Forecast, December 2010 Michelle Proctor
Forecast, December 2010
After a year of dynamic planetary alignments, December’s contradictory influences provide a fitting ending to 2010. This month features Venus back in Scorpio, Mercury going Retrograde, Uranus moving Direct, the December Solstice and a Full Moon Eclipse.
The last day of November set a significant tone for December when Venus moved back into Scorpio and Mercury aligned with the Galactic Center. The intensity of that day announced the influence of both Venus and Mercury this month. Venus is associated with relationships, shopping, social events and money. Mercury is associated with communication, perceptions, meetings and getting from A to B. In the highly social month of December we need these planets on our side, but are they?
It might feel as if both Venus and Mercury are letting us down this Christmas because neither helps much with light-hearted frivolity, but if we seek their deeper themes, we might appreciate their gifts. Let’s look at Venus first. Throughout all of December until 8 January, Venus retraces the time she spent in Scorpio from 9 September to 7 November.
You might like to check back through your diary entries for those two months to see whether anything significant happened in the way of relationships, money, investments, debt, endings, grief, loss, power imbalances or special new beginnings. Look for hidden feelings and intuitive hunches, as well as any obviously significant conversations or events. Whatever happened then is likely to be reviewed this month and resolved as well as it can be for the time being.
Venus is saying her goodbyes to the Scorpio-land that she visited in September and October. She’s had deep intense experiences and has had to stand up for what she’s worth more than once. As she walks back over the same old ground, she reflects on her actions and decisions over the past months and wonders whether she needs to attend to anything festering or incomplete. There’s no point her jumping into Sagittarius-land with its upbeat new horizons on 8 January if she has something toxic undermining her.
Perhaps you had a fight with someone in September or October and now try for reconciliation. Or if you let someone get their way too much in those months, now’s the time to strengthen your position. You might have said a firm goodbye that you know you must stick to even if you crave the old connection. Or perhaps you started something new, or reunited with an old soul mate, but need to get the boundaries right so that you can relax into the experience.
When it comes to relationships, every circumstance is different. Scorpio is a zodiac sign that honours the mysteries of karmic or destined connections. Venus in Scorpio finds the right level of relating with each person significant to her. As she waves goodbye to Scorpio, she looks her friends, lovers, allies and enemies deep in the eye, communicates soul to soul, and integrates and makes her peace with everything she’s been through. Although Venus is no longer retrograde, she’s not particularly in the mood for social chit chat. Everything is still deep to her and she just wants downtime to reflect upon and understand all the intensities of the past couple of months.
Venus in Scorpio groans at the Christmas hustle and bustle. She wishes she could don a cloak of invisibility while out shopping to keep her from having to smile and swap superficial news. But as she prepares gifts and writes cards, she finds a comfortable outlet for her depths. Fortunately on 21 December, just in time for Christmas, Venus comes out of the shadow energies of her recent Retro phase so feels slightly more social, but she doesn’t really hit her social stride until 8 January when she moves into Sagittarius.
Ironically by 21 December when Venus begins to relax, Mercury will be well and truly Retro. Mercury (associated with conversations, decisions, emails, postage, SMS’s, computer networks, banking transactions, public transport etc) goes Retrograde on 10 December. During the three week Retrograde phase, it’s best to double-check plans, clarify conversations, do regular computer backups and travel with a good book or calming music in case of transport delays. It’s best not to assume anything. It’s not uncommon for post to be held up or items misplaced when Mercury is Retro. It’s a time that might test our patience.
This particular Mercury Retro phase is particularly powerful because it creates the conditions for Mercury to contact the Galactic Center three times. Mercury aligns with the Galactic Center on the days around 29 November, 20 December and 11 January, showing that big soul and karmic issues are being dealt with beneath the surface of our thoughts, conversations and interactions, as well as technology, transport and other communication or networking problems. You might receive important news around these dates.
As if that’s not enough, Mercury from 3 December to 17 December aligns with karmic Pluto and the Nodes. This December could well be remembered as a month of attempting to have social festive conversations but finding we instead make Freudian slips or let the cat out the bag. Hot and fiery Mars also aligns with the Galactic Centre, then the Nodes and Pluto over the exact same dates (3-17 December). Conflict and arguments are possible, so it might be a good idea to get aerobic, pump iron or punch pillows on those dates to clear out frustration and get perspective.
Long held feelings could come flying to the surface in angry outbursts over seemingly small things. We might see this volatility reflected on the world stage given that the collective energies of the Galactic Centre, Pluto and the Nodes are involved. These dates also strongly re trigger the sensitive degrees of the Cardinal T-square/Cross that I described in forecasts mid-year. We might feel like bursting with frustration over not being able to satisfy three or four equally important but competing life demands. Or we might suddenly work out how to!
Under such volatile energies, the clash between ‘going to war’ or ‘negotiating for peace’ is strong, not only personally but also globally. This month could amplify significant rifts on the world stage. Rather than playing the blame game, we might positively use the reflective Venus in Scorpio energy to take a back step, trust in divine soul processes and remember we are all saints and sinners. As each of us works on our own shadow sides, we do our bit toward creating a positive ripple effect out in the world.
It’s important to notice if our Venus in Scorpio fumes with resentment, tries to suppress her feelings or secretly plot revenge! We’re only human and feelings are valid and to be respected, but for the health and wellbeing of ourselves and our relationships, it’s important to release and transform toxic emotions.
You might be wondering if there’s a positive side to all this… and yes there is! Under the cosmic cocktail of Mars, Mercury, the Galactic Center, the Nodes, Pluto and the sensitive Cardinal points being shaken and stirred, exciting solutions to the seemingly impossible problems of 2010 can be found. We are likely to have mile-a-minute insights. Our brains and nervous systems could get a bit addled from all the input so once again the patience of Venus in Scorpio helps us find the quiet time to integrate and assimilate.
Something meaningful could very well be percolating inside you that fills you with anticipation. Even if it makes no sense right now, it will soon become clear. Do what you can to shift frustration, anxiety, over-excitement or brain fog and more is likely to emerge in January when Venus is out of Scorpio, Mercury is out of its Retro shadow phase and Mars leaps into innovative Aquarius.
This month’s new and full moons carry agitating yet exciting energies of liberation, celebration and change. Yet the dark side is that they also carry the energies of dogmatism, narrow-mindedness, rebellion and shocks. December truly is a pendulum swinging month. Know that if at any moment you get caught on the downside of the pendulum, you are fully supported by the cosmos to come back to centre and swing to the upside.
The New Moon in Sagittarius on 6 December happens on the same day that Uranus goes Direct after being Retro since July. This is an optimistic New Moon. It’s a time for dreaming as big as we can for bright futures for ourselves and the planet. New Moons offer the chance to plant new seeds and nourish and nurture new visions and desires. So under this New Moon we’re encouraged to plant and water the seeds of faith, generosity, expansion, travel, fun, freedom, exploring greener pastures and celebration.
However the New Moon also indicates that one-eyed thinking might lead to break-ups or breakdowns. With all the rushing in the lead up to Christmas, tempers could flare over different beliefs about how Christmas should be celebrated or whether it should be celebrated at all. There’s an enormous opportunity here for us to embrace different belief systems, cultural observances and perspectives and how they enrich our lives. Mars is at the Galactic Center at the time of the New Moon, suggesting the benefits of releasing outdated attitudes and putting our ‘weapons’ down.
Positively, Uranus in its ‘bird’s eye view’ helps us appreciate the big picture and not be threatened by differences. Combined with Mars’s influence, our courage is bolstered. It’s a time for speaking the truth about how we feel, what we want and what we think.
Jupiter, the planet that rules this Sagittarian New Moon, shines brightly overhead in our night skies this month as a constant reminder of the good luck that comes from benevolent attitudes toward self and others.
Even if you or another gets hot under the collar and the worst of the worst seems to erupt, there’s always the next moment to use another approach. When differences are so huge it seems no solution is possible, Venus in Scorpio reminds us that sitting with the discomfort of conflict and not knowing the answer, of listening to all sides and allowing soul-time to do its thing, eventually brings authentic solutions. Mercury Retro reminds us that things are not necessarily what they seem and to take the time to communicate well. If all seems reversed and retro now, by 30 December Mercury is Direct again and confusion clears.
On 21 December, the Full Moon in Gemini coincides with a Total Lunar Eclipse. At 29 degrees Gemini, this Full Moon Eclipse brings the focus once more to the power of words and the mind. As Eclipses can bring the unexpected, and Uranus (planet of the unexpected) makes a square alignment to this Eclipse, once again discord might arise through slips of the tongue, jokes or digs. Neptune and Chiron make a significant alignment to the Eclipse warning of possible hurts brought about by the effects of being drunk or otherwise intoxicated. Infidelities or uncomfortable triangular situations could come under the spotlight at this time.
This month the cosmos makes it virtually impossible to not have the conversations that need to be had. It’s time to get talking and find genuine ways to honor ourselves and others in all our unique different shapes and sizes. The way a deeper conversation starts might be volatile if surprising information pops out of people’s mouths, but the challenge is to go deeper into talking and sorting things through, not jump to conclusions. It’s a month to respect diversity even if our patience is sorely tested.
Positively, the Eclipse brings release and relief to drawn-out circumstances and in general propels movement forward and speeds up breakthroughs. This Eclipse also shows the power of well-chosen words, especially at end-of-year farewells or celebrations. Heartfelt speeches and generous words can bring great healing. With the spiritual input of Neptune and Chiron, this Eclipse could be a wonderful wrapping up of an issue. Words of apology, respect and appreciation could mend past rifts and deepen significant relationships.
Finally, the December solstice on the 22nd links us in with multidimensional time. Every December solstice over the past decade has held extra significance because of the Alignment of the Precessed solstice sun with the Galactic Center, yet the closer we get to 2012 the more powerful they become. The Mayans ended their Long Count Calendar on the December solstice 2012 to coincide with this alignment. This is a powerful reminder that we are living in times of tumultuous change – the ending of one great age and the beginning of another. I talk of this in the CIA December Solstice YouTube at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09nvS73Usgg&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL.
In a nutshell, December is a contradictory month with significant energies fueling confidence to move forward, while equally strong energies keep us reflecting and integrating. Yet Mercury moves Direct on 30 December just in time for fresh starts in 2011. Shortly afterwards, on 5 January, Jupiter and Uranus make their third and final break-free alignment under the energies of another Eclipse and on 8 January Venus moves into Sagittarius. The tension breaks and we get moving.
Thank you all for another year of monthly opportunities to share what goes on in the stars. Wishing each and every one of you a safe and heart-filled festive season. Happy Solstice, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and other celebrations!
Michelle
Radiant Living
Insight & healing for the path ahead
0411 264 753
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