There would be something amiss if the mayhem and murder sweeping the world were not reflected in astrology’s planetary picture, but at present the latter is strikingly accurate. At its centre is the conjunction of Saturn and Neptune, which rolls around every 36 years and makes its ‘perfection’ on February 20, after a year when the two planets have been close but not quite together. The conjunction takes place in the first degree of Aries, the beginning of the zodiac, and thereby is considered especially strong.
Then there is Pluto, a planet associated with destruction and transformation, still in the early phase of its 20-year transit of Aquarius, and last week joined Mars, God of War, just as Iran’s theocracy was butchering tens of thousands of its citizens, and the USA’s Immigration militia was terrorising Minneapolis. Welcome to the real Age of Aquarius – that Hair musical got it wrong.
Incomings are an Annular Solar Eclipse on 17 February and a total lunar eclipse on 3 March, while the wars in Ukraine and Sudan and elsewhere.
There isn’t much cheer from Chinese astrology. February 17 opens the year of the Fire Horse, which has a reputation for trouble – “Those are the babies they leave on the hillside,” joked a Chinese friend. The Chinese system uses five elements – Earth, Wood, Metal, Fire, Water – and 12 signs to form a 60-year cycle. Your astrologer claims no great knowledge of it but notes that the last Fire Horse year , 1966, brought China chaos and death with Mao’s Cultural Revolution. On the other hand, come some Fire Horse colleagues who are forceful but fun.
Happy New Year (again) to my readers.
Cosmic timetable
- The full Moon is on February 1st.
- The Sun is in Aquarius until the 18th when it moves into Pisces.
- The New Moon is an Annular Solar Eclipse on February 17th.
- Mercury is in Aquarius until it moves into Pisces on the 6th. It turns retrograde on the 26th.
- Venus is in Aquarius until the 10th when it moves into Pisces.
- Mars spends all month moving through Aquarius.
- Jupiter is retrograde in Cancer.
- Saturn is in Pisces until the 14th when it moves into Aries.
- Prometheus is moving forwards in Taurus.
- Neptune is in Aries. Pluto is in Aquarius
Aquarius and Aquarius rising
The full Moon which begins the month is unusually powerful, being opposite Pluto, a planet that is capable of dark extremes (see the introduction above). That doesn’t mean it’s getting to get spooky on you personally but it may well call into question at least one major relationship and whether you and a significant other want/need to call it a day. If it needs to happen, t’were best it was done quickly, to misquote the Bard.
Thanks in part to Pluto, Aquarians look commanding figures just now. You have Venus and its charm spells until the 10th, and Mars and its cutting edge into early March. One way or another you can likely get your way, but don’t count on it around the new Moon of the 17th, which is a partial solar eclipse, when it’s best to duck down for a day or three until the lights come back on. If that’s your birthday, you are in the business of change over the coming months.
The eclipse falls precisely square to Prometheus the planet often held to rule Aquarius. Whether that’s the case or not the disruptive Promethean spirit is strong this month as the planet turns from retrograde (‘station direct’ as the jargon goes). which favours the technocrats, space cadets and rebels among you. Let your freak flag fly.
Pisces and Pisces rising
Take a tip from your horoscope and proceed by degrees, a step at a time. Save big gestures until March, when you have a total lunar eclipse of the Moon opposite you (on the 3rd) which must be digested, as must the retrograde cycle of Mercury in your skies, which starts on 26 February and completes on 21 March, just after a new Moon in the Fishes on the 19th, which will allow you to relaunch.
Early February is good for you, nonetheless. Mercury arrives in the fishes on the 7th – good rack power – followed by Venus on the 10th – and since Venus is ‘exalted’ (i.e. extra awesome) in your sign, roll out all the charm, bling and fine food you can muster to impress your birthday season which begins super promptly on the 18th. With the Sun, Mercury and Venus in operation, you are in business. Do check your diary for criss-crossed arrangements.
Saturn finally leaves the Fishes on February 14, in time for you to own Valentines Day, and won’t be back your way for another 29 years. Don’t worry, it will find other ways to impose on you – its move into your cash zone doesn’t exactly speak of pennies from heaven, for example, though you remain under the protection of your ruler Jupiter, The big planet may be in retrograde, but it’s beautifully sited in fellow water sign Cancer. Enjoy.
Aries and Aries rising
As you have doubtless been informed, the arrival of both Neptune and Saturn in your skies and their conjunction on February 20 is momentous, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. This pair may signify great changes for the world, but in terms of individuals, they will be leaning on birthdays 20-22 March, who already had a visitation from the pair last year – June and July 2025 are a good comparison point. Saturn can bring either pressure (probably professional or concerns over property) or hard-won success – or both at the same time. Neptune accentuates good results and bad outcomes alike.
More immediate and informative for most Rams is the line-up of planets in your eleventh house (Aquarius), led by ruler Mars. Many Rams are happy to play Lone Ranger, but this stellium demands attention to your peer group, to the team, the gang. Here you will find support, commercial opportunity, perhaps even love. Much is in flux, with events supercharged by (often scary) Pluto and a solar eclipse on the 17th. You can sit back and watch events unfold should you choose, but far better to be an agent of change, primarily for yourself.
Taurus and Taurus rising
The full Moon on February 1st is there to tweak your thoughts in the direction of a domestic overhaul. Should you move the garden seat? From small adjustments mighty changes may arrive later in the year. Most of the action this month is at the other end of your horoscope, where you work and play in the public gaze. Being conciliatory at work is fine in the short term, but with Mars crossing the top of your ‘scope until early March, being waspish, and standing up to office bullies, is the way to handle yourself.
The solar eclipse on the 17th is also in your carer zone, so change is in the air .
Gradually, however, planets including your beloved Venus ruler, slip into a more social zone as the month progresses, a place where you can band with fellow travellers and be part of the collective. Mercury is going to be here for weeks on end, so the co-operative spirit should prevail.
As much may not suit all of you. Planet Prometheus, which has been in your sign for almost seven years, now moves into its final few months, activating birthdays at the end of your sign, say from 18 May. Promethean energy is fast, abrupt and occasionally shocking, as if you finally cannot wait a moment longer to change who you are or where you’re heading. Very un-Taurus like, but possibly just what’s needed.
Gemini and Gemini rising
Your horoscope is now moving right along and you may find it difficult to keep up. Led by your Mercury ruler, planets packed in Aquarius, a fellow air sign, are wildly in favour of travel (somewhere a little different would help!) and the exploration of ideas and people. As the Rolling Stones once sang, it’s time to scrape the shit right off your shoes. Almost all encounters are propitious, even difficult ones (perhaps especially those, since Venus is on the prowl. Helping you have problematic people and situations behind if the new Moon of the 17th, which is also a solar eclipse. Good moment for an excursion to dodge inclement weather, metaphorically speaking.
Planets crossing from Aquarius to Pisces activate your career path, especially ruler Mercury, which will spend nine weeks plying forwards and back across the roof of your ‘scope, turning retrograde on the 26th work accomplished before that counts double! What also benefits your career is the final move of Saturn into more hospitable territory on the 20th, signalling less confrontation, more co-operation.
Cancer and Cancer rising
It is, indeed, a rich man’s world, and with a stellium of planets and a solar eclipse in your zone of shared resources and debt, you can do worse than devote energy into ensuring good financial health. Note that this is more than just cash-in-hand; it’s also about the deal you have made with partners, with financial and institutions. This could be a preoccupying theme all month.
However, planets are also heading into fellow water sign Pisces, where ideas and experience count as much as hard currency for many people, and with a retrograde Mercury here from the 26th, and a total lunar eclipse looming in early March, travel and education are valuable commodities – a short course or skill acquisition could fit the bill. Planets in Pisces are also helped by their contact with Jupiter, still (hurrah) in your skies and ensuring positive results from big ideas. Hang on to that idea because the arrival of Saturn at the peak of your ‘scope on the 14th, opens a two-year transit when you will be pushed hard in your career. Early days but put down a marker.
Leo and Leo rising
On the first two days of the month a full Moon in your skies puts you in the limelight and also pulls you back down memory lane, albeit briefly. Opposite you is a formidable line up of planets in Aquarius, among them Pluto, which may be in ruthless mode for those of you born at the beginning of Leo, circa July 24-26. You may have to accept someone else’s decision or departure. There is a confrontational feel to the month, though Venus is here until the 6th to keep things sunny. Nonetheless, with Mars here and a daunting eclipse with your Sun ruler on the 17th, you are likely to feel on the back foot.
You can soften things up by exploring the hinterland of your personal-one relationships, which may involve a bit of discreet flirting to remind you that, yes, you still got it! And going over accounts to discover how much of the folding stuff you can afford to spend by way of retail therapy. Saturn, which has been in the ‘debt’ zone of your horoscope for a couple of years, finally moves on come the 14th and reminds you that the best things in life (or many of them, like learning) really are free. The Sun’s change of sign on the 18th has the same message. Pip pip!
Virgo and Virgo rising
This is the end of a long wait. For years, your opposite sign has never been empty. There has always been at least one planet there – always Neptune, embodying a dreamy but glum energy. Plus, for two and a half years you have always had Saturn in opposition, an aware but hard-nosed and glum energy. Neptune’s eleven-year presence is now over, and after 4 February so is Saturn’s stay.
This being a Piscean part of the year they will soon be replaced – by Venus from the 7th (touch of glamour to turn your head), Mercury (from the 10th- your ruler, calling for nine weeks of conversation with assorted chums and partners), the Sun (from the 18th, calling for a rest), and Mars (from 3 March, one or two people to annoy you).
Topping it all off in early March (the 3rd) is a total lunar eclipse in your own sign, whose meaning will need to be discerned by yourself; a change of persona, a vanishing act, a shake-down of partnership and more to be discussed next month) The point is you haven’t had such untainted relationships on your plate for a long time and in the last two years in particular there has been a strong element of compromise involved. So, savour all the different options currently coming down the turnpike.
Planets elsewhere will definitely be helping. In particular Jupiter in watery Cancer promises buoyancy in your social relations, while Prometheus may have a little sing early in March.
Libra and Libra rising
Under stars as propitious as these, you can set aside moments when you think Fate has its grip on you and shape your own destiny. The stars incline but they do not compel as the citizens of Rome used to tell themselves (“Astra inclinant, sed non obligant “). Your ever fair ruler Venus begins the month alongside Mercury, Mars, the Sun (and Pluto) in fellow air sign Aquarius. Turn up the charmometer to eleven and get to work on your social and creative lives – you won’t be called out if you idle, but best to paint your masterpiece while Sun and Moon shines – the full Moon of the 1st is a jolly case in point.
Planets move on as the month progresses, but Mars remains onside to keep things sparky and competitive (be a winner!). You have a new Moon cum solar eclipse on the 17th which allows you to reset a few dials in your personal life (or pull a vanishing act if desperate). The arrival of Saturn in opposition from the 14th has been discussed before (“more work, less reward”), but together with Neptune can deliver an enchanting partnership/love affair. The season of Aries, starting next month, should provide some answers.
Scorpio and Scorpio rising
All quiet on the home front? Or is Chateau Scorpio in need of a make-over or even (gulp) a complete relocation? The question is raised forcibly by Februarys’ stars, where Pluto (definitely not your ruler btw!) leads a stellium of planets at the root of your ‘scope, the locus of home, family and hearthside matters. Also here is Mars (traditionally and still your totem planet) and on the 17th an Annular solar eclipse, to add a feeling of unsettlement.
However, if domestic arrangements are sound there are other, less alarming developments in your horoscope. Planets moving on from Aquarius and into Pisces – a fellow water sign – are congenial and, in the case of Venus (from the 6th) intensely romantic, a theme that will be repeated early in March when Mars is also here. At the least nine weeks of Mercury shuttling back and forth here guarantees the liveliest of social lives (or a tough but rewarding spell at the future prize-winning screenplay).
All in all, not too shabby, especially given Jupiter in the third water sign is shining on, and reminding you to book a holiday. The only maverick in play is Prometheus, which is reawakened in opposition and moving through the last degree of your opposite sign Taurus. For birthdays 19-21 November in particular, this has the capacity to spark a sudden change of mind or the arrival of someone to knock off your cotton socks.
Sagittarius and Sagittarius rising
Stay busy, stay focused, keep an eye on the calendar, because the cosmic currents, if we can call them that, are in major flux this month and next. A pack of planets in airy Aquarius during the first half of February works in favour of a fire sign like your own. The wheels of commerce, and of social delight, look well oiled.
Much of the action revolves around home and hearth, family, or your domestic setup. Venus moving in here on the 78th promises harmony and understanding, but terms and conditions apply, as a retrograde Mercury may make clear from the 26th onwards. Homework and paperwork must be done – and since Saturn is now leaving your home zone after an epic two years of uncertainty, everything should be in order.
The new position of Saturn (and Neptune) concerns matters of the heart and issues of commitment, but these are early days and during the weeks and months to come this, the zone of romance, is under constant emphasis to tune those magical heart strings.
The solar eclipse at the new Moon of 17 February should keep your social circle revolving and with a lunar eclipse imminent high in your chart next month, maintain your professional profile.
Capricorn and Capricorn rising
February begins with a stellium of planets in your cash zone, reminding us of your sign’s acumen with money, but also begging the question, what’s it all for, that stack of ingots and packs of dollars? Fortunately, your horoscope is explicit in its reply. With an exalted Venus moving into your solar third house on the 7th, it’s there to spread joy among friends and relatives (especially out of favour siblings). The zone of romance is also lit up by an activated Prometheus, should you need funds for an unexpected liaison.
Then there is Jupiter, the money planet par excellence, in your partnerships zone, suggesting that if you are temporarily down to bare bones, your main squeeze is there to rescue you. Spanning two eclipses – a partial solar eclipse on 17 February and a total lunar eclipse on 3 March, are part of the financial equation, and being eclipses, slightly scary. Better put away a nest egg in case, especially as your ruling planet, Saturn, moves to the root of you chart on the 14th – zone of home and hearth – suggesting the upkeep on Capricorn Towers isn’t about to drop.
Astrology Consultations from Pam Carruthers
Readers often ask if I give personal readings. I don’t. My primary jobs remain journalist and writer. By contrast, Pam Carruthers, webmaster, fellow astrologer and long time friend, is a professional astrologer who uses both western and vedic astrology for individual clients.
Pam, who is now based in Eastbourne in the UK, has an international clientele. She is a gifted astrologer and teacher and offers Astrology Life Coaching based on your birth chart.
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Planets Within Astrology Course starting February 18th with Pam
Know Thyself- A Journey of Self Discovery. Learning keeps you young! This 10 week Planets Within Online Astrology Course is an in-depth journey through your inner archetypes – the planets – with guided meditations.
This course is for beginners and those who wish to deepen their understanding.
It’s designed for a small group, maximum 6 students for personal attention. Pam has been running this Planets Within Course for over 20 years. The intention of this astrology course is to encourage and inspire you on your spiritual journey.
Working with your personal birth chart, in a small group you’ll creatively explore:
- The astronomy of planets and the signs of the zodiac they rule
- The language of the Universe ~ key words and images
- Key myths of each planet and their relative influence in our lives
- The movies that represent each planet
- Guided meditation to discover what each planet means for you. Participants love these meditations!
Find out more. Planets Within Astrology Course Starts Feb 18th