VISION QUEST
As we head into deep winter and year-end, it is good to turn inward, to still ourselves. Most of us have made some change over the course of this year. For some it has been a culminate of efforts which started a few years back, for others it has come in the form of a sudden shift or outside shock, and for others yet, change has come as an inner declaration which has yet to wholly manifest. Winter months are the time to integrate what has come before in preparation for what is to come, to slow and fall in step with quieter, inner rhythms.
December 1st through December 11th
Since late October, we’ve been in a bit of a haze with Mercury (the planet of facts, figures, information, communication) in conflict with Neptune (the planet of dreams, illusion, aspirations, misperception). If not disciplined, we may have indulged in wishful thinking rather than honest assessment.
Alternatively, we may have found ourselves in situations in which things weren’t what they appeared to be because of misinformation, misperception or deception/self-deception. Or we may have bent our dictates and facts to make them conform to our wishes and desires.
On December 11th, we’ll have the final pass of Neptune square Mercury. If we’ve been less than honest with ourselves or others, we may come to with a start: “What was I thinking?” But if we’ve worked to align our reason with our dreams, we’ll find the fog lifting and our dreams strengthened.
December 12th through December 20th
Helping prod us out of our slumber is the new moon at 21 degrees of Sagittarius on December 13th. New moons represent new starts and Sagittarius asks us to tap into our greater vision for the future and our optimism. Uranus, the liberator, stations direct – appearing to stop in the sky and begin moving forward in the sky – on the same day, so we’ll receive a boost of energy to push us beyond our comfort zone and into our future.
With Uranus in supportive relationships with both Jupiter and Mercury, the gifts inherent in this new cycle are insights, innovations, and breakthroughs. Trust your enthusiasm and your intuition. Your mind is blindingly fast and able to tap into renegade ways of seeing old material. You’re also apt to intuit ways to support yourself that are true to you and enlivening.
However, there are adjustments to be made here. Mercury and Jupiter are in what astrologers call mutual reception – they are both in each other’s signs, so in strong communication with one another – but they also oppose each other and form a configuration called a Yod with Saturn and Pluto. The new insights and understanding of this cycle also call for an adjustment: we need to restructure. Blind optimism won’t ensure things turn out as hoped. We somehow need to tweak our thinking and/or our vision.
What personal adjustments do we need to make? What hard realities do we need to face? What uncomfortable truths need to be accepted or at least acknowledged?
Think of this month as a vision quest in which your job is to reorder your thoughts and restructure your ideas so they align with your greater beliefs and your thinking dovetails with your moral compass. Your vision needs to be synced with your thinking and the simple facts of your life. Suss out fallacies: Is what you tell yourself really so?
On December 16th and 17th, we may come face-to-face with some of our unrealistic or romantic notions as Venus squares Neptune followed by Mercury opposing Neptune. Watch what comes up these days for you. Where are you tempted to gloss over facts or stretch your values to accommodate your desires?
Paying attention to where we want to whitewash reality can provide fertile grounds for the restructuring indicated by this new moon. Also, approach interpersonal confusions with compassion and humor. We’re prone to project our own desires and expectations on others mid-month, so it’s good to accept others’ foibles with a dash of acceptance – unless the behavior is one of the areas in which whitewashing has been occurring.
Winter Solstice – December 21st
Set aside a bit of contemplative time for the Winter Solstice, December 21st. The solstice chart echoes the new moon (the same Yod configuration with Saturn and Pluto but with Venus opposing Jupiter, rather than Mercury) and its message of adjustment. The adjustments indicated here, though, have to do with aligning our dreams with those people and activities that bring us our greatest happiness, satisfaction, and pleasure. We have a quarter, until the spring equinox in March, to make these alignments.
For instance, if our vision for the future entails more work at a computer when we need more movement for optimal happiness, then how might we restructure our vision to allow us to feel more physically present and alive?
What adjustments do you need to make to receive the support you need going forward? Look at all the resources in your life: financial, emotional, mental, and spiritual.
Also bring your awareness to your relationships. Which people in your life support your dreams for the future? Who advocates for your happiness? Whose very presence brings you peace or pleasure? Conversely, are there people in your life who lower your energy, hold you back, or remain disinterested?
And don’t confuse those who challenge you with those who wish to discourage you. People who genuinely advocate for your dreams won’t always agree with you. They will push you to refine your ideas, hold you accountable, and keep you honest. Your strongest supporters aren’t the indiscriminate cheerleaders, but those who care enough to call you on your behavior or to question your plans when they aren’t getting you where you say you want to go.
The solstice has the moon separating from Uranus, showing that we are moving away from past habits, emotional conditioning, and our past in general. On some level this year, we’ve made an emotional shift or new start.
Next on the agenda? Sun approaching Pluto: we need to reach deep within ourselves and transform over the next quarter. No one can do it for us – we have to take ownership and walk the road alone – and it can be terrifying. But it’s what we must do: own our power, heal unlovely parts of ourselves, and let old ways of being to die so we can start anew.
No more holding on to the past. We can resist and have it torn from our grasping fingers or we can relinquish willingly old behaviors and situations that keep us stuck.
December 20th to December 31st
Watch closely – especially those days between December 26th and December 30th – for signs and opportunities about where you need to break free, relinquish, and transform.
On December 26th the sun squares Uranus and we may chaff at restrictions or at accommodating others at the expense of ourselves. These irritations and prickles of rebellion can point to roles and behaviors that no longer suit you, so take note.
December 28th brings the full moon at 7 degrees of Capricorn/Cancer, tying into the Uranus – Pluto square we’ve been discussing for the past few months. This pressure-cooker of a T-square points to the need to change in a deep and meaningful way, and that it is you who needs to change, not everyone else around you. The danger and the inherent stresses here stem from Capricorn and Cancer being signs of the status quo: they don’t enjoy change, they prefer the tried-and-true over innovation, and they are inherently conservative and cautious.
As such, we can feel torn between our need for safety (what we know, even if it stinks to high heaven) and our need to feel alive and free of encumbrances (even if it means ruffling a few feathers). To move forward, we need goals that speak to our souls – those that nurture us in a deep and profound way – and which feel real and lasting to us.
Luckily, full moons illuminate our journey. They help us see and identify these tensions so we become more aware of the inherent dichotomies within us. In this way, we begin to work with our competing needs and integrate them.
Saturn supports both the sun and moon this full moon, potent with realistic next steps, planning, and cautious assessment that helps us persevere and eventually reach our goals. While supportive aspects from Mars and Jupiter to Uranus indicate enthusiasm and innovation stoking the fires of change.
In short, the next steps in transforming our lives can’t be haphazard but must be thoughtful, planned, and achievable. The task is to ensure your goals are worth the risk, the gain worth the growing pains. You need to feel it will make a real and appreciable difference in your life and it needs to feel doable.
On December 30th, the sun conjoins Pluto. On this day and the days leading up to it, we can feel moody, disquieted, and a deep pull inward. Follow it. Follow your roiling emotions and moods into the rabbit hole. Resist the urge to numb them with intoxicants or push them down with activity or chatter. Spend time alone: journal, take a long nap and take note of your dreams, go on a solitary walk and follow your untethered thoughts. Explore your unconscious.
Pluto is the god of the underworld. When he comes into contact with the sun, there’s a dimming of the light and a call to examine the unseen forces in our lives, to dance in the shadows. This thinning of the veils can provide deep insights into areas that we normally avoid, those areas that often we are afraid to face. We can more readily perceive that which needs to die within ourselves, our lives, our relationships. Approached wisely, we can use these days to ready ourselves to shed oppressive people, habits, situations, and aspects of our personalities.
Remember, if others around you seem darker, more moody or controlling, they too are wrestling in the shadows. Compassion and understanding create more torque than the sheer force of your will, especially the days leading up to the full moon through December 30th.
This December turn inward; envision what you want the next year to bring. This is a month of vision quests. What will your next steps be? The wheel is turning.
If you know your rising sign (ascendant) and/or moon sign, read those along with your birth sign. As always, a sun sign column such is this is no substitution for a consultation based on the actual moment of your birth. contact me if you want to schedule a session.
Aries: What is it you genuinely believe about life, what principles are you willing to fight for? Look at the personal truths that you hold dear and ask yourself whether your career and role in the world align with those values. If you find your ambitions fall short of your ideals, explore how you can reconcile the differences. Gemstone: Amber
Taurus: You prefer life to move along peacefully, but this month asks you play around the edges of the unknown – the underlying “what ifs” on which you’d rather not dwell. In particular, what are your fears around relationships? Questions of faith and how you address your doubts and guilt are fruitful topics for exploration. Gemstone: Chalcedony
Gemini: Your vision for the future hinges on your ability to form relationships and your comfort in partnering with others. The work to be done this month is examining your fears, private sufferings and secrets around intimacy and deep sharing. What needs to be released to truly move forward? Gemstone: Sodalite
Cancer: Your work environment and your health habits can be re-envisioned this month. How might you rekindle inspiration and excitement in your day-to-day routines? Your homework: reconnaissance on the dark side of relationships, where you give away power, where you let resentment become your spoiler. Gemstone: Prehnite
Leo: Let your creative, playful side be your guide. The kid in you has the strongest sense of what truly matters and how to have the most fun along the way. Pull some of that same energy into your work environment. The ambitious part of you who wants to be taken seriously and craves respect needs fresh eyes. Gemstone: Aventurine
Virgo: The seed of your future lies within you. Some idea central to your identity – a long-held definition, label or belief about yourself – is due for a change. Slough it off, step into a more comfortable you. Explore the ways you hold yourself back creatively or limit your expression: less work, more reckless abandon. Gemstone: Leopardite
Libra: Pay attention this month, Libra. Your thinking is expansive, though perhaps not particularly grounded – yet. Your attitudes about money, especially those taught to you when younger, are primed for reassessment. Also look at what fears and secrets keep you feeling unmoored and at sea. How do you define home? Gemstone: Blue Lace Agate
Scorpio: Align your daily values to your truths. In short, how can you better walk your talk? Keep the focus on your life, your walk, and the common ground you share with others. Your stumbling block? Comparison, when your mind becomes critical, sharp, and ungenerous – to yourself and to others. Releasing judgment releases you. Gemstone: Apatite
Sagittarius: This month you can hit the reset button, but you need to know what needs released and what needs restarted. Make sure your philosophies are a genuine reflection of who you are in the world. Look deeply into your relationship with money and your sense of self-worth. Do they align with your truths? Gemstone: Malachite
Capricorn: December may prove a moody month. Deep stirrings begin to surface, which means disturbing tranquil waters. You need alone time to look deeply into patterns of self-sabotage, self-punishment, and guilt which you yearn to transcend. How might you need to change your relationship to your environment or your body? Gemstone: Obsidian
Aquarius: Focusing on the future, always a favorite pastime, and your dreams pays dividends in December. Think about them like an architect: what needs reinforced and made more sound, what needs shifted to better appeal to your aesthetics? Then inward. Your hidden work: what do you need to sacrifice to get what you want? Gemstone: Labradorite
Pisces: If your career or public role needs a facelift, December looks a good month to begin the reformation. The process is a two-way street: you must meet others’ expectations as well as your own. True reformation lies in acknowledging where your vision for life isn’t bringing you happiness and your goals must be transformed. Gemstone: Moss Agate