In this letter, I have written a free essay, below, called An Introduction to 2019 to give you an exciting overview of the coming year. There are lots of new trends that will offer this year a new look and feel, and I knew you would want to be filled in on those interesting details. It certainly will be a more productive year than 2018, and I will show you why in a moment.

Before you read my essay on the Year Ahead 2019 found below, I want you to know I am doing two free events in New York in January and one special keynote at the New Life Expo in Deerfield FL, near Boca Raton, on Saturday, February 2. Please come—I want to meet you!

The year starts off with a serious mood that seems to be infiltrating the air, affecting everyone of every sign. Saturn will conjunct the Sun on January 2, but the two will be close enough to be felt on New Year’s Eve and is likely to give everyone pause. This is a meeting of fire (the Sun) and ice (Saturn)—not natural friends. You may have felt exhausted on New Year’s Eve, or New Year’s Day, or a little down that one certain relationship at home or work seems a bit off. Or, it may be a situation you had hoped to change but it seems not to be happening, at least not now. Someone might have been critical of you, and this person’s perspective seems wrong and wounding to you.

Luckily, Saturn conjunct the Sun is a fleeting aspect and will dissipate after it peaks January 2. This is an aspect everyone feels and nobody likes, but especially you, because you are ruled by the Sun. I promise, the little dark cloud that floats over your head as the year opens will leave you by the time you are back at work.

You may be surprised that the holidays are over, and now, when you come to work, you will see things are bubbling up quickly. You will barely have time to catch your breath, when a new moon solar eclipse will arrive in Capricorn 15 degrees on January 5 and will bring many assignments to your desk. You are ruled by the mighty Sun, so solar eclipses are more important for you than lunar eclipses (we will have a lunar eclipse later this month too—in Leo—and I will get to that in a bit).

The trend of January will initially focus you on work and, as you will see shortly, alternatively, your health. You will also be thinking about one relationship that seems to be troubling you, but I will also get into those details also in a moment.

The solar eclipse of January 5 will arrive with an entourage in Capricorn, including Pluto, Saturn, Mercury, plus, of course, the Sun (arriving arm in arm with the new moon eclipse). Saturn’s presence suggests you will have a lot of work to do, and at times, you may feel a bit overwhelmed by being tasked with a mountain of work that requires detailed attention.

Planets in Capricorn are coaxing you to be practical and realistic and to keep an eye on the budget. As a Leo, you don’t like to be constrained by budgets, for you often feel that financial perimeters can work against creating the finest imaginative expressions of top quality. You always want things to be the best, and I wholeheartedly agree with you, but this month it seems you will have little choice but to accept the dictate to save money. Capricorn is a financial sign, and with half the solar system moving through the constellation of the Goat, you might as well accept this reality for now. Things won’t always be this way.

    Leo, you have a major full moon lunar eclipse on January 20 in your sign. Something is coming to an end or culmination, and it most likely has to do with a relationship. This is a difficult eclipse because Uranus will be in hard angle to both the Sun in Aquarius and the full moon in Leo. This might cause a sudden shakeup of a relationship, whether romantic or business in nature.

Capricorn rules other areas of life beyond finances. A conservative, cautious sign, Capricorn also rules anything historical—artifacts, valuable old documents, historical autographs, antiques, archeological digs, and fossils, as well as dinosaurs and other parts of natural history. Beautiful old landmark buildings and historical castles come under Capricorn too, the sign where so many planets are found this month. If you work in any of these fields, you may see a breakthrough. At the very least, you will enjoy the work you do very much.

Additionally, if you work in the arts, as many Leos do, you may make a tidy sum by selling a painting, screenplay, sculpture, choreography, or other artistic expression. This would come thanks to Neptune’s lovely angle to the planets in Capricorn. Neptune is found in your eighth house of commissions, bonuses, royalties and other forms of other people’s money. You would hit luck after the new moon solar eclipse appears January 5.

If you are looking for a new job, you will be in luck in January. It would not be a job that represents a step up, but more likely would be a job similar to the one you have, only in a new setting. That might be fine with you, say, if you have other things going on in your life and don’t want more responsibility because you have enough to do at home, for example. In your case, you may want to work for someone new, say, if you and your present boss do not have good chemistry. If this fits your situation, look with earnest after January 5. I feel you will find something you like.

If your work life does not explode with activity in early January, there is another way the buildup of planets in Capricorn might affect you and that is in terms of your health. Capricorn rules the bones of the body, and in particular, the knees. Ask your doctor about the condition of your bones, and if she thinks it’s necessary, you might do a bone density test. In addition to bones, Capricorn also rules the teeth and skin, so you may want to see your dermatologist if you have questions, and you should take care of any dental needs on your list at this time, too.

This would be a superb month to schedule general screenings and annual tests you know you should have at least annually, if not more frequently. Don’t forget to go to the eye doctor to test your vision, too. If money is a factor holding you back, look into medical schools for help. For example, go to an esteemed dental college where the professor will work with the advanced student resident dentist to X-ray and clean your teeth at a low price.

Let’s get back to your work life. The group of heavenly bodies in your workaday sector includes Saturn, indicating that you may not have enough staff to help you get the work out. You may find that you need to cover for subordinates or co-workers who have exited the company and left you with a mountain of detailed work to do. It’s a bad time to lose a worker in the department, now that so much work is coming in. Some things can’t be helped. A solar eclipse is often known to “eclipse out” someone from your environment. It won’t help to beg that person to stay, because eclipses are final, non-negotiable events. If someone were to leave, it would happen sometime after the eclipse arrives January 5.

You have hosted teacher-taskmaster Saturn in your sixth house of work assignments for the past year, and you have two more years to go, until December 2020. Saturn slows down any process it touches and makes it hard to find qualified workers. It may take longer than usual to find a suitable replacement, so save résumés as they come to you, and also ask colleagues for names of workers you might interview.

If you are writing a book, when estimating how long it will take to finish your manuscript, add more time and money to your estimate—Saturn in the sixth house will help you do superb research, but everything will take longer than you might think. There will be plenty of tiny details to keep your eye on.

Let’s turn to your closest relationships now. At the start of the month, Uranus will go direct on January 6, having been retrograde since August 7. Uranus is Leo’s natural ruler of your seventh house of marriage and committed partnerships, both romantic and business oriented. If you have been hoping to get engaged, that may happen now. Or, if you are engaged but the two of you have not agreed on a wedding date, you can do so now. Conversely, if you have decided to leave but were waiting for the holidays to be over, you will now broach the subject.

Everything involving partnerships—either a romantic or business relationship you may want to make official—will move forward now. If you want to hire an expert, such as a new lawyer, accountant, agent, lab researcher, publicist, social media community manager, or any other person who would collaborate with you on a one-to-one basis, you can do so successfully now. Watch the days that surround January 6 for clues of how fast things will start to move ahead now.

You have a major full moon lunar eclipse coming up on January 20 in Leo one degree. Something is coming to an end or culmination, and it most likely has to do with a relationship. This is a difficult eclipse because Uranus will be in hard, 90-degree angle to both the Sun (now in Aquarius) and the full moon in Leo, both at one degree. This might cause a sudden shakeup of a relationship, whether romantic or business in nature. Eclipses bring a floodlight of truth to the surface rapidly, and when Uranus is involved, it’s not only sudden, it seems to come out of left field. The moon rules your solar twelfth house of secrets, so perhaps you will learn something troubling that you had not been privy to before, most likely because someone was determined you would not find out.

As you get closer to January 20, knowing something is likely to strike, watch what happens but don’t respond—take your time. If a relationship means a lot to you, you’ll be sorry you blurted out hurtful words that you won’t be able to take back. On eclipses, it is always wiser to listen than to act on impulse. In truth, it is never a good idea to initiate any major action on an eclipse, because later we always regret doing so. Things never turn out as you assume they will, but people keep quitting jobs or breaking up relationships and so forth, even though it is the worst time to do so. Dear Leo, it is always critical to think through a situation before acting.

As said, the eclipse will come by on January 20, and I am sorry to confess this will not be the easiest day. Those Leos who will feel this eclipse the most would have a birthday that falls from July 22-27. I would like you to tell me if anything hits—reach me on Twitter @astrologyZone or on Instagram at the same, @astrologyzone. On Facebook I am Susan Miller’s Astrology Zone. Don’t post if nothing happens, only if something does.

Eclipses crystalize everything that has been going on for a long while, package it, and bring it to the surface. This eclipse seems related to the discussions you had last summer on July 27 and August 11, most likely with the same partner. Do you recall what happened then? If you can, you may see the topic advance to a new level. This will be the last eclipse in the Leo-Aquarius series that have been coming by every five-and-a-half-months since February 10, 2017. After this eclipse, you will be able to rest. While there will be more eclipses this year in July and December, they will be in Cancer and Capricorn. You won’t have eclipses in Leo or in your opposite sign of Aquarius again until 2026.

You had a similar eclipse on January 20, 2000, a full 19 years ago. Can you recall what you were doing back then? (I know, you are saying, What??? I can’t remember what I had for lunch yesterday. Susan, stop torturing me. I get the funniest letters from you.) Anyway, thinking back might help if it was a big day for you. While the other planets surrounding that eclipse were different than they are now, the eclipse sign and degree are the same. If you can recall what you were doing back then in January 2000, you will get an idea of theme that might come up now.

If you are not attached but single and looking for the right person to date, the January 20 eclipse won’t affect you. The house being brought under discussion is your solar seventh house of commitment, so if you are not married, engaged, or living together, it is unlikely you will notice this eclipse in a personal way (but you might feel it in a business sense).

Single Leos will enjoy Venus touring fire-sign Sagittarius from January 7 to February 3. This is great news, for Venus will glide through your solar fifth house of new love, truelove. You have an excellent chance of meeting someone new, for Mars will be in fire-sign Aries at the same time. One of your best nights for meeting someone new will be Friday, January 18. It’s a sexy, fun day.

January 22 brings an out-of-this-world romantic date if you are single and looking, or, again, a day you would want to plan a surprise for your children. Jupiter, the giver if gifts and luck, conjoins graceful, special-occasion planet Venus once a year, but they always meet in a different sign. This year, for the first time since November 15, 2006, Venus and Jupiter will meet in Sagittarius, your fifth house of truelove. You see how rare this day is for you. Use it!

I wish this were not so close to the January 20 eclipse, but at the very least, it will soften the effects of the eclipse for you. If you are single and not dating, the eclipse would only possibly affect you in a business way, and only if you were born in July. August-born Leos aren’t likely to feel the January 20 eclipse too much, not unless you have planets in Leo or Aquarius in very early degrees. Eclipses do clarify our thinking and reveal much information. It’s always better to live a true life than one in the dark, dear Leo.

As the month starts to run down to a close, on Friday, January 25, you will have Mars in lovely trine angle to Jupiter, considered one of the most harmonious aspects possible (other than the one listed above, also heavenly). This aspect will help you to travel with your sweetheart, and with Mars in your ninth house, you may go quite a distance, if you prefer.

The holidays have come and gone, and as you begin January, you will need to hit the ground running. Pluto, Saturn, Mercury, the Sun, and the new moon solar eclipse will be all crowded in your sixth house of workaday projects. You will be in high demand, for your office will need all hands on deck

Part of your many functions will be to oversee budgets in a pragmatic way. As a Leo, it is not your nature to accept being hemmed in by budgetary constraints, for your instinct is to go for the finest quality materials and most talented people for the project. This month, it appears you will have to accept certain financial realities, but with Neptune beautifully oriented, your imagination will be working at peak levels, and profits will result from your artistic touches.

The January 5 solar eclipse suggests that there will be personnel changes in your office—not at the top but more likely with a co-worker or subordinate, and the person will most likely (but not necessarily) be a male. You will likely have to hire new recruits quickly because of the overload of work streaming into your office. Older workers may fit the bill better than younger ones due to the presence of Saturn in this house. (Saturn rules age and maturity.) Business will be brisk, so don’t hesitate to hire temporary help. You are ruled by the Sun, so you will notice the effects of this solar eclipse more than most.

The sixth house also rules health and the steps you take to care for your body. It’s a good time to go for your annual tests to make sure you remain in tip-top health. With Saturn among the planets in that house, you need to strengthen bones and care for your teeth. Ask you doctor if you are getting enough calcium and vitamin D3. The new moon solar eclipse on January 5 would be a great time to see progress in your current fitness routine. Protect your knees by not over-working them. (Planets in Capricorn put more emphasis on the knees.)

The full moon lunar eclipse of January 20 will fall in your sign, dear Leo, and those Leos who were born July 22-27 will be the ones who will most strongly feel this eclipse. A close relationship will be on your mind, and you will need to decide if you want to advance the relationship to a more serious level or end it abruptly. Uranus, the planet of change, will be in hard angle to both the full moon in Leo and the Sun in Aquarius. It is possible that you may not be focused on a romantic relationship but rather a serious business alliance. Truth surfaces during eclipses, so you need to be ready for a revelation, either thrilling, or just the opposite, a bit nerve jangling.

If you are not dating or attached, you won’t feel this eclipse in terms of relationships, as it will only shine a light on your most serious committed alliances in a business sense. If a close relationship does not come to your attention, then your health will be highlighted, and you will need to take special care of yourself, for you may be under strain during the week of January 20.

In terms of new love, you have a fantastic outlook, when Jupiter and Venus link in an exceedingly rare conjunction in your fifth house on January 22, a five-star day. You may meet a new romantic interest or find a way to delight your present partner. Alternatively, you may develop a special creative or artistic idea that sends you off in a magical new direction, for it would bring profits and acclaim. If you have been trying to conceive, this day would be the right day to consult your fertility doctor.

Travel may be on your agenda too, now that Mars is newly in your ninth house of long-distance travel, foreign people, and places. On Friday, January 25, Mars will make a rare communication with benefic Jupiter in your romantic fifth house, a perfect time to be away on an enchanting weekend for two.