Is it in the stars?

People have begun to ask me a lot about astrology lately, especially with celestial events like Mercury in retrograde (though it has returned direct as of February 1st), the upcoming lunar eclipse on the full moon of February 9th, the uncommon phenomena of Venus entering retrograde from March 6th to April 17th and Saturn remaining in retrograde all the way to May 16th.

Allow me to begin by saying that I am no expert myself. What I know is largely from observation and reading. So, as I see it:

• Firstly, with Mercury fresh out of retrograde, we should all be finding it easier to communicate with one another again, and should find that answers, emails and computers all seem to be acting more 'normally' as compared to the past month.
• The upcoming lunar eclipse during a full moon can be seen in a few different ways, as a 'reset' or renewal of energies, as a time to reflect on the changes that have come into our lives, or else to re-evaluate recent decisions. Given that this eclipse is in feisty Leo, it would be a good time to examine our sense of self, as well as our expressions of self-love. It will most strongly effect the cardinal signs of Leo, Taurus, Scorpio and Aquarius, and will be one very emotional night.
  
• Next, with regards to Venus, I would say to slow down and not make any major decisions until that particular retrograde passes. It will be a time of emotional upheavals as we are forced to re-evaluate relationships and feelings.
• Lastly, until Saturn is out of retrograde, don't begin new projects - just re-evaluate those you have already begun and refine your goals.

Another item of interest is that we have (as of January 26th) entered the Chinese year of the Earth Ox. Perhaps not-so-coincidentally, Barack Obama is also born under the auspices of the Ox, too, and came into power just about then. Isn't that neat?!