A Change is as Good as a Rest
In the midst of a busy week for Venus, she trines Uranus (Dec. 2, 2024, 6:43 am PST) and enters Aquarius (Dec. 6, 2024, 10:13 pm PST), which have some measure of experiential overlap. Uranus is associated with Aquarius in modern astrology, because both symbolize a kind of reckless, rebellious, unpredictable quality. Uranus likes to shake things up, and Aquarius likes its distance and breathing room and has a certain benign indifference to the world of relating.
As Venus makes its connections with this planet and sign this week, their influence brings a kind of happy disruption to relationships. However content and comfortable you might be in a partnership things can grow stale and dull over time unless you make the effort to change up your routines and pleasures. As the old saying goes, “A change is as good as a rest.” The smallest alteration of your normal routine can be incredibly refreshing!
The White Dog, the Red House, and the Bodega
Mercury turns retrograde when it’s reached its maximum distance ahead of the Sun. Like a little kid attached to its parents by an invisible leash, it races back toward the Sun with news of what’s just ahead. Some of it’s important, some of it isn’t. “There’s a big white dog about two blocks up the road!” and “The Wilsons are painting their house red!” spills out alongside “There’s a group of scary looking guys hanging around the bodega!” It’s not really Mercury’s job to sort out the important from the trivial; it’s all just news.
When retrograde Mercury reconvenes with the Sun by conjunction (Dec. 5, 2024, 6:18 pm PST), we pause to ask ourselves whether any of that news is important to us, and how much energy we should put into preparing for what lies ahead. Meanwhile, Mercury continues on its way backward through our recent journey, looking for missteps. Did we forget to pay a bill? Overlook an important page on the document we signed? Neglect to make a service appointment for the car?
What really needs to be addressed? Start with the things that will put you in a better position to deal with what you know is around the corner – the white dog, the Wilsons, the guys at the bodega. Then tackle what’s obviously going to be helpful whatever comes your way. Pay the bill. Get the car serviced. And take some dog treats along with you.
Becoming – and Telling – a Bigger Story
Mercury and the Sun oppose Jupiter this week (Dec. 4, 2024, 2:16 am PST; and Dec. 7, 2024, 12:58 pm PST, respectively). It’s the second in a series of three Mercury-Jupiter oppositions (the first on Nov. 18, the last on Dec. 26), an aspect that can be a lot of fun, but can also lead us to cherry-pick facts that support what we already believe is true. It’s a good one, though, for precisely articulating our dreams for the future, so grab a pen and start writing this stuff down.
Meanwhile, the Sun’s aspects to Jupiter usually point to a very low tolerance for being told what to do or believe. But take a moment to consider whether you’re apt to be a bit bossy yourself, or too vehement in expressing your beliefs.
The Grindstone
When we’re comfortable and well-fed, with a roof overhead and no immediate threats to our safety, it’s hard to find the motivation to save the world – or even just to think about the future. But Saturn’s ongoing journey through Pisces insists that we do just that.
As the Sun and Mercury in Sagittarius square Saturn this week (Dec. 4, 8:18 am PST and Dec. 6, 5:53 pm PST, respectively), we find that our efforts to get comfy and enjoy the merriment of this season have been thwarted by limitations, obligations, and a nagging sense of unease. A changing landscape is calling us toward action. Shirtsleeves must be rolled up, noses pressed to the grindstone. The future can no longer be ignored.
The Extra Layer
In the cycle of two planets, as in a love story, there are predictable chapters: The planets meet (conjunction), they kiss (first square), they confront reality (opposition), and they decide whether or not they have a future together (last square).
In between, there are moments of ease and ecstasy – the trines. And then, there are moments of choice – the sextiles. Often, these moments represent low-stakes choices: Do I confess that I don’t really like his favorite restaurant? Do I take a weekend away with my dear friends, even though he might feel lonely? Do I risk sharing something from my past that I’m not proud of, in the hope of gaining more intimacy?
This is more or less that it’s like when Venus, symbol of relating, sextiles Neptune, planet of romanticism and illusion (Dec. 4, 2024, 10:52 am PST). It’s a low-stakes aspect, but it grants the opportunity to build an extra layer of honesty and empathy into a relationship.
Slaying the Dragon
Mars stations retrograde in Leo this week (Dec. 6, 2024, 3:33 pm PST), and won’t turn direct again until Feb. 23, 2025. Dealing with retrograde planets is not just a matter of playing defense, passively sitting by and waiting for it all to pass. Retrograde periods are great times to reflect on our relationship with the planet in question and what it represents, to look within for answers, to retrace our steps and restore whatever we knocked over on our first sprint across the landscape.
If there’s a universal message for Mars retrograde, maybe it’s something like: Rethink your work. Do you like what you do for a living, the tasks that occupy your day? Do you enjoy a healthy balance of work and leisure in your life? These are questions of the privileged, aren’t they; people all over the world would love the luxury of contemplating questions like these. “What do you mean, enjoy my work?” asks the destitute third-world farmer who spends every waking moment trying to provide for his family. “What do you mean, leisure?” demands the family straining every nerve to cover the rent and fill the gas tank.
What does Mars retrograde mean for people who are using every resource, every drop of strength just to get by? I suppose it’s a time of tapping into even deeper resources of strength and courage to slay whatever dragons lie in our paths; to find the grace to remember how much we do have; and to contemplate how we might, in the months ahead, lend a little of our Mars strength to those who need it.
The Tide Comes In
Neptune, when it’s retrograde (as it has been since July 2), is like the beach when the tide is out. The landscape looks a little stark, littered with ropes of kelp, chunks of driftwood, and birds scavenging for something to eat.
It’s easier to walk on the compacted sand at the waterline, though. And Neptune’s retrograde times seem, to me, to be a time when we walk on more solid ground, with a clearer view of the inner and outer landscapes.
And then, when Neptune turns direct again (Dec. 7, 2024, 3:43 pm PST), the tide comes in and we’re pushed back to the shifting sands of the shore – to sit, spellbound, lulled by the sounds of the waves. Enjoy their watery music, but keep a safe distance.
Moving Parts
I love to travel, but whenever I do, I feel vaguely as though I’m under siege. It’s wonderful to get a change of scenery, yet I live in constant fear of losing things or leaving them behind, as though I’m moving too fast in unfamiliar surroundings and would lose my head if it wasn’t fastened on.
Sagittarius is the sign of the wanderer, the traveler, and the Sun’s annual passage here is suited to leaps of faith and exploration. But as the Moon moves into its First Quarter, in the easily-distracted sign of Pisces (Dec. 8, 2024, 7:27 am PST), too many moving parts, too many things changing at once, can knock us off our pins.
The First Quarter Moon always urges us to move ahead instinctively, to take a step forward. This particular one comes with a warning, though – to err on the side of caution, and to avoid doing too many things at once.
Writing and images © 2017-24 by April Elliott Kent
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