A Spiritual Yard Sale
This week, the Sun in Capricorn squares the Moon’s nodes in Aries and Libra (Dec. 23, 2024, 2:40 am PST, 2º05’ Capricorn/Aries-Libra). A planet square the nodal axis is said to be “at the bendings,” applying its focus toward either the North or South Node. The Sun is now at the South bending, meaning it’s pointing toward the South Node in Libra and focused on releasing patterns of dependence and people-pleasing. We feel the quiet, inward call to release unhelpful emotions, even if it may feel difficult to make outward changes. The Sun is at the Sabian symbol 3 Capricorn: The human soul receptive to growth and understanding; look for inner guidance about what shape that growth and understanding might take.
This aspect marks the midpoint between two eclipse seasons. Eclipses are changing points, page turners in the narrative that shifts us from one end of the nodal axis to the other. Now is the time to let go of what you don’t need, maybe even things that are actively hurting you; it’s a spiritual yard sale to help you resolve what was brought up in last September and October’s eclipses, and prepare you for the upcoming eclipses on March 14, 2025 (23º57’ Virgo) and March 29, 2025 (9º00′ Aries).
Breathing
Mostly, we don’t think about breathing at all, unless we’re engaged in a very mindful meditation practice, engaged in strenuous activity, or having a respiratory emergency. But it’s the ultimate process of expansion and contraction.
When you breathe in, the diaphragm contracts and moves downward, creating more space in the chest cavity, causing air to rush in to the lungs. After oxygen is absorbed into the bloodstream, the diaphragm relaxes and moves upward, pushing air out of the lungs.
Ideally, it’s an effortless, unconscious process. But if you’re running a long, strenuous race or having an asthma attack, your mind might be focused every second on a process you take for granted roughly 20-25k times per day.
This week brings the latest in a series of square aspects between Jupiter and Saturn (Dec. 24, 2024, 1:59 pm PST). Jupiter is like inhalation, creating space, letting air rush in. Saturn is like exhalation, pushing air out and expelling carbon dioxide. And a square aspect means we’re having to work harder than usual to regulate our breathing.
All the ways we might want to expand our lives but find a series of constraints in our path – the economy, our personal income, worrying that we overspent on holiday gifts, struggling to cram loads of holiday celebrations into already tight schedules – they’re all a reflection of Jupiter’s square to Saturn. The process of expanding and contracting is not going smoothly, and we’re having to work hard for every breath.
This is the second of three Jupiter/Saturn squares in a series that began on August 19, 2024. The last is on June 15, 2025 – and hopefully, that’s when our breathing returns to normal.
When you assume….
Mercury makes the last of three oppositions to Jupiter this week (Dec. 26, 2024, 2:48 pm PST, at 13º46′ Sagittarius and Gemini). As Mercury has made these three oppositions to Jupiter, it’s asked a series of questions about knowledge. What do we “just know” because “everybody knows that,” vs. having really studied something? Honestly, it’s like people whose faces contorts into a look of disgust when you mention astrology – because “everybody knows astrology is stupid,” even if they couldn’t do something as name the twelve signs of the zodiac in order.
Mercury’s Sabian symbol is 14 Sagittarius, The Pyramids and the Sphinx, symbolizes “old” knowledge, and respect for what’s timeworn and generally agreed upon. Jupiter’s Sabian symbol, 14 Gemini: A conversation by telepathy, is about exceptional connectedness and rapport. We have to be a little careful that we don’t make assumptions based on what is generally accepted – what “everybody knows” – or on our closeness with someone, which might lead us to believe we “just know” what they’re thinking or how they might react to something.
Report card
If you have important work to complete and you’re in desperate need of some focus and discipline, be grateful for Mercury’s square to Saturn (Dec. 26, 2024, 11:29 pm PST). Nothing will focus a scattered Mercury quite like a hard aspect to Saturn, the planet that keeps us on task, with our eyes on our own work.
This is the last in a series of three squares between Mercury and Saturn. The first was on Nov. 12, and the other was on Dec. 6. I don’t know if it’s simply that as a writer, I have a particular connection with Saturn and therefore, these Saturn squares, but I’ve found the past month challenging for getting my work done. The ideas have just not been flowing. I finished a webinar and three weeks’ worth of podcasts for my upcoming year-end break only by sheer grit and determination. I feel it’s all been with the blessing of Saturn, which makes a writer get something down on paper whether or not it’s very inspired.
Mercury is the planet of perception, processing information, and sharing ideas. We’ve learned something over the past month and during Mercury’s retrograde period, about how well we’re handling these functions. And now, Saturn hands us our report card.
Refrigerators and Relationships
Venus squares Uranus this week (Dec. 27, 11:42 pm PST) at 23°43’ Aquarius and Taurus. Both the sign of Aquarius and the planet Uranus can be like trying to hold on to a bucking bronco, so this might be the equivalent of deciding you’re going to start eating healthier and then, the very next day, having a friend show up at your door with your very favorite dessert. Or committing to a strict budget for your household in the new year, only to have the refrigerator immediately break down.
Beyond diets and budgets, relationships are an important part of Venus’s terrain. This week could bring a new and stimulating business or personal connection – or surprising developments in existing ones. When Venus and Uranus connect by square, tension arises around the appropriate balance between togetherness and independence, between affection and freedom. Finding that balance is often a tall order, especially in relationships where partners live in the same house together. But this aspect can also wake us up to desires we didn’t realize we had, and to people whom we might have begun to overlook.
Writing and images © 2017-24 by April Elliott Kent
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