Celestial Weather: 2002 Overview
by Mikki Sligh

Astrology is simply a language that describes our connection with the cosmos, symbolized by the ever-changing movement of the planets. It describes resonance, or different types of energy. The energy can be likened to a battery, with a positive end and a negative end ... and somewhere in-between. It's your choice, or free will, to decide which end you're going to use.

If you have information about which astrological "batteries" are activated and how they behave, and what they trigger, you can recognize when they are manifesting in a way that you can either welcome or modify for more constructive use. This is an attempt to give you a more complete picture, the light as well as the shadows, for better "time-management" and decisions. Astrological language communicates trends and cycles that apply to all of us, so following are the general influences for the coming year.

We look to the slower moving planets, Jupiter through Pluto, for a panoramic view because they take longer to transit, or travel, a sign (and therefore a certain area of your chart, affecting a certain part of your life): anywhere from about eleven months to thirteen years. Their affect is often felt more subtly over the long term - but oh, what a difference! when it's all said and done.

These planets indicate our soul lessons and inner growth through the experiences they symbolize, as well as link us to others within a particular age group for a generational, or collective, experience. This is why some change feels beyond our control - but what we can change is our response to it.

The eclipses, Mercury retrogrades, and main planetary configurations fall mostly in the fire and air signs of Sagittarius, Aquarius, Gemini,and Leo during 2002. These symbolize issues and events, personal, local and global, that have to do with inspiration and information. That means ideas, communication, technology, inventions, politics, religion, education, publishing, advertising, philosophy - you get the picture. Particularly active times for this are May, June, November and December.