January 01, 2022

2022 Year Ahead Horoscope

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Welcome to Ghost of a Podcast. I’m your host, Jessica Lanyadoo. I’m an astrologer, psychic medium, and animal communicator, and I’m going to give you your weekly horoscope and no-bullshit, mystical advice for living your very best life.



Okay, my darlings. It is the thing you have been waiting for, your 2022 year-ahead horoscope. Before I get into all the damn details, I want to say a couple words. Let's start here, okay? We have been living through some pretty spectacular astrology over the past several years. It is special that you are here right now. You are here right now for a reason. The chances that you would be exactly you living through these exact times—they're slim. Think about the course of human history. Here you are, and you are living through a lot. Pandemic is one part of it. The forthcoming Pluto Return is one part of it.



There's a lot that's happening. And as an astrologer and a spiritual person, I gotta believe that there's some fucking meaning to that. And what I want to encourage you to do is to find your meaning. If you cannot be hopeful about what's happening in your life, what's happening in the world, what you can be is determined. And if you are hopeful, if you are optimistic, you can channel that bright light energy into being a part of the world's much-needed solutions. And if you're like most people, sometimes you're optimistic; sometimes you're pessimistic. What we want to be able to do is flow with that but to understand that these are pretty exceptional times, and it is pretty fucking exceptional that you're here for them. So, again, seek meaning within that.



We exist here in our bodies on this earthly plane on many levels, and each level exists for a reason. We must, over the course of life—not necessarily over the course of each individual day—we must consider our own relationship to each of the levels. So that's the physical/material level of the world's and of yourself. There's, of course, the mental level, including your mental health. There is the spiritual level, including your spiritual health, and emotional levels, including your emotional health. And taking a multipronged approach to wellness and to engaging with your life in a more external way, as well as the world around you in a grander way—this is a really healthy way to go. It's a sustainable way to go.



One of the meaningful reasons why so many people burn out with their best intentions somewhere in their 30s is because we abandon certain parts of ourself to focus on other parts. That's just being a human. But, again, these are exceptional times, and I want to encourage you to really consider what it is that you're doing, what parts of yourself you may have abandoned or lost track of, what parts of yourself need a little extra TLC.



We are starting off 2022 with a Venus Retrograde. And—spoiler alert—we are ending 2022 with a Mars Retrograde. So your values—values, of course, are governed by the planet Venus—and what you are or are not doing to embody and act on your values—that shit is Mars, embodiment and action—this is meant for your consideration this year. Right? So I'm going to get into all the details of what it means and lots of other details of the year ahead. But, my loves, it's important that you understand that our values are meant to be embodied. And this year, 2022, is one in which we are meant to be challenged to reconsider and revisit and maybe recalibrate our value system and eventually, throughout the year, also how we engage with that in a material sense based on our actions.



Now, the complexities of talking about the Pluto Return and the complexities of talking about COVID are very real. That's because the Pluto Return of the United States—if you've heard about it at all, you know it's scary. COVID-19, fucking scary. Right? And as a person, because I am an astrologer/human person/lady person, I actually really, really care about what happens to people. And I am not at all cavalier in any way about the negative impact of the things I see as an astrologer, or the potential negative impact of the things I see as an astrologer.



When I or any other astrologer makes predictions, it's kind of like a weather person making a prediction. Things change. That's something that's really cool. Certain things with astrology are fixed. For instance, Pluto is returning. Uranus is transiting through the zodiac sign of Taurus. And these things mean a variety of things which, again, we'll get to. But when we are looking at mundane astrology, which is collective astrology, looking at the astrology of events, or we're looking at individual birth chart astrology, the same rule applies. We have free will. Our free will exists, and it exists within certain conditions, many of which—not all of which, but many of which are fixed. But we always have a choice. We can choose to do better and be better or not. We can choose to blame others or to take responsibility for our part. We can choose to do the work, and we can choose to fuck off.



And while our choices may not always be good, they are uniquely ours. It is really important to remember that, and that applies not only to you and me as individuals, but it applies to us as a collective. Will our burnout from many years of struggle and many years of a global pandemic—will that burnout inspire us to find more effective ways of engaging with the world around us and, in particular, issues related to social justice and collective wellness and collective welfare? Or will it inspire us to crawl into our little hidey-holes and only think about our own individual feelings and needs?



That has a lot to do with what comes next. That has a lot to do with what happens with COVID and what happens with the Pluto Return. And that is a place where we as individuals and as a collective have free will. An astrologer can try to predict what will come, but I don't ever want to strip us of our agency. We have agency as a collective, and we have our role to play, our agency as individuals. And I want to remind you, my loves, you are not the savior. None of you is the savior of us all. It will not come down to you alone. However, you are a meaningful part of this time.



Do not forget your value, the value of each of us, the value of your friends and your frenemies and your fucking enemies. We all have value, and we're all here for a reason. And we need to be there for each other. We need to understand that our individual wellness and the wellness of our closest people is interwoven with the wellness of others, irrevocably interwoven with the wellness of others. Whether they live in the same country as us, they pray the same way as us, they believe in the same data or information as us is kind of irrelevant. We are all connected, and we need each other.



And, that all said, it is very hard to be kind and empathetic when you're hurt or scared. But this is when we need those things the most. What you do in times of duress really fucking matters. So I invite you at the start of 2022 to meaningfully, honestly, and vulnerably consider your values. Reflect on whether or not they need revision and whether or not they are your values or something that was handed to you by your community, your family, your date, whatever—someone else.



Who you are matters. What you value is a reflection on you, and what you do is a reflection on you. And that's all you can control. Again, you are not the savior. The world is not on your shoulders. But how you spend your money, how you show up, how you treat others, especially when you feel like shit—that shit is on you, and that shit does matter.



So one last word before we get into details. I know that the content that I'm sharing here on this 2022 year-ahead horoscope can be a lot. It can be a lot. Because of this, I partnered with herbalist Rachel Budde of Fat and the Moon, and we are offering a webinar called Plants and Planets: Tools for 2022. It is happening live on January 2nd of 2022 at 10:33 a.m., and it's happening at 10:33 a.m. because that is the exact time that we have the first New Moon, New Moon in Capricorn, of the year.



In this class, what we're going to do is touch on and explore the astrology of 2022, and also, Rachel is going to give us corresponding plants to work with the energies that we're all dealing with. And she's not just going to name the plants; she's going to teach us how to work with them to support us in these pretty tumultuous times.



Even if you don't think you can come live or you're hearing this after January 2nd, it's definitely a worthwhile resource to check out and get if you are interested. Not only is it useful to know the astrology, but also, having accessible, affordable, appliable tools for coping with the mishigas of the year can be really, really helpful. And I believe it's a resource that you will return to throughout the year. So check it out. It is linked in the episode show notes and also will be available on our websites.



And now to the astrology. So 2022. This is the year that we are going to need empathy and stamina to get through. Okay? This is a really important component, empathy and stamina. If you are struggling at any point in the year in any situation, I want to put those two little words in your head so that you can return to asking yourself, "Am I being empathetic?" whether it's to yourself, to others, people in the collective, or people in your personal life, and, "Do I have the stamina to do what I'm doing? Would it be helpful for me to do specific things to cultivate or preserve my stamina?" These are some good questions to return to throughout the year.



All that said, let us begin at the beginning. This year begins with a Venus Retrograde, as I mentioned just before. So Venus is Retrograde. It started December 19th of 2021, and it will be active through January 29th of 2022. And it will be in the zodiac sign of Capricorn the whole time. More broadly, that means that Venus has been in or will be in the zodiac sign of Capricorn from November 6th through March 7th. That's a really long time for this planet to be in any sign. For a detailed breakdown of what Venus Retrograde means, listen to Episodes 236 and also 237. 236 I spent the most time talking about it, but in both episodes, I really get into it.



Now, in the context of understanding and looking at the year of astrology, what I want to really bring your attention to is that the fact that Venus Retrograde is active at the very beginning of 2022—it affirms for us that this is a year for reassessing our values and aligning or realigning with our values. This is likely to be complicated and intense because Venus is conjunct to Pluto in the new year.



So when we look at or consider the larger theme of Uranus transiting through the zodiac sign of Taurus, which it has been doing for some time now and will continue throughout the year of 2022—and, in case you don't know, the zodiac sign of Taurus is governed by the planet Venus. So we have this kind of reiteration between these two things. And this reiteration is really requiring us to look at who we value, what we value, and how we experience and express that value. And because of the Venus/Pluto conjunction, we are being asked to show up for the shadow side of our values or our blocks around embodying our values and behaving ethically, showing up authentically.



On a personal level, this is a great opportunity for looking at your relationship to entitlement and power and diplomacy, understanding that the ways that you show up in your relationships have value and meaning, not just to others but also to yourself, to your relationship to yourself. And on a collective level, kind of ditto, right? Who we value and how we express that value in society—and that can be in your town, in your community, it can be globally; it's on all the levels—this is a huge theme for 2022. We are going to see it expressed, for better or worse, throughout the year.



It is really important that we don't become economical in how we relate to others' humanity, to others' dignity. And that is a risk of this particular transit kicking off 2022. There's a lot of things that you can have or strive to get for yourself and the people close to you that can come at the expense of your ethics and at the expense of your values. And I can tell you with great confidence, as an astrologer in general and certainly this year, it's not worth it. It's just not worth it.



And if you have an opportunity that comes at the expense of your ethics and values, or if you're making choices that are seriously in contrast to your ethics and values and they're not necessary for your survival, which is a different conversation, I would say that this Venus Retrograde is an invitation to reassess, because your life is yours. And the consequences of how you choose to live, yeah, they're important to who you are, and they're important to you throughout your life. And, of course, they do not exist in a vacuum.



Now, in Retrograde news, in 2022, we've got a couple/few Mercury Retrogrades, as happens every single year. But what's interesting about the 2022 Mercury Retrogrades is that they all begin in air signs and end in earth signs. While I will not delineate every single Mercury Retrograde in this episode—though I will as they come to pass throughout the year of 2022—I can tell you that, broadly speaking, this can be really supportive for taking our ideas, taking our concepts, and making them material, so ideas and concepts being the air signs and material is the earth signs. And to make a thing material is simply to act on them, to invest in them. That's really valuable.



Also, it brings with it a sense of responsibility because if your ideas don't reflect your values, if your ideas are coming from a scarcity place or an unhealthy place, something that's not authentic and true for you, then making them material through the course of a Mercury Retrograde is not that great. So I want to just put a little something in your pipe for smoking later: use the Mercury Retrogrades for all they have to offer. Mercury Retrogrades, whenever they happen, are an invitation to embrace the world of re's— I mean, all Retrogrades are, but in regards to Mercury Retrograde and the re's, we're talking about reevaluating, reassessing, reflecting.



And it is really important to reflect on what you believe, what you say, what your plans are, and to reassess/recalibrate, and to do that because when Mercury goes direct in those earth signs, there is a lovely potential for the mobilizing creating roots based on what you have assessed or reassessed during that Retrograde. So use the Retrogrades. They happen for really good reason. They're not just to give you technical problems and mess up your plans, although it does that, too. There's larger things at play and definitely things worth exploring.



And I'll add one more thing about Retrogrades that I will return to closer to the end of this episode, which is that Mars goes Retrograde in Gemini at the end of October 2022, and it brings us through early January of 2023. There's a lot to say about that, but if we're taking a hawk's-eye view of 2022 and we're considering these Retrogrades, we are starting the year off with the need to reassess our values, and then we are ending it with a need to reassess our actions. And this big-picture perspective of these Venus and Mars Retrogrades bookmarking the year—that on its own can be really valuable for helping you to stay on track this year, regardless of what comes, regardless of your circumstances.



The thing about astrology is it teaches us of interconnectedness. It teaches us that cycles are always happening and that there's always a chance to change, to reassess, to try again. And that's really valuable. It's a good thing to keep in mind, especially because this year, other than the planet Jupiter, all of the outer planets—so, if you're newer to astrology, those outer planets that I'm referring to are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. So that's half the planets. Those planets are hugely important in understanding social and collective trends. They're also hugely important for our personal lives.



But other than Jupiter, which is moving into Aries for a few months within the year of 2022, none of the outer planets change signs. None of the outer planets change signs. So Saturn will be in Aquarius all year. Uranus will be in Taurus all year. Neptune stays in Pisces all year, and Pluto in Capricorn all year. And so, within that, we have a continuation of the themes we've been dealing with over the past few years.



And that's, again, really important to take note of because there are ways in which we are changing. We do have opportunities to personally recalibrate. Those choices are not to personally recalibrate in a brand-new timeline or in a whole new body. We're recalibrating within our preexisting circumstances or our existing circumstances. And, again, working with this reality can be really effective—not always super fun, but really effective.



All of this said, my loves, we need to get into the Pluto Return of the United States. If you haven't already heard me talk about the Pluto Return of the United States, the most recent time I did on the podcast was in Episode 233, and it's certainly worth checking out. In that episode, I talked about the Pluto Return of the U.S. and some bits of Saturn in Aquarius, which are things I've talked about a fair amount on the show already. But the Pluto Return of the United States is a really, really big deal. Okay?



What it means is that astrologers are looking at the chart of the United States, so when the USA became a country. And I personally use the Sibly chart, which I think is the most commonly used chart, but there's other ways of doing it. I use the Sibly chart, and what we look at is when the planet Pluto in real time is returning to the exact same place as it was when the United States was, in effect, born. And because Pluto takes 245, approximately, years to return to where it was, this is our first Pluto Return. It is a big deal. Now, you are never going to go through a Pluto Return unless you live to be almost 250 years old. I mean, this is something that can only happen to countries and things that exist over the course of that much time.



We have essentially been under the influence of the Pluto Return, very broadly, since Pluto entered into the zodiac sign of Capricorn in late 2008. And if you know much about American history, you will know that that was a really important time in this country. That was the year that Barack Obama ran for president the first time and won. So he took office in January of 2009, but he ran and won in 2008. So that kicked off a major shift in the American political landscape. We can look at it a little bit more tightly and see that when Pluto hit 20 degrees—because this nation's Pluto is at 27 degrees. So when Pluto hit 20 degrees was the start of 2018—again, a very intense time in the USA.



One more thing I'll say about the Pluto Return before, again, I get into it. I want to acknowledge that I live in the USA, and so I focus on American politics on this podcast. And I want to just acknowledge that the U.S. is not the only important country in the world or the only country going through a period of instability and turmoil. Right? But I am speaking to where I am and what I know. Okay. Let's get into the Pluto Return.



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So, fun fact, according to systemicpeace.org, the USA in 2020, by the end of 2020, dropped below what they call a democracy threshold and is now actually considered an anocracy. And if you don't know what that is, like I didn't, a political system which is neither fully democratic nor fully autocratic, and is inherently unstable. That's not great. It's not great, but for people looking at the U.S. and people living in the U.S., probably not super shocking either. But it is deeply fucking concerning. Right?



And this is directly connected to the Pluto Return. The Pluto Return of a nation is associated with essentially the confrontation of the shadow side of that nation. Michael Lutin wrote a great piece about the Pluto Return for Vanity Fair a number of years ago and called it the fall of an empire. And, indeed, Pluto Returns of other nations absolutely can be associated with a major fall from power or consequences to power abused and power misused.



This can be a time, just like any other Pluto transit, of great transformation and healing. But unfortunately, because of freaking Pluto, that transformation and healing often comes through struggle and, in particular, power struggles and potentially violence. And you want to keep in mind, when we're talking about violence, there are so many ways for violence to occur. It can be bloodshed and hand-based combat, but also, having legislation that is violent and oppressive is another way that that can show up. And there's a million ways that that can happen and is happening in this country.



The truth is that this transit is a difficult one to talk about, and it's a difficult one to project into because the implications are really frightening. That's the very nature of Pluto. Pluto governs terror and abuse and resentment and taboos. It is also associated with the healing tools and capacity that we need for those things, but it's still those things. And so it's really scary to talk about. But just because things are scary does not mean we should dissociate from them or put our heads in the sand.



Here at Ghost of a Podcast Industries, we are not a fan of posi-vibes only. To focus on positive vibes only or positive thoughts and feelings only means to turn your back on the oppressed, repressed, and suffering. And that is not a state of neutrality or positivity. It's actually an enabling or a support of the oppressors and the oppressive classes. So it's really important, even though it's really difficult and really scary, to stay checked in, to stay aware, and to know that it is spectacular that you are alive right now. It is spectacular.



It is like a rare and bizarre thing that you are here now living through this fucking God-forsaken pandemic, living through this Pluto Return, living through this time. You matter. It's not a mistake. It's not a personal punishment. There's a reason why we're here, each of us as individuals. And so staying, in whatever ways you can, associated and present and activated to be a part of the solutions we need is really important, especially if you are an empathetic and spiritual person. If you're empathetic and spiritual, very, very important that you do not dissociate here and call it spiritual.



And I affirm this also because Neptune is forming a square to the natal Mars—if I can call it natal—of the United States' chart. And so this strengthens the risk that we will fall into mass delusion or fall for propaganda or disinformation and misinformation. These are topics I've talked about in 2021 on the podcast a fair amount. This is not exclusive to the United States, but it is absolutely a big deal here and now. When you think about it, the term "fake news" was popularized by an American leader when Neptune was very close to the United States' Mars. Right? And so it's really important that while things are difficult, that we find healthy coping mechanisms and to understand that while we all need to check out and dissociate sometimes, if that's all we're doing, yeah, that's going to be a big problem.



So this is where I come back to this theme of stamina, finding what is your stamina for being present with what's happening in the world, for being present with what's happening in the community, and for having empathy for people who maybe have a different experience than you. And this is, again, where we come to empathy, empathy for ourselves for not being normal right now because shit's not normal, and for whatever it is that comes up for us, and then again having stamina for coping with it over the course of time because this is a long period.



Now, these here United States of America are a nation built by immigrants who stole the land from the people indigenous to it, living/thriving on it, and then, with its stellium in Cancer—because the United States has a stellium in Cancer—became a very nationalistic and clannish place, right? Very nationalistic and clannish. And that is essentially kind of woven into the very foundations of how this nation is run, like the business end of how we run this nation. Right?



Our very foundations are under the transformational lens of Pluto. While it's very clear that the systems that govern the U.S. need transformation and abolition, depending on which systems we're looking at, the key is for changes to be humane, not just a changing in power, not just a changing of who gets to drive the car. But we want it to be humane change. And this is a sticky point with Pluto in Capricorn, right? We want to make sure that the changes that we are creating consider all the people and do so in a way that is more ethical than capitalistic because Capricorn can go either way.



Pluto conjunctions or Pluto Returns are transformational and cathartic, and this is because they force us to confront what is toxic or what we've outgrown, what is destructive and unhealthy, and it requires us to let go or bear the damn consequences. Now, there are many indications for politics, business, and the economy associated with the Pluto Return. Just know that we will see instability in this nation during the Pluto Return. That's just par for the course.



There's also the environmental impact of our actions as a nation, as a collective. What I can say with confidence is that things will not stay the same. We can absolutely trust that. Power struggles, dominion, violence, war, abuses of power, and a monumental dropping of the ball are all things that we've seen leading up to the exact hit of the Pluto Return, and we will continue to see more of this over the coming years.



Very specifically, I should say that Pluto in the USA's Sibly chart is at 27 degrees and 33 minutes of Capricorn, and the Pluto Return will be exact on February 22nd of 2022, and then again it'll happen in December of 2022 that this transit is exact. But we're going to very much be under the influence of this throughout the year and, in fact, conservatively, through 2024 when Pluto enters into Aquarius. More on that at a later date.



The considerations of the Pluto Return have so much to do with the gross abuses of power that this nation has perpetrated against people, but especially Indigenous and Black people, and also to the land itself. It is really important that as a society, we confront the great shames of this nation. And it really comes back to the great American experiment. This democracy has been an experiment the whole way through. And as we've approached the Pluto Return, we are not technically in a democracy anymore.



In the words of Octavia Butler, "Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought. To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears. To be led by a fool is to be led by the opportunists who control the fool. To be led by a thief is to offer up your most precious treasures to be stolen. To be led by a liar is to ask to be told lies. To be led by a tyrant is to sell yourself and those you love into slavery." Kind of deep, but this is—I mean, hello—Pluto Return.



It's not a surprise that the Pluto Return is coinciding with COVID-19. It's not a surprise to me for many reasons, but most succinctly, we need our governments to take care of the people within a nation, to take care of all of us, including and especially the most fragile or vulnerable amongst us. We as a society need to learn to temper our individualism so that it's not toxic. We can weaponize our individualism against others, as we are seeing with people who don't feel the need to wear masks in a global pandemic, people who have billions of dollars and don't want to pay their fair share in taxes to help the most vulnerable in society.



This is a crisis, and we have been in this crisis in the United States for a long time. And it requires the pragmatic, ethics-driven conservation approach that is classic of Capricorn energies in its best forms. There's no path forward in the United States without some form of reparations to Indigenous peoples and Black Americans. The horrors of slavery and the continued systemic racism that is inherent to our society, the horrors of abuse and oppression that Indigenous people have faced here, cannot be ignored, and not just by people on social media. I mean it cannot be ignored systemically, not if we want to hope for the best to come of the Pluto Return.



The transformation that we are promised by the Pluto Return is neither good nor bad. It's neither creative nor destructive. It's just intense. It's on us to make it creative and generative and life-affirming or not. Throughout this process of the Pluto Return, the more threatened that white supremacists and white men who don't want to compromise their power feel, the more aggressively they are likely to act. And, again, I am not just defining aggression through physical acts of aggression but also legislative acts of aggression, social acts of aggression.



It's essential now that we advocate for each other and to understand that we are interconnected, that we can show up for each other. You and me as individuals may not be the people who put the lead in our soil, the poison in our air and water. We as individuals may not be responsible for systemic and sustained oppression, repression, and racism. But here we are. But here we are, and we have to deal with it now. We need to take responsibility for it now. Pluto demands it. And I use the word "demand" very specifically because Pluto's energies are demanding, and that explains a lot of what we've been going through over the last several years and what we can expect to get more intense over the course of 2022.



In the Sibly chart of the U.S., there is a Pluto/Mercury opposition. And, currently, Pluto in real time is opposite the nation's Mercury. And, again back to COVID, we have an airborne virus that is highly contagious through breath. Not being able to socialize, not being able to just walk around freely without consequences—very classic of this transit and this aspect. So what's very important is to understand that within the United States' Pluto Return, there's a larger picture to consider. It's how we engage with things that we resent, things that are terrifying, how we individually connect with others and how we process ideas and concepts and realities that are scary.



And because Mercury in the nation's chart is in Cancer—honestly, it's part of a Cancer stellium. We've got Venus, Jupiter, and the Sun all in the zodiac sign of Cancer in the Sibly chart. There's a clannishness that can come from the zodiac sign of Cancer. And in the context of a nation, and certainly this nation, that clannishness can lead to, "This is for me and mine. You go deal with yourself. I'm going to buy all the toilet paper, and you just have to figure it out on yourself. Me and my family are safe. You and your family have to figure it out on yourself."



And listen. I know it's not just fucking the United States that is like that. That's human people. But the United States, being such a capitalistic and individualistic society, has to deal with that, and has had to deal with that so many things that have been happening over the most recent years, and again through whatever comes in 2022.



We must strive to go deep for the truth, and that includes caring for our neighbors, the positive aspects of Cancer energy, having empathy and care for others, showing up with a little TLC—that's tender loving care—whether that's sharing the recipe for the fucking vaccine or paying a damn land tax, whatever it is. It's not just considering your individual comforts and safety, but how you can make others comfortable and safe, because we understand that our individual comfort and safety is interconnected with the safety and comfort of others. It's true. I mean, hey. There's other truths. If you steal everything or if you hoard everything, then more for you, and you're more comfortable and safe. Sure. But the world around you isn't. And so, then, are you really? Are you really?



Whatever it is that happens during the Pluto Return of the United States, it will have no chill because Pluto has no chill. We are inevitably dealing with trauma that we don't necessarily have the skills, bravery, or strategy to deal with when we're dealing with Pluto. You can apply this to Pluto in your personal life, but certainly, this Pluto Return is about that. And it's painful, and it's scary.



When we are dealing with Pluto problems, generally—not always, but generally—other people can see your Pluto problems clear as day. But for us, it's much more complex because when we have trauma, when we have a lot of pain, the issues—whether they're the root issues, our own behavior, whatever it is—they fall into our shadow. You know when you're driving and there's a blind spot; there's a part you can't see out of any of the mirrors in your car? Yeah, that's where Pluto likes to live.



And so other nations, people of other nations, may be able to see clear as day what's happening here in the U.S. while Americans themselves are not aware that we are in some form of civil war. We are in extreme conflict and instability. This is how Pluto functions. It governs the shadow or the undertow of the ocean. If you've ever been in the undertow of the ocean, you know that if you struggle to fight it and swim away, get away from that undertow, it will pull you under because it's stronger than you, because it's coming from such depths within the ocean that your little human body is unlikely to be able to fight it.



And this is why I've often described the undertow as really relevant to Pluto: because it teaches us to let go, let go of your attachment to your own personal comfort, and to just be there in that scary place. That's what Pluto wants of us. That's the transformation of Pluto. We don't know yet if we will emerge from this period in a democracy, an oligarchy, an autocracy. Will we be ruled by the few and powerful? Will there still be a separation between church and state? We don't know. And there's a lot of things to point us towards being very concerned about the answers to these questions.



Within all of this, it is hard to see the difference between conspiracy theories and the terrifying realities that so many Americans live with right now, let alone whatever I'm predicting for coming next. It is really difficult, and it's especially difficult because of all this Neptune stuff. But here we are, and we must all be, in our own way, activists. Whether it's a micro-activist or really committing and making it part of your full-time gig, this is a time to care and to convert your caring into action.



As destructive as the Pluto Return can be, the potential for reconstruction and healing is just as strong. But it won't come easily. It won't come without effort, without masses of people rising up with each other, for each other. And that takes compromise, and that takes sacrifice. It takes that we are not perfectionistic, but we are ethical. It's possible. It is possible, but again, it takes all of us.



This transit will play out over the course of several years. And so I want to say to you, my loves, instead of looking for the end—when will this be over? One of the most consistent questions as an astrologer I get asked, "When will this be over?" It's such a waste of your energy. I mean, listen. I do it. You do it. We all do it. The better use of your energy is to ask the question, what role can I play? How can I lift my voice and use it? How can I extract or bring meaning to this situation? How can I be a part of the solutions we all need? And, most of all, how can I protect my humanity and act from that place so that I can behave in ways, from voting to spending money to showing up in protest whenever needed or in whatever way that shows up for you—how can you act in ways that reflect your humanity and your capacity to see and prioritize the humanity and dignity of others, especially in the face of cruelty and oppression?



Okay. So that's what I'm going to say about the Pluto Return in this episode. And I want to encourage you, if you haven't already done it, to just maybe take a moment to shake it off. Literally stand up/sit down—whatever works for your body. Breathe. Make sure you're breathing. Shake your hands. Shake your head. Shake your feet. Shake your legs. Maybe do some jumping jacks if that's your vibe. But shake it off. Get in your body because I know that this shit is scary. It's upsetting. And from a place of being triggered or activated, it's not where we make the best use of information.



And you want to keep in mind that this is my take as an astrologer on what is coming and what has been happening. I could be right about some things, wrong about others. I could be wrong about all of it. I don't think I'm wrong about all of it. That's not the point, though. You want to hold space for we don't know what's coming in the future. We can't know what's coming in the future. And I'm a psychic astrologer, but the future is not set in stone most of the time.



So don't forget your agency. And if you feel overwhelmed, you can always pause this and come on back. I want you to listen to the whole thing, obviously, but only when you're ready, only when it's constructive. So don't forget to have empathy for however you're feeling, and have the stamina to stay present. And if you can't do that now, you can do it later. Okay?



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All right. Now, on a potentially lighter note, let's talk about Jupiter. So there's two things we're going to talk about here. One is the transit of Jupiter through Pisces, and the dates on that were May 13th through July 28th of 2021, and then Jupiter moved back into Pisces December 29th of 2021. It will stay there until May 10th, 2022, and then it will go into Aries for a minute, which we'll save for another time. But it goes back into Pisces October 28th of 2022 through December 20th of 2022—spoiler alert—just in time for the midterm elections in these here United States of America.



Okay. So let's talk about the Jupiter in Pisces as well as the Jupiter conjunction to Neptune in the zodiac sign of Pisces, which is a very big deal, and its influence will be felt beyond the exact dates. But, really, the exact dates that we want to look out for are April 9th through the 12th of 2022. There's a lot of pros and a lot of cons potential with this transit of Jupiter in Pisces and then, more specifically, the Jupiter conjunction to Neptune.



I want to acknowledge that a lot of the internet is going to be saying or has been saying that Jupiter in Pisces is luck and dreams and joy. Sure, that's possible. It's by far not the only possible outcome. And I like to have a more realistic set of expectations, so prepare yourself for realism. Jupiter and Neptune in Pisces are certainly idealistic and potentially ideal placements, but we want to look at them in human terms in the context of what we're going through and the reality that we're in.



And so I'm going to talk about this on a bunch of different levels. The first one I want to speak to is COVID. It is possible that these transits align with discoveries that improve human conditions beyond COVID and in general. We may experience—and I think we already are as I record this at the end of 2021—seeing things to be hopeful about, like new treatments and new drugs that are emerging for the prevention and treatment for COVID. But there are other advances in science and social systems, etc., that can really help the world. That's the beautiful positive potential.



The risk, unfortunately, is that we have big spread. There's also the risk of long COVID, which is something that we don't really talk about enough because we don't understand it and it's scary. And a lot of the symptoms of it, most of the symptoms of long COVID, kind of force people in a very Neptunian/Piscean way into themselves. It's this kind of thing where you're exhausted, and it can be incredibly draining and difficult to function—all very Piscean/Neptunian stuff.



And so I am watching out for this with great concern, and I imagine that it's something that we're going to be talking about through these transits more and more, something we're going to be seeing more and more. Hopefully that's wrong. Unfortunately—or fortunately, depending on how you look at—it's not these transits are amazing or these transits are terrible. It's an "and also." There's a lot of positive potential, and there's also a lot of negative potential. And all we can do is engage to the best of our ability.



So, in the context of something like COVID, take good care of yourself and others. Mask up and do whatever else you can to protect yourself and others. That's classic Neptune/Jupiter/Pisces stuff. Honestly, on that tip, if you're boning, if you're having sex, have safer sex in this period. I mean, have safer sex always, but in this period, absolutely have safer sex. The thing about these transits is they can make us feel like, "Oh, I'll be lucky. I'll be fine. I'm just going to trust," and in that way—which on its own is not a bad thing, but in that way not take responsibility for our needs or the needs of others.



So we want to use our common sense in this period around our health and welfare across the board. On a more personal level, these transits can make us feel hopeful. They can also make us feel dissociated or checked out. For most people, it's going to be some sort of combo platter of le deux. And so what do you do, right? To the best of your ability, flow. If you have inspiration, if you have hope, if you need a way of checking out that is healthy or neutral, lean in. Do your thing, but not at the expense of being grounded and present in the reality you live in. That's the move.



This is a great set of transits for spiritual development. There's a but. The but is that spiritual development is best fortified or strengthened by presence—by being present, by having healthy boundaries, not just verbal boundaries, not just behavioral boundaries, but energetic and spiritual boundaries. This is difficult. It's difficult in easy times, and it's much harder in hard times. So it's something to think about if you lean towards the woo.



This is not a good time for starving yourself out in whatever way, whether that's around food or that's around other things that you need. This is a time for fortifying and nurturing your system, and you can apply that in any way you like. But a lot of Piscean energy, like we're dealing with here, can find us wanting to deny ourselves of the things we need materially in order to survive and thrive. It's just bad news. It's not what we want to do. So those are things to consider.



Now, if we zoom out and we talk about this in a more political context, the world is dealing with a lot of far-right extremism and far-right leadership. Certainly, in the United States, we have a pretty far-right Supreme Court that is Christian religious and just conservative—conservative, I would say repressive. But I guess that's interpretive.



When we are dealing with Jupiter in Pisces and certainly the Jupiter/Neptune conjunction, something that can likely happen is we're dealing with religious extremism, escapism, cults, misinformation, disinformation, opiate addictions—that's very Piscean—loneliness, spiritualism, and woo, but also propaganda. And if you smoosh them all together, yeah, you know what that looks like. And the reason why you know what that looks like is because we all lived through that first hit of Jupiter in Pisces, May 13th through July 28th of 2021. So we already had a solid taste of that.



In 2009—bear with me here—Jupiter was in the zodiac sign of Aquarius, and that transit was active from late 2020 through early 2021. Okay? But the time before that—because Jupiter takes about 12 years to move all the way around the zodiac. So, in 2009, the Tea Party rose to prominence in the United States. And by the time that Jupiter hit Pisces in 2010, they joined forces with the Republican Party. And I'm oversimplifying. Bear with me—just broadstroking over here. Let me tell you why it's worth mentioning.



The political intention that they had was to get more liberal republicans and more liberal democrats out of power, and they were successful in this. The consequence of it was to create a much more right-wing and conservative-leaning Republican Party. And people within the Tea Party that started off more libertarian started to run for office as republicans in midterm elections.



And, interestingly, as I mentioned, the November 2022 midterm elections will occur when Jupiter just dips back into Pisces again. And I imagine that what we're going to see is the same strategy being used by right-wing Q supporters and Q enthusiasts. They've aligned themselves with the Republican Party during Jupiter's transit through Aquarius, and we can expect to see them entrench themselves in the Republican Party pretty officially by the end of this Jupiter in Pisces transit. This is my expectation, anyways, one I would love to be wrong about—just love to be wrong about.



But here's the upshot. Ideological radicalization is always a risk with this transit, especially when that ideology is emboldened by religion or spirituality, because we're dealing with Piscean energy. So, unfortunately, associated with that, we run the risk of seeing a rise in Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, and other forms of religious-based hate and oppression. For all people who care about other people, I want to say even though we may be dealing with all of this stuff, the potential of Jupiter in Pisces and the Jupiter/Neptune conjunction in Pisces is that we can take our empathy and our humanity and our capacity to be sensitive and generous, and not just feel our feelings alone in a meditation circle with our three best friends or whatever, but we can actually mobilize based on those feelings and those beliefs. We can transform our care and empathy into action, mobilization.



That's really what we need to do. And the cool thing is Jupiter likes to get involved. Jupiter moves quickly. So I just want to encourage you, if any of this feels overwhelming, which it might, to know that we are not without recourse under this transit. But it takes caring, and it takes having the ability and willingness to make some noise, get involved, not be too passive, and to not allow distractions to steal your attention from what's really important. You know what I mean?



Listen. I'm not against all the gossip of the world, and there's so much gossip. There's so much talking about people and things that really don't matter, but obsessively and in detail exploring these things. We do it as a collective. We do it as individuals. It's a huge waste of energy. It is important to have distractions and to have fluff, but again, when we allow it to occupy a disproportionate amount of our energies, then it steals energy from things that really matter. So check in with that—something to continue to check in with throughout the year, even when Jupiter is in Aries.



One more thing I'm going to say here, and it's—we're just going to file it under "nothing to see here." The last time this conjunction of Jupiter and Neptune happened in the zodiac sign of Pisces was a long time ago because of how slowly Neptune moves. It was in 1856, and that was right before the Civil War in the United States. At that same time, Uranus, who takes 84 years to cycle, was also in the zodiac sign of Taurus, which it is again right now. Uranus was also in Taurus during World War II. So Uranus in Taurus apparently can be very disruptive. Again, nothing to see here. Nothing to see here.



I think it's arguable that we're already in a civil war here in the United States, but I guess history will tell the story of how this goes. And that's partially based on what comes next. If we are not thoroughly considering the real-life impact that our ideals and fantasies and actions and words have upon others, then we're not learning the lesson of Uranus in Taurus, which wants us to find our value system and to find ways of individuating within our value system in a way that reflects our value system.



So, as I mentioned, Uranus in Taurus, it brings us to the next thing that feels important to talk about, which is that Saturn/Uranus square. It's so annoying, this damn transit. If you've been listening to Ghost of a Podcast throughout 2021, you've heard me talk about this transit countless times because it has been such a major player in what we experienced in 2021. And while it was exact three different times throughout the year in 2021, it will not be exact in 2022. It'll come real close to exactitude on October 20th of 2022. It'll be at 18 degrees. Saturn and Uranus will both be at 18 degrees. The minutes will be a little off there. And we will be feeling this transit throughout 2022 with the exception of March through early July 2022, which will coincide with Jupiter's transit in Aries.



So okay. Let's talk about Saturn square to Uranus. So we have Saturn in Aquarius and Uranus in Taurus. This incarnation of this transit has a lot to do with the infrastructure of our societies, but on a more personal level, with our personal infrastructure, with how we relate to reality. And because this is all happening with COVID times, it's getting mixed messages from federal governments and local governments and our employers and our friends. It's not knowing what's real. It's not knowing what comes next or how to take care of ourselves.



Saturn is the dependable reality that we don't even question; it's just there. And Uranus is unpredictable. It comes out of left field. It wants us to figure out who we really are and what we really want and to go with it—damn the consequences. And Saturn is all about planning out every step because of potential consequences. So, when these two planets form a 90-degree angle, a.k.a. a square, it's really destabilizing. And it's really destabilizing in these two signs especially in regards to our mental health.



And so, unfortunately, throughout 2022, I expect more seeds of mistrust to be sown as people struggle between Saturnian and Uranian principles. As people don't trust governments, people don't trust themselves or each other, the psychological strain that we've been going through in 2021 is going to continue in 2022. That's a long time. That's a lot of strain. And most people can handle some measure of strain for some period of time. It varies for all of us, but collectively speaking, we can sit in some shit for some time. But the longer it goes, the worse we tend to respond, the harder it is to bear.



And so I want to encourage you to preserve and maintain your mental health. That might look like traditional talk therapy, of which I am a very big fan. But that's not the only way to preserve and maintain your mental health. It may be listening to relaxing music. It might be having boundaries around when you consume news. It might be cutting off ties with that friend who always makes you feel terrible. It might mean introducing more movement into your life or taking a risk that you've just been dreading taking but you know you need to take. It can look a million different ways, but know this, that the Saturn/Uranus square indicates that on both a personal level and a collective level we need change.



We need change, and we need those changes to be sustainable because Saturn's involved, but we also need them to be liberating because Uranus is involved. Uranus wants liberation. So when we're only thinking of ourselves in our liberation, when our liberation—our individual liberation—comes at the expense of others, well, that's where we get into toxic individualism. And we're certainly seeing a lot of that in the world.



But in this period, we have the opportunity as individuals to look at our relationship to these principles and to make evaluations based on our values and in spite of our fears. That's the beauty here. That's the potential. I expect something really big to shift in that period where this transit's offline, actually. I expect some sort of meaningful something to happen in society and, in particular, if you've got a lot of fixed signs in your birth chart—that's Aquarius, Leo, Scorpio, Taurus—in your life as well. So all stuff to look out for.



Now, one more thing I'll say about these placements and this transit. Saturn in Aquarius is always a time of uprisings. If you didn't hear me talk about this stuff, again, I've talked about it on the podcast a lot. Episode 237 I talked about this a fair amount. But Saturn in Aquarius is related to uprisings and revolution. And in this transit, in this period of this transit, we have seen everyday people coming together all over the world to stand up for human rights and environmental rights, workers' rights, disability rights. This will continue into 2022 because Saturn will continue to be in Aquarius.



As oppressive and difficult as these times may be and as the struggle may be, this is a time for coming together. This is a time for people to stand up for each other and to make sure that we are not throwing under the bus any demographic of human. And it's not possible to be perfect, and it's not possible to be a person without biases. In a fucked-up world, we've got fucked-up assumptions and feelings and thoughts. That's just—it's part of the game. But using this energy to excavate, to be interested in and to explore so that we can rewire our unhealthy internal systems and also our unhealthy structural systems—that is possible here.



And, again, this Uranus in Taurus transit, it is a big transit for, actually, the economy and money, which is why through the transit of Uranus and Taurus we're seeing the rise of cryptocurrencies, which I couldn't be more bored by but I know is very important. Some other astrologer will talk to you about it in more detail. But, essentially, this transit, Uranus in Taurus, is all about a change in currency, a change in value, and how we exchange value, how we assign value, and also who has the most resources. It's all of that.



Uranus in Taurus is ultimately, on the most fundamental level, about values. And so, if you are struggling this year and you're just not sure what to do, check in with your value system. Check in with what you value. Are your actions reflecting your values? If the answer is no, okay, cool. That's what you need to focus on. What do you value? Figure it out. Figure it out. And if you can't figure it out, okay, cool. Keep on trying. That's the damn work. See?



Now, the next thing I want to touch on—and I'll do so briefly—is the Mars conjunction to Uranus that's also conjoined to the North Node on the 1st of August. This is a date to watch out for, and of course not just on the 1st but around that date. This transit can be really explosive. And, unfortunately, with it we can see toxic and defensive individualism, tribalism, toxic masculinity, a bunch of shit we don't want to see but we see too often. This transit can mark a time of revolution. Whether it's revolution in the right or the wrong direction, that remains to be seen. But this is an explosive time and a time of great change. And so it's worth noting in advance that that's a big date to look out for.



We will also in 2022 have a couple of transits where Mars forms a square to Neptune. That'll be happening in October around the 12th or 11th, and then again it'll happen November 19th, right after the American midterm election. Now, these transits of Mars square to Neptune can be, again, really impactful on the social and political stage, and also very much so personally. But what I'm going to focus on here is more on the social level.



When we're looking at Mars, we're dealing with assertive, ego-based energies. It's a planet that can be associated with entitlement and aggression and ambition. It's masculinity, not necessarily man/woman, but masculine energies. And when we look at it in the context of its square to Neptune, it can be associated with all those murky, icky stuff that we're dealing with with Pisces energies because of Neptune's presence. So that is idealism, dissociation, extremism, especially religious and spiritual extremism, misinformation and disinformation campaigns, and the anger and entitlement that it sparks in the individual.



Now, there's a lot more I can say about this on a personal level, but I'm going to talk to that a little bit more closer to the date. However, I will say this. Whether we're looking at the Mars/Neptune transits or we're looking at the Mars/Uranus transit, the Mars/Uranus/North Node transit, we are dealing with these themes of anger and entitlement and strength and ambition. Therefore, we really want to be on the lookout for what we do and how we do it. We want to be mindful about the kind of news that we consume and the way in which we engage with the world around us, to know that things are unlikely to be as they seem and for things to be really unpredictable in these periods. If that's stressful to you, for here on out, ignore it. Don't overthink it. But these transits, to me, seem very important and worth bookmarking.



Now, that said, we've got two more important things to cover here. One is the Mars Retrograde that starts on October 30th of 2022 and ends January 12th of 2023. Mars in Gemini, hello. There's a lot to say about that, but first, let's stay with chronology, which is not always easy with this stuff because astrology is about interconnectedness. So it happens in time, in material time, but it is all about interconnectedness. So, that said, we've touched on Mars. We're coming back. We're coming back to you, Mars.



Now let's take a moment to talk about the midterm election happening on November 8th of 2022. This chart looks awful. I mean it looks really, really bad, which is why it's worth talking about, because voting rights is the most important thing. I know I'm saying it late in the episode, but let me say it emphatically. If you have a hankering to get involved in politics in any way, please, I beg of you, make it about voting rights. I know not everybody likes voting. Whether or not you want to vote, which—I'm a big believer in voting, even if it's stupid, even if it doesn't do anything. There's a million things we all do every day, every week, that is stupid and isn't going to amount to anything.



The thing about voting is, actually, maybe it does amount to something. It's just not a good risk to take is what I'm trying to say. Use your vote. Use your voice. I mean, you know that's how I feel. I can't say it strongly enough. If you feel differently, that's cool. We can disagree. Okay. Rein it in, Jessica. So voting rights. Unfortunately, there is a lot of foul play coming out of the republican side of the American two-party system. And the risk is that it's making everything fixed, and it's making it so that we may have a system set up that is so rigid and so oppressive that the majority of the people's voices do not get heard.



So, again, we come back to—as I was talking about at the beginning of the show when I talked about the Pluto Return, we may see evidence entrenched in a very Saturnian way of the United States not being democratic. This may be the time where we see evidence of it. And the reason why I say that we will see evidence of it is because on this date, November 8th, 2022, we've got a T-square, and that T-square hits Saturn. So, if you're newer to astrology or you're just not that nerdy, which I respect, a T-square is when we have two or more planets involved in an opposition, and all the planets involved in the opposition form a square to a third planet. And that planet that's getting squared by the two or more opposing planets, that's called the focal planet of the T-square. That focal planet is a place that holds a lot of energy, and it tends to be very difficult to embody and express.



And so, in this chart for the election, we've got a Sun/Mercury/Venus conjunction in Scorpio, and it's opposite a Uranus/Moon conjunction and square. All of that's square to Saturn. So there is a real risk that people simply won't vote, that people will be demoralized and exhausted and over it and not vote. If people aren't able to vote by mail, if voter suppression continues or worsens in this country, I mean, it's going to be really rough. So this chart does indicate a real risk of problems here.



Now, in the chart, Mars is Retrograde in Gemini. This is not what we want to see. It's not great news. And Mars is forming a square to Neptune and to Jupiter. So, again, we're going to have the real risk of ideological and religious extremism, a lot of very angry people, a lot of very demoralized people, and a system that is set up to restrict the freedoms of people. The positive potential is that we as individuals and a collective rise up and demand that our voices are heard, that we participate in the system that we have, and we fight for a functional democracy.



The risk is, with all this Piscean mishigas, with all this demoralizing heavy Plutonian stuff, with the ongoing crises that we are dealing with, that people just don't have the energy to deal with this. That's the risk. And I think that those in power who are using power to oppress others for their own betterment, those people are kind of banking on it. And I'm not about that, you know?



I really want to encourage you to be involved. For me, as demoralizing as this chart looks—and it does look pretty shitty—it just makes me more determined to be engaged. For me, what it does is it says, "Okay, so this is what needs attention. This is what needs work," because whenever Saturn's involved, we can prepare. Saturn wants us to plan in advance and to prepare. So you heard it here—maybe not first, depending on how much news you consume. Prepare for this upcoming midterm election. It's so important. Get involved. Have you been thinking about running for office? Do it. Do it. Get behind politicians and activists that are doing work to preserve people's rights. Do what you can. Be a part of the solution, my friends.



Okay. And that brings us to Mars Retrograde in Gemini. Yes, Mars will be Retrograde in Gemini October 30th, 2022, through January 12th, 2023. Because Mars is retrograding through Gemini, it can really intensify our thinking, this transit. This transit may make us feel really defensive. It might make us feel aggressive. It might make us feel really passionate, and that passion can go in healthy, creative, generative directions or destructive directions. It can go in either way.



On a personal level, Mars Retrogrades can coincide with a change in your sex drive or a change in how you feel in your sexual relationships, if you're in any, or in your relationship to your own body and what you like and how you like it. Retrogrades tend to follow the rule of re's. So they're about reflecting and reviewing. And so this is a great time to contemplate your sex life. And when I say sex life, I don't mean it in the conventional sense of who you're doing and how it goes. I'm talking about the life you live and how it does or doesn't embody and encompass sexuality. What's true for you? What's healthy for you? What isn't working?



Part of being a healthy, well-adjusted person is reflecting on that stuff and understanding that our sexualities are not meant to be the same all the damn time. They change. They ebb and flow depending on a myriad of factors, including but not limited to time. So this is a great time for reflecting on that. In regards to your passions and your ambitions, this is a time for, again, reflection and change and dealing with unfinished business. But, ultimately, Mars is related to what we do and how we do it. It is a planet that requires embodiment.



And we are going through a really intense year. And to have Mars Retrograde at the end of it, to me, is an indicator that we're going to have this, kind of, call-in to review our actions and how we're pursuing them and to make changes. But it can be quite humbling, my friends and loves. It can be quite humbling. And so the work of all of this is to be open to checking in with our own ego. If it's too big, if it's too small, kind of the same problem. Very different expression, different remediation, but when your ego is out of whack, it's out of whack. And so this can be a time for getting connected to what is and working with it.



Now, again, on a social and political level, it can be associated with violence—not inherently. Not necessarily. It can be associated with policing and other things that are traditionally Martian, like the military and other traditionally, quote unquote, masculine pursuits. But, ultimately, what you need to know is that this transit, because it's Mars, because it's in Gemini, is a time for us to review, revise, and reassess how our thinking impacts our actions and how our actions are communicated to others. We may need to speak out and speak up about something. We may need to use our damn voices. And we may need to be better consumers of information.



As this Mars Retrograde brings us to a close of 2022, it is a time for us to check in with our actions. And I imagine that things will be very busy and, in some ways, very demanding in the world around us. And so, again, I want to kind of bring home this larger theme that I see as really important for 2022, and that is our willingness and ability to have empathy and stamina. And we need these things in order to act in ways that reflect our values instead of our feelings of scarcity, our feelings of fear, and our desire to dissociate into a fantasy world.



I wish I was telling you that this year was going to be super chill. I do wish that was what I was telling you, but first of all, I'm a Capricorn, so that sounds boring. And, second of all, it's just not what the astrology states. I want to remind you at the close of this 2022 year-ahead situation that we have agency. You, me, all of us, we're here for a goddamn reason. I don't know for sure what that reason is. None of us do. Many of us have beliefs, but no one knows. But we're here for a reason, and we're here now for a reason. Find your role to play.



As stressful of a time as it may be, it is also a fertile time to learn about yourself and the world around you. And instead of waiting for it to get better or waiting for it to end—all the bad stuff to end—be an agent of change in your life. Take each limitation and frustration as an opportunity to adapt. I know that what I'm saying is annoying. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. But here we go. You know what I mean? There are some lemons in this year's horoscope. We're going to make lemonade.



And luckily, because Jupiter is in Pisces, that lemonade may be delicious. Maybe it'll have a little bit of lavender in it to help your nervous system. There is a lot of positive potential smooshed in with the real difficult stuff. It is essential that you caretake your spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical wellness, understanding that those things do not exist in a vacuum and they are interconnected with the wellness of others.



My loves, I hope this was informative and interesting for you. And I hope you continue to tune in every week for Ghost of a Podcast, where I will get in depth to all the transits because, of course, I only went with big news headlines here. I did not touch on all the transits of the year. I hope you check in with me week after week where I break it down on a personal and more social level.



If you've gotten value out of this podcast, please do hit that subscribe button wherever you listen to podcasts. And, if you can, give it some stars. Hey, hit me up with some five-star reviews. Really appreciate that. Also, you can join me over on Patreon at patreon.com/jessicalanyadoo, where I get into astrology, tarot, and all manner of woo. We talk about mediumship and psychic stuff. It's—I don't know. I love Patreon, and I love my patrons. So join me over there.



And if you'd like to learn more with me, you can go to my website, always linked in the show notes, lovelanyadoo.com, and you can get a bunch of different classes that I have for sale. Learn with me, why don't you? Learn with me.



Okay. That's enough. That's enough out of me. Stay safe out there. Bye.