The astrology for this week of December 26th, 2022, through January 1st, 2023, brings us to the end of 2022 and the beginning of the New Year 2023 and with it Mercury retrograde.
Talk about going out with a whimper!
The week begins with our old ‘friends’ of the Saturn Uranus square engaged. Old and new, old and new, the game of tag is played yet once again.
The week could have us catching up with old friends, tying up loose ends before the year is out, and in a generally hopeful expectation no matter the realities that we confront.
The Mercury retrograde enlists Murphy’s Law of ‘whatever can go wrong could go wrong’. This Mercury retrograde starts off in the 3rd decanate of Capricorn, the Virgo decanate, Virgo being a Sign that Mercury rules. Whatever we are trying to complete or planning to initiate, we are liable to leave out certain details that might prove consequential as we proceed. Let’s keep in mind the admonition that ‘the devil is in the details’ and try to avoid leaving out significant particulars.
The weekend is New Year’s Eve and the first day of the New Year. While we would prefer lightness and gaiety to ring out the old, ring in the new, we may realize all the difficulties that are staring us straight ahead.
As the classic Peggy Lee song reminds us:
“If that’s all there is my friends, then let’s keep dancing
Let’s break out the booze and have a ball
If that’s all there is”
This week has a Stellium in Capricorn with the Sun, Venus, Mercury, and Pluto all in the Cardinal Earth Sign. Our disposition may be serious, but does it have to be grumpsome?
Nothing may seem easy, but it doesn’t have to be hard. As the saying goes: “pain is part of the life experience, the suffering is optional”.
Monday, December 26th – Tiresome – Uranus, Saturn, Moon Void-of-Course. Monday begins this week with the Moon in Aquarius and the Moon engaging our old ‘friends’ of the Saturn Uranus square as the Moon squares Uranus and the Moon conjuncts Saturn. The Moon then goes Void-of-Course for thirteen hours with the Moon making no further connections to the planets as the Moon finishes its transit of Aquarius and before the Moon enters Pisces early on Tuesday morning. Whether we have been traveling for the Christmas – New Year’s holidays or stayed at home, we may have to contend today with the dysfunctionality of these times with delays, frustrations, limited service and weather intensities, any of which could disrupt our plans. Unexpected situations on this Monday may demand a great deal of patience and a willingness to have contingency plans in mind. If we have schedules to adhere to, let’s add on extra time getting from place to place, or waiting for our committed engagement to commence. The Saturn Uranus may be getting tiresome, but its effects have honed our abilities and given us greater stamina to deal with unsettling problems.
Tuesday, December 27th – For Our Own Good – Sun, Mars. The Moon enters Pisces where today the Moon sextiles the Sun and the Moon squares Mars late in the day. We can be highly effective and productive on this Tuesday. We are able to enlist our visionary sense with practical implementation in order to accomplish a great deal. Our efforts could be so successful that we even impress ourselves. And therein might lie a problem. We may get enamored by our talents and our achieving so much that we decide to take on more and more but without the same due diligence that we might have used earlier in the day. Arrogance and narcissism are two detrimental characteristics that are liable to cause our own undoing. It is best for us to prioritize our activities, complete each project before going on to another, and avoid getting caught up in running around late in the day. Let’s keep in mind that Mercury is about to turn retrograde on Thursday. The more we can achieve in tying up loose ends of outstanding matters of this year of 2022, the less liability of having unresolved issues brought into the new year and concluded under the possible errors likely made during Mercury retrograde.
Wednesday, December 28th – Before the Gun – Uranus, Neptune, Venus, Mercury. Wednesday continues with the Pisces Moon with the Moon today sextile Uranus in Taurus, the Moon conjunct Neptune and the Moon sextile both Venus and Mercury both in Capricorn. Venus sextiles Neptune. This Wednesday can be a primo day both in our ability to get things done and to enjoy the company of special friends. We are able to see the best in other people, may feel like we have a soul connection with those special people in our life, and appreciate how our world is made better by those people who add so much to our life. We might find that other people can come to our assistance in our completing certain matters by either providing insightful suggestions as to the best ways to attain our goals or by their elbow grease in helping us get things done. While this day can be a highly productive and an incredibly enjoyable day, we have to keep in mind that Mercury is turning retrograde tomorrow, which necessitates extreme caution and alertness in everything we do. Whenever Mercury is about to change direction, whether going from direct to retrograde or from retrograde to direct motion, things get squirrely. And perhaps even more so with this Mercury retrograde. Not only do we have a power pack of four planets in Capricorn, the Sign in which Mercury is turning, but Mercury is turning in the third decanate of Capricorn, the Virgo decanate, a Sign that Mercury rules. Caution is called for.
Thursday, December 29th – As the World Turns – Pluto, Moon Void-of-Course, Jupiter, Sun, Mars, Venus, Mercury retrograde. Thursday begins with the Pisces Moon sextile Pluto. The Moon then goes Void-of-Course for four hours with the Moon making no further connections to the planets as the Moon finishes its transit of Pisces and before the Moon enters Aries early in the day. The Aries Moon today conjuncts Jupiter, the Moon squares the Sun, and the Moon sextiles Mars. Mercury turns retrograde [4:32 AM EST], and the retrograde Mercury conjuncts Venus. Today can be one of those push – pull days. We have Mercury turning retrograde and engaging Murphy’s Law of ‘whatever can go wrong could go wrong’, and we have the Moon ending its cycle through the Zodiac to begin a new monthly cycle with the Moon entering Aries. We may have great enthusiasm to push forward with new beginnings, start-ups and initiations; only to have our best efforts being pulled back by all the misses inherent in Mercury turning retrograde — miscommunications, misunderstanding, misdirection, and other various misses that are liable to occur when Mercury is retrograde and especially as Mercury turns and before we get the rhythm and pace of the altered Mercury movement. Thursday calls for us to be cautious, advance slowly and draw upon a trusted confidante to help us evaluate and reevaluate as we move forward.
Friday, December 30th – Not Much to See – Saturn. The Moon continues its transit of Aries but without much energy to light a fire in our belly. Late in the day, the Aries Moon sextiles Saturn. We are also getting used to Mercury having turned retrograde yesterday, and so whatever we have planned for today, it would be wise for us to add on extra time. This is a day when it could be slow going. We can be revving our engine but stuck in neutral. Whether we have taken the week off or not, we are likely to start our weekend early with preparations for our New Year’s Eve festivities. We may be far more focused on our plans for celebrating, but it would be wise to keep in mind the need to plan out, schedule, and have itinerary in hand regarding what we intend to do. It is far too easy for us to forget something without our ‘to do’ list available, and consequently we could wind up going back to the store more than once because of something important we had neglected earlier. It is also important that we watch our back, both figuratively and literally. People may not be thinking clearly, and we might assume that we can lift more than would be reasonable. Our back and our intestines can be acting up, so let’s be gentle with ourselves and recognize that we could be acting like an absent-minded professor. Let’s slow down and not move too fast, and when we do move, have our plan of action written down in hand.
Saturday, December 31st – Good Riddance – Mercury, Venus, Pluto, Moon Void-of-Course. Saturday is the last day of 2022, and it is hard to imagine anyone who is not ready to bid this year adieu with a sentiment of ‘good riddance’. The Moon finishes its transit of Aries with the Aries Moon square three of the four Capricorn transiting planets. The Moon squares Mercury, Venus and Pluto. The Moon then goes Void-of-Course for almost four and a half hours with the Moon making no further connections to the planets as the Moon finishes its transit of Aries and before the Moon enters Taurus where today the Taurus Moon makes no connections to the planets. We might have plans for our New Year’s Eve celebration, but it would be wise to keep in mind that we are operating under a Mercury retrograde. Delays and frustrations can be part of our Saturday as we try and crawl out from under 2022. Whatever we choose to do to celebrate New Year’s Eve, one of our resolutions for the forthcoming year may be establishing security in a most insecure world. It is not to over sensationalize the feeling that many of us may have felt of being put through the mill during 2022. Spiraling inflation, rampaging viruses, threats of nuclear war, supply chain disruptions, fears of food instability; this year has been anything but a walk in the park for many of us. We are ready to see this year go into the history books, a year whose challenges we would prefer never to repeat, and with us having a desire for better days through brighter ways as we celebrate the new year.
Sunday, January 1st – Never More than We Can Handle – Sun, Uranus, Venus, Pluto. We enter the first of the year of 2023 on this Sunday, the 1st of January. We come into this new year on this Sunday with a Stellium in Capricorn with four planets in the Cardinal Earth Sign, the Moon and Uranus both in Taurus, and Mercury retrograde. This Sunday has the Taurus Moon trine the Sun, and the Moon conjunct Uranus. Venus conjuncts Pluto. We might feel some trepidation as we cross the threshold from 2022 into 2023. And who would blame us? Like a prize fighter in the 10th round having been repeatedly pummeled by varied punches of jabs, hooks and uppercuts, we might stagger into 2023 with the hope and resolution to create security and stability for ourselves and our loved ones in a most insecure and unstable world. Yes, the paradigm shift is disruptive, tumultuous, and forces us to be fully conscious, aware, mindful, flexible and adaptable to continually changing conditions. Let’s not assume that as we cross into this new year, that the year itself will be a case of ‘same old, same old’. Many of the challenges of this new year may be similar to last year, but we have gained experience, developed our skill set as if we had gone through basic training, and can think outside the box, develop effective methods to address both old matters and new issues that present themselves. It would be wise for us to repeatedly remind ourselves, almost mantram-like, the wise, true saying that ‘we never get more than we can handle’. Let’s use this 1st day of the new year to resolve to work smarter rather than harder, to be adaptable to changing circumstance, and recognize that we can truly deal with whatever curveballs may be thrown at us. These times are all part of the process of a grand awakening and an eventual ascension into transformed BE-ing and realized Self.
