November 8 marks the Moon’s North and South Nodes changing signs. The north node will enter Cancer, and the south node Capricorn, both for 18 months (to May 5, 2020). I have long used the nodes instead of eclipses (which are terrible prognostication tools). The nodes tend to indicate “karma,” or payback for good or bad deeds in the past. I suspect the nodes of any planet (or the moon) give a second level, a spiritual view. They can also influence you to display either the best (north) side of your personality, or the worst (south node).
YOUR NEW 18-MONTH KARMIC PHASE:
ARIES: March 21-April 19
This karmic phase highlights your ambitions versus your security drives. The unusual truth is: security wins, while ambition will meet inexplicable headwinds from November 8/18 to May 5/20. This period urges you to embrace humility and reject pride (which might whisper temptingly). Your luck (not karmic) cycle deeply favours higher learning, international travel, and legal solutions. One of these might be a great focus if you take a sabbatical or time off.
Pulling back from career can actually bring bigger rewards than staying involved. E.g., you might attend school and qualify for a better career position; or your travels can bring you the wisdom to succeed more quickly. You might “end” a career, or take a year off, then find that those home renovations, or the purchase of an empty lot, brings two or more times your annual salary when you sell it.
This karmic phase is NOT a good time to change careers, no matter how suffocated or restricted you might feel in your present position. (Your career is presently under negative influences — only to May 2020. But if you start a new career or business now, or merely switch employers, that new situation will always be negative.) Don’t launch a new business. (Especially if you need the aid of powerful people — they will delay and delay — or worse.) If you demand a promotion, seek recognition, or push your pet project, those in charge might resent your pushiness — and push back.
All this has little effect on pure work or employment — these remain strong and fortunate (as long as you don’t alienate higher-ups by insisting on a prestigious job).
You’ll experience smooth and pleasant progress if you opt for humility, seek quietude, and pursue family, nature, security, domesticity. Nurture your family. Garden. Build a house. Owning ten apartments is better than being a middle manager with your name in gold. Maybe most important, these 18 months give you a clear, healthy look at your life thus far, and let you relax enough to contemplate where you want to go in life. Two most important things: direction and energy. You can decide on the former, and build up the latter.
TAURUS April 20-May 20
From Nov. 8/18 to May 5/20, Taurus, stick to the facts, notice details, buy hand tools, travel locally, be curious, talk and be willing to waste a little time in the niceties of life. (You’re at the beginning of a seven-year period of friendliness and socializing, which in turn will aid your ambitions. So present chatter is actually good training, a good entry to this social-ambitious time.)
Forget big, profound ideas (they’re probably slightly askew) and turn away from international travel/affairs, religion/philosophy, and higher education. These will disappoint you. Stay far away from legal disputes — your lawyer will milk you while giving little help. Paperwork, communications, errands, reports, newspapers and pamphlets, night school or short courses — these favour you, as do facts, figures, and anecdotal evidence.
Much of your good fortune, at least until Dec. 2019, will come from drilling down deep, researching, procreation, investments and financial actions, life style changes, medical procedures. Most of these benefit from “staying local” and would be difficult while travelling around the world. (For good luck, think practical, deep, finances, sex; for good karma, think friendly, chatty.) Now, newspapers/TV/radio are better than books, stories better than novels. It will be better to accept a casual, verbal understanding than to design and sign a lawyer-drawn contract.
If you stay light intellectually/personally, and heavy in investments, sex, curiosity and discovery, you’ll have a great 18 months!
GEMINI: May 21-June 20
Gemini, the 18 months ahead (Nov. 8/18 to May 2020) will tempt you to invest, to “buy and hold” in the stock market, to chase deep sex and intimacy and to make large, life-affecting changes and commitments in finances, debt, family money. Generally, to dig deep and approach life as a mystery. WRONG! These “paths” lead straight to disappointment and/or a dead-end. Here’s another list of things/activities to avoid: investigation, crime, detective work, mortgaging your future, extramarital affairs, depth psychology, therapy, hypnotism, occultism, surgery, mutual or family finances, large debts, inheritances, estate and wills, and pregnancy. A long list of “don’ts!”
But there’s another list, of good actions, growth, and pleasing, smooth results: buying/selling, day-trading (as opposed to “buy and hold”), trading or selling anything (stocks, bonds, lumber, fabric, kitchen sinks), earning an income and buying income investments such as income trusts, preferred or dividend stocks — “cash cows”.
It’s a good time to buy items that will depreciate, such as a car or computer. Rote learning and memory work will go well. Though you should avoid deep, meaningful (and perhaps extra-marital) sex, this karmic influence favours casual, light sex, even with your spouse. Pleasurable, sunny-day sex, good; deep, “I want to know your soul” sex, bad.
Flow with life rather than attempting to transform yourself or others. Accept surface appearances rather than suspecting there’s more, hidden — there isn’t, at least not now. Remember, you are in a hugely lucky year (to Dec. 2019) for relationships; if you treat these with ordinary good will, rather than deep motives, you’ll succeed!
CANCER: June 21-July 22
It might have been a long time coming, but Nov. 8/18 to May 5/20 will repay you for all the good things you’ve done over the last 18 years. (Hopefully you’ve done good things!) For 18 months you’ll feel mellow, serene. You’ll be rewarded for listening to your own inner voice, your hunches and conscience. Even your mistakes will tend to harmlessly roll off your back. Finding the right answer to moral dilemmas will be easy, almost automatic. You’ll be blessed! You’ll also be a great comfort to others and others will be attracted to your sympathy, understanding, and quietly happy mood.
And therein lies the rub: you are going through a healthy spiritual growth phase, which will attract those who are NOT. Also, you — you yourself — are blessed now, but everything you do to not be independent, to tie yourself to another, goes against this karmic goodness, and could turn out badly.
This is a poor time to marry or begin living with a lover, to form business partnerships, to sign contracts, to sue anyone, to seek public attention/fame, to seek “deals” and grab “opportunities” without examining them thoroughly.
Don’t let anyone glue themselves to you through disguised attachments such as hate, anger, threat, argument, litigation, etc. These are simply a negative form of attraction. Be smoothly free of these. If someone threatens or sues you, turn away without answering; they will tie themselves in knots, and be unable to harm you. If you engage, you’ll embrace your opponent’s bad karma — and your blessings will flee.
Do not relocate or marry during these 18 months, and never, even decades later, marry anyone who first enters your life during these months. (One exception: sometimes the lunar nodes bring a destined relationship. If so, it will begin quickly and go without hindrance to a conclusion; it will almost literally fall into your lap. But if you experience any delays (e.g., he/she leaves town for a month, or you find it difficult to connect on the phone at your favourite time, or you have second thoughts, or you spy a competitor, etc.) — turn and walk away.
Reject unsolicited advice. Be independent, not interdependent. During these 18 months, your spouse might struggle or feel a bit defeated. Be supportive, but don’t agree to fund his/her possible project(s)!
LEO: July 23-Aug. 22
Leo, for the 17-18 months that start Nov. 8/18, difficult conditions sidle into your zone of hands-on work. So daily tasks, minor chores, machinery/tools, daily health, diet and exercise, employment and employees, service people, dependents and pets. These things should not be neglected, of course, but don’t let yourself sink into or expand them. Do only what’s necessary. Extra work or effort here will yield paltry results, inexplicable setbacks and subtle dead-ends. It’s NOT a good time to buy a car, computer, machinery or tools.
However, you’ll find smooth action, reward and mellow security in “opposite but similar” things: delegating tasks, management, administrative chores, civil service, institutional work or employment with a huge corporation (e.g., Boeing or big banks), spiritual pursuits, meditation and yoga, charitable acts and associations.
These paths bring good emotional and practical results. (If you’re poor, this is a time when charity comes freely and swiftly to you.) Advisors, counsellors, priests and gurus, psychics, agents (literary and otherwise) and hidden allies will benefit you. Do all you can to get a seat on policy committees, to attend closed-door and planning sessions, etc.
Don’t volunteer for every simple chore, nor let your kids enslave you with demands. You will be sorely tempted at times to ignore a lucky but scary opportunity by burying yourself in work. Don’t let work be an escape from more crucial developments.
You are in a very lucky year for romance, if single, but try to avoid a co-worker affair. (If married, read your Luck Forecast, October 28/18 column.) You might fall so wonkers in love that you worry you’re neglecting your work. Don’t. If worse comes to worst, get someone else to handle your hands-on chores. You will gain more from love than from work.
Health-wise, prescribed drugs will do the trick. OTC drugs, herbs, vitamins and preventive regimens, diets, won’t — and might mask something more serious. If needed, hospitals benefit you, nurses befriend you. Be lightly cautious with exercise, physical work, and around running machinery. Retreat and rest, long naps, weekends at a spa, a camping retreat or vacations benefit you.
Contemplation uncovers answers and opportunities — do plan for the future, even for decades ahead. Vacations and gambling for some reason bring benefits. This is also, though indirectly, a good period for investments
VIRGO: Aug. 23-Sept. 22
Until early May, 2020, Virgo, you’ll find a smooth, rewarding path if you pursue social life, join new groups or clubs, chase popularity, entertainment, indulge/believe your optimism, and look forward to the future. Public relations, event planning, conventions, politics, union activities — all bless you. Any group activity — even three friends having a beer — such things keep you alive, safe, upbeat and wise.
Romance will take on a light, friendly, flirtatious nature. If single, you are most likely to meet a compatible prospect in a group. The right one for you will be witty, you’ll share jokes and like the same friends. You’ll consider him/her to be good-looking, but there won’t be the raging passion of deep romance. Good!
Avoid deep, heavy romance, plunging into the pleasure of the moment, pouring out your heart, and pinning everything on one love’s “world”. Infatuation pulls you away from the group, into intense private places — and eventual disappointment. Light romance can lead to true love (and eventual happy marriage) as well as deep passion can — maybe more so! A friendly love might lead to co-habitation by Dec. 2019.
Don’t take speculative (gambling) or creative risks. Run the art gallery; don’t paint the picture. Avoid indulgent vacations. It’s a splendid time to envision the future, and to wish upon a star (figuratively speaking — the Bible says don’t worship the stars). If one of those wishes is for a new, better home, more security, profitable renovations, etc., it is very likely to come true before 2020! In general, focus on the future more than on present pleasure. If investing, join an investment group, or seek a syndicate in real estate (very lucky), etc.
LIBRA: Sept. 23-Oct. 22
From November 2018 to May 2020, Libra, your career and worldly standing will be subtly buoyant and blessed. Your reputation will rise. You’ll find life proceeds smoothly and calmly if you pursue your ambitions and seek out the “big people”. Bolster your relations with higher-ups, parents and VIPs. Appeal to authority. These aren’t zones of good luck as much as areas where your decisions will be wise, intuitively accurate, and generally calm. All this tends to generate good fortune, also.
Your great luck, your expanding area, before 2020, will occur in communications, making this an excellent time to inter-act with powerful people. Your emails, texts and conversations will create good will with people important to your advancement. (Sometimes I write, “Don’t change careers,” but now it’s the opposite: it’s a good time to make the switch.)
During this same 18 months, avoid real estate deals and home construction or major renovations. This is not a good time to change homes (and not the best time to find a room-mate or welcome a long lost relative into your abode. If you own rental properties, be vigilant.) Generally stay away from concentrating on issues of food, shelter, domesticity, gardening, Mother Nature, agriculture, and kids. You can’t avoid these sectors entirely, of course, but stick to the status quo rather than increasing your involvement or launching projects here.
Since about 2009, and lasting to 2024/5, this domestic, security area has nagged you with problems, glitches or extra work. Now to May 2020 is NOT the time to try to fix these problems, especially if you’re counting on a “light fix”.
(Dec. 2019 to May 2020 can “trick” you into diving headlong into a fix, renovation, new home, etc. Be patient, for this could go hugely awry. Wait until mid-May to the end of 2020, when great good luck will come to this area, and the karmic negativity will be gone.)
All you need to remember is: be a director rather than a nurturer. Be ambitious rather than seek security. Act rather than endlessly contemplate. This is no time for withdrawal — and you need no more healing — you need action!
SCORPIO: Oct. 23-Nov. 21
Scorpio, the 18 months ahead (to May 5, 2020) encourage you to broaden your vision, to read and learn, attend higher schooling, travel afar, sample other cultures, watch foreign films or attend that Greek Festival, learn a new language, and generally soak up the world and its social “rationale.” This is an excellent period for Scorpio scholars, lawyers, writers, accountants (to some degree) insurance agents, statisticians, publishers and advertising workers, as well as actors, artists and writers.
Anyone who works with ideas or “the bigger picture” will kiss fortune’s lips. It’s a good time to enter college or law school, write a thesis, etc. Religion, philosophy, and cultural rituals (weddings, bat mitzvahs, etc.) will bless you.
But during these same 18 months, avoid wasting time on casual chatter, insignificant contacts, short trips, mere curiosity, details, paperwork and errands. Anything short, newsy, anecdotal or superficial can lead to loss — of your time, if nothing else. Contrarily, the long, far, deep, abstract, formal and/or idealistic will further your (eventual) ambitions and expand your inner joy.
Seek the profound in relationships, too. (A Cancer native might figure prominently.) Be prepared to formalize a love affair, to wed. In business and everyday affairs, sign contracts rather than rely on verbal commitments. During these 18 months, lawyers are your friends. You might sign a significant financial contract. (You’re very lucky in money/earnings until Dec. 2019.) This is not a good time to buy a car.
SAGITTARIUS: Nov. 22-Dec. 21
Until May, 2020, Sage, aim yourself toward life’s secrets, depths and mysteries. Don’t accept surface appearances, or that “something happened” — investigate, dig deep, discover the motives and forces underlying events (and opportunities). Don’t rely on common knowledge — do your own research, seek the hidden gem in business, in investments and finances, in medicine or any science — and in love. You’ll find a smooth path in exploration, courage and commitment — commitment to a life style change, to a mortgage, to intimacy, to childbirth, etc.
Commit to anything that has the power to change your life. November 8/18 to December 2/19 brings you rare and powerful personal luck and charisma. Use this to dive into these matters of life change, to find treasures, etc.
Dive into depth psychology, the occult, mysteries and secrets. Invest for the long term. Seek the truth about your health. Approach sex as a powerful, serious commitment. Embrace your inner voice, welcome hunches and subconscious urges — they can lead you to profitable doorways.
You’ll face a hard, disappointing and delay-strewn path if you chase “instant returns”, a monthly pay check, consumerism, and “day trading”. Avoid depreciation buys (e.g., cars, computers, clothes — within reason), and income or dividend stocks. Don’t engage in “panic selling” on stock markets.
Be skeptical of quick reports, easy facts, or a multiplicity of details. Avoid casual (just for pleasure) sex. Welcome pregnancy. Steer away from rote and routine — an easy task during your accompanying luck cycle, which boosts your confidence and good fortune. Instead of depending on your memory, feed it new experiences.
CAPRICORN: Dec. 22-Jan. 19
The 18 months to May 2020 urge you to seek advice, to negotiate, to sign contracts, relocate, form partnerships and relationships in love and business, to deal with the public, and generally, to go out from yourself toward others, toward opportunities, toward new, fresh horizons. Deal with strangers, increase your contacts. Seek publicity and fame.
Two exceptions: 1) if you project a surly character, your “fame” will be negative; and 2) —it’s a long one. If your birth chart counsels against partnerships in general, these 18 months somewhat “neutralize” that effect, and give you a “window” in which to form a bond. (And a window through which you can see why partnerships did not work in the past.)
(Many of your 2019 opportunities, BTW, will lie in governmental, administrative, institutional or other bureaucratic situations. This might be a second step to a promotion or career boost 2 years ago — 2017.)
During these 18 months, avoid extreme independence, self-reliance, or withdrawal urges. (An exception is a scheduled spa retreat or “recuperation vacation,” especially favoured both Decembers.)
Don’t force your agenda on others. Eschew self-pity. If you feel knocked around by life, consider how your past actions/attitudes have brought you to this pass. Realize that self-pity, anger toward others, self-criticism, vanity, are merely ways to separate yourself from others. They are the independence temptation in disguise, during a phase in which independence is your Achilles heel.
One of the best ways to improve difficult luck (karma) during this period is to forgive yourself. Then see that any bad luck (now) tends to be payback for any wrong turns/wrong-doing during the last 17 years. This way, if bad luck comes, accept it as fair payment, pick yourself up, smile, and march forward.
Laugh at yourself, open your arms and heart to others, and you’ll do fine. Make efforts to understand where others are coming from, their desires and needs, and why they see a situation differently than you do. Several good, “blessed” people can enter your sphere now. Those who do newly enter, will tend to be good for you, even 20 years from now. Welcome them!
AQUARIUS: Jan. 20-Feb. 18
The 17-18 months ahead (Nov. 2018 to May 2020) will “rescue you” from the past 18 months! That period tempted you toward withdrawal, independence, anger toward people, God or the cosmos, and possible self-pity. In essence, karma was punishing you for past “sins” (or foolishness) but it also ended by wiping your slate clean. For the next 9 years, you will grow, in heart, mind and conscience, toward a sweeter, cleaner, happier self — and at the end of that time, karma will reward you for all the good things you’ve done.
Still, karmic “danger zones” exist. Yours, now to May 2020, lie in an area usually considered a blessed one: meditation, retreat, spirituality or spiritual searches, charitable agencies, and dealings with psychics and gurus. You can wander into subtle swamps of illusions and temptation when you seek these — and if you withdraw from society.
These 18 months are also a good time to avoid counsellors, agents, civil servants, government red tape, bloated corporations or organizations that feel most comfortable with faceless clients/workers, jails, hospitals and nurses. Also avoid warehousing, management roles, delegating tasks, policy committees, closed-door discussions, assembly lines, and caves (spelunking). Rely on logic; let intuition take a back seat.
So where can you succeed, or find a smooth, green path? These await you in machinery/tools (including computers, cars, excavators, toasters, can openers, etc.), hands-on work, nutrition (preventive), health, vitamins and herbs, sanitation, service and service people, and care of dependents. If seeking employment (or employees) you’ll succeed. If you want to retire and collect a pension, wait until mid-2020 onward.
2019 will also be buoyed by wish fulfillment, renewed popularity, flirty romance and boundless optimism. You’ll be happy!
PISCES: Feb. 19-March 20
Pisces, the 18 months ahead (to May 2020) presents you with a karmic choice between two polar opposites that are also quite similar. On the good side lies: pure, heavy romance, infatuation, passion, creativity and risk-taking, beauty, deep personal or sensual pleasure (immediate pleasure, not delayed or “planned”), teaching or raising children, gambling, and self-expression.
Follow love; immerse yourself in the moment. Absorb another’s whole essence, their emotions and soul, rather than seeing them as merely attractive members of a crowd. Give romance privacy in which to unfold. This is an excellent phase to start children in a new educational direction. Plan at least one big, extended or adventurous vacation. Start a major creative project.
This is NOT a good time for socializing, parties, entertainment, light romance or playing the field. (Hint: if your heart pounds and your words elude you, that’s heavy romance — the right direction. If you and another flirt, laugh, enjoy the same friends, that’s “light romance” — not recommended before May 2020. More briefly, deep romance sparks embarrassment; light romance doesn’t.)
Also sources of disappointment or “no reward”: groups of any kind, popularity, optimism and making future plans. Politics, currying favour, organizations, clubs, committees, union activities, conventions, event planning, public relations… you get the picture.
If you are employed in one of these areas, try to steer toward the creative side. For instance, it’s better (for you) to produce the advertising for a product than to speak to groups about it. Paint the picture rather than run the art gallery. Forget wishful thinking.
My main advice — fall in love! If married, involve your spouse and kids in creativity — make a film together, or build a stage for a magic show.
Your career/reputation are very favoured in 2019, but this doesn’t seem to have any link to your karma, unless you work as a creative person, or a professional schmoozer. If the latter, well, just shrug and know every life has soft/slow periods, and soon you’ll be back, as fast and smooth as ever!