December should be an active month, with three planets (Uranus, Mercury and Jupiter) turning direct,* a Lunar Eclipse, and Winter Solstice.
Uranus turns direct on December 9. That’s an indication of lots of changes afoot in the world and in our lives. When Uranus is retrograde, we’re laying the groundwork for needed changes and liberations, which tend to move forward as Uranus turns direct and resumes apparent forward motion.
The Uranus station coincides with a Full Moon/Lunar Eclipse which comes seven hours later, early on December 10. In Washington Venus will be just rising, which may be beneficial. InAlbuquerquethe Moon in eclipse will be setting as the Sun rises, potentially an awesome sight.
Mercury turned retrograde* on November 23, appearing to backtrack its orbit. Mercury turns direct on December 13. Matters will move forward more easily with the return to direct motion.
Winter Solstice is December 21, marking our entry into winter and the Sun’s ingress into Capricorn. The Sun will be in alignment with Uranus, and with Saturn, Neptune and Jupiter, an unusual circumstance with generally positive potential.
Jupiter turns direct on December 25. When Jupiter is retrograde, it seems that luck and ease and expansiveness are in short supply, and the bounce comes back when Jupiter turns direct. The economy, our moods and everything else should become more buoyant as we come up to this station.
Mars normally spends a couple of months in each sign, and the sign indicates how we are tending to use our energy. Mars is in meticulous, discerning, diligent Virgo all month. This may help us to accomplish a great deal, with high standards of achievement. We can also tend to demand a lot from ourselves and others. Use the energy to work to high standards, and remember to take it all lightly, with compassion, understanding and good humor.
WEEK BY WEEK:
November 27 – December 3: Venus is trine Jupiter on Sunday, an indication of happy relationships and pleasant social times. Monday and Tuesday are unmarked by special influences. The Moon is waxing, making this a good time to move things along, keeping in mind that Mercury is retrograde and matters may need a bit of patience and deliberation to compensate for the natural tendency for daily matters to drift or run into delays. Remember that Mercury retrograde periods are good for catching up on loose ends and clearing the decks for the coming Mercury direct period.
Venus is conjunct Pluto on Wednesday and Thursday. That can bring buried issues to light. The Sun is square Mars on Thursday and Friday; an indication that impatience and irritability can lead us into conflict and confrontation, and haste can make us prone to accidents. Take it easy.
The Moon is void of course from 11:06 a.m. MST on Friday until 6:51 p.m. on Saturday. Moon v.o.c. periods are well used for rest and meditation. It may be time for some down time. Moon v.o.c. periods seem to be even more unfocussed when Mercury is also retrograde, as it is now.
December 4 – 10: Mercury in retrograde will be conjunct the Sun on Sunday. This marks the midpoint of the retrograde period. I often notice that little breakthroughs may be possible at this time.
Venus is trine Mars on Monday morning. This will add a little bit of harmony to the day on Sunday and Monday.
The most significant matter is that Uranus turns direct on Friday night. Expect lots of change this week, some of it surprising and unexpected. Be flexible, consider what changes you are ready to put into place. Go with less structure. Adapt to what pops up. It will get you out of your rut and on to liberating new developments.
The Uranus station is accentuated by the Lunar Eclipse/Full Moon which comes at dawn on Saturday. This total eclipse is visible in the central and westernUnited States. InAlbuquerque, the Moon in maximum eclipse will be setting as the Sun rises. Maximum eclipse is 7:31 am MST; official Full Moon is 7:36 am. This could be quite a show. The eclipse adds to the feeling that things are popping.
December 11 – 17: This week could bring gradual improvements into our daily living. We’re past the high energy of the Uranus station and the Lunar Eclipse/Full Moon. Mercury turns direct on Tuesday evening, 6:43 p.m. MST. It’s not like flipping a switch; matters will have been gradually straightening out toward the end of the retrograde, and improvements will continue. It may take until Mercury completes its “prograde” and returns to the location it occupied when it turned retrograde before everything is back on track. That will be New Year’s Day.
Saturday evening may be rather quiet or have its subdued aspects, considering that it’s the Saturday before Christmas Eve. Venus is coming into square to Saturn, and responsibilities, duties or worries may be in counterpoint to Venus’s benefic and sociable influence.
December 18 – 24: Venus is square Saturn early Sunday morning. Though ‘tis the season of holiday joy, many of us will feel weighty concerns, maybe just the pressure of holiday activities. This is the time to attend to the work of the holidays.
On Monday the Sun is sextile Saturn, a steadying influence. This is a good day for organized, productive activity. Venus is at the very last degree of disciplined Capricorn (ruled by Saturn); carrying through on relationship and social responsibilities comes naturally.
Tuesday is lighter. Perhaps we’re feeling more up to speed on things and can enjoy the holiday season. Venus enters sociable, humanitarian, group-oriented Aquarius ‘round noon – less sense of duties, more sense of freedom. The Sun is sextileNeptune, bringing forth empathy, attunement and flow. Toward evening, Venus squares Jupiter, an aspect denoting pleasure, affection and indulgence (also extravagance, overindulgence and emotional excess, but let’s not go there). Also on Tuesday evening, Venus is sextile Uranus, a light but lovely aspect denoting openness, novelty and affectionate or artistic expression and appreciation. Tuesday has the possibility of being a very nice day.
Winter Solstice arrives, Wednesday evening, 10:30 p.m. Mountain time. For one thing, this is a turning of the season, passing from autumn into winter. It’s the Sun’s entry into the practical earth sign Capricorn after the ebullience of its passage through Sagittarius, ruled by expansive Jupiter. At this particular winter solstice, the Sun is square Uranus, planet of change, revolution and also chaos and the unexpected. As orderly as Capricorn likes to be, Uranus is in fiery Aries and things are just not orderly and measured. However, the Sun is also in a positive pattern with Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune. Saturn is at the end of Libra, soon to enter Scorpio, and it is sextile the Sun, a steadying influence. So there’s Saturn, then 60 degrees forward is the Sun at 0º Capricorn, then 60º past the Sun is Neptune at the end of Aquarius, almost into Pisces, and it is trine Saturn and sextile the Sun. Then, 60º past Neptune is Jupiter at 0º of Taurus, and it is opposite Saturn, trine the Sun, and sextileNeptune, a great synergy. This is a potentially very integrative alignment that may help us to knit together in the midst of a goodly amount of chaos and change currently going along in the world. Hold that thought, and affirm good things as you end your evening this Solstice night.
On Thursday you may see both sides of the Solstice’s signature described here. The Sun is exactly trine ease-producing Jupiter early in the morning. In the afternoon, Sun squares Uranus, planet of the unexpected.
On Friday we’re winding down toward New Moon, a good time to take a breath and think of where we are and things to come over the next four weeks.
New Moon comes Saturday, 11:06 a.m. MST. The New Moon chart contains the same solar alignments as the Solstice chart, Sun square Uranus, and also trine Jupiter, sextile Saturn and sextile Neptune. Change, expansion and growth, steady effort and progress, and vision and understanding. Affirm all these things for yourself and the world as you look to the month ahead. The “Sabian symbol” for the degree of the Sun and Moon at New Moon is “: The human soul receptive to growth and understanding.” That is a positive indication for the coming four weeks, I believe.
Also note that this whole week has also been influenced by the approaching Jupiter station.* Jupiter is at the first degree of the earth sign Taurus, and it turns direct on Sunday, December 25. There’s the potential for positive benefits and growth in the material aspects of life and society over the coming months. This should certainly support our own individual, and the collective, economic recovery.
December 25 – 31: The most significant influence this week is Jupiter turning direct on Sunday, as noted just above. This should be a positive time of grounding, well-being and abundance in the material realm. Be calm, steady and confident, and comfortable in your world.
On Wednesday-Thursday the Sun is conjunct Pluto. Hidden problems and matters needing transformation are likely to come to the fore; it’s time to face issues and make any needed changes.
At the end of the week Mercury in Sagittarius squares Mars in Virgo. Mercury square Mars always has the potential to bring out conflicts and differences in opinion, in part because we tend to be thinking and speaking with energy and some abruptness. May any differences lead to productive discussion and enlightenment. Remember to think things through and to express yourself tactfully. Mars has been in Virgo all month, supporting a climate of striving for perfection but also bringing out critical attention to detail. Aspire to the best, but be tolerant when we and others fall short of ultimate perfection.
January Preview: Mars continues in Virgo all month, see remarks on Mars in Virgo in the overview for December and in the paragraph just previous to this one. Mars will turn retrograde on January 23, appearing to backtrack its orbit until April 13. Mars relates to what we desire and how we go after it. Mars retrograde periods are good time for reexamining those drives and our methods of pursuing them. On a practical level, it’s often more difficult to accomplish things while Mars is in retrograde. We should certainly do our best to initiate any projects we are planning, before the Mars station on January 23. And we should remember to be just meticulous enough with Mars in Virgo, and not fritter away our energy trying to make things more perfect than they need to be. Keep this principle in mind, for Mars is in Virgo from November 10, 2011, to July 3, 2012, (eight months instead of the usual two) a lengthy period to contemplate these lessons.
The Sun, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Pluto will each be in earth signs for all or part of the month. We may really succeed in getting down to business in the New Year. This could be a good year to make New Year’s resolutions and go about following through on them.
In the background all month is a positive trine alignment of Saturn and Neptune. This denotes balance between practicality and idealism, vision put into positive manifestation. Saturn will turn retrograde before reaching exact trine, so they won’t be exact until later, but they are within 1º of orb from December 23 until February 16. They will be exactly trine on October 11, 2012. Solar Fire © astrology software’s interpretation of the potential for this alignment, which will be affecting us from roughly Winter solstice until mid-February is as follows:
This a good time for achieving success in your creative and spiritual pursuits. You have just the right balance between discipline and creativity. Your intuitive abilities are heightened, and yet at the same time your common sense is well in place. As a result you are able to make wise decisions. You may also find yourself reassessing your life and gaining inner understanding before moving forward in a new direction.
*Regular readers of this column and others familiar with astrology know that all the planets occasionally appear to backtrack or “retrograde” in their orbits. A planet will slow down, appear stationary, and then appear to slip backward for a period of a few weeks or months before again appearing to slow down and be stationary before resuming apparent forward motion. Of course the planet is not actually reversing direction but only appears to do so due to its motion relative to Earth’s. Nonetheless, we do feel the effects of these shifts. When a planet is at its “station” or stationary point, the planet’s energies are emphasized; when retrograde, its energies are more internalized. The cycle looks like this. The planet is going forward, and affairs of the planet are moving forward normally. As the planet slows and turns stationary, those matters related to the planet become emphasized in our lives, and significant developments may take place. Then those matters ebb in our outer lives for a while, as we internally digest those developments and realizations and integrate them into our lives during the retrograde. Later, the planet again goes stationary, coming back to the forefront of our awareness, and then “turns direct,” resuming apparent forward motion as we again move forward with those matters related to the planet.
Mercury takes a little three-week retrograde cycle approximately every four months. Our daily affairs slow down and get complicated. Communications get tangled, computers flake out, automobiles break down and travel arrangements fall into disarray, a comedy of scheduling mishaps occurs, and things pretty much slow to a crawl. It’s really a great time to slow down and regroup, to finish projects and catch up on unfinished business. Just try not to launch your big project, or sign on the dotted line for a new contract, job, car, or whatever unless you really need to. Try to get those things moving before the retrograde, and shepherd things patiently along during the retro cycle, knowing that some things may not completely come together until Mercury turns direct. If you are making significant moves during the Mercury retrograde period, just know that some things will have to be straightened out after the direct.
**Moon void of course occurs when the Moon has made all the alignments it will make while in the sign it’s in, and is just “marking time” without real momentum. The Moon goes through a sign in 2 to 2 ½ days, so consequently it also goes v.o.c. Every couple of days as well, sometimes for only a few minutes or more likely hours, but sometimes for more than a day. Things initiated during a Moon void of course period tend to meander off and arrive at a destination other than what was planned. Void of course periods are well used in completing tasks or doing routine chores, or in resting, meditating, and planning for future activities. The v.o.c. period ends when the Moon enters the next sign.
I am available for personal consultations and forecasts, either in person or by telephone. I also offer comprehensive computer chart services, providing charts, transit calendars, and computer interpretations. I invite your feedback on this column and am available to answer simple astrology questions. Be in touch!
Please feel free to share this forecast with your friends.
Just be sure to include my name and contact information:
Sandy Bryan, Astrologer (505) 255-5001
E-mail: sstars@thuntek.net
sstars
