"You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through."

— Rosalynn Carter

We reach a point, this week, when 'the rubber hits the road'. A need for follow-through was indicated by last Monday's Capricorn New Moon (2:26 PM PST 9° Capricorn). By following through on our individual vision this week, there will be significant hope for dramatic breakthroughs under next week's Cancer Full Moon (January 13th, 2025 2:28 PM PST 23° Cancer/Capricorn). But, as we begin the week, there is still a rather foggy environment, suggested by Mercury's square to Neptune and the return of Mars into Cancer on Monday. Once in Cancer, Mars heads towards a trine to Neptune, which won't complete until early next week. The developing Mars-Neptune trine teases us this week with [...]

"Remember: You are your own father. Do not let yourself spend years creating yourself only to let your guard down and allow the ghost of the past — father, habit, history — to sneak back in."

— Robert Greene
The 48 Laws of Power

Mercury returns to square Saturn and oppose Jupiter this week for one last time. The Saturn-Jupiter square also returns this week, making the second of three passes in a longer lasting interaction that is ongoing into June of next year. Mercury 'inserts' itself into the ongoing interaction in ways that produces more confusion than diplomatic balance. Active engagement seem to be encouraged but our 'engagement' won't bring the expected or desired results that we hope. The second Jupiter-Saturn square completes on Christmas Eve while the Moon is [...]

"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen."

— Winston Churchill

This week begins with a quietly powerful Pluto-Ceres conjunction, which offers incredible creative and regenerative ability. The themes of connection and balance continue to dominate the atmosphere as we head toward the Gemini Full Moon (December 15th 1:01 AM PST 23° Gemini/Sagittarius) at the beginning of next week. Both Mars and Mercury are retrograde this week, driving much of the action 'inward'. When we find challenges or interference, we'll do better to look inward rather than struggle against external blocks and obstacles. In this environment our 'Self Talk' is particularly important. It will be helpful if we can become our own [...]