Someone in my life is lying to me at the moment- and no, before you make assumptions, it’s not my husband.

You’d think that all of my Pisces and Neptune would have a habit of not normally noticing these things. Indeed, often I don’t- notice, that is- except for when it’s someone I’m close to… then my instincts are finely tuned. And this person has done it before to me- so this time my instincts are screaming at me.

Sure I have a habit of forgiving people who do crap like this, but lying, especially when it is needless (as it is in this instance) sends me into a tail spin. And I hate people treating me as if I’m stupid- especially people who should know better.

So I did what I usually do in these circumstances- I gathered my evidence, and then I cast a horary.

Generally speaking, in a question of trust, we look at the nature of the significator and any receptions between that and the querent. The ruler of the significator (Lord 11^th house) Mercury, is in a mutable, double bodied sign, Pisces.

When ill dignified, Mercury is described as a liar, a gossip and a cheat. Mercury is about as badly dignified as it’s possible to be. Ouch.

Without going into too much more detail (this isn’t a “how to” post), indications are that my friend is not being honest with me- although I have no idea why.

The thing is, I’ve felt that this friendship has been slipping away lately, and I have no idea how to fight for it, or indeed if I should. It hurts…a lot. It’s almost like our time is done. I don’t want this to be the case, I hope I’m wrong, but it’s what I’m feeling- and, as I said, it hurts.

This Mercury Retrograde has brought some amazing moments of emotional and creative clarity. It’s also brought the realisation that it’s time to let go of some other stuff- other attachments and dreams that simply no longer do me any good.  I’m not going into the specifics of that here.

The thing is, under the influence of Pisces and Neptune, the letting go is just that, a slipping away rather than a wrenching. Similar to letting go of balloons and watching them soar into the sky, out of grasp.

With Saturn in Scorpio and trine my Pisces planets, the elimination process seems somehow more gentle. That doesn’t make it any less painful, because it’s not- and on this occasion, it’s made worse by dishonesty.

As for those other things I’ve let go of? They’ve gone. I watched them as I let them go- until they were just specks in the sky and then…nothing.

So, 2012 has gone, and, with Mercury now in achievement focused Capricorn, it’s time to look at the stats for the year that was and do some scheduling and planning for the year ahead.

In 12 months, over 196,000 real visitors came to this site. That excludes spammers, bots and people who read the posts directly from an RSS feed. That’s a lot of people.

Numbers went down for a few months from March 2012 when some low-life bullock-less cyber whatever decided it would be really fun to hack and stalk my site- I assume because they didn’t have the smarts to get into anything that really mattered. In any case, this site spent a great deal of the next couple of months in pretty poor health, with substantially compromised up time. I’m sure the person/s responsible were doing little fist pumps at their success.

In any case, under a new web host and with improved security measures, numbers are now finally consistently higher on average than they were a year ago. Most frustrating.

What did you come in to read?

In order of ranking, the following were the most sought after search terms:

1. Venus in Scorpio man
2. Venus in Scorpio woman
3. Mars in Pisces woman
4. Venus in Pisces woman
5. Mars in Aries woman

Just out of the top 5 was “how to annoy an Aries man…”

Sadly, there are still a lot of searches for things like:

“how to keep a Sagittarius man”

“how to keep my Aries man”

“are some Aries men boring”

and

“Taurus man, cheat.”

Yes…seriously…Hmmmm. Sometimes I’d love to reach through the computer and…well, enough of that…

Sadly, it’s possible for members of either sex in any zodiac sign to cheat. Sadly it’s possible for individuals in any zodiac sign to be boring. Sadly also, many people still want to capture and pop into captivity species that can be domesticated, but are at their best and most fascinating when given room to move. Rather than teaching you how to “keep” one of these specimens, hopefully the relevant post helped with understanding what makes them (and you) tick. No judgement though…

The most unusual search term, well that I took note of anyway, and can post here (I am a lady and this is a PG rated site, after all) was “are oak trees good at compartmentalising?” Apparently I used all the words in a single post once.

This year I have an overdue face-lift planned for the site- with a magazine style layout that should help you navigate around a little more. I’ll also do a bit of work on my logo and brand management.

I’m also planning the publication of the first in what should be a series of ebooks designed to help you navigate outer planet transits…I get asked about that a lot too…and, if I can coordinate time zones, web based beginners astrology classes and seminars.

I have a busy year planned- both in terms of my astro business and non astro writing- and would love it it if you’re all along for the ride.

New Years Eve is usually a time for looking back- that whole auld lang syne thing.

It is about taking stock of what has been achieved over the year, what hasn’t been achieved, what you’ve done, what you’ve not done. Who has come into your life, who has gone out of your life, who has come back into your life. Then there are the opportunities-the ones you’ve taken, the ones you’ve passed on, the ones you’ve pretended not to notice and the ones that slipped right on under the radar.

I’d review the year, but I don’t really know where to start- the edited highlights are in this post.

I launched my personal blog and anyways, and the companion site to the book I’m working on are your planets keeping you fat? I also managed an article on the subject for Australia’s Good Health magazine and something in this years Wellbeing Astrology Guide on creativity by the stars.

Aside from that I completed the 1^st draft of 2 chick lit novels- with the 1^st of those about to go through another re-write in response to my editors suggestions, and the 2^nd tucked away for a few months before the re-writes begin.

I also completed the draft for my astro book. Re-writes for that will commence in February.

In October I went back to paid work- just a few days a week- in a Business Manager role for a new retail enterprise. I’m doing their social media, liaising with stylists, designers, merchandisers and marketers. I’m learning a lot.

2012 had its disappointments, and its sadness. I intend leaving those where they belongs- in 2012- and concentrate instead on remembering those who are no longer in my life with gratitude.

2012 also brought with it health issues. I intend leaving these also where they belong.

I don’t know what 2013 will bring, but as I’m writing this, the song in my head is Katy Perrys’ Firework. There’s a spark that is ready to be ignited. Maybe those doors are closed so the perfect one can be opened.

I’m not setting any resolutions, I’m not setting goals. I am, however, setting intentions.

• I intend to get a publishing deal (or two).
• I intend publishing my first e book.
• I intend getting my health back.
• I intend treating myself better.
• I intend living with more passion.
• I intend pushing my boundaries.
• I intend working with (rather than against) the more challenging aspects in my chart
• I intend listening to the promise of my chart
• I intend to still look for the sunshine through the shit
• I intend to still believe that dreams can come true
• I intend to finish painting the timber trims.

Sure New Years Eve is a time for setting resolutions, or goals. Most of us have made a declaration at midnight NYE along the lines of what we are giving up, what we are going to lose. What about this year looking forward? What about this year thinking about what there is to gain? What about this year being excited by our resolutions rather than resigned to them?

At midnight tomorrow in Sydney the Moon will be midway through Leo. Did someone say party? For me though, the big story is the conjunction between the Sun and Pluto. Perhaps in 2013, you really can move mountains.

In any case, no matter what declarations or resolutions come out of your mouth at midnight tonight, make sure they are forward focused, represent who you are, your creativity, your ambition and your integrity. Use what you have learned to turn your ideals into reality. No excuses, no regrets- they don’t work. No regrets, they only hurt. Come tomorrow they will seem so yesterday…OMG I am quoting both Robbie Williams and Hilary Duff in the same post…and it’s way too early for the first of those New Years Eves drinkies.

Baby, you’re a firework…

See you in 2013- thanks for helping make 2012 so memorable!

It’s early Christmas morning here in Australia.

I’m sitting here having a cuppa and a shortbread while I wait for Miss T to wake. Outside the breeze is getting up, so I’m hoping it’s the southerly change coming through to cool things off.

For those of us here in Oz, the Taurus Moon will be helping us indulge our appetites and appreciate what’s under the Christmas tree- at least until after the plum pudding’s been eaten. For those of you in the Northern hemisphere, most of you will be starting Christmas Day under a social Gemini Moon.

If you want to know what our Christmas Day looks like, check out this link Twas the Night Before Christmas.

To all my readers- both regulars and occasional- thank you for coming by. Regardless of your faith or how you celebrate this time of the year, I wish you all possible peace, love and light- both now and into 2013.

So I haven’t posted much here…I know. There’s a lot of things I’ve been too busy for lately. I have, however, been posting daily on the Facebook page, and Twitter, so if you aren’t already, sign up to get the latest!

There’s lots that’s been happening in my non astro life, I blog most of that over at and anyways. This week has had a real Christmassy feel with an interview with Snowy the white nosed reindeer and a few other bits and pieces about Christmas.

So, just after 10pm tonight (Sydney time) we have the Sun move into Capricorn and the summer solstice for those of us here in the southern hemisphere, and of course the winter solstice for those of you in the north.

I haven’t blogged much about Capricorn over the years, but here’s a link to an old post.

Notice I haven’t said anything about the world ending? In fact, someone asked me the other day why I didn’t blog anything about the Newtown shootings or why I “look for the sunshine through the shit” transits.

The answer is simple. There’s enough bad news out there- and enough sources for you to get bad news from. It’s not that I ignore it, or that I don’t dwell on the horror the same as we all do, it’s that life can be crap and I’m a Pisces and very Jupiterian and Neptunian, so when you read me that’s pretty well what you’re reading. If you’re interested in the really horrible news, there’s plenty of other places to get it from- and plenty of other much more amazing writers than I. I generally feel as if I can’t do it proper justice.

Which leads me to another point- I rarely look at the astrology in hindsight of a particular world or national event (although sometimes I look at in in advance if I can be faffed). Again it’s not that I don’t think the astrology of these events is important- on the contrary, we learn a lot through hindsight astrology. I’m a first house girl, so mainly interested in what’s happening to me. That’s why this week I’ll be posting something on Uranus/Moon transits- because one of my close friends has Uranus/Moon conjunction coming up- and as one who’s been there…recently…as I said- it’s all about me.

I don’t do mundane or world event astrology- again there are plenty of amazing astrologers who do.

It’s also how I do my readings. I don’t actively look for difficult transits, I look for opportunities and themes. I look for proactive ways of intentionally dealing with the things that you can deal with. I look for ways to understand why you react as you do. You may not be able to control what’s happening, but self-knowledge can sometimes help you deal with it a little better.

When I do a reading for a client I always give both sides of the transit- the actual impact will be somewhere within a range.

Often that is dependent on what your relationship is with that planet natally. I know that I will have a tougher time of a Saturn transit than someone who deals with Saturn contacts in their everyday life. In the same vein, I will have a slightly easier time of Uranus transits because I deal with Uranus every day.

For this reason, I would urge people to read descriptions of the transits with their own chart in view and with an idea of the big picture or theme of all the transits and progressions that are taking place. If you have a lot going on, it might be worth doing the colour coding thing I describe below.

When I look at my own chart- something I don’t do that often, I look for themes rather than specific transits.

Essentially each year I look at:

• What the progressed* Moon is doing- what sign and house is it in. I also look at what “terms”** it’s in- this will give me an idea of the flavour of it and a clear idea of where my emotional energy is centred. As an example, my Progressed Moon is currently at 4 Sagittarius in the 9^th house. The first 12 degrees of Sag are in the terms of Jupiter. No wonder I’m hankering after overseas travel and a publishing contract.
• I look at whether any personal planet will be changing signs or houses by progression
• I look at the themes of the Solar Return- and any other major returns during the year.
• I look at any major transits being made by the big 4- Pluto, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn. One year I went as far as colour coding a calendar just to see where the overlaps were. I can’t be faffed doing it again, but that year it really illustrated what was going on. By memory I had Pluto still hanging around squaring my Moon, a heap of Uranus conjunctions and Saturn oppositions, plus the mid life Neptune square and Uranus opposition… That was an interesting year.

* Progressions, or secondary progressions are a traditional method of predition- and one that I find accurately sums up the central themes of the time.

**Each of the traditional planets has a little chunk of power in each sign, so any planet falling within those degrees may be said to be “in the terms of that planet” eg the Moon at 4 Sagittarius is said to be in the terms of Jupiter. There are slight differences between the “terms” used by Ptolemy (the Ptolemaic terms) and those used by the Egyptians. I tend to use the Egyptian terms. This is a traditional technique, so it you are interested, google it.