at the negotiating table // astrology of december
lunar cycle in sagittarius 🏹 & mars retrograde begins 🔄
December 1st, New Moon in Sagittarius
This New Moon calls on the curious mutual reception happening between Mercury and Jupiter in each other’s signs. Taking place at 9° Sagittarius, the New Moon will be looking to Jupiter for guidance, who is retrograde in Mercury-ruled Gemini. Mercury, meanwhile, is retrograde in Sagittarius (Jupiter’s sign)! [Spiderman pointing meme]. These opposing, yet intertwined layers of planetary dignity suggest that we may be re-working and re-examining some of our foundational ideas and convictions over the course of this lunar cycle (until the next New Moon on December 30th).
Both Gemini and Sagittarius are concerned with knowledge and belief, but these signs and their rulers approach information in very contrasting ways. Mercury likes to break down and analyze data, while Jupiter prefers to unite and organize details into a bigger picture. We may need to turn some assumptions upside-down and inside-out in order to better understand them.
This is further underscored by the New Moon’s position in the Mercury-ruled first decan of Sagittarius, represented in the Tarot by the 8 of Wands. Wands correspond to elemental fire, which manifests in human life as courage, will, strength, vitality, creativity, desire, exploration, and daring. Eight cards tend to be connected with “realization,” as T. Susan Chang describes in Tarot Correspondences, and the fulfillment of something’s natural course. When the 8 of Wands appears in a reading, its message can be as basic as the delivery of a package (a desire realized!) or as miraculous as the unexpected arrival of a life-changing new ambition. Since Mercury is currently retrograde in Sagittarius, and will be until the Full Moon, the next few weeks might be less about the fanfare of ushering in a new idea or project (though not impossible!) and more about the unwinding of some old ones, first.
The majors associated with the 8 of Wands and its decan are Temperance (Sagittarius) and The Magician (Mercury). Both cards engage in alchemy in their own way, illustrating both activities of the adage: solve et coagula (Latin: dissolve and coagulate). The Magician separates and distinguishes elements of occult wisdom (like the instruments of magic on the table) to create the outcomes he desires in the world. Meanwhile, in the Temperance card, the angel unifies and marries together opposites, bringing order and cohesion between the divine and the material world.
As reversals of motion and dignity occur across our Gemini and Sagittarius houses this month, we may need to consider information that meaningfully challenges our prior notions and certainties, pulling them apart for a while before we can put them back together again. Squares to Saturn, planet of limits and constraints, from the Sun, Mercury, and Jupiter over the coming weeks will create checkpoints during this process.
December 4th, Mercury opposes Jupiter & Sun square Saturn
The Sun represents our vision and sense of purpose, and Saturn is connected with responsibilities, obstacles, and constraints. With the Sun in fiery Sagittarius in hard aspect to watery Saturn in Pisces, around this date it might feel like we’re tasked with trying to kindle a pile of soaking wet logs into a roaring fire. We could feel a sense of overwhelm or dampening on our spirits, and with Mercury in opposition to Jupiter at the same time, this could be polarizing — either letting ourselves be swallowed up by gloom, or putting on a shiny veneer of denial, or drowning ourselves in a firehose of information and options. Try to hold space for not knowing, and don’t pin your well-being or happiness on any one answer.
December 6th, Mars stations Retrograde & Mercury square Saturn
In ancient Hellenistic astrology, Mars was called the “right hand” of the Sun, much like the Hand of the King from Game of Thrones. If the Sun is the brains of the operation (signifying our sense of purpose and the creative role we wish to play in life), Mars is the muscle — the set of faculties we use to get things done, to conquer as well as to protect. Mars rules over our sense of drive, willpower, courage, and ability to take action, as well as how we handle tough situations and emotions like conflict, anger, and aggression. When Mars turns retrograde, as it does every 2+ years, we can experience difficulties, delays, and reversals around these areas of life. We may feel stalled out, unmotivated, extra tense or angry, mired in a dispute, or otherwise unclear on how to attack a problem at first. For some people, this will mean simply taking a break or stepping back until conditions are more favorable. For others, it could be a training period in which we learn how to level up and face challenges in a new and more productive way.
For this Mars retrograde, Mars will initially station in the sign of Leo, and then work its way back into Cancer in January. It won’t station direct until February 23, 2025, so this is an important transit to work with rather than against, especially if you have a Mars-ruled rising (Aries, Scorpio), or important planets or points between 17°- 29° of the cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn) or between 0°- 6° of the fixed signs (Aquarius, Taurus, Leo, Scorpio).
During December, we’ll be experiencing Mars issues through the lens of Leo. As fixed fire sign ruled by the Sun, Leo is associated with concepts of authority and authority figures, personal agency, confidence, ego, drama, passion, heart, and performance. We may notice conflicts or challenges that have some of these Leonine themes woven within them. This retrograde station is also tied into the lunar cycle in an interesting way, as Mars is making a sign-based sextile with Mercury and Jupiter, is hosted by the Jupiter-ruled Sun in Sagittarius, and the station is happening on the same day as Mercury in Sagittarius squares Saturn in Pisces. Negotiations within ourselves and with others around topics of power, will, and prerogatives could intersect with our experiences of uncertainty and deconstruction in other areas of life. Consider the connections between the Gemini, Leo, and Sagittarius houses in your birth chart.
“Everything is negotiable. Whether or not the negotiation is easy is another thing.” — Carrie Fisher, Saturn in Sagittarius
December 7th, Venus enters Aquarius, Venus conjunct Pluto, Sun opposes Jupiter & Neptune stations Direct
Venus in Aquarius is usually a helpful influence for socializing, aiding us in taking new perspectives, accepting others as they are, and leaning into our own eccentricities, thought experiments, and personal politics. However, Venus might have a bit of rocky start here. As soon as Venus enters Aquarius, she’ll immediately conjoin with Pluto (and quickly begin to oppose Mars, see below). Venus-Pluto contacts can be dramatic, pushing us towards intense feelings and outcomes in Venusian matters like love, sex, friendships, social behavior, and aesthetics. We might notice a strong mood of discord in the air, underscored by the Sun’s opposition to Jupiter, which can fuel stubborn opinions, arrogance, and an unwillingness to back down. Neptune, meanwhile, will be stationing direct in Pisces, which can sometimes draw attention to otherworldly, religious, spiritual or paranormal topics. At best, this combination of transits could inspire us towards radical, transformative action in service of our values and our most sincerely held beliefs — but it is still likely to be contentious and could take a fanatical turn.
December 12th, Venus opposes Mars
Hard aspects between Venus and Mars can raise our enthusiasm and passions along with tensions and blood pressure. Sometimes scandalous or hot-tempered, this aspect is spicy. On a personal level, it’s possible to channel this energy into productive self-assertion in pursuit of our own happiness, but we’ll need to tread mindfully and not get sucked into unhealthy power dynamics (since Venus and Mars are still close to Pluto). This aspect can also be good for steamy, consensual activities, ahem. Socially, this transit is sometimes indicative of discontent or outrage in the news cycle.
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December 15th, Full Moon in Gemini & Mercury stations Direct
In an interesting resolution to the ongoing interplay we’ve seen over the past month between Mercury and Jupiter in each other’s signs, a Full Moon will form at 23° of Gemini, co-present with Jupiter, ruled by Mercury in Sagittarius, turning direct in Jupiter’s sign! This lunation will take place in the third decan of Gemini, which is depicted in the Tarot by the 10 of Swords. Like the dead-on-arrival image of this card, we may be finally getting a project or process over the finish line around this time as Mercury retrograde wraps up. And to get there, we’ve probably reconciled a lot of opposites, contradictions, and paradoxes. Or have we?
The third decan of Gemini and the 10 of Swords are informed by the major cards of The Lovers (Gemini) and The Sun (Gemini III is Sun-ruled). Two lovers in the buff and a naked baby parading in the Sun — what could go wrong here? Well, overexposure, for one thing. Like the dramatic skies in the 10, too much light and focus (swords = intellectual energy) can lead to black-and-white thinking. If we’re not careful, we may have thought ourselves into an extreme or exaggerated position around this Full Moon. With the Sun and the Moon both applying to dreamy, delulu Neptune from this lunation into the next week (December 15th to the 21st), it could be easy to inflate hopes into fantasies and fears into nightmares. If things feel heavy or high stakes at this time (like ten swords to the back!), the antidote is hidden in the card — surrender. Let go. Whatever’s done is done!
December 19th, Venus trine Jupiter
Venus in Aquarius and Jupiter in Gemini create a positive connection between air signs that will hopefully be a burst of optimistic and enjoyable energy to buffer some of the recent astroweather. Active from the 16th to the 21st, this transit encourages talking things out with friends, and seeking joy and pleasure.
December 21st, Winter Solstice & Sun enters Capricorn
Capricorn season coincides with the timing of the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, and the return of light from the darkest point in the Solar year. At the time of the Summer Solstice (Cancer season) in June, light slowly and gently begins to decrease in proportion to the twenty-four hour day, and that process accelerates at the Fall Equinox, when darkness takes over in the ratio of day to night. On the Winter Solstice, it is simultaneously the darkest day of the year and the turnaround point after which light begins to return, with a few minutes of light added each calendar day until summer arrives. In this spirit, the sign of Capricorn embodies both the struggle and aspiration of striving over time. Ruled by Saturn, planet of mastery and karma, Capricorn season can highlight places in which we need to take disciplined action, establish long-term goals, hold strong boundaries, have patience, and commit to things seriously.
This will be the first Capricorn season since 2008 without Pluto!
December 24th, Jupiter square Saturn
The second of three squares between these two planets over 2024-2025. As I wrote back in August about the first one, this aspect is an important big picture milestone — one that might be easy to miss up close, but which looms large in the background. Broadly, Jupiter’s archetypal influence encourages us to expand, grow, and seek meaning through the creation of order, the acquisition of wisdom, and the consolidation of power. Jupiterian ideals tend to suffuse institutions of education, government, and religion (regardless of how well they actually live up to those ideals), and on a personal level, Jupiter can represent some of the tenets of our worldview, our aspirations and guiding beliefs. Saturn, meanwhile, holds dominion over the reality of limits, boundaries, and the eventual decay and death of all things. Saturn’s boundaries contain within them the potential for failure and hard lessons when we try to overshoot or ignore our problems, personally or collectively. Saturn transits ask us to prune down our options, focus our limited energy, and to grow up. Jupiter is the vision of potential success — and Saturn is the reality check. When we work with both our potential and our limits, we can accomplish great things. Jupiter and Saturn have constructive overlap in the development of a mature outlook, the creation of new ideologies and overarching structures, and the naturally incremental nature of progress. As such, the square this month could highlight the tension between these two planets as well as the friction that we could harness towards great achievements in our lives. The starting point of this transit cycle began in late 2020, and this square is an opportunity to look back at what we started then that we now have to make thoughtful choices about.
December 26th-27th, Mercury opposes Jupiter, Mercury square Saturn
Mercury makes the last of its retrograde cycle aspects to Jupiter and Saturn, hopefully bringing some of the solve et coagula themes that have been in the ether (see New Moon in Sagittarius above) to a close. Important realizations could crystallize around this time in light of what has been deconstructed and recombined this month.
December 30th, New Moon in Capricorn
And for the last transit of the month, the lunar cycle restarts with a New Moon in Capricorn that will take us into 2025. The New Moon will form at 9° of Capricorn in its first decan, with a gentle sextile to its ruler, Saturn in Pisces. This lunation is a good opportunity to ground ourselves and to re-orient towards working productively with changing circumstances. The first decan of Capricorn is Jupiter-ruled, represented by the 2 of Pentacles in the Minor Arcana and informed by The Devil (Capricorn) and The Wheel of Fortune (Jupiter).
The Picatrix describes Capricorn I as portending “happiness, joy, and bringing things to an end that are sluggish, weak, and proceeding poorly.” Reflecting on this face as a place where Jupiter and Saturn meet, it suggests that sometimes the way to make the best of fate (The Wheel of Fortune) is to get crafty (The Devil) and to be resourceful even when the odds are stacked against us. We may not have the circumstances we desire at this time, but what can we make with what we have? Can we let go of old dreams and wishes that no longer fit or function — the things that are “proceeding poorly”? Not every challenge is a gauntlet to work harder; sometimes we must close one door to find an open window, etc. This lunar cycle is a balance board to ride, not a mountain to climb. Remain fluid and open to change.
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I love to read these as the month progresses as little check ins around or after each transit—full moon approacheth