The Full Moon in Gemini on the 2nd strongly brought in December’s themes. Under this Full Moon the Australian Liberal Party had its leadership shake-up and Tiger Woods was in the media for reasons other than golf success! Full Moons have a way of bringing the dark to light, but this one was particularly potent. In the hours before the Full Moon, Uranus came out of its Retrograde phase and moved Direct again. Planets moving direct also have a way of bringing dark to light and Uranus is a show-stopper when it gets into action.
Gemini is the Messenger zodiac sign so it’s perhaps no surprise that the media was filled with Uranian news. Uranus often brings instant change, like a lightning bolt out of the blue. Australian political journalists were using Uranian words such as ‘bizarre’, ‘wild’, ‘disordered’ and finally the typical Uranus word ’shock’. The day before the Full Moon, Australians woke up to Tony Abbott’s ’shock win’. Perhaps the Melbourne Cup winner ‘Shocking’ a month beforehand was preparing us for something…
Of course all this has been happening with Jupiter in Aquarius, Uranus’s zodiac sign. December is Jupiter’s last month in Aquarius after its year in this change-bringing zodiac sign. It switches into Pisces mid-January. We’ve had a year of shocks and surprises, some of them delightful, others plain horrible. That’s the Aquarian-Uranian way, i.e. to bring change whether through delight or horror. Whatever Uranus does, it tends to do suddenly, and whether the sudden change feels great or awful depends on factors in our individual horoscopes. Sometimes we can be dancing for joy, or sobbing with sadness, under an Aquarian-Uranian surprise only to have yet another change come in.
While Jupiter winds up its time in Aquarius, and with Uranus now travelling direct, the opportunities for change increase. Being the Christmas season, things are already manic enough without needing extra cosmic input! Doing our best to be calm and patient is essential this month. Flexibility is also important, as well as humility. No matter how unfair something seems for yourself or loved ones (or no matter how grand) reversals of fortune are not uncommon when Aquarius/Uranus are highlighted.
On 21st December, Jupiter meets up with Neptune and Chiron for their third and final alignment. This triple alignment has been operating powerfully in the background all year, no matter what’s been going on. Its deep aim has been to enhance and increase opportunities for healing, love, support, soulfulnes, peace and spiritual sustenance in our lives. Like three old friends who’ve been working on a massive healing project all year, these three now come together to assess their success and tie things up.
Given that the triple alignment has been in Aquarius, the healing work of these three planets has often come through shocks and surprises. Many of us this year have dealt with sudden tragedies or wins that have had deep underlying healing themes. This triple alignment always brings miracles with it, yet sometimes with our human thinking we don’t see or understand the miracles.
Christmas this year can be thoroughly magical under this alignment; in fact the alignment contains the true meaning of Christmas as it holds the energy of Jesus’s birth given that he was a bringer of peace, love, healing and miracles. Yet it’s up to us to do what we will with astrological alignments. Their job is simply to fall like rain or shine like the sun. Those with (conscious or subconscious) dark intent can use this alignment to spin even bigger and better false stories of how wonderful their product is, their special deal, their friendship, their promise, their love, their whatever. Those with (conscious or subconscious) loving intent can use this energy to heal past damage and create sustainable pathways to happiness.
Another major astrological event happens on the 21st, being Mars shifting Retrograde. Already those on the world stage have been giving us a taste of what this Mars Retro phase is about. Mars is in Leo and, due to this Retro phase, will be in Leo for an unusually long time, nine months all up. The Leo energy is often most demonstrated by our leaders; those in power; those who wear ‘crowns’. Already we have seen what happened in the Australian Liberal Party, and Tony Abbott does seem the perfect leader to have under Mars Retro (i.e. when a planet is Retro it looks as if it’s going backwards)! Sometimes we have to go backwards before we can go forwards.
Tiger Woods is currently also in a ‘backwards’ phase after the recent scandals involving his alleged extra-marital affairs. Whatever our world leaders are role-modelling to us is important to note. They show us how collective archetypes play out and indicate the most pressing themes to reflect on in our individual lives. In what ways in our own lives are we playing a role the might ultimately send us backwards rather than forwards? What regular actions might be revealed during Mars’s stay in Leo that we’d rather wish we’d never done and had never come to light?
Mars Retro in Leo is a time for courage. It urges us to bravely look at all the ways we make ourselves or others ’small’ by either not allowing our true selves to shine or attempting to suppress the true shining light of others. Rather than run from what we see, if we face our demons and be ‘true of heart’ (a Leo term), we will find it easier to forgive ourselves and others, and come up with new plans to enjoy being all that we are. This is a time for noticing where we lack confidence and arranging some confidence-building exercises. It’s a time to listen to our soul and align our life activities more closely with our soul’s calling. In doing this we experience the joy and success possible under Mars in Leo.
On the 27th, another planet shifts Retrograde – this time it’s Mercury. What is the cosmos thinking? Both Mars and Mercury Retrograde over the Christmas season! As we know, things speed up at this time of the year, but here are Mars and Mercury asking us to take time out to reflect and rest. Fortunately they shift Retro later in December in perfect time for the school holiday period when many of us do slow down and rest. Yet they won’t necessarily allow for automatic smooth flowing of plans. Mars Retro in Leo asks us to assess the way we have fun, so is particularly relevant over the holiday period. Do we let our souls play in life-enhancing ways or do we rely too heavily on drink, drugs, staring at the TV or over-indulging in food etc?
Mercury is Retro in Capricon, Saturn’s zodiac sign, which leads me to mention the Saturn and Pluto square alignment, which is still strong throughout December. I described this at length in last month’s e-news so won’t go into detail here, except to remind you that it’s a whopper. Under this alignment, it’s not a case of maybe the dark will come to the light, it’s a case of the dark WILL come to the light. Lately, I’m intrigued by the speed and ease with which more and more people talk about past abuses and demand justice; for example, the recent sex abuse allegations against a top Australian swimming coach.
The New Moon in Sagittarius on the 16th involves the Saturn-Pluto alignment and the Jupiter-Chiron-Neptune alignment. Certainly Sagittarius is the zodiac sign of joy, adventure, fun times and celebration, yet this New Moon in Sagittarius has a lot to contend with. Mars and Mercury are both in slow-down phase, not functioning at their best given that they’re about to turn Retro, plus there are the two just-mentioned powerful alignments active at this New Moon. So my cautionary words are: take it easy from the 16th!! Let’s slow down and get in tune with the ‘cosmic radio’ to avoid being caught in a wave of ‘too much’! After the 16th until way into January (when we have some eclipses), there’s a lot going on cosmically.
The image that most comes to mind with this cosmic combo from the 16th onwards is: someone blurting out (Mercury Retro) something in a relaxed moment over Christmas drinks (Jupiter-Neptune-Chiron) that reveals a secret (Saturn Pluto) that sees someone lose face/their ‘crown’ (Mars Retro in Leo). Should this scenario or any others that match the theme play out, we might naturally go into a fear response. This would be an entirely human thing to do, but the promise and hope of this cosmic line up is that even if we have panicked, frozen or lashed out, we might next remember to: slow down our minds and words (Mercury Retro), call in the cosmic troops – our compassionate sides/higher selves/angels – and ask for miracles (Jupiter-Netune-Chiron), face the truth and not suppress the past (Saturn Pluto) and honour/respect the sovereignty/dignity of everyone (Mars in Leo) no matter what might’ve just been revealed. Someone is likely to have been let out of the prison of their mask, providing an opportunity for us all to be freed more truly into ourselves.
Christmas might not turn out how it usually does when we press the ‘Christmas entertainment’ buttons, but it will be filled with rich opportunities for personal growth, deep compassion and the joy that comes from real connection with others; from sitting with our own and others’ dark as well as light sides.
Wishing you wonder, magic and miracles over Christmas, and a happy Solstice on the 22nd as well.