ASTROLOGY 2004 FOR ALL SIGNS - THE YEAR OF THE WOOD MONKEY

by Robert Wilkinson

Begins Jan 22 2004, ends Feb 8 2005.

This year is similar to last year, but different in some important ways. In 2003, the Water Goat helped us with our feelings and associations. Last year offered a special talent for intuiting the most subtle aspects of situations and people, offering us chances to cultivate an ability to pick up on nuances, hints, suggestions of how things and people are, and what was to come. We were working at how to recognize subtle impressions and instinctive knowledge, and hopefully began to be alert to excessive egocentricity and preoccupation with self-reflective images.

We needed to sharpen our inner radar through gentle but firm routines, and find those who would applaud us for our creative offerings. We also had to practice showing and recognizing forms of appreciating self and others, and push on and leap the hurdles, regardless of how hesitant we felt. We were allowed to explore pleasant forms of fantasy, and put our genius to practical use, make contacts, open doors, and jump at opportunity. We learned how to avoid any sense of martyrdom, stop whining and complaining, or accepting guilt that we weren't taking care of others the way they wanted. As I said last year, they'll get by, and so will you. And we have. That being said, we are now in the new year, that of the Wood Monkey.

Contradictory and joyous, Monkey energy is mischievous, high spirited, and sociable, but also very emotional, capricious, insecure, ego-driven and sometimes too careless. They are playful, likeable, and clever, but also consider themselves a cut above the other signs. Monkeys are faithful, autonomous, candid, altruistic, and entertainers. Natural teachers, they like to learn, as they have a great yearning for knowledge. They indulge in games, plots and plans, and want to manage things from places of concealment or safety. They may seem to know everything about everything, having numerous facts and figures on hand about what's going on in every aspect of their world. They tend to rely on their great memory, which gives them access to all the details that the others signs learn and then forget (with the obvious exceptions of the Rat and Tiger, who overlook NOTHING!) However, the Monkey really needs more discipline and organization regarding what they know. They don't adhere very well to deadlines, and coercions don't work with them, since they're usually much more clever than those trying to manipulate them into something.

They can solve many problems too difficult for other signs, as they are very ingenious, original and inventive. They thrive on challenges, and can sort out a mess faster than anyone else. Monkey see-Monkey do is an example of their great dexterity and ability to mimic others as they learn to manipulate the various objects of their world. They tend to lose interest in things quickly, so when an idea strikes them, it's get with it or lose it. The Monkey is a tease, and so clever as to be able to outwit most others. Very independent, those of this sign know how to use diplomacy to extricate themselves from some very difficult situations. Of course, their questionable motives or tactics often make it necessary for them to do this, and because they often get away with things, they have a sense of infallibility that eventually creates the very problems from which they must extricate themselves. They can be a lot of fun, but don't like to be confined.

Monkey energy must learn honesty with others, and not stretch things past reasonable limits. Monkeys tend to talk too much. Cultivating a conscience will make doors open for them magically, and once past their tendency to get too tricky or exaggerate, their clarity and collaborative skills will bring them success. They are so likeable that others will usually forgive them much, and their charm brings them and opportunity together in some very interesting ways. They are kind and indulgent, and others seek out the Monkey because of their intelligence, wit, skill and ability to learn quickly.

IN THE YEAR OF THE MONKEY:

Expect the unexpected, try to slow down a little and look before you leap, regardless of how quickly things present themselves. This is a year where the cosmic Joker rules, so adapt, learn, move fast, and get it done. It won't be boring this year, with tricks and possible deceptions everywhere. However, the Monkey often gets caught in a trap when it can't let go, so be careful what you grasp this year, even if it seems like you're outside the cage and it's inside. Launch projects, figure out what not to take too seriously, and use as much common sense and intelligence as possible. Satisfy curiosity, and cultivate diplomacy, courage, and devotion as things get very chaotic in these years. Know when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em this year, don't get too tricky, learn the rules of the games you're in, and refine your sense of timing through patient, careful observation.

The year of The Wood Monkey is a time to be out and about doing what must be done to secure your future. So build, increase your output, improve your environment, and make your world a better place. This energy heightens sociability on a practical level, with projects leading to friendships and vise-versa. Go different places, meet different people, cultivate different kinds of friendships. Go to parties, be creative in making your own, and learn how to get along with people without being fooled.

Use your intelligence, cultivate independence and playful enthusiasm, and be lucid and inventive while trying to take it easy. This year good-natured charm will not necessarily lead to long-lasting friendships, so examine your inner blocks to intimacy, as knowledge of self and others is the key to successful interactions. This is a year to be helpful and generous, but also patient as you allow things to develop naturally, without haste or agitation. Beware of those in a rush, and those who have little compassion for human weakness and frailty. Be alert to those who seem too adolescent, tricky, vain, opportunistic, unfaithful, or untrustworthy. Learn to listen to others, and feel what they're saying and where they're coming from. Don't let others' impatience lead to negative feelings on your part, especially when it seems like they're being too critical regarding slower, more methodical approaches.

This is a year to cultivate the better parts of your nature. Your sense of humor, sense of humility, sense of adventure and experimentation, and sense of love amidst the jibes and jokes, games and parties. The Wood Monkey is a time of achievement, of getting ahead, of studying things so you can win in admirable fashion, without tricks. And if you are in a competition, study the opposition's flaws, since this year is great for picking things apart and outwitting obstacles on your path to self-realization and fulfillment. Be genial and easygoing, and learn to relax throughout the hectic pace of events. Learn to listen to others more carefully, with sensitivity and attention, to deepen both new and old friendships.

Famous Wood Monkeys are: Walter Huston, Eleanor Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Ezra Pound, Paul Foster Case, Dianna Ross, Danny Di Vito, George Lucas, Rod Stewart, Joe Cocker, Brenda Lee, Cathrine Jones, and Michael Meade. Other Monkeys of history were: Julius Caesar, Leonardo Da Vinci, Gaugin, Winslow Homer, Byron, Milton, Alexandre Dumas, Buster Keaton, Captain Cook, Fellini, Elizabeth Taylor, Susan B. Anthony, William Jennings Bryan, and other Presidents Grover Cleveland, Calvin Coolidge, and LBJ.

OTHER INFLUENCES

Neptune is still septile Pluto this year. As I've mentioned in other articles, it's back to the 1930's with an emphasis on seeing how extremism with irrationality leads to Fascism in many forms, including our present national and international violence. This year Pluto moves between 21-23 Sagittarius, a span bringing forth imitation, imagination, a return to roots, new openings, and reorientation. Neptune moves between 12-16 Aquarius, so examine the different levels of awareness in those around you, divorce the past, learn to read your inner barometer accurately to find shortcuts in your evolution, and remember that we all stand on the threshold of major decisions which require that we learn how to manage something. Uranus has been on Precessional point, and is now in Pisces for the next 7 years. The Precessional effect is that we are collectively awakening to a vaster, weird reality. The unexpected forces of change and transformation are showing us the larger individuation issues of the human race at this point in its collective evolution. And larger effects are now in play due to Mars' transit through Pisces last Summer.

This year the Jupiter square Pluto effect dominates through August, and primarily affects those born 2nd or 3 week of March, June, Sept, and Dec. There is a need for positive Gemini and Pisces actions, as these are the antidotes to the square. We learned mature skills and disciplines when Saturn was in Gemini in May and June 2002; these became effective between January and March 2003. We'll need that understanding now. And as I mentioned, we were given a chance to practice the Pisces skills we will need last year, especially during late November through early December.

Another big influence is the Saturn quincunx Neptune and then Pluto. This puts us all under an off-set Yod, or "Finger of God." It's in effect early this year, and will be a major influence again in June and early July. This quincunx forces adjustments wherever we have Saturn or Neptune, the houses they rule, especially between June and August. Initially, the Jupiter-Neptune quincunx throws productive energies into Sagittarius 12/16. Since Pluto was on these points all 2001 and June through October 2002, we were shown the seeds of purification and/or power that we need this year. Look to your Aries/Scorpio sectors to see where productive transformation happened.

Saturn will quincunx Pluto July through August, again in December 2004 and January 2005, finishing May through early June 2005. So we first get the Neptune adjustment, then the results later on from Pluto transforming the areas touched by Saturn. Productive Saturn-Pluto energies will be thrown to Aquarius 20/24/24, which are degrees of the manifestation of forms of the Holy Spirit and an ability to teach others through genuine dispassion born of our life experience. Uranus transitted these points at various points in 2001, during January, March-April, July-August, and January 2002. These times offered us productive revolutions in the house Aquarius occupies in our charts, and shows us how to be productive in the midst of the adjustments to come this summer and winter. Neptune will cross these points 2006-2009, giving us all a heads-up on what's to come collectively.

In any case, Saturn continues to be the focus of a Yod between 12-24 Cancer, forcing expansions through sacrifices in that area of the life. July-August will be irritable due to Saturn sesquisquare Uranus. However, Saturn's favorable sextile/quintile by Jupiter throughout the year favors practical expansions, health improvements, and productive change of habits.

The Jupiter-Saturn sextile threw interlocking Yod energies to Aquarius 14 this past October, and will focus on Aquarius 8-10 in April-May 2004. The Yod will be in force for the 2nd decan of Aquarius through the summer, forming an exact aspect from 21-24 Aquarius in August-September. So there continue to be a wide range of Aquarius expansions through sacrifices wherever it falls in your chart. The early points involve seeing what's coming, launching the new vision, and withdrawing from projections, reevaluating whatever you need to in human or group relations.

This coming August-September Yod involves disappointments, learning resiliency and appreciation, building your divine vehicle, and continuing to use your experience to teach wisdom. Neptune crossed the April-May points in 2002, and crosses the August-September points between 2007-2009. That's when the collective unconscious moves with the lessons already awakened by Uranus in 2001. So you can see that the outer invisibles are leading us to a span of collective reckoning around the latter part of this decade, involving issues of management.

Throughout the year there occur what I term "collective storms;" these are aspect patterns that create stress, release, or intense activity for everyone. So if you see that everyone else is losing their cool during these times, just try to get through them with maximum helpfulness and minimum distress. In 2004, some of the more obvious collective storms will occur in late December 2003 and early January 2004, February 6-13, the last week of February, March 7-14, last week of March, April 22-24, April 29-May 4, May 25-June 4, June 10-15, last week of July, mid-August, September 6-13, November 1-10, and December 6-15.

Mercury retrograde periods for 2004 are: December 17 2003 thru January 5 2004 (SRX 13 Capricorn, SD 27 Sagittarius), April 5-29 (SRX 2 Taurus SD 22 Aries), August 9-31 (SRX 9 Virgo, SD 26 Leo), and November 29-December 19 (SRX 27 Sagittarius, SD 11 Sagittarius) The important thing to remember is that 13 Capricorn was the theme of last year, and we just got a chance to look back to see how we transcended our lesser self. The 27 Sagittarius SR point next December echos the January 2004 SD point.

Please reference other articles on this site to find out more about this extraordinary opportunity to become a sculptor of your own life. This year we are learning to express our individuality by using available materials to shape our reality to reveal to others something of our inner life and purpose.

© Copyright 2006 Robert Wilkinson. Last update: 8/27/2006; 10:50:24 AM.