There is a mix of the expected and the unexpected for this time of year. Not because of where the focus is, because this is fairly typical for December and more because of the influences in play and the timing. Because the Sun will always spend the first three weeks of December in your relationship sector before returning to your financial sector, the focus is always on your relationships and on your financial situation and money matters at this time of year. This is not the only thing that you are focused on, but this is where the Sun and the faster planets, those that will grab your more immediate attention will be focused. Until he leaves your relationship sector on 2nd December Mercury will begin a mission that began early last month to get the communication lines open, though this is not the last that you will see of him, nor will this leave the Sun on his own. Instead, within 48 hours of the Sun’s return last month Mars returned for his first visit in two years and the dwarf planet Ceres her first in four years. With Mars continuing to fuel a drive to fight for what you want from your relationships and what they need from you until early next month and Ceres not finishing her deep dive into your relationship needs and priorities until February, they will spend the rest of the year here. It is a day after the Sun leaves on 22nd December that Mercury will retrograde back in, something that will effectively see them swap places. Mercury will return to your financial sector on 2nd December with the smart head for money needed to get your head in the game and to think on your feet, something that the Sun will benefit from when he returns to put the solar spotlight on your financial situation and money matters. Yet as he does, Mercury will return to your relationship sector where as the planet of communication, he will spend the rest of the year with Mars and Ceres. They will be joined by Venus, the planet of love on 30th December, ending the year with packed relationship support. Until then, Venus will spend from 5th December to 30th December exploiting as much potential on the job front as possible.
Because the Sun will always spend the first three weeks of December in your relationship sector, the solar spotlight is always going to be on your relationships at this time of year. However, with a lot more influences in play and with a much longer reach. Last year the only planets to move through your relationship sector were the Sun, Mercury and Venus, who return every year and they were all gone before Christmas. This year you have Mars making his first visit in two years, the dwarf planet Ceres taking her first deep dive into your relationship needs and priorities in four years and both having returned in the Sun’s first 48 hours here. All three are still in their early days here but with Mercury having returned earlier last month, the planet of communication has been working to ensure the communication lines are open for weeks. Mercury will leave on 2nd December but sensing that this is something that won’t be over by Christmas, a retrograde turn will see him retrograde back in on 23rd December, the day after the Sun leaves. Mercury won’t be here for the Moon’s visit from 12th December to 14th December or the New Moon this will create on 13th December, but not turning direct until the New Year, from his return he will spend the rest of the year working to give your relationships, the past and unsaid words a voice. With Mars not leaving until early January, Ceres until February and Venus, the planet of love not even returning until 30th December, something that last year was over by Christmas will just be warming up. Held back by a retrograde phase, while Venus will end the year in your relationship sector she will start the month in your romantic sector, where until leaving on 5th December is holding the doors open to the last planetary activity on the romantic front until the second half of 2024. It is the Moon’s return from 7th December to 9th December that will allow these romantically charged lunar vibes to capture Venus’ essence before it dissipates.
Because the Sun will always spend the last 10 days and the first three weeks of every year in your financial sector, the solar spotlight will always be on your financial situation and money matters by Christmas and when you move into the New Year. However, apart from when he retrograded back out for less than three months last year Pluto, the planet of change and revolution has been in your financial sector since 2008, creating continuous planetary activity but in a slow and behind the scenes way. Pluto will always become more active when the Sun and the faster planets return but with one massive difference this year. After nearly 16 years Pluto is getting ready to leave in January and while he did leave earlier in the year, he was back less than two months later. This time, while Pluto will retrograde back for 11 weeks in 2024, it won’t be until later in the year and after that, he won’t be back again in our lifetime. This is the last time that the Sun will join Pluto here and after nearly 16 years of looking at ways to change things up, there will be a sense that it is now or never. However, December is very much a month of preparation for it is early next month that Mars will return and when the planet of war and revolution team up, this is when things will really start to move. Until then, Mercury’s return on 2nd December is a chance to use his smart head for money to get your head in the game and around your options. However, from the start, it will be clear that there is no hurry, for Mercury will already have the brakes on ahead of a retrograde turn on 13th December that will see him retrograde back out again 10 days later, a day after the Sun returns on 22nd December. It is just after Mercury turns retrograde that the Moon will move through from 14th December to 16th December. Meanwhile, it is in the lead up to the New Year and during the Sun’s first full week here that the Moon will not only return to your income sector on 27th December but as a Full Moon, giving the income side of the financial fence one last boost for the year.