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The global astrological outlook for 2018 is mixed, but as you’ll find in Your Power Stars for 2018, each month holds gems for all of us.

Let’s start with Pluto. The planet of profound and irrevocable transformation entered Capricorn in 2008. Capricorn is the sign of structure, power, the institutions of government and business. Pluto’s entrance into Capricorn brought our first African president, the closest thing this country had to universal health care, laws passed to prevent another financial meltdown, increased evidence of global warning, the #metoo movement, foreign meddling in our election and a serious threat to democracy in trump.

Pluto is bringing us into a period of rapid transformation that is similar to the planet’s last visit to Capricorn between 1762 and 1778. The American revolution, when the 13 colonies fought for independence from Britain,   was from 1765-1783, and in 1776, our democracy was born. Now we’re fighting to keep those same individual freedoms.

As one astrologer put it, “we’re in the midst of a global transformation that will ultimately lead to mankind’s success or failure.”

Uranus is the planet of sudden, irrevocable change, rebellion, revolution, innovation, individuality. It also rules things like earthquakes. On the day it entered Aries, March 11, 2011, there was a 9.0 earthquake in Japan. The shaking went on for six minutes and triggered a tsunami 50 feet high. The tsunami caused several nuclear reactors to melt down, the evacuation of 400,000 people, and put 32 million people at risk for radiation exposure.

Welcome to Uranus in Aries. To be fair, during these 7 years, there have been enormous advancements in science and technology. In 2011, for instance, the iphone was only 4 years old, but look at the advancements made with just this technology in the last 7 years and the hundreds of thousands of apps that now exist.

Between May 15, 2018 and November 7, 2018, Uranus transits Taurus, then retrogrades back into Aries until March 5, 2019, when it enters Taurus again and stays there for 7 years. Look at your natal chart for where Taurus is; that house and area of your life will be prone to sudden changes that seem to come out of nowhere; flashes of insight and brilliance; and a focus on pragmatism.

On a global scale, inventions will be streamlined for commercial use, driverless cars may proliferate, and who knows, we may even make it to Mars! The last time Uranus transited Taurus,  the first dishwasher was patented, the first manned glider was created, and Isaac Singer invented the sewing machine.

Saturn. This planet rules our physical reality, responsibility, discipline, structure, karma, consequences. On December 20, 2017 it left Sagittarius, where it had been since December 23, 2014, and entered Capricorn, where it’ll be until March 22, 2020. There’s a brief period between March 21 and July 1, 2020 when Saturn enters Aquarius, but then it retrogrades again and continues its journey thru Capricorn.

It’s important to note that Saturn functions well in Capricorn because it rules that sign.

Historically, look back to the Great Depression. It started on October 29, 1929 with Saturn at 26 degrees Sagittarius. But Saturn had visited Capricorn briefly from March 15, 1929 to May 4, 1929, and returned to Capricorn a month after the depression had begun and stayed there until 1932.

In 1931, a European banking crisis was precipitated by the bankruptcy of a German bank, which prompted the closure of all German banks. This resulted in the unemployment of 4 million Germans, a financial collapse that helped Hitler rise to power. There are some eerie parallels between those events and what’s unfolding now in this country.

For you personally, look back to the period from Feb 14, 1988 to June 10, 1988 and from Nov 12, 1988 to Feb 7, 1991, the last times Saturn was in Capricorn. What was going on in your life at that time? Some of the same patterns may be repeated.

For anyone born during that period, you’ll be experiencing your first Saturn return – it happens 3 times if we live to be 90. These returns usually coincide with major life events- a move, marriage, career start, change jobs, get married or divorced, start families. The first one is often the most challenging.

The second return, between the ages of 58-60, is supposed to be rewarding but that also depends on how you’ve lived up until then. For actor Kevin Spacey, 58, his second Saturn return revealed his pattern of sexual harassment that went back decades and basically ended his career.

For a lot of Saturn’s journey through Capricorn, events that unfold will culminate on or around January 12, 2020, when transiting Saturn and Pluto reach an exact conjunction. In other words, very close to the inauguration date of the next president.

Jupiter represents luck, opportunity, expansion, serendipity. Its transits indicate where we can grow – or where we tend to go too far. While it’s in Scorpio, the most secretive sign, Jupiter will expose things that are hidden and do so in a big way. Jupiter entered Scorpio on October 10, 2017 and stays there until November 8 , 2018. The last time Jupiter was in Scorpio was between late October 2005 and late November 2006. Here’s a quick look at the kinds of things that were exposed:

-That the National Security Agency (NSA) had been intercepting Americans’ phone calls and Internet communications.

-That ATT was cooperating with the illegal surveillance. It installed a fiber optic splitter at its facility at 611 Folsom Street in San Francisco that made copies of all emails web browsing and other Internet traffic to and from AT&T customers and provided those copies to the NSA. This copying includes both domestic and international Internet activities of AT&T customers. In other words, the entire country had been wiretapped.

The biggest sex scandal during Jupiter’s last transit of Scorpio involved Congressman Mark Foley and his instant messages with teenage congressional pages. Other scandals involved ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Louisiana Democratic representative William Jefferson, Randy “Duke” Cunningham, Tom DeLay and Bob Ney.

On October 5, 2017, 5 days before Jupiter entered Scorpio, the Harvey Weinstein story broke. Five days after Jupiter entered Scorpio, the #metoo hash tag was born and became a movement that exposed sexual harassment in a number of industries and institutions. From Hollywood to private corporations and into the halls of Congress, these stories have been breaking continually.

Neptune has been in Pisces, a sign it rules, since early April 2011 and will be there until 2025. Its cycles last 14 years. Neptune rules dreams, illusions, imagination, intuition, spirituality, escapism, the sea, and oil. The first oils wells were drilled in Pennsylvania in 1859, when Neptune was last in Pisces. With the planet in Pisces once again, we urgently need clean fuel.

During this transit, Neptune has made sure that our entertainment – escapism – has become edgier, stranger, more surreal, almost as if the boundary between fantasy and reality is vanishing. More information is emerging about UFOs and the government’s investigations into the phenomenon. Will 2018 become the year of disclosure?

One of the things we’ve been learning and will continue to realize through Neptune is a quantum truth – what affects one, affects all. We are all connected. We ARE the world. Let’s never forget that.