Deep and Dark December

We are IN DEEP now:  the muck and the mire stirred up by the election in the United States last month, the froth of sludge brewing for years now, wounds festering beneath the surface infected by eons of hurt and trauma.

Let’s be honest.  No magic wand, no one pill or simple solution erases conflicts in one easy swoop, conflicts and strife carried since the birth of the United States, a nation born out of revolution.

If nothing else, astrology is the study of patterns and cycles.  No less than two major revolutions occurred the last time transformer Pluto passed through Aquarius, in the USA and France, breaking with one ancient monarchy and toppling another.  Collectively, we have now returned to that same point in Pluto’s cycle. So it’s best to manage our expectations of how life will follow in the near future.

First:  there is no “normal” or even a “new normal”.  Change is the only true constant in life.  If the Covid pandemic taught us anything, it is to expect the unexpected.  The next five months are very unpredictable and surprising.  Yet, we must live our lives and go about our business as best we can knowing that we are in for months of potential upheaval and chaos, lengthy steps backward to review, recalibrate, reflect, and research what we truly value and ideally, establish goals based on our emerging desires.

December marks the first of these next five months of achingly slow movement.  This is really not the time to push forward with just about anything new:  relationships, projects, businesses and more.  All three interior planets, Mercury, Mars and Venus, will reverse movement through mid-April 2025.  We feel the reverse motions of these planets much more acutely than Jupiter through Pluto.

Now is the moment to deeply dive inward and figure out where to go from here and how best to get there.  The one upside of this is that it occurs all through wintertime ahead, a time of regular down shifting into low gear for wool gathering.

For starters:  Messenger Mercury is moving retrograde as December opens and only a few days into the month, Motivating Mars turns retrograde as well, making the second week of the month the most difficult when both planets are cycling backward.

We will feel this epically slow energy. 

Try not to take it personally if you cannot get anything done or have to re-do everything from Friday, December 6^th to Monday, December 16^th.  You will get very little traction so bide your time and practice a whole lot of patience. 

On the heels of the Thanksgiving holiday, a New Moon in Sagittarius greets us on Sunday, December 1^st. Wedged tightly between Messenger Mercury and the Sun, this fiery New Moon trio demands the truth, whether we can handle it or not.  There is a hunger, a driven quest to pursue the purest understanding of any matter, whether a relationship, a problem to be solved, a legal concern, or ethical dilemma. 

This is Sagittarius:  I understand.  Not because we DO understand; but rather for the sheer adventure to learn under the brightest lamp of knowledge.  Sagittarius IS the journey.  To learn for learning’s sake.  The veritable seeker come to life.

 

So as you set your New Moon intentions on December 1^st or 2^nd, ask how you can best learn, grow, or deepen your understanding about the goals you seek to manifest.  This is one very spiritual New Moon as both the Moon and Mercury challenge Taskmaster Saturn in Pisces.  Our heart and mind want certainty even while we are called to surrender to the great unknowns in life.  Our expectations of how life should be are challenged by how life actually is.  Best to step into the river of life’s universal flow and see where it takes you. 

You may very well feel a push and pull, a tug of war within striving for clarity and certainty.  Pay attention to imagery, signs emerging through music, lyrics or while in or around water.  This is Saturn in Pisces.  We are called to accept (if not embrace) all and everyone now.  This challenging angle reminds us of a very certain truth:  that despite our differences, we are all in this together.  We are ONE.

By the next Friday, December 6^th, Motivating Mars turns retrograde in Leo.  For the next two months, through the end of February, we are revisting our creativity, how to make the most of the chances we take, romantic pursuits, and matters with our children.  Until February 24^th, it is an excellent time for stepping back for a thorough review. 

If you can do this by taking time off or time out, so much the better.  The key is to monitor expectations of how much we can get done.  Watch for biting off more than you can easily chew.  Mars is the gas pedal of the zodiac, the god of action.  Retrograde, it is particularly dicey, surly and passive aggressive especially as delays in our progress mount through the wintertime.  Look for such behaviors in others as well as yourself. 

Divine timing is everything indicated by dreamy Neptune turning forward motion on December 7^th.  There is a wiser, more soulful purpose to the massive slow down through next April:  an ancient wisdom that we must collectively shift backward in order to confidently take well-placed steps forward into our future. 

The very same day, Valuable Venus moves into avant garde Aquarius.  Though detached and cerebral in Aquarius, Venus is also innovative and ingenious while in this sign.  You will find yourself gravitating to the smartest people in the room, those with really interesting ideas and maybe a bit off the wall too.  Although great for exploring alternative groups, technology and non-mainstream outlets, the caution here is do your homework. 

Before aligning yourself with anyone or any group on the fringe of society, ask if and how they have your best interests at heart.  Mars retrograde in Leo combined with Venus in Aquarius can draw some pretty radical people into our orbit.  Just make sure who you are aligning yourself with before you get too deeply committed.

Clarity and traceable facts become imperative with the approaching Full Moon on Sunday, December 15^th .  It also happens to be the same day as Mercury shifts direct motion.  Can you say SPIN?!  Both Sun and Moon challenge illusive Neptune in Pisces.  This Full Moon is a con artist’s dream.   Many do not know what to believe, who’s on first, which direction is true north, up, down or sideways.

So Buyer Beware Bigtime!  This applies to ANYthing you are getting involved with:  relationships, projects, finances, health, groups of any kinds, education, communication, and more.

Now is the time to do thorough homework. Ask questions.  Do not worry about what others think of your probing and prodding for information.  Tell them you want to be informed as much as possible. Ask open ended questions:  Why do you think that way?  What informs your beliefs or thoughts about X,Y, and Z?  What brought you to that conclusion?

These are not offensive questions but rather considered and deliberate queries.

Full Moons always shine a spotlight on what must be seen.  In communicative Gemini, this Full Moon brings a major announcement, especially of a legal nature.

By the end of the week, the Sun enters Capricorn on Saturday, December 21^st marking the winter solstice.  We can use every bit of the practicality and pragmatism for which Capricorn is so well known.  Individually and collectively we must rebuild facets of our lives in need of repair.  With long winter weeks ahead of planetary retrogrades, Capricorn offers the necessary energy to support our endeavors. 

This is hard core, hardnosed, long-haul, long-term, quality over quantity fuel.  The very opposite of airy fairy, Capricorn puts the rubber ON the road.  It constitutes the great life ledger taking stock and full inventory of all resources.  Do you have what it takes to meet your goals?  Ask Capricorn.

The darkest days are now behind us; although sufficient light may not shine through the proliferating chaos and confusion, cracks of light do glimmer through the turbulence.  Move toward the Light.

Of Special Note:

The 3 Wise Women is off and running!  Join us!  We are three veteran metaphysical practitioners offering community, conversation and connection via zoom every first Tuesday of the month @6 pm eastern.  For just $10/session, feel safe among like-minded seekers to ask your wildest woo questions and learn from each other.  To enroll:  www.cathyripleygreene.com

Curious about the cosmic energy for the New Year?  Join me for a relaxed conversation about what to expect and how to best navigate 2025 at Peaceful Pathways in Easton, MA, 1:30-4 PM, Saturday, December 28th.  Contact me directly to register:  hilary@hilaryharley.com

Mystical Messages features my monthly astrology forecasts if you prefer listening via podcast.  Also featured are cutting edge healing arts practitioners.  Tune in and listen via: Youtube, Apple or Spotify or hear previous episodes:  www.hilaryharley.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Treasure Hunt

Hard not to mention the presidential election in the United States this month.  With so much at stake, with the country divided so deeply, ignoring the election would be to pretend a tiger wasn’t in the room.  However, rather than focusing on who will win the election, our energy is better spent on the cosmic themes November has planned for us.

All the Novembers of our lives have to do with transformation.  This is Scorpio’s month. The middle month of autumn, November prepares us for impending wintertime, the final dissemination of leaves and seeds merging into Mother Earth, building equity for fresh spring cycles yet to be.  The harvest is now done.  We take our earthly riches and fold them carefully away to feast upon through darker days ahead. 

Scorpio and its ruler Pluto govern the underside, the shadow, dirty unmentionables swept under the rug that no one wants to acknowledge.  Yet therein lies our greatest treasure:  the forgotten, neglected, disabused pieces of ourselves, like leaves and stems shed, discarded into the earth which form the delicious soil for tomorrow’s harvest.

Like a bulldozer, Pluto and the energy of Scorpio pulls back the proverbial cover, curtain, or carpet insisting we take long, deep looks at the underbelly of our lives, examining the psychologically discarded remnants of our upbringing, ancestral patterns and ancient traumas.  Time to name it and claim it:  shame, guilt, abandonment, dismissed, overlooked and on and on.

And so the work begins, the very first day of November with the New Moon in Scorpio.  Two narratives offer distinct options as to our unearthing approach:  gut wrenching heavy lifting OR a mysteriously alluring detective game.  Both require time, effort and focused attention. Our expectations and headspace set the tone for the work to be done:  pure drudgery and toil OR a wild chase of a treasure hunt to find what lurks beneath.  I suggest employing the latter.  Always choose the more interesting path.

Either way, our excavation begins immediately on Friday, November 1^st with the New Moon in Scorpio. The Scorpio Sun and Moon align helpfully to Taskmaster Saturn in Pisces to cleanse and clear away the debris. The planetary trio intensifies our sensitivities now; so trust your intuition.  You do not need to know why or how something or someone makes you feel. Simply acknowledge your gut instincts.  Reasons and understanding will follow later on.

Turns out, later on is right around the corner. Over the weekend, Messenger Mercury turns into Sagittarius joining Valuable Venus and briefly the Moon on November 3^rd and 4^th.  These three illuminate what is being uncovered to better understand what we are seeing.  What lessons are we learning from our experience?  Take the high road now and ask how you can integrate the experiences so you do not repeat the lessons.  This path serves you well and is less arduous in the long run.  Still, many who don’t immediately get what they want, what they believe they deserve, or are entitled to, will choose to lawyer up, as the law and legal realm is ruled by Sagittarius.

By Monday, November 4^th, Motivating Mars shifts into Leo, opposing older sibling Pluto.  Bear in mind, Election Day is nigh. This is the energy at play when you cast your vote. Mars and Pluto have tangled since the end of October and continue through all of November.  Traveling through polar ends of the zodiac, Mars and Pluto raise our awareness about how to creatively problems solve for the masses, aka, give the people what they want.

How they go about delivering the goods involves completely different approaches.

An interior planet close to Earth, Mars makes its presence felt. In Look-at-Me Leo, Mars creates a cacophony of drama and noise.  This is not good or bad, positive or negative.  It simply is; especially Mars opposing Capricorn Pluto which draws a final, definitive line in the sand.  Pluto hits a crescendo on election week and will not return to Capricorn for another 240 years.  Talk about an emphatic, underscored, italicized and bold print finale!

Capricorn writes unmistakably in black and white on the great karmic ledger. It rules time and timing.  Capricorn says:  the cosmic slate is balanced now.  Just don’t expect outcomes or results to be willingly swallowed or the losers to go quietly or gently into that good night.  Not with Mars in Leo opposite.

Stay on your side of the fence says Valuable Venus as she turns into Capricorn on Monday, November 11^th.  Not exactly warm and fuzzy in hard-as-a-rock Capricorn, Venus cracks the whip now.  She tells us to put on our big boy and girl pants, to deal head on with the circumstances at hand.  Through mid-month, Venus challenges the north and south lunar nodes, playing arbiter and mediator between those picking fights and those making nice, trying to appeal to all sides.  No nonsense Capricorn sticks to the facts and insists on responsibility and integrity.

Discipline and honor are infinitely emphasized as Taskmaster Saturn, ruler of Capricorn itself, turns direct motion on Thursday, November 14^th . In Pisces, Saturn distills and discerns what exactly we believe. It is no accident that Saturn, Lord of Karma, shifts forward motion on the eve of the Full Moon.  The heavens are not messing around now.  The week leading up to the Full Moon is heavy indeed.  We feel every ounce of its weight and gravitas.

Tightly conjoined to Radical Uranus, the Full Moon in Taurus aligns to Powerful Pluto.  They’re deadly serious.  Think earthquakes and earsplitting thunderclaps.  This is one great awakener calling us to get our values straight.  Lives and livelihoods are at stake.  We are shown in vivid color what and whom really matter, are distinctly important, including our own dreams, talents, and assets.   Talk about clarity! 

The Awakening continues as Pluto moves into Aquarius on Tuesday, November 19^th.  We’ve been given a taste of Pluto in this non-mainstream sign earlier in 2024 but now, Pluto is here to stay in innovative Aquarius through 2043….!  Imagine what the world will look like then.  Humanitarian yet avant garde, Aquarius marches to its own drum.  Consider the last time Pluto cycled through Aquarius, 1777-1798, two revolutions occurred: in France where royal heads rolled and Great Britain vs. its own colonies, forming the United States of America.

Watch now as the collective rises to claim its rightful place.  The Old Order is done now, giving way to the New World Order championing the people.  First, though, creation and giving birth are very messy indeed. Do not expect a neat and tidy process.  Manage your expectations of how to navigate this time.  Remember:  there is nothing to fear as long as you speak from the heart and operate truthfully.

Truth and honesty are the watchwords as the Sun turns into freedom-loving Sagittarius on Thursday, November 21^st.  What the Sun excavated while in Scorpio now shines its light of truth on for all to see.  Over the next month, the Sun gradually pairs with Messenger Mercury in Sagittarius, forming a difficult angle, also known as a HOT MESS, as the pair opposes Jupiter in Gemini and challenge Neptune in Pisces.  Con artists and spin doctors thrive feeding on this energy. Beware and be aware.

How to manage?  Take a beat and listen, really tune into your intuition, your gut instincts. Pay attention to your common sense reasoning. Dip beneath the layers, below the surface and ask intentional, open-ended questions. Let others do the talking, wait for their replies and really listen to the meaning behind their words. The need for this increases that much more heading into Thanksgiving when Mercury turns retrograde on Tuesday, November 26^th.

Snarled traffic and delayed flights?  You bet.  So leave plenty of extra time to get to your destination. 

The start to the holiday shopping season is at hand.  I am a glass half-full kinda gal and astrologer but we are entering a lengthy period of re-sets through spring of 2025.  It is helpful to look at the next five months as a time of preparation as all three interior planets, Mercury, Venus and Mars will be retrograde from late November 2024 through early April 2025.

We are taking a few steps back to do some much-needed interior work before we can firmly and confidently move forward. Very little traction and progress will be had. Set your expectations accordingly.  Practice the RE words for sure:  rest, restore, renew, research, relax, etc, knowing that this too shall pass.  After all, we got through Covid; we can get through this. 

Of Special Note:

The 3 Wise Women is off and running!  Join us!  We are three veteran metaphysical practitioners offering community, conversation and connection via zoom every first Tuesday of the month @6 pm eastern.  For just $10/session, feel safe among like-minded seekers to ask your wildest woo questions and learn from each other.  To enroll:  www.cathyripleygreene.com

Mystical Messages features my monthly astrology forecasts if you prefer listening via podcast.  Also featured are cutting edge healing arts practitioners.  Tune in and listen through Youtube, Apple or Spotify or hear previous episodes:  www.hilaryharley.com