What distinguishes this week, among other things, is all the planets are direct for a brief moment in time. Uranus in Aries stationed direct on Christmas Day and Mercury won’t go retrograde until January 5. Something else rather unusual about it is there are three planets changing sign this week: Venus leaps into fiery Sagittarius, Mercury leave earthy Capricorn for cool Aquarius while Mars gains strength and purpose when he leaves Libra for Scorpio.
There are only two major aspects occurring and both happen on Tuesday, December 29. The Capricorn Sun is sextile Neptune in Pisces while Mercury in Capricorn makes a combative square to Mars in Libra. That ought to set up some cognitive dissonance in the atmosphere between those who embrace peaceful solutions and those who argue for the sake of argument. For those with personal planets between 6° – 8° in water and earth signs, the Sun-Neptune sextile is a real blessing, and those who have personal planets from 26° – 28° in the cardinal, the Mercury-Mars square will be a pain. Hopefully the storms will blow over quickly and traces of the peace linger.
Venus enjoys being in playful, light-hearted Sagittarius, and she invites the rest of us to relax and let our hair down for awhile. She has a bright smile for everyone she meets and prefers to play the field. Scorpio takes everything so seriously and that wears on gentle Venus who wants people to relax, have some fun and enjoy the pleasures life has to offer. We will wake up Wednesday to this pleasant Venus.
Sunday Mars moves into Scorpio, gaining purpose, focus and a great deal of tenacity. Mars is often considered the co-ruler of Scorpio along with Pluto. He is always happy to arrive home there after spending time in Libra. Libra’s need to look at all sides of an issue before committing to a course of action frustrates Mars who prefers to just get on with it!
Even though Mercury transitions into Aquarius on Friday, it will only be there for a week before returning to Capricorn. This will be the first of three Mercury retrogrades in 2016 and all of them will be in the earth signs. One thing to watch out for this week and next is the impact of Mercury squaring Mars, first in cardinal signs (Libra-Capricorn) and then in the fixed signs (Scorpio-Aquarius). Finding a way to resolve our differences could take some time if those get entrenched under the influence of the fixed square January 5 . . . yes, the day when Mercury stations retrograde at 1° Aquarius. The final square between Mercury in Aquarius and Mars in Scorpio takes place March 4 at 29°.
On Monday the Leo Moon benefits from a trine to Uranus in Aries which can ignite our creativity and enthusiasm for trying something new. Still it would be wise to treat those who prefer a more traditional approach with respect.
Tuesday mixed messages bounce around all over the place because that’s the day the Cappy Sun is sextile Neptune and Mercury squares Mars. In the Leo Moon’s case, she is sextile Mars in Libra and then square Venus in Scorpio first thing in the morning. By mid-morning the Moon leaves fiery Leo for earthy Virgo who is much more in tune with the rest of the current planets.
Wednesday and Thursday are generally far more laid back and the best days this week to handle the small but important details. Plan accordingly. Thursday is New Year’s Eve and for those who stay up to see the New Year in will find the late night party atmosphere is much more convivial because the Moon dances into social Libra around midnight.
New Year’s Day the Libra Moon is generally in a decent mood thanks to an early morning sextile to Venus newly arrived in Sagittarius. However the mood becomes more contentious overnight when she squares the Cappy Sun and triggers the Uranus-Pluto square early Saturday morning. The opposition to Uranus in Aries is the last aspect she makes before going void-of-course for just over twenty four hours. If tempers subside by evening, going out to play Saturday night might be fine.
Mid-day Sunday finds the Moon in reserved Scorpio and the first thing she does is conjoin Mars in Scorpio before squaring Mercury in Aquarius in the afternoon. Be very, very careful about speaking out of turn and making others angry. Scorpio does not always reveal how deep their anger runs and they are very good at waiting patiently to implement their revenge. Fire signs often forget this because their anger flares quickly and dies as fast, so they seldom see the Scorpio knife coming.
With all the transitions taking place this week, it would be wise idea to borrow Capricorn’s systematic approach to problem solving and pacing. Take each day as it comes and walk through it one step at a time. We start off the week with earth and water in ascendance and end up the week much the same with moments in between when fire and air have their moment in the sun. Steady as she goes.
Note: Timing is averaged for EDT to PDT.
Image: © Jody Bergsma
Libra Seeking Balance 