Star Weather Astrological Report 12/3–12/9
©2023 Ronnie Pontiac
All times Pacific.
Friends, we have before us a week when Venus is busy with good and bad aspects, but the emphasis will be on Neptune stationary direct. With Venus we look to relationships, romance, art, creativity, fashion, and the joys of beauty. We will have challenges and opportunities in those areas of life. Neptune indicates the influence of dreams, inspiration, delusions, deceptions, especially self-deception, mystical experiences, psychic sensitivity, compassion, but also exhaustion, contagion emotional and physical, and confusion. Fools who attempt to ensnare or defraud others can find subtle but swift retribution when Neptune leads them to discover aspects of the laws of the universe they neglected. Our actions are never as secret as we may think they are.
Sunday 12/3 Venus square Pluto is exact before dawn, followed by Mars inconjunct Jupiter mid-afternoon. Both aspects can be combative and so from an astrological perspective it’s no surprise that the war has resumed in Gaza. Please consider supporting the Parents Circle Family Forum, an organization of bereaved Palestinian and Israeli parents working together for peace.
In our own lives this square can indicate intense moments in art, sexuality and love. Power struggles, crisis caused by long term issues, and even the end of relationships in extreme cases, but also healthy catharsis, necessary reforms, and the intensity of transformative creativity. With Pluto it’s important to consider the common good. This is not the time to take unilateral positions. Pluto highlights the darker side of life, bringing an awareness of impermanence that with this aspect can sharpen feelings of love or undermine them. Avoid morbid obsessions. Make room for Venus.
Mars inconjunct Jupiter can help us bring optimism to the actions we take to make our way in the world, but can also indicate overdoing matters of Mars, and thus arguments and even rapid expansion of violence. As with all inconjunctions there can be illness associated when Mars is involved with repressed ambition, libido or anger. The key is to make room for both Mars and Jupiter: don’t try to force your way, and don’t think that simple optimism will suffice.
Mon 12/4 Venus enters Scorpio at 10:51 AM. Venus in Libra emphasized partnership and grace, but Scorpio indicates intensity. Mysterious, sensitive, often guarded, our romantic relationships and artistic endeavors may be transformed with this placement. Avoid ruminating on hurts or obsessiveness about attractions. Embrace the depths of experience that only love can provide. Cherish those you love. As Marsilio Ficino said: “The whole power of magic consists in love.”
Tue 12/5 Venus trine Saturn is exact mid-afternoon indicating a week when loyalty and allowing loved ones their space can be helpful. In the arts it’s a good time to get organized, and usually for editing and finishing, but with Neptune stationary the rational side of creativity may not be as dependable as this aspect usually indicates. Learning, practice, simplifying can help us get better results.
Wed 12/6 Neptune is stationary direct at 5:20 AM. Neptune went retrograde 6/30. We can look back to see what themes may have been going on in our lives then. Neptune entered the degree of its station on 11/18 and will dwell there until Christmas day, but these Neptune stations, as spacey as they can get, are usually not as difficult as Saturn or Pluto dwelling in their degrees of station. A classic Zen quote by Sasaki Dapo captures the mystical experience associated with meditation and death, when our intense focus on our bodies, thoughts and memories is released and we find ourselves in the world around us, if we can avoid fear and grasping: “The sun my eyes, the sky my face, my breath the wind, mountains and rivers turn out to be me.” That is a good description of a Neptunian epiphany. In our own lives it’s important that we practice compassion, get plenty of rest, write down dreams that may haunt us, and pay attention to intuition while realizing that it may not be entirely dependable. Meandering works better with Neptune than attempting to forge ahead. Avoid over-intoxication and keep in mind that drugs legal or illicit seem to have a more powerful effect when Neptune is very strong.
Thu 12/7 sun trine Chiron is exact in the late afternoon, followed by Mercury trine Jupiter exact in the evening. Sun trine Chiron indicates opportunities for healing. Reach out for help. Listen to the messages your body is sending you. Small adjustments now can help prevent bigger problems later. A good time to improve diet and embrace better habits that can help us achieve well being, such as yoga which is ruled by Neptune. The Mercury Jupiter trine can indicate opportunities, joyous interactions and conversations, books and other kinds of communication that restore optimism in our lives. Consider expressing appreciation. Share what inspires you. Dare to imagine a brighter future for self and others. As William Blake wrote: “Imagination is the real and eternal world of which this vegetable universe is but a faint shadow.”
Fri 12/8 only lunar aspects are exact. As Bell Hooks wrote: “I am often struck by the dangerous narcissism fostered by spiritual rhetoric that pays so much attention to individual self-improvement and so little to the practice of love within the context of community.”
Sat 12/9 Venus opposition Jupiter is exact in the evening. This can be a fun, romantic aspect but it’s easy to over do. Avoid over-indulgence, over- spending, and over-optimism. This is the rose-colored glasses aspect. But it’s a good time to show appreciation to those we love. Even humble gifts can express deep affection if chosen carefully.
The reign of Pluto in Capricorn ends 43 days from 12/9. The grand finale of Pluto in Capricorn can be expected to continue bringing challenges individually and collectively. It began with the financial crash of 2008 and has been a time of plague and war, disruptions and failures, as it has been previously in history. This time exasperated by the US Pluto return which continues in 2024. You can read more about it here.
But Pluto in Capricorn also gives us an opportunity to refine our approach to spirituality, to free ourselves from stale belief systems that may have worked once but are now worn out. Not surprisingly Pluto in Capricorn has brought about a resurgence in Radical Traditionalism and other atavistic patriarchal approaches to spirituality and politics. Consider Emerson’s view of tradition, the ultimate statement of American spirituality: “The foregoing generations beheld God and nature face to face; we, through their eyes. Why should not we also enjoy an original relation to the universe? Why should not we have a poetry and philosophy of insight and not of tradition, and a religion by revelation to us, and not the history of theirs?” Or as Kukai put it over a thousand years earlier: “Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old; seek what they sought.” Happily we also see signs of the awakening of the divine feminine all around us.
Regarding Pluto in Capricorn we can ponder what the Tibetan Buddhist yogi Je Tsongkhapa wrote in The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path around 1400: “Dwelling amid hordes of afflictions I withstand them in a thousand ways. Just as foxes cannot harm a lion so these afflictions cannot harm me.” This approach allows us to treat suffering as an opportunity to practice patience, equanimity, and to find within us a resilience and peace that is untouched by the struggles of the material world, our birthright as human beings, a gift available to us all.
Mercury retrograde begins 12/12 and continues through New Year’s Day. Finish up what you can before then. Read more about getting the best from Mercury retrograde here: How to enjoy Mercury retrograde.
