Lynn's Planetary Illuminations: December 2024💖
At the end of the year, and the crossroads of time.
Dear friends,
I saw this quote on the page of a new subscriber - it’s from one of my favorite astrologers, Liz Greene, from her fantastic book The Astrology of Fate. It struck me today as I write this post for the end of 2024 because we are at exactly this kind of crossroads right now with Pluto now in Aquarius and the other two outer planets changing signs in the next twelve months.
Meanwhile we are at the end of the year, wrapping up our memories from the past and preparing for a new beginning in 2025. The sense of a new start will be even more potent with the change in the zeitgeist emerging with the outer planet zodiacal shifts.
Before we move on to the monthly forecast, here are some blog articles you may have missed:
Mars turns retrograde this month, here’s what you need to know.
Many of you born between 1952 and 1989 have Chiron opposite Uranus: Here’s what that means.
An astrological profile of Martha Stewart.
Read on for the illuminations of major planetary events in December, and stay tuned for the weekly forecast every Monday. 💖
DATES AND TIMES ARE FOR EASTERN TIME ZONE, here is a time zone converter to adjust for your locality. You'll find the full planetary calendar at the bottom of this post.
Sagittarius New Moon December 1. In times like these, when the foundation of our lives are breaking apart in order to free us to establish new patterns and structures to assist us to grow and evolve, we need to be able to expand our minds so that we can evolve the systems of belief that give our lives meaning. This is the role of the Sagittarius New Moon today.
Sagittarius represents the kind of faith that brings confidence and abundance, with a general sense of good will and adventure. Like all New Moons, the Sun and Moon align in concert and beam to us the unadulterated Sagittarian light of positive energy and a desire for expansion. Under the Sagittarian New Moon we resist confinement and responsibility – we yearn to be free. Saturn is a major player in this lunation though, and Saturn’s role is to impose limitations on our dreams and be sure we work diligently to get there.
A grand trine in fire which includes the Aries North Node and Mars in Leo helps to guarantee success - we need only to focus the scope of our vision and make it happen.
Mars turns retrograde December 6. Mars retrogrades every 26 months, and in this retrograde Mars begins in Leo, the sign of celebration and exploration of self and retrogrades back into emotional Cancer (in January) before returning to Leo in April. You’ll find all the details here if you missed it, but meanwhile know that Mars will only travel a few degrees in Leo this month.
Mars will retrograde back to a stressful opposition aspect to Pluto in early January and we may start to feel this towards the end of December. Watch for more details in the weekly forecast this month.
Venus and Ceres both enter Aquarius December 7 and conjoin Pluto. When Venus, planet of love and beauty, is in the impersonal sign of Aquarius it can be difficult to find more emotional connections with others. Better communication can help to bridge that gap since Aquarius is an air sign of the intellect. Under the influence of Aquarius friendship and mental affinity trumps more complex emotional interchanges.
Ceres changes signs every five years or so - the sign that Ceres travels through describes the influences that will help us to feel more integrated and at home in our physical, mental and emotional bodies. Because Aquarius relies on the intellect and is technologically savvy, using technology to calm and stimulate could be favored here (i.e. meditation apps, smart watches and rings, group activities of healing and spiritual exchange).
Neptune turns direct December 7. Neptune’s influence is transformative rather than personal, encouraging us to transcend individual identity and connect with divine creativity, the Soul, or the Godhead in its many forms. However, it can also lure us into fantasy and illusion, clouding our ideals and tricking us with deception.
Since October, Neptune has been stationary at 28º Pisces and will barely move until March. This intensifies its impact, especially if you have planets in late mutable signs (Pisces, Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius). You may feel lost in a fog, struggle with unclear decisions, or face mysterious illnesses. Deception might be harder to detect, leaving you feeling vulnerable and uncertain.
This is a period to focus inward, prioritizing rest and meditation. With diminished physical energy, particularly if Neptune is transiting your chart, nurturing your inner world becomes essential.
Gemini Full Moon December 15. The Full Moon is the apex of the lunar cycle and is typically a time when emotions are at a peak. At the time of this Full Moon, however, the only personal planet in a water sign of emotion is Saturn, which can repress emotions, and the Moon itself is in Gemini, the sign of conversation and thought. Therefore, this Full Moon is really all about communication, learning - the transmission of all kinds of information.
The Moon’s ruler here is Mercury which is retrograde, suggesting that there is something from the past which needs to be reworked before the balance between small picture (Gemini Moon) and big picture (Sagittarius Sun) can be realized. In any case, feelings take a back seat right now and During this period we have a unique opportunity to create change and we become more adaptable to new ideas and new ways of living our life; to learn the inner strength that an increase in flexibility can offer us.
Mercury turns direct December 15. Oh that little trickster Mercury has been giving me a hard time this week! Mercury is in Sagittarius which doesn’t like to be bogged down with details, and consequently you may have become mired in rebookings, reacting, rescheduling, and other such Mercury retrograde fun. Mercury will conjoin the Sun on December 5th, marking the midpoint of the retrograde cycle, and will then begin to slow down in preparation for its change of direction.
Before and after Mercury is actually retrograde its motion is much slower than normal, and during these times Mercury is still close to earth demanding our attention. So throughout the whole month of December we would be well advised to pay close attention to any commitments we enter into, including contracts, agreements and travel bookings.
Sun enters Capricorn - Winter Solstice, December 21. The entry of the Sun into the cardinal sign Capricorn marks the December solstice: the time when in the northern hemisphere the Sun goes to sleep and re-emerges for the return of the light. Ruled by Saturn, Capricorn season is a time of serious contemplation and planning. That is somewhat problematic this year with Saturn in the mutable sign of Pisces which causes some distraction and dreamlike fantasies to blur the clarity of our practical ideas. And this is especially true in the last week or two of December with Jupiter in a square aspect to Saturn (see next section).
Jupiter square Saturn (part two) December 24. This is phase two of a bigger cycle that you can read about here; a reaction between the planet of optimism and big dreams (Jupiter) and the planet of practicality which demands hard work and discipline in order to realize those big dreams (Saturn). These two influences need to work together in order to achieve any kind of success: We need the confidence of Jupiter to take up the goal, and the discipline of Saturn to do the work to make it happen.
Chiron turns direct December 29. Chiron is in Aries where due to its elliptical orbit it spends more time than in any other sign. It also can change direction more frequently than any other planet; since Chiron has been in Aries (since 2018) it has changed direction (retrograde and direct) 13 times! This means that Chiron has taken a long time to get through Aries, and if you are going through a Chiron transit which brings up your old unhealed wounds, this can feel like a lot.
The beauty of Chiron, though, is that the emergence of these old wounds can cause permanent healing and the release of old pain which may have taken a lifetime to heal.
New Moon in Capricorn December 30. The Capricorn New Moon is a time to wipe the slate clean and refocus our attention on the things that are important in building a solid life of material world satisfaction. Under the influence of Capricorn magic becomes a matter of fact and not anything that is mysterious or questionable. Under the rulership of Saturn we can ground our wishes and dreams into a practical protocol that helps us to develop the skills we need to fully experience a life of magic and beauty.
This New Moon is supercharged by a tense opposition from retrograde Mars to Pluto. Our needs and desires (Mars) are being challenged by outside forces (Pluto) to test our resolve and the purity of our intentions. It will be important during this New Moon to do some self-examination (Mars in Leo) before moving forward with your plans for the future!
If you'd like to know more about how your own personal chart is affected by these planetary events, consider having a personal consultation with me. 💖
Planetary Calendar
(Major events are in bold face; dates and times are for the Eastern time zone, here’s a timezone converter to adjust for your locality)
12/1 New Moon 9 Sagittarius, 1:21 am
12/2 Mercury trine Chiron
Venus trine Uranus
12/4 Mercury opposite Jupiter
Sun square Saturn
Venus sextile Neptune
12/5 Sun conjunct Mercury
12/6 Mars turns retrograde
Mercury square Saturn
Venus conjunct Ceres
12/7 Venus enters Aquarius
Ceres enters Aquarius
Venus conjunct Pluto
Sun opposite Jupiter
Neptune turns direct
12/8 Pluto conjunct Ceres
12/10 Sun trine Chiron
12/15 Full Moon 24 Gemini, 4:01 am
Mercury turns direct
12/18 Sun square Neptune
12/19 Venus trine Jupiter
12/20 Mars opposite Ceres
12/23 Sun square North Node
Venus sextile Chiron
12/24 Jupiter square Saturn
12/26 Mercury opposite Jupiter
12/27 Mercury square Saturn
12/28 Venus square Uranus
12/29 Chiron turns direct
12/30 New Moon 10 Capricorn, 5:26 pm
12/31 Mercury trine Chiron