Just a few days before the Sun ingresses into Capricorn for the December Solstice, we will have a lively Full Moon on December 18, 2021 at 8:35 p.m. on the West Coast.
This lunation will occur with the Sun at 27 degrees, 28 minutes of Sagittarius and the Moon at the same degrees of Gemini. Twenty-seven degrees of Sagittarius is the location of the Galactic Center, the astronomical center of our Milky Way galaxy. The Galactic Center is believed by many astrologers to be an energetic power point likened to the Sun of our Sun.
Especially for those of us who have Sun, Moon or a planet in late degrees of Sagittarius – and really, for everyone – this Full Moon will be an auspicious time to meditate and center ourselves to receive inspiration and a renewal of faith.
This Full Moon in Gemini is guided by quirky, fast planet Mercury. Gemini, our mutable air sign, represents insatiable curiosity, a bottomless pit of desire for more data, more knowledge. Gemini endlessly wants information, for its own sake and also to better relate to others: to spin a good tale, a joke or a song. Gemini wants to know everything and everybody, wants to network with you and me and your cousin and your neighbor down the street.
In addition to meditating with the awesomeness of the moment, the December 18 Gemini Full Moon will also be a fine time to get on the phone or zoom and yack with friends. Or to make a mental list of things to ponder in the coming days.
That’s because what comes next is not so light and breezy. This lunation comes as the planet Venus is spending an unusually long time in Capricorn, from November 5 until March 5, with a retrograde period from December 19, 2021 until January 29, 2022.
Whenever a planet is in one of its regular periods of retrograde motion, the standard advice is to focus on the themes carried by that planet. Venus, portrayed in mythology as a goddess of both love and war, represents our likes and dislikes, how we express love (or hate) for others, how we spend our time and money – in other words, our entire set of values.
Venus in Capricorn conjures all sorts of meanings. It is conservative, not in the political sense, but more like someone who makes regular deposits into her savings account.
The Sun will ingress into Capricorn on December 21, which is the Solstice point and the start of winter in the northern hemisphere.
In the world of newspaper horoscope columns, Capricorn gets a rap for being ambitious and stodgy. Yet, there is so much more possibility and subtlety to any of the astrological symbols.
Capricorn, pictured as a goat climbing a mountain, wants to achieve something with caution and a sense of duty. Like its opposite sign, Cancer, Capricorn has to do with care-taking. Whereas Cancer, ruled by the Moon, is softly nurturing, Capricorn, ruled by Saturn, is tougher, representing integrity and responsibility. Both Capricorn and Cancer are parental archetypes.
This period of Venus in Capricorn (November 5 to March 5) is most notable for its conjunction with Pluto. There will be three exact conjunctions of Venus and Pluto. The first occurred on December 11. The second will be on Christmas Day, and the third on March 3, 2022.
Pluto, the powerhouse, in conjunction with Venus, the planet of all things relational, may correlate with a dredging up of painful, memories – all the could-haves, should-haves, and would-haves of our love lives. During a period of Venus retrograde, one might have a synchronistic encounter with someone from the past, either in the 3-D world or in a dream. With Venus conjunct Pluto, one might become more conscious of the past, and it might be easier to finally say goodbye to it.
This lunation, and the Venus-Pluto conjunction, occur at about the time when Saturn and Uranus will make their third exact square of 2021 a couple of days before Christmas. This outer planet square has been the dominant transit all year, punctuating all the hard conflicts all over the world, between forces of the status quo and challengers seeking to disrupt.
As if 2021 has not been a hard year all along, the transits at this Christmas time are tense.
In Capricorn, we find a clue for the medicine of this time, and it goes like this: Each of the zodiacal signs has within it, also, the qualities of its opposite sign. Capricorn, stoic and self-sufficient though it is, faces and has a clear line of sight with the balm of its opposite sign Cancer, the Great Mother, the One who lives and breathes inside that center of the Milky Way Galaxy, the Creatrix who gives birth to all.
In the cold and dark of the Capricornian winter, prompted by the December 18 Full Moon, the Great Mother holds aloft the light that will soon return.
That’s why regardless of any of the social commitments you have at this end of the year, the Winter Solstice and the traditional 12 days of Yuletide that follow it are an ideal time to clear some time to mother and father yourself, to seek at least some degree of hibernation, like a bear taking refuge in a cave.
Full Moon and Solstice Blessings,
Sara
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