If you were expecting some kind of sun sign nonsense, forget about it. This is real astrology for the real world. If it's real astrology for yourself that you want, you can get it by phone or in print. And if you need help deciphering the astrological glyphs in the graphics accompanying this article, see Astroglyphs: Astrological Symbols Guide. Please note: this forecast is expressed in terms of Universal Time (UT).
Yesterday is but today's memory, and tomorrow is today's dream.
-- Kahlil Gibran
 

Along with Saturn's opposition to Neptune (the lingering remains of the historic 2006 T-square), Jupiter's square to Uranus is a keynote celestial configuration of 2007 - that, and Pluto's alignment with the super black hole at the center of our galaxy. All three are present and accounted for this month, which means January will be no snoozer. Having already addressed all three of these topics in my 2007 World Forecast Highlights, I won't belabor them here: follow the links and get up to speed. Suffice it to say that this month finds us very much in the thick of an historical turning point, the likes of which will be very hard to ignore for long. Political and financial breakdowns, coups in response to ineffectual and/or corrupt power structures, the clash of cultures and religions and civilizations: none of this can really be relegated to the back burner for long this month, or this year. But given the dominant theme, there are diverse leitmotifs to January.

One, of course, is Mother Nature. There are no SuperMoons or eclipses until March, but that doesn't mean a complete lack of disturbances in the local cosmos. The year opens under the aegis of the lunar north declination extreme on January 2, followed the next day by the full moon as Earth makes its annual closest pass to the Sun. It's a combination that presages headline-making stormy weather all the way through to the 6th - and an upsurge in moderate to severe (Richter 5+) earthquakes as well as volcanic activity.

It should go without saying that this is a planet-wide phenomenon, but astro-locality mapping suggests particular zones of higher risk. One follows a longitudinal arc from eastern Australia up through Kamchatka in the east, coming down through eastern Greenland in the west. Another is along a horizon arc sweeping through central Mexico across the Plains States into the Midwest and Ontario in the New World, across northern and eastern Europe into the Middle East in the Old; not to mention Mars lines across northern California, longitudinally from southwestern Greenland down through Brazil and passing through Seoul, South Korea on the other side of the world; as well as along a southeasterly arc from Edinburgh down through Nairobi. I'm not saying to put your emergency kit in storage if you'll be anywhere outside these zones from the 1st through the 6th. I'm just saying that anyone along one of these lines could do a lot worse than stay alert and prepared to deal with storms and such over this period.

Luna crosses the celestial equator heading south on the 9th, and reaches the far point (apogee) in its orbit around Earth the following day - just as Mercury makes its superior conjunction with the Sun (behind the solar disc as seen our home planet). A possible up-tick in seismic activity along strike-slip faults around this time, give or take about a day and a half . . . meanwhile, business and political leaders are big on public relations around the 10th. They speak, but they don't speak their minds. They tell us what they want us to know, in hopes of getting us to think what they want us to think. It's propaganda, pure and simple. Miners and soldiers and farmers and old teachers may speak their minds, but unless one of these is in a position of power, no truth will flow from the top echelons. (Sure, that stock option was legit. And that restructuring plan really is aimed at getting to the root of the problem. Sure.)

Mars aligns with Pluto and the Galactic Center both on the 13th, heralding the ugly handiwork of holy warriors and other fanatics who think they have the right to rule the rest of us. Isn't there a disease that could infect them all? Alas, they're more likely to be the spreaders of disease and other means of mass murder. And so sure they're doing God's work in the process. Isn't it ironic that each side calls the other a 'holy warrior' after a fashion? Islamists call the West 'Crusaders', and the West calls them jihadists. A fundamentalist fanatic by any other name . . . give the 13th a wide berth, at least a few days either way. Be safe, stay alert and keep an eye on the exits. Marseille and Amsterdam are in a longitudinal red zone under this alignment, but there are plenty of other nervous-looking arcs as these two planets line up with the local supermassive black hole.

Between the Mars-Pluto-GC alignment on the 13th, and the Venus-Saturn opposition plus Jupiter-Uranus square on the 22nd - the latter being within a few degrees of exact all month, and into February - I'd be surprised if the major financial markets don't get really nervous at some point around the middle or end of the month. A good five percent nervous in some bourses wouldn't be a surprise.

The next enhanced storm and seismic risk window kicks in on the 15th, a day ahead of the Moon attaining its maximum declination south of the celestial equator. This geophysical stress window continues through the new moon on the 19th and the Moon's perigee (closest approach to Earth) on the 22nd; and finally wraps up a day after the Moon's northward crossing of the celestial equator on the 23rd. This looks like one of the bigger storm and seismic cycles of the month. Of course it's planet-wide in scope, but astro-locality mapping suggests a few particularly likely target zones. One is a longitudinal arc that sweeps across Buenos Aires and the pole to cross over Shanghai, Taipei, and Manila southwards through western Australia. The other is a horizon arc that touches Hawaii heading southeasterly past Tierra del Fuego, heading northeasterly from there to pass over Capetown, Mecca and Tehran.

I see another risk of enhanced storm and seismic activity as the month draws to a close, beginning a day before the Moon's north declination extreme on the 29th and continuing into February, what with the full moon on the 2nd. Keep an eye on the sky, plus some fresh batteries and bottled water in the pantry. And if you're traveling, or waiting for someone who is, remember: patience is a virtue.

SPECIAL FEATURE: This month's birthdays of the famous and infamous (with astrological birth charts)