Barbara Marciniak and the Pleiadians

The winter solstice on December 21, 2004 will open a new quarter and a new year of the earth's revolution around the sun. The coming year will activate discoveries that challenge our most basic assumptions about ourselves, the planet, and the cosmos. Great courage will be needed to stretch beyond those versions of reality that we have accepted in the past as “comfortable” confines to live by. The opportunity and necessity to move forward on our path by blazing new trails will be emphasized by the celestial influences at hand in the months and year ahead.

The driving force in this surge of new energy comes from the movement of the Dragon's Head (also called the North Node of the Moon) back into the sign of Aires on December 26, 2004, just after the winter solstice. The head and tail of the dragon are two points in the heavens that mark where the sun's path and the moon's path intersect in the sky. These points were also observed by ancient astrologers to mark the general positions of solar and lunar eclipses that occurred at specific intervals. Eclipses generate powerful influences that often compel us to end old patterns and begin new phases in our lives. The Dragon's Tail, or south node, represents the places that we get caught in the loops of our past patterns, while the Dragon's Head, or north node, symbolizes the lessons we must face in order to evolve and grow in the grand cosmic game. The axis of the eclipses, characterized by the head and tail of a dragon, reminds us that it may be wiser to face our "dragons" in a “head on” approach in this lifetime instead of waiting for the "tales" of the past to whip around and catch us off guard while we think the "dragons" are sleeping.

The Dragon’s Head moves backwards through the zodiac and will move through the sign of Aires for the next year and a half until the summer solstice in June of 2006. Aries is a sign that challenges us to take actions that strengthen the courage to express our will. With the Dragon's Head transiting or moving through the fiery sign of Aires, we are being asked as individuals and as a collective to summon confidence and bravery in choosing paths that advance our evolution forward. The alternative is to remain stuck in the illusion of security that produces inertia and indecision (symbolized by the shadow side of Libra now on the Dragon's Tail). If life seems to be in a holding pattern that keeps you waiting at this time, then take a serious look at your attachments as insecurities and trust the impulse to grow.

Aires is a restless sign that stirs things up and accelerates passions. If we are indecisive or we are choosing to play it safe with what only seems familiar, then the dynamic energy of the Dragon's Head in Aires will attract struggle, more war, and conflict into our lives. Use the “sparks” of Aires to take a stronger stand for your rights and the freedom to change your reality. In the current political climate, the continued peddling of paradigms of fear and terror from the Bush administration's version of the new world order will challenge everyone to get out of their comfort zone or be trapped and “assimilated”. Agitation and anxiousness in the times ahead can be a truth barometer that alerts the “antennae” of our instincts to be aware or it can be a frustrating sign that we are fearfully resisting impulses of movement and that we have not developed clear intentions with an ability to execute them.

In the beginning of the year, while the Dragon's Head is tracking backwards over the 29th degree of Aires, resolve to create and clarify your plans and intentions. The 29th degree of any sign represents the cumulative power of that sign and Aires is a sign that supports the powers of intention making. The cycle of the Dragon's head and tail moving around the zodiac takes approximately 19 years, and so the plans and intentions you focus on while the Dragon's Head is in Aires will not only affect your “now” but also the next 19 years and beyond, along the lines of time that stream out from the "nanosecond."

The Pleiadians have taught us that in order to bend reality and use our will we must first have intentions, followed by expectations, and actions in order to achieve results. Likewise, without a strong emotional desire connected to our intention we are likely to get stuck in the fears and doubts of the unconscious “potato field” of the mind. The shadow side of the Dragon's Head in Aires is obsession with worry and self-doubt that undermines our intentions. If we can uncover and weed out the deeply rooted layers of fear entangled within us, throughout the many lines of time, then our courage can propel us to new heights and vistas of possibility. Deep physical and emotional therapies will promote that process through the year ahead.

Aries, in mythology, is the warrior and the codes of the warrior are strategy, courage, strength, and honor. What are your strategies and intentions? How deep is your desire to achieve your goals? Are your fears and disbelief stronger than your courage to manifest what you desire? Strength begins within and the stronger and more flexible we are in our physical and energetic bodies, then the more our mind will feel supported to bend and shape reality. Now, with the Dragon's Head in Aires, endeavor to take your physical form and your emotional body to a new level of power. Be disciplined and be determined to amaze yourself with a command of new abilities and strengths. Then reflect on your accomplishments and honor the teachers, the gifts, and the challenges that have supported you in claiming your power.

In mid-January courage and clarity will prove useful as the planet Saturn forms a 150-degree relationship, called a quincunx aspect in astrology, to the planet Pluto on January 19th. This aspect is part of a larger cycle involving Saturn and Pluto that culminated in 2001 when Saturn formed an opposition to Pluto. That opposition brought a sharp focus to the polarities of power in our world and it initiated the breakdown and dismantling of the structures we had blindly placed our security in. The cycle is waning now and this quincunx aspect between Saturn and Pluto punctuates the integrity needed to distinguish what real authority (Saturn) and power (Pluto) are all about for each of us as individuals.

Saturn is the planet with the rings or “loops” that surround it. With Saturn and Pluto aligned with each other we can navigate outside the repeating "loops" and become “ringmasters” at a turning point in the game of power. Quincunxes call for a “critical adjustment” and purging of what has become dysfunctional. And with Saturn quincunx Pluto, on the day before the US presidential inauguration on January 20th, the stage is set over the next few years for those who have misused power and authority at the highest levels to be "adjusted" and held accountable for their plans and actions.

In February, Jupiter turns retrograde (apparent backward motion) in the sign of Libra and will expand themes of faith, justice, and balance in our lives. Jupiter will turn retrograde at 18 degrees of Libra on February 1st and this also marks the cross-quarter point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox known in old Europe as Imbolc or Candlemas. This time of the year calls for ceremonies to invoke clearing and renewal and with Jupiter turning retrograde (until early June) there is a need to turn our attention inward in order to better develop the internal balance of our energies. Libra is a sign that underscores the polarities or opposing forces in our lives. With Jupiter turning retrograde, the resolving of polarities and judgments within will go a long way towards diffusing the external polarities we face in the world around us if we can trust the wisdom that presents itself upon reflection.

On February 9th the Chinese Year of the Rooster begins on the day after the new Moon in Aquarius. Rooster years are a wake-up call to pay attention and articulate your truth. Another image that the Rooster symbolizes is the mythical figure of the Phoenix, a creature that undergoes intense purification or “trial by fire” and rises from the ashes to be reborn and renewed. Call on the Phoenix energy for courage to assist you in transforming the vibrations of fear within yourself and the world around you into the courage to fly with your dreams and express your ideas throughout the year ahead. When the Rooster crows at dawn we are called to get up and take action, so intend to be bold like the Rooster and display your creative colors this year with passion and humor.

Courageous self-expression, laughter, and creative play all strengthen the nervous system, and on February 21st the strength of our collective nervous systems will be tested when Chiron enters Aquarius. Chiron will make its entrance into Aquarius from now until July and then after a brief retrograde back into Capricorn, Chiron will move forward into Aquarius again from December of 2005 until February of 2011. Chiron is the wounded healer and with Chiron in Aquarius the deep wounds of the mind and nervous system are in great need of healing in the months and years ahead. Chiron acts as a catalyst and since Aquarius reflects our state of mind, the movement of Chiron into Aquarius will trigger our mental stability. If we have grounded ourselves with the physical, emotional, and psychological tools and methods to balance the mind, then Chiron in Aquarius (the sign that symbolizes freedom) will liberate us from the painful wounds of abuse, abandonment, and rejection stored in the multi-layered levels of the mind through time. Otherwise, if we are in the resistance of denial and have not done the grounding work, we may experience mental breakdowns or projection of our wounds onto others as Chiron in Aquarius stirs a deep desire to release the traumas and thoughts that have imprisoned our consciousness for eons. Reframe your beliefs and intend to face your wounds and projections at this time with profound courage, care, and compassion.

Mercury turns retrograde at the very end of the quarter on March 19th in the sign of Aires. This re-emphasizes the need for courage and planning ahead in our lives. The three-week period before Mercury turns retrograde is called the “foreshadow” period of the Mercury retrograde cycle. It is essential that we pay close attention in the period before Mercury retrograde because this is an important time to organize our thoughts and prepare our lives for the new directions we want to explore. Now, with the head of the Dragon awakened in Aires and the flying phoenix at play in a primordial dance of power, the new directions we explore can take us far beyond our "now" onto the lines of time that travel throughout the cosmos. Science now confirms that double stars that dance around each other, like the phoenix and the dragon, are as common as single stars. So, remember that somewhere in time and space we have courageously shared the roles of power and we have danced this dance before.