The challenge this past year has been keeping your head above the fear as the issue of personal security and financial safety into the future becomes the great focus. People seem to hate each other more than ever. The divisions out there are bigger and they’re willing to express this through bombs, guns, missiles and high-tech weapons. What happened to the new millennium of change? Where will all this divisiveness end?

     Underneath all this chaos and talk of war and religious clashes, there is another spirit emerging. You will not see it in the pages of the daily paper or on the television news at night. But you will see it in the eyes of those you love around you. People are more prepared to commit help and time to each other simply because the events of the last year and a half have shaken many belief systems to the core.

     Part of this has come from the major Saturn/Pluto opposition of 2001/02, the transit that has set a new order in motion with the destruction of the old. What are the prospects then for 2003?

     The chief patterns for 2003 include the shift of several major planets into new signs, the most important being the move of the great awakener, Uranus, from Aquarius, the Air sign, into the Water sign of Pisces in March. As well, Jupiter, the planet of expansion, moves into Virgo in August and Saturn, the responsible and ordered one moves into Cancer, another Water sign, in June.

     URANUS into Pisces - planet of dramatic change, aviation, technology, astrology, inventions and the patron of rebellion comes into the cosmic waters of Pisces from the 10th of March for the next seven years. Uranus was last there in 1919 to 1927, the recovery period after the First World War, the "roaring twenties" and the Modernist art revolution.

     Pisces is the path to the divine and the link to our cosmic side. It’s also the sign of compassion, the etheric and the very subtle material beyond the physical. With Neptune, ruler of Pisces, covering the sea, artistic and sensitive natures, the immune system and more, we can expect big breakthroughs in health-related areas, such as the psycho-emotional mechanisms in the body.

     Telepathy, psychic phenomena and parapsychology are likely to swing hugely into mass popularity. Shows such as John Edward’s "Crossing Over" will become bigger and more widespread on TV. Technology will be used to communicate with the other side. Strange things may begin to happen with computers and other high-tech equipment, which includes the growth of harder to identify virus attacks on systems, as well as strange anomalies being picked up via computers. At times, peculiar problems may beset computer systems, which technicians will have big trouble diagnosing. The move of Uranus into Pisces will strongly affect all Pisces, Geminis, Virgos and Sagittarians.

     JUPITER into Virgo - With Jupiter running through fiery Leo still for the first six months, the continued focus is on growth, expansion, creativity and the role of leaders. Aries, Leo and Sagg will continue to benefit from this energy. Then, in late August, the Jupiter shift comes to Virgo.

     Since Virgo rules issues of work, health, the body and medicine, it will assist breakthroughs in these fields, especially while it moves into opposition to Uranus in Pisces in August/September. We may see a lot of focus on the importance of healthy practices and the use of sound health support systems at work in the office and work place, to boost employees’ longevity. The Earth signs Virgo, Capricorn and Taurus will benefit most from this shift in the second half of the year.

     SATURN into Cancer - The last two years have seen Saturn in Gemini and with the opposition to Pluto in Sagg happening in 2001/02, beginning the largest political, economic and sociological shift in the world since the Second World War. Events include attacks on America, collapse of the Taliban, the rise of Muslim fundamentalism, loss of civil liberties in the USA, rise of the new racism over Arabs and refugees, collapse of large multinational companies, and threats of war and fear in the Middle East and almost every Western country.

     With Saturn moving into the water sign Cancer in early June 2003, where it will be for two and a half years, the energy focus will move to family, home, business, real estate, the oceans, mothering, relationships and career changes.

     With Saturn in Cancer, we can expect a strong focus on those issues, patriotism and loyalty to the motherland being very important ones. Countries like Australia and Indonesia with Capricorn Suns and the USA, Canada, Algeria, the Solomons, the Philippines and Republic of Iraq, all with Cancer Suns, will be very strongly affected. So, too, will countries with Aries/Libra, such as China, Kampuchea, Pakistan, Iran and Nigeria. People with the cardinal signs Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn will experience it the strongest. The final energy chapter of Pluto opposite Saturn will occur in February/March 2003.

     In June/July 2003, both Saturn and Uranus are in Water signs, and they find themselves in a positive, creative trine aspect (120 degrees) to each other. At this time it’s likely new inventions will surface that will be a help to mankind and new approaches will be developed to change business and science practices. This gives us hope for the future of alternative sources of fuel and new travel technologies.

     MARS and SATURN reach perihelion - because all planets actually move in an elliptical orbit (not a circle), there are times they are closer to the Sun (perihelion) and others where they are farthest way (aphelion).

     During 2003 both Mars and Saturn will reach perihelion points, where they are both at their closest to the Sun. The last time the two were in perihelion in the same year was 1915, in the midst of World War I. Mars reaches this point on the 30th of August at 6 degrees Pisces, and Saturn is there at perihelion on July 26 at 4 degrees Cancer.

     Mars is also at its closest to the Earth during its two-yearly retrograde phase from the 29th of July until the 27th of September. Because of this, we will see Mars in the sky brighter than any other object, bar the Sun and the Moon, for that two-month period. Martian energy will be impacting strongly on the Earth. Mars will also join up with Uranus moving into Pisces and the two are together in June 2003 and September/October 2003.

     Mars rules our base chakra, our sexual focus and functions. Mars also governs our capacity to use creative energy to initiate action. When it works well, it’s assertively applied with strength, and confidence. Mars is about leadership, self-reliance, audacity, courage, passion, and will.

     Negatively, Mars is force used destructively and manipulatively on the planet. So, Mars is the planet of war. Without love, Mars is power in conflict. Used wrongly, it’s about survival issues and fear of not having enough. There can be a need to control and exploit others or one’s environment for personal gain. There is an inability to trust self, the Earth and to not experience the connection between the two.

     So, these two Mars/Uranus periods will be likely times of increased tension, anger, accidents, sudden breakdowns, resolution of tough issues and high stress levels. In the Northern Hemisphere, this will be the peak of summer, the fire season and the hurricane/typhoon season. Expect much tension around the world from June to October.

     Other times of peak activity in 2003 include the passes of several inner planets to the 4th of December Solar eclipse point in late January, early February/March and then again with the next total Lunar eclipse on May 16, the Wesak Full Moon, which will set off the previous powerful Lunar eclipse point of the 20th of November 2002.

     One final set of eclipses occurs in November 2003, with a total Lunar and Solar in Taurus and Sagittarius. The Lunar eclipse is at the middle Taurus/Scorpio degree, quite a powerful one, and the Solar eclipse is at the first degree of Sagittarius, a very formative degree.

     This will be the year of the beginning of new cycles, although much rubbish still remains to be cleared inside each of us, and in the world. Patterns from the last two years continue, while the new forces begin their first rise to the Sun, like germinating seeds.