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This month’s round-up includes:

Chris Brennan
The Astrology Podcast
Austin Coppock
Kelly Surtees
The Water Trio
Alicia Yusuf
Cassandra Tyndall
Pam Gregory
Acyuta-bhava Dasa
Rick Levine

Get daily excerpts from this month-long forecast round-up by going to Hungarian Aquarian’s Facebook page.

Introduction:

Astrologers have known for a long time that 2020 was going to be, what Pam Gregory calls, “a very hard, concentrated, intense year,” based on hard aspects between Saturn and Pluto bringing in constraints, rules, regulations, and austerity.  In addition, Mars was in its home sign of Aries for half of 2020, and will remain there until the first week of January, 2021, after having gone retrograde and direct again. As a result, this planet of aggression, war, action, anger, and impulsive behavior, has formed difficult square angles—which will total three times when done–to the challenging planets Saturn, Pluto and Jupiter in Capricorn.  “Themes of individual freedom, independence, autonomy…clash [with Mars] because it is a square to top-down governmental authority, rules, regulations and constraints,” Pam says. The big corporations, political powers and structures that can lead to inequality are represented by Capricorn, and besides having the malefic planets piling up there this year, these slower moving planets stayed in mostly one place causing challenges from several planets in various ways, along with the multiple squares to malefic Mars, which earlier had been a guest at their party in Capricorn.

Levine introduced his December video by saying “This may be the most intense and craziest year most of us have every lived through. I don’t think any of us at the beginning of the year would have foreseen all the crazy twists and turns and powerful developments of this year.  All I can say is that for a year that has been a bit of a roller coaster ride…the trajectory is not over; we have not arrived.  December will not disappoint.”

Chris Brennan and company on The Astrology Podcast December 2020 video discussed some the astrological issues surrounding the recent election and the delays associated with it—as well as conspiracy theories—also brought up the economy.  Austin Coppock pointed out in that discussion that even though Saturn and Jupiter will be moving out of Capricorn this month, Pluto will remain in the last decan of the sign. That, he reminds us, is where Pluto was when the US began, in the midst of the American Revolution, meaning the US is headed for a Pluto return—the first in our history-and it runs through 2025.  Pluto conceals, and he sees here a problem of the hidden class structure.  “Nothing makes class clearer than luxury  condos next to a growing tent city,” he points out, as people are being evicted due to unemployment during the pandemic.

Although December holds a momentous long-term shift, as well as a total solar eclipse, its skies are actually less chaotic than those of the last several months.

—Austin Coppock
from austincoppock.com Astrology of 2020: The Bridge

The significance of December, besides the total new moon solar eclipse in Sagittarius on the 14th after a full moon penumbral eclipse in Gemini on the last day of November, and a full moon in Cancer at the end of the month, is what Austin Coppock calls “one of the epoch defining great conjunctions” of Jupiter and Saturn—the push-pull, the expansion-contraction, the peristalsis (as Rick Levine refers to it)—of the generational changes. It is significant because these two planets come together once every 20 years—thus the generational reference. But as they transit the zodiac and come together to signal a new change, they cover each element of fire, water, earth and air spending approximately 200 years in each element before they return to where they began. The two planets have met in earth signs—Virgo, Taurus and Capricorn—for the last 200 years, with some exceptions.  They met in the air sign Libra in the early 1980s, most recently, as Acyuta-bhava discusses in his special video series on this Great Conjunction. This brief foray into air signs in the 1980s can give us a hint as to what the next 200 years could bring. Acyuta-bhava Dasa points out that it was the “advent of the IBM PC,” and the dawn of music videos on MTV, along with the romance (Venus rules Libra which represents committed partnerships) personified by the Prince Charles and Lady Diana courtship and wedding.  It is interesting that as Jupiter and Saturn are going back into an air sign this month, the Netflix series, The Crown, is focused on that royal time frame.

Acyuta-bhava also points out the Jupiter/Saturn dichotomy—expansion/contraction, insiders/outsiders, spiritual/material, and status quo/avant garde—by saying that Diana was an outsider in some ways, having been working as an assistant to a kindergarten teacher living with two roommates, cleaning her sister’s house for money—a much different lifestyle to the one Charles and his family experienced.

Most importantly, the Jupiter/Saturn transit happening on the Winter Solstice, which brings this energy farther into the coming year, is one of the oldest planetary aspects studied by astrologers, and there is a reason for that. Several of the astrologers whose forecasts are discussed below have made special videos just covering the important meanings associated with this conjunction and why it is expected to bring significant change to our lives.  If you are interested in going deeper into what it can mean, click on the links to the astrologers above to see more from them.

Day-by-Day:

DEC 1. (NOV 30th FULL MOON LUNAR ECLIPSE)

We had the full moon lunar eclipse the night before which is still an important key to the beginning of this month.  Pam Gregory calls it “the shift of the ages.”  All the planets except for Uranus are moving direct, with the last one being Neptune on November 29th,which, she says, brings us forward with momentum. Neptune is moving slowly as it turns around at a square angle to the nodes—those are the points of the moon’s trajectory and they are close to the full moon, which is what lets us know it is an eclipse.  So, this lunar eclipse will feel the lack of clarity and fogginess of Neptune and because it is an eclipse, it will last for a long time—at least six months. Yet, that is the shadow side of Neptune—the lower energy it carries with it.  If we want to focus on the higher side of Neptune, we can choose to focus on spirituality, meditation, creativity through music and photography or films.

As the first eclipse of this eclipse season, Rick Levine says this one and the next are stirring up the energy since we have Jupiter and Saturn bringing the focus out of top-down, hierarchical Capricorn into Aquarius. With the eclipse having happened in communication signs, there will be “a lot of energy going on now in the airwaves.”  The sun, just before the eclipse occurred on Monday, began a series of half squares to the Capricorn cluster of Pluto (on Sunday, November 29), Jupiter in December, and Saturn in January.  The full moon made a square-and-a-half angle to Pluto.  This, Levine says, is a tense aspect as Pluto continues its transformation of the structures of society. We will feel that he says.

By December 1, Mercury moves into Sagittarius bringing hope, potential and possibility, Levine adds. It is an opportunity for us to play it high—in a compassionate, inclusive way that brings things to a higher level. 

Cassandra Tyndall discusses the fact that the eclipse is close to the fixed star Aldebaran, and with the eclipse being ruled by mercury (as it happens in the Mercury-ruled sign of Gemini), communication and connection will be an important aspect of this eclipse. Tyndall says, “there might be a rush to connect or to converse…and with Aldebaran and the north node there it is very amplified….” Jokingly, she reminds us of the old adage, “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story” as the meaning of mercury in Sagittarius. She says that words will hold weight, and we should be mindful of the words we speak—have “two ears but one mouth,” meaning listen more than you speak around this time and try to get insight and awareness of what people are saying.  Mercury gets to a 60˚ angle to Saturn just before Dec. 1 and Tyndall says that tells us that as we prepare for the change of energy from heavy Capricorn to the airy Aquarius, we should “think about what the good was and that the road was hard, but I’m glad I rode that road.”  Think, she says, about what you want to take with you going forward and what do you want to rewrite or not repeat.

Acyuta-bhava Dasa brings up the importance of a series of antiscia connections between mercury and the Capricorn cluster of Pluto, Jupiter and Saturn that occur between the 1st and 6th.  Antiscia is not a commonly discussed astrological connection and Acyuta-bhava has a video that explains them.  But he tells us that when Mercury is in an antiscia, it heightens the sense of the secretive, and it can be sneaky.  It can be a planet of invisibility, he says, and as such, “Mercury may bring things together that we don’t see right away…. It is possible things will be glossed over or we will try to hide things,” and these things will not be brought up until later—whether it is in signing a contract, exaggeration of something, inflation of information “to epic proportions.”  It is connected to Jupiter because Mercury is in Sagittarius, Jupiter’s home. But Jupiter right now is in the sign of its fall, which makes it weak and problematic.  So, this antiscia will reflect that.

Mercury in this situation can lead to zealous behavior, propaganda, jacked up speech, writing, exchange of goods, services or ideas, Acyuta-bhava tells us.  It is not a good time to start a legal battle.

The Astrology Podcast with Chris Brennan, Kelly Surtees and Austin Coppock brought up the points that a lunar eclipse generally brings a lot of emotional agitation with patterns being disrupted or interrupted.  For many people, they say, the part of life where the eclipse falls (based on the house in their birth chart) will find a period of things reaching completion.  Brennan notes that the moon in Gemini will be aa time when people “will want more information, they can’t get enough.”  Communication, conversation, ideas and information could become overwhelming.

Austin also brings up Aldebaran, saying that it signifies people with high rank because they own lots of things, so there will be noticeable events with people who own lots of things. 

DEC 4 – 5

More reason to be concerned about potential secret manipulation or shady behavior, Acyuta-bhava says, is that Venus in Scorpio (where it is weakened) is connected harmoniously to Neptune in its home—Pisces.  This, he says, is a romantic transit.  Venus being in Mars’ home is uncomfortable, and with Mars in the sky at a challenging angle to Pluto, indicates that people will be coercive and manipulative.  It is the sense of seducing someone while having an ulterior motive to dominate them, or overtake them in a competition, or to ultimately rain hostility upon them.  Perhaps sweet-talking to gain their trust and then pulling the rug out from under them when they are most vulnerable. 

Kelly Surtees points out that Venus in Scorpio with Neptune in Pisces on any normal weekend in December (pre-COVID) would be drinking, shopping, partying and general celebrations.  Even donating money for a compassionate cause.  It is a mix, she says, of wanting to escape and enjoy, but also feeling a need to show compassion for others.

Alicia Yusuf suggests that the attempts at compassion and kindness can blur the boundaries in a relationship, and that perhaps wanting to give something goes too far because Neptune confuses things and does not make things clear.  She prefers the idea of making it a creative weekend of painting, writing stories, or just generally putting the creative imagination to the best possible use.  It could also be that Venus at this harmonious angle to Neptune makes us see a partner or loved one with rose-colored glasses, which makes it a good time to “get swept up in a bit of romance and a bit of connection and allow that magic to flow in because, man, it’s been a dry year.” 

Cassandra sees it as saying, “Okay, I’m going to go out for just one drink” and then it ends up being a lot more than that.  Just note that when getting together with a friend, could lead to “the wine flowing and conversations going,” but conversations may be beautiful with the Venus/Neptune square, because Scorpio brings a little more depth to these connections. So, she advises that “when you can make the time for the people who really matter and spend some time with them,” it could be a really great time.

But on the 4th, Rick Levine, notes, Mercury is trine to Chiron, following the Thanksgiving Day trine that the sun made to Chiron.  He tells us, “We are in a season that is giving us the ability to heal some of the wounds that have been around for a while.”  Communication, he says, is important in doing that while Mercury is in “uplifting” Sagittarius.

Levine’s take on the Venus/Neptune trine on the 5th is that Neptune brings dreams, fantasies and illusions that can help us create the future. With Venus we are “attracted to the beauty of what is possible within the realms of [Neptune’s] imagination, which actually becomes the scaffolding upon which we can create the future,” he tells us.  However, at the same time, Venus is forming an uncomfortable quincunx to Mars, that gives us a bit of trouble because, he says, “There is something here about that we have a nice pretty, beautiful idea of what could happen, but when we put it into motion, it is not as necessarily as easy as we might like it to be.”

DEC 6

Levine talks about another layer of annoyance on this date when Mercury moving through Sagittarius comes into a 150˚ (uncomfortable quincunx) angle to Uranus, which means ideas we come up with are still not moving ahead as we would like without making an adjustment.  Mercury in Sagittarius “has the big idea, it knows exactly what it’s doing, and yet Uranus is not necessarily ready to make the radical changes” because even though Uranus is radical and revolutionary, it is in Taurus, a fixed sign. When the changes finally come in Taurus, “they are powerful and profound,” he tells us. But it takes time and effort or Uranus to move here.

DEC 7

The period beginning from December 7th through to the 17th, when Saturn moves into Aquarius, will see Saturn sitting on the Anaretic degree of its ruling sign, Capricorn—which is the 29˚ point.  The 29th degree of any sign, Pam Gregory tells us, “expresses as the shadow side of that sign,” meaning the lower energy or lowest function of that sign.  And, since Saturn is the ruler of Capricorn, this could be a particularly strong energy.  “Saturn in Capricorn,” she tells us, “is power and control, rules, regulations, laws that you have to abide by.” Capricorn is government and Saturn represents the wall, the boundaries, and Pam indicates that “again we’re going to hit this block,” meaning more controls, more constraints and more restrictions coming to a head by mid-month, after which a major shift takes place.   

DEC 9

Acyuta-bhava Dasa notes that after the Venus/Neptune trine on December 1, Mars is moving closer to a square (90˚ angle) with Pluto bringing “explosive, cathartic [energy that has] a lot to do with will, dominance and competition.”  Mars coming into a square to Pluto will paint December with “the temptation to do things in a more underhanded, covert, secretive manner, or to try to get away with things or to look one way on the surface but your motivations or intentions are different below the surface,” he warns. 

Neptune comes back into the picture by coming into a square with the sun, and a square to mercury that happens on the 13th.  And Acyuta-bhava says that with the sun and mercury in Sagittarius, they are in Jupiter’s sign, and when they reach a square to Neptune, it could have an “otherworldly” perspective, as well.  The sun being square to Neptune brings “a new vision and a new level of inspiring insight…like a person being pulled out of the water after they’re baptized…and there is a sense of healing and clarity…. There is even a sense of heroic or a divine calling or mission.”  It can, in a weird way, have something to do with disillusionment but also a sense of divine inspiration.  It sometimes can represent “a sense of the dissolution of something or someone; the passing of something or someone.”

The sun being square to Neptune brings “a new vision and a new level of inspiring insight…like a person being pulled out of the water after they’re baptized…and there is a sense of healing and clarity…. There is even a sense of heroic or a divine calling or mission.” 

Acyuta-bhava Dasa

Rick Levine notes that after the sun squares Neptune, it will be in a 120˚ harmonious trine to Mars in Aries, and what he says happens is that “the fantasies are no longer working.” The square between the sun and Neptune is about being misled or misleading others, he says.  And, it is also difficult to “take the fantasy we had a few days ago and incorporate it into the trajectory upon which we believe we are traveling.”  But by the 10th we will get Mars’ help.

Mercury being square to Neptune could be “a divine moment that starts to clear the clouds of haze and confusion; when it is not so important what happened in the past, or how it happened, or why it happened, or if we have been hurt or betrayed or misled or deceived—this could also be a clarifying moment where we suddenly say it doesn’t matter.” 

DEC 10

The help we sought yesterday is here with the sun in a harmonious angle to Mars, which gives us a “path upon which we can act,” Rick Levine tells us.  “This is a known trajectory—we are heading somewhere and heading with direction, with intention, with force, and it feels like we are actually moving in that direction” – until…the following day when the energy shifts again and Mercury is moving to form a square with Neptune.  So, make hay while the sun shines (on Mars).

The third exact square between Pluto and Eris takes place, which Pam Gregory says could bring “a stronger manifestation of that eruptive energy of protests and riots. Eris is ’the female awakener’,” Pam says— “the feisty one that if she feels she’s not being heard, if her needs are not being attended to, she’ll take to the streets.”  In the U.S., it could also bring up issues around the free press, and people feeling disgruntled that the “top-down authority…is potentially suppressing any discontent arriving on the street,” since this square will be part of a T-square to Mercury in the “birth” chart of the U.S.  In addition, Neptune is squaring other planets in the U.S. chart—Neptune in Virgo and Mars in Gemini, which Pam says suggest that “possibly some anger and confusion may continue to bubble up through the coming weeks” until the enormous shift of energy between the 14th and 21st.

DEC 13

Mercury comes into an exact 90˚ square angle to Neptune today, giving us the sense that the fantasy is over.  By tomorrow, the 14th (the same day as the important New Moon Solar Eclipse), Mercury is in harmonious trine to Mars and suddenly we may get some “energetic clarity” Rick Levine says. We get a view and perspective that may show us where we have been misled or have possibly misled others. Events from the past could come up and they will need to be drawn out and cleared.

DEC 14
NEW MOON SOLAR ECLIPSE

Austin Coppock says that this week—the 14th to the 21st—is a week of transition. First there is the new moon solar eclipse happening in Sagittarius, which Kelly Surtees and Austin point out is connected to the South Node.  Kelly notes that when there is a new moon on the South Node, there is tension between starting or stopping something, or wondering whether it is necessary to stop in order to start.  Austin responds that it is more about the latter, and that the South Node and new moons “are about clearing and emptying—emptying out to do a new other story.” 

“We have to do this so we can do what is coming,” Kelly adds.  While Chris Brennan points out that it opens up a chapter that will last for a year, opening up a portal “where all sorts of stuff will flood into that part of a person’s life in terms of endings and beginnings.”

It also may connect, Kelly says, to international travel and air travel.  “The last time the South Node was in Sagittarius was after September 11, 2001, and in 2002,” when air travel changed drastically related to documentation and security.  This South Node in Sagittarius, she says, will likely affect international travel in a post-pandemic world.

Chris suggested that reports of vaccines coming out in December could affect the travel industry and change the situation. Austin noted that three big astrological movements this month are connected to vaccines—the two eclipses and the Jupiter/Saturn conjunction in Aquarius.  More on that when we get to December 21. 

Acyuta-bhava Dasa points out that the new moon solar eclipse is in Jupiter’s sign, and while Jupiter is in Capricorn (the sign of its fall—where it is weakest) when the eclipse occurs, Jupiter will change signs two days later to a better place, where it will connect with Saturn (on the 21st) in Aquarius. So, the solar eclipse is happening in Jupiter’s sign, when Jupiter “is suddenly about to rise out of the ashes of poor dignity” and go into an air sign that suggests a big lift for Jupiter—it’s a good connection.

Pam Gregory notes this is a “super big new moon,” and it is a good time for setting a new intention, especially since the eclipse will take that seed that we plant forward into 2021.  People who have planets in their charts that fall between 20 to 26 degrees of the mutable signs –Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius or Pisces—will feel this eclipse very strongly. Those whose sun, ascendant or mid-heaven are conjunct this eclipse could see sudden success, and possibly be thrown into prominence, she says.  Some astrologers note that the number of hours a total eclipse lasts can correspond to the number of years the intensity and change will affect things. The totality of this eclipse is going to be three-and-a-half hours, Pam says.  Those countries in the path of its totality are expected to undergo fundamental change, she notes.

“This is a big new beginning, and eclipses are kind of a quantum jump, never gradual…they’re always a bit of a surprise or a wild card,” Pam points out.  It can be exciting and feel like stepping on the gas and moving quickly forward into the future. (Her video gives more details as to several other things happening around this eclipse energy).

DEC 15-16

With the moon having moved into Capricorn, Rick Levine points out that Jupiter and Saturn are at the final degree of Capricorn. This, he says, is incredibly important because Saturn leaves Capricorn on the 16th not to return for 27 years, where it began this crazy year with its conjunction with Pluto in January.  On the 16th Saturn moves with the moon into Aquarius for the first time in 29-and-a-half to 30 years. Jupiter moves faster than Saturn does, but it is still hanging out for a couple of days in Capricorn, before making its entrance into Aquarius, too, on the 19th. Jupiter will not return to Capricorn for 11 years, and will be in Aquarius for the first time since 2008.  Think back to that year and what was happening for you.  What house is Aquarius in in your chart, and how did that area of your life play out?  How did Saturn in Aquarius 30 years ago affect you?  

Venus, the goddess of good fortune, moves into Sagittarius, which is ruled by Jupiter. When you want to see how this could play out, you look at the ruler of the new sign it enters and what is happening to it. Acyuta-bhava notes that Jupiter is just getting ready to go into Aquarius, and Saturn just did. Jupiter’s energy is improving, which bodes well—expanding Venus’ good fortune. Venus is also at the point of forming an antiscia to both these planets, again. This positive planet Venus brings luck to Jupiter’s sign, right after a new moon solar eclipse on the 14th in that sign introduced a new beginning. With Jupiter changing signs being a portent of rebirth and renewal–and a big one, he says—the combination of sign changes will be very advantageous, as well as surprising.  He sees the possibility of it being about the feminine, being around harmonization, and bringing a stroke of luck or grace.

Rick Levine points out that Venus has been sextile (60˚ angle) to Jupiter and Saturn in Capricorn and will sextile them in Aquarius while Mercury forms the trine with Mars. Venus, he says, “softens the hard energy, the potential destructiveness of the eclipse.” The ancients, Levine tells us, said that “with an eclipse, the king must die. There is a transition of power with eclipses often, and that significant something “creates a deep and long-lasting transition that may take weeks, months or even years to unfold” because of the upcoming Jupiter/Saturn conjunction on the 21st.

DEC 19

Jupiter leaves Capricorn, which is a big deal, because in Capricorn it was in the sign of its detriment. It was like a balloon under a rock—it could not fly; it was held down from doing its Jupiter thing.  Acyuta-bhava Dasa says that with Jupiter in Capricorn we have been through a heavy, dark time, but when it moves into Aquarius, “some of that is going to lift just by nature of the dignity change” (the change of no longer being trapped).  With this move we can expect a change in how we feel, and for most people, Acyuta-bhava says, it will mean a feeling of “redemption, of restored faith, a new vision for the future, of being ready to start over and press reset after long, hard tribulations and challenges…of having persevered and gone through something and having to keep the faith.”

Jupiter is also representative of spring and new life and later in the month and year ahead as it passes Saturn, which is Chronos and old age, it will be the new era, the new epoch overtaking the golden age.  Saturn is also wisdom, lessons, mastery and maturity, Acyuta-bhava reminds us.  So, it will be taking that wisdom and turning it into tangible results, “where you’re going to see this idea of the enthusiasm, inspiration that comes into our life in some particular area and says now let’s go, and with Saturn it will be hard work,” but Jupiter brings enthusiasm to do something completely different. The balloon can finally fly.

DEC 21st
THE GREAT CONJUNCTION & WINTER SOLSTICE

Some of the key points of this day’s aspects was discussed in the Introduction above.  Saturn went into Aquarius earlier in the year, giving us a preview of what to expect for the next 2 ½ to 3 years while Saturn is there for the long-haul. “This is going to be a key week,” Rick Levine tells us, as we have come off of three Jupiter-Pluto conjunctions this year that began with a Saturn-Pluto conjunction, and now this Grand Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn “in the near vicinity of two eclipses and on the cardinal point of the winter solstice.” What we see happen here will be “incredibly important in the years to follow.” As Mars continues to move forward in Aries, passing this week’s Mars/Pluto square (on the 23rd) this movement of Jupiter and Saturn into Aquarius means that the final square of this cycle between Mars and each of those two planets will happen after Mars moves into Taurus, and “we are leaving the stagnation of this whirlpool of the cycle we have been stuck in since early in 2020 when the Capricorn energy began to build.”  He adds that when Mars in Taurus gets close to Uranus (on the day of the inauguration) it brings a dynamic, powerful change. “Things are not going to be the same after this point.”

What we see happen here will be “incredibly important in the years to follow….Things are not going to be the same after this point.”

Rick Merlin Levine

Chris Brennan points out that “Saturn went into Aquarius and the world went into lockdown,” relying on the internet—an Aquarius signifier—for social interactions.  It could also mean rules or restrictions being imposed on the internet since Saturn is returning to where it was when the worldwide web was formed, and Saturn is all about being disciplined, having boundaries, and following rules. 

Austin Coppock reminds us that in Aquarius, Saturn (and for a time, Jupiter, too) will be at a square (contentious) angle to Uranus. Uranus is freedom and Saturn is rules and they will be at that angle for the next few years.  But Chris points out that while there could be restriction in communications, ideas, and data, when Jupiter is in Aquarius until 2022—except for a few months in the middle of 2021 when Jupiter is in Pisces—there will be some positives with “expansive, optimistic and rapid boosts.”  Austin agrees, but adds, “Jupiter can help Saturn and Saturn cannot help Jupiter.  It affirms Saturnian rules and agenda.”  He also notes that while Aquarius is a better placement for Jupiter than Capricorn was for the past year, Saturn being there and being ruler of Aquarius, limits Jupiter “in its ability to accomplish things outside of Saturnian structure. Growth in Juperterian things –education, travel abroad or by air, religion and laws—will be saturnian rather than like free-flowing Jupiter.” So figure on restrictions in international travel, travel on planes, educational structures and that perhaps the rules and laws could see growth in limitations.

Acyuta-bhava Dasa notes that we can track back the last time Saturn was in Aquarius by going back 29 ½ to 30 years to see what was going on in your life at that time and where things can recur.  Saturn will be there for 2 ½ to 3 years until March 7, 2023.  Jupiter was last in Aquarius 12 years ago in about January of 2009, and that could be a clue to what things can be affected in an expansive way and what could be beneficial.  Jupiter spends about a year in each sign, though this year it moves into Pisces in May and June before returning to Aquarius until December 2021, when it goes back into Pisces—a very positive place for Jupiter to be.  The combination of Jupiter and Saturn occurs once every 20 years, and it has not happened in Aquarius for about 600 years.

But the two planets will counterbalance each other, especially as they quickly meet up in a challenging angle to Uranus soon. The potential, Acyuta-bhava says, could be so inspiring that it is like Icarus flying too high toward the sun, but with Saturn there—the heavyweight, the grown-up, the disciplinarian—it will not be permitted to go crazy, to expand too much.  Jupiter is zealous and enthusiastic and Saturn contracts and conserves. It keeps Jupiter from taking us shopping when we’re hungry and buying out the store, he says.

Acyuta-bhava says in looking at the changes coming as a result of Jupiter and Saturn moving into Aquarius, he felt excited, and it has the feeling of, “I once was lost, but now I’m found,” because there seems it will bring a “profound new sense of beginning” that happens collectively and personally. Jupiter in Aquarius he says will lift the darkness but that in 2021, Jupiter and Saturn will form square (90˚) angles to Uranus in Taurus. When Jupiter squares Uranus, it is about breakthroughs, records being broken, extreme sports—“like going to the supermarket when you have an empty stomach and buying everything because you are so hungry.”  People may feel inspired by things like technology, bitcoin, fast planes, but Saturn will clip our wings when something is too unrealistic, and our enthusiasm is bordering on fanaticism.

It will be hard work, but Jupiter’s enthusiasm will see us doing something completely different but at the same time doing it in a mature way with Saturn’s influence.  Jupiter will restore our faith and give us a feeling of being ready to start over.

Pam Gregory also notes that while Jupiter and Saturn meeting in a sign is generational and represents a new world view, this year they will shift from earth sign connections to air (Aquarius), which changes the “way society operates” and could related to our “social and political structures, to the culture of the time, to our values, to the economy,” particularly in light of Pluto still moving through Capricorn—deconstructing the old order to rebuild it into a new one around the time of the next presidential election.

This particular conjunction, she says, is unusual because it is not just a parallel conjunction (just an across measurement in the sky), but it is also a conjunction in an up-down measurement, which is exact on Chrismas Day, December 25th, and they will appear in the sky as one big star.  The last time it happened was in 1623, and not in Aquarius since 1405, the beginning of the early renaissance.  This one could be a more technological renaissance, she predicts, with “great new techonological leaps which will be life enhancing, life supporting….” It could also bring new changes to the financial system which she sees as bringing in the Aquarian theme of greater equalization of wealth across the world, rather than a hierarchical, top-down materialism that excludes people from benefiting. This once-every-20-year conjunction will now happen over the next 200 years in Aquarius, Gemini and Libra—signs that are much more focused on society, harmony, balance, social justice and equality for the collective.

The sun moves into Capricorn today, too, and Kelly Surtees notes that it is the first time in three years that Saturn will not be there.  It will begin to affect signs that are considered “fixed”—Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius and Taurus, but as Austin Coppock points out, it will be more spread out with one problem at a time, not with all the malefic planets on top of each other, which he says is “like someone punching you in the back of your head. It is not three times as hard with those three planets, it is 10 times as hard,” so separating the difficult planets helps ease things up.

DEC 22

Pam Gregory points out that Mars conjuncts Eris, the female awakener, today, and Mars will bring energy to that dwarf planet’s themes. Being in Aries it adds to the sense of “invincibility to stand tall,” and bring inner courage through the connection with Mars.

DEC 23

Mars and Pluto come into their final challenging square angle for the year today, which Kelly Surtees describes as “hot and combustible.” That, she explains, means that we could be dealing with tension, a difference of opinions, and it may be uncomfortable.   Austin adds that it brings up frustrations with power dynamics, especially those that are not clearly stated, but those that run deep. (Who’s the boss?)  Chris Brennan calls it a “manipulation of force behind the scenes” with an “intense concentration of energy,” meaning explosions of temper. We could feel it for a couple of days Christmas week.  But it is better that Saturn is now out of Capricorn and close to Pluto for this alignment, since Saturn can keep limits on Mars’ efforts to operate with speed and motion to get things done.  So that is not going to be in play now that Saturn has moved on.  But Austin points out that Pluto and Saturn meeting up together is “a once every 40th year conjunction that does not just go away overnight.”  The last time there was a similar energy, through Saturn and Pluto being opposite each other, was in September 2001, which affected things for a long period of time, even into wars and changes in travel rules.

Pam Gregory notes that Mars square Pluto can give energy and acceleration to the unraveling of the old as we go through December, January and February, which she says could be volatile and chaotic.  “Stay in your center, stay steady, because this has to happen for us to start to get to smoother waters,” she advises.  Things should start to look easier and more settled – almost celebratory, she says—as we get into March.  Stay focused on your future and pull your best future toward you.

Rick Levine talks about the additional connection of Mercury in a square angle to Chiron on the 23rd, and the sun hitting the same square on Christmas day. These squares represent “the difficult we are having with forgiveness, with stopping and finding common ground” instead of looking for what we have in common.  This, he says, is what we will begin to dig deeper into from this point through the next couple of years.

DEC 24-25

Mercury comes into a harmonious angle with unpredictable Uranus in Taurus, at the same time that the moon is aligning with Uranus in the sky.  “This is like an intellectual breakthrough,” he tells us. “No matter how stuck we thought we were, we get to move into some new direction.” He sees it as revolutionary in an innovative, futuristic way.  The sun will hit its square to Chiron on the 25th, and its need to find a forgiving attitude.  It is also the day that the Jupiter-Saturn up-down conjunction is exact, forming a bright light in the sky – the Christmas “star.”

DEC 27

The sun is moving into position to get ready for the end-of-the-month full moon, but before it does, today it will be trine (120˚ harmonious angle) to Uranus in Taurus, which, as when Mercury hit this point on the 24th, brings up innovative, futuristic thinking as we head into the full moon in Cancer.

DEC 29

This full moon, Rick Levine tells us, is the point that brings things to fruition—it is a culmination that, in Cancer, is emotional.  “This is about me protecting what I have, what is close to me in light of what I know the structures are externally.”  Those structures are the sun and mercury and Pluto in Capricorn.  Though we are now looking ahead as Saturn and Jupiter move into Aquarius, and we are building things anew, “Pluto still has some work to do with deconstructing…and getting rid of whatever it takes to empty out the eisting problems from the old structures.  And as the full moon moves forward past a square to Chiron, it will hit an angle of opportunity with Uranus, “so we are getting the ability to look forward to see what is ahead,” Levine says.

This full moon in Cancer, Kelly Surtees says, can be nourishing, calming and enjoying nesting time.  “For the last few years, it was blocked in ability to nourish or feel comfortable” because of the malefic planets (Saturn and Pluto in particular) in Capricorn.  Austin points out that for the “archetypically glorious moon we want the full moon in cancer configured to benefics (the good guy planets).  We don’t have that, but it is also not configured to malefics.  It is actually not bad, and the moon in its [home sign] will act like a benefic—comforting, nurturing.”  

DEC 30

Venus will form a 90˚ square angle to Neptune early in the morning, and as it approaches this point during the full moon, it represents “a bit of clearing the air, dealing with the illusions, delusions, the fact that fantasies are not working,” Rick Levine points out.  While we may want to just sit back and stay stuck in the fantasies, we cannot.   Though the most intense aspects are over, Levine warns, “We do not get a get-out-of-jail-free card.”  The ripples from the year 2020 are going out and the waves will build he says, just like the Saturn Pluto conjunction in January of 1519, when Martin Luther nailed the theses on the wall of the Church in Germany, he says,  this past Saturn-Pluto conjunction of 2020 will take decades, years, centuries for us to begin to understand what it all really means for us.

Chris Brennan says that this simultaneous square between Venus and Neptune coming at the same time as the full moon has a “dreamy, idealistic quality for relationships, which is nice in the moment, distracting, not grounded.”  He adds that while it is not fully in touch with reality, it can be good for the time being.

By New Year’s Eve, Chris says that Mars finally moves out of shadow, which is beyond the point where it went before it turned retrograde.  The good thing about this, as the year draws to a close, he says, is that it opens fresh new chapters, as does the other major changes of the planets this month. 

It is definitely the end of an era, Austin concludes.