The Astrology Blog 6 December 2021
All times in GMT
“If you give in to intimidation, you’ll go on being intimidated.”
“Humor is one of the best ingredients of survival.”
Aung San Suu Kyi
https://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Aung_San_Suu_Kyi
A BIG WEEK AHEAD
Another packed out week, so I’ll start with your “at a glance” guide to show you that there’s something happening nearly every day, and then I’ll sort and regroup these events into themes –
Monday 6 December
- Mars 25 Scorpio sextile Pluto 25 Capricorn 11.38
Tuesday 7 December
- Mercury 20 Sagittarius square Neptune 20 Pisces 15.18
Wednesday 8 December
- Mars 26 Scorpio square Jupiter 26 Aquarius 23
Friday 10 December
- Mercury 25 Sagittarius semi-sextile Venus 25 Capricorn 12.51
- Mercury 25 Sagittarius semi-sextile Pluto 25 Capricorn 17.55
Saturday 11 December
- Venus conjunct Pluto 25 Capricorn 16.18
- Mercury 27 Sagittarius sextile Jupiter 27 Aquarius
Sunday 12 December
- Sun 20 Sagittarius square Neptune 20 Pisces 06.23
Monday 13 December
- Mars ingress Sagittarius 09.54
- Mercury ingress Capricorn 17.53
MARS – UNIVERSAL & PERSONAL
So we start with Mars on the last leg of his journey through his own feminine sign of Scorpio (his masculine and better known sign being Aries), and his final aspects are to the Jupiter-Pluto alignment. This in itself is now “separating” (was exact for the third and final time 27 Nov) and Mars then moves into fiery Sagittarius at the beginning of next week –
Monday 6 December
- Mars 25 Scorpio sextile Pluto 25 Capricorn 11.38
Wednesday 8 December
- Mars 26 Scorpio square Jupiter 26 Aquarius 06.23
Monday 13 December
- Mars ingress Sagittarius 09.54
Let’s not forget firstly that Mars is the god of war. He’s militant and forceful, and these aspects are both major ones, picking up and re-invoking the messages and changes that the Jupiter – Pluto finale has just dumped on us, just as we thought they’d done their worst.
The most obvious “take” on this picture at a universal level is of course the consequences of the new variant Omicron. There’s definitely a feel of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted, exactly the phrase used by Prof Mark Woolhouse, a scientist advising the UK government, in reference to the changes in travel rules coming “too late to make a material difference”.
For the first time the world, especially Europe for starters, is talking about mandatory vaccination. The unvaxxed in the meantime are being seriously targeted with curtailed (Pluto) freedom (Jupiter).
At the beginning of last week (the horrible Sun/Mercury/Saturn line up, it felt as if everyone was depressed, here we had vile weather and massive thunderstorms for two days, it was impossible to work with the power going off every five minutes) I was rethinking my own position as I was already feeling the effects of this in Greece.
On 2 November, as soon as the local airports shut for the season, new laws came in that have prohibited the unvaxxed from doing anything or going anywhere without a rapid test, not a self test but one done through the official government website and therefore via a surgery visit.
I was actually fine with that, I’m in a village and the surgery is five minutes away, but the new laws also include that even with the negative test you are still not allowed inside a bar or a restaurant. The unvaxxed have to sit outside. Which is exactly what I did for my birthday last Thursday along with my hardy best friend Trish, all wrapped up in scarves, as she was adamant that this was better than not going out at all! She was right.
All of this combined with the inevitability of the new variant reaching Greece at some point added up to realizing that I had, with enormous reluctance, to change my mind. I had so hoped it wouldn’t be necessary but the opposite is happening.
I made my peace with it by talking it all through with my niece Sara (Sue’s eldest) who is very well informed, on BOTH sides of the argument (Sara is a textbook Libran lol, both sides of the Scales) and was totally non judgmental. This was what I wanted, not someone just trying to talk me into it – or out of it. I have friends on both sides of this fence and reading this will either horrify or delight them.
As I talked with Sara it was as Mercury at 9 Sagittarius (my Sun) made the sextile to Saturn (serious decision) and in the run up to the Solar Eclipse at 12 Sagittarius. The very next morning Greece announced that the vax would mandatory for everyone over 60, from 16 January, or pay a fine of 100 Euros a month. So as I often say about Mercury – Saturn combinations, they can be tough issues or outside factors can end up making the decision for you anyway. Am glad I got in first – just!
But the trouble with the vax rollout, in terms of convincing everyone to do it, is that the whole approach is based on “we’re right and you’re wrong”. The last time (and it is the last time!) I voiced a concern on Facebook someone known to me actually said I’d watched too many misinformation YouTube videos. If he’d taken on my concern in any helpful way he would’ve learned that the reality is that I watched one video on YouTube about 18 months ago and haven’t watched any others since. But instantly reacting with contempt or ridicule is a great way to kill a conversation.
I still have concerns but am swallowing my fears, as for the first time I feel that it’s now worth doing. And of course all of these Draconian measures raise very interesting issues on the reality front, ie how can this be enforced? How will other countries enforce it, eg Austria, Germany? I am not anti vax, I just didn’t personally want it, but I have anti vax friends/students/clients who would literally rather go to jail than have the vax. One of them, when the vaccinations started, said she would rather stick needles in her own eyes than agree to it.
Can you force people into what amounts to a medical procedure? Is this contravening human rights? There are a lot of very strong feelings out there and I keep getting the sense that this is what is not really being addressed, at least not with any real respect.
So at a personal level tread carefully around this Mars activity. it feels like a bit of a tinderbox, including around issues that you had believed to be sorted but which then spring back to life. Mars at the best of times is anger, and obviously that’s something that we all sometimes need to feel and express, but Mars in Scorpio can be quite poisonous, especially when spurned, hurt or cornered.
Plutonic themes/Mars in Scorpio can also symbolize those who are controlling or who find their own power by disempowering others, and that can also be part of Eclipse symbolism too. In the world news this morning Aung San Suu Kyi has just been sentenced to jail yet again, convicted on yet more trumped up charges by the military who toppled her in a coup in February. She’s now 76. She currently has Saturn transiting opposite her Pluto and the Solar Eclipse at 12 Sag has just fallen opposite her Uranus at 14 Gemini. She’s in trouble.
So beware those who are the experts at the put down. Any kind of belittling or intimidating behavior is a huge red flag for abusive tendencies. Avoid the “I’m right and you’re wrong” no-win conversations and situations and instead try to get to the root of WHY – for whatever your or someone else’s question/desire might be on any matter currently important to you.
There’s still a “mixed reception” going on here too, Mars in Scorpio (his own sign but also Scorpio’s sign) while Pluto is in Capricorn (Mars’s sign of exaltation). This signals that there are compromises to find and deals to be done. Be open to all possibilities even if you have to restart something from scratch (Pluto).
I’ve often noticed that when Mars is featuring strongly in the current astrology or in my own horoscope that this is when you also need workmen. If you’ve got physical jobs to do around the home then the start of this week is ideal for doing them yourself or finding those to do the work that’s beyond your own capabilities.
MERCURY – PAVING THE WAY
Mercury is also on the home stretch of a journey, travelling through the whole of the last third of Sagittarius this week before moving on into Capricorn next Monday. Mercury’s first aspect this week is the square to Neptune, an aspect that’s repeated by the Sun at the weekend –
Tuesday 7 December
- Mercury 20 Sagittarius square Neptune 20 Pisces 15.18
Sunday 12 December
- Sun 20 Sagittarius square Neptune 20 Pisces 06.23
The combination of Sun/Mercury in a stressful aspect to Neptune isn’t too serious in itself, but it’s not exactly full of Christmas cheer either. Like the Sun/Mercury combo with Saturn at the beginning of last week it’s the outer planet that tends to dominate the personal planets, setting the tone for the general mood.
The tougher side of the Neptune coin is uncertainty or confusion, trying to read between the lines, second guessing things and getting them wrong, disappointment, disillusionment, being deceived, drowning sorrows, bad weather through heavy rainfall, plumbing issues, plans constantly changing, poor quality sleep – great! But these are all things that will blow through, it’s just a question of weathering things.
Top advice is to be flexible. I get the feeling that this is a week when the more we try to organize things, the more frustrated we’ll become. Try not to rely too heavily on others and have plan B tucked up your sleeve, especially as from the beginning of next week when Mars and Mercury both changing sign on Monday should open new chapters and put a lot of things into a much clearer perspective.
In the meantime, and probably more importantly, Mercury is paving the way to the big Venus – Pluto conjunction by making a minor aspect to both of these planets, so pay close attention to the information that comes your way around the end of the week, maybe exactly on Friday, as it’s likely to be packed with clues –
Friday 10 December
- Mercury 25 Sagittarius semi-sextile Venus 25 Capricorn 12.51
- Mercury 25 Sagittarius semi-sextile Pluto 25 Capricorn 17.55
Saturday 11 December
- Venus conjunct Pluto 25 Capricorn (1st of three times) 16.18
- Mercury 27 Sagittarius sextile Jupiter 27 Aquarius 19.25
Monday 13 December
- Mercury ingress Capricorn 17.53
The good news – oh there is some then! – is that Mercury’s last aspect is the harmonious sextile to Greater Benefic Jupiter. And btw this is also the week of the monthly Moon – Jupiter conjunction, which will be exact just before 9am on Thursday at 26 Aquarius, which again might be an advance bit of info related to the weekend. But any Mercury – Jupiter combinations amount to good cheer, and in this case it’s also an indication of positive outcomes as this is Mercury’s last aspect before changing sign.
VENUS – PLUTO
This conjunction usually happens once a year but the reason that it’s such major news this time around is because this is the first of a series of three, as Venus is getting ready to start a retrograde backwards loop through the heavens. Here’s the sequence –
- 11 December Venus conjunct Pluto 25.18 Capricorn – 1st time
- 19 December Venus turns retrograde 26.29 Capricorn
- 25 December Venus conjunct Pluto 25.43 Capricorn – 2nd time
- 29 January Venus turns direct 11.05 Capricorn
- 3 March Venus conjunct Pluto 27.50 Capricorn – 3rd and final time
Regular readers and followers of astrology will be familiar with retrograde symbolism – everything from “re” words (rethink, revise, review etc) to things unraveling or becoming protracted and complicated.
Like Mercury, Venus has a cycle of a year. So neither moves very far away from the Sun. This is why in a horoscope you will only ever see Mercury in the same sign as the Sun, or a sign either side. Venus can be up to two signs either side but no more.
The planets’ retrograde periods mean that none of them makes the journey through the 12 signs in a straight line, but in a series of loops, of varying lengths depending on the planet. Mercury’s are the shortest and most regular, three times a year for three weeks at a time. Venus turns retrograde every 18 – 20 months, for 42 days at a time – in other words, twice the length of Mercury.
Jamie Partridge on Astrology King says –
Transiting Venus retrograde occurs once every 19 months for a total of six weeks (42 days). This means Venus is retrograde only 7% of the time, the least amount of any planet. The next closest is Mars retrograde at 9% then Mercury retrograde at 19%. Therefore, Venus retrograde is the most strongly felt of all retrograde planets.
And he also gives the dates for the last retrograde Venus cycles if you want to check these against your own horoscope or any other chart of interest to you –
- 2018, October 5 to November 16 —11° Scorpio – 25° Libra
- 2020, May 13 to June 25 — 21° Gemini to 5° Gemini
- 2021, December 19 to January 29, 2022 — 26° to 11° Capricorn
WHAT MIGHT THIS VENUS – PLUTO SEQUENCE MEAN?
Firstly, as with any sequence, pay attention to what unfolds around the first conjunction this coming weekend. The fact that it coincides with the Mercury – Jupiter sextile (good news as described above) at least suggests that some good might come of it or in spite of it.
At an obvious level Venus is everything to do with love and romance, and also rules money, life’s pleasures and produce. She’s feminine and rules women. Pluto, as already referenced earlier in the blog, can be the darker forces of power or fear, or can restrict, control or cancel out. Pluto also symbolizes absence and inevitably this union is, for many, going to reflect the difficulties of being with loved ones this Christmas, especially as the second conjunction actually falls on Christmas Day itself.
Keep an eye on the news as a source of watching astrology at work. There are already two glaringly obvious Venus – Pluto stories in the headlines right now, linked to abuse of power – Aung San Suu Kyi’s detention and Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial (she has Saturn at 29 Capricorn). Venus – Pluto is unfortunately also linked to sexual abuse. As we go into the Christmas period it’s vital to keep an eye on anyone you suspect might be at risk.
For some it will reflect the difficulties of getting out of a relationship that has become intensely unhappy or unhealthy, even if it’s not obviously abusive. For others it might be the beginning of a very powerful relationship but with the shadows of geographical logistics, one or both still separating from a previous partner or financial restrictions getting in the way. Pluto is rarely easy but, either way, he’s never indifferent! Look out for the “all or nothing” factor at work, or themes of out with the old and in with the new.
On the money issue it’s time to be super vigilant about your finances and especially careful when shopping online, as most of us do these days and especially for Christmas goods. Only buy from a reputable company. Pluto is great at black holes … don’t leave it too late to order anything special.
But above all take on board the most positive side to Pluto which is the ability to reinvent. Scorpio’s key phrase is “I regenerate”. If something turns to ashes, think Phoenix – and keep a sense of humour!
Until next week, with love from Greece
Joanna