for they inspired both the heart and the imagination, but with Pluto still in your home and family sector and creating some challenges, this has been like trying to drive with the handbrake on. Even though Pluto moved on at the end of November it wasn’t until the last 4 days of 2008 that the final hand brake was released, creating a situation where from Day 1, your new year is flying out of the starter blocks.

This is a big year for love, following your creative passions and an extremely lucky year for any job or health matters, especially if you're following your heart. 2009 is the year of the Dream Job, with going through the motions or simply trying to make ends meet without following your heart and your passions, no longer enough.

The real advantages begin when Jupiter, planet of luck, leaves your romantic and creative sector on the 6th January and moves into your work, employment and health sector, where for the last decade Neptune, planet of dreams and fantasies, has been inspiring your imagination. This doesn’t mean your romantic and creative options and opportunities decrease, for Pluto is staying behind to ensure that you have the best of both worlds. As your romantic and creative sector is the most playful part of the chart and your work sector the busiest and most productive, this creates a year where you have the right balance between work and play.

Throughout this time Saturn is going to continue to hold you to a very high standard and at times it may feel that this is an impossible standard, but he is a planet that won’t give up on you or let you settle for less. He knows what you're capable of and until he leaves your sign at the end of October, he’s going to continue to raise the bar. Having Saturn, the planet that brings us our challenges and our learning experiences in your sign, puts you at the start of a new Saturn cycle that will take nearly 3 decades to complete, so it’s about new beginnings, but also about setting the standard for the coming years and for the future.

It’s when Saturn leaves your sign at the end of October that it will be someone else’s turn to have Saturn’s full and undivided attention and you're going to get a break. That’s when you'll finally appreciate just how much this has empowered you, for once Saturn moves on you're left strong and empowered enough to take on the world. When Saturn is in your sign it’s very common to feel that things are just too hard, that you're being given or have found yourself in situations that are beyond your capabilities to deal with, that you need to give up, but even though you may want to, something always stops you. It feels like it’s too hard but it’s not, because Saturn is pushing you into situations that he knows you're capable of achieving, yet go right to the wire. There is a very thin line between what you can and can’t cope with and Saturn takes you right to that line.

This isn’t done out of malice, for this is the greatest act of kindness any planet can give you, because once you rise to the occasion and find out just how strong, powerful and resourceful you are, there is no going back. There is a certain sense of confidence and strength that surrounds those that have been through a Saturn return as opposed to those that haven’t. Saturn moved into your sign in September 2007, so you are now into the final leg. Saturn turns retrograde on New Years Day and is going to take a more background role, giving you a chance to look back with a greater sense of understanding or to deal with anything unresolved.

Saturn leaves your sign on the 30th October, moving into your income sector. This is always an extremely powerful financial period, where you gain in confidence and a time when you refuse to settle for less. By then Jupiter, planet of luck, would have been in your work sector for nearly 10 months and you'll be ready for the income and earnings growth that is destined to come from this.

That isn’t the only financial advantage the year brings with Venus, planet of money, desire and the laws of attraction spending almost 4 months in your financial sector. She moves in very early in the year, on the 3rd February and leaves on the 6th June. I say almost 6 months, for in April she has a 12 day break, in order to focus on your relationships, from the 12th to the 24th April. Venus is the planet that rules money and here she brings both the desire for more and the ability to attract more, so it’s unlikely that you'll have to wait until October before you finally get some financial relief.

Work:
As far as your work and job situation go, 2009 is the year that you've been aiming for since 1998, over a decade ago. That’s when Neptune, planet of dreams and fantasy moved into your work sector, coincidently just 6 days before Jupiter, planet of luck left on his last visit here. In that time Neptune has continued to inspire your dreams, fantasies and your imagination, to a point where by now you have a pretty clear picture of what your dream job looks like. In the meantime Jupiter has come full circle, taking almost 11 years to get back to the point where he spent a brief few days with Neptune, in January 1998. Jupiter returns to your work sector on the 6th January to find Neptune still there, except after nearly 11 years of continually inspiring your dreams, they are now rock solid. They’ll work together all year, making 2009 one of your luckiest job years on record. January and February sees a lot of focus on your work sector, with a need to put everything you have into supporting your dreams, whether you see results or not. It’s from May through to August that this will be accompanied with a lot of professional and career opportunities.

Love:
While 2009 is a very big work year, it is also a good year for love, with Pluto remaining in your romantic sector all year and here for the long haul. Pluto is the planet of change and revolution and from 1995 to November 2008 he was at a fairly difficult angle known as a square, and towards the end extremely volatile. Not only is Pluto now in fellow Earth energy and at a much more supportive angle, here for the next 16 years he’s also in no hurry. He’s here to ensure that your love life doesn’t fall into a rut and that you're not simply going through the motions. Even though there is a lot of work focus, especially at the start of the year, you begin 2009 with the Sun, Jupiter, Pluto, Mercury and Mars all in your romantic sector. With the planets of luck, change, communication and passion on the case, going through the motions won’t be an option. It is while these planets are still assembled in your romantic sector that Venus, planet of love, moves into your relationship sector, on the 4th January. With Uranus already in your relationship sector and with a lot of the challenges of last year now behind you, this gives you a chance to move on. Both your romantic and relationship sectors get a healthy push start very early in the year and will remain positive, all year.

Money:
The first thing you want to know, when the focus shifts to your work situation, as it does this year, is where’s the money? This is one year where you may need to be patient and also be very aware of not selling out for more pay, at the expense of your dream job. It’s when you believe in something and you make sacrifices, that the rewards will come. It’s on the 3rd February that Venus, the planet of money, desire and the laws of attraction moves into your financial sector. Venus normally visits here once a year, for around 4 weeks. This time around 4 weeks is going to come and go and she’ll be showing no signs of leaving. Then on the 7th March, long after she should have left she turns retrograde, and on the 12th April retrogrades so far back that she leaves. It’s only after she turns direct that she returns to your financial sector again, on the 24th April, starting her journey through your financial sector again, from scratch, staying until the 6th June. This creates huge financial opportunities and a situation where the laws of attraction are working in your favour. Then on the 30th October Saturn moves into your income sector, where apart from a few months early next year, will create powerful earnings opportunities for years to come.