Astral Meanders...December 2014

Thought for the month: Happiness held is the seed; happiness shared is the flower. ~Author Unknown

In General: As the Sun is now in Sagittarius we enter into a December of fun and true holiday inspiration. However, due to the retrograde of Jupiter on December 8th the emphasis is on slowing down to reflect on  ideas and events that have unfolded over the past year. Now, it's time to tweak and refine our pet projects. The grand finale of what has been an astrologically eventful year is the Uranus square Pluto at 12º Aries/Capricorn on December 15th.This should encourage us to be sensible and practical with spending, which is a nice change around the chaotic and over-indulgent festive season! It also heralds a culmination of much that has been difficult and challenging in 2014 and begins a new and improved journey. On Dec 23rd Saturn finally enters Sagittarius. After three years of Saturn in Scorpio which has been an emotionally intense road, we can sit back and slide onto a road of warmth, life giving energy and challenges that are fun! If you have a birthday this month, then you can look forward to a great year of achievement and goal setting. On the world scene it’s a month of practical issues, refining of details and setting goals for the New Year. Locally the Christmas parties after the 15^th will be the best!

Aries

This month brings lots of positive forward moving energy! Its a pleasant change from what you have been through recently! You should feel happier about life in general. Financially its very positive, but you should not be afraid to speak up...the squeaky wheel gets the grease now!  The New moon on the 22nd is healing in some way and can throw light on some  new ideas regarding your vocation. Try to be as flexible as you can!

Taurus

What a busy December! On December 4th, Mars enters air sign Aquarius and as a result you’re much more driven to succeed and more determined than usual. You focus on your goals, generate new ones, and know precisely what you want. On December 10th, your ruler, Venus, enters fellow earth sign Capricorn. You relish expanding your life in new ways, having new experiences, and exploring the wider world. This is a good time for travel, have fun, or to study another culture.

Gemini

A magnificent Gemini Full Moon rises on December 6th. Finally you can come into your stride, your hopeful and happy sense of connectedness helps you find a true path through the general chaos of December 15th through to 21st. Those Mercurial wings on your heels start to take you places. Saturn in Sagittarius suggest that it’s time to work on relationship issues, and this includes your relationship to yourself! The New moon is significant for you and marks a positive turning point in your life.

Cancer

Relationships are a source of prodigious happiness in December, with December 16th to 27th, focused on the domestic front. It’s a lovely at home time and should be spent with family and close friends. This is also an excellent month to change your lifestyle and implement changes that you’ll stick with for a long time. You also need to work on finding ways to better manage your stress because anxiety can be an issue if you don’t. Try ypoga or meditation and be serious about it.

Leo

It’s a bright, enthusiastic month for Leo and you shine your brightest now. Mars enters air sign Aquarius, the sign opposite yours, on December 4th, and you’re driven to focus on your loved ones and relationships. This can be a good time to enter into a new relationship, personally or professionally. This is also an excellent time to start a new healthy lifestyle, exercise program or diet. You can indulge too much, and will not feel the best because of it…try balance!

Virgo

This is also a good month for you to focus on your health, especially to begin a new exercise program or join a gym. Your body needs the workout, and if you start now, it could become an enduring focus in your life. This is also an excellent time for creative projects, and you can come up with creative solutions to problems now too. You may work on a home improvement project or take up a new hobby. You may want to take some time away from it all though, to just relax and enjoy yourself.

Libra

It’s a busy month taking you to the end of the year! You have initiative, get involved in all sorts of dealings, and have a lot of plans. On December 4th, however, Mars enters fellow air sign Aquarius, and you’re driven to have fun and do the things that you most enjoy first. You will like spending time at home, lounging in your pajamas, and not demanding too much of yourself. This month really is good for short holidays, for socialization and creative or relaxing activities.

Scorpio

Saturn's departure from Scorpio in December will make you feel a sort of release, your morale will go up, you'll have more physical energy, life will seem more attractive to you and your aims will find fulfillment more easily. Saturn's departure from Scorpio will take a burden off your shoulders, which will also be felt in your career, where natural expansion will no longer encounter obstacles. Others will find you more pleasant, sociable and more appealing.

Sagittarius

This will be a great month for schooling, teaching, writing, and dealing with young people. This can be a time of many conversations, sharing of information, and taking in new facts. This is a good time for improving your finances through a second job, or making money off of a hobby, and mostly, you just seem to have the money that you need when you need it, now. You feel more confident, sure of yourself, and tend to doubt yourself less. Emotionally, you’re calmer and don’t get shaken by things as easily as usual.

Capricorn

In December your mind quickens, and you come up with lots of new ideas. You’re excited about all of them, and want to pursue them immediately. You’re enthusiastic about life in general, and have a positive attitude. You enjoy being around other people, and can be more social. You may come across as warmer, prouder, and friendlier. This is a time of getting in touch with your subconscious mind, removing baggage that holds you back, and developing spiritually so as to get closer to your karmic destiny.

Aquarius

This month your imagination rises, and you don’t much care to stay in the land of reality, only in your fantasy world. Make sure you give yourself copious time alone. This can be a good time to do work in the background or behind the scenes. You could come across as more thoughtful, compassionate, and expressive. On December 8th, Jupiter turns retrograde in fire sign Leo, making you lazy when it comes to relationships. You don’t feel like dealing with anything, and leave it up to others.

Pisces

Early December is wonderfully designed for you to give your profile a boost and let all sorts of wholesome relationships support you. Venus starts to crystalize your communication in general, and facilitates an easy collaboration with the people around you, particularly from December 11 to 15. This helps you to support the people you love with greater flair! You feel good about your future, and trust good things are coming for you. You will meet new people, join a new group, or take up a new cause.

Astral Peeks: Midsummer/ Summer Solstice celebrations!!

The solstice has remained a special moment of the annual cycle of the year since Neolithic times. December 21st marks the beginning of the Summer Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere. This means that we will be observing our longest day of sunlight.

The gardens are flourishing, and summer is in full swing. Also called Litha, summer solstice focuses on celebrating the supremacy of the sun. It's the time of year when the crops are growing vigorously and the earth has warmed up. We can spend long sunlit afternoons appreciating the outdoors, and getting back to nature. The word “Solstice” comes from the Latin words, sol sistere – “sun stand still”.

Midsummer is one of the four solar holidays. For many years it's been a day to celebrate the sun, the harvest, and the many benefits of summer's bounty. Here in the heat of the summer, the crops are transformed as are our actions, thoughts and plans. Blossoming and maturing of our works are manifested, or they wither and expire in the heat. It is a time for love, healing, protection, and purification. It is a time for the Earth to ripen the seeds for harvest and similarly it is a time for us to ripen the seeds we have sown in our lives. Going back to the New Stone Age (about 8,000 years ago), stone circles such as Stonehenge were used to mark the position of the rising sun at the Midsummer Solstice. The sun would rise over a heel stone and cast a long, shadow into the heart of the circle, symbolically consummating the marriage of Heaven (the sky) and Earth.

The Celts & Slavs celebrated with dancing & bonfires to help increase the sun's energy. The Chinese marked the day by honouring Li, the Chinese Goddess of Light. For us it is a time for giving thanks, for the harvest …both literal and symbolic, we can spend time appreciating all we have achieved in the past cycle and enjoying all we have.

If you feel energetic then try making a small sun wheel garden, either indoors or out using the flowering herbs of vervain and St John’s Wort and Sun herbs such as frankincense, juniper, rosemary and saffron and all yellow or golden flowers. Arrange them in the form of a wheel and fill in the centre with tiny golden crystals or glass nuggets. You can breathe in the golden light from your living sun wheel.

Meditation moments: Compassion/Kindness

Dalai Lama vision

As we draw nearer to Christmas I felt it meet to share these words of the Dalai Lama, about love, compassion and kindness….

“This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness. Today, more than ever before, life must be characterized by a sense of Universal responsibility, not only nation to nation and human to human, but also human to other forms of life. We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection. We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves. Where ignorance is our master, there is no possibility of real peace. Whether one believes in a religion or not, and whether one believes in rebirth or not, there isn't anyone who doesn't appreciate kindness and compassion. With realization of one's own potential and self-confidence in one's ability, one can build a better world. All major religious traditions carry basically the same message that is love, compassion and forgiveness the important thing is they should be part of our daily lives. Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.”