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The life-giving Sun, active Mars and philosophical Jupiter are all in diverse Gemini right now. This curious, adaptable and flexible sign represents mental mobility and a diversity of perspectives and ideas.

These are scary times for many of us. Economic and environmental uncertainty, national insecurity, natural disasters, plus the eternal issues of love, hunger, disease, and mortality put knots into the emotional fabric of our lives.

The third of seven transformational squares between Uranus and Pluto occurs on May 20, 2013. As it approaches, we may be feeling the uncertainty symbolized by this powerful pattern

Generally, I dislike the expression "It’s all good." That’s because life is a complex weaving of positive and negative experiences, that there is no good without bad, and most of the time people who say this are blowing smoke. It's like a big whitewash, a denial of reality disguised as confidence. Yet some recent experiences have brought this idea back to me in a way that casts it in a new light.

Every zodiac sign has its place and its purpose as it builds on the previous one and leads to the next.

Taurus, for example, follows fiery Aries, the pioneering first sign of the zodiac that represents the spark of life.

Back in the distant days of the 1960's, a musician named Donovan had a song called "Season of the Witch" that evoked the same kind of twitchy vibes as the planets are putting out these days.

The slower moving outer planets are the most significant indicators of collective long-term changes. Most recent astrological attention has been focused on the seven challenging 90-degree squares between Uranus and Pluto that start this year and end in 2015. However, we are in the brink of another significant transit as spiritual Neptune returns to its sensitive home sign Pisces on February 3 where it will reside until 2025. We had a preview of this transit last year when Neptune first entered this compassionate sign on April 4 for a 4-month preview of what’s to come.

Talent is a gift that sometimes comes with a price. The fame and fortune that may follow can be emotionally isolating and painful. The adoration of millions of fans is disorienting, as the more that others know these artists the less they seem to know themselves. The list of early deaths among celebrated musicians is long and sad, from Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison in the past to Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse and now Whitney Houston.

Whether or not Meryl Streep wins her third Oscar at Sunday night's 84th Annual Academy Awards ceremony, she's already one of the biggest winners in Hollywood history.

Streep's 17 nominations are more than any actor ever, reflecting the high esteem in which she is held by her peers. She is, by most people's reckoning, the finest actor in the English-speaking world.

Fall in the northern hemisphere is the season of relationships. It begins with the Sun in Libra, the sign of the Scales that symbolizes balance, partnership and meeting others halfway. Accommodation and compromise are its primary ways of creating harmonious duos. Scorpio, which follows, is about the next degree of intimacy where we meet at deeper emotional places that aren’t always tranquil. But we’ll set aside Scorpio now and revisit it at another time.

On March 13 and 14, four planets meet in one of the most desirable astrological patterns around. A trine is the most favorable relationship between two planets. This 120-degree angle represents harmony, cooperation and an abundant flow of energy. These alignments are fairly common, but when a trio of planets form an equilateral triangle of three trines, it is a special event.

Each New Moon is an opportunity for a fresh start. The monthly conjunctions of the Sun and Moon join the forces of day and night, action and reaction, conscious will and emotional instinct to conceive new ideas and spur innovation. The next one is in Aries on Thursday, March 22

There is nothing like a natal chart to describe one's personality. One calculated for the time, date and place of birth is a deeply rich and textured picture of psyche, soul, potential and problem areas. The great gift of having a personal birth chart done is the way in which

Aggressive Mars has been in sharp-eyed Virgo since November 2011, and won't leave this pragmatic sign until July 3, 2012. The warrior planet generally blasts through a sign in seven weeks, but it turned retrograde on Jan. 23 this year

Mars is the warrior planet. It represents the urge to push into fresh territory by initiating action. It also describes the methods that we use to get things done. Mars' position in a birth chart shows the means by which we reach out to touch others and to impact our world. But while Mars' location in an individual's birth chart is key, we're also collectively influenced by its current status.

My colleague Rick Levine told me that people who have difficult lives tend to believe in fate, while happier folks are more likely to believe in free will. It's understandable that those who suffer feel like victims unable to control their destiny, while those who are content see themselves as

Being human is a group experience, which is why relationships are such an important subject. It takes two parents to make us and a community to supply the food, water and shelter that we need to survive. There's no such thing as a self-made man or woman

I consider myself a spiritual person rather than a religious one. The difference in my mind is that I believe in an animating and unifying force of the universe, which some people call "God." I don't, though, subscribe to the idea that any one religion is the only way to experience divinity.

We're heading into eclipse season, with a Solar Eclipse at the New Moon on May 20, and a Lunar Eclipse at the Full Moon of June 4. These special events align the Sun, Moon and Earth with the lunar nodes, which cause shadows to darken the planetary lights.

The great ages are derived from the 26,000-cycle of the Earth's pole as it moves against the background of the stars like a wobbling top. This motion is called precession and it goes backwards against the conventional order of the signs. We name each 2,160-year age (26,000 divided by 12) according to the sign in which the Vernal Equinox (first day of spring) occurs in the northern hemisphere.

While New York is being hit by Hurricane Sandy, I'm safe and warm in my hotel room on the 21st floor of a fancy hotel in Beijing, China.

Police and hospital workers will attest that Full Moons have a reputation of being weird. Some argue that it's because the lunar light brightens the night to invite more mischief than usual. The reason, though, is clearer to astrologers who recognize that rising tides of emotion are triggered every month when the Sun opposes the Moon.

When the walls of reality are closing in, it's time to look beyond them. Some religions teach that we are living in an illusion, that the material world that seems to fill our universe is a distortion of or a distraction from spiritual truths that lie outside its borders.