Have you ever wondered how astrology can reveal the themes and events that shape your year? In my latest video, I dive into the practical application of Solar Return charts (“Birthday” charts) and annual Profections—two powerful tools for understanding the cycles influencing your plans, priorities, and personal growth. Using Martin Luther King Jr.'s iconic "I Have a Dream" year as a case study, I’ll show you how these techniques can highlight key turning points and help you navigate the year ahead with more clarity and focus.

A Solar Return Reading on or near your birthday is a helpful way to prepare for the year ahead. These personalized readings offer grounded, actionable insights into the key themes and opportunities you can expect, helping you make the most of your time and energy.

The water signs were in the background of these charts because they were “averse” to the Sun and Moon, the planets that connect us to our conscious understanding of the world. “Averse” means that the Sun and Moon last month were in signs of the chart where they did not have a direct line of sight to the water signs of Cancer and Pisces, where we had some problematic energy. While we may have felt many emotions, it may not have been easy to relate to this energy consciously—we may have acted out our feelings rather than experiencing them in a cathartic and meaningful way.

On February 12, we have a Full Moon in the third decan of Leo (“Leo III”). Uranus, the great “awakener,” is squaring the Full Moon, suggesting a sudden event that may force us to wrestle with complex questions that arise in its wake. We may face competing energies around winners and losers, action and non-action, insiders and outsiders, fantasy and reality. There is a lot of watery emotional energy in the background of the chart, suggesting we may feel confused and emotional in the wake of this tense energy.

The New Moon on January 29 falls in the first decan (10 degrees) of Aquarius. As I look at this chart, I see an invitation for all of us to take in loss and defeat. Not just a little bit. All the way. To feel what it is to have lost something that matters to us.

I also see the possibility that out of feeling this loss, we allow the Creative to enter our lives, to adapt to what is before us and think “outside of the box” for solutions to any difficulties we are experiencing in our lives and collectively. This is not the big lofty “I’m going to save the world” solution, rather the small, humble step that allows us to engage with life and offer a hand to someone in need.

On January 13^th, we have a “spicy” Full Moon in Cancer. If you look at the chart, you’ll see Mars, the god of war, alongside the full moon. The Moon thrives in Cancer; it rules this sign and embodies nurturing. Cancer, as a zodiac sign, prioritizes home, family, and community, and individuals with many Cancer placements tend to be very devoted to their family—that's the essence of it. Introducing Mars to the equation infuses a kind of Mama Bear energy, fiercely protective of loved ones. It can also trigger some conflicts within family dynamics.

An added flavor to this full moon suggests there may be an excess of mothering, nurturing, or simply too much of a good thing in certain ways. I mention this for a couple of reasons. First, the full moon takes place in the final “decan” of Cancer, and the tarot card linked with this decan is the Four of Cups.

The tarot 4s represent static energy, suggesting a lack of dynamism in the energy of their corresponding suit. In the 4 of Cups, a person sits beside a tree with three cups in front of him. Someone offers him a fourth cup, and he seems to think, "Whoa, I’ve got enough!" Sometimes, when we have planets in Cancer III, we experience too much of a good thing and feel overwhelmed by life’s abundance.

The chart’s connection between Venus and Jupiter also has a flavor of “too much.” Venus is in the second decan of Pisces (Pisces II), which corresponds to the Nine of Cups in the tarot deck. Here, we see a chubby, satisfied figure, also carrying a sense of abundance of pleasure.

Venus is also in a “square,” a tense aspect to Jupiter, the god of exuberance, expansion, and optimism. Usually, any connection between the two benefic planets is a good thing. Still, it can also indicate an (over)abundance (Jupiter) of pleasure (Venus), especially when the planets square each other.

Another fascinating aspect of the chart is that the moon’s nodes shift signs on the same day as the Full Moon. This is illustrated in the chart, where arrows indicate the transition of the nodes from Libra and Aries to Pisces and Virgo.

Some folks may have a significant event happen when the nodes shift signs. When I do client readings, I look back at charts for important events in their lives. Often, these events correspond to dates when the moon's nodes are at 29°. Since the nodes move backward relative to other planets, when they are at 29°, it indicates they have just entered a sign, bringing forth a new energy.

The moon’s nodes in a transit chart stay in a sign for about a year and a half, meaning we will experience eclipses in the Pisces and Virgo houses of our chart during that time. Eclipses and the shifting of nodes can introduce karmic corrections into our lives. They appear in those areas of our charts, prompting us to question whether we align with that energy. Is there something you're holding onto that may have outlived its usefulness in the Virgo house of your chart? Are you ready to allow a new experience into your life in the Pisces house of your chart?

That’s where an eclipse might come into play, urging you to release certain aspects of your life, potentially marking endings or heralding new beginnings—new things coming into your life.  

The New Moon occurs in the first decan (10 degrees) of Capricorn, also known as "Capricorn I.” The tarot card linked to this part of Capricorn is the 2 of Pentacles, referred to as "the Lord of Change.”

The card exhibits a playful, up-and-down quality. A man, possibly a juggler, hops from one foot to the other as he plays with two pentacles. Movement permeates the card; the infinity symbol surrounding the pentacles represents the continuous motion and change in life, embodying the endless ebb and flow of existence. In the background, ships navigate large and small waves, adapting to the shifting waters to stay afloat and reach their destination.

This month’s Full Moon may call us to make a decision in a moment of uncertainty. We may have to sit with the implications of being human—to experience the frustration of being confused and unsure of the best path but forced to make a choice nonetheless.

Neptune is squaring the Full Moon, suggesting we may be at a confusing crossroads. Neptune, or Poseidon in the Greek Pantheon, is the god of the seas, a planet that suggests oceanic feelings of merging with the universe. Neptune’s energy tends to melt and confuse things when he aspects other planets, bringing a fog of uncertainty.

Late Saturday or early Sunday, depending on where you live, we will have a New Moon in the sign of Sagittarius. New Moons are beginnings, moments where a seed is planted for the cycle of growth over the next 28 days of our lives. Any seed we plant now also has the potential to reverberate over the next 27 months as the larger rhythms of the moon cycle play out in the Sagittarius part of our charts.

The New Moon falls in the first decan of Sagittarius, the sign of “the Quest!” Sagittarius is a fire sign ruled by Jupiter, the god of optimism, hope, and big ideas.

The Full Moon in Taurus on November 15 may present us with a dilemma, a question to be answered, a decision to be made. There could be a sudden shift of events that forces us to make a choice between two karmic paths.

It asks us to reflect on our values and ideas, making choices that resonate with the deepest part of who we are. If we can engage with these questions out of a place of integrity and make choices that fit our sense of what is right for us, regardless of whether it fits with conventional wisdom, we may find we feel more stable, confident, and grounded in a sense of our own self-worth.

When Pluto, the god of the underworld, opposes Mars, we can experience profound dark energy around our will. Rather than hold this explosive energy, we may find ourselves acting it out unconsciously, fearing destruction (Pluto) of our own will (Mars); we may engage in power struggles with others.

When Mars goes retrograde (December 6-February 23), he will be opposite the Sun in the sky. He will rise in the night sky when the Sun sets, ready for battle. At this point, he will be as close to the Earth as he ever gets so that we will experience his complex energy more than usual. Given the current political situation in the United States, I don’t think any of us would be surprised if political tensions come to a head in the period after the election.

In our personal lives, the tensions will likely play out in our chart's Cancer/Leo houses. Breaking down the chart's energy a bit more, we see that Mars is at the head (“apex”) of a “T-square” to Moon/Chiron in Aries and the Sun in Libra. With a T-square, the energy of the opposition between the Sun and Moon is naturally channeled to Mars. In layman’s terms, we may experience a struggle between our wounds around self-assertion (Moon/Chiron in Aries) and our desire to be in harmony with others (Sun in Libra). Rather than resolve the tension of this conflict by being present to our wounds and our desire for harmony, we may be drawn to act out aggressively (Mars) around the people we are closest to (Cancer—family/home).

On October 2, we have a Solar Eclipse in Libra, an air sign ruled by Venus. Libra is about relationships between ourselves and others, diplomacy, balanced perspective, fairness, and justice. When we have a Solar Eclipse, the Sun appears to disappear from the sky, often bringing a sense of foreboding and interrupting ordinary events. Eclipse energy is strongest in the 2 weeks after the eclipse, but can be felt up to 6 months after the eclipse.

Symbolically, the Sun is associated with our vision of who we are; it can represent consciousness, spirit, father figures, and leaders. Solar eclipses can shift our ego structure—our sense of identity and who we are, opening new avenues for personal growth.

This is a South Node Eclipse, meaning it may ask us to let go of some outdated way of understanding ourselves, perhaps some way in which we identify with a particular idea or group. We all have many ways of identifying ourselves, from our roles in our families to our professions, religious affiliation or non-affiliation, political leanings, organizations we belong to, and so on.

Solar and Lunar eclipses happen at New and Full Moons, respectively, when the Earth lines up with the Sun and Moon in a way that they darken or seem to disappear from the sky.

The esoteric meaning of eclipses is mysterious and karmic; it suggests ideas, people, or things suddenly appearing or disappearing from or into our lives out of the deep, unknown realms of existence.

Eclipses can bring (1) sudden changes where we let go of people, things, or identities that no longer fit with who we are or (2) sudden boons in our lives—the appearance of new opportunities or relationships that satisfy our hidden longings.

On Labor Day, we have a New Moon in the sign of Virgo. Everything about this New Moon captures the bittersweet emotions we experience at this time of year when we feel the urge to hold on to the relaxed summer vibes while simultaneously feeling an itch to get serious—to “get back to work."

It falls in Virgo II, a part of Virgo that involves the rigorous hard work of creating things or processes that are both useful and give pleasure. It plants a seed for us to undertake a new project in whatever house Virgo falls in our chart. (I’ll chat more about this later in the post).

The energy in the days leading up to and after August 19’s Full Moon in Aquarius is frenetic and jarring. Frenetic because there is a lot of tense energy in the “mutable” signs in the chart and jarring because Uranus, the god of lightning strikes and “shit hitting out of the blue,” is in an exact square to the Full Moon.

The day before the Full Moon, Mercury, the messenger of the gods, is exactly conjunct the Sun (“cazimi” the Sun). When Mercury is in the heart of the Sun, we can receive sudden information or insight that brings clarity and awareness.

This morning Vice President Kamala Harris - the Democratic candidate for the President of the United States - named Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate. She could not have picked a better person for the job. Yes, I live in Minnesota and am a little biased! Still, the astrology for the two as a pair is outstanding. I’ll talk a bit more about that later. First, I’ll talk a bit about Tim Walz’s birth chart and the transit chart for this morning, explaining how you can see the event in the transit chart from today as it hits his birth chart.

On August 4, there is a New Moon in Leo, the sign of royalty, the sign of the Queen. Venus, the goddess of love, relationship, and beauty, is also in Leo that day, suggesting that this particular Leo season focuses on the divine feminine, the “Queen,” in all of us.

On July 21, we have a Full Moon at 29 Capricorn, the very last degree of the sign. Pluto, the god of the underworld (Hades in Greek mythology), is at 0 Aquarius, the next sign, so it is right next to this Full Moon. Pluto relates to our survival mechanisms, to how we use power to suppress and oppress ourselves or others out of a will to survive. When Pluto hits a planet in our chart, it can feel as if we, like Persephone in the Greek myth, have been dragged into the underworld—it can bring forth dark, hidden material for us to process. When we consciously work with Pluto material, we understand more about the “shadow” side of our personalities and are transformed.

July 5’s New Moon in Cancer has a warm, abundant feeling. It suggests those sweet summer evenings when you gather around the table outside and share a meal with friends or family—the evenings where the light seems to last forever, and you talk long after the meal has ended. This energy of this New Moon will be felt over the next two weeks. This sweet, loving energy is a lovely seed for creating a safe space to build connections with the people who are dearest to you.

What makes this New Moon so lovely? It is in its home sign, offering a deeper connection to our capacity to nurture and be nurtured by others. Venus, the goddess of beauty, love, and receptivity, is with the New Moon, adding warmth and connection to our interactions with family and friends.

June 21’s Full Moon in Capricorn follows the Summer Solstice, a turning point in our year, a moment of maximum light in the Northern Hemisphere and maximum darkness in the Southern Hemisphere. Capricorn is a “cardinal” earth sign, encouraging us to take action to build new structures in our lives.

This Full Moon, falling in Capricorn I, the first 10 degrees of the sign, invites us to use our instincts and intuition rather than our intellect in making these new beginnings; this is a time to set aside our thinking brain and take advantage of what we know in our bones. Capricorn I is associated with the Two of Pentacles Tarot Card in Western Astrology.