The big news in 2014 is the cardinal grand cross featuring Mars, Uranus, Pluto, and Jupiter. This very tense and volatile alignment begins in January, peaks in April, and ends in July, so spring could be a very dramatic time.

During the past few years, we have experienced the dynamic drama of the Uranus-Pluto squares, which have largely been responsible for many of the crazy and destabilizing events around the world, starting with the economic collapse and culminating with the various uprisings and violent protests. In December 2013, Mars joins Uranus and Pluto, creating a very unstable and quite violent end to the year. And in January, the planetary giant Jupiter joins in the fray, adding to the drama and making it rather difficult to stay on the right sense of reason.

Individuals and nations alike will have to work very hard to maintain peace during the first few months of the year, and the tension will be a test of whether or not we are as evolved and compassionate as we like to think we are. World leaders of certain countries will need little encouragement to roll up their sleeves and begin their political equivalent of a playground fight, so it will be up to the people around the world to let it be known that fighting and aggression are not the answer.