Clearly Confounded - Was it a good idea to resign, or should I have stuck it out?

Q. I am an anthropologist and an English teacher, almost 63. Only in recent years have I had a really good job. I was ganged up on, so I finally handed in my resignation, and I will retire one year early (at 64) with a very small pension.

Was it a good idea to resign, or should/could I have stuck it out? I see very difficult transits, whose definitions say: "You feel like throwing in the whole business." But I could not find out whether one should actually throw it in or wait until the feeling has gone away. Was it a good idea to hand in my resignation? Can astrology give advice on what course of action to follow, or can it only describe situations?

— Clearly Confounded

A. Yes, astrology can answer specific questions accurately. Horary astrology ¹ allows you to pose a question such as, "Will I benefit from early retirement?" The astrologer erects a chart for the moment the question is asked, and a highly skilled practitioner can offer quite precise assessments. Astrology "cookbooks," on the other hand, will generally not tell you exactly what to do during any particular transit, because this depends on many variables, such as concurrent planetary events and the specific situation.

Since you have already chosen to retire early, the question of what might have been is both irrelevant and counterproductive. With your retirement less than a year away, you are in the Balsamic phase (final 8th) of your current progressed lunation cycle, a time to acknowledge your achievements over almost 30 years. Begin the process of releasing the past, as you start to envision your future. Honor the woman you were as this cycle began, as well as the wise, mature woman you have since become. Ask yourself "What is it to inhabit the realm of all possibility?" as you move toward a symbolic rebirth next spring at your Progressed New Moon, within months of your retirement.² How synchronistic!

Throughout this transformation, you have the relentless "help" of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto—those "difficult transits" you mention. While there's no denying that transits from even one of the Big Three is demanding, a period during which all of them are hitting personal points³ in your chart is both unusual and extremely stressful. Thus it is completely understandable that you would choose to remove yourself from a difficult work environment sooner rather than later—and then second-guess your own decision. In fact, you may be questioning absolutely everything, including whether the earth is round: Old assumptions are now up for grabs.

Focus your attention on forward-looking issues.⁴ Get curious and even excited about the possibilities you can create for yourself, and how your life might look two and five years from now. Think big—it costs nothing to dream, and there's no telling what seed you might plant that will develop in the next phase of a life filled with abundance, meaning, and no regrets.