December 2015 Forecasts (& 26/11 Full Moon)

December’s Astrology, First Thoughts…

Many of us are now into new chapters in our lives. The Nodes (hidden soul dynamics) have made their shift, and 2015’s long slow Venus-Mars triple conjunction (life passions/love themes) is complete. Even if we still cannot put a finger on what’s changed, the influence of the Nodes helps us instinctively move toward where we need to be. After a year of the Venus-Mars conjunction, we’re following deeper values about lifestyle and relationship needs.

26 November Full Moon Stays Strong Throughout December

As we step into December, the Full Moon in Gemini on 26 November exacerbates feelings about relationships and how they’re measuring up. Gemini is the zodiac sign of the twins. Who is your ‘twin’; your significant other? Do you even need one person to fulfil that role or do you have a community of people you connect with and they each ‘twin’ with you in different ways?

How are others in your life behaving? How do they think you’re behaving? There’s a rattled energy about this Full Moon, almost as if it’s a Mercury Retrograde (even though it’s not). We might feel irritated or reactive. In our deeper commitments, some soothing communication and patience helps keep life on track, but in connections that are a bit tenuous, sloppy behaviour or careless words could raise a storm.

Saturn is opposite the Full Moon and helps us stay strong in our own skins so we don’t go rushing into reactions. Given the hitches and glitches that seem to accompany this Full Moon, the Gemini energy spurs us to reach out in a moment of need, either to new people or old allies. We might be shocked at the help we don’t receive from some people, or pleasantly surprised or reassured by the help that does come from others.

Quality Relationships on the Cosmic Agenda

If old connections aren’t quite matching up, we can rely on the Gemini energy to help us find those we best click with now, like new jigsaw pieces falling into place. Some friends might previously have fit your jigsaw piece, but now maybe not. As they depart it might feel uncomfortable and empty but the Gemini Full Moon sparks possibilities for new connections.

Saturn helps us put effort into establishing first Christmas traditions with new loved ones or helps us courageously move through the discomfort and fears associated with meeting new people, even if it means venturing out alone. Saturn also helps bring understanding to our own and other people’s limits. We can’t be all things to all people.

Venus is in Scorpio from 5 to 30 December and helps us deepen intimacy where it feels safe to open to more vulnerability or walk away from, or perhaps pause, relationships that have reached the end of their cycle. A lot of beautiful relating is possible now with Venus in the emotionally passionate zodiac sign Scorpio. Deep nourishing moments feed our hearts and souls, especially when held sacred and private. Old hurts can be put aside if all involved apply emotional maturity and respectful behaviour.

Saturn – What Happened to ‘Normal’?

December’s astrological news relates to Saturn, the archetype of ‘normal’, which is not feeling so normal these days. On 26 November, the exact day of the Gemini Full Moon, Saturn makes a square alignment to Neptune. This vibe influences the whole of December and plays a large part in the generalised rattled feelings. Rules, roles and traditions lose their footing. For example, all the past ‘shoulds’ about how a mother, father, daughter, friend or boyfriend etc should behave are in the process of being reinvented.

There’s some anxiety, confusion, sadness and disappointment in coming to terms with hopes or goals not being met, or traditions being broken. There might even be some finger-pointing, but the Saturn parts of ourselves would benefit from being in ‘the now’ and noticing whether our expectations left enough flexibility in the first place. How much space did we leave in our plans for surrendering to free flow and spontaneity?

Our deeper needs for slipping into soul pleasures, relaxation or bliss start to take over. Waves of unforeseen interruptions might be symptomatic of deeper cravings for spontaneous enriched living. Some parts of Christmas help create openings for magic, but other parts exacerbate frustrations of feeling compelled by cultural pressures to live life to a formula.

Neptune – Daydreams and Fantasies

The Saturn part within each of us needs structure, stability and ‘normal’. We all have Saturn in our own charts and no matter how unique we are, we still need experiences of commitment, roots and foundations. We receive our Saturn stability through our families, friends, workplaces and other regular activities. Yet most importantly, we receive it through strengthening our own ‘spine’; our own inner sense of self and authority.

We also each have Neptune in our own charts, and this god of the sea is more interested in freeing us from the bounds of rules and duties, so that we contact our deeper soul pathways to fulfilment. Neptune is associated with everything from art to daydreaming to drugs to other-dimensional realities. Just like a stormy ocean crashing through barriers, Neptune doesn’t think much of the nine to five or conforming to rules.

If you tend to live a very structured life with little-space for Neptune’s free-flow, and if chaos, forgetfulness, confusion and emotionality start to flood into your life, grab as many moments of ‘soul time’ as you can in your days. This could help shift the Neptune overwhelm into enriching intuitive moments that give you uplifting insights into helpful ways to move toward your dreams.

Saturn’s influence can help with this soul time… for example, set an alarm (a very Saturn thing to do) for a 10-minute deep relaxation in your lunch break. Saturn’s boundary will help keep your Neptune experience contained so that you can day-by-day acclimatise to navigating the images, emotions, memories of Neptune’s soul seas. There’s no doubt Neptune brings up lots of daydreams, fantasies, longings and urges to escape. The challenge always with Neptune is to discern a genuine soul call from a lure into illusions or addictions.

11 December, New Moon in Sagittarius

The New Moon in Sagittarius helps Neptune’s cause by bringing a surge of spontaneous fun and play. Saturn is right next to the New Moon, reminding us that we do have commitments to stick with, but we can use Saturn’s focus to carve an extra few minutes each day for ‘do whatever the hell I want’ time, even if this happens in our imaginations given Neptune’s current powerful dreaming influence.

In fact, Uranus, Chiron, Mars and Pluto are aligned strongly to the New Moon in addition to Saturn. You might have an emotional rollercoaster moment whereby you get flashes of ‘aha’ about new pastures you want to jump into yet feel restrained by commitments. Don’t lose sight of the flashes. Jot them down or capture them somehow, and put them aside to open up again after the Christmas rush has passed when you can brainstorm and develop them.

Again, it can help to use the Saturn energy to contain or plan your ‘jail break’. You might feel suddenly wildly passionate, even manic, overexcited and want to escape, get on the freeway and never stop driving, but if you know the consequences will be extremely unpleasant, then let Saturn become an ally to help plan sensible steps for a sustainable experience of freedom.

Patience will be needed in relationships as the fiery energy of this New Moon sees tempers flaring over different beliefs and approaches. The pull of what’s new and fun is almost irresistible but Saturn cautions not to jump out of the frying pan into the fire. If people are challenging your beliefs, is the world against you or is there something deep down inside of you about to break into a new way of seeing rather than repeat the same old? Use others’ resistance as strength-training. Keep lifting those ‘weights’ until you have your breakthrough. Others will then be inspired to follow, not resist, you.

22 December, the Solstice

The Sun’s entry into Capricorn every December marks the Solstice, a time of year when daylight is either at its longest or shortest depending on which hemisphere you live in. Here in Australia, the Solstice represents the height of summer and Capricorn represents the cornucopia of abundance from the year’s efforts.

For many though the cornucopia might not be feeling so abundant and it might seem as if the year’s efforts have not come to much in a real world sense. Feelings of panic and failure might start to descend. Things are often clearer after a good night’s sleep, and a few days off over Christmas could offer many chances to sleep and nap and relax deeply into Neptune’s creative insights through your calm inner knowing.

If the blues hit you at this time, it helps to write a list of all you have achieved (Capricorn loves lists) this year even if tangible results don’t seem so evident. Include your achievements on all levels of being (Earth, Air, Fire, Water), and you will see how far you have come. Earth is about tangible, material achievements, Air is about intellectual, informational, ‘mind’ achievements, Fire is about visionary, playful, exploratory achievements and Water is about emotional, spiritual and intuitive achievements.

Mercury enters Capricorn on 10 December so from the 22nd, the Sun and Mercury are travelling together and help us stay focussed with completing year-end tasks, celebrate achievements or hang in there with each ‘now moment’ if we’re feeling everything’s all a bit much.

25, 27 & 30 December – a Trilogy of Energies

Christmas Day features a Full Moon in Cancer. What a beautiful energy for high spirits with loved ones. There’s a catch though… the days beforehand might see emotions running hot. If individuals take care of their emotions and arrive at Christmas with a spirit of togetherness, the Full Moon is likely to bring a joyful overflowing of warmth, rather than the downside, which is distressed feelings of being overlooked or not nurtured.

On 27 December, Uranus moves Direct, a lovely image of being able to move more easily, bit by bit, towards what excites you most. This is emphasised by Venus moving into Sagittarius on the 30th where she will stay until 24 January, bringing a holiday spirit like a carnival arriving in town. Now it’s more possible to see the sunny side, refresh and reboot. And on that note, happy holidays!