First impressions might suggest that this will be a slow or at the very least an ordinary professional year, with not a lot to see here. You do start the year with Mars, the planet of passion and the warrior planet of the cosmos in your busy work sector, but he is not only in retrograde motion but will retrograde back out on 6th January. This will leave your work sector empty while even the dwarf planet Eris, the warrior princess of the cosmos who has been in your work sector for over nine decades will begin the year in retrograde motion. Starting the year with the warrior prince and princess of the cosmos in your two professional houses but both in retrograde motion won't just feel like the brakes are on, they really will be, though for good reason. Eris will turn direct on 11th January but will remain at a standstill for the whole of January, giving you a chance to pause before this professional year takes an unexpected and exciting turn.

It is on 4th February that things will start to pick up, with Venus returning to begin what is normally a 24 day chance to fuel your job confidence, attract opportunities and steer things in a lucrative direction. Instead, Venus will soon start slowing down as well, with a retrograde turn on 2nd March seeing her retrograde back out on 27th March, only to return from 1st May to 6th June to find that everything has changed. Even Mercury will follow the pattern of planets turning retrograde and holding things back, for he will return to your work sector from 3rd March to 30th March, only to retrograde back out and return again from 16th April to 11th May. In both cases, they have seen what's coming and know that the few weeks they would normally spend here won't be nearly enough.

What is coming is not just Mars' return to your career sector on 18th April, but the return of Neptune, the planet of hopes and dreams for his first visit to your work sector in our lifetime on 31st March, followed by Saturn returning for his first visit in three decades on 25th May. Both will retrograde back out later in the year, Saturn on 1st September and Neptune on 22nd October, but when Neptune returns in January 2026 he will be here until 2039 while Saturn will return in February 2026 and not leave until 2028. That slow start to the year is so that you have time to get your bearings and prepare for what is coming. Mars will move through your career sector from 18th April to 17th June, but this will be followed by a period from 27th June to 19th September when the Sun, Mercury and Venus will all move through.