Welcome to one of the most powerful months of 2015! With two eclipses, one occurring at a Super Moon, Mercury turning retrograde, Saturn entering Sagittarius, Pluto stationing direct in Capricorn and Venus completing its retrograde journey through Leo, there’s something for everyone and not a dull moment!

‘Gently does it’ is probably the best advice for the coming month, not to be confused with ‘don’t do anything’, which is most definitely not! There’s much to be done throughout August, as we initiate action on some of our recent plans, remedying a lack of earth energy since mid May. August may begin to feel like something of a ‘back down to earth with a bump’ month!

Venus in Leo is flamboyant and demonstrative, passionate and radiant, but in the subtle shaping hands of Virgo she knows that the most reliable self-confidence is born of detailed self-knowledge: familiarity with the twists and turns of one’s psyche and their influence upon our well-being and relationships. When retrograde, Venus reveals the underbelly of those relationships...

The energy of the coming month is hard to pin down. Just when we feel we’ve ‘got’ what’s needed and know how to proceed it will slip through our fingers and we’ll be left wondering what just happened. By the end of July, we may well have come by the desired clarity, just not via the anticipated route!

The month ahead comes with a fluid and creative underlying energy, gentle yet powerful, bringing to mind deep currents beneath a still surface. It’s time to embrace our creativity whatever that means for us. We don’t have to be Picasso or Beethoven to do this. No ‘talent’ is needed, no standards to be met.

Mercury stationed retrograde at 1:44 am GMT on 19th May 2015, and remains in its own sign, Gemini, throughout its retrograde passage. Practically speaking, this is an inquisitive Mercury, seeking information and answers, reviewing events of the past three months, wondering about relationships and connections with others and generally taking stock and sorting through unfinished business. It efficiently clears the decks of outstanding matters, enabling positive progress in the months to come.

May 2015 raises the issue of relationship: with ourselves, each other and our environment both near and far. We simply cannot go it alone, is the basic message of this month, nor can we expect others to do it for us. It is time to take full responsibility for ourselves whilst simultaneously recognising that we do nothing in isolation.

Many people have been shaken awake, forced to confront themselves and their lives, the consequences of choices previously made and the impact of living a half-life in the shadows of possibility for so long. It has been a time of both trauma and ecstasy, challenge and liberation. The initiation into the Aquarian Age has well and truly begun.

This month’s astrology has the feel of Fresher’s Week at university, when arriving students are oriented to their new life. Choices abound and the air is heavy with potential and possibility. Excitement is everywhere, fuelled by a new-found freedom alongside anxiety, homesickness and sometimes a hefty dose of fear. We are those students and life the university.

Throughout March the vestiges of the past arise once more for our attention. This is a month of tying up loose ends, the completion of lengthy processes and the review of progress thus far. This is how the universe works. We are initiated into the new even as we then face once more the old.

You may be wondering what sign this New Moon is in and what’s a Black Moon? Answering the second question is easier than the first: a Black Moon is the second New Moon during the Sun’s journey through a single zodiac sign (known as a ‘solar month’). The answer to the first question is a little more complex...

February looks set to be one of the most powerful months of the year. The change demanded by the burgeoning Aquarian Age blows apart preconceptions and prejudices, challenges long held notions of right and wrong and upholds Truth with a capital ‘T’ in the face of half truths, deceptions and lies so cosy and familiar we barely know they’re there...

There is nowhere to hide as Mercury journeys retrograde in the coming weeks. Deceptions large and small will be revealed whether we like it or not, not to destroy those who perpetuate them (which we all do to some extent) but to provide a wake-up call...

This month we must look around with fresh eyes at those aspects of our lives we know best – be they physical possessions, thoughts, feelings or attachments – to establish which have outlived their usefulness...

This month begins with an opportunity to look after each other and recognise the vulnerability of our shared humanity. We all have our own personal battles to fight, our fears and anxieties, shame and grief. No one is immune to these fundamental challenges...

In November, Pluto aligns with Uranus and Chiron for a relationship which continues until February 2015. This alignment points a way through challenges and out the other side. It invites us to actively engage with any areas of struggle in our lives now and to do so with a wholehearted commitment to...

The first week of October plays out against the backdrop of a square between Mars and Chiron which reminds us that the imperative to heal comes hand in hand with the responsibility to do so not for our own personal gain but to ultimately bring the collective back into a state of balance...

After the intense pressure (both positive and negative) many have experienced during August, September 2014 comes as something of a relief! It offers a break of sorts during which we can catch our breath, take some time out and settle into our ‘new normal’.

The first week of August 2014 is characterized by a combination of sensitivity and inner drive which could turn us into something of a martyr if we let it, but come August 4^th, Neptune begins to lend a helping hand reminding us that sometimes the best progress is made when we take our foot off the accelerator and allow...

There do appear to be two astrological configurations which argue that December 21st, 2012 will be a nexus point or at least the beginning of a significant transition for humanity. The chart indicates that our consciousness will be in state of conflict. We will face many choices about our...

As I look forward, I (like the Maya and the Hopi long before me) feel change in the air. We all want to know what will happen in 2012, and the truth is that what will happen is already happening. The number of unusual astronomical events taking place in the next couple of years (all of which were known by the Maya centuries ago)...

The main thing to note is that transiting Pluto is located at the Ascendant point of the USA chart. Pluto is a planet which has an astrological significance of profound destruction and, in the wake of that chaos, potential for renewal and rebirth. The Ascendant is the point in the USA?s astrology chart that refers to the identity or personality of the country, its? public image, and the direction of its? soul growth.

by Eliza Bassett.

This article mentions the most demanding aspects over the next 12 months with a few of the trines tossed in. Most of the time, there are many other easy aspects with other planets that help mitigate these effects.