Cardinals are Coming--December 2013 Forecast

Mars, Wikipedia

We are only at the halfway point of November and already my thoughts are drawn to the upcoming December transits because once again, we will be visited by the Cardinal energy with most of the planets in Capricorn, Aries, Libra and Cancer by the second half of December.  We have already experienced the long-going dance (does this ball ever end?) with Uranus in Aries squaring Pluto in Capricorn and while we are not currently dealing with an exact square, the orb is close enough to shake up events in the world and in our personal lives depending on where this transit hits in our charts and the natal planets within orb of this dynamic square.

On December 8, Mars moves into Libra (the weakest location for Mars since Libra is opposite Mar's sign Aries) and due to a retrograde, Mars will complete its transit in Libra in July of 2014 (I will get to this in a future post and for now we will just deal with December's transits).  Venus is already in Capricorn at the start of the month and though it looks like she's heading into another sign, wait, she does the backwards dance and due to a retrograde stays in Capricorn until March.  As we know, Jupiter remains in another Cardinal Sign, Cancer until late next spring.

A few nights ago when I was suffering from insomnia, I sat up reviewing the planetary transits for December in my planetary guide and my eyes opened even wider.  So I wrote this piece in my journal the next morning, after I squeezed in a little sleep.  It's amusing and terrifying at the same time to think that this amount of change and transformation hits us within a short span of time, but we have had plenty of earlier activity with the Cardinals to withstand this pressure, I hope.

Wikipedia

I call this journal entry, "A Bandwagon Full of Cardinals."  Let's think of the Cardinals as the ones who where red and hail from the conservative Catholic Church or old order and they're riding in a bandwagon into the Wild West.  Think of the Wild West as a group of cowboys--the good guys and the bad guys with the different colored hats--black for bad and white for good.  They ride in a separate than the cardinals because they are the transformation wearing guns, chaps, and riding fancy horses.  They carouse, flip attitude and have their way with women or women slap them in the face.  Anyway there is a lot of male pride involved and everything seems up for grabs.  They shake things up an kick up dust then after they have completely transformed the town and dried up the liquor in the process, they ride off on their fancy horses into a sunset or a sunrise depending on whether they are the good or the bad guys.  The cardinals stand watching with their mouths gaping and trying to hold up their version of morality.

Meanwhile the town folks stand around scratching their heads and gaping that is if they did not lose all their money gambling with the out of town cowboys or the ones who did not lose their lives in a dual of smoking pistols.  Well, the month of December feels a lot like the Wild West with Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Pluto in Cardinal signs by the second half of the month.  And eventually, the Moon rides into town in Libra becoming the 7th planet in a Cardinal Sign on December 26.

Here is the breakdown:

Sun moves into Capricorn on December 22 (Solstice)
Mercury moves into Capricorn on December 25 (interesting holiday present)
Moon is in (Capricorn on the 5-6th, Aries, 11-12, Cancer 18-20, and Libra on 26)
Venus is already in late degrees of Capricorn
Mars moves into Libra on December 8
Jupiter is in Cancer
Uranus is in Aries (8 degrees)
Pluto is in Capricorn (10-11 degrees)

Challenging Transits:

Sun and Mercury conjunct squares Uranus on December 30 exact
Mercury moves into a conjunction with Pluto on December 31 (exact in January)
Mars opposes Uranus on December 25 (another present)
Mars squares Pluto on December 31 (happy new year's eve)
Uranus and Pluto square with a 3 degree orb (mainly effect persons and countries with planets at 10 to 11 degrees cardinal signs for Pluto and 8 degrees for Uranus)
Cardinal T-Cross on December 30 with Sun/Mercury 8 degrees (Pluto at 11 degrees) Capricorn, Mars at 8 degrees Libra and Uranus at 8 degrees Aries (the cross starts forming on December 28 and separates on the 31 but we will still feel the tension into January)

Vesta and Ceres are also in Libra. Ceres forms squares with transiting Jupiter in Cancer from December 8th onward and Vesta from the 19th onward.  Venus is in a Cardinal sign but she's out of orb with the other planets in Cardinal signs.  She is about to go retrograde however).

Flowing Transits:

Mercury in Sag trine Uranus in Aries (December 10 - 13, exact on December 11)
Sun trine Uranus first week of December (another fire trine)
Chiron sextile Pluto (entire month of December with a 1 to 2 degree orb)
Jupiter in Cancer trine Saturn in Scorpio (exact 8th to the 18th at 18 degrees)
Mercury sextile Neptune (25-29, exact on the 26th)
Sun sextile Neptune (22-27, exact on 24th)
Pallas in Virgo trine Pluto (all of the December, exact on 10-13 at 10 degrees)

Uranus goes Direct on December 17
Venus goes Retrograde on December 21
Jupiter is retrograde (already in progress from November)

If I left out any important transits, I will cover them in an additional post.  We are going to push for change in December and this is going to be a rough time for family, relationships of all kind, work situations, and any of the themes we find in the angular houses.  The first part of the month is better for socializing and spreading the holiday spirit, while the second half of the month asks us to do our inner work and keep our egos in check.  This will be a stressful time by nature of the planets transiting through Cardinal Signs, some fast moving through the signs such as Mercury, Moon and Sun, and some through retrogrades staying in signs longer than usual (Venus and Mars) and then we have three outer planets (Jupiter, Uranus and Pluto) in their respective signs for a year or much longer as with Uranus in Aries until 2015 and Pluto until 2014, but I'm being approximate with these dates since I don't have the information in front of me).


I would advise to lay low the second half of December to the best you can.  If you can put off travel and spending time with extended family for another time or another holiday season, then I would advise you to do that.  People are going to feel volatile now, especially if they have not done their inner spiritual work.  People are going to push like mad for their various agendas, but we will also be asked to live with integrity now and with Mars in Libra to make peace with what is and what needs changing.  Cardinal signs are pushy and they push constantly for change and this change comes on all levels of our societies.  Big government and corporations have a lot to lose now as their structures further collapse.  People are going to demand their rights with Uranus in Aries and Mars in Libra and they're questioning meglomaniac structures that only serve themselves.  This will be a time of sudden surprises and it's not all good or bad, but it is leading us further into transformation of our planet and how we plan on living on it.

Children will seem especially unruly not just for December but for several months after that with Mars in Libra. They want what they think is fair.  With Uranus also in Aries, yes, children will demand, youth will demand and it's impossible to see what direction that goes in. Will youth demand employment? Will they demand better education? Will they demand a fair playing field that is level?  When I say youth, I'm mainly talking over 18 for the second half of this statement, but the younger ones will demand fairness too and they're going to speak up now more than ever.  As will women, especially mothers.

Change is in the air and how it plays out is anyone's guess.  Take care of your health, eat healthy, get rest, and say no when you need space for yourself to recuperate, a lot of that going on.  While the energy will seem pushy, don't add to it, but step back when possible and speak up when necessary.  We will come through this "storm" wiser and on more solid ground.

Caveat: The Sun sextile with Neptune from the 22 to the 27 asks us to practice compassion and forgiveness now. The Neptune in Pisces will bring us this spiritual lesson and make it easier to forgive when we see people from their vulnerabilities. The Sun in Capricorn will make each of us accountable for our unforgiving thoughts and temper that with sage wisdom.

Another scenario worth considering is that Mars transit in Libra comes to bring peace to the Uranus-Pluto square.  When I woke up in the middle of the night (for my 4:00 a..m. lecture from my Spirit Guides), I saw Mars bringing doves, which to me represent peace.  This could also be asking us to return to our childhood innocence and pay attention to what children are doing and saying during those 6 months when Mars transits through Libra.  For individuals, ask what Mars represents to you.  Is your Mars association positive or negative (like in my case)? And what are you associations with Libra, Aries, and Capricorn as well as, Pluto and Uranus?  Perhaps, Mars is telling us to make peace with all of that, if we have not already done so.

Other Astrologers' forecasts:

Carl Boudreau, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRu-a2zODwI&feature=c4-overview&list=UUntBJzrpFGwsNmWtGbElHhQ