Uranus goes direct at 27 degrees of Pisces
The retrograde phase of Uranus has been in effect since early July. On December 4, just before the New Moon, the planet Uranus (transiting 27 degrees of Pisces) leaves its retrograde cycle and heads on its direct path. Uranus is now finishing its seven-year passage through the last sign of the zodiac: Pisces, the sign of spirituality. During Uranus’s journey through Pisces, there has been a revolution in spiritual thinking and a resurgence of disciplines like yoga. There are dozens of kinds of yoga now and I doubt they are going away. Uranus is the awakener and people have re-awakened to a dimension of spirituality and compassion for all living things. The last sign, Pisces, means the end of something. Many of us have completed some life chapter in the past seven years and we have been getting it together to make some big changes. Maybe Uranus retrograde slowed down our plans for a while. Now Uranus moves forward. Whatever has been on hold gets the green light. Soon Uranus will step into Aries and we will see other forms of revolution. This could mean scientific inventions. It could mean an independent political party. But back in May Uranus made its first touch into the sign of Aries. We got a hint back then of a new energy.
The New Moon at 13 degrees of Sagittarius
The New Moon occurs the day after Uranus takes direction motion when the Sun and Moon join at 13 degrees of Sagittarius on December 5th. This New Moon makes no major aspects to other planets. The Sun and Moon sit alone in the heavens while Mercury and Mars square Jupiter and Uranus. Shortly after the New Moon day Mars makes its way into Capricorn where it loses its Sagittarius, fired-up nature. Mars will join Pluto (in Capricorn) by December 13. This doesn’t feel very jolly to me. The Sagittarius Sun cycle seems to take a back seat to a lot of serious Capricorn energy this month. When the Sun makes its way through the sign of Sagittarius life should be upbeat. Jupiter is the ruler of this fire sign so we expect optimism and expansiveness. Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, concerns itself with big thinking as well as religion, philosophy, belief systems and the law.
Capricorn energy is very strong this month
All the Capricorn energy puts a damper on jolly Sag matters and the holiday spirit because the down side of Capricorn is negative thinking. On the personal level we might struggle with sticking to our budget while feeing angry that we don’t have more money to spend. Capricorn is an earthy, materialistic sign. On the collective level we might expect a lot of negative talk on the airways. Capricorn rules political leaders. When a Capricorn has reached Saturnian maturity, he or she can be an outstanding leader. Former Presidents are often in this category. Without wisdom, maturity, and respect for one’s position, the Capricorn energy can sink to rigidity and selfishness. Cold calculation replaces doing the right thing. Mars and Pluto together in Capricorn can mean all of these things. We can pay attention to our own materialism this month and try not to let it take over.
Mercury goes retrograde at 5 degrees of Capricorn
Before the Sun reaches the Winter Solstice we are bombarded by Capricorn energy. On December 10th Mercury in Capricorn begins its final retrograde cycle of the year. Mercury will be sitting with Mars and Pluto, also in Capricorn. When Mercury connects with Mars and Pluto we can expect arguments and strong speech. Capricorn is the sign of ambition. Expect a lot of ambitious people in Washington D C to be talking big and doing big calculations on how to get things their way. Mercury will turn direct right before the New Year, on December 30. We won’t go into 2011 with a backwards Mercury. Mercury retrograde in Capricorn means use any vacation time to get organized and tend to business. Avoid signing important contracts during this retrograde time. Capricorn rules business, so wait for Mercury to move into direct motion before settling business affairs.
Winter Solstice/Full Moon/Lunar Eclipse 29 degrees of Gemini
All of this activity leads up to a major Full Moon Lunar Eclipse on the Winter Solstice—December 21. This is a mighty powerful eclipse. Finally Sagittarius gets to do something! The Sun (29 degrees of Sagittarius) and Moon (29 degrees of Gemini) oppose each other. The Sun and Moon form a difficult square with Jupiter and Uranus in last degrees of Pisces. Squares create tension along with the push to get something done. With Jupiter and Uranus involved in the square, it will be hard not to push for some tangible resolution. Unfortunately the 29th degree is considered critical and it has problems. Urgency and crisis demand response but the critical 29th degrees lacks the necessary vision to produce a good solution. In October the Full Moon was at 29 degrees of Aries. In November the Full Moon fell at 29 degrees of Taurus. Now we have 29 degrees of Gemini for the December Full Moon that is also an eclipse. Perhaps we can slow down and take our good time before acting impulsively around this Full Moon. Unless a decision is absolutely necessary, it might be better to wait. Remember Mercury will also be retrograde. Big decisions should be postponed if at all possible. One cannot help but think of Congress and the ineffective decisions that could be made this month. Finally, astrology associates eclipses with big events. Remember this doesn’t have to mean big, bad events. Let’s hope it’s a good, big event.
Neptune and Chiron conjunct in Aquarius: We cannot depend on evolution to make us enlightened!
On the day of the eclipse (with its planetary tensions), Neptune continues its journey with Chiron in late Aquarius. They create flowing energy with the Moon and this helps transform whatever is going on into something more refined. Or it helps us just tune out the trouble and tune in to something more sublime. This is a strong day for meditation and positive thinking. I saw the following quote on the web site of Brad and Kate Silberberg out of Pennsylvania. I don’t know for sure who said it, but here it is: “Humanity cannot depend on evolution for its enlightenment. We just don’t have the time.” We are in the process of embracing evolution, analyzing it and going into warp speed with it. During the Lunar Eclipse on this Winter Solstice perhaps meditators will be taking the world to a kinder, gentler place with or without evolution!
