To Arrive Where We Started
We have more gifts than we know, and the greatest is the honor of being one true, authentic, and utterly unique self. We get only one chance to be this person, with this body and this biography.
It seems to me, now past my second Saturn return, that the entire process of living exists only to bring us closer to who we really are. As T.S. Eliot wrote, “… the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time.” When we encounter bumps along the journey – hard transits, if you will – we’re given a chance to chip off more artifice.
Take this week’s square from Mars to Saturn (Dec. 8, 2025, 4:15 pm PST, 25º15’ Sagittarius-Pisces). Imagine Mars is the sculptor’s chisel, and Saturn is a huge block of marble. What’s inside that cool chunk of rock? The sculptor thinks he knows… and his mission is the hard work of uncovering it.
When the Tide Comes In
Neptune, when it’s retrograde (as it has been since July 4), 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. 10, 2025, 4:23 am PST, 29º22’ Pisces), 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.
Overactive Mercury
Enjoy another week of overactive Mercury, as it retraces steps from recent weeks: an opposition to Uranus (December 10, 11:59 am PST), trine to Neptune (Dec. 11, 2025, 2:19 am PST), and sextile to Pluto (Saturday, December 13, 8:32 am PST).
These are links in a planetary chain that connects Mercury with the same aspects in the last week of October and the week of Nov. 17. Mercury, the planet of communication, perception, and connection, revisits Pluto’s power, control, and intense focus; Uranus’ command to change our minds and look at things from a different point of view; Neptune’s healing, intuition, and compassion.
On these days, as Mercury revisits so many past aspects and then enters Sagittarius, it’s probably best to slow down, look within, and see if we can connect the dots to the recent past.
Cleaning up the Sagittarius Draft
People who enjoy reading but are not themselves writers might imagine that the process of spilling words out onto the page is as effortless and enjoyable as it is to read them. But in fact, most writers write big, messy, awful first drafts that you wouldn’t enjoy reading at all. Sometimes it’s hard to imagine what you want to say at all until you see some version of it on the page (or computer screen), complete with every scrap of inspiration or vaguely-formed idea, every half-finished sentence and mixed metaphor.
Now, you don’t hit “publish” on the blog post or send it to a publisher or agent in that desperate condition. You have to go back and knit together something comprehensive, address the punctuation issues, throw out what doesn’t work, and generally tidy things up.
While the Sun is in Sagittarius, we write a big, messy first draft of our big ideas and adventurous schemes for the new year that’s just around the corner. The sky’s the limit for our Sagittarius imaginations; our quivers are filled with arrows that may or may not hit their targets.
Sagittarius season’s Last Quarter Moon in Virgo (Dec. 11, 2025, 12:52 pm PST) is when we hand the plan for the upcoming New Year to our inner editor, who breaks it down, decides what’s realistic and essential, excises the excess, and tightens the prose. If you’re a little bit of a Virgo type who is used to playing this role with a Sagittarian type friend, you know the resistance and tension in this process. We don’t want to give up any of our Sagittarian arrows. But our only hope of making any dreams come true is to focus, and to decide which scheme shows the most promise. And in this, Virgo excels.
A Jester in Sagittarius’ Court
At first glance, Mercury entering Sagittarius (Dec. 11, 2025, 2:40 pm PST) doesn’t seem like a bad fit. Both planet and sign are talkative, interested in the world and in ideas and communication. So why is Mercury traditionally considered to be in his detriment in Sagittarius?
Because it’s Mercury’s job to gather information, which requires being open to new ideas, but it’s Sagittarius’ job to make sense of information and formulate opinions. The Masters candidate has to stop researching (Mercury) at some point and present her thesis (Sagittarius). The author has to surrender the manuscript to his publisher. The employer, having interviewed the best candidates, has to decide which one is the right fit.
Mercury is happy to adopt Sagittarius’ vivid, enthusiastic, jovial communication style for a few weeks. But secretly, he may feel sidelined as a jester in Sagittarius’ court, where the king has made up his mind and is not really inviting fresh input.
God’s Angry Representative
I grew up in a tiny farm community, maybe 100 yards of asphalt road from a small church. My parents weren’t religious, but my grandmother was, and we were sent there each Sunday because it was important to her.
I loathed the services; so much yelling and pounding of the pulpit. Why, I wondered, did God hire such angry representatives? It didn’t make me feel closer to heaven – it made me feel like God himself disapproved of me, personally.
I imagine the red-faced minister was sincere in his beliefs. He certainly was adamant in them. But the contrast was sharp between his fire and brimstone sermons and the pious hymns that punctuated them – not to mention the sweet grandmother who wanted me in that pew.
Mars squares Neptune this week (Dec. 14, 2025, 3:44 am PST, 29º22’ Sagittarius-Pisces) on the Sabian symbol 30 Sagittarius, The Pope. The angry minister of my youth was certainly in conflict with sensitive, spiritually aware Neptune, a reminder that when we’re championing a cause, yelling won’t win others to our point of view. We all have our own beliefs, our own faith, that are dear to us. In the end, touching hearts wins out over pounding the pulpit.
Define Your Terms
Mars enters Capricorn this week (Dec. 14, 2025, 11:34 pm PST) and will be in this tough, pragmatic sign through Jan. 23.
Capricorn is considered one of Mars’s strongest signs, because the discipline and strategic gifts of Capricorn temper Mars’s impatience and harness its formidable gifts of energy, determination, and courage. That makes this Mars in Capricorn times effective for formulating strategies for both the short term and long term, and laying the groundwork for success. It’s an especially useful transit for setting out resolutions that are physical in nature, such as getting more exercise, refining your diet, and improving strength and stamina.
Once Mars goes into Aquarius, it will be time to deploy these plans, possibly as part of a team. But for now, enjoy the more solitary style of Mars in Capricorn to define your terms, refine objectives, and gather resources.
Writing and images © 2017-2025 by April Elliott Kent
