Highlights for Dec. 28, 2020-Jan. 3, 2021: Longhand

Longhand

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Lately, I’ve taken to writing these weekly thoughts in bed, scribbling them in longhand with my purple Sharpie on the back of used paper. I’m doing that right now, with an assist from Violet, who’s lying on my side and grabbing at the pen as it flies across the page.

In the last days of a rock-hard, Capricorn year, this Full Moon in Cancer (Dec. 29, 2020, 7:28 pm PST), Capricorn’s opposite sign, is just made for writing in bed with a cozy cat. Cancer symbolizes home, the safe cozy place where we retreat from a harsh world, and our nurturing relationship with the creatures who share that place with us. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a farmhouse in the country, an apartment in the city, a camper van, or a yurt. If your home shelters and protects you, if you feel safe and nourished there, that what matters.

We’ve spent a lot more time in our homes this year. Some of us have, by necessity, made our homes into schools and places of business; in many ways, spending so much time together in one place has made it tough, some days, to remember that ties of love are what define home. This is the Full Moon each year when we ask ourselves whether we’re working as diligently to create a happy home and family as we are at earning money and getting ahead in the eyes of people we don’t know well. That question is the same this year, despite the number of hours we’ve spent together.

Last week’s First Quarter Moon in Aries and, especially, that Moon’s finally aspects to Mars and Pluto opened some wounds that were just beginning to scab over. Now’s the time to retreat and heal, and to take care of our loved ones, too.

Feet of clay

We want to believe the best about the people we love.  But no one is perfect, however much we love them. And this week’s Venus square to Neptune (Dec. 30, 2020, 2:19 am) prompts us to consider whether we can still love those closest to us even after we know what’s no so lovely about them.

Even if your relationships are doing just fine, this aspect can signal a challenge to our basic values. Our politics, figures of inspiration, our approach to earning and managing money… any of these can suddenly be revealed as naïve or wrong-headed.

Venus moves quickly, so this transit has only a glancing influence, no more than a couple of days. But if Neptune has been leaning on your chart during its long stay at the 18th degree of Pisces, this transit could trigger a larger shift in how and whom you cherish – especially with Venus on the Moon’s South Node. Is there anyone, or anything, you once believed in that needs to be let go? Walking away is not always the right response to disillusionment. But sometimes, it’s the only one.

Faith and reason in the choir

The heart may be somewhat disillusioned this week, but the mind saw the truth all along. The first planetary aspect of 2021 is Mercury’s sextile to Neptune (Jan. 1, 2021, 3:18 am), and it has some advice to offer us for the new year ahead.  Advice like the classic sign posted behind the counter of a small shop: “In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash.” Or, “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition!”

Neptune is the ruler of faith – but faith works best when it’s hung over a well-reasoned, clear-eyed framework. We have to use common sense, learn what we can about a situation, and reason the matter through before we grant ourselves the luxury of faith. In this, Mercury in pragmatic Capricorn excels.

But as Neptune reminds us, reason isn’t everything. I’ve studied astrology fairly diligently for nearly half a century, and it’s proven a reliable guide to understanding myself and others. But that’s not why I love it. I love it because it supports my faith that the universe is meaningful and that there are connections between what happens in the heavens and what takes place on earth. These aren’t things that can be proven, but that doesn’t matter. For all the astrological techniques and theories I’ve explored over the years, faith is the underlying factor that makes sense of it all for me.

As Mercury and Neptune harmoniously usher in the new year, there’s an opening in the wall that separates faith and reason, and a common hymn book that lets them sing together in the choir.

Writing and collages © 2020 April Elliott Kent

Jen and I explore all the week’s highlights  in our latest podcast episode,

062 | Cancer Full Moon & Buh-Bye 2020!

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2 comments to " Highlights for Dec. 28, 2020-Jan. 3, 2021: Longhand "

  • Jana Moreno

    I feel that your writing is especially beautiful and clear.
    Thank you for bring here.
    Thank you for providing weekly guidance and understanding of how the universe influences our lives each and every week.
    I admire your devotion as well as your talents.
    Happy New Year to you and yours

    JM

  • As a fellow astrologer, of over 40 years, your writings bring me comfort and joy. Couldn’t agree more about faith! Love the way you write. Happy new year.

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