Shifts To The Plotlines: Four Stories Evolve Dramatically This Week
Weekly Forecast For Tuesday, December 26, 2023—Monday, January 1, 2024
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Good morning, friends!
I hope that everyone had a wonderful week and a Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! We had an amazing Christmas! Venus was trine Neptune yesterday, remember, and so it was a magical day! Everything went smoothly and the day turned out to be just lovely; I think it will be one my family and I remember very fondly. We made gingerbread houses and had dinner with one of our most loved friends, all that was missing was snow!
I am tired today, though, I’m not going to lie! My husband and I only had a couple of hours of sleep on Christmas Eve and we both desperately needed to sleep in this morning to catch up, so I am starting a bit late today, but no worries. The Venus trine Neptune energy is lingering and I am still kind of drunk on happiness and I hope you are too!
Due to this, I will be posting the podcast after the written today, just FYI. Thank you for your patience.
A friendly reminder, I won’t be posting a daily check-in on Monday, January 1, 2024, as I will be in celebration with my family that day.
After I publish this Weekly Forecast I will put out the Daily Check-In and hopefully also get my poem posted as well! It’s a busy day!
I wish you all a wonderful holiday week ahead and a Happy New Year!
Okay, let’s get into… the astrology
(All times are in Eastern Time (ET) unless mentioned otherwise)
The Weekly Overview
This week we have four important shifts to the plotline to focus on.
A few are individual transits that activate the next event in the plot and others are groups of transits that tell a dynamic storyline, so, this week we are going to focus on the Full Moon in Cancer, the two Planets Stationing Direct and the asteroid Chiron also going direct; the Mercury/Mars conjunction while both are in Square to Neptune (this is a Red Alert transit combo and the “break” part of Mercury’s retrograde that I talked about in the Mercury Retrograde Horoscopes for ALL 12 Signs, which you can go back and read here), and last but not least, Venus’s ingress into Sagittarius and square to Saturn. It’s a lot!
So, first, I am going to list out the chronological order of things so you can get an idea of how everything is intertwining; second, I am going to go over the key themes that are shifting and corresponding charts. I will try to make it as simple as possible.
Chronological Order of Transits
Tuesday, December 26, 2023—Moon moves into Cancer, Full Moon at 4°Cancer 58’ at 7:33 pm and Chiron stations direct.
Wednesday, December 27, 2023—Mercury Rx squares Neptune, Sun trines Jupiter, and Mercury Rx conjoins Mars in Sagittarius. (Red Alert/Break Day #1)
Thursday, December 28, 2023—Moon ingresses into Leo, Mars in Sagittarius squares Neptune in Pisces. (Red Alert/Break Day #2)
Friday, December 29, 2023—Venus sextiles Pluto then ingresses into Sagittarius.
Saturday, December 30, 2023—Venus sesquiquadrate Chiron & Jupiter stations direct!
Sunday, December 31, 2023—Moon ingresses into Virgo.
Monday, January 1, 2024—Happy New Year! Venus squares Saturn & Mercury stations direct!
Full Moon in Cancer
We start our week with a Full moon in Cancer. The Full Moon is a time when the intentions you set during the New Moon two weeks ago in Sagittarius come to a peak point or a culmination. It can also signify endings as often when something comes to its highest point of creation, the next part of the cycle is the deconstruction process. The Moon has reached her fullest potential and now she will begin to wane, losing light as she approaches the next New Moon in Capricorn in two weeks.
So, this day could be a day for celebration and/or endings.
What are you celebrating today? What are you ending? Which archetype fits your life right now?
Briefly, below you will find the house that this Full Moon is occurring in according to your rising sign. Find your rising and read the house topics associated with this Full Moon. You may notice a celebration or an ending involving one or more of those topics.
Aries—fourth house of family, roots, and property.
Taurus—third house of siblings, communication, and local travel.
Gemini—second house of money and possessions.
Cancer—first house of self, health, and character.
Leo—twelfth house of blind spots, large animals, hidden enemies, and mental health.
Virgo—eleventh house of friends, allies, groups, and wishes
Libra—tenth house of career, praxis, and the mother.
Scorpio—ninth house of foreign travel, higher education, and beliefs.
Sagittarius—eighth house of shared resources, inheritance, debt, and death.
Capricorn—seventh house of marriage, partnerships, and legal matters.
Aquarius—sixth house of stress, health issues, employees or co-workers, and pets.
Pisces—fifth house of pregnancy, children, creativity, and recreational activities.
I wish you all a Happy Full Moon!
Chiron Stations Direct, Mercury and Mars, Conjoin and Square Neptune
(Tuesday through Thursday)
The next part of the story is multi-faceted and is arguably the hardest transits of the week, and of the current Mercury retrograde cycle, so, first I am going to briefly lay out the charts and the transits involved, the pieces of the puzzle, and then summarize it all, hopefully into a coherent picture we can all understand.
Piece #1: Chiron Stations Direct
First, on Tuesday, December 26, 2023, the asteroid Chiron stations direct at 10:09 pm ET.
The symbol for Chiron looks like an old-fashioned key and you can see it in the chart above located in the upper right-hand side about the 2 o’clock position.
Chiron is an asteroid that is located between Saturn and Uranus.
Chiron is named after a centaur in Greek Mythology who was shot with a poison arrow.
Let’s go over the myth of Chiron to set the stage for this transit’s significance a bit:
The Myth of Chiron
Chiron accidentally gets shot with a poison arrow by Heracles, but because he is immortal he cannot die. The irony is that Chiron is a healer who is very skilled in medicine and the healing arts, but he can’t heal himself from the poison arrow. In an article from Psychology Today titled, “The Myth of Chiron, the Wounded Healer: What can the centaur Chiron teach us about the human condition?” the author, Neel Burton M.D. recounts the myth like this:
“For all his knowledge and skill Chiron was unable to heal his wound, which became unbearably painful. But being the immortal son of Cronus, neither was he able to die. In the end, he or Herakles struck a bargain with Zeus, whereby he would exchange his immortality for the freedom of Prometheus, who had been bound for all eternity to a rock for stealing fire from the gods and delivering it to humankind. Every day, an eagle pecked out Prometheus’ immortal liver, only for it to grow back overnight.
After Chiron’s death, Zeus at long last freed Prometheus, and fixed Chiron in the firmament as the constellation Sagittarius or Centaurus.” (Burton, 2021)1
He goes on to say…
“Chiron’s stoical decision to die in the face of unbearable and incurable pain, especially in light of his immortality, raises profound, and surprisingly modern, ethical questions about euthanasia and the desirability of immortality, questions that have never been more pertinent than today.
Chiron is a rare if not unique instance of a god who dies, and, more than that, chooses to die (unlike, say, Jesus). But even in dying, he gives himself up to another. Just like he sublimed his life into wisdom, art, and love, so he sublimed his death into an act of service and sacrifice.” (Burton, 2021)
So, Chiron, “The Wounded Healer,” an asteroid that can represent sacrifice, internal vulnerabilities, and wounds, stations direct, activating his power and influence. This activation is an important piece of the puzzle going forward.
Chiron is in Aries and Aries is ruled by Mars, so it behooves us to look at what Mars is doing during this station and also the most recent and future interactions that Mars has had and will have with Chiron.
Chiron was aspected by two planets during December, Mars and Venus. First Mars made a trine to Chiron on December 15th, 2023, the Sun squared Neptune on December 16th (and this is important because Mars is about to square Neptune also), and then Venus perfected a quincunx to Chiron on December 17th, 2023.
So, in mid-December there may have been a direct attack on a vulnerable part of yourself, followed by an illusion, a deception, or a massive feeling of betrayal, and then a very odd feeling like something just wasn’t adding up, making sense, or feeling very loving.
This is the back story…keep this in mind as we unpack the next transits involved.
Pieces #2, #3, and #4: Mercury in Sagittarius Retrograde Squares Neptune, Conjoins Mars, and then Mars Squares Neptune
This next part is three-fold, first Mercury in Sagittarius retrograde squares Neptune in Pisces 2:42 am, both at 25°00’ of their respective signs. You can see Mercury in the lower left of the chart at about the 7 o’clock position and Neptune in the lower right of the chart at about the 4 o’clock position.
This is the second Mercury square Neptune in the sequence. The first was on November 27, 2023, when Mercury was direct and Neptune was retrograde, now Mercury is retrograde and Neptune is direct, and the last will be on January 8, 2024, when they BOTH are direct.
Mercury square Neptune can mean mental fogginess, lies, betrayal, confusion, self-deception, and gullibility. Astrologer Reinhold Ebertin in his book The Combination of Stellar Influences, describes the biological correspondence of a Mercury/Neptune transit to be, “The loss of the power to feel or sense, weak nerves, the paralysis of the nerves.” (Ebertin,1972)2
Then Mercury conjoins Mars at 7:31 pm ET at 24°Sagittarius 21’.
They are both in the 3-degree range of engagement to Neptune, Mercury separating and Mars now applying.
Mercury and Mars together represent forceful communications and aggressive thoughts and actions—these could be helpful or unhelpful, it just depends on what you choose to do with this energy. Either way, the Mercury/Mars combo is going to sort of agitate and innervate your mental faculties and physical stamina. Because it’s Mars there is always the possibility for anger and aggression, couple this with Mercury and we are talking about debates, arguments, or even fights. Mental and verbal sparring could be at play. My teacher, David Palmer, describes Mercury/Mars conjunctions as a “barking dog!” It’s loud, in your face, and troubling.
Then, Mars perfects his square to Neptune, the next day on December 28, 2023, at 5:15 pm, bringing the whole transit dance together.
Mars square Neptune can symbolize the very tough, aggressive energy and drive of Mars getting weakened and depleted by Neptune. Like the flames of a fire being doused with water from a hose, but not entirely put out. The fire may spark, sputter, and weaken to the point where you think it will die, but that is not the case here because Mars is headed toward his exaltation next month in the sign of Capricorn, so this square to Neptune will create some temporary paralyzation to the Mars energy, but it won’t squash it.
Back in early 2023, Mars in Gemini squared Neptune in Pisces and did so three times because of his retrograde cycle in Gemini. After his trip through Gemini, Mars moved into Cancer, his fall, and so those squares were more like the cooling, wet effect of Neptune putting out the aggressive Mars fire. Not this time.
Not only can Mars square Neptune mean a weaker constitution, which could indicate illness or fatigue, but it can also speak to problems with drugs, alcohol, or any addictive substances, which leads me to…accidents.
Mercury and Mars conjunctions are a classic combination for accidents, especially car or transportation accidents; add Neptune and we are looking at accidents that involve intoxication, spacing out, or random “Acts of God.”
If you have to travel during this transit, please be especially cautious and aware—others may be unconsciously grabbed by these energies and will be like walking accident magnets, so please be careful!
The other classic combo is thievery—Mercury represents tricksters and thieves and Mars indicates people with malicious intent, throw Neptune in there and you have fraudulent schemes, liars, thieves, heists, violence, shady characters, and just the general feeling that some people may end up being in the wrong place at the wrong time sort of thing! So, please be hyper-aware of scammers and untrustworthy people. I will not be surprised if there ends up being a lot of news about this sort of thing happening, so don’t be a victim!
On a biological level, this combination, according again to Ebertin, can result in “Nerve irritation,” and “paralysis of muscles,” as well as “susceptibility to infection” (1972). It is important since we know this transit is coming up and our physical constitutions may be challenged to use this information to prepare as best we can for these possibilities. It may be wise to make sure that you reduce your toxic load and have on hand the natural remedies you rely on to stay healthy in times of need.
I do not want to scare you all, but this is not a light transit and I believe that being armed with knowledge is one of the ways we can be successful at navigating it, so now you know this is coming up and you can take the necessary precautions or whatever you want to do. It’s up to you. You have the free will to decide how you want to weather the storm on the horizon, right?
Now, bringing this all back to Chiron…
Mercury will turn direct on January 1st, heralding in the New Year—along with Jupiter who will station direct on December 30, (more about these stations in a moment)—so, Mercury stations direct, and then on January 8th he makes his final square to Neptune in this sequence. About two and a half weeks later, Mars perfects a square to Chiron and this is where there may be the feeling of sacrifice—since Mars is the ruler of Aries and when Mars squares Chiron it will be from his exaltation sign of Capricorn and Mars will be in the superior position, overcoming Chiron, this could be a moment when a wound, a vulnerability, or a trigger point is pushed, poked, or penetrated with the force of Mars. Right after this square to Chiron from Mars, Mercury and Mars conjoin again, now with Mercury direct, and then they both square the Nodes—Mercury and Mars will be at the southern bending, so this little sequence describes an internal event that could feel like a sacrifice and it could be riddled with a lot of heavy emotions.
The Moon will be in Cancer, squaring the Nodes herself from the Northern bending which means an outward expression, when this sequence begins, then she will be in Leo, opposing Pluto and the Sun, both freshly having ingressed into Aquarius, and in Virgo opposing Saturn. This is MAJOR! I can’t express it any other way—January is a BIG month for 2024 and it ties into this Mercury retrograde conjunct Mars square Neptune sequence with Chiron.
Alright, so that was A LOT of information, I know…let me see if I can sum it up in a couple of sentences…
To Sum It Up
We all have personal wounds and stories that we may identify ourselves with that we need to heal; there may have been an event in mid-December that triggered one of these tender spots.
The beginning of the Mercury retrograde period may have not been too bad, there could have even been some good news.
This week, though, there are more challenges, more confusion, more delays, and more ways where we may experience periods of mental confusion, loss, self-deception, or instances of gullibility. Our health or the health of those we love may be challenged. It’s important to pay attention this week and take care of ourselves.
January’s astrology symbolizes some major events taking place on a personal level and/or in the world at large that will dramatically shift the storyline and could feel like we are having to make a sacrifice of something to move forward.
Whatever it is, it is part of our collective destiny.
This transit sequence also has indications for wishful thinking or feeling like you skated by unscathed, but then walk right into a trap—so please be vigilant in your awareness until the full transit sequence has passed!
Now, for some positive news…
Venus Ingresses Into Sagittarius
This Week Venus will make her ingress into the spontaneous, freedom-loving, and hopeful sign of Sagittarius on Friday, December 29, 2023, at 3:23 pm.
Venus is the planet of love, affection, friendship, things we value, money, jewelry, pleasure, and beauty. She also represents music, the arts, and what we attract into our lives.
You can see Venus in Sagittarius in the chart above on the right-hand side at the 3 o’clock position. Venus in Sagittarius is a lover of adventure, spontaneity, and freedom. Once in Sagittarius, she will be within range of her upcoming square to Saturn which will perfect on Monday, January 1, 2024.
So, there could be a renewed sense of enthusiasm for love and friendship and all the wonderful things in life, but there is a bit of a stop sign with her immediate square to Saturn like the fun police are there as soon as she gets to the party! This may suck a bit, but maybe it won’t be too bad since Saturn is in the sign of Venus’s exaltation, Pisces, meaning that Saturn really likes Venus right now and she is also in the superior position to Saturn as well, so maybe Saturn will cut Venus a bit of slack this time around and instead of a hard-stop “No,” maybe he’ll just issue her a warning and send her home.
Let’s take a brief look at where this square falls in the current Venus/Saturn cycle.
Venus and Saturn
Venus conjoined Saturn in Aquarius at the end of January 2023, then she squared Saturn back in April of 2023 a week before the Solar Eclipse in Aries. She opposed him in October from her fall in Virgo, on the same day that Pluto stationed direct and again near an eclipse, this time four days before the Solar Eclipse in October. Now, we are witnessing the closing square to Saturn before their next conjunction in Pisces in March of 2024, when they will reset their cycle. I do have to note that this upcoming conjunction in March is four days before the first eclipse of 2024 which is a Lunar Eclipse with a Full Moon in Libra, Venus’s domicile. We will talk a lot more about the significance of all of this as we approach eclipse season, but it is good to be aware of the fact that it seems that the Venus/Saturn cycle is running very closely to the eclipses which means that significant changes are occurring in the structures of our relationships and the things we value during this time.
The closing square between planets is a lot like the Last Quarter phase of the Moon in that it is a time of possible crisis, but instead of the planets breaking away from each other and a sense that there is a fight for independence, the planets are now approaching their upcoming conjunction, so there is still a push for independence, but it is more about using the tools and resources we already have to create something long-lasting and durable, rather than something fresh and new. Between Venus and Saturn, this may be about making the necessary tweaks and edits to our relationship structures that create strength and endurance and build upon the freshly laid foundations of the first square in the cycle. On the other hand, it could be the realization that the structure didn’t hold and it could represent the clearing of the space to make way for a new beginning in the future.
Jupiter & Mercury Stationing Direct One After Another—
Santa is Finally Coming To Town!
Jupiter stations direct on Saturday, December 30, 2023, at 5°Taurus34’.
You can see in the chart above of Jupiter’s station that he is located in the upper right at the 1 o’clock position. This holiday season may have felt like something was lacking, missing, or some sort of holiday spirit was M.I.A. and that is because Jupiter was retrograde, but once he stations it’s like Santa is finally coming to town and right in time for New Year’s Eve!
After Jupiter stations direct, two days later on January 1st, Mercury stations direct, this is all very beneficial in that we start 2024 with a positive boost in energy! When a planet station direct, it means that they are much more able to express themselves. Jupiter will now be able to bring many more blessings, joy, and abundance!
Mercury will make a third and final trine to Jupiter in this cycle on January 19, 2024—the final “build” portion of this retrograde cycle that I spoke about in the special Mercury Retrograde report. Hopefully, these trines to Jupiter and the fact that Jupiter is coming direct will help counter some of the challenges signified by the Mercury/Mars/Neptune combination of influences.
Final Thoughts…
Overall, this week looks like it has some positive aspects to it as well as some major challenging ones. I love that Jupiter and Mercury are both stationing direct bringing in the New Year and feel like that is a good omen, letting us know that even though there are big changes on the horizon with Pluto’s final conjunction to the Sun in Capricorn and final ingress into Aquarius in November of 2024, we are going to be okay. Love, hope, and life will always find a way to prevail against fear, doubt, and sadness.
The Tarot Spread
Let’s move on to a 3-card relationship spread.
Please pick a specific relationship or person to think about before you read the spread. It can be any type of relationship: friendship, romantic, partner, spouse, familial, business, etc…you choose.
The first card represents what you want from this relationship:
XIV Temperance
XIV The Temperance card is all about staying calm, balanced, and patient. Having an even temperament and executing your internal powers of control. The angel on this card is mixing the spirit with material, blending the two into an alchemical blend. One foot is on the earth, symbolizing the need for stability and staying grounded, and one is in the water, symbolizing being in the flow. Rather than relying on an outside force to maintain balance, The Temperance card speaks to using your inner strengths to manage yourself.
As the card for what you want from this relationship, I feel this means that you want a sense of balance and authenticity. You may want to feel like you are being true to yourself and your needs to be in the relationship, but also free to be yourself and independent. You may also desire a balance between time spent with the other person or in the relationship and also time spent alone. And of course, you’d like this balance and authenticity to be achieved with grace and ease.
The second card represents what they want from the relationship:
III The Empress
On this card, we see The Empress, lounging on a beautiful chair. She is wearing a crown of stars. In her right hand, she is holding a wand, and resting against her chair is a heart with the symbol for Venus in the center. The wand symbolizes spirit, and the Venus symbol, which is made up of a circle and a cross, represents the cycle of life, and the cross of matter; the heart: love. She is a creator, creating life, love, and happiness in the material world. She represents nature, nurturance, fertility, femininity, sensuality, pleasures, abundance, motherhood, maternal instincts, and the maternal bond.
In the upright position, a few things that the Empress is about are connecting with our femininity, our mothering instincts, the abundance in our lives, as well as nature.
What they want from the relationship is to feel beautiful, desired, and cared for, maybe even mothered a bit. They want to feel connected to the relationship through their pleasure centers or that the relationship is loving and pleasant. In short, they want to feel loved.
And the third card represents where this relationship is heading:
8 of Pentacles
On the Eight of Pentacles, we see a man working on one pentacle, two more are next to him on the ground and leaning on the workbench, and the five completed pentacles are displayed ascending the face of the pole in front of him.
The Eight of Pentacles is about being prudent and diligently working towards a goal that will materially provide for you. It’s about being frugal and conserving your energy. Imagine a cross-country runner—they have to pace themselves so that they will have enough power to make it to the finish line.
It is also about the harvest that you will reap by being decisive and wise in your actions instead of chaotic or hasty.
This looks as if you are both working toward your shared goals. The relationship may require some hard work, diligence, and patience, for becoming a master at a craft or skill takes time, maybe even blood, sweat, and tears—my point being that the happy ending, the good harvest, the success at the end does not happen by sitting on your laurels or waiting for someone else to do the work, it happens by taking initiative and putting in the long hours to see it come to fruition. It will require a bit of sacrifice.
The question is then, “How badly do you want the success of this relationship?” Clearly, the cards are saying that you are headed toward a Happily Ever After—after the eigth is the Nine of Pentacles and then the Ten, which are both very positive cards. If you feel good about how the relationship is going, then keep on keeping on. If there is tension, strife, or resentment, then healing will require work and effort. Defining what success means to you and the other person involved will also be helpful, so you know what you are both working toward.
So, to recap:
You would like freedom, balance, truth, and honesty; they would like love, affection, security, and care.
The relationship, through diligent work and applied effort, is headed toward the shared goal of a happy ending, a success, or a bountiful harvest.
All in all, I feel this is a very positive reading! What do you see? I would love to hear your thoughts.
In conclusion for the weekly forecast…
Keep your head up. This may be a trying week, but I am very optimistic about the start of 2024 with Jupiter and Mercury both stationing direct!
I received a couple of new Tarot decks and an Oracle deck for Christmas and I am looking forward to using them in the coming weeks. To get us started, here is a card I picked for the overall energy of this week from the Oracle of the Dragonfae deck:
31—The Dawn Watcher: Bells Will Ring
“Never think that you are alone in this world…you do have guardians and I am one of them.”
Simply this card means that this week is a week to pay special attention to the signs and messages we receive from the divine through our dreams, premonitions, natural omens, or the arts. Our guardians are watching over us this week, nevertheless, this card is reminding us to Pay Attention3. I think that is a very wise idea, don’t you?!
Wishing you all a very Happy New Year!
I hope this is helpful!
Until tomorrow,
AstroMommy
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Burton, Neel. “The Myth of Chiron, the Wounded Healer.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/202102/the-myth-chiron-the-wounded-healer.
Ebertin, Reinhold, and Reinhold Ebertin. "Mercury/Neptune." The Combination of Stellar Influences. Ebertin, 1972, pp. 126-127
Cavendish, Lucy. “31. The Dawn Watcher: Bells will ring.” Oracle of the Dragonfae. Blue Angel Publishing. Victoria, Australia, 2012, pp. 119-121.