Star Weather Astrology Report 12/1–12/8
©2024 Ronnie Pontiac
All times Pacific.
Friends, here’s an eventful week with Mars stationary retrograde and Neptune stationary direct. If you’ve been feeling a smoldering anger or frustration, an irritability or perhaps obsessive argument, even if merely in your thoughts, you are feeling this weather of Mars stationing opposition Pluto. This is no ordinary Pluto. It’s Pluto in the first degree of Aquarius. The first degrees of all signs indicate new chapters, fresh starts.
We are also still in America’s Pluto return. And that return is happening square Eris. This means continues issues with anger, division, blaming and demonizing others, and of course, war, and hubris, and with Eris involved the ultimately disastrous results of injustice, of exploiting the weak, of lying and sowing division for power, of taking away freedom in the name of ideology or merely dominance.
What we don’t want to do is to fall into doom scrolling and habitual apprehension. When we fill our thought chambers with horrifying facts, with terrible images, with fears for our communities, our loved ones, and ourselves, we flood our bodies with a toxic stew of hormonal fight or flight reactions. We suppress our vitality and immunity. We are the captains of the ships that are our bodies. If the captain is in a constant state of anxiety the crew is going to lose its ability to function with confidence.
The good news is that challenging times like these are useful for developing the skills of living, and dying. We can be patient in the face of suspense. We can set aside speculation to focus on immediate goals. We can discover or deepen our connection to the divine. We can live more soulful lives. We can overcome the pettiness of our egos. We can encounter and work with our shadows. We can be transformed in the alchemical fire emerging as greater versions of ourselves, truly human beings, much needed during these times of the rampant Id, to use Freud’s terminology for what the Orphics called the titanic nature of humanity. We can make a difference where we are, instead of fretting over potential future events over which we have no control.
Sunday 12/1 Mercury trine Chiron is exact in the late evening. Research, conversations, and just thinking about healing may help us to understand how to attain greater well being. It’s possible there may be some good news in the world of cures or perhaps we’ll learn that a potential crisis may have been averted. Chiron can indicate public issues around health, and Mercury trines can indicate good news.
Monday 12/2 Venus trine Uranus is exact in the morning indicating this week can help us liberate romance, creativity, finances, by looking at things in new ways, trying new tech, embracing the future. It can indicate attractions to the strange or unusual. For creative people this means inspiration, even genius, if we can avoid the doldrums of Saturn dwelling in the degree of its station through 12/4.
Tue 12/3 only lunar aspects are exact. Socrates said: “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”
Wed 12/4 Mercury opposition Jupiter is exact a couple hours after midnight. This aspect can indicate talking too much, exaggeration, false optimism, and manipulation for gain. We might spend too much, or underestimate what something will cost. We might intend a compliment but it’s awkward. We might talk over people or be convinced of our great good judgement when we are actually just being arrogant. Sun square Saturn is exact in the morning indicating that the false optimism of the opposition might be quickly punctured by those in authority, or simply by the facts. Venus sextile Neptune is exact in the late morning offering inspiration, perhaps a beautiful dream, but indicating that this is a week for getting creative with the imagination, for mystical moments of love, and artistic rapture. For some this may be a week where intoxication takes center stage. Moderation is probably a good idea with this strong Mars aggravating Pluto.
Thu 12/5 sun conjunct Mercury is exact in the evening. We tend to put too much ego into communication when this aspect applies. If someone disagrees with something we say we may think they are disagreeing with us on a fundamental level as people. For writers and others who serve the arts of Mercury this is a good time to let your creativity flow. Saturn finally leaves the degree of its station where it has dwelled since 10/29, indicating a density, an exhaustion, a gravity that many have been feeling, should now ease. Obsession with past failures, or perceived enemies, an overly critical assessment of self and others, obstacles and delays are likely, especially with Mercury still retrograde. But a good time for learning, practice, study, simplifying, letting go of the past, meditating, strengthening foundations, facing the facts, and cultivating quiet stability. Patience, practicality, self-control, determination, responsibility, repetition are the virtues Saturn calls for. Get extra rest and establish better habits?
Friday 12/6 Mars is stationary retrograde at 3:33 PM. No ordinary Mars station, this one is with us all the way into mid-January, and then Mars direct returns to oppose Pluto, and the US natal Pluto throughout April. I’m not going to sugar coat it. We can expect a shit show of saber rattling, power struggles, more war trauma and very probably an escalation in violence including the greater potential for political assassination and acts of terrorism, which would unleash overreactions that further inflame the trouble. Civil War in America with mass violence? A hot world war instead of the cold proxy world war currently simmering? Unlikely but not impossible. Repercussions will ripple out from all this use of force, but for most of us the real issues are at home, at work and in our psyches. We are in the midst of a relentless course of study in dealing with anger and frustration. Valuable lessons will be taught by the theater of politics, but also in our individual lives.
Kindness, caring, openness to new ideas and different perspectives, enjoying the diverse wonders of life, but respecting the changes that must occur in the areas Mars indicates: ambition, anger, and desire. By August we will be in a different zeitgeist, or at least the beginning of one as Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto all meet in the first degrees of Libra, Aries, Gemini and Aquarius, making trines and sextiles to each other. A rare configuration potentially indicating something wonderful happening. Great opportunities for reinvention and success by embracing uniqueness. Astrologers have been throwing around the word renaissance.
Also Friday Mercury square Saturn is exact in the late afternoon. This can be a pessimistic and critical aspect. If you find that communications are dominated by lists of what’s gone wrong and who‘s’ to blame more practical applications might provide better results. This is a good aspect for study, practice, planning, organizing, simplifying, taking care of chores. Chores can be seen as ritual. They are prevention of harm. Venus enters Aquarius at 10:13 PM. Venus in Capricorn can be a bit chilly, especially since Venus is nearly conjunct Pluto and opposes the Mars station. Many relationships have been receiving the skunk eye, especially from the female side of any equation. Many women are discovering that they have reached their limits. Many of the millions who put their hopes into the election of a woman will be turning around to face their own lives, to make necessary changes, and to demand more from life. Venus in Aquarius is community and future oriented. These are the seed steps in the creation of the next great progressive movement.
Sat 12/7 Venus conjunct Pluto is exact in in the early morning. This aspect indicates intense experiences in love, sex, creativity and the arts. But it can go either way. These can be gloriously transformative, awakening our deepest commitments to life, or power struggles that may destroy what they try to control. Cathartic sexuality may have dramatic results this weekend but whatever we do we must be aware of what everyone expects from any situation. Sun opposition Jupiter is exact in the early afternoon. Another reason to avoid over optimism and over-indulgence especially with Neptune stationary direct mid-afternoon. For some this may be a weekend of epic intoxication and much acting out. With Venus interacting with both Uranus and Pluto this week love and art could being, end, or be reborn.
Sun 12/8 only lunar aspects are exact. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: “Bad times have a scientific value. These are occasions a good learner would not miss.” So please banish all imagery of bleak dystopian hell-scapes and nuclear missile exchanges, or Chinese in lab coats showing up to redistribute your refrigerator, or Russians digging secret graves in your front yard. Clear your mind. The future will be here soon enough and we’ll encounter it with what we’ve learned getting there. Laughter, joy, above all love, these too are our daily bread.
