We start this month with a bang, exactly on a full moon eclipse with the Sun in Sagittarius and the Moon in Gemini! This is followed up by an equally potent New Moon eclipse on the 15th, which will roll a big collective wave of energies to combine with the Saturn Jupiter conjunction in Aquarius peaking seven days later. These latter events speak of the potential for creatively potent new beginnings.
The dynamism of this is made more radical and alas, more chaotic by crosscurrents from the free radical Uranus joined by the Black Moon, and a continuation of the nebulous Neptune travelling with Persephone in Pisces. Within this cauldron is also a great deal of magical and healing power.
December is a Kali month! Sun conjunct Kali in Sagittarius
The great goddess of radical transformation and spiritual awakenings is all over this month’s chart, whether embodied in her asteroid, within in the symbolism of the black moon or in some of her cross-cultural cousins including Medusa, Lilith and Hekate. (Medusa conjunct Hygeia in Leo, Lilith conjunct Hekate in Capricorn!) Her asteroid is conjunct the Sun in the first eclipse and the eclipsing Sun and Moon on the 15th.
What does this mean? Firstly, there is going to be a great deal of emotional spiritual and psychological intensity during the month, as she wields her sword to slice through our unconsciousness, our denial and resistance. She has a way of confronting us with some hard truths, which can hurt and threatened our egos but which can also set the stage for real transformation to take place.
Secondly, she will often present us with the psychic emotional damage of suppressed trauma and rage, whether this is personal to us, absorbed from parents and transgenerational sources, and even from our past life records. (The Kali asteroid is conjunct the South node in Sagittarius, so this latter material is very close to the surface. Many of us carry past life forms of PTSD, which can often surface at times like this!)
Some people mistakenly believe that Kali is just about the dark, destructive expressions of rage from the dark feminine. Some people use her as justification for dumping their own personal crap on others or, attempt to hijack her energies to fuel more radical forms of activism or feminism.
While she is the archetypal spiritual warrior, who will use her fierce power to defeat the demons that threaten the natural balance of life (male and female demons, it should be noted) However, the more I have worked with her the more I have a sense that she activates pre-existing rage within our systems in order to bring it to the surface to be released.
Like any of the great powers, we need a great deal of integrity, awareness of our shadows, purified lower chakras and great clarity, to be able to successfully channel Kali’s energies clearly in the world. But this is precisely what she wants us to achieve and it’s at times like this that we get to further that work.
Thirdly, we can expect significant spiritual or psychosexual movements and even awakenings around this time. Along with Uranus, Chiron and Pluto, Kali and her sisters influence the movement of kundalini, the sacred power of the feminine within us. In fact, she is known as an agency of radical awakening of this power.
Sun Kali conjunction in Grand Trine with Hygeia conjunct Medusa in Leo and Chiron in Aries
Not only does this support the potential for such awakenings, the Grand Trine describes the brilliant and potent healing energies available to us this month.
Having both Chiron the Wounded Healer and Hygeia, the kundalini goddess of healing, engaged in this three-way flow is enormously positive in terms of the healing power available. The connection to Kali engages the deepest level of the primal, tantric and transformative energies to further empower these agents of healing.
Note that this Grand Trine links the three fire signs and so points the way towards more dynamic and expressive forms of therapy and spiritual practice. Kali is very much at her fierce best in Sagittarius, fierce in both her demands for deep healing and fierce in her awesome underlying love.
Whatever past trauma and rage that might surface here gets thrown into the purifying furnace on the Medusa/Hygeia conjunction, along with the actions of the Golden Kali, her own purificatory form.
This combination gives us lots of support to rekindle the purer essence of fire energy within each of us. In doing so, both masculine and feminine forms of vitality, healing power and tantric potency flow more freely with each other.
This Grand Trine also rolls on to engage Mars in Aries in the second week of the month, adding further traction to our conscious efforts for healing and spiritual development. This Mars position is particularly good for inspired action in pursuit of our goals.
Saturn conjunct Jupiter and Pallas Athena in late Capricorn/early Aquarius
As many of you know, Saturn and Jupiter are an archetypal couple, a father and son combination and, two polarised expressions of the masculine. They come together every 20 years or so, the last time occurring in May of the year 2000.
Together they represent the opposites and complements of contraction and expansion, consolidation and growth, earthy realism and idealistic vision, self-effort and grace. They have a terse relationship, with significant tension but to be able to be successful on any level in life, we need both of them operating in some kind of balance. Together they influence our capacity to manifest our gifts and abilities into the world, which is why in business astrology, for instance, assessing the possibilities of a new venture requires consulting both of their positions.
These are coming together exactly on the 22nd, just inside Aquarius at 0°, and have an initiatory quality to their union, as it does represent the end of the 20 year cycle and the beginning of a new one. In this, we have opportunities for laying the foundations for new ventures that are simultaneously well grounded and allow for the expression of our more realistic visions in the world. This notion is supported by the New Moon eclipse only days beforehand.
Adding Pallas Athena to this mix is a significant bonus, as she brings more of the intelligence of the feminine into the picture as well as her piercing one pointedness. She also provides a bit of a circuit breaker between these two big masculine energies, who also happen to be her grandfather and father respectively. In some ways, she is a more focused and balanced expression of both and loves nothing better than spearheading new projects in the world with her grounded intelligence and wisdom.
Our ability to relate to these possibilities and processes is also great enhanced by multiple sextiles from this Capricorn convergence to Mercury, the planet of the mind and communication, in late Scorpio at the start of the month. This is an exceptional time for getting our heads around our creative possibilities of this next phase, for clarifying our goals and doing some important planning and foundation building.
Saturn and Jupiter will be exact to the minutes of a degree on the afternoon of Tuesday the 22nd, an auspicious time for ceremony and invocation!
Venus in Scorpio in T-square with Uranus in Taurus and Medusa Conjunct Hygeia in Leo
Scorpio is always a place that asks us to dive more deeply into our emotions, into our desires and often, into our shadow areas. Venus here is being additionally drawn into challenging territory by this radical but also profoundly healing dynamic.
Venus opposite Uranus always throws up the polarity between deeply engaged relationship versus the need for greater individual freedom. At the very least it often creates instability in even the most secure connections, as a test to see how much authentic freedom a person has in their primary relationships and, how much freedom they can offer their beloveds.
Uranus is conjunct the Black Moon, who adds greater psychological and spiritual depth to this challenge and has an agenda with burning through some of our more destructive ego desires. The two however are a combination of deep and radical change, which sometimes forced upon us by the outside world. (Uranus and the Black Moon comes together exactly on the 22/23rd of December, coinciding the Jupiter/Saturn peak. One image that arises of the former two is a massive lightning bolt igniting a brewing volcano, representing a spike in the current collective chaos, as well as heightened energetic peaks towards greater spiritual, relationship and transformative awakening!)
The square to the Medusa Hygeia conjunction in Leo has a similar agenda but this time it is around purifying distortions to the deep feminine within ourselves that tend to sabotage our capacity for emotional and sexual intimacy. You have only got to consider the image of the enraged face of Medusa to get an idea of what’s being faced here.
This kind of rage is a dark and understandable reaction to generations of women having their intelligence, sexual potency and individuality suppressed over time. Medusa in Leo is much like Kali in Sagittarius; her fire is up and she will not be denied.
Whatever surfaces in this process though is also infused with the healing Shakti of Hygeia, who has a special place in Medusa’s mythology, as a part of ourselves that knows how to purify any form of ancient toxicity. The more we can actively work with healing and reclaiming Medusa, who like Kali has the deepest love underneath, then the greater the space Venus in her transit in Scorpio has for expressing deeply emotional love and passion in our world and our relationships. Venus surfaces from this intense T-square in the second week and trines both Neptune and Persephone in Pisces, which will allow for much greater flow of love and sacred power in our relating.
The Goddess Psyche Conjunct North Node in Gemini
In a month coloured by fiery goddesses, intense purification and chaotic crosscurrents, here is a vision of what is possible as a consequence of these processes of relationship and sexual healing. Psyche, as some of you will know, is the beautiful and initially mortal consort of Eros, the God of Love, who becomes immortal thanks to her commitment to face almost impossible hurdles along the path of love.
Within ourselves, she is a higher octave of the Venus (her eventual mother-in-law by the way) and so, manifests as an intuition of, and a profound longing for, conscious soul to soul union with another human being.
To reach that level of availability requires tremendous refinement and sensitivity, ideally coupled with discernment and clear boundaries.
At the very least, she is a tremendous heart opener and extends our capacity for devotion and selfless love, however that is available in each of us for expression in the world.
Clearly, we all need this at such a calamitous time in human history and, wherever possible, to be able to offer that to others.
Stay well, go well,
With love and blessings.
Daniel
