“The only true spirituality is the incorruptibility of the Self, which is eternal. It is the harmony between reason and love. This is the highest reality, the absolute unconditioned Truth, which is life itself.” – Krishnamurti
The harmony between reason and love is challenged on many levels this week. The Sagittarian quest for the unconditioned Truth is emphasized with the Sun, Mercury, Venus and Saturn in the sign that represents the quest for expanding our understanding of everything. Mercury just turned retrograde and is closing in on the end of its four-month cycle, compelling a need to finish various mundane activities before December 12 (for more on this read Jim Sher’s article, Mercury Retrograde December 2017). Mercury backs into its second exact conjunction with Saturn on December 6 (the first was on November 27), prolonging the emphasis on expressing reason (Mercury) with integrity (Saturn). This pressurized aspect may also bring on an awareness of the level to which we identify with fear, or may make it necessary to overcome an avoidance of dealing with something in a responsible way. For example, this week in Washington, lawmakers (Sagittarius) will be rushing to closure the polarizing tax reform bill. The hastily drawn Senate version passed on the eve of Mercury turning retrograde is a set up for missed steps that will need to be picked up during the retrograde period if the bill is to pass. With the Republicans likely to continue their repression of debate and hearings on the bill, the Democrats may be compelled to take their case to the public via the media (Mercury).
The methodical nature of the unusually long three-week Mercury/Saturn aspect may collide with the rush to finish projects before the end of the Mercury cycle. Furthermore, Mars forms a robust sextile to Mercury/Saturn also on December 6, which may accelerate our thought processes and bring clarity of mind to help move things forward. Mars’ quick acting nature prods the more reserved Mercury/Saturn pair to deal with the reality of a situation with a greater sense of urgency, starting with the need to talk about it. The similarly prolonged trine Mercury makes to Uranus, the second on December 10, further increases mental processing power and may correlate to flashes of inspiration for ways to work around any limitations. Whereas Mercury/Saturn seeks to follow rules that establish order, Mercury/Uranus disrupts that order due to its need for freedom to innovate. Mars, still in orb of its opposition to Uranus last week, will unhesitatingly drive the action. The likely increase in Mercurial processing this week can go many ways depending on what we individually bring to it.
On December 9, Mars makes a palpable shift from socially graceful Libra to intense and probing Scorpio, changing the archetypal focus of action from creating ease in relationships to delving into the power of them. Being the traditional ruler of Scorpio before Pluto was discovered in 1930, Mars is quite at home here, archetypally pursuing what it wants with great passion, which could take on a dark tone if it comes from a sense of survival only. Mars in Scorpio’s raw ambition can also be intimidating or seem aggressive. In Washington, this shift could motivate the influence brokers to take the gloves off to push the tax bill through. On a personal level, Mars’ creative drive takes on Scorpio’s concentrated energy, giving it endurance as it draws from the elemental forces of life.
Adding additional seemingly contradictory planetary energies to the Mercury retrograde period, a square between Venus in Sagittarius and Neptune in Pisces on December 10 forms a pressurized T-square with the last quarter “crisis of consciousness” square of the Sun in Sagittarius and Moon in Virgo. This gives us the opportunity to challenge ourselves into being truthful about the state of our relationships (Venus) and whether or not they serve a cosmic purpose (Neptune). Venus in Sagittarius asks what kind of moral code we follow in our dealings with others. Neptune in Pisces can help us understand at a cosmic level the connections that exist between beings and the value of putting our personal desires aside to serve a spiritual purpose. The square between them puts a check on our acting for self alone. Venus is at the same degree the Sun was at the Full Moon of this cycle that was also in a tense T-square with Neptune, further evoking the need to become aware of the destructive wake of the ego. With Venus now involved, we are being asked to check the motivations behind our actions in relationships and review whether or not we created chaos in the lives of those affected. Rather than causing unnecessary disruption, Neptune would have us openly unite our efforts to realize how to deal with issues in an evolutionary way. Without this effort, we may fall into a blind romantic Venus/Neptune daydream that sees only what we want to see, which generally is the pure potential working out in our mind that is not anywhere near the reality of what is actually happening. It is never too late to wake up and choose a different path, one with a higher sense of order operating from unconditional love. As always, we have the choice of which game to play. The planets beckon us to play a galactic one that lives in the incorruptible state of harmony between reason and love.
Here’s the data (Pacific Time and rounded to the nearest whole degree unless otherwise noted):
December 6 – Mercury conjunct Saturn at 28° Sagittarius at 4:05 a.m.
December 6 – Mercury sextile Mars at 28° Sagittarius/Libra at 7:58 a.m.
December 6 – Mars sextile Saturn at 28° Libra/Sagittarius at 1:21 p.m.
December 9 – Mars at 0° Scorpio at 1:00 a.m.
December 10 – Mercury trine Uranus at 25° Sagittarius/Aries at 1:30 a.m.
December 10 – Venus square Neptune at 12° Sagittarius/Pisces at 5:48 a.m.
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