Star Weather Astrology Report 12/15–12/22
©2024 Ronnie Pontiac
Friends, we have before us a week of few planetary aspects, but as we still have Mars retrograde moving back toward an exact opposition with Pluto, and we have Jupiter square Saturn exact next week, challenges will continue. The Mars Pluto opposition asks us to evolve how we apply our ambitions and desires in the world, and how we deal with anger. Pluto is concerned with the common good, with reforms and repairs, but it can feel like trouble will never end. If we embrace change, if we are eager to improve, we can make great progress.
Sunday 12/15 the full moon in Gemini arrives about an hour after midnight indicating a time when information gathering, short trips, and open minded conversations can help us achieve our goals. Sun inconjunct Uranus is exact in the morning. This can indicate a nervous time and health issues that could delay or disrupt plans ego holds dear. Stress and apprehension can cause unnecessary challenges, especially if we stop eating, or allow our schedules to become erratic. Treat detours as opportunities. Liberating insights are possible. Mercury retrograde ends just before 1 PM. Take it easy. Patience can help us avoid mistakes and misunderstandings.
Mon 12/16 and Tue 12/17 only lunar aspects are exact. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: “Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”
Wed 12/18 sun square Neptune is exact around dawn. This aspect can indicate frustration due to confusion and misunderstandings. Ask questions. Don’t jump to conclusions. We may feel weak, or perhaps a dream haunts us. Charity can include challenging entanglements, especially if ego is our motivation for generosity. But inspiration and imagination, psychic experiences, mystical inspiration, and true charity (the kind that happens naturally) are there if we put in the work to open a way for deeper understanding.
Thu 12/19 Venus trine Jupiter is exact in the early evening, considered one of the most joyful and positive aspects. It can be a time of over-indulgence however. With Jupiter square Saturn regrettable debts and other consequences must be considered. To get the best out of this trine be kind to women, enjoy art and beauty wherever you can, look for fun experiences, bring a joyful harmony of your own into any situation. Opportunities, especially for or involving women, may be found this week. Make the decision to experience happiness. Bring good times to your relationships, especially romantic. Find some moments this week to dwell on appreciation for who and what you cherish in life.
Fri 12/20 only lunar aspects are exact. Rumi wrote: “The garden of love is green without limit and yields many fruits other than sorrow or joy. Love is beyond either condition: without spring, without autumn, it is always fresh.”
Sat 12/21 the sun enters Capricorn at 1:21 AM, winter begins but the days grow longer. Merry solstice to you all. This is a good time to ponder progress made this year and what we would like to do next year. Big changes next year as Jupiter enters Cancer, Saturn enters Aries, Uranus enters Gemini, Neptune enters Aries, and Pluto spends its first full year in Aquarius. Saturn, Uranus and Neptune will be crossing back into Pisces, Taurus and Pisces respectively. When they occupy the last degree of their placements the zeitgeist will be one of endings and apprehension, clinging to the past, perhaps. Culminations will make clear where changes are inevitable. When they occupy the first degree of their new placements a more hopeful and optimistic collective sentiment flickers into being and we see how different the latter half of the 2020s could be from the first half.
Sun 12/22 the dark of the moon begins at 2:18 PM. Take it easy. With Jupiter square Saturn there may be a strong temptation to judge progress harshly. The rhythm of the lunar phases is to go for it for threes and then take a week off. Of course, we can’t holiday every three weeks, but we can chill, cool our jets, regenerate energy.
Jupiter square Saturn will be exact 11/24 for Christmas Eve. 12/21/2020 saw the beginning of a new twenty year Great Conjunction as Jupiter conjunct Saturn in Aquarius was exact. With Pluto in Aquarius, too, Aquarian tendencies are prominent these days. It’s not all kumbaya with Aquarius, it’s also revolutionary acts, the Terror of the French revolution, and the willingness to throw away the past for an allegedly inevitable future.
This first square tests the progress we’ve made individually and collectively. Great things can happen if we’re willing to do what must be done, if we plan intelligently, if we use pessimism and optimism to balance each other, instead of allowing one or the other to delude us. Aleister Crowley used to say whenever you’re very happy think of something that makes you very sad. And when you’re sad think of something that makes you happy. He considered it a kind of Buddhist exercise. A way to remind ourselves that neither happiness nor sorrow last in a world of impermanence. This week is an appropriate time to ask ourselves questions about where our lives have changed, where they are changing, and where they must change.
