If you are reading this book, you are curious about the future. In my experience, curious people have a much more creative approach to their lives. They seem to do everything with special flair, and are prone to enjoy life more as a result. Creative people -- and by that I mean those who are open to life's possibilities, not necessarily artists -- tend to take an active role in shaping their lives.

You are exactly that kind of person, and this book has been written for you. In The Year Ahead 2002, we will delve into the cycles that will affect your sign in the twelve months to come. Knowing in advance which areas will be most affected by the trends in your sign can help you make the best of what the universe has to offer.

"Fate" does not play a role in astrology, although that's a common misconception. Astrology is the study of cycles, some of which bring happy, rewarding episodes and opportunities; others bring challenging conditions that force us to change. Ultimately, we have to take full responsibility for the outcome of our lives. Astrology is not a religion, nor does it try to replace traditional religion. In fact, your faith and deepest beliefs, your feelings about morals and ethics are reflected in the horoscope's ninth house.

Change, of course, is our only constant, for the planets are continually on the move. Some cycles repeat, while some are so rare that they are literally once in a lifetime occurrences. One thing is certain -- on the day you were born, the ten heavenly bodies were in a formation never to be repeated in the sky, making your talents and qualities truly unique. The thing I love about astrology is that there are no "right" or "wrong" choices -- only ones that are right for you. Astrology gives you control; how you use it and what results are, in large part, up to you.

Many readers copy the dates I list into their personal calendars. It helps to know which dates favor what kinds of activities, when one should choose to initiate an endeavor, or when to hold back. It's also fun to see if opportunity comes knocking on the special dates I list. Life is a wonderful laboratory that continues to give us information. We have an infinite capacity to learn if we just pay attention to what we see. Astrology gives you a formal structure within which to assess all areas of your life.

When you read your report for the Year Ahead 2002, you will note that I put your present life in the context of where you've been as well as where you are likely to be headed. In order to understand the future, we need to look back from where we came. Because astrology's underpinnings are mathematics, we can go backwards or forwards in time, analyzing trends that occurred in the past to understand why we made certain decisions, and in planning for the future. Knowing which areas of our lives will be favored (or not) at certain points in the future makes it easier to prioritize in the present.

While we can't control everything in life, we can control a large part of it. We can at least craft a thoughtful response to those conditions we find difficult or challenging. The axiom is true that states that it is not what happens to us that matters, but how we react to those conditions. Numerous times I have seen events that could initially be labeled as "bad" but turn out to be true blessings in disguise. Studying astrology helps you see the value in all that happens and helps you generate innovative ideas about how to deal with life's challenges.

I love to delve deeply into life's possibilities -- you probably already know that about me if you are familiar with my website, Astrology Zone. Writing for Astrology Zone each month is one of my life's great joys. In creating Astrology Zone back in December 1995, my goal was to write a report each month that would be highly detailed and easy to read, conversational in style. Happily, on the Internet and in new electronic mediums like eBooks, I have all the room I need to explain the planetary configurations -- something that's not always possible with the traditional print media.

To supplement your copy of The Year Ahead 2002, pick up your free monthly horoscope reports from my web site, Astrology Zone, at www.astrologyzone.com. Each report would further explain the trends I forecast in your Overview.

In addition to your monthly report on my web site, browse the personality section called "Life and Love." In it are many fun and informative articles that should resonate with you and those you love. The site will also teach you about the various planets and their cycles. I write all my own material, so if you like what you read here, you will probably like my web site. All my articles on Astrology Zone are free of charge, and are updated regularly.

If you like what you read and want to stay in touch, please also sign up for my free mailing list. (Your email address will not be sold, as I believe cyber-privacy is very important.) You will receive free monthly newsletters that give you late breaking news, analysis on world events, a calendar of appearances and lectures on the astrology circuit, dates of book signings (I'm also an author; more on that later) and on important days to watch for every month.

One little hint -- If you know your "rising sign" (also called the "ascendant"), read the forecasts for that as well as for your Sun sign (the sign that people are most familiar with). This will give you a more complete picture of what's going on in your life. Your rising sign is as relevant to who you are as your Sun sign. This is true on my site, in this book, or whenever you read any astrological material by any author. The rising sign is determined by the exact time, date and place of your birth. Don't worry if you don't know yours yet. You will still be put at an enormous advantage by reading your Sun sign in this book. If you would like to get your horoscope chart done to know your rising sign, there are many sites that offer this on the Internet. Some chart services are free, while others ask a small charge. I strongly recommend looking into it.

You may like to know something more about me. I am an accredited astrologer and a professional writer. As a contributing editor to Self magazine, I write on astrology every month for a national readership; I was also recently named a contributor to Teen magazine, to begin this spring. My newest book, Planets and Possibilities, was just released by Warner Books (2001). Available in hardcover and paperback, my book can be found at any Barnes & Noble retail store or online at www.bn.com.

Looking back, the fact that I became a full-time, professional astrologer came as a surprise. Even though my mother was an astrologer and I showed an early interest in it, I was discouraged from pursuing a career in this field. Nobody in my family wanted me to learn astrology, least of all my mother. Nothing suggested I would choose this course -- I majored in business in college and had other plans. I suppose what a friend once told me is true -- "Astrology has a way of choosing you, rather than the other way around." That is exactly what happened to me.

My interest in the subject began in earnest when I was 14. As it would happen, my mother would teach me everything I know about the subject -- but not until later. "A little knowledge is dangerous," she would warn, an admonishment I have heard more than once. "Why not let me answer any questions you have?" she would ask. Being an astrologer herself, she understood all too well the responsibility an astrologer has to her public to be accurate and to communicate clearly, lest there be a misunderstanding.

As a girl, my mother kept her knowledge of astrology to herself. She never told anyone all she knew, and she advised me to do the same. She never charged a fee to do charts for people. Instead, she kept her practice to reading charts of interested family members, always with astonishing accuracy. When my uncle was missing as a soldier in World War II (before I was born) she calculated the exact day and hour that my father would hear the good news that Uncle Peter was alive and well. It turned out she was exactly right, and her prediction seemed even more remarkable when my father learned that my uncle had been part of the Normandy invasion (the reason why the letters stopped for so long) and only he and one other soldier in his platoon survived.

From then on, my mother tells me, my father stopped teasing her about her interest in astrology. Growing up, I never once heard my father disparage my mother. He would just say that he didn't understand how astrology worked and that he had to admit, my mother certainly knew her craft. He acknowledged to me that it wasn't necessary to know why planes fly or precisely how penicillin works to enjoy the benefits. Bless his heart. He never ceased to amaze me.

When I was pressing my mother to teach me astrology at age 15, she said she felt that any understanding of the subject would require intensive learning. She said it would take twelve years of careful study just to grasp the basics and even then, she felt, I would only have scratched the surface. "Better to know nothing at all then just a little," she would say. She was right, of course, but you rarely understand your mother's wisdom when you are a teenager. Tell a teenager not to do something, and of course, that's what they will do!

During that period of my life, I was very ill due to problems with a congenital defect to my leg. While recuperating, a process that took three years (one of which was spent in a hospital), I was completely immobile, had zero social life, and had plenty of time to think. Of course, I wanted answers. I particularly wanted to know if I would ever walk again, as a main nerve was severed in my left leg in a then-recent surgery. I had so many surgeries during my sophomore year of high school that I had to drop out. Virtually all my education was self-taught. I took all the state exams and SATs at home with a Board of Education monitor. I lost no time, and after skipping a few years of high school, I entered college at 16.

My mother, being the eternal optimist, kept telling me my ordeal was a gift, and that I would be grateful for having had the experience later in life. She said it was a valuable time of "character building." As wild as this sounded, she was right. It would take some time for me to understand this. My mother has had a profoundly positive effect on my view of life. I believe that all things happen for a reason, and that we can find goodness and miracles everywhere.

I did keep my promise to my mother to study astrology with her for twelve years, which today seems astounding. When you are 14 or 15, twelve years is about double your present life! It was the only way she would help me, and my thirst for learning was so strong, I figured, OK, I am up to this challenge. It is only now that I realize why she was so insistent that I take things slow and meditate on each point. It is easy to speed along when you begin astrology, but if you go too quickly you miss the nuances -- which, in astrology as in life, distinguish white from black.

At the same time, I pursued degrees and got a job. My first profession was publishing. After working in magazines for a time, I decided I wanted to have my own business, and started a business of representing photographers, because I love photography. Over the course of ten years, I made many friends in the industry. When one of my client friends would go through a hard time, I would look at their horoscope and together we would generate some ideas about the various solutions that were open to them. My friends always encouraged me to write what I was saying, and I started a column with a very small magazine. Still, astrology was more a personal interest than a vocation.

Art director friends and other executives began adding my telephone number to their auto-dial functions of their phones and ringing me up whenever they needed help or advice. In June of 1992, due to an eclipse, I broke my femur (thigh bone) for the third time in my life (the same leg I had problems with earlier). The incident led to another year of recovery in bed, but turned out to be a very defining moment. I had no idea how far-reaching that point in time would turn out to be.

While I recuperated through another bout with my leg, I turned to writing about astrology while I remained in my photography business. After all, I had plenty of time to write, being bed-ridden! I was surprised that the magazine editors liked my style, and in no time I had a column for McCall's and a few months later Self. I never imagined I would ever be writing! About a year later, Time Warner urged me to take it further. They said, "Let's give you a place on our website." That was how Astrology Zone was born, and it changed everything. I got serious about astrology. It's been my love, work and life ever since.

If you'd like to learn about how astrology works and don't have an astrologist for a Mom as I did, I would be happy to teach you personally. You can take a free online class with me on the Barnes & Noble University web site. I teach an introductory class that lasts five weeks, with two lessons a week, and that requires no previous knowledge of the subject. The class encompasses eight lessons and five sub-lessons that you can easily print out for future reference, and even share with friends. There are lots of classes you can choose from on the Barnes & Noble site. (It is fun to look through them all!) Mine is under the section entitled "Life Improvement." Just go to -- www.barnesandnobleuniversity.com

If you are very busy, remember, you don't have to "be" in a classroom at any given time. The lesson posts are held in a virtual classroom in cyberspace. You can pick up your lessons any time that is convenient to you. (Barnes & Noble will send you a note twice a week to let you know exactly when each lesson is posted. If you happen to be away on a trip, your lessons will be up all month, so you can still pick them up when you get back.) It's a very convenient way to learn. Turn on your computer and press print, staple the notes together and read them on the way to work in the morning! Do it on your own time.

If you have a question after reading your lesson or about anything you read in this book, you can post a note to me on the class bulletin board. I come by several times a week to read the students' messages, and all the students can read all the posts. The more you post, the more everyone gains. There are no tests, no grades, and there's no worry of being late. Any time you stop by is the right time. You'll have a chance to meet people with like interests. It's so much fun being stimulated by interesting conversation. If you feel you want to take a class again, just sign up again! It will always be free, and the material and methods of teaching vary!

Thank you for taking the time to order this book. I hope you enjoy your forecast. Please share with me any suggestions you have for how to make future books better.

Each year brings us a chance to gain greater wisdom, resolve and understanding, through experiences we have and people we encounter. Every day holds possibilities for new, meaningful relationships. We get to re-establish the old ties, and continue to learn from the people we know and love. We evolve, we mature, and no matter how old we are, we continue to grow. That is the gift we call life, and it is a very precious one, indeed.

I wish you the very best in the bright New Year ahead, dear reader! I also look forward to keeping in touch with you on the net! See you there!

Sincerely, Susan Miller