The Astrology Show for December-January has April Elliott Kent (author of Practical Astrology) on your year ahead, Adam Smith on the unique approach of Indian (Vedic) Astrology, Jessica Adams on key transits for the next few weeks, and Alex Trenoweth on Buddy Holly, who passed away over fifty years ago, this February. It’s an international show, as we come to you from the USA, UK and Australia as 2011 turns into 2012.

Practical Astrology for 2012

Key Transits from Christmas Eve to Saint Valentine’s Day

Here are some diary dates for you from Jessica Adams, including the entire family tree of asteroids (Jupiter and Saturn’s children, just for a start!)

On Thursday December 22, the Sun enters Capricorn at 0 degrees. Vesta (Saturn’s daughter) stands at 0 Pisces, while Venus is at 0 Aquarius, Jupiter is at 0 Taurus and Uranus is at 0 Aries. If you happen to have heavenly bodies at 0 degrees, that’s a significant time. Vesta describes situations where one man has influence and authority over two or more women. The rest of that line-up is about opportunities, relating and revolution!

Merry Christmas! Jupiter turns direct on Christmas Day. He is travelling through Taurus, and will peak there in April and May 2012, notably on the Sun-Jupiter conjunction of Sunday May 13th. At last, the problem-solving, growth and expansion that Jupiter is famous for, can really start to work, in the Taurus-ruled house of your chart.

The January Full Moon The Full Moon at 18 Capricorn/18 Cancer on January 9 is accompanied by the asteroid Apollo at 18 Virgo and Diana at 18 Scorpio. Apollo describes leadership. Diana is about total freedom. This Full Moon has the classic push-pull feeling of any Sun-Moon opposition, but it has incredible potential too.

The January New Moon On January 23, we have a New Moon at 2 Aquarius. It appears alongside Mercury at 23 Capricorn trine Mars at 23 Virgo, and Diana (freedom, again) at 23 Scorpio. On the same day, the dwarf planet Ceres is at 1 Aries, Uranus is at 1 Aries, Jupiter is at 1 Taurus and the asteroid Panacea (she is Jupiter’s great-granddaughter) at 1 Aquarius. No matter what’s in your chart, that’s going to be quite a day.

Neptune leaves Aquarius in February On February 3, Neptune leaves Aquarius. The area of your chart ruled by Aquarius has been subject to boundary creep for years. Or even the total erosion of boundaries. Life has been confusing there – often chaotic. Let us know (on Twitter) how it feels to finally return to dry land!

Alex Trenoweth

Holiday Reminders and Holiday Reading

Alex Trenoweth (above) is Editor of The Astrology Quarterly at The Astrological Lodge of London. She’s looking for articles for the 2012 editions of the Quarterly, so if you feel inspired this holiday, get in touch. If you need to refresh your astrology for next year, then take a look at Practical Astrology by April Elliott Kent and Saturn by Adam Smith. Finally, Jessica Adams will be appearing at The Federation of Australian Astrologers’ 2012 Conference on Saturday January 21st, in Melbourne, lecturing on Quantum Physics, Astrology and Time. For more details, see her website.

Adam Smith wrote a book on Saturn but he also has a lot to say about Jupiter, in the show. And how does the Jupiter sign of a generation affect school results? Alex Trenoweth not only edits the journal for The Astrological Lodge of London, she also guided her students through their best-ever results by studying Jupiter.

One thing about Jupiter – his retrogrades are always harmless. But what about the other retrogrades? American astrologer and author April Elliott Kent rejoins The Astrology Show to look at the retrogrades ahead.

For more on The Astrology Show, follow us on Twitter or visit theastrologyshow.net for features every month.

September-October 2011 also finds several heavenly bodies transiting Libra, including Saturn. On September 1 we find Fortuna and Juno there too (Jupiter’s daughter and wife, respectively) and by October 31, Venus, Vulcan, the Sun, New Moon, Mercury, Diana and Bacchus will all have passed through Libra. Jessica Adams takes a closer look.

The Uranus-Pluto square is also slowly forming at the moment (exact in 2012). In the final part of the show, Adam Smith considers the impact of this developing tension in the heavens.

Here comes Jupiter in Taurus! (Wellcome Collection)

Ahead of the arrival of Jupiter in Taurus, there are plenty of inner planet transits to lead the way. If you are a Taurean born in late April, then gradually, each of these planets in turn will trine your natal Sun, allowing you to shine more brightly, more easily. If you also have heavenly bodies or points in the sign of Taurus, and you know these are in the early degrees of the sign, you will also begin to see expansion and growth in your life mid-year as the trines begin to take hold. Whatever your natal chart looks like, the ingress of Juipter in Taurus, explained by Adam Smith in the May show, is good news for at least one department of your life, as the relevant house of your horoscope will start to reflect Jupiter’s change of sign. Jessica Adams will look at specific dates for you. And while Neil Spencer is away, we’re putting together some special features for you in June, including The Absolute Beginner’s Guide to William Lilly by Julian Venables.

Adam Smith

Neptune is finally out of Aquarius this month and Adam Smith (pictured) has the lowdown. What happens after the Gold Rush? Maybe we’re all about to find out. Also in our April show, special guest John Green considers synchronicity. Is it still the explanation for astrology that everyone assumed last century? Or even this century? Jessica Adams looks at Maggie Hyde’s seminal book, Jung and Astrology, as it approaches its tenth anniversary.

Notes for your diary: in May, Jessica will be presenting a one-hour workshop on Sacred Geometry at The Astrological Lodge of London. For more details, see their Facebook page. April is also the month to be aware of Mercury’s annual retrograde motion. He’s running backwards through Aries until the final week.

Aries image courtesy www.ianridpath.com

March sees the arrival of several heavenly bodies in Aries, including the Sun and Uranus, joining Jupiter. There is also a significant amount of action around 0 degrees, which is triggering a few charts including Prince Andrew’s. He was born with the Sun at 0 Pisces. Adam Smith will look at the impact of Uranus, the revolutionary, on recent events. And Julian Venables looks at Mercury Retrograde Shadow, which kicks in mid-month. Jessica Adams will profile Apollo, the asteroid that’s so easy to pick in your chart at the moment – to the Romans, Apollo was about leadership. He was Jupiter’s son, so the Aries-ruled house of your chart will be pinned down by at least two massive Gods this month!

We are putting together a double edition of The Astrology Show for December and January. Neil Spencer will examine cusps and the 0 degree and 29 degree sign positions. Adam Smith and Jessica Adams will wrap up 2011 as Jupiter arrives in Aries and then Taurus. And special guest Frank C. Clifford will look at the astrology of comedy, while April Elliott Kent explores the 2011 eclipses.

Private Readings in The Astrology Pop-Up Shop

To be waitlisted for private telephone readings with Jessica Adams, Adam Smith and occasional Astrology Show guest Julian Venables, visit The Astrology Show on Facebook for full details.

Jupiter in Taurus

Jupiter enters Taurus in the first week of June, joining Venus – also in Taurus. He will get quickly to work on your behalf in June, July and August when he turns retrograde. For that short period, though, Jupiter will also trine Pluto in Capricorn. This is a powerful, think-big, productive, earthy pattern to work with in your chart. Should you have heavenly bodies in the first ten degrees of Virgo, Capricorn and Taurus it’s going to help you manifest the work and money potential that has been locked in there for such a long time. If you don’t know your natal chart then check free at Astro.com.

Jupiter turns direct in Taurus again near Christmas. So the Santa Claus feeling will be real. He will do this shortly after a trine to the Sun, again in earthy Capricorn. So you might traet June-August as the first lap of this important transit, with the second real lap in 2012. Between January and June 2012 all that potential from 2011 will be released, so do all that you can (on an earth sign level – productively, practically, methodically) while Jupiter begins his cycle with that fast zip through Taurus in June-August 2011.

Taurus - Ian Ridpath Collection www.ianridpath.com

Jessica: “Pluto is about the most intense emotion, usually driven underground, because there is usually a power-sharing agreement to be sorted out, and in that instance, the  compromise rests on diplomacy. Nobody can really say what they think or feel, yet given the depth of the emotion and the high stakes of the power play, the unspoken words are usually quite powerful!”

“Pluto derives his meaning from his 1930 discovery, as World War Two was being seeded – and of course, the New World Order. That was also the year that breakthroughs in radiation research also planted the atomic bomb in the grand scheme of things. Pluto was named for the Roman God of the Underworld (not the Greek, Hades) and had particular meaning for the Romans. They saw him as the abductor of Proserpina, who became his queen. They also saw him as the enemy of Ceres, Proserpina’s mother. In the end it was Jupiter who had to fix the power struggle between Ceres and Pluto, by asking Proserpina the hard question: had she eaten any of Pluto’s pomegranates while in his domain? By confirming that she had eaten six, or exactly half the seeds, Proserpina made the answer plain to Jupiter: in an effort to appease the grieving Ceres (who had driven the world to famine) and the domineering Pluto, he would give Prosperina six months of the year with each. Thus, the arrival of the four seasons, as opposed to the two seasons. Before Pluto, endless spring and summer. But after Pluto, winter and autumn too.”

“Whatever Pluto did to your life during his transit through the Scorpio house of your chart, can be repaired or revisited (without the intensity) in November 2010. And because the Sun is in the picture, much light can be shed. The situation can be illuminated and seen in the clear light of day. And with Mercury there too, it’s time for a little logic and reason.”

“If you have heavenly bodies in Scorpio (billions of us have Neptune in Scorpio, for example, or Pluto in Scorpio) then the whole story becomes personal. November 2010 becomes a clearing house for something that is a big part of you!”

Tune into The Astrology Show in December for a long look at 2011, the new year ahead.