PREVIOUS THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY January 11 2010 to January 17 2010 Monday January 11 Super Juper! Often, the first bright light in the sky each night comes from Venus. She never stays out for long though. This planet of love and inspiration is always close to the Sun. She either sets soon after nightfall or rises early to become a herald of the dawn. But right now, Venus is so close to our star that the Sun's light is completely drowning her out. So what then, is that bright planet we can see briefly, soon after sunset? It's Jupiter, traditional omen of hope. Jupiter is now in a most positive position, as I'll explain tomorrow. Tuesday January 12 High Fives Whenever planets are 72 degrees apart, astrologers get excited. You get 72 when you divide the zodiac circle of 360 degrees by five. Five is a magical number that represents 'seizing the moment'. Look at where it appears in nature. On each of your hands, for example. Or on Somei Yoshino, the 'healing' Japanese cherry blossoms. Currently, Jupiter and Saturn are separated by 144 degrees; so they are two fifths of the zodiac apart. That's a state of hopeful harmony, made all the stronger by the fact that we can currently see both planets in the sky each night. Wednesday January 13 Saturn Pattern We spoke, yesterday, about an auspicious alignment of Jupiter and Saturn, 'triggering' the zodiac's 'fifth harmonic'. Saturn, meanwhile, offers us two symbolic optical illusions. Last year, it hid its rings by tilting them so they could no longer be seen from Earth. Now, it's visible each night and, in a telescope, you can see those rings reappearing. Plus, where usually Saturn shifts slowly across the sky each night, it is now seemingly 'stationary', prior to a phase of 'retrograde motion'. It is as if the planet of limitation is 'backing away' in deference to the planet of possibility! Thursday January 14 Night Lights To see planets in the night sky, you need good weather. Even with no cloud, you won't see much from a built-up area. I remember once, driving through the night and seeing a bright glow in the East. 'That's odd,' I thought. 'It's too early for sunrise.' But it wasn't dawn. It was a city full of street lights. Tonight, those lucky enough to have a clear view can see Jupiter, Saturn and Mars. Even the Moon, which often drowns out fainter objects, won't be a problem. It's rapidly waning in preparation for this weekend's historic solar eclipse. Friday January 15 Read My Eclipse To catch the greatest show on earth today, you'd need to be in Uganda, Kenya, The Maldives, Southern India, Northern Sri Lanka, Myanmar, China's Yunnan and Sichuan provinces or the Shandong peninsula. There, you'd witness a spectacular solar eclipse, where the Moon appears slightly smaller than the Sun, creating a breathtaking ring of fire in the longest annular eclipse for a thousand years. Happily, to benefit from this, you need not see it. Wherever you are, whatever sign you belong to, there'll come a moment, this weekend, when the 'usual rules' no longer apply... in the nicest possible way. Saturday January 16 Back to the Future Mercury has been retrograde since late last month. Mars too, is now moving seemingly backwards through the zodiac. Though Mars won't change direction for a good few weeks to come, Mercury turns 'direct' this week. That, plus the New Moon, tells us that - even if so far 2010 has not yet 'felt' very different - the changes are due to start rolling in thick and fast, as of this week. If you've made a resolution that you're feeling frustrated about because you have found yourself unable to keep it, don't give up. Give it another go. You may just find that now, something starts to 'click'. Sunday January 17 Week Ahead Part Two - Love Focus Mercury has been retrograde since late last month. Mars too, is now moving seemingly backwards through the zodiac. Though Mars won't change direction for a good few weeks to come, Mercury turns 'direct' this week. That, plus the New Moon, tells us that - even if so far 2010 has not yet 'felt' very different - the changes are due to start rolling in thick and fast, as of this week. If you've made a resolution that you're feeling frustrated about because you have found yourself unable to keep it, don't give up. Give it another go. You may just find that now, something starts to 'click'. Back to Index   Click here for Jonathan Cainer's Daily Zodiac Forecasts