The Happy Turtle: Winter

Fra Angelico and Filippo Lippi: Adoration of the Magi. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
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The New Year of 2014 is almost upon us, so here is a preview of the important astrological events that will occur during the year. I’ve designed it as a reference, so you might want to print it to keep for the year.

Retrogrades
These are the editing phases, which are the times to regroup
Venus             December 22^nd, 2013 – January 31^st, 2014
Mercury          February 6^th – February 28^th, June 7^th – June 30^th, October 4^th – October 25^th.

Eclipses
Times of change, especially when they connect to your individual chart
April 15^th         Total eclipse of the Moon
April 29^th         Annular eclipse of the Sun
October 8^th      Total eclipse of the Moon
October 15^th    Partial eclipse of the Sun

Major Meteor Showers
January 4^th         Quadrantids     25 meteors per hour
August 12^th and 13^th     Perseids           40 meteors per hour
October 8^th                   Draconids        25 meteors per hour
December 13^th             Geminids         85 meteors per hour

Visible Planets
Morning
Mercury                         February 22 – April 18, June 29 – August 1, May 4 – June 10, October                               23 - November 22
Venus January 17 – September 17
Mars                            January 1 – April 8
Jupiter                          January 1 – January 5, Aug 8 – Dec 31
Saturn                          January 1 – May 10, December 6 – Dec 31
Evening
Mercury                        January 13 – February 9, May 4 – June 10, August 18 – October 11,                        December 25 – December 31
Venus                          January 1 – January 5, December 5 – December 31
Mars                            April 8 – December 31
Jupiter                          January 5 – July 11
Saturn                          May 10 – November 1

Planetary Alignments
January 31^st                                 Jupiter opposes Pluto. Expansion.
February 26^th and April 20^th            Jupiter squares Uranus. Dramatic New Changes.
April 21^st and December 15^thUranus squares Pluto. This transit will free us from limitations.
May 24^th                                       Jupiter trines Saturn. Compassion and caring for humanity.
September 25^thJupiter trines Uranus. Ease with beginning anew.

Chinese Year of the Wood Horse

The Chinese New Year starts on January 30^th and has the Wood Horse as the animal for 2014.
Horse personality – High-spirited, friendly, lively, whimsical, impulsive, self-confident with a fast tempo.
Wood element brings logic and a sense of calm that is not normal for the excitable horse.
Year of adventure, action, excitement, romance and spontaneous decisions.

Venice - Three Magi gobelin

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The Sun enters the sign of Capricorn on December 21^st at 10:11 a.m., MST. Capricorn is an earth sign that is associated with the planet Saturn, who is the taskmaster of all the planets. Capricorn is the Executive because they are the astrological authority figure and know instinctively how to succeed. But there is a tradeoff . . . Capricorn is the workaholic of the Zodiac.
December 21^st is the Winter Equinox, which welcomes a new season. In the northern hemisphere, this is the shortest day and the longest night of the year. It has always been celebrated as the time when the light returns to the world, since the days immediately get longer after December 21^st.
Well, finally that strong Scorpio party has separated, but guess what? It rushed through fun Sagittarius and is now turning into a Capricorn party. In fact, the year of 2014 starts out with a New Moon in Capricorn, which occurs exactly on January 1^st! Not only is there a New Moon, but there are also four other planets in the sign of Capricorn. What a great way to start out a new year with the powerful intention of Capricorn to get thing going right! This is a perfect year to make serious New Year’s resolutions, because they can actually get accomplished with this Capricorn party helping out

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The biggest thing happening astrologically this month is that Venus is turning retrograde on December 22^nd and doesn’t change to direct motion until January 31^st. Venus, the planet of love and beauty, retrogrades approximately every 1 ½ years, and is the time to rethink our creativity, art or our love lives. Maybe go through your closet and give things away to make it more organized. I call retrograde the “editing phase,” so this is editing the Venus part of our lives. As Venus retrogrades, she moves part Mercury on January 7^th. Often brilliant ideas surface at that time. Then, on January 11^th, Venus joins with the Sun, which combines with a time of awareness about what we need to change to make us happier. Get a new hairstyle or buy some art you’ve been wanting. Bring new Venus activities into your life in mid-January.

Marvelous "Three Wise Men on a Boat" by artist James Christensen.
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Regarding the visible planets this month, we’ll see the last of Venus for a while. Venus is always retrograde for 40 days and then will emerge as the “Morning Star” in the predawn sky. It sure has been fabulous watching bright Venus after sunset for the last few months. Enjoy viewing Venus now, because she will disappear into the glow of the sun soon. But we have almost-as-bright Jupiter that is now rising after sunset in the eastern sky. Each night Jupiter will be higher in the sky and we’ll be able to watch it moving along the ecliptic in the sky for the next few months. For your viewing pleasure, be sure to watch the Moon joining bright Jupiter on January 14^th and 15^th.

All Info via Susie Cox

May 2014 be a good year