weekly astrology | december 18th to 24th, 2023 - good news, rethinking old ideas and conversations, liberating jolts with love and money, career sobriety and then just in the nick of time - santa!


Let's dive right in and we'll talk big picture next post!


MONDAY - Mercury retrograde trines Jupiter retrograde

TUESDAY - First Quarter Moon 

WEDNESDAY - Vesta backs into Gemini

THURSDAY - Sun enters Capricorn/Capricorn Ingress, Venus opposes Uranus, Mercury retro sextiles Saturn, Mars inconjunct Uranus

FRIDAY - Sun conjunct Mercury, Venus inconjunct North Node 

SATURDAY - Mercury backs into Sagittarius


On MONDAY - Mercury makes his/her second of three smooth trines to Jupiter. This is the one with both planets retrograde. We are returning to old ideas/conversations to give them another look. There could be financial benefits, improved optimism, GOOD NEWS. Results from our ideas and research. What gold did we miss the first time through? What needs to be said? We will have this aspect AGAIN on January 19th, with both planets direct. Be out and about. Talk to people. Big girl/boy pants on here. 


On TUESDAY - there is tension/frustration when the Moon in Pisces (27 degrees) squares the Sun in Sagittarius, conjunct the Galactic Center - this could feel like a test of faith or the dissolving of something we believe in or had hoped for. With so much activity on and near the Galactic Center (our cosmic homing signal) now, notice the things that have outworn their usefulness untangling themselves from us. Notice the ways old cords withdraw as timelines shift and morph. After Luna squares the Sun, she will sextile Pluto. There is power/grace to be found in not knowing what comes next. In sacrifice. In surrender. In compassion. 


On WEDNESDAY - Vesta, retrograde in home and family focused Cancer, backs into Gemini. We finally get some AIR. Family situations can hopefully LIGHTEN. Don't be afraid to add humor/to detach a bit emotionally. Gemini is curious/friendly and about choices. Our focus could widen from family to local community or travel. Our focus could be on transportation or tech issues or sibling issues or early childhood education issues. Remember we are walking degrees, through Vesta, we have walked before. We pulled from the community/conversation back to the family/inner self and are now moving back AGAIN to the community/conversation. Vesta is retrograde so we are re-vising, re-visiting, re-thinking, etc.


THURSDAY is a big day. Winter kicks off (summer down under) with a BANG as the Sun moves into serious Capricorn, Venus opposes Uranus while Mars inconjuncts Uranus and Mercury (retrograde) repeats a sextile with Saturn. 


Let's break this down.


The Sun moves into Capricorn. Doesn't it feel better to call the Winter Solstice the longest night rather than the shortest day?

The shortest day sounds like we are missing out on something. The longest night sounds like we can lie in bed and finish our book and still get a good night's sleep.

 

This is the perfect time during the busy holiday season to take stock of where we are, what we have, what we've done and where we are going. In the northern hemisphere we move into the challenging season of winter. And with Pluto still (back) in Capricorn since 2008, but not for much longer - this is the space of our collective humbling. This is also the time of the season, maybe especially when things are not quite as we wish they were, when melancholy can set in. It is a good idea to check in with other people. See if they need anything we have to give. People are needing more than presents wrapped in big red bows this year.


In Capricorn, the Sun gets serious. We are heading into the serious time of year - the time our ancestors could starve if they hadn't stocked up properly or catch a cold that would turn into pneumonia. They would celebrate the Winter Solstice and go into hibernation for a few weeks (exhausted from the harvest, escaping the cold and, intuitively, the germs and bacteria, too, I'm sure), venturing back out sometime mid-Aquarius season for some social interaction and hoping to trade whatever they still had plenty of to restock whatever had grown scarce.
 

This is true for us today, too. Without structure, responsibility and discipline - mandated by Capricorn's ruling planet Saturn - we'll be in trouble when the cold settles in and the stuff we need to survive is covered with two feet of snow and ice.


So Capricorn is a serious sign because it rules very serious things. Capricorn rules our collective 10th house of career, reputation, ambition, hard work, the pinnacle, fathers, patriarchal story-lines, safety, security, tradition, history, structure.


A chart drawn for the Cappy Ingress (like we do the New Moon and Full Moon charts for the lunar cycles) - Sun into Capricorn - Cappy being a cardinal sign that launches a new season, can tell us quite a bit about what to expect in the weeks ahead. 


So, we've got this solar energy of sobriety and responsibility, and what else do we see? The time is 10:27PM EST. The Moon is in Taurus, the sign of her exaltation. 


Venus moves into an opposition with Uranus retrograde. Even though this isn't totally unexpected with Uranus retrograde, this can provide a JOLT. Our Scorpio house, or a Scorpio issue - debt, taxes, intimacy, loans, intimacy, reproduction, secrets - can experience a FAST CHANGE. Financial and romantic shocks are possible. And remember, with this happening on the Capricorn Ingress, the energy of FAST CHANGE is pulled into the season ahead. Breakthroughs, breakdowns, breaks for freedom. 


Mercury repeats his/her opportunistic sextile with Saturn. Plans, conversations, information are OPPORTUNISTIC. Stabilizing. Mature. This might connect to an idea or conversation or news from around December 2nd. Watch your language. Mean what you say. This is a confident aspect where we better know what we are talking about. Verbal and written commitments are sticky - although subject to changes because, again, Mercury is retrograde. Saturn is awash in Pisces this year and next year, so any chance for him to get back to himself in stable Capricorn is useful. Talk and think about your goals. Make plans. 


Mars inconjuncts Uranus - this is Sag/Taurus. Big moves vs security and stability. The greener grasses over there being incompatible to what we want to hold onto over here. There isn't a winner here. The way through would be the Mercury/Saturn we just talked about. 


This is alot to be happening at this solstice moment. Our ancestors celebrated the solstice for hundreds/thousands of years and this energy is in us even when we are not conscious of it. 


On FRIDAY - Mercury retrograde meets the Sun - merging the Mercury retrograde cycle WITH the Capricorn Ingress/Winter Solstice (season ahead). What comes to light? How are our goals and ambitions changing? Here is where we get to see what this Mercury retrograde has been about for us. Venus is going to inconjunct the North Node, so there is going to need to be some give and take re merged finances/intimate relationships and our more brave and independent future. 


On SATURDAY - And now with perfect timing, and just in time for Christmas - Mercury backs into Sagittarius. After his/her meeting with the Sun in sober Capricorn - message delivered - Mercury says, "I am out of here", and slips back into the bluer skies/greener grasses of Sag. Reality slips away. Our optimism/hope, maybe pie-in-the-sky thinking returns. Keep in mind, Mercury is retrograde, so things can get wonky if we are determined to plow ahead. Take a breath. We are going back before we can go forward, This is an excellent time for a new course of study, to have an adventure, to travel, to celebrate. Just remember to give yourself extra time and double check plans, etc, because MERCURY IS RETROGRADE. 


Heads up on Christmas Day we have a lovely, mystical and compassionate Venus trine Neptune and that will be followed by a lovely Full Moon in Cancer! 


I am going to do next week's post tomorrow night and then start looking at next year. I know I have said that before about 2024 - sorry! I have been sick with this lingering chest cold and cough for the last couple weeks. Hoping the Full Moon in Cancer exact on my natal Moon is helping me put a very old maternal storyline to bed. Stay healthy everyone. 


Back with next week's forecast!



xo all

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