MARCH 2007 to APRIL 2008

Arians have a fantastic line up of transits to look forward to over the upcoming year. As a matter of fact, except for a few difficult aspects, the first six months of your forecast is almost universally positive. Helping you a great deal are the planets Jupiter in Sagittarius and Saturn in Leo which both trine your natal Sun through September when transit Saturn enters Virgo for a 2½ year stay. These Fire placements will help you to succeed when you combine self confidence with discipline in moving toward whatever objectives you have set for yourself this year, especially within your social life and career.

The transit of Pluto through Sagittarius is drawing to a close this year. Since 1995 Pluto has been in trine to your Sun in Aries giving you the ability to dynamically bring forth your power and leadership abilities through the application of your will power. More specifically, those of you born between April 16 and April 19 are more likely to get involved with organizations that have an international impact, or other spiritual or religious groups that help you to regenerate yourself.

A big shift occurs on January 26, 2008 when transit Pluto enters Capricorn and forms a challenging square aspect with your natal Aries Sun. This transit will bring big changes in your career. Pluto’s influence will force you to significantly alter how you handle authority, as well as your relationships with your boss and other authority figures. You are likely to become aware of emerging power struggles with such people, and you will need to avoid being too pushy. You Aries natives born between March 21 and March 30 will be directly affected in this forecast year.

Transit Neptune is making a lovely sextile with your natal Sun, as it has been for the last several years. Now is the time to tap into higher awareness so that you can refine your life’s purpose. Friends will help you now more than ever to develop and deepen this higher sensibility. You also have an opportunity to grow in sensitivity and compassion; great benefits can be had if you can still your mind and listen to your intuition when a problem does arise.

Transit Uranus in Pisces, while not directly aspecting your natal Sun, nevertheless is providing you with sudden flashes of insight regarding your personality flaws and weaknesses. You may find that by examining your personal ‘inner depths’ you can access resources and talents you did not know you had! Clear these impediments from your path now in order to prepare for exciting changes to come later this decade when transit Uranus enters your Sun sign of Aries.

For the first half of your birthday year, transit Saturn in Leo will remain in trine aspect with your natal Sun. This tansit began in August 2005 and will end this year when Saturn enters Virgo on September 2. With Saturn in Leo, you have been serious about creative expression and have sought to stretch these talents. Business success for you during this transit is a result of calculated risk, backed up by hard work. Also, if you have children, you may have been putting extra time into their care and education. In 2007, you Aries born between April 10 and April 19 will be directly affected by this Saturnian influence.

Transit Saturn in Virgo, beginning September 2, makes no major aspect to your Sun. However, you will now notice more of your attention focused on correcting imbalances in your everyday life routine: work, health, and diet. With this transit you can improve skills critical to your work performance; perhaps serving an apprentice in some capacity could help you in this regard. Pay heed to the delicate relationship existing between your mind and body, for one serves the other. Aries people often work to excess, especially with the use of their minds, yet during this Saturn transit moderation is the key to true efficiency.

Transit Jupiter in Sagittarius has been in trine to your Sun since November 2006. Jupiter always contributes to growth, and with this Jupiter trine the benefits will be found when you dare to cross the boundaries of your mind and learn something new and foreign to your already established opinions. New adventures may include a trip back to school, or just doing independent research on your own. If you are a writer this is also a superb time to have your own ideas published. And, with Sagittarius involved, a memorable trip can be yours for just the asking!

Enjoy these opportunities, for when Jupiter enters Capricorn on December 26th your mind turns to your career and expanding your public profile. A job promotion can occur now if you have the skills and experience. Yet, since Jupiter is now in a challenging square to your Sun, you will have to be careful to temper your new ambitions with caution and solid method. Unfortunately, these approaches are possibly alien to the part of your Aries nature that thrives on fast results. If you overplay your authority the chances are that your real limits will be quickly reinforced – forcing you to build from “ground zero” once again.

The transits over the next year are supporting Aries natives in significant ways. During late March, there are no less than five planets transiting in positive support to your Sun. This should bring a great solar return for all Aries, as your natal Sun forms a beautiful Grand Trine with Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto. Most Aries natives should begin their year with a well-justified positive attitude, stemming from a desire to improve your mental and physical well being. This Grand Trine is also part of an even more dynamic Kite pattern, putting an emphasis on your personal self-expression. Work with these extremely favorable aspects by expressing your creativity and leadership, or by simply having fun with your loved ones or in group settings.

Supportive transits to your Sun continue through April -- with Mercury’s transit of Aries from April 10 to 26, followed quickly by Venus in Gemini from April 11 to May 7. These planets combine to help you articulate your ideas clearly -- and they also favor travel, both locally and long distance. The period between May 11 and May 28 is another period favorable for travel and trips of all kinds, with transit Mercury in Gemini and transit Jupiter in Sagittarius, both in favorable aspects with your Sun.

Get out and about while you can, for much of the late spring into summer will be spent tending to real estate or matters relating to your home. First, Venus transits Cancer between May 8 and June 4, joined by transit Mercury in Cancer between May 29 and August 2. During this time you can take on home improvement projects you’ve been delaying, or alternately, plan or make a move to a new home more suitable to your needs. Whatever the case, your physical drive is high at this time with transit Mars in your home sign of Aries between May 15 and June 15. Transit Mars in Aries activates a Grand Trine, this time with Jupiter and Saturn, making late spring an optimal time to decide upon your goals and make things happen!

If you do plan to make a change in your residence, be aware that Mercury will be retrograde in the sign of Cancer between June 16 and July 9, making all communication (including leases) subject to annoying revisions. And with transit Mercury in Cancer making a difficult square aspect to your natal Sun, you can expect there will be misunderstandings relating to your home and family. On July 27 transit Venus will turn retrograde in Virgo, and on August 8 this retrograde Venus will re-enter Leo and reform its beautiful trine aspect with your natal Sun. This retrograde placement gives you the ability to reconsider your relationships, both past and present. You might even see an “old” love in a new and more promising light!

Mid- to late-summer is the perfect time for you to get out and enjoy some of the better things life has to offer. The problem is that you may be torn between too many activities and get a little frazzled in the process! On August 4 transit Mercury joins retrograde-Venus in Leo, again emphasizing the simple pleasures of the summer: getting out of the house, being with children or younger people and recapturing some of the joys of childhood. Love is there for the asking, especially between August 5 and August 18.

This is the second period this year that the transits will present you will travel options. Transit Mars in Gemini between August 7 and September 28 makes a favorable sextile aspect to your natal Sun. While this in itself gives you the urge to travel, adding to this is transit Mars’ opposition to transit Jupiter in Sagittarius – bringing you optimism as well as energy! The main problem with this planetary pattern for you will be the potential for becoming scattered and trying to do too many things at once! Since Gemini and Sagittarius are change-loving mutable signs, you would be wise to try to follow a single course of action with a lot of variety scheduled into it, and thus avoid a total loss of focus.

Once your action-packed and exciting summer comes to a close, your autumn transits become a bit more challenging. You are likely find yourself once again dealing with matters closer to home and balancing them alongside partnership concerns. On September 28, transit Mars enters Cancer for a very long stay in this sign due to its retrograde motion which begins mid-November. This transit may present you with some significant problems as Mars will now be in difficult square aspect with your natal Sun in Aries; most of these problems are likely to stem from conditions around your home, making it difficult for you to relax and unwind.

You will begin to feel an increasing sense of pressure with transit Mercury, in retrograde motion, in the sign of Libra between October 23 and November 10. Although Mercury will turn direct on November 1, during this time you will have to contend with uncertainty in your partnership agreements causing you some inner anxiety. If you can find a constructive outlet for all this tension you will be fine. Especially avoid home repairs or improvement while transit Mars is retrograde between November 15 and December 31. And during this period be extra careful to avoid accidents at home which could result in personal injury.

This winter you will find that your attention is directed toward your career and other business activities. Action in this area will begin December 19 when transit Jupiter enters the sign of Capricorn, followed on December 21 by the transit Sun and Mercury. Until January 20 you would be wise to organize your ideas and strategize your professional actions before you go public with them. Yet you may indeed have something important to say to the world at this time. Transit Venus in Sagittarius will be trine to your natal Sun between December 30 and January 24. This, combined with Mars retrograde in Gemini, can really give you something well considered and meaningful to communicate.

The last months of your forecast year should move you into a larger context of group and community concerns. The first wave of this shift begins on January 8 as transit Mercury enters Aquarius where it forms a lovely sextile aspect with your natal Aries Sun. Now the quality of your ideas, some of them quite original, will be a resource that you can share with friends and those who have sway in your community. Consider tweaking these ideas for maximum effectiveness between January 29 (when transit Mercury turns retrograde) and February 19. With transit Venus joining Jupiter in Capricorn between January 25 and February 16, your public persona becomes much more favorable, and superiors are apt to be more cooperative -- especially where money and other tangible benefits are concerned.

Mid-winter presents you with ample opportunity to mix and mingle with people, and make new connections that benefit you and any causes you endorse. First, transit Mars will finally go direct in a helpful sextile to your Sun on January 31. Mars direct in Gemini will give you the mental power you need to solve any problem that may have been following you over the last year; just refrain from losing your patience with those who are slower than you! Finally, transit Venus joins Mercury in Aquarius to help you to unite with others who share your ideological objectives and who are receptive to your innovative ideas.

As you come to the close of this forecast year, transit Mars will re-enter Cancer, and again form a difficult square aspect with your natal Sun -- and will also oppose transit Jupiter and Pluto in Capricorn. This is a powerful finish to an already action-packed year. This planetary energy will force you to re-evaluate the way you handle power -- both personally and privately. This is a general theme that will repeat many times for you Aries natives in the coming decade. The key to your success is to be productive, yet to accept the changes transit Pluto in Capricorn brings to your life -- without going to extremes. The question is: Are you up to the challenges ahead in 2008 and beyond?