This week

A weak of many hues, caller. As Astrobabble writes the potent Solar (New Moon) eclipse is just two hours behind us and its twin sister, the Full Moon Eclipse of 9 February, is on her way. Between now and then Uranus, our inner rebel, individualist, and maverick, is spending the better part of the fortnight slugging it out with Saturn, our inner curmudgeonly headteacher, authority figure, and general party pooper. Metaphorical frozen peas at the ready... The good news is if you strive for the middle point (ie compromise) den you find de Power. And aussi tambien, if you’re wont to make a wish on a New Moon, now would be as good a time as any. Your perticaler wells for wishing are below.

Aries
The cosmic fisticuffs are happening across your 6th and 12th houses. It would seem that an overemphasis on duty, having a whiter picket fence than the neighbours, and saving for a sensible retirement are up against wishes to jack it all in and head off to the alps to be a yodeller or buxom bar wench with split ends. What to do, caller? On the rocks good: You take up yodelling at an evening class and get a bar job working for Austrians while you review your addiction to society’s mores. On the rocks bad: You become rabid at anyone who seems to be living a freer, groovier, less shackled life than yours and shout at them in the street or steal their cowbells. Make a wish: For what you wish for! The Eclipse is in your wishing house. In other news: Mercury stations direct on Sunday. Make career decisions from next Tuesday.

Taurus
The skyward spat falls across your 5th and 11th houses. You’re reviewing your current obligations / sense of duty regarding children, choice of lovers, and creative endeavours and wondering how the jiggens you can inject some friendship, easyozzie energy, and get some dreams coming true in these areas. Saturn says you’re wishing for too much. Take what you gat and suck it up. Uranus says, not on your nelly. On the rocks good: You’re withdrawing just enough to eke out your bad habits before they upend you while still keeping the bed rocking with one foot. On the rocks bad: You leg it to a nunnery where you fester and grow weary all the time being haunted by dreams of sunny beaches and loving laughter and a lack of inner peace. Make a wish: for the career that will prove you’ve become the you that you’ve always wanted to be. In other news: Mercury stations direct on Sunday. Pursue plans to travel / study / launch daily broadcast via webcam from your garden/kitchen/waterbed from next Tuesday.

Gemini
In the red corner is Saturn in your 4th house of Home and Family; in the blue corner is Uranus, fighting on behalf of your 10th house of ‘success’. Saturn is urging you to Do What You Were Told To by your elders and betters. Uranus is saying, “Why?” and you can’t help but listen. Can you free up your mind enough to be you? On the rocks good: You recognise the benefits of commitment and having a mortgage but start investigating the chances of renting out your yurt for a year so you can explore a change of career. On the rocks bad: A slave to continuity you have a hair cut like your mother’s and start wearing pleated skirts and American tan tights then marry someone exactly like your Dad. Make a wish: For the beckoning horizon to be as foreign, studious, or spiritual as your pretty little wings can stand! In other news: Mercury stations direct on Sunday. Begin making decisions about endings from next Tuesday.

Cancer
The planetary bunfight is happening across your 3rd and 9th houses. Saturn says stay close to home, better the devil you know, you fit in to your community you OWE it to them to always be around. Uranus says, “But here’s a flying carpet…” and your little claws start twitching with fear and delight. How can you break free without making those left behind feel rejected? On the rocks good: You let your intuition steer you towards your beckoning horizon be it foreign, studious, or spiritual while investing in communication devices and stocking up on letter writing paper. On the rocks bad: You decide never to leave the sound of Bow Bells (or local equivalent) and console yourself by wearing a kaftan now and again while watching the Discovery channel, sobbing. Make a wish: To cut the ties gently. In other news: Mercury stations direct on Sunday. You’ll be able to start making sense of conversations with past and present lovers from next Tuesday.

Leo
The savage astral tiddlywinks falls across your money houses. Saturn says, “Earn, baby, earn. Chain yourself to the desk. Go for the sensible retirement package.” Uranus says, “Run, baby, run. Throw it all in, live on your wits, you’ll win the lotto any day now…” [Obama’s a Leo. And has he got a piggy bank that needs sorting.] On the rocks good: You work on a budget which means you can work less – or save more – so that you’ve time to gen up on your poker skills or freelancing ways. On the rocks bad: You jack it all in, spend your last penny on an also ran at Kempton Park, and end up living in a shoe box with a runny nose and dirty face. Make a wish: To love the love of your life. In other news: Mercury stations direct on Sunday. A work discussion can be reignited to suit your wants from Tuesday. Likewise second opinion health diagnoses should be more on the money from then.

Virgo
The custard pie fight in the skies highlights the on-going lack of accord between you and significant others. Saturn is making you wonder whether it’s you being (a) too damn serious for your own good or (b) not serious/not good enough. And why? Because Uranus is popping up in the shape of bidniz and loving partners who want levity, change, excitement and above all the freedom to goof. But you want stability and safety. But they want change. Who’s right? The problema grande is that right now your ruler Mercury is still backtracking which means you can’t seem to speak from the right place. That is set to change from the weekend. On the rocks good: With the warm-hearted support of others you learn to relax/diversify your take on life while simultaneously your gentle and fair approach inspires significant other/s to make changes but only one step at a time. On the rocks bad: You scream, “See ya. Wouldn’t wanna be ya!” hurling a custard pie at the back of a closing door. Make a wish: For a work or health plan to start afresh and take you where you want to go. In other news: Your ruler Mercury stations direct on Sunday. Conversations with squeezes or regarding creative ventures currently languishing on the backburner can be rekindled from Tuesday.

Libra
The stellar pugilists are playing havoc across your 6th and 12th houses. It would seem that fear, old habits, and a sense of ‘having to pay for previous misdeeds’ are keeping you scrabbling up the scree when there are inspiring alternative lifestyle choices calling to you from across the ravine complete with roped pathways. Why do it the hard way? Certainly you may have to pad back down the path you’ve just been up before you get to the sunnier side of the range. And sure it may be humiliating to admit you’ve misjudged the whole point of a jolly jaunt in the hills. But seriously. There’s already one Sisyphus. Break the chain awready. On the rocks good: You head slowly back down the mountain between now and September accepting where you’ve been a twonk and then relaunch your work, health, and general approach to life from October. On the rocks bad: You continue battering yourself on the scree, turning puce while your inner emotional vultures circle overhead. Make a wish: To restart your lovelife and your approach to kiddiwinks and creativity anew this week. In other news: Mercury stations direct on Sunday. A clearer picture on how your old poop is tripping you up starts to surface next Tuesday. Likewise rational decisions about home and family complications can be made from then.

Scorpio
The wrestling match amongst the stars falls across your 5th and 11th houses. As was said on these ‘ere pages back in November there’s a tug of love between self-expression (in the form of kiddiwinks, squeezes, and creative ventures) versus what your friends expect of you and the way you limit the things you wish for yourself. Saturn says, “Don’t be rash. Everything in its own time. You can’t have it all your own way.” Uranus says, “What rubbish. Have a baby and become a potato painter by month’s end. Go on! It’ll be fun!” What to do? On the rocks good: You start reaching for the Moon, reviewing your friendships (and putting your foot down where necessary) and reviewing your networks ensuring that new contacts involve potato painting exhibitors for future reference. On the rocks bad: You lock your dreams in a box, along with your inner child, and allow old friends to run roughshod over you never reaching for more than the TV remote. Make a wish: For outworn family habits to disappear on the wind. In other news: Mercury stations direct on Sunday. Communications snafus should start to ease from next Tuesday. Also any recent, complicated news from bros and sisses should start making sense from then.

Sagittarius
In the blue corner is Saturn in your 10th house of Success; in the red corner is Uranus, fighting on behalf of your 4th house of home and family. Saturn is urging you to Succeed – but Uranus is asking, “At what?! Your goals - or their goals?” The big dilemma for Archers the world over is how to break away from the brainwashing of What You Were Told To Do by your elders and betters so you can free up your life and be you. But at what point does the baby go out with the bath water? Can you get a sieve for that? On the rocks good: You recognise the glory of your successes to date but start investigating ways to diversify – breaking away from the family bidniz or renting out your mudhut for a year to explore fresh career ideas. On the rocks bad: A knee-jerking adrenalin-junkie, you stick two fingers up at the boss and end up washing pots at a Burger Queen with your Saville Row suits in hock. Make a wish: To speak clearly so that all will listen. In other news: Mercury stations direct on Sunday. After recent hiccups, money should start to flow freely again from Tuesday.

Capricorn
The cosmic mud wrestle is happening across your 3rd and 9th houses, between your ruler urging you ever onwards, sensibly, and Uranus who wants you to adapt to changes closer to home or to at least create shake ups in your everyday wash to keep your eyes off the Bigger Picture. Saturn promises slow and steady progress (but how much slower or steadier can you stand). Uranus promises entertainment – but where is that going to get you, long-term? On the rocks good: You follow the call of your leader and follow a path to the horizon in sensible walking attire (be it foreign, studious, or spiritual) taking up photography or joining a film club to keep you perky and intermittently wired. On the rocks bad: You decide to distract yourself from the True Way by causing scandal after scandal within your community and broadcasting your sister’s intimate phone conversations via the interweb. Make a wish: To earn pots of cash on the 9 - 5. In other news: Mercury stations direct on Sunday. Your chance to express yourself –and make sense this time – gets the green light from Tuesday.

Aquarius
Like your friends the Leos, the heavyweight pigtail-pulling in the skies over the coming fortnight falls across your money houses. Uranus says, “Chop it, change it, bin the steady money and live on your wits…” Meanwhile Saturn, all propriety on the lettuce front says, “Save it, invest it, go for the safe contracts.” [Obama’s a Leo with Aquarius rising. Has he got a piggy bank that needs sorting? Do bears etcetera and so forth.] You’ve an inventive mind but are you imagining a flow of readies where there is none? On the rocks good: You work on a budget which means you can work less – or save more – so that you’ve time to gen up on your poker skills or freelancing ways. On the rocks bad: You jack it all in, blow your last pay cheque on a farewell party, and end up living in a shoe box with a runny nose and dirty face next to a hungry Lion. Make a wish: To value yourself. In other news: Mercury stations direct on Sunday. Conversations you’ve had behind someone else’s back – or suspect someone’s been having behind yours – come to light Tuesday. If you start feeling angry, work out what you’re really angry about before spitting feathers.

Pisces
The current belligerence in the skies highlights the on-going lack of accord between you and significant others. Saturn is making you wonder why your significant other is being so damn (a) righteous (b) slow while Uranus is popping up in your first house of You, Yourself and You demanding levity, change, excitement and above all the freedom to goof on the hour every hour. Not a happy mix. The problema grande is that right now your partner can’t give you a straightforward yes or no. That is set to change from the weekend. On the rocks good: You give your other half time and space to reach a decision while putting a deadline out there in the ether of 13 February. On the rocks bad: In a fit of pique you cut off their ponytail and storm off realising later that the sicky feeling in your tummy is devastating remorse and humiliation. Make a wish: To recognise the real reasons why you need to be in control and then to heal them. In other news: Mercury stations direct on Sunday. Issues arising from old wishes and old friends that have popped up for a looksee in the past three weeks can be rationally sorted from next Tuesday.