December 2016

December begins with us in full throttle. Everyone may seem on the same page, gung-ho to move things forward with a focus on the future possibilities. Our physical energy is strong, but we would prefer to winch the boulder up the mountain rather than to roll the boulder up the mountain Sisyphus-like.

We start the month with Mars trine Jupiter on the 1st. We may feel that we want to pursue new activities with new associates. We are looking to broaden our reach, expand our parameters and feeling the strong Sagittarian influence of the New Moon that occurred on Tuesday, the 29th of November.

Mercury exits Sagittarius on the 2nd of December to enter Capricorn. This Sign shift ends the Stellium in Sagittarius and creates a brief Stellium [until the 7th] in Capricorn as Mercury joins Venus and Pluto in the Cardinal Earth Sign.

We can be more focused on the right template and the right foundation stones to achieve our goals. We might be far more interested in how we advance our position and how to realize our goals.

While we can gain the physical force and power to move things ahead with Mars trine Jupiter on the 1st, gain a greater sense of the right practical means to achieve our goals on the 2nd with Mercury’s entry into Capricorn, we can use our energy to make all the right moves on the 3rd as Mars sextiles Saturn.

Moving our lives in the right direction can accelerate as we come into the second week of December. While we can create a solid template for expanding our interests in the first week of December, the second week allows us to think outside the box, incorporate some innovative ways to accomplish our goals and gives us the intuitive sense to fine tune our methods. We just have to avoid getting too self-important or falling back into old patterns.

Earlier in autumn, we had the opportunity of clearing away the dross and the debris that no longer served us. This early December allows us to broaden our involvements.

December 6th has Mars sextile Uranus. Whether we know how to do it or need to draw upon someone who does have the ability to do so, now is a time for us to streamline our operations, incorporate new techniques and draw upon the technological tools that daily are lessening our load.

On the 7th, Venus exits Capricorn, ending the Stellium in the Cardinal Earth Sign, as Venus enters Aquarius. We are looking for the new and the different, both in regard to our projects and engagements but also the people we want to draw into our lives. We are looking for the quirky, the unconventional, those people who might be considered characters for doing their own thing. We may have felt tied to those who could provide us steppingstones to our goals, but now we’re looking to those people who can imagine the unimaginable, people who can see beyond the far horizon into prospects and potentials yet unrecognized.

The Sun sextiles Jupiter on the 9th, and we could be feeling like we’re on cloud nine. Things seem to be coming together and if we draw upon a trusted friend for their critique they may ‘yes’ us in affirmation of our efforts. We can have our head in the clouds, but the 10th allows us to get our feet back on the ground. The Sun conjuncts Saturn, and Mercury sextiles Neptune.

While we might have felt that everything was going our way, we could have exerted too much energy, had too many irons in the fire, and we could feel exhausted as a result. We also have to be wary that we don’t fall back into old patterns.

We are on a paradigm shift, moving away from a sense of being in total control where we are the ones to make things happen to a recognition that the universe works and that we are co-creators with the universal unfolding. But old ways die hard, and we might have tried to push things along even when they were gliding easily forward.

Although the 10th can bring up reflections of old ways and past issues, the 12th of December has us acknowledging the changes that have gone on within us. The Sun trines Uranus just prior to the Gemini Full Moon on the 13th. Although we often make our resolutions with the New Year, we may find ourselves committing to future plans and future goals that allow us greater independence, freedom of movement and more autonomy.

The end of the autumn season has Mars exiting Aquarius to enter Pisces on the 19th, the same day that Mercury turns retrograde. This Mercury retrograde goes back through the second decanate of Capricorn with its sub-influence of Taurus, back through the first decanate of Capricorn and back into the last degree of Sagittarius in January before Mercury turns direct on the 8th of January.

Holiday travels might prove convoluted, and it would be wise to add on extra time during this Mercury retrograde with contingency plans in mind if the Mercury retrograde seems too disconcerting.

The Winter Solstice on the 21st ushers in the winter season as the Sun exits Sagittarius to enter Capricorn. In the northern latitudes, the Winter Solstice is also the day of the shortest daylight. From the Winter Solstice to the Summer Solstice the daylight days grow longer, and so we see with the Winter Solstice in the northern latitudes the birth of the LIGHT.

The evening of the 24th is the start of Hanukkah and Christmas is the 25th. Both religious traditions celebrate the LIGHT. Hanukkah is known as the Festival of Lights and Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus who would become the Christ known to may people as the light of the world.

The 25th of December has some spectacular energies as Venus trines Jupiter, Venus sextiles Uranus and Venus sextiles Saturn. This is a time to gather with old friends, new friends and those people who might just show up unexpectedly. We can look to the future, encourage each other and consider brighter days through better ways. This is a day of social engagement, whether we do so in person, on the phone, by text or any other form of connection for interaction.

On the 26th, Jupiter opposes Uranus, and Mercury sextiles Neptune. We might have to balance someone’s interests with our own personal interests. There is no need for a tug-of-war, especially in light of the fact that we can draw upon our intuitive sense to figure out how we can best thread the needle between what we want or need to do and what somebody else’s requests or demands might be. We could find that we have the right words and the right inclination to create a win-win scenario rather than a win-lose situation.

The Sun sextiles Mars on the 27th. Whatever ideas or suggestions we garnered on the 25th, and if we were able to move cautiously past anyone’s concerns on the 26th, this Tuesday of the 27th allows us to move full steam ahead in our planning stages. We may be in an expansionary mood, looking to advance our future interests, all the while seeking to gain the favor and support of other people. We may feel as though we’re on greased wheels, especially if we have been able to get everyone on the same page with us.

The 28th of December has the Sun conjunct Mercury and Mercury sextile Mars. We may be making our resolutions for the New Year, planning our goals and devising a best practices approach to realize our ambitions. We are looking to put our mark and imprint on our life’s involvements. Our creative juices can be flowing, but let’s keep in mind that we’re on the dark side of the Moon prior to the Capricorn New Moon on the 29th. It is far better for us to prepare the fields than to seed them. The more we can create a template and draw upon our inner knowing, the more likely we shall be in moving forcefully and effectively ahead when we choose to pull the trigger.

The 29th has the Capricorn New Moon and Uranus ending its five-month retrograde cycle. With both the New Moon in Capricorn and Uranus turning direct, we are far more attuned to taking machete in hand and carving our own path. We are looking for those areas of involvement where we can stand out and not just fit in. We are more interested in being the pioneer and adventurer than being a mere follower to consensus opinion.

This Capricorn New Moon influences the next fortnight up to the Full Moon on the 12th of January, which is after Mercury ends its retrograde cycle on the 8th. Therefore, we do not have to rush the river to trigger our new openings.

The 30th of December has the Sun sextile Neptune. We may feel that the plans we have devised for ourselves are divinely guided. We might even be coming to a recognition and appreciation of the paradigm shift where we are moving away from the linear sequential progression with the false assumption that we have had to make things happen and instead embrace that we are co-creators with the universe unfolding. Increasingly, we could gain awareness of the truth to the sentiment that ‘if you want to make god laugh, tell god your plans.’

Not that we need to give up making plans. But instead of carving our plans in stone, we may be more mindful of writing our plans in pencil with a large eraser at the ready in case circumstances, conditions and parameters change along the way.

This end of December may better serve us for clearing the decks, ridding ourselves of clutter and having our plan of action in hand. The year ends with a whimper, but we are not merely ending a year, we are ending a nine-year cycle and about to enter a new nine-year cycle as numerologically we move from the 9 year of 2016 [2 + 0 + 1 + 6 = 9] into a 1 year of 2017 [2 + 0 + 1 + 7 = 10 = 1 + 0 = 1].

Happy New Year! Happy New Nine-Year Phase!

December 2016… ending a nine-year cycle…