capricorn march 2009

March it appears you're ready to roll up your sleeves and start making decisions. Your natural tendency for caution is now being balanced by a strong desire for change. This is a good sign because it shows you're feeling confident.

You seem to have become more aware that to create change you have to begin with an open attitude and a willingness to experiment. Whenever we try something new, there's always a small risk that we might not like what we create, but if we don't, there is always a chance to start over. The bigger risk is to not change, but if we don't, it's a sure thing we'll feel stuck - and make ourselves unhappy!

With Saturn, planet of the establishment, in a tug of war with Uranus, the innovator this year, you will soon find yourself moving into an exciting phase. You may not know precisely where you are heading just yet, but trust your intuition, for it will not let you down.

The first half of March will be similar to February in that you will still need to spend for things you need. You seem to be spending much more money than usual these days, but you may have planned for a major expenditure or you may still be paying for holiday gifts on your credit card statements.

On March 8, you may be more worried than usual about paying a debt - it may be a credit card bill or a check you need to write for taxes, for example. Whatever it is, the matter seems to be having a depressing effect. On that weekend, Saturn will conjoin the Sun, a rather sobering aspect. The Sun rules your eighth house of credit and financial obligations, and over this weekend you appear to be very concerned over covering that debt. Alternatively, it may be that you won't be able to collect certain funds you expected, say, from your ex for child support, and that may have you worried.

It may help to know that as soon as Mars leaves Aquarius on March 14, you should see an immediate drop in the many expenses you have had to juggle. Relief is on the way, dear Capricorn. While March 8 may be a difficult day, when certain realities will be hammered home, at least you have a good, strong outlook for finances over the long haul.

Indeed, Capricorn is in a fine financial reward phase and last month you may have already seen this to be true when you received a raise or won a new job with a good salary. If not, keep working hard - more money is on the way.

I will admit, just in the past week I have met two Capricorn who say they have no money because they are out of work. If this is true for you, try taking a completely different approach. Also, make sure you are being completely realistic in the way you are searching for your job. Jupiter conjunct Neptune can make you live a dream, but it may be a dream that is not based in reality.

For example, one young woman, 24, told me she desperately wanted to get a job, but she's been completely unable to do so. We had first met at an Apple store in Los Angeles when I was making an appearance there in November, but since then she says nothing has changed. She is still living at home with her mother, and is not searching for a job because she still says she can't decide what she wants to do. She was wondering if she should join her family's tow truck business, but it sounded like no job for a young woman! (Just looking at her face told me, no, this is not the answer.)

She said she wanted to sing for a living, but had never had voice training nor had ever gone to one audition. She does have the moon in Taurus, an indication of talent that could be developed, but she certainly wasn't doing that. She had dropped out of college and has no idea how to get a job.

I asked, "Don't you want your own apartment some day, and have friends who can come by to see you? Wouldn't you like to be married someday and even have a baby?" She wanted all of these things but she has never moved out of her mother's home, and now her siblings are giving her a hard time about getting her life in gear.

There are things we can do at 24 that would be unacceptable at 34, sad at 44, and completely pathetic at 54. Unless we grow and mature, we become out of sync with other people of our generation. For some reason, this lovely young woman had never considered this, and it seemed that she has been afraid to dip her toe in the sea of life. She was dreaming a dream of life, but she never walked out of the movie theatre of her mind to live that ideal life she had imagined. She was born with Jupiter conjunct Neptune, so it's clear her imagination is vivid, but in her case, it reminded me of the character Mia Farrow plays in "Purple Rose of Cairo!"

As we talked, she casually mentioned that she speaks fluent Arabic. Apparently she is sitting on a gold mine, but she has never thought to use her power. She asked, "Do you think anyone would hire me for that ability?" Of course they would! Sometimes we have amazing gifts but we never think to share them because, in this young woman's words, she assumed speaking Arabic was "no big deal." In truth, her possibilities are limitless!

Another Capricorn, 33, told me he refused to take any job that was beneath him. He earned an advanced graduate degree from a top Ivy League university almost two years ago, but has not worked since graduation. He had majored in banking and finance, and hopes to work on a hedge fund - the very part of the banking industry that is firing, not hiring, people.

When I last ran into this young man on the street recently, he said he could no longer pay his rent and was battling eviction. He told me he was sticking to his guns, however, and refusing work that was beneath him. I never used to hear stories like this, but they seem to be coming up more frequently lately.

In both cases, these individuals have so much to share, but for some reason were not able to put their talents to good use. I could not help but feel that in many ways fantasy was getting in the way. In the first case, the young woman wants a chance to sing despite no training or auditions. In the second case, the young man wanted to work on a hedge fund as a first job, despite having never worked anywhere, at any job, since graduation in June 2007 and despite a horrible market for new recruits in the hedge fund arena.

Be flexible and realistic. If you have had problems getting work, move to higher ground as soon as possible. Choose a strong company that you would like to join, and try to get your foot in the door. Even if the job you are hired for is not quite the job you had hoped to get, once you are inside the palace gate, you can show how eager, hard working, and smart you are. Be willing to do whatever you have to do to build security and get ahead. As the saying goes, "Talent will out." Soon your strengths will be obvious to your boss and you will move up.

Experts disagree about how long the global recession will last, but according to my calculations it looks like it will be an agonizingly slow recovery, lasting until October 2012. A university degree and top grades do not guarantee a free pass - personality, passion, and drive counts for a lot, too.

Dear Capricorn, you ARE in a fantastic trend for making an excellent salary - actually you are the one sign most favored over any other in 2009 - but you have to start by being realistic.