A Christmas Carol Redux-Mercury Retrograde 12/2022

A story of retrospection, introspection, and the power of choice.

This is a story of a grumpy, old, miserly man named Ebenezer Scrooge who saw his family sent to debtors’ prison when he was young. This experience shaped the way he thought about life and created deep fear within him.  When he had an opportunity for love, he denied it for himself. He chose to focus on accumulation of money rather than wealth of relationships.  The story makes it clear that he was not interested in helping those less fortunate than himself.  He was fixed on maintaining his monetary wealth, but it came from a deep-seated fear within himself.

On Christmas Eve, Scrooge was visited, in a dream, by the ghost of his former business partner Marley. He sees Marley’s ghost wrapped up in chains and heavily burdened. Marley warns Scrooge that based on his current life, his chains are longer and heavier. Marley offers Scrooge a last chance to change his mind, to see how his choices affect so many lives, especially his own. He shows him scenes of Christmas nostalgia, the missed opportunity of the present and potential for the future-what his potential future would be like if Scrooge refuses to make changes.  Scrooge realizes that different choices could have been made and his life would have been significantly better. As he comes out of that experience, he makes new choices. And follows it with new action. He allows himself to desire compassion and depth of connection and reveals his authentic generous nature.

That was a pivotable moment in his life, and these are the energies of right now-a pivotal time in YOUR life.

It is the time frame to do some deep review.

• Look at your past conditioning from a zoomed-out perspective.  Are you ready to rewrite the narrative given to you by parents, caregivers, family, culture, society? Consider the choices you have made that brought you to where you are now.

• How do you value yourself? How do you value others? Where do you need to strengthen your boundaries? Where are emotional and mental walls keeping you imprisoned?  

• Do you want to continue to be burdened, held down, paralyzed by the weight of your chains? Do you hate the feeling of carrying them and, at the same time, terrified of the nakedness and vulnerability that exists without them?

These energies will not be leaving us for at least a month or so. There is no rush or pressure that you need to apply to yourself to ‘get this done’. 

Just as Scrooge awoke from his experience and realized he hadn’t missed out on Christmas Day; you can emerge from this experience with new insights and potential breakthroughs that will impact your life tremendously going forward.

If you feel like you may need some support or direction, I think I can help.  We can look at your chart together and have a conversation. Or there is an option to receive a written or recorded analysis of your chart that you can review at your own pace.

Know that you always have the power to make your own choices.

A testimonial of a client’s recent experiences within this transit cycle:

“This has been a critical period of introspection and reflection- A tearing down and destruction of the old conditioning and belief patterns. Confronting of past pain. Breakthrough-final death of an old version of myself. Very pronounced, noticeable. Newer version is now apparent, but the actions must continue to crystallize this new definition of myself. I didn’t add anything new, but it was death of the old cover and an opening of a gate within the prison where my true self had been locked. Uncovering and coming out feeling…revelation. Very high intensity and significant feelings of loss and grief that led to some despair. Now that I have mourned, I can now start revealing the true self.  Now, new boundaries are going to be made and will be tested as I relate. Now, I must hold myself within my defined boundaries rather than a mental prison. Choose those who can help provide safe space and support. This is different and I’m losing this fear-like I think when I let go of the rope. It’s not like you actually physically let go of something, it’s a feeling. It’s this energy inside you, right here, that you know that you’re free! I’m still trying to comprehend that I crossed the threshold-definitely did that there’s no doubt about that. The pressure was very much like- where am I going? Why am I stuck in this mode?  I’m in this doorway. I’m stuck like I’m standing in this doorway, and I don’t want to go through. and I think Christmas Eve was that stepping through like I had to get a little push for myself. You can go! I got pushed through. There wasn’t a whole lot of people that I was leaving behind because it was : will they leave me behind when they see that I am different? I don’t think they will go because this version of me- this is the authentic version -not covered up or pretended by super ego persona. This is a genuine mind. And this genuine me has these needs and wants for expression and to give and get. You know, give and take, receive - and that’s with the people of my life. But yeah, there was a lot of picking up new work of revealing of me, revealing of authentic-always-been-there version of me but it feels new because it has been covered up for so long.”

A deeper look at the transits:

Mercury rx conjunct Venus conjunct Pluto in Capricorn

·         How do I redefine my own sense of self-worth and self-authority in the face of past conditioning and pain? How do I set a new direction once I have confronted and released the past?

Mercury rx sextile Neptune in Pisces

·         There is support for self-forgiveness, healing the inner critic.

South node in a yod to Mars retrograde (gibbous phase) and Chiron (full phase). Uranus is the boomerang point.

·         There is an internal crisis that requires adjustment of how I wish to assert my will in the face of opinions of others. How do I reconcile the wounding of my past by confronting my losses, betrayals, abandonment? How do I face the feelings of rejection, alienation, and being misunderstood?  Potential for sudden breakthroughs and insights. And the drive to individuate.

Chiron recently direct in Aries

·         Have we been doing the inner work to breakdown our conditioning and individuate ourselves? Where do we still hold the thoughts that we are worthy of rejection?

Jupiter conjunct moon in Aries

·         Change is desired, emotions are front and center- I want to change my belief patterns, I must do something and now, but I may not know what that something is. I am frustrated and insecure while carrying the impetus to just do it!

The Cold Moon-Capricorn New Moon

December 23, 2022

Saturn is the planet associated with this constellation and is often referred to as the planet of time, karma, and discipline. This energy brings us the sense of responsibility, maturity, and self authority. But at its evolutionary core-it brings us new direction.

An excerpt from a letter written by a first century Jewish Christian contains what, I feel, is the essence of the Capricorn New Moon and Capricorn season overall. 

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.”

• What does it mean to be sober-minded, vigilant, watchful, aware? Does it have to mean the trauma response of always looking over your shoulder or walking on eggshells? Or can it mean to know your own mind and have boundaries in place?

• Who is the true adversary-is it a person, an entity? Or perhaps it is truly an outdated mindset or pattern of conditioning. Now is the time to let it go.

The Devil, as one of the major arcana of the Tarot, represents Capricorn. The fullness of the archetype includes its shadow of toxicity, rigidity, restriction, and limitation.

But, oh there is hope… the potential for something new. The cardinal point at high noon in the natural zodiac shines the light on what is meant to be expressed in the world. Can you feel the stirring?

• What is faith?

My personal favorite definition is - Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen. 

• Have you been scared to hope, lost the joy of  potential?

• What are you manifesting? This is your unseen goal. And your faith is the evidence of its existence on its way to you-or you to it.

• What is the purpose of the last part of the above excerpt? All kinds of suffering exist all over the world. Is it meant to depress us even more?!? I would argue-no! It is to remind each and every one of us that we are NOT ALONE. Yes, we have our own individual experiences of pain, but we do not have to stay isolated.

Holiday time and the end of the old year moving into a new one is always a joyful time for me. Perhaps, it is because my Capricorn moon feels seen by the light of the Sun or maybe because it has the opportunity to create new memories with friends and family. 

Whatever this season is bringing to you, I wish you blessings for the holidays and the upcoming new year.  If you find yourself struggling to find hope, feel you have lost your faith, worry about being alone-please reach out. Let’s take a look at your chart together.

If you are interested in learning the basics of Evolutionary Astrology to better understand your own path, follow me here and on Meta for updates. I will be offering some new courses in 2023. Links can be found at the bottom of this page.

Jupiter in Aries…embrace the freefall

Jupiter begins its new 12 year journey on December 20, 2022 when it enters the beginning of the zodiac-Aries. This is an opportunity for a great new birth of exuberant energy that can propel us forward after these past few heavy, challenging years. Shadow Jupiter in Aries can take things too far, so it is always good to take a measure of the risk. But my advice to all (especially myself) is to JUMP-DO IT SCARED-and EMBRACE THE FREEFALL.

As an evolutionary astrologer, my view of the transits is always focused on the potential. I see and understand the challenges, but can always see the possibilities of redemption within. This is what I choose to express and offer to you…POSSIBILITY and POTENTIAL.

As Jupiter enters Aries, it is in a tense conversation with the Sun at its final push through Jupiter’s home sign of Sagittarius.

• What is showing up for you in the area of faith, philosophy, traditions? Are you feeling the impetus to push now-to birth the new life that has been growing in your creative womb?

Jupiter in Aries (impetus) is supporting the Moon in Scorpio (deep personal transformation) and being supported by Pluto in Capricorn (new direction after the death of the old).

• How is this creative new life defined by your recent personal growth and where are you being asked to share your knowledge with others?

Venus and Mercury remain together in Capricorn as Mercury begins to slow before its retrograde beginning December 29th. Venus (our values) and Mercury (our thought patterns) in the sign of Capricorn want structure. They want a plan, but can easily become stuck. Especially as they meet up in a square to the wounded healer Chiron, currently retrograde in Aries.

• Where are your fears and limiting beliefs keeping you boxed in? It is more than ok to let go of these self-imposed restrictions. You (and I) have never not been worthy!

YOU CAN TAKE UP SPACE!

As the Solstice ushers us into the next season, the Sun begins its annual trek through Capricorn. Capricorn, for all its negative reviews, is so much more than ‘work and no play’, ‘only concerned with money’, or ‘cold and unfeeling’. Capricorn brings us into the new year and sets us in a new direction with laser focus. It can give us a concrete expression of determination.

So, here we are-standing on the ledge with our goals in sight. But we must make the jump-like Neo in The Matrix.

Free the mind, take the jump, and embrace the freefall…

Stay tuned for the New Moon in Capricorn forecast coming later this week. The Cold Moon will occur on December 23, 2022.