If you were expecting some kind of sun sign nonsense, forget about it. This is real astrology for the real world, not some mystical mumbo-jumbo psycho-babble word salad. 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, aka GMT). Also please be aware that, while I never change a forecast once it's published, I do post errata to acknowledge typographical errors and the like.

PLEASE NOTE: This month’s forecast incorporates elements of (and refers to) my complete 2014 World Forecast Highlights (41 8-1/2 x 11” illustrated pages), focused, amplified and elaborated with details for the month as appropriate. The full version of my 2014 World Forecast Highlights is available in hard copy by mail ($75) or as a PDF document by email ($50). Orders may be phoned in (toll-free from anywhere in North America to 800-527-8761) and charged to any major credit card. PayPal orders may be placed direct from your own PayPal account page to rnolle@astropro.com – or by using the AstroPro PayPal order page. (Incidentally, like last lmonth's, this is still a briefer than usual monthly forecast. The push to complete my 2014 World Forecast Highlights, and fulfill a crush of orders for same, has left little time for anything else lately. I'll be on a more normal schedule now, with any luck!)

We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.
-- Nelson Mandela
 

January spills a lot of fallout over into February - and I'm not just talking about the Venus station market swoon described in my January 27 update. The Mars Max that began on December 22, the Mercury Max that commenced on January 31, and the Venus Max direct station on that same day (opposing Jupiter) are several prime examples. All three of these Max cycles will continue in effect throughout February. Not as long-lasting, but still quite potent early in the month, is the January 30 stealth (new) SuperMoon, which opened a geophysical shock window on January 26 that remains in wide open through February 3. And then there’s that lingering and mutating Grand Cross that’s been around since December, and shifts to a Uranus-Pluto-Venus-Jupiter Grand Cross early in the month, and then T-Square (less Venus) as February unfolds.

To top it all off, there are a several lesser geophysical shock windows this month, raising the ante for newsworthy seismic events (Magnitude 5 and up earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, and the occasional tsunami arising from same), as well as strong storms (with heavy precipitation followed in some cases by flooding, landslides and the occasional avalanche). None of this rises to the level of a SuperMoon or eclipse event, mind you, but the forces of nature are strong enough that they bear watching on the indicated dates: February 1-6 (the aftermath of the January 30 stealth SuperMoon), 11-18 (centering on the St. Valentine’s Day full moon T-Square with Saturn, extended a day by the Moon’s southward crossing of the celestial equator on the 17th), and February 26 into March 4 (anchored by the March 1 new moon).

The above mentioned dates are the seismic and weather watch windows for February, of importance for everyone but especially this month for anyone who’s in transit under the February Mercury Max. Be sure to have fallback plans, alternative routes and means of transport at the ready. Speaking of backups, backup power and lights at the very least are nice to have – along with dry goods, bottled water and the like. Apart from severe weather wreaking havoc on transportation, communication and power infrastructure as storms are wont to do, there are signs of solar outbursts this month as well – the kind that can overload satellites, networks and power grids – and that most wonderful network, the human neural network. More than a few people will be as fritzy as the grid when the Mercury Max moments come up that tend to be associated with solar outbursts and the resulting geomagnetic storms: within plus or minus three days of February 6 (Mercury’s retrograde), 15 (Mercury’s inferior conjunction with the sun) and 28 (Mercury’s direct station, within a couple days of the Jupiter-Uranus square).

To save time and avoid repeating myself, let me just point out that Mercury Max, Venus Max, Mars Max and SuperMoon are all defined and explained in articles I wrote over the years – click on the links in this sentence if you could stand some backgrounding. (Also, refer to the animation above for a glimpse of what Mercury Max really entails. If you don't get it at a glance, take heart: all these things are explained in the articles I just mentioned.)

2014 MERCURY MAX

Max-E	S-Rx	CNJ SU	S-D	Max-W
JAN 31	FEB 6	FEB 15	FEB 28	MAR 14
MAY 25	JUN 7	JUN 19	JUL 1	JUL 12
SEP 21	OCT 4	OCT 16	OCT 25	NOV 1

A word in passing about the Jupiter-Uranus square on the 26th: think technological breakthroughs, for good or ill. Hacker attacks are a prime example in the latter category: cyber war is peace, says Big Brother. I’m thinking we’ll see some Net outages and the like, as well of news that national defense hacker teams are both on the attack and on the defense. Bear in mind that Jupiter and Uranus are within a few degrees of an exact square all month long and throughout March as well. This will be an ongoing story. On the plus side, look for breakthroughs in computer science, aerospace, astrophysics, cosmology, and everything exo: exo-planets, exo-biology, etc. A field day for NASA nerds.

Finally, a timely reminder about the current Mars Max cycle and its connection with the Uranus-Pluto square. As described in the full version of my 2014 World Forecast Highlights (published last year), this combination is long lasting, in effect into August. (The Uranus-Pluto square doesn’t leave orb of aspect until early 2016, in fact.) Mars Max in and of itself signals an upsurge in everything that involves "fires, crashes, clashes and explosions," as I’ve said for years. Individuals as well as collectives are edgy and aggressive, as evidenced by an upsurge in violent criminal behavior: rape, mass murder, school and workplace shootings, murder-suicides that take out whole families, suicide by cop and the like. If you think it’s dangerous out there, you’re right – so be careful. Short of extremes of that ilk, there’s plenty of lesser hostility around: short tempers, road rage, haste, impatience, irritability, etc. Get a grip, stay focused and aware! All. Month. Long. (But especially around the 14th, and increasingly from the 18th on into March, as we approach the March 1 Red Planet retrograde station - one of the extreme points of the Mars Max cycle.)

On the collective level, the consequences of all this belligerence are worse, of course. And they’ve been very evident since the Uranus-Pluto square first pulled to within a few degrees of exact back in 2011. Riots, revolution, terrorism, genocide and civil war are par for the course with this kind of configuration, as detailed in the full version of my 2014 World Forecast Highlights – and the stuff of world geopolitical headlines since the alignment began: the Arab Spring, the widespread social protest moments, the civil war in Syria, etc. It’s almost easier to name the countries that haven’t seen some of this, but here’s a partial list of those that have – and will continue to have: Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Spain, Greece, France, England, the US, China, Ukraine, Iraq and Iran, Syria, Brazil, Mexico, etc. The 99% are restless, and not getting much calmer until 2016. Plan on it.

Acknowledgments

All astrological charts as well as eclipse and astro-locality maps are calculated and produced using Esoteric Technologies’ Solar Fire Gold Version 7.0.8 Sky map images are screen captures from the Pocket Universe app for iPhone, or produced by Starry Night for Windows. Storm tracks are screen captures from The Weather Channel app for iPhone. Solar activity images are screen captures from the 3D SUN app for iPhone. And earthquake maps are screen captures from Quakes Pro Earthquake Alerts app for iPhone.

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

Richard Nolle, Certified Professional Astrologer consultations/orders (AmEx/Discover/MasterCard/Visa) 800-527-8761 data/fax 480-753-6261 - email rnolle@astropro.com Box 26599 - Tempe, AZ 85285-6599 - USA www.astropro.com