Q. I
am in the midst of a beautiful and expansive,
yet frightening life transition. I closed my
longtime practice and sold my house, to travel
for a year (in December 2002). I've made
new friends and had marvelous adventures. My
typical Taurean steadfastness and groundedness
have managed amazingly well with all the changes:
a single, 51-year-old woman living out of a
small RV/van, exploring the wilds of our country.
I have finally found my "new home" in
a new state and am now yearning to put down
roots again. I’ll most likely develop
a practice here, as I had before. Is it a beneficial
time for me to be making commitments to buy
a home? Settle now? Or continue to travel
more? I am pulled in different directions and
oddly reluctant to take on the full-blown responsibilities
I've always shouldered, yet I yearn for my
own life/surroundings.
— Wondering About
Wandering
A. You certainly
are a more complex critter than the average
earthbound Sun sign. While your 10th-house
Taurus Sun is naturally grounding, its close
conjunction to natal Jupiter in Aries and
its loose involvement in a powerful angular
t-square convey a more daring spirit than
that of the typical bovine.1
As part of this t-square, your retrograde
Saturn–Neptune
conjunction straddling the IC speaks to your deep-seated
restlessness — craving security yet often feeling
tethered to life’s demands. These planets, opposed
to Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter in Aries straddling
your Midheaven, amplify your innate restiveness, quenched
only by a lifelong pursuit of philosophical studies
and travel (9th-house planets and Sun–Jupiter
conjunction). The apex of your t-square, Uranus in
Cancer in the 12th, supports all of the above while
imparting a lightning-fast, intuitive, and inquisitive
mind (square to 9th-house Mercury and Venus).
Your year-long
vision quest was invaluable, and your timing
is divine. You set off on your journey several
months after progressed Moon opposed natal
Ascendant (in August 2002), often a signal
of a major life shift. Supported by the exact
trine of progressed Sun to natal Neptune
near your IC and transiting Jupiter and Pluto
sextiling your IC, you began your personal
hajj, seeking a new life in a new home that
will both nurture your spirit and support
your being, while having grand adventures
along the way.
You found that home within
months of both progressed Moon and Venus
trining your natal IC, a sign that your
intuition led you well.2 So,
why are you now feeling conflicted, wondering
whether to continue wandering or stake your
claim? This is another manifestation of your
t-square at work, anchored by those harbingers
of unrest: Saturn–Neptune conjunct
the IC. And there’s more.
Transiting Neptune continues its square
to natal Mars (retrograde in the 4th) and
transiting Saturn squares Venus–IC,3 adding to your unease around major commitments.
What to do? Be creative; call upon your vast
reservoirs of resources (natal Pluto on the
cusp of the 2nd house trining both Jupiter
and Venus in the 10th) to create community
in your new home while remaining footloose
and fancy free until it’s
time to completely settle down. Ask yourself: “How
can I use everything I’ve got to get what
I want?”
You’ll feel more like staying put next January,
as transiting Jupiter enters your 4th house on January
2, 2005, followed by transiting Neptune’s trine
to natal IC in April. You’ll be even more fully
committed by the summer, as Saturn crosses your Ascendant
on July 7th, and feeling truly at home by the end
of the year, as transiting Neptune completes its
square to natal Mars. Meanwhile, continue to enjoy
this special time, feeding both your adventurous
spirit and your enquiring mind.