Scorpio Horoscope for 2008

A big year lies ahead of you, complete with a few surprises that can complicate your life, yet fortunately you have the tools to integrate change with great ease. Optimistic Jupiter, realistic Saturn and exciting Uranus create a major theme, as you are ready to see opportunities through a practical filter, enabling you to steadily move toward your desired goals. Together, Jupiter and Saturn form a repeating pattern of harmonious trines -- exact on January 21, September 8 and November 28 -- that balances your drive to succeed with the continued focus you need to reach your goals. What makes the Jupiter-Saturn trine so significant for you is that your sign, Scorpio, is safely nestled between these cosmic regulators, with confident Jupiter encouraging you to expand your thinking to grow beyond your present level of awareness, while practical Saturn simultaneously concentrates your energy inward so you don't scatter valuable resources. Saturn in your 11th House of Friends and Wishes requires you to work cooperatively rather than venturing out on your own. You may not have the patience for the frivolous activities of others, yet being part of a team can help you be much more productive. Additionally, Saturn expects more from you than just meeting your day-to-day obligations; it expects you to honor your hopes and distant dreams.

This is a transitional year for you, beginning with an intense standoff between your two key planets, fiery Mars and domineering Pluto. As a Scorpio, you are particularly sensitive to the movements of Pluto. Your life was transformed when Pluto was in Scorpio between 1983 and 1995. Then, as Pluto moved through opinionated Sagittarius, you reexamined your core beliefs, discarding ideas, values and possessions that no longer served you well. On January 25, this tiny concentrated bundle of planetary intensity leaves Sagittarius to enter hardworking Capricorn in your 3rd House of Communication. There it will force you to reevaluate the validity of your intellectual foundations.

A Jupiter-Uranus sextile -- exact on March 28, May 21 and November 12 -- creates a positive environment for you to communicate more spontaneously, especially in matters of love or with children. Tensions increase through the autumn as restrictive Saturn engages in a cosmic tug-of-war with erratic Uranus -- exact on November 4 -- in yet another long-term cycle that strongly influences your life through 2010. The viability of previous commitments is set against your need for individual self-expression, and although Jupiter blesses you with buoyant optimism through most of November, Mars's square to Saturn and Uranus on December 12–15 can drive your frustration to the surface, provoking you to take radical action to put your life back on track. All in all, this is a year for you to make great strides forward in accomplishing your goals as long as you don't ride roughshod over the feelings of people around you. With the year-long Mars-Pluto theme that is exact on January 2, March 7, August 17 and December 28, it's crucial to express your feelings constructively and calmly, instead of engaging someone you love in an unnecessary battle for dominance or even survival.

*This article is excerpted from the book, 'Your Astrology Guide 2008' by Rick Levine and Jeff Jawer, astrologers for Tarot.com. To find out your key dates and those of your friends and lovers -- and to get the scoop on your Super Nova days, too -- purchase this book.