

1:51' Aquarius

January 22, 1999

Lunar Eclipse (Full Moon, Secular Blue Moon)

11:20' Aquarius/Leo

January 31, 1999

Mars squares Neptune

2:14' Scorpio/Aquarius

January 31, 1999

Sun conjoins Uranus

12:46' Aquarius

February 1, 1999

Jupiter semi-squares Uranus

27:48' Pisces/12:48' Aquarius

February 2, 1999

Imbolc/Candlemas celebrated

February 2, 1999

True Imbolc/Candlemas (solar cross-quarter)

15:00' Aquarius

February 4, 1999

Jupiter enters Aries

0:00' Aries

February 12, 1999

Solar Eclipse (New Moon)

27:08' Aquarius

February 15, 1999

Sun enters Pisces

0:00' Pisces

February 18, 1999

Sun squares Chiron

3:27' Pisces/Sagittarius

February 22, 1999

Saturn enters Taurus

0:00' Taurus

February 28, 1999

Sun square Pluto

10:27' Pisces/Sagittarius

March 1, 1999

Full Moon

11:15' Pisces/Virgo

March 1, 1999

Mercury turns retrograde

4:02' Aries

March 10, 1999

Pluto turns retrograde

10:30' Sagittarius

March 13, 1999

Chiron turns retrograde

3:53' Sagittarius

March 16, 1999

New Moon

26:44' Pisces

March 17, 1999

Mars turns retrograde

12:12' Scorpio

March 18, 1999

Sun enters Aries (Eostar/Spring Equinox)

0:00' Aries

March 20, 1999

Full Moon

10:46' Aries/Libra

March 31, 1999

Sun conjoins Jupiter

11:04' Aries

March 31, 1999

All dates are based on Pacific Time.

From time to time, certain themes of growth and experience will step into the forefront of our awareness and consume our interest for a while, either willingly or unwillingly. Sometimes what we would call a problem or issue coincides with this; other times, we seem to have choices, to be able to volunteer for the activities that pertain to this focus.

Well, the secret is that we can always volunteer, and if we do, we may find ourselves less involved in experiences not of our choosing. This could be called the alchemy of astrology. Alchemy is an ancient science, the one from which chemistry was born (just as astronomy was born from astrology). Where chemistry has turned down the path of dry mechanistic materialism (which nonetheless has its uses), alchemy remained true to its purpose to assist in the development of the soul.

Alchemy is based on much the same premise as is astrology: Astrology is founded on as above, so below, while alchemy's foundation is as within, so without. Just as accurately, we could say, As without, so within, because alchemy gives us processes by which we can bring about inner growth by doing things with what we see around us, in the outer world. This premise lies at the very heart of modern magickal practices. When we do a working, we are calling upon the same forces that alchemists from the most ancient of times have invoked. We are asking to create an inner or outer effect that is harmonious with our working. All good magick is in harmony with the soul's purpose and the will-to-good. It calls upon Divine Grace to co-create with us something that is in balance with the rest of the living cosmos.

However, for many of us, our workings are designed to bring out an effect in the outer world a new job, a better relationship, the resolution of a lawsuit. For the alchemist, it is all about creating internal harmony. It is specifically about blending the two halves of the self, the masculine and feminine halves, the hieros gamos, or sacred marriage. It is about sorting through the undifferentiated mass of unanalyzed thoughts, feelings and other sensations to reach the gold that lies within. Modern science pooh-poohs ancient alchemy for pursuing a method by which to turn iron and other metals into gold, but this was never the point; the point was to create inner gold by working with external elements, including but not limited to the elements that chemistry now recognizes. In fact, the alchemist's elements are those we still recognize in astrology and magickal practice: fire, earth, air, water, and sometimes ether.

The proper practice of astrology includes a science that we could call astro-alchemy. In this science, we would examine what planetary energies are active for us at a given time and do things to direct the flow of those energies in our lives. For instance, Pluto represents transformation; we can, under a Pluto transit, choose to enact a meaningful transformation in our own lives, or we can let Pluto act upon us willy-nilly. Usually, the former experience is more pleasant and supportive of our direction, if we can do so wisely. Such a transformation may involve cleaning up all the stacks of filing we've let collect over the past few years, a thorough spring cleaning; something more profound, such as depth therapy or a series of spiritual growth seminars; or a deep personal change, such as divorce, career change, or a move. With Pluto, it may take more than one of these to absorb all the energy it brings to us, or to respond to what it brings to the surface in our nature.

Each planet has its process, and those processes suggest certain alchemical activities. This is the core of this part of astrology, the part where we use astrology to assist us in co-creating the life we want as well as the inner person we want to be. It suggests that the proper approach to an upcoming planetary influence is to ask: What processes does this influence suggest? What can I co-create with these energies? What parts of my life might come under scrutiny now? How can I make the best use of this time? A constructive approach, a release of fear, viewing the event as an open doorway to growth are all keys to the best use of the forces that the planets represent.

Since we are all works in progress, we can't expect to get everything perfect. The planets will show up in our lives in ways that we would not have chosen. We will experience events beyond our control, things from out of the blue. Even here, our use of astrology helps us tremendously, because it allows us to see how the experiences we have are essentially orderly, not just part of a lifelong set of chaotic experiences with no rhyme or reason, no order or participation on our part. It teaches us to sort out the effects of our anger from the effects of our joy. It helps us to see complexes in our nature that when I come from my sun, I am able to tap my moon in a positive way; by giving love, I experience fullness. But when I live in fear, I tap my negative moon experiences, which leads me to withdraw and fail to connect. I can learn to see the consequences of this choice in my life abundance versus lack, for instance.

So we can sort out the undifferentiated mass of our consciousness into an organized understanding of what makes us tick. I simply cannot imagine having experienced my life without such a sense of order and organization, reason and purpose. It tames the beast of fear and leads to a peaceful acceptance of what comes because I know that it is part of a nameable, palpable cycle of energetic flow from which, within bounds, I can predict the results.

The open doorway that presents itself to us in the coming forecast period (January March) allows us to re-examine our fears and the things that we have faith in. If we ask ourselves what we have faith in, we may give the facile response, I have faith in the Goddess/Higher Power/God/Divine Intelligence, or whatever. However, what we act on is what we truly have faith in. Do we act as if we are alone in the world: Are we overly protective of ourselves or our children? Are we overly possessive of our partner? Are we worried about anything? If we answer yes to any of these questions, we do not have perfect faith.

Let's look at this from another perspective for a moment. If you were a parent and you were trying to teach your child about having faith in something or someone, how would you go about it? Would you protect the child from the effects of live or would you allow the child to experience more challenges so that they can see the need for faith and have to make a decision about it; to let them experience life on the basis of their decisions and see them played out fully? Would you try to set an example for them and refrain from interfering in their learning process?

This is the type of relationship that we (our lower, personality-based self) have with our spirit (our higher, spirit-based Self). The soul and personality grow and evolve under the guidance and mastery of the spirit-self, whether we acknowledge and accept it or not (if we do, it works better). I am not suggesting that we are the parents in this scenario, but that we are the children. The lesson is BIG, and sometimes we get lost in the lesson, lose our focus, become mired in belief in the way things appear on the surface.

Faith has to do with things NOT on the surface. Sometimes it has to do with what we cannot know but only believe. Other times it has to do with things that are simply not in evidence; but something not being in evidence doesn't mean it doesn't exist. We are often required to have faith in something for a long time with no signs of progress. This may be the case, for example, in someone who is following their heart's path in creating a career or business, but the financial rewards are not what they want, need, or expect. Although progress is being made, it may not be there in a form that they or others can see. This is where faith steps in.

Faith is a slippery slide, because we have to balance between what is fantasy and what is realistic. Are we being too cynical in the name of realism and curtailing our potential? Are we dreaming too large and going after something that just isn't possible?

These are the questions that are likely to pop up to the surface over the next four months. They have been with us, under the surface, since about June of 1998. We may not have been able to put a name to what we were working on, because there were so many other things to distract us. We feel as though we're crawling through a waist-deep swamp to get to this issue, but it is at the core of everything we experience now. We may not know how to resolve the issues that arise related to faith until the spring, but we are assisted by knowing that this is how long we will have to wait, no longer; and insights will surely come sooner as we open our focus to them.

Of course, there's always the next issue, the next open doorway, just around the corner. As soon as we get there, it becomes here, and we acquire another there. There are always new things to learn.

This spring, we will be setting the stage for a whole new energy pattern, the first major shift in energetics since the spring of 1996. We've been feeling it, getting clues to what will come to the surface for a couple of years, but there hasn't been enough grist for the mill; we haven't been able to put our finger on it, exactly. Starting in March, we begin to get it. We begin to see what our next lesson is and how we've co-created our experiences to teach us just what we need. The journey we embark on at that time will absorb our focus for the next two years. In the meantime, the next two months, we can prepare by surrendering and practicing faith.

January: New Beginnings, Secular and Planetary

Because several of the planets are somewhat clustered together, they tend to follow the same cyclical patterns. For this reason, we can mark our new beginnings with respect to four major areas of our lives in the time frame from late November early February. (The other two cycles begin in April.) For this reason, our association of newness with January 1st is not just a secular artifact it is a planetary fact. The cobwebs of the past will no longer be with us, or at least oblige us to look at them.

January begins with no special planetary events to mark its advent, although the planetary conditions of the time suggest that it may be hard to keep those New Year's resolutions. (Try making them on the solstice, when the planets are more harmoniously interrelated.) It may be partly because we are dealing with real obstacles that take more than a simple resolution to take care of. It may also be because we are a little idealistic about what we want to accomplish with them. We will start the year with bright ideas and high hopes the sky's the limit! If we can couple this with a little pragmatism, we may be able to implement the possibilities we see. Capricorn, the reigning sign of the times, could be called The Great Implementor, and its force is with us now. If we ignore the need to be practical, make plans, and be realistic, we will be shouting upwind. If we flow with the breezes of Capricorn, we will have taken the first steps toward great success in the coming year.

These concerns will hold us until the middle of the month. Expect the unexpected around the 13th, especially in social interactions, relationships, and money. There will be issues related to holding on to something that isn't appropriate a person, object, ideal, or attitude. There will also be underlying issues of honesty and integrity. This theme or dilemma will continue to build over the next few days, perhaps triggering anger or aggression on or near the 15th, and giving the opportunity to rectify inequities and disharmonies. During this time and for the next few days, it may seem as though the only method people remember to use in getting along with each other is domination. When this has occurred, something has frightened them, and they are in their defenses.

We may feel as though we are between a rock and a hard place from the 14th through to the end of the month. This is because there are several planets working together during this time. As they make their multiple contacts, they define a specific situation that will be with us for the time of those contacts. Since two weeks is a long time to maintain high focus on something, we are likely to feel stressed out by the experiences we're having. This is a good time to be prepared for by having a reserve of energy available to us. Use some time previous to this to replenish yourself, because this will not be the time to do it. The theme for this period will be change. It will revolve around something that you feel you need to change; however, the changes you think you need to make may appear (or actually be) impossible, or you may find them distasteful. The way to make an acceptable change will be brought out in the next six months. New information must be gathered, new ideas come to light. You need to be aware of things you couldn't possibly know now. Time will bring its unfolding. You may not even know what you should want. All of these are clear signs of the beginning of something. Beginnings are difficult because of unfamiliarity and lack of understanding. The beginning of something is not a time to cast something in stone to make a commitment or decide on the stable form that something should take. Patience and a willingness to hold fast to our position (inner truth) will help us through these times.

The 20th brings the suns ingress into Aquarius. It takes us into the environment of the cold, dry intellect. Just like the air of the winter's deepest freeze, it is filled with electricity, nurturing thought but not physical life. It is a time for accomplishing much on the internal levels life teems forth inside, preparing for the thaw and warmth of spring.

On the 31st, we experience a rather powerful lunar eclipse. This is not because it is supposed to be visually spectacular in fact, it is an appulse (a penumbral eclipse), and the moon will redden in the half-shadow of the penumbra rather than completely disappear. It is significant because of the other planets that are being triggered at the same time. We will remember this eclipse, probably because of some world event which made our life stop for a moment. Or if it contacts something in our own chart because we have a personal experience which is life changing. The eclipse will bring out more awareness of what we're dealing with related to the issue of the past two weeks. It will challenge us creatively. A creative challenge feels like not knowing what to do about something, or feeling like there's no way to solve a problem. It is likely to feel like a choice that will affect our life for a long time. Whatever we do (or don't do), the issue will stay with us through the fall.

By the way, this full moon will be called a blue moon by those who don't know any better. A true blue moon can only be when the moon is full twice in the same sign. In ancient times, each month began at the new moon, so it would not have been possible to have two full moons in the same month until the Julian calendar (or is closely related predecessors) came into use.

February: Foreshadowing the Future

Take note of what you experience during this month and through March. Your experiences of this time will feed into the events and choices of the following three months. Especially take heed of what occurs on our around the 1st. Right on the heels of the lunar eclipse, there may be a quick one-two punch of experiences, either in the world or in your life if your chart is contacted at this time. This is also the turning point in a cycle of awakening and enlightenment that began exactly two years ago. Also ruled by this cycle are advances in technology, science, and space travel. Some concerns, issues or dilemmas may surface related to ethics, hazards, and applications which will later turn out to be real problems if they are not dealt with successfully.

On a personal level, it is likely to be more benign, even a delight to experience. It is a time when we may be inspired to follow a path or do something that is spiritually significant to us. We may also notice the challenges of the path we embarked upon two years ago, finding that we need to make some adjustments. This is also a time when another stage of our miracle (read the fall forecast) may come to us.

This feeling of magic will stay with us through the 3rd to lighten our hearts and give us breathing room before the next big push. We may feel that this has arrived on the 4th, when a challenge to relationships, values or finances may arise. This is not something new; it is something we have known about but have feared or dreaded. This brings up the dilemma we faced in the last half of January again. Where we had been able to perhaps put it on the back burner, once again we are challenged to remove ourselves emotionally from what is happening and leave it in the hands of the Higher Power.

The 2nd brings the Wiccan festival of Imbolc. It is the time of the yearly cycle when we can begin to see the difference in the length of daylight. As light begins to overtake darkness, it is time to affirm our faith in the coming cycle in our ability to respond to the needs of the times, in the Goddess's grace and sustenance to help us through all that we encounter. It is a time to examine our goals for the year and see if we need to adjust them, if we're making enough progress, if the seeds are sprouting as they should. While we have to be careful about looking for progress (quite frequently progress is not visible, especially at this stage), this part of the cycle is, in a sense, about how we deal with progress or what may seem like no-progress. If we have aligned ourselves with the Higher Power, we may be required to have faith that the light will return and that progress will occur by surrendering to that Power.

We may feel a palpable shift, an invigoration of our being on the 12th. For the next 13 months, we will have the opportunity to put action into our efforts in an effective way. We may feel full of bright, new ideas, wanting to take on new things feeling adventurous. Although there is a danger of burnout, this is generally a beneficial experience.

Our romantic experiences of the 14th may be marked by the opening of old wounds through deep communication. Although we may feel pain, it is a part of the healing process. The pain for some of us may be in unmet expectations or feelings of loneliness at this time. Just remember that our culture has a very shallow description of love and what is acceptable love. In reality, we are loved by more people and in a multiplicity of ways than we are taught to recognize. Make the effort to reach out to someone who is dear to you, whether or not there is a romantic involvement. This will empower your experiences and buoy your mood at this time.

The 15th brings a solar eclipse. An eclipse brings a new focus into our lives through real world changes. This eclipse repeats the theme and energy of the one of mid-August last year. To attune to its nature, think about what was occurring for you at that time. There may be more pleasant outcomes from this eclipse than from the last one, especially if we have cleaned up our act between times.

Communication will be especially important now, not to be taken lightly, because it will have long-lasting effects. It may also be difficult to find the right words to say, or we may be quite aware that the topic we broach is not comfortable for the person we are talking to. Still, it is important; even if we cannot take on such a discussion now, we will find it necessary to do so sometime in the next six months.

The sun shifts the tone of our focus on the 18th when it enters Pisces. Even as it takes the wind out of our sails and fogs in the harbor, it gives us time to go inward to rest, replenish, and find our soul without fear that outward events will catch us unprepared. It is the time before the orchestra begins to play. The musicians are assembled, they are tuning their instruments, creating a cacophony of sounds. It has the air of disorganization and chaos, as if nothing good will come of it; yet, after a certain preparatory period, a work of great coordinated effort and harmonic mastery will begin. This time before the great work begins is Pisces. If the winter seems too long and too tiresome; if our path seems to be going nowhere; if we feel confused or directionless, it is just Pisces giving us a little down time.

Anxiety and a cessation of social contact may mark our experience of next few days. However, we experience some reprieve even a premature breath of spring on the 21st. We will have strong motivation to dream our lives away from the 22nd through the 24th or so. Allow humor to work its healing on you during the rest of February.

On the last day of the month, Saturn leaves the sign of Aries for the last time in 28 years. We must now lay to rest (probably gleefully!) the lessons we have been working on in identifying with the Higher Self; at least in the way we have been approaching it in the past three years. Gone will be our obsession with how much our ego intervenes in our life. Now we can say hello to a new one: how much we get fooled by the physical world, thinking it's the real thing. Over the next two+ years, Saturn will ferret out all our issues that relate to the illusion that this is the real world; that things of the spirit can't be physically experienced, so they don't count, they should be doubted, and skepticism is the safest attitude. This is actually the best way to shoot yourself in the foot. Life is based in a multiplicity of simultaneously experienced levels of existence, some more easily perceived than others, but all the same still real. The temptations of money, materialism, and chocolate will grasp at our attention during this time. Just remember, there's always something!

March: A Drama Begins

More than the weather will be heating up as we enter March. The full moon will carry a large load on its back as it becomes full to overflowing. As a part of its releasing energy, we get our first detectable glimpse of how the new cycle of transformation, begun November 30th last year, is shaping up for us. If the planet of transformation, Pluto, is contacting our chart, we can expect the 1st (or soon after) to bring powerful events into our lives. Communication, which has helped to soothe many a raging beast, may not be available to us, or we may not find others open to it right now. Quell your impulses to act hastily, because they will be misunderstood. In fact, we may just have to be willing to be misunderstood to let people think what they will of us over the next few weeks.

Don't be fooled if several things (or one big thing) seem to run amuck on the 10th through the 19th. In a fairly infrequent coincidence, four planets turn retrograde (appearing to move backward against the signs) within days of each other.

First, Mercury, in its once-every-four-month rhythm, asks us to re-examine our motives for pettiness and self-centeredness. Then, Pluto walks us up the next step in the situation which began in late November and developed further on March 1st. Whatever we are dealing with now will in some way take the next eight or nine months to resolve completely. Next, Chiron takes us into a part of our wound through a painful, usually emotional or physical experience.

Each of these, however momentous their effects may be, is fairly familiar to us. Even if we don't deal successfully with them, they follow a predictable cycle that has duration we've grown accustomed to. However, the last of the four retrogrades is a bit different. While it is not wholly unfamiliar, it is significantly less frequent, occurring only once every two years. And to boot, it is an energy that, in Western cultures at least, is dealt with very poorly. This is Mars, the planet of war, aggression, and survival. Because Mars travels so close to the same speed as the earth, its retrograde occurs with less frequency than any other. It lasts three months long, and it takes us on a journey of examining our use of force, however mild and involuted, or direct and violent. In this Mars retrograde, we will be focusing on the use of emotional force and will power. Quite often, we step away from forceful actions, or we may become especially frustrated as something we have been suppressing comes to the surface. If we can just remember that we have time to work things out, that we contributed to the way it is in some way, and that the situation hasn't changed just because we perceive it differently, we will bring the wisdom to our experiences that we need to see them through to a healthy resolution.

If each of these planetary energies seem to feed into one big issue, which they are likely to do, there will be several subtones to the issue that it may take some time to sort out. Continued stimulation of the issue, especially on the 21st, 27th, and 31st, will give us a chance to see all the issues and lessons involved.

On the 20th, the sun enters Aries, and the orchestra begins to play in living color. Everything suddenly seems vibrantly alive and full of hope. Don't let the oppression of recent events dampen these spirits, because life goes on in the midst of disharmony. It is through the obstacles that we encounter that we learn and grow strong. Use this time to feed more thoughtful energy into balancing the elemental forces toward a good harvest in this yearly cycle.

On the 31st, we start a New Year of enterprise, education, and expansion. We are likely to feel especially confident, throwing our fate to the wind. This may not be a good thing to do. Use a modicum of discretion for the best result. Watch what occurs, what you enact, at this time to get a feel for your experiences to come over the next year.

By the time we reach the end of March, our lives will be another work in progress, complete with mistakes and adventures, miracles and responsibilities. So, even though we stop hear for now; know that life will flow unabated toward a good end in the days to follow. Blessed be!

Terry Lamb is an astrological and healing therapist, mother of two boys, and the author of the newly released book, Born to Be Together: Love Relationships, Astrology, and the Soul. She offers a full range of personal and business services as an astrologer and a variety of techniques as an energetic healer. This column arises out of the convergence of her training in both fields. She can be reached for bookings and appointments (locally or long-distance) at 619-589-1774 or tlamb@flash.net. Check out her website at www.flash.net/~tlamb.