New New Year

  Saturday saw the arrival of the Year of the Yang Wooden Horse. This is the latest New Year to meet us head on in 2014. Interestingly the wooden horse has a very similar feel to this Cardinal year that astrologers are talking about. The two compliment each other nicely. From this we can assume that the energies present this year will be as the predictions say.
  In western astrology the Cardinal signs/houses are those where a sense of leadership and initiative taking are very strong. The Cardinal impetus dominates 2014, in particular over the month of April when there will be a 'Cardinal Grand Cross' in the sky. This will involve the planets Uranus, Pluto, Mars and Jupiter. The Uranus-Pluto square is a connection we have got used to in many ways as it has been triggering on and off since 2012. The revolutions around the world are a very apt and powerful descriptive for this energetic combination due to their positions in Aries and Capricorn respectively. Adding Mars and Jupiter into the mix gives it all a more personal feel as we are drawn by these 'inner' planets to question our relationships both to self and to other. It is going to be an interesting time which I hope will give us all the strength to align with our own truths and stand in integrity.
  The wooden horse heralds a Wood year after two years of the Water element. We were forced to face our emotions in many ways during this time, something that can be intensely tiring. This again has been reflected in the emphasis on water signs during 2012 and the Grand Water Trine of 2013 which left many of us drowning in our emotional responses to situations. Wood, like Cardinal however, is about action and forward looking attention to purpose and stimulation. This is a massive turn around from the self-reflective, introvert approach in which all boundaries and certainties dissolve. We are now faced with a sudden burst of extrovert action and forceful energy which is going to carry us galloping into the future. Wood represents the Spring time and new growth, growth that has to push its way out of the dark underworld of the earth and into the sunlight. As it does so the horse brings our intuition clearly into focus from the unconscious into the light of the conscious mind alongside a palpable urge for freedom.
  So, on a personal level, it is clearly time to free yourself from any old outworn ideas and behaviours. Don't reign yourself in! Saddle up and follow those intuitions with gusto, embracing opportunity. On a mundane level I am ever hopeful that we shall see the first green shoots of a just and more civilised approach to the problems we all face, answers which look to supporting humanity and the environment at the expense of corporations rather than the reverse as has been the case.