From all accounts from my  friends and associates, the Year of the Horse ,

noted to sometimes be fractious and unpredictable,was true to its reputation.

Not without blessings and opportunities,but difficult and tumultuous all the same.

This new year of the sweet artistic  sheep ( also referred to as goat in more traditional Chinese

astrology ) promises to be mellower and a little more relaxing for us all. For a fantastic in depth look

at each Chinese year sign’s forecast for 2015 check out Shelly Wu’s site at this link:

http://www.chineseastrology.com/2015-your-year-ahead.html

In the meantime heres to  the prospect  of a little more peace in the coming year! BB!

In ancient times the planet Saturn was called “the Great Malefic” , in other words our “curse’, causing people to fear and resist its influence.

Modern Astrologers now  view it as symbolic of  our lessons to be learned, but also the restrictions in our life that often force us to experience and “get” the lessons. Hence its bad reputation!

But I have found from my own personal experience and observing charts of numerous people for over  40 years, that Saturn is a teacher, a gift and a liberator if we work with and most importantly understand its purpose.

Saturn is the crucial point of a chart that tells us what the soul has to learn /experience in this incarnation in order to progress to the next level of awareness .It represents our essential structures and the need to reshape those structures for the purpose of soul growth and development . It is the key to our  evolution , and  in the process becomes a lock that holds us in place  to prevent  us from avoiding those necessary  lessons /experiences, but eventually becomes the doorway to a new existence if we can step through it.

The sign that Saturn falls in within the natal chart gives us  a clue to the character/ theme of the lesson. Each sign has a spectrum of expression much as a color will exhibit a variety of hues yet still remain the same color. There are also  the many states of evolution of each sign, from the least evolved to the ideal, and everything in between. Ive seen in individual’s charts that throughout their lives  many aspects of the Saturn sign will often manifest, as opposed to just one theme.

For example in the sign of Cancer ,( home , family, the Mother), it may show a need to be a Mother ,or  one’s Mother being a significant teacher in one’s life. But it can also, depending on how it is aspected,  show restrictions related to the Mother energy , in the form  of  lack of Mothering, absence of  Mother, etc, all this is deeply ingraining the importance of the Mother energy, via the ‘lack.’ This is part of the ‘locked door’ where the native experiences the restriction ( lack ) of Saturn in order to understand the importance of the lesson. ..  In this case the importance of family/emotional  foundation , of nurturing and caregiving and creating life.

In the sign of Scorpio, sign of desire and creative life force ( power) there could be reoccurring power issues that come up in ones life, for example . Or lack of power, to bring home the  importance of right use of power, lots of sexual experiences or  lack of – periods of celibacy to allow a restructuring reorienting of the desire nature. Naturally as humans we perceive this lack as a kind of punishment , but its really for the purpose of contemplation of a new way of being. The house placement further shows us what arena of ones life this will most affect- career, relationship , sense of self etc.

Saturn shows us where we are stuck but it also offers a new paradigm  to move into, signified by the most evolved expression of the astrological sign in which it is found in the natal chart. The key is to learn embrace and incorporate the  ideal qualities of that sign,  into our lives , and when we  have accomplished the lesson  it then  becomes the gift ,  and  the Door.

It seems that every year, right at Candlemas/Imbolc my Ocotillos sprout their bright green leaves as if on cue. It always moves me, as a reminder of Brighid’s  healing green mantle spreading over the earth. In the desert green is rare and precious and literally symbolizes new life , as does the season.
It is the promise of spring around the corner,of faith and hope for the new cycle of the year, and the power of renewal that the green energy brings.
I find myself thinking how can this cycle be different, how can I approach old patterns in new ways and truly make this a new beginning?

Many of us hope that if we keep on doing the same things in the same way life will eventually change around us. But what is most difficult is to actually change ourselves from within, our inner patterns/ programming to create the changes without in our world.
When I was very young I had a teacher and no matter what I said about my wanting to change circumstances in my life he would say “change yourself”.
” I would say no, no you dont understand there’s this and that going on” and he would just repeat ” change yourself -that is the only power that you truly   have.”
Although frustrated at the time at his answer, over the years Ive seen the wisdom of his words. So at this time in the blessed energy of new life and new beginnings I plant intentions for positive change in my psyche, waiting for spring.