This is one year when you can't afford to take a blanket approach, assuming that what you see from the get go is what you'll get. However, in saying that there are some major themes running through the year and if you had to sum it up you'd say that 2012 is an important year for money, relationships, professional matters and communication. Jupiter, planet of luck and expansion will remain in your income sector until the 12th June, creating the potential for income growth and opportunities. It's in the second half of the year that the focus will shift to your financial situation as a whole, where it will be less about creating growth and opportunities and more about cementing and managing what you already have. The more you can balance financial responsibility with income growth in the first half of the year, the more potential for growth there'll be on both fronts. Relationships continue to be a major theme in 2012, as they have been for several years now but it's Venus, planet of love's extraordinary 4 month visit to your communication sector, from the 4th April to the 8th August that sets the scene for a real breakthrough. If love and communication are the lifeblood of any good relationship, then having Venus in your communication sector gives you a double whammy. As the year progresses and especially from June onwards, communication in general becomes both easier and more important. Communication, the ability to express yourself and to think on your feet become such major themes as the year progresses, that in the second half of the year this is where your best opportunities lie. The only real challenges you'll face this year are the same challenges you've become familiar with over recent years, of maintaining a balance between personal and relationship authenticity.

Love
Relationships continue to be a major theme for the majority of 2012, with Saturn remaining in your relationship sector until the 6th October. Since as far back as October 2009 Saturn has been on a mission to create more relationship authenticity, forcing you to raise the bar and take more responsibility. Since then you've been through ups and downs, highs and lows as Saturn took you on a bit of a roller coaster ride. As you move into 2012 the majority of your cards are on the table, everything is out in the open and you know what you're dealing with. Even if your relationships aren't where you want them to be or you're not in the relationship you want to be in, then at least you know how to make it happen, making it more about taking things one step at a time. Saturn will spend from the 8th February to the 25th June in retrograde motion, giving you a chance to make your peace with the past or seize any second chances. It's Mars' return to your relationship sector on the 4th July that will really get things moving on the relationship front and here until the 24th August he'll be urging you to give your relationships your all. Mercury's visit between the 17th September and the 5th October, the Sun's between the 23rd September and the 23rd October and Venus' from the 29th October to the 22nd November, will give you the resources to put your relationships on the track they'll continue on for years if not decades to come. A New Moon on the 16th October will be a day for making a commitment to the future. While it's your relationships that will dominate this year, the middle months of the year are going to be the most romantic months, in particular from the 26th June to the 1st September, with a New Moon in your romantic sector on the 18th August bringing the promise of new beginnings. The most romantic weeks of the year however lie between the 7th September to the 3rd October, which is also a particularly powerful and defining time for your relationships.

Money
While 2012 is a big year for money matters, on both the income front and on the financial front as a whole, to start with the focus is on your income situation, as it has been since June 2011. It was on the 5th June 2011 that Jupiter, planet of luck returned to your income sector and after spending from the 30th August to the 26th December 2011 in retrograde motion, as you move into 2012 he's ready to get things moving. With support from Mars in your work sector and from Pluto in your career sector, no matter how things played out in 2011 you're ready to move into the New Year with confidence. With Jupiter not leaving your income sector until the 12th June and some very active months on the income front between now and then, this is when you're able to pull things together and make a serious assault on any glass ceilings. While Jupiter will be working towards income growth until he leaves, you're most likely to get action when the faster moving planets move through, triggering things. The most lucrative weeks of the year are likely to be when Venus moves through your income sector from the 5th March to the 4th April, the Sun from the 20th April to the 21st May and Mercury from the 9th to the 24th May. A New Moon on the 21st April is the only New Moon in your income sector during Jupiter's 12 months here, so will be an auspicious day for new beginnings and opportunities. Even after Jupiter leaves your income sector on the 12th June this won't be the end of the story, with the need to continue to stand your ground and defend your bottom lines continuing for many years. While the focus will always shift to your overall financial situation in the second half of the year, this year the shift is likely to be extreme. That's because as well as Mars moving through your financial sector from the 24th August to the 7th October, Mercury from the 5th October to the 29th October and again from the 14th November to the 11th December, the Sun from the 23rd October to the 22nd November and Venus from the 22nd November to the 16th December, with the North Node shifting here on the 30th August and Saturn returning on the 6th October, for the first time in nearly 3 decades, the heavens are coming together to make this a major financial review period, one that won't run its course until 2015. With Saturn calling for accountability, the North Node bringing opportunity and a total solar eclipse on the 14th November likely to be a catalyst for change, expect income growth in the first half of the year and major financial developments in the second half.

Business
This might not be the biggest, the luckiest or the most important of professional years, but it is one of the best. Usually you look for a planet like Jupiter or one of the outer planets, who can stay around long enough to get things done to give your professional year the kind of ranking that sets it apart from the norm, but in this case the planet responsible is Mars, planet of passion, drive and ambition, the warrior planet of the cosmos and your ruling planet. Normally in your work sector for just 6 weeks, but during that time giving you the drive, passion and fighting spirit to move mountains and the motivation to put everything you have into everything you do, doing whatever it takes for as long as it takes, this isn't normally enough to define a whole year. But that's exactly what Mars will achieve this year, giving him the kind of status that will go straight to his head. For rather than stay for just 6 weeks, Mars returned to your work sector on the 11th November 2011 and won't leave until the 4th July 2012, with this 8 month visit his longest in 47 years. However, it's not just the length of Mars' stay that will define your professional year but the support that he has, both from Pluto in your career sector and Jupiter in your income sector. During Mars' 8 months in your work sector there'll be no other planetary activity, but with the Sun moving through your work sector from the 23rd August to the 23rd September, Mercury from the 1st to the 17th September and Venus from the 3rd to the 29th October, whatever Mars gets moving in the first half of the year will have plenty of resources and follow up to keep in motion for the rest of the year. Meanwhile Pluto, who is in your career sector from 2008 to 2024, is fast becoming an institution, working to ensure that there is no stagnation and that you're not resting on your laurels. While Pluto will largely work in the background, leading a long term rebellion and revolution, with the Sun in your career sector until the 21st January and Mercury here from the 8th to the 28th January, the early weeks of the year will provide a lot of momentum, with things picking up again later in the year, from the 17th November onwards. This means that Mars will be the powerhouse of your professional year, with his retrograde phase from the 24th January to the 14th April giving you a chance to work behind the scenes, but also strengthen the bonds with powerful forces on the income and career fronts.

To start with 2013 isn't going to feel that different to 2012, with the main themes that will shape 2013 already locked into place and the other really big shift not coming into play until mid year. The themes already in play are likely to be financial matters, with 2013 an extremely big year on the financial front, especially when it comes to taking your power back and also on the communication front, especially when it comes to communication on the relationship front. However, one of the major movers and shakers of 2013 won't come into play until June and it's on the home, family and/or property fronts that this will make its presence felt. From as early as the 31st May and for the majority of June you're likely to find that your mind is more focused on home and family matters, with a lot of ideas and conversations flying and a period where you're looking at your options. There is nothing unusual in that, especially as this is usually the case in the middle months of each year. What is different this year is that on the 26th June lucky Jupiter will return to your home and family sector, kicking off your luckiest 12 months on the home, family and/or property fronts in 12 years, stretching out to July 2014. 2013 is also a year where you're able to find a good balance between work and play, with just enough planetary support on both fronts. For the first time since 1994 you'll move into the New Year with the Moon in a romantic, creative and playful part of your chart, with any sentiments or intentions this evokes cemented by a Full Moon on the 27th January. The best months of the year for love and all things romantic will be June, July and August, the very middle months of the year. The best months of the year for relationship matters are August, September and October, however there is something special developing over Christmas and into the first half of 2014. While you'll begin the year with the aftermath of a frenetic end to your 2012 professional year still in play, the pace will ease back by late February. You'll find the best opportunities and potential on the work front in August and September, with a second wave coming through from mid October to early December.

Love:
After 3 very tough relationship years, you will emerge into 2013 as a living example of the fact that what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, after surviving relationship boot camp. While Saturn, taskmaster of the cosmos left your relationship sector in October 2012, with Venus having only left in late November you're emerging into 2013 with a clear sense of what you want from your relationships and what they need from you. You're left with the bar raised high, a new sense of determination and the ability to move into the future able to forge strong and enduring relationships. It seems that the love gods feel that they have some making up to do, because for the first time since 1994 you'll move into the New Year with the Moon in your romantic sector, putting a more romantic slant on things from Day 1, as well as giving your heart a clear say in what you expect from love in this brand new year. This allows you to draw a line in the sand between the years that you've been through and the years ahead, where you get to enjoy all that you've worked so hard for. For the most part the love gods will leave you to your own devices and apart from a Full Moon in your romantic sector on the 27th January, the first real support you'll get will be when Venus, planet of love returns to your sign from the 22nd March to the 15th April. It's while Venus is in your sign that you'll have a Full Moon in your relationship sector on the 27th March, giving you a chance to check that your relationships are on track. The most romantically charged months of the year will run from the 28th June to the 16th October, which will overlap the most important relationship months of the year, which will run from the 17th August to the 5th October, before picking up again in December. A New Moon in your romantic sector on the 7th August and in your relationship sector on the 5th October both offer the potential for new beginnings or a fresh start.

Money:
While you can choose to move into any New Year determined to take your power back on the money front, making the kind of financial resolutions that allow you to make the kind of financial commitments that you can follow through on, you don't usually have the support to make that happen. This year you do, for you have returned to one of your most powerful money years on record. For the first time since 1985 you're moving into the New Year with Saturn in your financial sector and not due to leave until September 2015 he's giving you the power to move mountains if you have to. At the same time, for the first time since 1993 you're moving into the New Year with the North Node in your financial sector and not due to leave until February 2014, for the whole of 2013 you'll have a strong sense of direction, with a natural flow in effect that will make it extremely hard to wander off course or get lost. The last time you had both here as you move into the New Year? The answer to that would be never, at least not in your lifetime, making this the year where you have to throw away all preconceived perceptions and to trust that this year the money gods are on your side. With Saturn and the North Node remaining in your financial sector all year there won't be a moment in 2013 that you'll fully take your money hat off, but there will be more active times. Those more active times are likely to come around the time of a lunar eclipse in your financial sector on the 26th April and then again as the faster planets move through, starting with Venus on the 11th September and ending with Mercury's departure on the 5th December. During that period the money gods will be at work, with a rare hybrid solar eclipse on the 4th November opening the door to new opportunities, just as Mercury's retrograde phase will have the door open to second chances. At the same time the South Node will remain on sentry duty on the income front, helping to maintain a firm bottom line. This is likely to pay off during the most active income weeks of the year, which run from the 20th April to the 31st May, culminating in a solar eclipse on the 10th May, which may open the door to unexpected opportunities or developments. There will be a second opportunity during a Full Moon in your income sector on the 18th November.

Business:
With the Sun spending the first 3 weeks of every year in your career sector and Pluto here from 2008 to 2024, you will always move into the New Year with a competitive spirit, eying up your professional goals for the coming year and ready for a fresh start and this year is no exception. While you moved into 2012 with Mars in your work sector, splitting your focus between work and career matters, with no planetary activity in your work sector until the second half of the year, this allows you to focus in the early days on your professional game as a whole, taking the time to start the way you intend to go on. However, don't be surprised if you're more fired up than you usually are, with your passion and fighting spirit still fired up after Mars' departure on Boxing Day 2012. With the Sun already there, Mercury returning to your career sector on New Year's Day and Venus on the 9th January the support will kick in over the course of January that will see you easily bring things up to speed. When Venus leaves your career sector on the 2nd February she'll leave Pluto on his own to keep the momentum going. Apart from a Full Moon in your work sector on the 26th February and a Full Moon in your career sector on the 23rd June, there is nothing else happening in the first half of the year to influence anything new and with Pluto in retrograde motion from the 13th April to the 21st September, things may even slow down or go quiet. However that won't be the case for long, with your busiest months of the year on the work front kicking off when Venus returns to your work sector, from the 23rd July to the 17th August. From this point on there will hardly be a let up, with the Sun moving through your work sector from the 23rd August to the 23rd September, Mercury from the 24th August to the 9th September and Mars, trialling right behind by then and moving through from the 16th October to the 8th December. When you have any planet in your work sector things are going to get busy and there'll be a lot happening on the work front and especially when that planet is Mars, who will bring what without a doubt will be your busiest weeks of the year. It's just 3 days before Mars is due to leave your work sector and just 17 days before the Sun is due to return to your career sector, on the 22nd December that an ordinary event will have extraordinary consequences. Having left your career sector on the 9th January Venus will come full circle, returning on the 5th December. Instead of staying for a few weeks Venus won't leave until March 2014, making this her longest visit in 211 years and therefore a once in a lifetime event.