Leo Horoscope for July 2009

It’s the time of the year that the eclipses are due, and this time we will see an unusual set of circumstances. Instead of the typical two eclipses, for they always come in pairs, there will be three. The first will arrive as a full moon lunar eclipse on July 7 in Capricorn. The second will be a new moon solar eclipse on July 21 in Cancer, and the third, a second full moon lunar eclipse, will fall on August 5 in your opposite sign of Aquarius.

That last one, due next month, will be the one to watch. The only exception to that rule would be if you have Cancer or Capricorn rising, or if you have those planets very prominent in your natal chart. In that case, the others will be important, too. No reason to wonder - just sit back. You will find out soon enough.

Eclipses are the most powerful tool that the universe uses to create massive, dramatic change. Leos and Aquarians are at the end of a period where eclipses came by in those signs every six months since 2007. After this, you will be able to rest.

Eclipses test the strength of our resolve and of our relationships. They question our motivations, courage, determination, and goals. The interesting part of life is that it is not the set of circumstances that you are given that matters, but your response to them. Give the same pressures and same type of opportunities to ten people and you will get ten different reactions. The pressures and opportunities may be identical, but the responses will differ, and in that sense, by living life, you learn quite a bit about yourself. After next month’s eclipse is over, you will not have any more eclipses in Leo or Aquarius for the coming nine years.

Next month’s eclipse will fall on August 5 in your house of partnership, and that’s where you may see a dramatic development. You may get engaged or married within days of this date, or you may decide to break up. You may sign a business partner, manager, or agent, or develop an existing business partnership into something new and more sophisticated.

I feel the eclipse will be positive and encouraging - not at all like some of the monster eclipses you’ve felt over the past years - so I see no reason for you to be anxious.

If you were born on or near August 5, your whole life will have a very different feel in the coming year. We will talk about that eclipse in detail next month as I continue your Eclipse Watch series, but we have plenty to look at this month too, so let’s get to that.

I said that you would not feel this month’s eclipses much at all, but there is one additional exception to that general rule. If you were born at the very start of Leo, say, near July 22-26, you will feel the July 21 eclipse because of what astrologers call an “out of sign conjunction to your Sun.” That solar eclipse is at 29 degrees of Cancer, the very last degree before the Sun moves into the next sign. Therefore, this eclipse will be within the standard five-degree tolerance for an eclipse to be felt. If your birthday was named, circle July 21, plus or minus five days, on your calendar. That will be a solar eclipse, opening a brand new path. It’s all for good.

I will come back to July 21 later in your report here, but first, let’s start at the top of the month and see how the month begins and builds. We never experience an eclipse (or any other aspect for that matter) in a vacuum. We come to it with a package of experiences, relationships, dreams, goals, accomplishments, and maybe one or two past disappointments. We need to factor those experiences into the mix too, as we approach each eclipse.

On July 1, Uranus will go retrograde, not to regulate its orbit until December 1. It is common for the big planets, the ones that spin on the outer edge of our solar system, to retrograde for five months at a time. It does this every year. Uranus rules your partnership sector, so you or your partner may change your mind about staying together, or change the timetable for a plan you had made for the future. Because the seventh house, ruling partnership, rules not only marriage and established relationships but also contractual business agreements, you may see a change in either type of relationship.

Watch the days that surround July 1 to see if you hear anything from your partner, or feel any different yourself. If you do change your mind regarding your romantic or business partner, I feel that financial considerations may be the reason. I say that because Uranus is currently touring your eighth house of shared financial resources and is opposed to Saturn, also in a financial house. Saturn may be forcing you to be very realistic.

If you are thinking of getting engaged or are about to sign a contract, you may want to do a credit and background check on your proposed partner as a precaution. I find it interesting that there will be a full moon lunar eclipse next month in the very area of your chart that Uranus rules, your seventh house of partnership. Eclipses bring illumination, so just stay open to any news that the eclipse may deliver.

A full moon eclipse (August 5) brings things to a final conclusion. You may still be going ahead with plans, but you may change some of the details. For example, you may be planning to marry next month, but if you get a new prestigious job this month, you may need to scale back on your honeymoon so you can start your new job when the company needs you to begin.

I can think of other instances. You may have planned to marry and your fiance says he’d like to go to graduate school immediately, putting off an entry into the job market. With income about to be reduced, this change may force you to delay plans to wed. Things could work other ways. A pregnancy may speed up a wedding date. Or, news that your partner has been unfaithful to you could force a breakup. There are all sorts of possibilities.

The same is true in business, too - things come up. If you are already married or in a close business partnership, and are happy, you may simply change your mind about moving ahead now on a goal you had discussed together.

Keep in mind that the August 5 eclipse is there to protect you, so trust in the wisdom of the universe. I don’t really see any evidence of the more unhappy possible outcomes, but I am duty bound to report them, because I cannot see everything going on in your chart.

Now let’s turn to the eclipses this month. The full moon lunar eclipse on July 7 will bring a work-related matter to fullness. A woman co-worker or subordinate may leave, and if so, you will likely be completely surprised by her announcement to depart. I say “she” because a lunar eclipse always points to the women in your life, and this one will fall in your sixth house of work projects. Alas, when this person goes - and it may be immediately or in time - you will need to do more work to fill in.

If you are self-employed, you may find a silver lining to this situation. Saturn will be friendly, so it appears this person’s departure may help you cut back on expenses, which may come in handy now. Or, after this person leaves, you may see this person was not doing the work you assumed she was, and that there was a lot to be desired by this person’s performance, much to your chagrin.

If you work for an employer, you may be able to see an upside, too. You may qualify for overtime pay, or a raise, for after all, you’ll be doing the work of two for a while, until another person can be hired. Saturn will be supportive to the full moon, and since Saturn is in your earned income house, you may be paid more as a result of this person’s exit.

You must watch your health this month, as the full moon lunar eclipse July 7 could bring up a chronic or latent health concern if there are is one to address. Keep in mind that eclipses look for weak links - if it finds none, you will not notice any problem whatsoever. Pay special attention to teeth, bones, and skin (making it a good time to see the dermatologist). The parts of the body that will be highlighted with special emphasis will be your ears, eyes, and especially the knees.

You seem to be surrounded with medical personnel this month, although I am not sure if that is because you’ll consult a doctor or because you will help a relative or friend with their medical questions. You may find yourself in a hospital, rehab center, physical therapy center, or nursing home this month, possibly as a visitor or caregiver.

The twelfth house, where the emphasis will be with this eclipse, is technically the place in the horoscope that rules confinement. That’s why I mention hospitals and other medical facilities. I should mention that the twelfth house also rules prisons, so your conversations may not be with medical people but with law enforcement professionals.

I doubt that you would have any interactions with these types of people this month, either for yourself or others, but you never know. Judging by the weekly tabloid magazines that chronicle celebrities that I see, a visit to the jailhouse is more commonplace than anyone would assume. Anyway, I thought I should mention it. Perhaps you will do a documentary on the prison system, or work on a charity that helps to rehabilitate inmates when released, which would be a very worthy cause. That might explain the possible interactions with prisons. Stay with me, as there are two other possible manifestations.

Alternatively, you may decide in July that it’s time to go to the dentist. (Compared with jail, the dentist sounds quite welcome, right?) If you cannot afford to see a dentist, find out if there is a university dental school in your city or a nearby city. Often the rates charged by such schools for cleaning, fillings, and more sophisticated treatments are much lower, and yet the care is still excellent. Keep in mind that this is the start of two years of eclipses in Capricorn and Cancer, so the emphasis on your teeth and bones will not be going away anytime soon. If you’ve been going to the dentist regularly, you should be fine. If you haven’t, then you can start now, and that would be a good protection.

The sixth house, where you have a great deal of emphasis on July 7, also rules pets, so if you have a pet, you must keep a watchful eye on your little creature’s health and well-being, too. If you have not taken your little dog or cat to the veterinarian for a check up or have forgotten to get your pet necessary shots, do so immediately. The medical people I see in your life might be related to your pet.

Now let’s turn to the solar eclipse, July 21, which will actually be quite wonderful. As a Leo, you are ruled by the Sun, so you always feel solar eclipses more personally than lunar eclipses. (The July 7 eclipse will be lunar). I love solar eclipses - they are usually harbingers of very good news and open up a whole long road of opportunity that lasts for months, and possibly years!

As said earlier, if you were born near July 21, you will feel this eclipse, and you will see your entire lifestyle begin to change dramatically, even though it is technically falling in Cancer at 29 degrees, the last degree of the sign.

I should mention that if you were born July 22-26 you might see a prominent man leave your immediate environment in the days, weeks, or months to come. That may be your husband, father, or male boss, as three examples. This person may move away or in the case of a boss, change jobs. A solar “eclipse” usually “eclipses out” a male figure, but only if you were born very near that eclipse.

If you are a Leo but not born anywhere near the dates mentioned, then you will have a slightly different forecast. For you, the emphasis will be on internal development. You may find ways to sooth yourself through exercise or yoga, or you may begin to meditate. You may also become more interested in participating in your religion or investigate the tenants of another religion. You may consult a therapist for a certain psychological concern you have wrestled with, or to find out how to end a bad habit. A new moon sets up a new chapter, so if you do decide to do work on improving your mind, body, and spirit this month, chances are that you’ll stick to your new plan.

There will be other important and very upbeat influences this month, and so before I go, I would like to address those.

First of all, lucky you, you still have Mars zooming through your tenth house of fame. This is a holdover from last month, but you will still have from July 1 to 10 to make tracks. On July 11, Mars will move on, so you’ll have to work fast.

If you have not contacted all the VIPs on your list to apply for a job or to present an important idea to a higher up, you still have time to do so. Any job you aim for while Mars is in your tenth house almost always represents an impressive increase in power, responsibility, and status. Mars will not be back in this house for two years, so use this energy while you have it! By November 2, the full moon, you may win the prize career position you are aiming toward!

Your best day for career will happen on or very close to July 7. On that day, unrelated to the eclipse, Mars will send a golden beam to Uranus.

Uranus is now moving through your eighth house of shared financial resources, so if you are in a field where you work on commission, royalty licensing fees, or other performance based method, you’ll be perfectly positioned to clean up. If you don’t work in one of those types of jobs, you can always investigate upgrading the perks being offered (better health insurance, key to the executive gym, extra vacation days, a four-day workweek, or other benefits that may be valuable to you.)

From July 12 to August 25, your social life will move into full swing. This will come thanks to Mars in Gemini - and Venus in Gemini orbiting not far from Mars shows just how much fun the coming social season will be. For many hearing this, mid-July through August will be summer, so if you live in the northern hemisphere, you should be set!

Career pressures will fade, and you’ll be able to devote yourself fully to friends, fun, and romantic possibilities. See dear Leo? The very best is yet to come!

Specifically, your best days for fun and love include: July 14, 18-19, 20, 27-28, and 31.

Summary

During the first ten days of July, push hard in your career. You’ll find it easy to impress VIPs with your qualifications and experience at that time. Later, once Mars moves into Gemini from July 11 through August 26, you’ll have time to relax and let all you’ve done “cook” a while. During that phase, let go and enjoy the joys of friendship. Consider getting involved with a charity or a club you belong to now, for you have the power to make a big contribution. Collaborations of all kinds will be inspirational, highly exciting, and lucrative from July 9-11.

Changes in the workplace in July may surprise you or even annoy you near July 7, but welcome them rather than resist them. Over the long road ahead, you will see that changes in the way you approach your projects or interact with co-workers were necessary. If you see a favorite co-worker or subordinate depart or hear about a major shift in assignments, take the news in stride. You wouldn’t want things to remain the same, for that would stagnate you. Health and fitness will get a big boost from July 22, if you make an effort.

Dates to note:

This is a great month to improve your mind, body, and spirit. If anything has been troubling you, seek help from a psychoanalyst or other therapist near the full moon July 7.

Your career will go beautifully from July 1 to 10 - that’s your time to pull ahead of the pack.

The solar eclipse of July 21 will bring many exciting changes in assignments, people, projects, and methods of getting your work done.

Creative collaborations are downright inspirational on July 10.

Marriage, engagement, and sharing a vision of the future will make you feel radiant July 9-11.

Money news will be good news July 2, 7, and 16. (Or, you may get gifts at that time!)

When the Sun moves into Leo, you’ll be ready to move out of planning mode into implementation mode. Good! It will be your time to shine: July 22-31.

Romantically, your best days will occur after Mars enters Gemini, from July 12 onward. Friends will plan a flurry of activities for you from July 11-August 25. You’ve got a relaxing, fun spell ahead.

Specifically, your best days for fun and love include: July 14, 18-19, 20, 27-28, and 31.

Leo Horoscope for June 2009

June holds enormous promise for a big step up to a far better position in your career. Last month, Mercury was retrograde throughout May, and that condition of Mercury made it hard for you to make progress. Mercury is the planet of communication, negotiation, and all commercial transactions, and all these areas either brought a propensity for miscommunication or delay. If you felt like you were stagnating, you now know why. It would have been difficult to see the right people, get straight answers, and present yourself in the best light.

All that has changed now, for Mercury regulated its orbit in your tenth house of honors, awards, achievement, and fame on May 30. It is time to see things move forward, dear Leo! Finally, all conditions will be right for you to move ahead assertively on professional matters.

More importantly, on June 1, Mars, the planet of energy, drive, and determination, will enter this same lofty career sector of your chart and will remain there until July 11. This will make June and early July the most important time of 2009 for you to find a new job, one that reflects a true step up the ladder of success. Indeed with such emphasis on the very top of your chart, any new position you take would not be a trade of one job for another but something much better. Mars’ appearance there is enough to make you really excited, but there’s MORE to celebrate when it comes to your career.

Venus, the natural ruler of your solar tenth house of career success, will be traveling in this very same house, giving Venus what astrologers call “special dignity” while there. Having Venus move thorough the sign it rules trumpets Venus’ appearance in a special way and allows Venus to work hard for you! On top of this, Venus also rules Taurus, the place she will tour, so this month Venus can express her gifts more easily. You are getting one advantage layered right on top of the other! With Venus in your tenth house all month, orbiting within a few tiny degrees of Mars, you will be able to create quite a buzz about yourself in your industry. Higher-ups will be enthusiastic about what you have to offer and will want to schedule an appointment to hear more about you!

What a dream team! Mars will give you resilience and drive, and Venus will give you charm and polish. Together they will help you persuade VIPs that they need to have you on their side. At the start of June, Pluto will get into the act too, beaming rejuvenating, powerful energy to Venus and Mars at once because Venus and Mars are orbiting so very closely, shoulder-to-shoulder. Mercury, newly strengthened by moving direct in this same career house, will give you the right words and the ability to negotiate a fair deal. Dear Leo, go for the gold while conditions are so perfect for you to find advancement.

Your romantic life will be your full focus at the full moon in Sagittarius, June 7, plus or minus four days. While this might be a difficult full moon for many signs, you may just find ways to deal with things and actually turn things to your advantage. I say this because Sagittarius is a fellow fire sign like yours, so this full moon is in graceful angle to your Sun sign, and doubly so if you were born on August 9, plus or minus four days.

There are several possible manifestations. You may have a disagreement with your sweetheart, and find that he or she is too frank or harsh in his or her criticism of you, and not caring enough of your feelings. Or, it may be that a friend meddles in your romantic affairs, and you find this to be completely off-putting and unacceptable. Money seems to enter the equation too, because Saturn will be in hard angle to the Sun and moon, and Saturn is in your house of income, possessions, and financial reserves. It appears that money will be either a bone of contention with a friend or lover, or a source of worry, perhaps because you are planning to participate in a social event that will prove quite costly.

Alternatively, if you have a child, you may be very focused on your son or daughter and want to care for your child in a special way, but in doing so will be stressed to draw on your financial reserves. You will do so anyway, but it won’t make writing the check any easier.

If you are not dating, not a parent, and not going to a luxury or costly social event over the weekend of June 7 (or shortly thereafter), then it may be that you will be wrapping up a creative project that needs to be delivered in the first ten days of June.

If this is how the full moon asserts itself, it seems that as you race to complete your deadline, your creative endeavor may run over budget or you may encounter a disagreement over a financial aspect of the project. If it is about a creative project, Jupiter, the planet that rules Sagittarius (where the full moon will be on June 7), will be cuddled up with Neptune, the planet of inspiration and also confusion. There is a possibility that you will discover that your agent didn’t express your wishes, or you will learn that you’ll come away with less profit than you anticipated. Go the extra mile to make sure lines of communication stay open and accurate.

Jupiter will retrograde on June 15, so I am wondering if you will change your mind about working with a certain agent, or about a partnership agreement, plan, or deal. This could concern an impending engagement or marriage, too - sometimes changes of direction happen when a major planet like Jupiter retrogrades. You may stage a temporary halt or call off plans altogether, but if this were to happen it would be in the days that circle around June 15, not at some later date. You are under good aspects for marriage and partnership issues, so perhaps you’ll simply need time to think. This will only apply to a small percentage of Leos - not all!

The new moon in Cancer on July 21 may make you more determined than ever to end a bad habit or to talk over feelings that you need to sort out with a professional therapist. Your timing would be excellent, too. This new moon will be in the most energetic degree of a cardinal sign, 1 degree. (The other cardinal signs are Aries, Libra, and Capricorn). Whenever you see a cardinal planet or aspect at zero or 1 degree, that aspect or planet will have unusual force and power. This suggests to me that you can overcome anything if you put your mind to it once this new moon arrives!

Next month there will be a second new moon July 22 in Cancer, at 29 degrees, which is considered the degree of completion. That new moon will also be a friendly solar eclipse and help you in ways that will be quite wonderful. The twelfth house rules the subconscious mind and it always works in tandem with your opposite house, the sixth house of physical health. Together they will encourage you to create a radiant, vibrant condition of your mind, body, and spirit. If there were ever a time to plan a healthy course of action, it’s in the coming two months.

It doesn’t matter if you need to see a therapist or talk over a problem with a friend, or if you need to go to physical therapy or a rehab center, or check into a hospital for a procedure or operation. This is your time to concentrate on your needs and to make sure your health and your mind are working as one strong unit.

This month’s new moon, June 22, (the first, as I said, in a two-step process) will receive an opposition by Pluto. This suggests that someone may say something that makes you realize that you can’t quite ignore a psychological or physical concern any longer. If you have a habit you know is destructive, this is your moment to try to turn over a new leaf. You don’t have to do so by yourself - you will have help from experts around you if you like. While this month’s pressure from Pluto may feel a little harsh, it may be a blessing if it awakens you to the need to change or to seek help.

These new moons in Cancer, the first coming June 22, and the second one an eclipse arriving next month on July 21, suggest you will experience changes on the job. You may get one or two new assignments or if you are self-employed, a new client, or you may see co-workers change, with some going and some arriving. It’s alternatively possible that management will set up new procedures or offer you a new computer or upgraded software. There seems to be lots to think about at the office, but all the changes will be upbeat.

This month’s new moon challenge to Pluto suggests that as you get closer to month’s end, the new moon, June 22, a co-worker or rogue subordinate may challenge your authority. Few things are more upsetting to Leo than insurrection from those within, of course, so you won’t take this sitting down. If you feel that the behavior of this person is unfair, annoying, or outrageous, you’ll have to send a clear message to this person that his or her behavior is unacceptable. Can you win? Does the Sun rise in the east? Of course! Anyone who willingly engages the lion in combat needs to have his or her head examined! Ha, ha, don’t you agree?

Summary

Summer may be holiday time for those you know, but you’d be wise to stay home and keep your mind focused squarely on your career. Rarely have you had such powerful vibrations to help you get ahead. Start to strategize a plan so that you can make the most of the sterling cosmic help that will come your way in June. Specifically, you have a crown of three stars shining in your tenth house of fame: Mars (which will give you an aura of authority and increase your determination to make progress), Venus (to make you popular with VIPs and even underlings), and Mercury (to give you the words to communicate your assets while being interviewed or while making presentations.)

It appears you will have someone to help you bring your professional qualifications to the attention of at least one, if not more, high-level executives. That person may be a broker, agent, or even a friend who is willing to speak up for you. Make sure that you and this middle person are on the same page. There is some indication that you both may have very varying impressions of a career situation from different, and conflicting, angles, so spend a little time getting your strategy in sync. If you don’t, this month you could become quite upset when you hear about a deal your agent, lawyer, or broker made for you because it bore no resemblance to what you had in mind.

A shortfall of cash may trigger concerns about how to continue to support the lifestyle to which you feel you’re entitled. This may, in turn, cause you to need to shuffle your priorities.

You seem a bit frustrated about money near the full moon June 7, but fortunately, this full moon will fall in fellow fire sign Sagittarius, a sign that blends beautifully with yours. This suggests that you should be able to find a mid-course that suits you. If a social event is not the problem, you may be centered on a check you need to write on behalf of a child.

It is also possible that a creative project will need to be delivered at the time of the full moon, June 7, plus or minus four days. While the project itself may be going well, you may be stressed out over having had to go over budget or the news that you will be paid less than you had thought for your involvement in the endeavor.

The new moon in Cancer on June 22 will have you thinking about your health and well-being. The area being highlighted will be your twelfth house, which will put emphasis on psychological thoughts and behavior - so if you feel there’s a habit you’d be better off changing or deleting altogether, you will have a solid chance to do so now. With a challenge to Pluto, you may find that someone - a medical practitioner or even a friend or sweetheart - will say something to you that gets you thinking about the urgency that you change.

Next month’s new moon solar eclipse on July 21 will have no problems with Pluto, only help from Mars and Uranus, and the eclipse will center on the very same part of your chart. If you want to feel more lively and healthy, these twin new moons will give you every opportunity. Grab it!

At work this month, sometime after June 21, you may have a problem with a subordinate or co-worker who seems disrespectful or who is acting in a politically unfair way toward you. You’ll have to take things in hand to put a stop to this and clear the air, and although this person will be difficult to deal with, if you feel passionate about this matter, you will find a way to prevail.

The plus side of your office experiences is that a new client may come in, or a juicy new assignment, new personnel, software, or shiny new computers, and other hardware. When it comes to work, you are golden, and just about everything that is evolving is going in the right direction.

Dates to note:

Romance, or a friendship, may turn rocky: June 5-10. Handle things with care!

Best romantic evenings: June 1-2, 13, 16-17, 20-21, 24-25, and 29.

Financial news has you dancing on the tables: June 9.

Find a way to end a bad habit: June 22-27.

Handle a touchy situation with a subordinate or co-worker: after June 22.

Leo Horoscope for May 2009

This could be a big month for two important parts of your life, those involving your home / residence / family or other real estate, and your career. You’ll have to be patient, however, because in the background, Mercury, the planet of communication, negotiation, and commerce, will be retrograde all month, from May 7 to 30.

There is no use trying to outrun Mercury retrograde, for you began to feel the slowdowns as soon as late April. Mercury will regulate its orb in early June, so don’t jump on the end date too early, on May 31. You need to leave a few days’ space on either end of a Mercury retrograde period. You want to stay as far away from those dates as possible, from five to seven days.

Let’s look at your first big day, May 9, when you may have a big breakthrough with a home-related matter. This full moon will be unusually friendly, so you’ll find lots to cheer about at this time. You may find a new apartment or decide to call in the painters or repair men. Whatever occurs seems to delight you, as Uranus will be in friendly angle to this moon, suggesting you will get news that comes as a complete surprise, and it’s the kind of surprise you’ll like. Saturn will also add a note of longevity, so for example, if you planned to move over this weekend of May 9-10, that would be a great way to use this full moon. With Saturn so friendly, you are likely to stay in your new place a long time.

If your Mom or Dad needs help, the same part of the chart that is so brilliantly lit rules your parents too, so you are likely to find some great answers to questions you’ve sought.

If you need a piece of furniture or electronic item, like a flat screen TV, this would not be the time to buy it. Mercury retrograde periods make us hasty and you may buy something that you later regret. There may be a new model coming out soon that you’ll like better, or the price is about to be dropped, but you will only discover these facts later. There are literally dozens of reasons you should not shop now, so be patient and look in mid-June for best results.

You can move house, as long as you signed the paperwork in April and you are careful to label all the boxes carefully. Take all your jewelry and valuables to a friend, along with your sealed tax boxes, for you would be in danger if those were ever lost while Mercury is retrograde.

Alternatively, you can call in the painters, fix things that have broken down at home, reorganize closets, and clean carpets, windows, and upholstery for the coming season - those are all very “Mercury retrograde” types of activities. When it comes to hiring contractors, again I will ask you to wait. Contracting is notorious about overruns to budgets, and during Mercury retrograde, changes in costs are common. If you have not hired the contractors, do so in mid-June. If you already hired them last month, then just keep a close eye on them.

Not only is your home life popping, but it appears your work life will be, too. Last month, on April 24, you hosted a new moon in your house of honors, career status, and promotion. The end of April was a superb time to open talks on an important new position, and as you move into May, you may find that you are making strides. Good positions take weeks to get, but keep talking. You won’t want to get an offer just yet, not with Mercury retrograde. There’s too much cosmic static right now, so be patient.

Saturn, the ruler of your workaday sector (sixth house) has been retrograde since December 31, 2008, so the fact that Saturn will turn direct on May 16 is news. This should help your job-hunting prospects, for you will be able to get a side job if you need one or develop more business for your company, with better fees, too.

The sixth house also rules your house of health and fitness, so if you’ve not felt well, or have been trying to get strong but have not seen much improvement, you should see a nice difference after May 16. Watch the dates that surround May 16.

After you’ve taken care of your home situation and have settled any professional goals, you might want to take a trip. Distant journeys are due to be adventuresome fun, for both Mars and Venus are traveling arm in arm in your house of discovery, fun, and learning. You have the ideal month to go away, and if you can leave for fun and love, so much the better.

The last week of the month brings lots of sweet developments. First, the new moon May 24 will appear in your house of friendship. It’s time to begin circulating more and to be open to new friends. If you have been thinking of joining a club or volunteering for a charity, do so just after the new moon appears.

You’ll find benefits from being part of a group that may not be obvious at the start. While you may perceive part of the reason to join, you will see more once you’re part of the group. It’s actually the best time of the year to bond with communities and groups. If you like, you can also get active by running for club office or by volunteering to lead an important committee. On a smaller scale, you may join a power walk or run for the cure, or attend a trade show or conference in the last week of May, with great results.

On May 26, Mars, now in your international / higher education learning sector, will reach out to Jupiter, and you’ll have a lovely day to travel or visit a college campus. Any meetings involving publishing or broadcasting should shine on this day, too. New should be excellent.

At month’s end, on May 27, Jupiter, the giver of gifts and luck, will meet with the planet of creativity, imagination, and inspiration, Neptune. Both will meet in your seventh house of partnerships, so to unlock your good fortune, you need to collaborate with a partner. Leo is a highly creative sign, so this seems to be especially fitting advice for you, as you have probably had a co-collaborator before this. If you don’t want to collaborate, you may then need to have an agent or someone represent you. Find a way to make this work for your life. Your partner will be quite special to you - adding all the right enthusiasm, fresh ideas, and contacts that you need.

The reason you should take this trend seriously is that the meeting of Jupiter and Neptune in the futuristic sign of Aquarius is rare, and this event is considered one of the major features of 2009. Two more meetings are due, July 10 and December 21, before these two sign off and go their separate ways, not to meet again until 2022. By the end of this year, you should see that this twosome deal has created quite a bit of impressive results.

Even in your personal life, there appears to be someone close who cares very much about you. Open your eyes, for this person is standing so close you may not even see this generous, caring person. If you are attached, it may be your sweetheart, spouse, or best friend. It could even be your business partner, agent, broker, publicist, lawyer, or other person near you. This person has ideas, dear Leo, and those ideas seem to work to your benefit.

Summary

You have a great deal of positive career developments possible in May, and you might also settle a home-related matter, too. It looks like you have a lot on your plate, so you’ll have to be organized to make sure you don’t let important details slip through the cracks.

The full moon, May 9, will bring an unexpected breakthrough in regard to an impending move or other home-related plan. Your plans will fall into place quite rapidly with a lovely beam from Uranus. Saturn will also bring gifts of stability, so you’ll have quite a good environment for making a decision or for finalizing a deal that makes you excited.

The new moon that appeared in late April started the ball rolling in your career, so you should continue following up on any career offers that surface. The only problem is that no deal is a good deal if your needs change later or if the job you are offered is about to change so much you hardly recognize it, making you feel trapped in a job you would have never taken. That seems likely if you sign on the dotted line now or give a verbal “yes” to the offer in May. Mercury will be retrograde from May 7 to 30, making May a bad time to sign a contract or accept a new job or assignment.

If you were working on a home-related project, it would be an equally bad time to sign a lease, buy a house or condo, or acquire new furniture, kitchen appliances, electronics like a computer or flat screen TV, or any other expensive items. If on the other hand, you already made your decisions and signed on the dotted line in April, this full moon would be a fine time to see the final implementation of that decision or commitment.

In matters of health, things should improve once Saturn goes direct on May 16. Saturn has been retrograde since December 31 of last year, so if you feel you’ve not made big strides lately, you may see a big improvement on or near this date. Actually, you may see a nice up tick in health on May 5 too, as the Sun, your ruler, will be in perfect angle to Saturn on that day. If you have been working on a fitness goal, you may also see an upbeat change on or near these dates this month as well.

Throughout May you will have ample opportunities to travel, and with Venus following Mars, it would be a divine time to take a vacation. Make it adventurous - a safari in Africa, white water rafting in Colorado, or exploring temples in India. This month, no location would be too far or too exotic to visit. If you can travel, go to a place you’ve never been, for you need the freshness of discovering something truly new. Look for bargain travel deals that will allow you to pack and go now, for you are likely to find one in May.

A truly soft influence will breeze in the window at month’s end, thanks to the new moon May 24. From that point on, you will see that your friends are beginning to play a more prominent role in your life. They will take you to the kind of events that will help you meet more people, some of whom you’d like to cultivate as friends. You may decide to do volunteer work for a community, charity, or humanitarian cause in weeks and months ahead as a result of this new moon, and that would be one of the best ways to direct your energies in this incoming phase. The area of the chart where this new moon will fall is the eleventh house of groups, and also the part of the chart that helps us reveal compassion for others and to do something tangible to help them.

In your personal life, your romantic partner seems to truly understand the real you and will celebrate your individuality as well. You seem to be deeply inspired by your partner now, and if so, give in to this feeling and revel in it. You have the capability of enormous depth of feeling this month and in weeks and months to come. With Jupiter (happiness and good fortune) linking to Neptune (imagination), if you are not inspired by a romantic partner, then you may decide to do a creative collaboration that turns out to be quite wondrous and that would be given critical reviews that you used to only dream about.

You would have to work collaboratively to trigger this luck, so keep this in mind. One plus one equals twenty these days. Watch what happens on the first of three conjunctions in 2009, the first being May 27. The next two will occur July 10 and December 21. After that, these powerful planets will say adieu and not meet again until 2022. This is rare and special - make it work for you.

Dates to Note:

You can see a finish to an important home or family matter on May 9, plus or minus four days. Avoid making any big commitments, however, in writing or even verbally, or shopping for anything expensive, due to Mercury in retrograde: May 7 to 30 (operative longer, all month).

Your heath will show an upswing on May 5 but even more so after May 16, thanks to a stronger, more positive orbit of Saturn.

Consider taking an adventurous vacation to a place you’ve never been this month - Mars and Venus will cook up something amazing and memorable.

A sweet social influence will crank up on May 24 and bring you in contact with many new people. Some will become new friends, and those will lead you into fresh new places of the heart and mind.

On May 26, expect good news regarding travel, international relationships, publishing, broadcasting, or higher education.

Your personal or creative partner will add a great deal to your life all through 2009, but especially so near May 27 when Jupiter and Neptune make their first of three gorgeous, rare, and highly inspirational conjunctions. Watch what happens.

Your happiest days this month will be May 5, 9, 16, 21, 24, 26 and 27.

Leo Horoscope for April 2009

Finances are again on the agenda, and this month you’ll want to stay on your toes to keep up with fast-moving developments. April will be one of those high contrast months, where things might start looking dim one moment but then become very bright the next. Let’s talk about one possibly troubling day, April 15, and get it out of the way so we can then focus on the happier ones.

First, I need to give you some background. Last month, on March 15, Mars entered Pisces and your eighth house of joint resources. Mars will continue to zoom through this sector until April 22. It is never easy to host Mars in this house, because Mars has an inflammatory effect and tends to force expenses up. The problem is that on this very day Mars will catch up with Uranus and meet in conjunction on precisely April 15 in this same eighth house of financial obligations and resources.

To complicate matters a little more, on the same day that Mars will meet Uranus, Saturn will be in direct 180-degree opposition to both Mars and Uranus, from your second house of personal earned income. You need to brace for a completely unexpected financial development that might leave you shaken. It looks like it’s a “take it or leave it, and face it head on” kind of a day. Said another way, I am not sure if you have much room to maneuver. See how it goes - you might.

In America, this is tax day, so the most obvious manifestation is that you may get bad news about how much you owe. However, may people pay their taxes early, and even rate a refund, so there are other possible outcomes. If you are in the process of a divorce, talks may now turn very contentious. It is alternatively possible that you may have problems with a business partner, agent or someone you represent, a tax man, a venture capitalist, an insurance company adjuster, or the courts concerning an inheritance. Or, news may concern a financial aid letter you receive from college, or it may be that you have a conflict or untoward news about a sum of money that you anticipated soon or that you are told you owe.

Whatever financial news you receive, you will likely be quite shocked. Now at this point I should mention that you might hear some very positive news - you never know what to expect when you are dealing with Uranus - but it does seem clear what you hear will be about money. You don’t have to plan for uplifting news (that’s easy to take), but you might have to brace for any possible difficult financial news. I will say that Saturn’s position makes me concerned that this day won’t be one of your favorites. Saturn will remind you of legal promises you made previously and won’t give you any room to be off the hook. It may help to know that many people of various zodiac signs will be having problems with April 15, so you won’t be alone.

As you start out the month, think of all the possible ways this financial news may play out. Try to avoid big meetings with your accountant, your investors, the courts, an ex (or a soon-to-be-ex), government people, or anyone else in your financial life on or near April 15.

Things will calm down considerably once you reach April 22, when Mars moves out of Pisces and into a far better place for you. Thankfully, Mars will not create this type of aspect ever again in your lifetime. By the time Mars comes back to Pisces in two years (the place it is now), Uranus and Saturn will have moved into other, more gentle placements. It is unusual to have all these planets clustered on the head of a pin, as they are now. This tells me that if you are determined to never see this type of situation repeated, the steps you will take in the near future will be successful and will ensure greater financial stability.

During the first three weeks of April, your expenses will continue to run high. I am so sorry to have to say that, because I know by doing so, I am adding salt to the wound. I thought about not telling you, but I think it is better you know so that you could put off any unnecessary outlays of cash, if that’s possible. Later, in June, you will have more cash coming in, so put off getting things you want but don’t absolutely need right now.

Mercury will retrograde next month from May 7 to 30, and you will feel the delays, forgetfulness, and errors in judgment that Mercury retrograde is famous for bringing a week or more before the date of the retrograde - in this case, on May 7. While I will explain Mercury in retrograde in more detail next month, let’s suffice to say that Mercury retrograde is not a time to buy anything expensive. Don’t buy a piece of furniture or pricy rug, a car, or any electronic items. If you need a new computer badly, then it will be important to get it early in April, staying clear of this possibly upsetting, wild card day, April 15. Actually, not being able to buy things until June could work in your favor, for you’ll be able to get ahead financially. By June you’ll be feeling quite good about the way your ledger is balancing. Let’s go back to April, however.

On the heels of this possibly jarring day of April 15 will be quite a lovely day.

On April 21, Venus and Mars will meet in this same area of your chart, your eighth house of other people’s money, and remarkably, you may hear some really good financial news that helps you feel a little better. It may mitigate whatever happens on April 15.

I had said that that there would be lots of other good news this month, and there is, so let’s look at that now.

Opportunities for travel will be written all over your chart. You may have been trying to plan a long, important trip, possibly abroad. Last month, when Venus went retrograde on March 6, you may have found that plans were hard to pin down. Or, if you did travel while Venus was retrograde, you might have found your trip not very productive. Venus will turn direct this month from April 17 onward.

Before I continue down this line, you may be saying to yourself, “But I am worried about money! How can I travel?” It’s possible your trips may be for work, or that you will use frequent flier miles, or that kind relatives will send you a ticket to come visit them.

Not only will Venus be more helpful to you in all these matters, but also Mars, the great energizer, will rev up your travel sector, starting April 22 through May 30. This suggests to me that no matter what you’ve been trying to accomplish that involves foreign people and places, or travel, you are about to see big progress. If you can’t leave home, its very possible people from afar will come to visit you. Or, it may be that you are on the phone and email so much with people at a distance that you feel that you actually did leave home - and you might have found it a lot easier if you actually had left home for a face-to-face!

Other areas of gain, thanks to the new moves of Mars into your ninth house, include publishing, broadcasting, the Internet and new media, as well as matters related to academia and goals to achieve higher education - all of these shine, too.

The full moon, April 9, is almost certain to bring a trip - possibly a short, quick one - and if so, you should be quite excited about how things work out. It looks like if you do hit the road at this time of the month (plus or minus four days), you’d go with a partner, your steady lover or mate, or with a business partner. This would be a good idea, as this person would account for the success of the trip, for the Sun and fortunate Jupiter, now in your partnership house, will be so beautifully angled. With this friendly full moon, and the placement of Mars after April 22, there is much evidence that you can get so much accomplished this month by reaching outside your usual base.

Alternatively, you may get some very happy news in the mail, by courier, fax, or email on this day. This will be one of your very favorite points of the month. Projects involving writing, editing, public speaking, publicity, marketing, sales, and advertising should go very well, too.

If your birthday falls on August 12, or within five days of this date, you will benefit most from this lovely full moon, April 9.

Now let’s turn to the subject of your career, which should bring sensational developments at month’s end. Watch for opportunities that come up just after the new moon of April 24 arrives. In the days and weeks that follow this new moon, you could score a major professional breakthrough. All new moons bring a window of about two weeks, but this one brings your most interesting opportunities during the first week, April 24-30.

To be clear, top jobs take weeks and months to win. What matters is that you begin to interview for the right job now. Opportunities should start to emerge at this new moon, and that’s what will be new.

If you are looking for a new job, this new moon will usher in one of your best moments of the year to find the right position to make use of your talents. Have your bio and resume written and ready to send out when the right VIP asks for it at the end of April. Actually, when Pluto and the Sun line up on April 23, you may have a very encouraging meeting with a VIP.

The timing of this new moon will be superb because Mars will come in to help raise your profile in your industry once it moves through your tenth house of career success from June 1 through July 11. This shows me you can now start to build good momentum, and you’ll find that with each initiation you will be building speed and getting closer to your goal.

It’s ironic and VERY helpful that Mars is due to help you in your career directly after Mercury will be done retrograding in May - great. While you wait for Mars to enter your tenth house of fame, honors, and achievement during May, contact anyone you used to work with for tips and possible references.

Also, and quite coincidentally, along with the new moon in your career sector April 24, you will also have help from a very sparkling aspect involving Mercury in friendly angle to Uranus. Mercury (news) will be, by then, in your house of career success, and Uranus (surprises), will be based in your house of other people’s money. On this day, April 24, career and money come together to bring outstanding news and it would be news you’d never expect.

There is another interesting twist that brings more reasons for you to be excited by your career prospects. Your fame and honors career sector (tenth house) is ruled by Taurus, which is in turn ruled by Venus. Venus, as I detailed earlier, has been retrograde for the past month. It is very possible that since early March you could have been frustrated by how hard it’s been to make any sort of progress. Now you will, in spades!

Forget those past disappointments, dear Leo. You are looking at a whole new picture, and it’s a brighter, happier one than you had in your head. Learn from past interviews and experiences in your job search, of course, but be optimistic, too. Rarely have you had such a perfect time to claim your rightful place in the industry you work within.

Romantically, your chart of the moment clearly gives the edge to Leos who are currently attached, or to those dating and hoping to become seriously attached soon. You may have weathered many storms together, but the sky has become bright blue and clear, and together you can build a lovely future. Jupiter, the planet of gifts and luck, is traveling in your marriage and commitment house for the first time in 12 years, so if you feel ready to tie the knot, then make plans soon, for Jupiter is now the best place possible for making a long and lasting commitment. Early to mid-August could be a key month for engagement or marriage, just in time for your birthday.

If you are single, this month travel will refresh and relax you and put you in the perfect frame of mind to meet someone new. So if you are single, think of a place you can visit not far from home near the full moon, April 9 and the coming weekend. If possible, see if you can take a four-day weekend. On Friday, April 10, we have Good Friday, and Easter will occur that Sunday, April 12. For our Jewish friends, the start of Passover will occur on the full moon, April 9. Perhaps you can get away for a little break. With the Sun and Jupiter sending a signal on April 10, that’s your best day of all.

One last word: April 22 should be highly affectionate - you’ll feel treasured and smothered with kisses if you have someone dear to you in the most romantic sense. If you don’t, your appeal will be reaching all-time highs, for sure!

Best days for love: April 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 17-19, and 22.

Summary

The financial emphasis of the month continues, but as you see, you have but one day that you need to keep your antenna up, and that’s April 15. Stay away from financial meetings of importance on that date.

You may have a hard time holding the line on expenses from April 1 to 22, but after that, things should simmer down quite a bit, much to your relief. Just before Mars leaves, however, he will meet with Venus on April 22, one of the sweetest days of the month, for it should bring good news about money, and it might come just in the nick of time to keep your spirits up.

Put off any big purchases until June if you can. If you can’t, because say, you need a computer, buy that in early April. You want to stay as far away as you can from Mercury retrograde - due in May. May will be messy, so view April as your far more productive month. May will be best used to see people from your past, for in May, those people will help you the most. Good to know, yes?

Your career is about to get an enormous boost from the new moon, April 24. Now it often takes weeks or months to win a top job, but the point is, from April 24 onward, you should be able to find the right opportunities, ones you would be really enthusiastic about and that will use your talents well. Get things moving, for in June, Mars will come in to push your name to the top of the list from June 1 to July 11. Make sure you are not on vacation in June or early July, because if you are, you may miss your very best career opportunities to move ahead.

Lots of chances to travel will happen this month, too. The full moon, April 9, seems like a perfect time to go a short distance. Even though you may be concerned about money, you seem to find a way to pack and go anyway, perhaps thanks to someone else who will cover costs. Getting into a new setting will be good for you. Romance will be lovely on trips, too - for you love and travel are definitely linked!

Dates to Note

Brace for a shock about money when Mars conjoins Uranus on April 15. When you discover that you owe money, it may suddenly put you in a panic, or you may discover that money you had anticipated won’t be coming. You’ll likely need Plan B.

As difficult as news may be April 15, bright and happy financial new is due April 21.

Travel over the full moon, April 9, should be successful and fun. Try to stay away during April 9-12 if you can get the days off.

When Mars leaves your financial sector on April 22, you will start to see your expenses drop.

Have a meeting with a VIP on April 23 - it should go well, thanks to the interplay of the Sun and Pluto.

Venus will go direct at long last on April 17, allowing progress with travel, international relationships and deals, matters related to colleges and universities, and publishing and broadcasting. Mars will enter the same sector on April 22 and push interests in this area even more.

Be ready to assertively look for a better job after the new moon April 24. Now that Venus, the ruler of your house of honors and career success, is going at full speed, you have an excellent chance at getting that prized spot!

Coincidentally, on the same day as the sensational new moon, April 24, you will have a stunningly positive aspect involving Mercury and Uranus, linking your houses of career and money in a very sudden and unexpected way. Be ready to roll when opportunity comes your way.

Romance and travel will be linked all month. You can jumpstart a tired relationship or find new love while out and about.

Best days for love: April 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 17-19, and 22.

Leo Horoscope for March 2009

Last month may have brought you into talks about making a commitment for an important relationship. As you start March, it appears you’ll still be thinking about the person with whom you will be merging energies in a personal or business sense. You may be getting married soon, or you may be setting up an agreement for a business partnership.

The positions of the planets in March attest that your significant other will lead the direction of the relationship and not you, at least for now. Although as a Leo you rarely give up control to anyone, this time you seem to be willing to do so, whether because you feel it’s in your best interest, or because circumstances will make it necessary. No matter - your partner’s good fortune and contributions will benefit you.

If you are not forming a partnership of any kind, the idea that others will have more control will occur to you, but this is only a temporary condition, and as each month goes on, you will gain more and more control.

Finances are a sensitive topic for you these days, and it seems that you have been and will continue to strive to stabilize them. Saturn, the teacher planet, is in your second house of income until the end of October 2009 and will be at loggerheads with Uranus, planet of sudden change, in your eighth house of other people’s money. This includes credit, loans, child support, financial aid, and taxes (among other things). It is clear you will need to focus strongly on money matters. These planets seem to be saying, “Find a completely new approach, because none of the old methods are working.”

To add a little more fuel to this already highly charged area, Mars will enter your eighth house on March 14 to stay until April 22. If you are getting a divorce, try to settle things early in March, because once Mars enters this house in mid-month, negotiations over the division of property will likely become more intense and quite heated. The same would be true of any negotiations you conduct, whether with an insurance company over a claim, or anyone else you may be negotiating with about money.

There will be two financial days to watch.

The first will be a potentially dreary day, March 8, when Saturn will oppose your Sun, an aspect you might feel one day earlier. Saturn will show you the reality of your financial condition through a possibly small event that reveals something to you. Try to take the best from this day and don’t become overwhelmed by any criticism or negative news. Life will seem harder if you are tired on this day, so try to get enough rest in the days before.

Just a few days later, March 12, you may get surprise financial news you never expected. Hopefully it will be good news, but with Uranus, it’s hard to know, as it could go either way in the extreme. The money you will think about will be funds you share with another person or entity, such as an ex-spouse, what you owe a credit card company, or a loan from a bank. It’s possible you could even win a prize on this day, but if you do buy lotto tickets, buy very few. If you are lucky, you will be lucky - buying too many may make you unlucky!

Also this month, Venus will go retrograde in Aries from March 6 to April 17, a period of six weeks. This will slow your professional progress, because Venus rules, among other things, your tenth house of career. Until Venus regulates her orbit you may have to be content with little or no action. It is possible you will experience a setback during the coming six weeks on an endeavor that you’ve already set in motion. If this proves true, you’ll have another chance to set things right later in the year.

A Venus retrograde period would not be the ideal time to launch an important career initiative, nor would it be a good time to travel for any purpose, business or personal, for Venus rules both fun AND profit, and both will be scarce in coming weeks.

Keep in mind that shortly after Venus turns to stronger, direct motion on April 17, Mercury will go retrograde from May 7-31. That will make May a messy month of wait-and-see. You must be ready to pounce on career opportunities from April 17 to April 30, with your best dates to act within that period falling April 24-30.

I recommend these dates because you will have a new moon appear in your career sector April 24. A new moon usually opens a door for two weeks, and in this case your opportunities will allow you to find ways to expand your status and influence. Once that new moon appears, keep working hard on your goals through April 30.

After that, you will move very close to the onset of the Mercury retrograde period - too close for comfort, in my opinion. Keep in mind that Mercury will actually retrograde in Taurus directly IN your career sector. This indicates that things will be changing at the very time you interview for your new position or pitch a new client. Don’t take it as bad news if people don’t call you back; it is just that things will be in flux and you’ll have to be patient. The changes may benefit you, so stay optimistic. Keep refining your methods and your work, polishing them to the best they can be.

Now let’s turn to a different subject, the new moon on March 26, which is set to light up your ninth house, governing travel, international relationships, and publishing and broadcasting projects, as well as study at a university. With the new moon in Aries, a fire sign like yours, you should see options emerge, and you will want to be assertive and competitive in regard to one of the areas listed as covered by the ninth house.

I will admit that you are likely to encounter complications. Rarely have I seen a new moon so angry with other planets - Pluto will be in hard angle to Venus, Mercury, the new moon, and the Sun. Because all these planets will be conjunct within a few tiny degrees, Pluto will bully all of them at once. All will stack up your ninth house of travel, so again, a distant trip taken for business or pleasure will likely encounter problems.

You may encounter a very difficult, immobile force or obstacle at that time. In other words, the person you’d be up against would be someone who is very set in his or her ways and is not willing to compromise. You may know this person through your work, as a co-worker, subordinate, or supplier.

Your best tactic will be to counter this difficult person with objective, intelligent, and well-researched answers, or else to distance yourself from this person altogether and not fight at all. Because the ninth house rules the court system, you may face or initiate a legal dispute, but if you choose to stay and fight, it may take a long time for you to fully sort things out.

If you had applied to a number of colleges, at the end of March or in early April you may discover that you won’t be invited to attend one of the universities you had favored on your list. Don’t lose sleep, or your dignity, by trying to fight an admission’s department’s decision. With Pluto being so hard-lined, you would meet a wall of opposition. Let it go and move on. Who needs a college that doesn’t want you?

The ninth house, which covers higher education - literally, the taking in of information - also rules the dispersal of information through publishing or broadcasting endeavors. Alas, with this house receiving a bombardment of tough vibes from Pluto, you will need to keep your antenna up for possible obstacles that may appear in the last week of March into the first week of April.

If you have to bring a court case against someone, or will need to stand up for yourself if a case is pending against you, you will soon discover that the other party will be unyielding and incapable of compromise. Alas, you may have to simply leave this in the hands of the court to sort this out, but it could prove to be very time consuming.

I am so sorry that I have had to deliver tough news this month, and I hope most of it won’t apply to you. I cannot see everything in your chart, dear Leo, so you may have some natal placements that would improve your individual picture dramatically.

Romance would be nice to have this month, and on that score, if you are attached, it appears you will be very treasured by your partner. How comforting that would be, to have someone near who loves you unconditionally and who will listen to you and offer support. Your partner will have all your interests at heart now, and together you can find a way to deal with life’s challenges.

If you are single, you will meet people you deem “marriage material” this year. Any new relationship you would make in 2009 will move quickly through the stages, very possibly straight toward a serious commitment. That’s because you will have Jupiter acting like an anxious little matchmaker, delighted he has made the right introduction. If your alliance is moving too fast for your taste, you’ll be able to slow things down to a more manageable pace. Venus is retrograde (March 6 to April 17), so you would be wise to go slowly for now.

Brand new relationships that are created under the Venus retrograde may be flawed, so if you are wondering if you should agree to meet with someone your best friend wants to introduce, you may want to put that off for a while.

Sometimes having time to do as you please may seem like a wonderful option. Next month, when Venus turns direct, all of life will become sweeter.

Summary

If you are ready to commit to someone dearly important to you in a marriage, or in a business sense, you will continue to iron out the details this month. With almost all the planets on the Western part of the chart, you will find you don’t have full control of the process - your partner seems to be leading the brigade. That seems fine with you because this clearly would be a partnership you want, and your intended partner would have many of your interests in mind.

If you are not combining your energy with another person’s, the planetary positions at the moment show that you will not be able to maneuver events the way you had hoped - you would have to make a few compromises - but you’d be wise to make them. By perceiving the situation as it is, rather than as you had imagined it to be, you will be able to move forward with a plan much sooner than you would otherwise be able to do.

All sorts of financial issues will need attention now. The full moon in your house of earned income may bring a big expense, or it might bring you an answer back about a raise that’s been pending. If so, the news seems not to be what you had hoped it would be. If you do manage to get a raise, with Saturn near the moon, your raise would likely be quite small, so you may hardly feel the difference.

March 8 appears to be a low point, but the whole week, through March 14, won’t be a picnic. This full moon will be, admittedly, a tense one. Life won’t always be like this, dear Leo. Within this period, March 12 brings a financial surprise - hopefully it will be a happy one.

Mars’ impending entry into your eighth house of shared income on March 14 to April 17 suggests that your expenses will soon rise. Perhaps you are already aware of this, as you have planned to write a big check soon, say, to buy a house, or pay for tuition, or for any other financial obligation that you promised to cover some time ago.

If you are in a dispute with your soon-to-be-ex over money or an insurance company over a claim, as two examples, you may find that after Mars’ entry into this house, your talks become more contentious over the coming weeks. If possible, settle sooner rather than later to avoid heated arguments.

The new moon on March 26 would normally bring lovely opportunities to travel, make deals abroad, open up your chances to travel, study at a university, form and advance international relationships, or get satisfaction from the legal community. However, Pluto will be angry with the bodies filling your ninth house - Venus, Mercury, new moon, and the Sun - and that spells obstacles in regard to all these matters.

Because this group of stars will be within a few tiny degrees of one another, Pluto will attack them all at the same time - quite a heavy duty display of fireworks. You may encounter a bossy, difficult person with a scorched earth method of negotiation that feels like, “It’s my way or the highway!” Wear your armor, dear Leo. Your adversary will try to intimidate you - resist. If you leave your disagreement to the courts to settle, the process will likely be drawn out. If this does not faze you, proceed. Sometimes when you are facing an injustice, there is no other way.

Venus will be retrograde from March 6 to April 17, a rare condition that thankfully will only last six weeks. Venus rules the beauty in life and love too, of course.

It is easy to see that the coming weeks would not be the time to give a party, get engaged, or get married. It does not bode well for a first or blind date, but if you are already attached, you should enjoy a very close and loving time, as Jupiter will protect you beautifully. (A vacation might be best delayed, however - see how you feel.)

Do not make any changes to your appearance in March, whether through plastic surgery or by radically changing your hair. You may want to wait before you shop for expensive new clothes or jewelry, too. You will be glad you waited!

Dates to Note:

Efforts to form a serious partnership will continue to move forward rapidly until March 14. The person you are thinking of forging energies with may be a romantic partner or business one.

A financial situation that suddenly arises and reaches a full bloom at the full moon March 10 (or within three days of this date) could cause you considerable stress - you may feel overwhelmed.

If you can settle the problem, do. Otherwise, if more discussion is needed, once Mars enters the same financial area (eighth house) from March 15 to April 22, you may see an escalation of the problem.

If you need to settle a divorce, if you can’t do so early on, be prepared for a long and heated discussion once Mars enters the joint property sector from March 15 to April 22. Expenses are due to rise during that phase unless you find a way to control them.

At the difficult new moon, March 26, you may go to the courts, but if so, any legal dispute would prove long and drawn out. The other party appears to be self-centered, domineering, and not interested in compromise.

Alternatively, if a legal issue is not on the agenda, at month’s end you may find that a challenge comes up with a broadcasting or publishing project, or you may encounter an unexpected obstacle in choosing a college to attend this fall.

Romantically, if you are single, wait until late April to date again for best results. Your outlook for finding true love is actually quite strong in 2009, just not this month.

If on the other hand you are attached, you have a great outlook for love. Your partner obviously adores you!

Venus will retrograde from March 6 to April 17.

Leo Horoscope for February 2009

Do you remember the words to the song “Aquarius” from the musical “Hair,” dear Leo? If you don’t recall, it goes like this:

“When the moon is in the seventh house

And Jupiter aligns with Mars

Then peace will guide the planets

And love will steer the stars”

The planetary lineup mentioned in this song is precisely the lineup you will have in your chart this month! The “moon” that the song refers to is actually the new moon that just appeared in your seventh house, ruling all contractual partnerships, including marriage. That new moon arrived in the form of a new moon solar eclipse on January 26 and will still be building momentum as you enter February. All solar eclipses are dramatic cosmic events and always coincide with new moons, but have the power of three new moons all rolled into one. On top of this, Jupiter will align with Mars in Aquarius, just as it says in the song, in a brilliant once-in-twelve-year opportunity in Aquarius on February 17.

Jupiter, the giver of gifts and luck, will be at your side until January 2010, in this same marriage and business partner house. Thanks to other planets circulating in proximity to Jupiter, February will be a critical month for decisions and actions. Dear Leo, are you starting to see the magnitude of this? When it comes to marriage and serious partnerships, you have an unusually powerful, beneficial chart. Let’s look at some of the developments you might see in February.

The most obvious way you would see changes would be if you became engaged this month, perhaps for Valentine’s Day!

Mercury was retrograde during much of January (never an ideal time to make big moves or key commitments), but Mercury will turn direct on February 1, so there will be no more reason to hold back. You will be able to find accord and make firm commitments on many levels, at long last. I will always suggest you leave a little space beyond the date Mercury moves forward, so be ready to go, go, go from February 4 on.

If you are already married or in an established long-term relationship, your partner will have big news to share, and the news that your “alter ego” brings seems to represent a big life shift or victory for your partner. Whatever news it is, it looks to be quite dramatic and would impact you too, in a very positive way. In fact, you will probably want to celebrate! You will gain from what is going on in your partner’s life, for sure!

If you have no plans to wed, nor are even dating anyone special, you can still benefit from this trend. You may form a business partnership or hire an important expert for your business this month. That person may be an agent, publicist, new accountant, or lawyer, as a few examples. You may be signing papers with an investor or working with another writer on a book. You may hire an agent, manager, accountant, or other knowledgeable person who can provide you with important expertise and who will be as committed to your success as you are. These are a few examples, but you get the picture. Unions formed now hold exceptional promise.

The solar eclipse last month on January 26 started the ball rolling. If your Leo birthday falls at the end of July, you likely felt the effects of that eclipse. Even if you do not have a July Leo birthday, the eclipse may trigger events by aligning with other planets in your chart, so there’s a strong chance you’d still see developments. You would not have to wait too long to find out either - just sit back and see.

It is rare to have so many important planets filling one sector of your chart - it’s a true hub of activity and you won’t see anything like this anytime soon. All kinds of important talks should begin to open up, so watch the phone calls, emails, and introductions that come into your life.

Talks about commitment, in either the romantic or business sense, may have first surfaced last month near the solar eclipse January 26, or even further back, to one of the three eclipses in 2008, on February 6, August 1, and/or August 16. Sometimes an eclipse will assert its news one month to the day later, so watch for events near February 26 and also March 9. Eclipses are tied to the ones that came before, like pearls on a necklace strung together, if they fall in the same series, as these will be (in the signs of Leo and Aquarius). You may see this to be true if you study the dates I just listed.

This month holds another eclipse - this time a full moon lunar eclipse, due February 9. This eclipse will be more emotional because it falls in Leo and is actually a full moon eclipse. Again, key planets will be very lit up in your house of partnership, but instead of your partner having final say, you will have it.

Mars will be present to give you the interest and motivation to move forward. Jupiter, the giver of gifts and luck, will be there, bringing optimism and benefits, ensuring that this year, 2009, will be the best year of 12 to marry or to unite with your intended partner in business. The Sun will be moving through this area of your chart too now, and because the Sun is your ruling star, this shows that whatever you are planning is something you dearly want. Still, I will caution you to go slowly for a very important reason.

Neptune’s position in this same house shows how inspirational your partner is to you. However, Neptune can obscure details, so there will be a danger that you may get carried away with enthusiasm and not clearly see the road ahead. To counter this, you must force yourself to be very realistic about your expectations.

Discuss your plans, dreams, and assumptions thoroughly with your proposed partner, collaborator, or expert. Take nothing for granted - spell out all your needs and expectations, and take your time. Information may come out at the eclipse on February 9 that you will want to factor into your plans. If you are already attached, the Sun’s proximity to Neptune may reveal something that your partner had hoped you would not discover. Alas, sometimes that happens, and you have to be prepared for that possibility.

If you were born on or within five days of August 13, you will feel this lunar eclipse, falling February 9, the most.

One last thought. If you are not dating, you will begin to meet substantial, educated, and self-made romantic potential partners this year. There’s a good chance that your new sweetheart may be a lawyer, doctor, college instructor, distinguished politician, or other professional. This will be true whether you are male or female - your partner would be well educated and successful in 2009. You won’t be left out!

Your mind will turn to money at month’s end. If you have any financial negotiations to work out, you will start to make progress on those after the new moon, February 24, and in the two weeks to follow. A window of opportunity will open wide to help you get many financial topics agreed upon and finished. You may want to check with an expert for advice and if you have checked references of this person, plan a meeting for anytime on or after February 24. I will say that the energy of that new moon will be sweetest and strongest in the days closely following February 24, so try to act sooner rather than later.

There are many types of talks you might have. You can apply for college tuition scholarships or financial aid, or a new or refinanced mortgage. You may be opening talks about getting venture capital, or if you are getting married, you may be talking about how you’ll share expenses and savings. If you are divorcing, you can open talks, confident you can come to a fair settlement in time. Sometimes those kinds of talks take months to complete, so in that case, you can look to August for a completion, if necessary.

On the same day as the new moon, February 24, Mercury will join forces with fortunate Jupiter, making that day a spectacular one for reaching accord. Be sure to schedule a meeting for that day, or plan to sign a contract then. Last month, Mercury was in retrograde, making it hard for you to get any kind of agreement to stick. Now all that’s history, and what a difference a month makes!

If you are negotiating a business deal or settlement, you may notice that you don’t have full control of the direction of the talks. With so many planets filling your seventh house of the significant other, your partner, not you, will have something he or she wants - so it follows you may have to compromise a bit more than usual in your financial negotiations.

Find areas of agreement and then work from there. It is unlikely you will get all your points accepted, so chose the ones that mean the most to you. Showing a conciliatory attitude will help you avoid any possible deadlocks. Actually, this would be true in any relationship, business or personal in nature. Be a team player and the road to success will be easier.

On this same day, coincidentally, Mercury and Jupiter will be conjunct, bringing you even more opportunity to see a happy financial development. This time, the part of your chart that will benefit will be your earned income - money you see in your paycheck. A conjunction is only operative for a day or two, so to take advantage of this aspect, you need to sign important financially-oriented papers or have a major meeting on Tuesday, February 24 (or if that’s not possible, one day on either side. I will say my favorite day is February 24, however!)

Before I go, let’s discuss Valentine’s Day, due Saturday, February 14. This year, the moon will fall in sexy Scorpio on this day for lovers, suggesting that you’d like to celebrate privately, possibly at home. If you are in love, draw the curtains, light the candles, and choose your favorite tunes to play. You can share a special dinner you whip up in the kitchen together, complete with raw oysters, champagne, sweet strawberries, and chocolates. Beyond that, you’ll soon say, who needs food?

If you have no one to love this year, then on Valentine’s Day, don’t be alone. Invite several friends over your place. Home is where you’ll be happiest - and luckiest!

The days that shortly follow Valentine’s Day - February 16, 17, and 18 - will bring a string of sweet aspects that will be sensational, and they are my favorites of the month!

On Monday, February 16, you may take a quick trip, with wonderful results.

Also, on February 16, career news should be very gratifying, thanks to the interplay between Jupiter and Venus.

On February 17, Mars and Jupiter will align to make partnership developments sizzle! Romance, travel, and all sorts of partnership developments will do so very well!

On February 18, your sex appeal will reach new heights. Who says you can only celebrate love on Valentine’s Day? This month, you’ll break all those old-standing records, dear Leo.

Travel done on February 16 through 18 and on or near February 24 would go exceptionally well.

If you are college bound, or hope to go to grad school, put a gold star on February 17 too, as a day for a meeting with college officials, to take a big exam, or to send an application.

This is a big month, so welcome it with both arms open, and keep reminding yourself that all that comes up will happen for a reason - to help you expand your personal growth. You’ll be deeply inspired - just keep your feet on the ground!

Summary:

As you may have surmised, this will be a major month for thinking about collaborations and moving forward to cement a partnership. An engagement or wedding may be in your future, or you may combine forces in a business deal. The solar eclipse last month on January 26 started you thinking in this direction, and the February 9 eclipse will help you finalize a decision.

One more eclipse in this series that will arrive on August 5 will be connected to your progress, so if you are not ready now to make a final decision, there will be more emphasis in this area of your life in six months.

Neptune will be very active at the February 9 eclipse, and that could prove troublesome. This planet has two sides - confusion and inspiration. The danger is that you would rush into a union with false expectations, so be sure you talk over all your expectations with your intended partner before you make a commitment. If you are not sure, then delay a decision. You are right for one another, and you always have time on your side.

If you are not happy in your present union, the universe will ask you to either fix it or leave altogether, but you will not be able to put off that decision much longer. The February 9 eclipse could bring a big breakup, and if so, it would feel emotional as this eclipse is a full moon lunar eclipse in Leo. Lunar eclipses always bring memories, dreams, and sentimental feelings, so you would be looking back, perhaps wistfully, at what might have been. Still, this eclipse is in Leo, so your interests will be strongly highlighted - in other words, the universe will be staunchly on your side.

Jupiter, the great benefactor, now in your house of partnership, does work to protect you, sometimes in ways we find mysterious. Naturally, if you go through a breakup, you may assume that Jupiter forgot all about you, but nothing would be farther from the truth. In this case, the breakup may be the protective action needed, so have faith.

It is unlikely that you will see an adverse romantic episode this month, but with eclipses you never know, so I felt duty-bound to tell you. This February 9 eclipse is in Leo, suggesting that if you do break up, it would be your choice to do so.

Let’s stay positive. Most Leos will be thrilled at the events that occur now. Eclipses speed up timetables, so you may be making a commitment to your partner much sooner than you thought possible!

If you are already attached, your partner will be leading the momentum of the relationship and have big news to share. You may decide to work on a new goal together, such as to buy a house, have a baby, or move to a new city, as just a few examples.

At month’s end, a new moon and a lovely conjunction of Mercury and Jupiter will fall, coincidentally, on the same day, February 24. This is great news, for both will work to help you stabilize your financial picture. Actions you take at this time will be good ones. If necessary, consult a financial advisor that friends and family have recommended and think about changes you would like to make.

February 24 would be a fantastic day to sign any kind of contract - it does not get any better than this!

Dates to Note:

Romance will be best: February 4, 7-8, 13, 16-18, 21, and 26-27. The lunar eclipse, February 9 is a wild card, which could go dramatically either way, plus or minus one week.

Mercury goes direct, life takes on a more rapid pace: February 1.

Travel will be dazzling: February 16, 17, and 24.

Your career should bring good news: February 16

Make new financial arrangements: at and after the new moon February 24. Your salary or earned income may rise too at the same time.

Good news from a partner or middleman should arrive on February 24, too. It’s a great day to sign a contract or to reach accord on any major questions.

Leo Horoscope for January 2009

This month marks a major development in your relationships with the move of Jupiter, the giver of gifts and luck, into your seventh house of commitment. Jupiter has not been in this part of your chart since 1997, so this trend will be quite new and special. It also will be one you will notice, if not immediately, in time. Collaborations of all kinds will become magical for you, so start to think about how you can use this trend. I will give you some ideas, but you can apply this to suit your life in a way that feels most comfortable.

Before we get to the details of the month, I must say, as I write this to you, dear Leo, that it is impossible for me not to remember how one close relationship was so very difficult for you at some point during the time from mid-2005 to mid-2007. Depending on your exact birthday, parts of that period turned out to be quite trying for a close relationship. You might have gritted your teeth and tried hard to fix things, or you broke up. Alternatively, it was possible that your partner was going through a very hard time, and he or she needed you to lend your strength and support through that harrowing period.

No matter what you experienced, when that phase finally ended in mid-2007, you probably sighed with relief. 2009 should prove to be just the opposite of that period - pure joy! Your partner will work with you to boost your aims, and the union should feel light and very happy.

How might you feel Jupiter’s presence in 2009? The most obvious, and perhaps most common way that you may feel Jupiter’s benefits, would be to become engaged and/or wed this year. Truly, 2009 will be the most enchanting year in over a decade to wed.

Do you remember the lines to the song from Hair: “When the moon is in the seventh house and Jupiter aligns with Mars”? Actually, you will HAVE the moon in the seventh house (as a solar eclipse this month on January 26), and the exact alignment of Jupiter and Mars will occur next month on February 17. These aspects are so special, people write songs about them!

If you are already wed, you will see that in the coming year, your partner does well, and together, you both will benefit from your partner’s good fortune. Prosperity should come to your marriage, and with money flowing more freely, you will feel that you both can relax and possibly even take a fun vacation together.

If you have been experiencing problems in your marriage, Jupiter’s blessings are likely to bring about a breakthrough to help you recapture the fun you had in your early days when you were courting. Never have you had a better reason to redouble your efforts to find a way to heal.

There is another, very different way this trend might be felt in your life, in a business way: You may form a very successful business partnership this year (and particularly next month). If you are starting a business, you may be thinking about having a partner, and this year, the right one would appear. If you are an artist or writer, you may now sign an agent, manager, publicist, stylist, or other collaborator, also with excellent results. With Jupiter in your partnering sector, this person would likely be a gem and be able to come up with good ideas that translate into more profits for you.

Jupiter will enter this house on January 5. You will feel this trend much more dramatically at the end of the month, when two cosmic events will come by to make you sit up and take notice. The first involves the meeting of the Sun and Jupiter together, creating “the luckiest day of the year.” This will happen on January 23-24. Then, on the heels of this glorious day, on January 26 will come the grand solar eclipse in Aquarius. Let’s look at both.

First, on January 23-24, Jupiter will make its annual visit to the Sun, a beauty of a meeting that will spell enormous happiness for you. Although this day will be fortunate for everyone, you are ruled by the Sun, so it will be doubly sweet for you. This day would be ideal for committing your love or having a meeting to discuss a future business partnership.

These two days will glow so brightly that you can use them for other purposes beyond partnership reasons. Here are some ideas: Jupiter is associated with foreign travel, so you could be planning a very important long distance trip, for pleasure or business. If you can’t travel, you may be talking with people abroad by phone about a big idea that you’re about to set up, with good results. All types of financial talks should go well, for Jupiter’s presence suggests expansive monetary developments are due soon.

Your health will also see an upturn near January 23-24. Choose Friday, January 23, to have a medical diagnosis or procedure. If your doctor does not work on those dates, choose the days LEADING up to them, earlier in the week.

Is nothing coming to mind for ways to use these two days? Then use one of these days for a luxury spa treatment such as a massage or manicure.

If you were born on or within five days of July 26, you will have a double dip of luck on these magical days.

Although you will feel enthusiastic and optimistic, you will need to proceed slowly. Mercury will be retrograde from January 11 to February 1, so it’s not a time to make final arrangements. It’s not wise to launch big initiatives during this phase, nor to come up too close to the front and end dates of this retrograde either. Leave several days open on either side. Mercury will be at his most difficult all month, but doubly so at the front and end dates.

During Mercury retrograde periods, things go haywire. Communications are muffled and confused, so it’s nearly impossible to know what, precisely, is going on and what you can expect next. Any deal you make while Mercury is retrograde will almost always have to be renegotiated later.

You can have talks this month; just don’t set things in stone. You will soon see that changing conditions will make this period one of smoke and mirrors. Ironically, Mercury will be retrograde IN your house of serious relationships part of the time, and with Neptune in that house too, you may not have a clear idea of the conditions you will face later That’s why I say don’t let enthusiasm sweep you along with the tide - take your time and wait until say, February 4. My favorite days in February would be February 17 and 22-24, but there are others. Just don’t use February 1-3 to sign papers or begin big ventures.

There is another reason I would like you to go slowly. While you will absolutely benefit from any collaboration you make in February, there will be a danger that you MIGHT sign away too much, especially in a business sense. This proclivity exists all year, so you will have to try to stay as levelheaded and real as possible. It would be a very good idea to have your lawyer to protect your interests. Although you won’t sign until next month, you can begin to discuss the clauses with your lawyer in January.

A fantastic solar eclipse on January 26 will open a path for an important collaboration, engagement, or wedding, possibly quite suddenly. A solar eclipse often is a harbinger of fresh starts. Eclipses dramatically move up timetables, so even if you feel you have not been ready to commit to a sweetheart or business partner, once this eclipse comes by, no matter what you said previously, a serious commitment could come up quite rapidly as your priorities change.

If you were born on July 28, plus or minus five days, you will feel this quite dramatically.

Eclipses are always very dramatic. Indeed, there is nothing subtle about them. Eclipses give us the impetus to move forward by offering a very compelling reason to do so. The reason is often not something you’d expect. Eclipses work in curvy, not straight line, ways.

Something else is happening this month that you might like to know about, and it involves a terrific boost to your fitness! Most people have the goal of losing weight and starting to get fit on January 1. Leo is the only sign that has a chance to lose weight if the resolution is to begin in January. Other signs will have to wait until later in the year, when they have the right new moon to help them succeed. Leo, you will have it in January, in spades, due to a new moon that arrived last month on December 27 and that will still be strong from January 1-4. Make your first initiation then.

Not only will you have that powerful new moon behind you, but you will also have Jupiter in his final days of Capricorn. Before moving into your partnership and marriage sector, Jupiter will help you from your sixth house of health, seeing that you become slim and fit.

Mars, an active, athletic planet, is also in this house, suggesting that the program you start now will be one you’ll stay with for at least two years. Mars will also give you over-the-top energy and determination, no small gift!

On top of that, you will also have the Sun, your ruler, in this house, indicating that you’d have a strong sense of purpose. If you are, you’d find the right coach, teacher, best friend, or other helper to help you more easily achieve your aim.

Lastly, if I haven’t done enough to convince you to start your fitness plan now or think about giving up the whole idea of getting fit, you may want to consider that you’ll also have Pluto in your health and fitness sector for the coming FIFTEEN YEARS.

Pluto, the planet of metamorphosis and transformation, has never been in this house of your horoscope during your lifetime, as Pluto takes approximately 246 years to go around the Sun. Your cosmic support is simply awesome! The question is: Will you take full advantage of it?

Many Leos are already in great shape, as Jupiter has been in this part of your chart since late December 2007. Jupiter will soon leave on January 5, not to return for 12 years.

Although you’ve had Jupiter at your side that long, you’ve not had THIS level of support from the other planets to improve your health and fitness all year, so take the opportunity to do so now. While all of January would be a good time to start your program, January 1 to 4 will be your best. Will you be away on vacation at that time? Bring a new exercise DVD along for your computer. In astrology, the day you choose to start in earnest matters a lot, for that will be the day that will set the “DNA” of your endeavor. Make it the best it can be!

Whether you are an experienced athlete or are new to your fitness program, make sure you don’t go overboard at the inception of your program. I say this because the full moon on January 10 (plus or minus four days) will find you in slightly weaker health, with lowered resistance to colds. You won’t want to get sick now, just when so many things will be opening up for you, so take it easy if you feel tired.

Financially, you’ve had a lot of ups and downs in recent months, but this month seems to bring your cash flow back into the plus side of the ledger. Venus will enter your joint financial eighth house on January 3, to stay all month, so the presence of Venus will almost certainly perk up your financial prospects.

There are two days to watch. Your first upbeat financial day will arrive January 9, when the Sun and surprise-a-minute Uranus will be quite cordial to one another. Their interaction is likely to bring you a happy surprise concerning your finances, especially in regard to a loan, credit matter, mortgage, scholarship, financial aid, insurance matter, or another similar area. Some sort of windfall seems to be coming you way.

Another special time for money will be January 16-17. On these days, a different kind of financial luck may find you - in the area of earned income. If you had been promised a raise that never came, you may get it at this time. Mercury, ruler of your second house of salary, will be beautifully oriented toward Jupiter. Mercury will be retrograde, which is why the money you see may go back to an earlier discussion.

If you do not find this day to bring you to the right financial conclusion, you will have one more shot at seeing a profitable development next month, on February 22-23 when Mercury and Jupiter will meet again. This is a rare and very beneficial aspect, so take it seriously. The two will meet in your partnership house, so an agent or other middleman would be the source of your income. In your chart, Mercury rules your earned income, which is why I feel money will find a way to your door.

Romantically, you and I talked earlier about how glowing your partnership sector will be this year, and especially this month and in February. This is sure to be sensational news for those who are seriously dating and ready to be engaged or wed. Getting engaged for Valentine’s Day could happen - and whether you are the one who asks or accepts, you’ll be thrilled.

Ah, but what if you aren’t even dating anyone special. What then? In your case, Jupiter’s position will bring you in contact with substantial, educated types, some of whom may be professionals - teachers, doctors, lawyers, and the like. Among the people you meet, one will likely stand out as someone you would like to know better. This would be true whether you are a lion or lioness.

The person you meet would not be stick thin either - your partner would have some meat on his or her bones - and also have quite a jovial sense of humor. This would be true of the person you meet and find interesting all year, not just this month, so you do have a terrific outlook!

Which would be your best day to try a new date this month? Use your luckiest day of the year, of course, Friday, January 23. If that day is impossible, then try for January 24. Your runner up date: Friday, January 9. No can do? Try over the weekend of January 3-4.

Here is a summary of your most romantic days: January 3-4, 8-9. 11-12. 16-18, 23-26, and 30-31.

Summary

If you’ve been disappointed in love, this month brings a complete 180-degree turnaround. Do you remember the years that spanned mid-2005 to mid-2007? The coming year will be just the opposite of those tough years. There’s no danger that you will ever see a repeat of those years, thank goodness. The universe is about to make a major correction to your life with the monumental arrival of Jupiter, planet of good fortune, in your house of serious, committed relationships, and that includes marriage. If you have been dating someone awhile, the chances are excellent that you could get engaged soon, even if you currently have no plans to do so!

A major eclipse on January 26 could completely change your timetable as outside forces come to bear. You’ll be in a happy optimistic frame of mind too, which will only encourage you to act soon. This is the second eclipse in a series, one that started on February 6, 2008, so you may have met then, or made some sort of decision about a partner at that time. This coming eclipse will take things to the next level. If you are married now, this eclipse will bring dramatic changes in your partner’s life, but the outcome will be beneficial to you.

Those who have business partners or collaborators will also see changes in that alliance. Additionally, you can sign a new partner as soon as next month if you like. Some of your best aspects for 2009 involve getting support from another person. Your urge to merge energies with someone in your life will be very strong, and rightly so!

Mercury will be in retrograde from January 11 to February 1, and you will feel the effect of Mercury’s scrambled messages as soon as January begins. It is not advisable to launch any new ventures, to buy expensive items (certainly not electronic items), or to sign papers while Mercury is retrograde. If you are not sure about a partner you are dating or talking to in business, Mercury retrograde will be your friend by giving you time to think things over without feeling pressured. Indeed Mercury will be retrograde IN your marriage and serious partnership house for much of the time this month.

At the full moon, January 10, you may be feeling like you are dragging your feathers. Take a couple of days to rest up so that you can stay strong for one of your happiest days of the month, coming in late January. Your resistance will be low at that full moon, so don’t overtax yourself.

In the early morning of January 24 - therefore stronger on the full day January 23 - the Sun will meet with Jupiter. This will be “the luckiest day of the year” when some sort of magnificent luck will present itself to you in material, emotional, or spiritual form. It will be a day you can use for any reason and expect great results. You may get engaged or married, or you may set up a powerful business alliance. Additionally, you may see money come in, you may travel a great distance, or you may see your health improve. As they say, when you’re hot, you’re hot!

Finally, if your New Year’s resolution is to get fit and slim, you must begin between January 1 and 4. This year, you will be the ONLY sign in the zodiac that has ideal aspects for seeing that dream a reality if you begin in early January. The caveat is that you must begin in the first four days while you still have Jupiter in your health sector. By mid-year you could be looking at a whole new body. Wow! You’ll love having to shop for new, smaller sizes!

Dates to note:

Start a fitness plan: January 1-4, no later.

A good day to talk seriously about the future: January 2.

Protect your health from colds and flu at the full moon: January 10, plus or minus 4 days.

Mercury will be retrograde: January 11 to February 1.

Your luckiest day of the year, for relationships: January 23-24. Other uses for this day will shine for you, too.

A solar eclipse - a new moon - on January 26 will open up a new path in relationships.

Here is a summary of your most romantic days: January 3-4, 8-9. 11-12. 16-18, 23-26, and 30-31.

Leo Horoscope for December 2008

Leos have not had it easy lately, for September brought heavy-duty financial concerns, and November brought a strong emphasis on home, property, or family, as well as developments in your career at mid-month. While November was a positive time to make monumental decisions on these matters, you probably felt like you needed to maintain your concentration and had little time for fun.

This is why, in so many ways, December will be like a dream come true for you. The planets will work together to make you truly happy now, dear Leo, and if there is any zodiac sign that deserves a truly happy, romantic time, it’s you!

If you are single and hope to meet someone new, or attached and want jumpstart a relationship that has grown lackluster, you will have your chance to do so this month.

The new moon that fell last month on November 27 opened a gateway for greater love experiences, especially if you are single. To take full advantage, you would need to circulate more assertively from then on. Early December will be just made for love, so get your dancing shoes on, dear Leo - it’s time to leave the office early and kick up your heels!

If your birthday falls within five days of July 29, you will get a double dip of pleasure, and it will be doubly important that you do take the time to circulate.

All Leos, no matter what your birthday, will enjoy December 1, when Venus will meet with Jupiter - you’ve got a great chance of enjoying a bewitching evening. If your company is giving a party (seems possible) you will have lots of fun if you go - more than you think is possible.

Lucky you, Mars will remain in the perfect, most helpful position in your chart, your house of true love. Mars is the action planet, and so powerful is Mars that it was deemed “the timekeeper” of the zodiac, for when Mars enters any house of the chart, things start to happen. You’ve not had any help from Mars in matters of romance until now, so while you have Mars on your side until December 27, you can see enormous improvements in your romantic life. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by!

If you are attached, you’ll be well taken care of by Venus this month. Venus will glide into your house of close, previously formed established relationships on December 7, to stay all month. Venus will teach you to simply have fun - you’ll have no problem getting ready for that kind of tutoring!

Single or attached, you need to brace for a tense moment involving a social event and money at the full moon, December 12. This full moon will have a tiff with Mars, Pluto, Saturn, and Uranus, and that’s a lot of heavy-duty energy that will be creating tension for everyone, no matter what their sign.

For you this emotional full moon seems to bring high expenses in relation to socializing. News seems to be unexpected and jarring in some way, so you’ll have to watch your cash flow as best you can from the start of the month until this full moon December 12. If you are careful, you may be able to dodge the main bite of this full moon. If buying holiday gifts, you may want to set a few parameters - you are so generous and you spoil friends all the time, but it seems you will need a little slush fund to draw from this month.

December is always a hard month to stem the tide of financial outgo, but this full moon seems to have damaging financial mischief up her sleeve, so you will have to be vigilant. Buying new clothes to attend an important event or choosing a gift to give your host could set you back quite a bit. It may be that you are attending a wedding, or that you are even a member of the wedding - these events do add up.

Once you pass the full moon and you get the message of the universe, you will know where you are and can relax. All full moons each month have a wide area of influence, so keep alert from December 10 to 16 for news.

If you have children, it is possible that an expense on their behalf will be the reason your budget goes haywire at the full moon period near December 12. If that’s the way things work out, as a Leo you are very loving and child oriented, so chances are, you’ll be glad to pay for whatever comes up. Life brings many unanticipated events, and the reason we work so hard is so that we can generously care for our children when they need us most. In these cases, we simply have to laugh, as these things happen - just plunk down the plastic and don’t let this mar your enjoyment of this beautiful season.

There is one other way this full moon may turn out and that is if you are self-employed and working on a creative project. In that case, you may encounter a financial overrun, or a client may suddenly change the project’s direction or ask for some other unforeseen request. If so, you will not have much time to find a cure, as full moons are filled with high energy and require quick response. That’s both the bad news and the good news - thank goodness it is quick to blow over. Even so, you seem to have to pay out some sort of money.

If you were born on August 14 or within five days of this date, you will actually find a way to benefit from this full moon, for it will appear at 21 degrees of Gemini and reach out and match the degrees of your Leo Sun.

Whether you work for yourself or others, you will find that business is really, really good this month, and it will grow even more so after December 21, as counter-intuitive as this may sound! Watch December 22 when an influential VIP may recommend you for a plum assignment.

As you get closer to month’s end, a very magical change will take place in your thinking, and suddenly you will be determined to transform your appearance - quite a bit! Thanks to a darling new moon, you will be very determined and energized about getting fit, sleek, and toned. Perhaps you have fallen in love with someone this month (seems very possible) and will redouble your efforts to look extra sexy in (and out of) your clothes! All this is very, very possible!

Once Mars moves into your heath and fitness sector on December 27, the same day as the new moon will appear in the same part of your chart ruling health and fitness, you’ll be off and running (perhaps literally). While it seems that everyone you know will be making New Year resolutions about losing pounds and shaping up by exercising more and eating right, only you, dear Leo, have precisely the right aspects to make this happen over the long term. Don’t wait for January to dawn to get started on your plan, for in astrology it really matters greatly when you begin an endeavor.

For best luck, begin on December 28-31. Sign up for a gym membership at that time if you don’t already belong to a gym that you are enthusiastic about going to every week. Not only will you be starting at a time that is ideal, within days of the new moon in your fitness house (a rare event), but you may also nab a bargain. Gym managers will try to reach sales quotas at that time, something you won’t find to be true in January - you may get a deal!

Be sure to choose a place you’ll enjoy visiting on a regular basis. If you don’t like gyms, make a commitment to a new sport. In that case, you may want to buy some new gear and a package of lessons, and perhaps get a friend to sign up, too. The key to make your plan work is to actually begin your routine at the new moon, not just buy a membership or a package of lessons and let things sit on your desk. As it’s been said, half of the success in life is simply showing up.

See a doctor first to be sure you are healthy enough to begin, and follow your doctor’s advice to the letter. In astrology there is nothing wrong with starting slowly - long-range plans begin with baby steps. What is necessary is that you commit to consistency and growth. It is more important to exercise on a regular basis than to do too much at once and give up. Be sure to do something physical - even if you choose power walking - every day. It is always exciting to see a breakthrough, and you will, certainly in six months, no matter what shape you are in now, even if you are already quite fit. (We can always get better!) Six months from now is June, and for many bathing suit time. Hooray!

If you have had a health concern, the presence of Jupiter, the great healer, in this same sector of preventative medicine will bring you the right medical and dental advice to follow. Jupiter will be in your health sector until January 5, in a once-in-twelve-year visit. Make your appointment any time in December or early January. You don’t have to cure your disorder, just take the first steps now!

As a result of financial outgo at mid-month, you may consider scaling back your plans for New Year’s Eve. Even if you do, you won’t miss any fun, not with Mercury about to conjoin fortunate Jupiter! You appear to have a tender, romantic evening shaping up, one just made for quiet conversation and sexy, private exchanges. As they say, some of the best things in life are free, and after this sparkling evening is over, you will know this is true in your heart. Enjoy your evening, dear Leo!

Summary

There’s plenty of work to be done in December, and jobs will flow in - but your social life will be hopping too, and that seems to interest you more. The month starts off very promising, thanks to a lovely new moon that opened a gateway on November 27 and that will still be strong as you move through the first ten days. Romance should be good, and the party invitations should flow.

The problem that you are likely to encounter is a drama-filled full moon, due December 12 (operative plus or minus four days) in your friendship sector. That full moon opposes your house of true love and causes all sorts of problems in your financial houses. This full moon will be problematic for everyone, which only means that everyone you encounter will be close to a meltdown at the slightest cross look or comment from you. Don’t blame yourself. This full moon will be looking for weak links and will expose them faster than you can change channels on your TV set.

It looks like a friend or social event will trigger the problem. You may have an altercation with a friend, or it may be that a friend encounters a crisis and needs you to help. In that case, you will need to drop everything and do so. You seem to find yourself in a money jam at the same time midmonth. I am not sure if the two are related, but it seems so. It may be that your best friend is getting married and you’re in the wedding party. As hard as you may have tried to estimate costs, you now see you were quite a bit off and are in a panic. Or, it may be that your friend needs help and to do what you need to do will incur costs, such as a last minute air ticket for you or food for her family. Almost anything is possible.

Once you get beyond December 16 or so, you will have devised a plan and will be feeling better. By the time any full moon wanes, emotions die down. If you find that you have a friend who seems unusually cranky, allow some slack. This full moon will be hardest on the mutable signs (Gemini, Sagittarius, Pisces, and Virgo). Even if you say your friend is not one of the mutable signs, she or he may have a mutable sign rising or a prominent planet in one of these signs. Fortunately, full moons reveal problems by crystallizing them rapidly. Then, all is over. While the problem may linger, at least you will have no more surprises and can plan with greater certainty.

The end of December emphasizes new opportunities to work on a freelance basis or to do overtime work. If you are in your own business, you should find it fairly easy to bring in new clients this month if you put your mind to it. Considering how flustered I feel you’ll be about money near the full moon December 12, having the option to earn money though doing extra assignments may sound really good.

The new moon on December 27 will be your BFF by providing all the new job opportunities you need. With planets in Capricorn, you may be working for a bank or other financial-oriented company. I know this may sound a little weird to you because as a Leo you are generally thought to be such a highly creative sign. The financial industry is not one immediately associated with Leo. Perhaps you will be working on graphics, or working in the accounting department for an artist management group. The point is, it will be great to be employed and in demand.

You ALSO hold the distinction of having the very best new moon to set you off on the right foot for success in a new exercise or diet routine. In order to succeed, you would HAVE to begin in earnest on December 27. Consistency of sessions every week will be far more important in your success than having occasional bouts of strenuous activity.

For New Year’s, plan a quiet, romantic evening for two, away from the madding crowds. 2009 will be a banner year for commitment and true blue love. If you feel you have it, revel in it. If you want it, it seems to be on the way!

Happy New Year, dear Leo!

Dates to watch for December:

Your love life should zing with excitement: December 1-27. Wow!

Your most romantic evenings of the month include: December 1, 6-7, 13, 20, 22, 25-26, and 29-31.

A social event may bring unanticipated expenses that temporarily rock you near the full moon December 12, plus or minus four days.

Alternatively, an expense involving a child may turn your budget inside out, or an artistic project may incur overages at the same full moon, December 12. Thankfully, you’ll quickly solve things, and you may even find a way to turn the tables on the situation and benefit!

See a doctor or dentist for a check up, procedure, diagnosis, or first meeting. Do so before Jupiter leaves your sector of health on January 5 while you have extraordinary favor!

Begin a fitness plan: December 27-31. Be consistent, and don’t wait until January to begin. Do something each and every day from then on. Expect to see exciting results in your shape and strength level soon!

Leo Horoscope for November 2008

In November, planets on the move will align in a beautiful pattern, allowing many of life’s stresses and strains of past months to melt away. You’ve not seen a month this supportive in a long time, so there’s plenty to be excited about now. Happily, you’ll have a triple hitter involving Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus, so plenty of progress is possible in November, particularly in relation to domestic and family issues, as well as in career and romance.

First, as you begin November, move swiftly on any home-related matter that interests you, for later you won’t have much time to take advantage of the wonderful aspects coming up. The actions you take to find a new apartment or house; to fix up, repair, or reorganize your present space; or to address a family or domestic concern will bring long-range solutions if done prior to November 10.

In astrology, the day you choose to act really does matter, so seize the day in early November to make your home or other property the way you want it to be. One of your luckiest days for home-and-family-related actions will arrive November 9 and 10.

If you need help from a broker or lawyer, or hope to have the support of your partner or roommate in your home-related changes, Neptune’s change from retrograde to direct motion on November 2 should bring the support you need. Neptune has been retrograde since May 27 but will change to strong orbit in early November and stay that way for the coming seven months. When it comes to collaborators and partners, you are looking at a much-improved picture ahead, and you should enjoy smoother interactions.

Your finances in general are due for a complete overhaul, thanks to the opposition of Saturn and Uranus on November 4. You’ve felt that you had to take a stronger hand in these matters, but something has held you back from doing so. Now you can move ahead. You now know what you need to do, and you seem to have no more obstacles in your path.

If you need a mortgage, refinancing plan, or home improvement loan, once Uranus moves direct on November 27, from that point onward, banks will be more forthcoming and sympathetic to your needs. Should you need to sell or lease, you will attract a better quality of buyer or tenant in the weeks and months to come, too. Uranus has been retrograde since early May, so if you’ve been frustrated by certain financial difficulties, you may see a turn of events that is very heartening, one that leads you to a better situation.

Your career may bring exciting news too, and if so, it would come during the week of November 10, thanks to an especially rare and beautiful golden triangle forming in the sky. That supportive triangle will link, in your chart, (1) your house of salary to (2) your sector of work assignments and (3) fame and honors sector. It looks like you may soon have news that you won a new job that brings prestige AND a great salary. You should be very gratified by events that take place, so be sure to circle this whole week as special.

Do you work in a creative field? Leo is an imaginative sign, so it is likely that you do. If so, watch for news that arrives after the new moon, November 27. Any artistic project that you begin at that time should go exceptionally well and may even allow you to develop your craft into a business that attracts global markets.

As busy as you may be, you still will have lots of time for love, especially at month’s end.

The new moon of November 27 will be your best of the year for engendering love. This lovely new moon will arrive with a whole entourage of planets - Mars, Mercury, and the Sun - so you should notice a flurry of activity beginning at the new moon, November 27. Mars will remain at your side until December 27, ensuring you will have an enchanting holiday next month.

Of course, to enjoy the fullest part of this lovely energy you should not barricade yourself inside. With Mars part of that gang of planets, you have a superb opportunity to start a new relationship. Go out in the world and see what it has to offer you.

A co-worker may be your best ally in helping you find your new romantic interest this month (as surprising as that might sound), so don’t dismiss his or her ideas for places to go and things to do. Also, if your friend offers to make an introduction, accept. Your friend apparently knows your type and will be a savvy matchmaker.

Your most romantic days of the month: November 10-11, 18, 22-23, and 27-28.

Summary

This would an ideal month to improve your living situation. If you need to move or want to try your hand at do-it-yourself fix-up or decorating, you can have a lot of fun and find lots of success in the first half of the month. Last month you had help from Mars, but Mercury was retrograde, not a time to make a big decision or spend a lot of money. That changes now and here’s why.

The new moon last month on October 28 marked the time to begin, and once you start November, that new moon will be sending very strong vibrations. You need to act fast though - you need to make your biggest and most important actions in the first week.

You may have exceptional luck with real estate, home renovations, repairs, or home decorating projects on November 10, when Jupiter, planet of good fortune, will be beautifully angled to the Sun. If you need someone to help you at home, from an architect to a decorator, housekeeper to a nanny, you will also have a superb day on November 10.

This day, November 10, is so special that I would say you could use it for a wide variety of reasons! Key it on your calendar with a big gold star and use it for big meetings, interviews, auditions, creative meetings, and even a first date. You decide - this is your day!

The full moon of November 13 will take all the energies circulating in the air, package it, and make it accessible to you. If you have been interviewing for a new position, this full moon may bring you the very best kind of news - a big promotion or offer for a prestigious new job and if so, it would come along with excellent salary to boot.

Leo often works in a creative profession, or at the very least is serious about personal projects of artist expression. You’ll be happy to know that the new moon on November 27 will be ideal for beginning a new project.

Romantically, the move of Mars into your fifth house of love on November 16 for the first time in two years is great news. This means you’ll have a lively social life straight through December 27. Lucky you, the Christmas / Hanukkah season should be great fun and just made for you.

That’s not all. The new moon that arrives on November 27 will heighten your possibilities in the two weeks that follow it. Keep in mind that you will have your best results in the days that closely follow that new moon. Have a look at your holiday clothes, as it looks like you’ll need those items to be pressed and ready to wear. Leo loves to dress up, so it looks like you’ll get your wish very soon!

If you are attached, you may have been frustrated with miscommunications and a less-than-forthright response from your partner. The good news is that Neptune, planet of misunderstandings when in a difficult angle (as it’s been), will now move direct on November 2. From then on, better communication lies ahead. Shortly after November 2, if you open talks you may have a breakthrough, and you may understand things about your partner that have puzzled you in the past.

Financially, few signs have had as many ups and downs as you have had. The opposition of Saturn and Uranus on November 4 may be the moment when you realize that you have to make a few changes in your ways of handling money, and if so you seem to know what you have to do.

More help will come on November 27, when Uranus finally stops being retrograde, a weak orbit for any planet. In the days that closely follow this date, you should get a signal that things are changing for the better - and you will know it like you know your name.

One thing before I go: Next month, the full moon of December 12 will be a troublesome one. It will be angry with Saturn, Uranus, Mars, and the Sun, and this will stir up many problems and emotions. You will not be at the center of this full moon’s rage, but everyone will have certain issues to solve quite unexpectedly and quickly.

This will likely blow you off course and could completely break your concentration on whatever you have to do to get ready for the holiday. If you planned to shop, ship, decorate your home, or do any number of other things for the holiday, you probably won’t be able to keep to your schedule, causing an enormous amount of tension. So, my advice is to have all your shopping, wrapping, and shipping done no later than December 9.

I have never put up my Christmas tree as early as December 6, but this year I will. My New York City apartment could be a little warm but I will keep the heat off and walk around with heavy sweaters to keep my pretty tree fresh for Christmas.

I would never ask you to do anything that I wouldn’t do or haven’t road tested myself, dear Leo. I know it’s hard to get things ready for the holiday so early, but I feel it will be imperative to do so this year. Also try not to do anything of vital importance on or near December 12, plus or minus four days, because you will be quite distracted at the time. We will talk more about this next month, of course. This full moon is in Gemini, not Leo, so you will probably be a bystander to what occurs, but even so, others may need you. Be ready.

Key dates to remember:

Make changes in property, family, and living arrangements: November 1-10.

Your finances need review and restructuring: November 4.

Expect big career news and possible breakthroughs: November 10 and at the full moon November 13 (plus or minus four days).

Romance begins to get very lively: from November 27 through December. Singles have a good chance for a new relationship, and attached couples will have a chance to enjoy life and grow closer. Talk of babies may enter the conversation.

A creative project gets the signal to go: November 27 plus.

Most romantic days this month: November 10-11, 18, 22-23, and 27-28.

First Week of the NBA!

After six nonstop days of watching the NBA come back to life, here’s what we all should have learned:

1. The Portland Trail Blazers are jinxed. Bill Walton, Sam Bowie, Greg Oden. Jinxed.

2. Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni is either a damn fool or a genius. By the All-Star break we’ll know which one.

3. Even if they get Allen Iverson, the Pistons are a “true” center away from being the best team in the East.

4. This might be the last season we see the Iverson and Steve Nash we’ve grown to love.

5. Shaq worked on his free-throw shooting over the summer. (Hey, he’s at 61 percent so far!)

6. Dwight Howard still needs to work on his “dominating” skills.

7. Although Elton Brand was the big offseason transaction, Jermaine O’Neal’s move to Toronto might have a bigger impact on the East.

8. Something’s wrong in San Antonio (besides Manu’s injury) that might not be fixable.

9. Al Thornton is about to become the next Al Jefferson.

10. The Grizzlies’ experiment of starting three rookies (O.J. Mayo, Marc Gasol and Darrell Arthur) and a second-year player (Mike Conley) could actually work.

11. The Stephon Marbury Era is officially over.

12. The Chicago Bulls (the worst-shooting team in the NBA last season at 43.5 percent) still don’t get it. Even though Derrick Rose has shown more promise than any other rookie, the team’s shooting percentage so far is 38.8 percent.

13. Matt Barnes might be the new Shawn Marion.

14. Shawn Marion might not be in Miami by the end of the season.

15. EA Sports’ NBA LIVE 09 “Made Fresh Daily” commercials are the best 60-second basketball ads since Nike’s “Freestyle” spots from 2001.

16. Kevin Durant is in the first stage of fading into obscurity.

17. The “new” Carmelo Anthony (devoid of braids, focused on defense, putting the DUI behind him, etc.) might not be enough change to change what needs to change in Denver.

18. Nick Young — if the Wizards put him in the starting lineup while Gilbert Arenas is out — will make Ernie Grunfeld think twice about why he re-signed GA to that contract over the summer.

19. With the NBA announcing the 2010 All-Star Game will be in Dallas (albeit at the Cowboys’ new stadium), David Stern and Mark Cuban don’t dislike each other as much as we all thought. Kinda.

20. After watching Adam Morrison in-depth for two games, two conclusions can be drawn: (1) He’s not the answer, and (2) because of that, people are going to start questioning Michael Jordan’s GM skills out loud.

21. It’s going to take more than a week to get used to Phil Jackson’s and Gregg Popovich’s extreme makeovers.

22. The Raptors are for real. But having to play Jose Calderon 40 minutes a game — Roko Ukic is the backup at point — is going to come back to haunt them.

23. Something serious — besides Udonis Haslem playing out of position at center and having a rookie point guard — is wrong in Miami.

24. Despite the jinx in Portland, Rudy Fernandez will end the season as the second-best player on the team behind Brandon Roy. Even with a “questionable” Greg Oden the Blazers will be the team no one wants to play in the first round.

25. The way the Kings have looked (0-3, outscored by 15 points per game), the Maloofs and GM Geoff Petrie must be trying to give the NBA no choice but to move the team to Vegas.

26. The East might not be worse than the West.

27. The Southwest Division will replace the NFL’s NFC East as the best division in sports.

28. The Pacers — with Larry Bird making his second solo executive decision (his first was distancing the organization from Jamaal Tinsley) — are going to officially build their franchise around Danny Granger, not Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy. Smart move.

29. Jamaal Tinsley will wind up being the NBA’s version of Daunte Culpepper.

30. The Avery Johnson interview process for a coaching job in 2009-10 began Oct. 29.

31. Lawrence Frank will be the first coach whose name will be mentioned as not lasting as coach past the All-Star break. (With George Karl’s name not far behind.)

32. The “Vince Carter: RIP” T-shirts as seen after a 105-97 home loss to Golden State will soon be on eBay. And probably in popular demand.

33. Eddy Curry and Kirk Hinrich will both be dealt by the trading deadline. Al Harrington by the end of November.

34. The Hawks will not miss Josh Childress.

35. Muted gray suits with off-powder blue shirts seem to be the new favorite sideline choice for coaches. Not a good look.

36. LeBron James versus Chris Paul (they meet again Jan. 16) is the new best “must-see” matchup in the league.

37. Amare Stoudemire is the most slept-on future Hall of Famer in the game.

38. Finally … the Lakers, the Rockets and the Celtics could all win more than 65 games, with one of them winning 70.