It was towards the end of last month that within the space of just 48 hours the Sun, Mars and the dwarf planet Ceres all returned to your home and family sector, kicking off the first planetary activity on the home front this year. This is the point in each year and the solar spotlight will always fall onto your home, family and/or property matters, with the Sun always spending the first three weeks of December here. The difference this time is that you have not only had Mercury here since early last month, with a chance to get your head in the game, ideas on the table and the communication lines open ahead of time, but Mars and Ceres are here as well. This is Mars’ first visit in two years and as a planet that is all about taking action, he is giving you the drive to get things done and make things happen until leaving in early January. At the same time, Ceres is looking beyond the when, where and how to your why, as she takes her first deep dive into your needs and priorities on the home and family front in four years. Mercury will leave on 2nd December but will retrograde back on 23rd December, the day after the Sun leaves, with Venus returning on 30th December to make home where your heart is. However, as he will always do the Sun’s return to a playful and creative part of your chart on the December solstice, this will turn the solar spotlight onto the fun, playful, romantic and creative part of life’s fence before Christmas. However, for the first time in 12 years, you will also be ending the year with Jupiter in your sector of adventure, travel, learning and discovery, with his direct turn on 31st December bringing him back in the game eight days after the Sun’s return. This is going to put a lot of focus on the playful, creative and adventurous side of life’s fence moving into 2024, though with a massive year on both the job and career fronts, this is also a chance to ensure you go into this with the right balance between work and play. Meanwhile, while Venus will end the year in your home and family sector, after leaving your income sector on 5th December she will spend the majority of the month until leaving on 30th December working to give your heart and your relationships a voice.
Because the Sun will always return to your romantic sector on the December solstice, the solar spotlight will always shift onto matters of the heart and all things romantic over Christmas, New Year and the holiday period. However, this year you have a mix of the expected and the unexpected. The expected is that the Sun’s return on 22nd December is the point in each year when the solar spotlight will always fall onto matters of the heart and that he will return to find Pluto, the planet of change and revolution here, as he has been since 2008. What is not expected is Mercury’s return on 2nd December, with the planet of communication returning nearly three weeks earlier to give your heart a voice and to put heart and mind on the same page. This is so early that Mercury will be forced to wait, with a retrograde turn on 13th December seeing him retrograde back out 10 days later and just a day after the Sun’s return. This is a case of one tagging in as the other tags out, with the Sun able to take it from here. After turning direct in the New Year Mercury will return for a do over next month but this time bringing Mars and Venus, the planets of love and passion with him. However, the biggest difference this year is something that is also ordinary and expected and that is to find Pluto here. Apart from Venus, who will make an early return next year that will allow her to catch the tail end of Pluto’s short double dip visit, this is the last time that the Sun and planets will return to find him here. Pluto is not only leaving in January but on the same day as the Sun and this is something that will be creating a subtle sense of urgency. While January is set to be even more romantically charged, this is the month that sets everything in motion. Pluto has been on his own since he retrograded back into your romantic sector in June after a short break, but Mercury’s return on 2nd December signals that it is time to bring things home. Meanwhile, Neptune’s direct turn in your relationship sector on 7th December will finally close the doors to the past after Saturn turned direct here last month, with both taking advantage of having Venus, the planet of love in your communication sector until 5th December.
In the very early hours of the month, there could be some financial tension as Venus starts to clear some pressure from forces on the other side of the financial fence as she moves into her final days in your income sector. It was in the closing hours of November that Venus’ clash with the dwarf planet Eris, the warrior princess of the cosmos in your financial sector not only peaked but just as she was crossing the lunar nodes, which until leaving in January 2025 are policing a balance between money coming in and money going out. This is just separating as you move into the new month but with Venus’ departure on 5th December ending all planetary activity in your income sector until the second half of the year of 2024, this is giving the planet of money a new sense of determination to make her final days here count. It was also late last month that a Full Moon in your career sector and its friendly aspect to Venus has helped to inspire your motivation while infusing the momentum this created with a lucrative sense of direction. It is just a few days after Venus leaves that the Moon will move through, with its last visit to your income sector for the year from 7th December to 9th December able to sharpen your nose for money and act as a trigger. While this will leave your income sector empty, after months of planetary activity that began in June there is more than enough momentum and untapped income potential, something that new developments on the job front in January will pick up on. In the meantime, this will shift more focus onto the other side of the financial fence where Chiron has the brakes on ahead of his direct turn on 27th December and the dwarf planet Eris, the warrior princess of the cosmos ahead of her direct turn next month. The planets focused on money matters have been in retrograde motion and in review mode during the most active months of the year on the income front, but as their rein ends, they are coming out of hibernation. You will get a read on this and on money matters when the Moon makes its last visit to your financial sector for the year from 20th December to 22nd December.