December 23 - January 2 - End of The Year Astrology Landscape

 

December 23 – January 2 

 

The waxing moon continues with the Crescent phase landing on December 23.    Friendships and groups are highlighted as we ponder our visions and our future and consider ‘our peeps’.    We will be forgiven if we feel a little ‘off’ on the 23^rd with the Venus square Neptune.    Starting on the 24^th, Venus is all about the love of practicality.   Fluff begone.     The 29^th could be sharp conversations especially where dreams and visions collide with reality.  Or perceived reality.   In the meantime, our thoughts about being more independent are sound.  Actions that are inspired about humanity are elevated and given the green light. 

 

Late on Dec 31 and early on the Jan 1 our thoughts take a moment or two to get it together.  Same with our conversations and beware of people and their big yarns given Mercury square Neptune can be rife with exaggeration.    But by later in the day on the 1^st Mercury enters practical Capricorn where it will end the silly conversations and instead focus on responsibility and commitments.  

Also on Jan 1 Venus sextiles the North node and can help us  find inspiration with humanitarian causes and purposes and at the very least can remind us of the good in humans. 

 

Sending you many hugs as we wrap up 2025 and I will see you in 2026! 

 

 

 

Crescent Moon Phase

December 23, 2025

5:29 pm PST   

 

 

Focus on: What are we learning about friendships? What are you learning about people whom you share experiences and goals?  

 

Planetary notes: 

12/23: Venus square Neptune (29 PI) Love, money, and values feel unmoored. One man’s ceiling is another man’s floor — and today the floor feels cold. Dreams are tested. Again, sobriety > substances.

12/24: Venus enters Capricorn.  Values that are practical including love and money are showcased for the next month. 

 

First Quarter Moon 

December 27, 2025

11:09am PST 

 

 

 

Focus on:   What actions are you taking that are influenced by YOUR desire for more independence?  What actions are you taking that are pioneering?  What has got you on fire?   How does that fire and those actions speak to you broadening your world? 

 

Planetary Notes:

12/27: Mercury trine Chiron (22 AR).  Big ideas and thoughts that inspires independence and self-agency.  

12/29: Mars sextile N. Node (11 PI) – Actions that inspire our inner psychic and sage. We find humanity through the arts. 

12/29 : Mercury square Saturn (26 PI) Watch your words. A small sharp comment can cut like a blade. Lies and exaggerations hit a wall. Accountability surfaces.

 

 

 

 

Gibbous Moon

December 30, 2025

8:44pm PST 

 

 

Focus on:

How are you refining your money?  How are you refining your properties or stuff you own?  How does what you own line up with how you can broaden your world?   Do you own stuff or does stuff own you?  How can refine it all?  

 

Planetary Notes:  

 

1/1: Sun sextile N. Node (10 PI).  How can intuition and faith be applied to our life in a practical manner.  

1/1: Mercury square Neptune (29 PI) communication not honest.  Exaggeration adds to fog.  Psychic overload.  What opinions need to be released around stories we tell ourselves?  

1/1: Mercury enters Capricorn. Practical thoughts and conversations RULE for the next month.  

1/1: Venus sextile N. Node (10PI) Creativity that inspires and heals.  Finding our inner sage brings love and joy

December 21, 2025 Happy Solstice!

 

Image: Encyclopedia Brittanica

Dec 21, 2025

7:03 am PST 

The sun moves into Capricorn announcing the end of one season and the beginning of the next.  For those of us in northern hemisphere winter has arrived.   For our friends below the equator, they are welcoming summer.     

In the chart for the solstice which is landing a few days after the Sag new moon we continue to see the strong influence of Neptune and Saturn, reminding us that this is the three-month season of changes.  Both planets are transitioning from the final sign of the zodiac Pisces into the first sign Aries signaling a new era.    The next couple of months will be highlighted by many aspects of the outer and inner planets.   There will be a lot on our plates as we make transitions in our personal lives no doubt influenced by big changes in the greater world.  Lots to unpack.   In the north we will see our days grow longer bit by bit after today’s shortest day completes.   In the south, your long days of light energize you to find self and purpose and as they say, ‘make hay.’

In either hemisphere let’s find the light and or be the light.  Someone is probably counting on it.  

Sag New Moon: Dec 19, 5:43pm PST - The Era of Big Has Arrived

 

Dec 19, 2025

5:43pm (PST) 

28 Sag 24

 

In the middle of a hectic season, I managed to write up the Sagittarius New Moon. And honestly, this is an extraordinary moment for a Sagittarius New Moon to land. There’s big, and then there’s Sagittarius big, and then there’s Sagittarius-big in a Bigly Era.

Finding gravity in the middle of all this won’t be easy — but you can do it. Mostly because we don’t really have another choice. Find prayer. Find faith. Find knowledge. And, most of all, find a warm hearth.

Sagittarius will be there to help.

Go to THIS LINK for my full article. 

The Thing Going on Now

 

I had a friend text me today and ask about the astrology of late and what is going on.   I wrote to him the following:

We are in an extraordinary astrological landscape throughout December and January. Much of this intensity comes from Neptune and Saturn at the 29th degree of Pisces. The final degree of the final sign is always potent—there’s a sense of culmination, release, and reckoning built into it.

Over the past weeks, the inner planets moving through Sagittarius have been forming squares to Saturn and Neptune. Events like the Brown University shooting, the Bondi Beach massacre, and the Rob Reiner news, all occurring within a 36-hour window, coincided with Mars square Neptune exact on December 14, just as Neptune stationed direct. Neptune and Pisces rule chaos, confusion, and dissolution, and that energy unmistakably demanded our attention.

As we move through the rest of December, Venus and Mercury will also square Saturn and Neptune, which can add a heavy or sobering undertone to the holiday season. For many, this may feel melancholic, reflective, or emotionally draining.

So what to do?

Lean into the astrology. Understand that we are in a profound letting-go phase. Rest when you can. Escape into films and streaming worlds if that helps you decompress.  Go to a spa.  This is not a time to fake cheer, it’s a time to honor what’s ending.

Relief arrives between January 14–20, when the inner planets move into Capricorn and form a cascade of supportive sextiles to Saturn and Neptune. And then, on January 26, Neptune enters Aries, initiating an entirely new 160-year cycle…….This is a transition, not a collapse.
We’re moving through it…..We’ve got this.

 

My Birthday Fundraiser for Kitties in Los Angeles

 

Friends, 

I would be so grateful if you could contribute to my birthday fundraiser for Rory To The Rescue, a wonderful kitty rescue group here in Los Angeles. My family and I have fostered around 45 kittens over the years and have never “foster failed”… until Gracie.

She came to us as an underweight little sweetheart that Rory had rescued, and she needed a lot of extra TLC. She was supposed to go live with a friend, but when their cat became ill, Gracie stayed with us a little longer. And then, just before she was scheduled to go to one of Rory’s adoption fairs, we realized we couldn’t let her go.

So Gracie became part of our family.   Any donation (nothing too small) you can give to my fundraiser for Rory to The Rescue will be greatly appreciated. 

Purr.  

 

Dec 7 - Dec 16 - Waning Scorpio Lunar Month

 As I indicated in my last two posts, we have a lot going on in December & January.    The next new moon will be in the sign Sagittarius on December 19.    Between now and then we are in the final 10 days of the Scorpio lunar month which started mid-November that feels about three years ago.    The Mars square Saturn on Dec 8 is loaded for bear.    On Dec 10 Neptune stations direct and we are heading into its final anaretic days which will be potent.   Also on the 10^th is the final Mercury oppose Uranus which started Oct 29.  How has your thinking evolved since then?   On Dec 14, Mars tangles up with Neptune which suggests actions that are misguided or dissolve in front of us.    On Dec 16 is the final Sun square Saturn between Sag and Pisces, which could feel like a crisis of faith.  Or goals feel unattainable.    There are also pleasant notes like Mercury trine Neptune (12/11) Mercury sextile Pluto (12/13) and Venus trine Chiron on (12/18) which  will bring buoyance along the way and give us some lift.   

 

Here's the landscape for the waning moon.   

 

 

Disseminating

December 7, 2025

9:04pm 

      

Disseminating: Reflect on what has transpired this month and earlier.  What have you learned?   How can you share some of your knowledge?  What past experiences are you sharing?  Are you in the need to teach?  Or is it find a teacher?   Maybe we find a rabbi or a minister or therapist who gives us more insight.   

 

 

Focus on:   How are you sharing the importance of being bold?  How are you sharing the importance of flexing strength?  How are you sharing creativity?  How are you sharing the power generosity?   How are you sharing the power of being a hero? 

 

 

 

Planetary Notes:

 

12/7: Mercury trine Saturn (25 Pisces). Sharp thinking & communication that is based on responsibility will bring joy. 

 

12/8: Mars square Saturn (25 Pisces).  Mouthy ideas, over zealot opinions can inspire actions that lack sensibility.  Wet blankets are wet and cold.  Actions that are righteous but out of integrity will hit a wall. Reality checks, boundaries and consequences show up to unrealistic actions and foolhardy dreams.   This is the last square of the two-year cycle that began April of 2023 when they were conjunct in Pisces.  The next cycle begins April 19, 2026 in the sign Aries.  

 

12/10: Neptune station direct 29 Pisces 22) (See separate post)

12/10: Mercury oppose Uranus (28 Taurus) This is the third time this aspect is perfected.  #1 Oct 29, #2 Nov 19 and now today.  How has your thinking and communication shifted?  What have you released?  What new awareness empowers of your thinking?  

12/10: Venus square North Node (13 Pisces) Love & values that feel big and loud can miss the power of intuition, nuance and gentle.  

12/11: Mercury trine Neptune (29 Pisces).  There is a power that comes in being quiet, tapping the metaphysical, psyche and faith.  

 

 

 

Last Quarter Moon Phase

December 11, 2025

12:51pm PST   

   

 

Last Quarter moon:  Now we do the final adjustments to the seeds we planted on new. The final call, the final letters to send, we follow all the trails that came up that still make sense.  And we let the other parts lay fallow. It is a time of action but wise action.  It is a time for living “The serenity prayer” 

 

God, grant me the Serenity
to accept the things
I cannot change Courage to change the
things I can, and the
Wisdom to know the difference.

 

 

 

Focus on:

What actions are you taking that rely on details?  What actions are you taking that need analytical and practical thinking?   What actions can you take that speak to problem solving?  What actions are you taking that seek order? 

 

 

Planetary Notes: 

12/11: Mercury enter Sagittarius.  Joy, fun, adventure, learning and exploring is highlighted for the next three weeks 

12/13: Mercury sextile Pluto (2 Aquarius 12).  Fresh new thoughts that may be inspired by groups of people or friends. 

12/14: Mars square Neptune (29 Pisces).    Zealotry that motivates actions can be problematic.  Big mouths meet Big Fantasy not good. 

12/14: Sun trine Chiron (22 Aries).  Finding independence and being authentic is inspiring and seeds new adventures.  

12/14: Mars enters Capricorn.  Practical, responsible, problem solving actions are highlighted for the next six weeks. 

 

.  

Balsamic Moon Phase

 

December 15, 2025 

2:29pm PST

 

Balsamic:   We let go.  By releasing we can prepare for the new.  

 

 

Focus on:  How are you releasing strong feelings?  How are you releasing passion?  How are you releasing the need to control?  How are you releasing intensity? 

 

 

Planetary Notes:

12/16: Mercury exits shadow 6:51 Sagittarius  

12/16: Sun square Saturn (25 Pisces).  The final square between Sag and Saturn in Pisces.  How can you find faith inspiring but not delusional?   A twice of year aspect.  Strident know-it-alls are doing what to humanity?   How does an atmosphere of chaos and confusion not serve bigger goals? Where are we being checked?  What are the consequences we are observing?    Learn what you can because it will be thirty years before we are here again. 

12/18: Venus trine Chiron (22 Aries) Love seeks and can find authenticity

 

 

Sagittarius New Moon Dec 19 (5:43pm PST) 28 Sag 24

 

Saturn & Neptune: The Final Days in Pisces ..... Here we go!

 

Neptune & Saturn: Let’s Unpack

Neptune Retrograde Cycle (2025–2026)

7/04/25 – Neptune stations retrograde (2° Aries 11)
10/22/25 – Neptune re-enters Pisces
12/10/25 – Neptune stations direct (29° Pisces 44)
1/26/26 – Neptune re-enters Aries
3/31/26 – Neptune exits shadow (2° Aries 11)

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When Neptune stations direct on December 10, we enter its final days in Pisces — the sign of intuition, mysticism, compassion, sensitivity, and yes, sometimes fantasy or delusion. Pisces is gentle, porous, subtle, and soulful. But right now, any “crazy” coming from Neptune has a shorter shelf life because sensible Saturn is looming nearby, having already stationed direct on November 27.

In February, both Saturn and Neptune will return to “get-your-battle-on” Aries.

Between now and then, we’re living through the final anaretic period of both planets — something I explored in a previous post. These next couple of months are extremely charged as Saturn and Neptune work out their last unfinished business in Pisces.

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December & January: Inner-Planet Activation of the 29th Degree

Throughout December and January, as Neptune moves through the anaretic degree, the inner planets will make a series of aspects that highlight, trigger, and intensify the urgency of this 29° zone. Saturn, although sitting at 28° Pisces for much of December, still contributes as it finishes its Pisces story.

What we experience now is a repeating pattern:

1. Inner planet aspects Saturn → reality check

2. Inner planet aspects Neptune → emotional/spiritual response

The inner planets will hit Saturn first with clarity or consequence. Neptune follows with longing, softness, surrender, or the desire for comfort. Whether we find that comfort is another question because, like love, “comfort” is in the eye-of-the-beholder.  It's personal, baby.

Much of this energy can play out in the psyche. Subtle but powerful inner messages can rise up and sometimes in our dreams and through intuitive flashes, that feel strangely out-of-body.

Here are the dates:

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December 2025 Aspects (Dec 7–31)

Dec 7 — Mercury trine Saturn

Concrete conversations that link goals with compassion. The psyche is lit up; intuition runs high.

Dec 8 — Mars square Saturn

Actions taken out of integrity hit a wall. Reality checks arrive. Boundaries and consequences greet unrealistic pushes or foolish leaps.

Dec 11 — Mercury trine Neptune

Dreaming big. Heart-centered goals. Conversations about helping others. Healing insights. Teachers and guides connect the dots.

Dec 14 — Mars square Neptune

Moving through tar. Actions based on illusion dissolve or misfire. Confusion clears momentarily only to reveal new layers.

Dec 16 — Sun square Saturn

Twice a year this aspect arrives. The “strident know-it-alls” clash with humanity’s needs. Chaos and disorganization reveal their cost. Accountability appears.

Dec 20 — Sun square Neptune

The great dissolve. What is fading? What should fade? Dreams are tested. Watch for hypocrisy disguised as righteousness. Beware confusion-makers.

Dec 20 — Venus square Saturn

Values and boundaries collide. Hearts contract. Money feels tight or strange. Consequences surface. Moderation is wise; sobriety is better.

Dec 24 — Venus square Neptune

Love, money, and values feel unmoored. One man’s ceiling is another man’s floor — and today the floor feels cold. Dreams are tested. Again, sobriety > substances.

Dec 29 (PST) — Mercury square Saturn

Watch your words. A small sharp comment can cut like a blade. Lies and exaggerations hit a wall. Accountability surfaces.

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January 2026: The Great Sextile Window

January is drenched in sextiles  and are helpful, opportunity-making aspects. Neptune remains anaretic. Saturn sits at 28° Pisces, steadying and shaping whatever the inner planets activate.

Themes from December that felt harsh or confusing may begin to make sense  in January.  Some may even turn into openings.  Wow. There's a concept.  

Pay special attention to January 17–20:

All four inner planets will activate both Saturn and Neptune within a 48–72 hour window. This is extremely rare and is a double Pisces ending window where spiritual meaning (Neptune) and structural reality (Saturn) align.

Dreams may be vivid. Messages may be symbolic. Something is being delivered.

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January Aspects

Jan 14 — Venus sextile Saturn

Love acts. Practical devotion. Creativity grounded. Support from leaders or steady people.

Jan 17 — Venus sextile Neptune

A wash of gentleness. Hearts soften. Release arrives. The woo-woo is strong and healing.

Jan 17 — Sun sextile Saturn

Creativity meets responsibility. Leaders, businesses, or systems help. Practicality fuels joy.

Jan 18 — Mercury sextile Saturn

Mental agility. Quick pivots open doors. Serendipity thrives when you’re alert.

Jan 19 — Sun sextile Neptune

Practical goals attune with heart messages. Creativity blooms. Intuition rings loudly.

Jan 19 — Mars sextile Saturn

Grounded action. Disciplined momentum. Climbing the ladder — whether internal or external — feels natural.

Jan 20 — Mercury sextile Neptune

Inspired thinking. Conversations flow from a higher place. Even mundane topics carry a deeper resonance.

Jan 23 — Mars sextile Neptune

Inspired action. Service-oriented work feels meaningful. Small humanitarian gestures go far.

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January 26: Neptune Leaves Pisces

Once Neptune enters Aries on January 26, we enter a whole new atmosphere. February 1–13 becomes an integration period — a time for closure, cleanup, and final adjustments thanks to Saturn.

Something has dissolved. What remains becomes clearer.

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A Final Saturn Moment Before the Shift

Feb 2 — Sun semi-square Saturn

A tension between rebellion and responsibility. Who gets left behind when others break free? Saturn reminds us that freedom without awareness has consequences.

Saturn finishes its business, now without Neptune beside it. Themes sharpen. The fog lifts. Practical clarity returns.

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Closing Thoughts

As Neptune and Saturn complete their long journey through Pisces, we’re invited to reconcile what the head can’t make sense of, but the heart understands intuitively. This is the end of a major collective chapter.There is much to unpack — and we’re living inside the transition.

God speed.  

The 29th Degree: Living Through an Anaretic Era

 

 

As I’ve been saying for the last two years, the mid-2020s are an extraordinary astrological landscape. We’re living through a period where multiple outer planets change signs and form aspects with each other that haven’t happened in thousands of years. Yes.  Thousands of years.   Gulp. 

And all of this is unfolding while we drink our morning coffee, shop for groceries, go to work (or try to find work), care for our families, and generally just do life. It can be hard to see the astrological forest for the astrological trees, but we are absolutely feeling this sky whether we’re consciously tracking it or not.

One feature of this era that we’re picking up acutely is the presence of anaretic Neptune and Saturn  is a rare and potent energetic combination.

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What Is the Anaretic Degree?

Each zodiac sign spans zero to twenty-nine degrees. The final degree—the 29th—is known as the anaretic degree, and it carries an intensity unlike any other. It represents culmination, urgency, and transition. A planet here is technically still in the sign, but it is also leaning toward the new work that awaits in the next sign.

There is a sense of “last call” energy at the 29th degree: a desire to finish unfinished business and squeeze the final meaning out of the sign before crossing the threshold.

Take Cancer as an example. Cancer tends to home, family, and nurturance with dedication throughout most of the sign. But at 29°, it feels bold Leo approaching. That bright, expressive fire activates Cancer’s instinctive need for emotional safety, prompting a final lesson in security before releasing the past and stepping into Leo’s creative expansion.

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Why the 29th Degree Feels Urgent

During a planet’s time at 29°, life can speed up. Core Confidency Lifestyle captured this beautifully in the summer of 2024:

“As the planet prepares to move into the next sign, it experiences a transition phase. This can manifest as a time of significant change or upheaval, pushing individuals to evolve and adapt. The 29th degree can trigger transformative events that propel growth and development.”

“The anaretic degree is often linked to karmic themes. It suggests that unresolved issues from past experiences or lifetimes are coming to the forefront, demanding attention and resolution. This can be a period of reckoning where one must confront and clear past debts.”

Of course, the inner planets hit 29° frequently since they move fast. The outer planets, however, may sit at 29° only once or twice in an entire generation. That’s why what’s happening right now is so unusual.

We are experiencing multiple outer planets at the anaretic degree within a short window. That is rare. And it matters.

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2025–2026: The Anaretic Timeline

Here’s where the outer planets have landed:

Saturn at 29° Pisces:

• April 1–May 24, 2025
• January 9–February 19, 2026 (then enters Aries)

Uranus at 29° Taurus:

• June 16–July 7, 2025
• November 8–December 2, 2025
• April 6–April 26, 2026 (then re-enters Gemini for good)

Neptune at 29° Pisces:

• March 4–March 31, 2025
• October 23, 2025–January 26, 2026 (then enters Aries)

Right now, Neptune is anaretic and in January we will have both Saturn and Neptune anaretic at the same time. This is not an everyday occurrence. The last time they overlapped was for a few weeks in October 1998; before that, January–February 1994. There were no other Saturn–Neptune anaretic overlaps in the entire 20th century.

And let’s not forget: Saturn and Neptune have not formed a conjunction at 0° Aries in roughly six thousand years.
So yes, it’s a thing.

In fact, we’re living in the era of:
“Oh wow… this is a thing.”

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How We May Be Feeling It

Neptune (29° Pisces):

Are we tired of being gaslit? Tired of being gullible? Tired of pinning our hopes on fill-in-the-blank and being wildly disappointed?
Neptune raises its hand.

Saturn (29° Pisces):

Are we noticing that we can’t cut through the fog? That our responsible, problem-solving side still can’t make sense of anything? That peeling the onion of chaos only reveals… more crazy onion?
Hi, Saturn.

Uranus (29° Taurus):

Are we tired of being shocked? Is our money getting weird? Are we realizing we can’t stay the same? Are we seeing the places where fear keeps us stuck? And are we sensing a powerful current inside us that could change everything if we shift our thinking?
That’s Uranus knocking.

If you look back at the anaretic dates (in red) above, you may notice themes. Think about what was going on for you.   For me, Uranus at 29° Taurus electrified my thinking. I felt creatively and mentally charged in ways I hadn’t for years.

Neptune’s return to 29° Pisces this fall brought me back to compassion. One morning, walking through the city while on the phone with a friend, a man in a wheelchair asked me for a dollar. Something in his request made me stop, give him the only bill I had, and when he said he needed to cross the street, I asked, “Do you need me to push you?”

So there I was, pushing him across a major Los Angeles intersection during morning rush hour. When he pointed to a corner, I wheeled him there, where his girlfriend greeted him with joy as she sorted her belongings in a shopping cart. I returned to my conversation on the phone, then later I took a moment to ponder that whole experience and I thought how clear he had been about what he needed and how that clarity mirrors what happens when I ask for help. I can’t fix homelessness in my city, but for that moment, I saw him. And I saw myself and I responded.   

That is Neptune anaretic, boundary-dissolving compassion in real time at least in my experience.

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Rick Levine’s Insight: Dissolving and Rewriting Reality

Astrologer Rick Levine (one of my favorites) often reframes the Saturn–Neptune dynamic. Saturn is not simply “reality” and Neptune not “fantasy.” Instead:

• Neptune dissolves the old reality and imagines a future one.
• Saturn tests the vision, shaping it into something sustainable—or not.

He describes this period as a portal, a threshold, a reality rewrite, a reset of the collective imagination.

This is not just a transit. It is a transition point between worlds.

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What Comes Next

How we dissolve and rebuild our lives will be shaped profoundly by the energies of December and January. You may feel influenced in unusual ways. You may feel pulled toward things you can’t yet name. You may feel strange clarity or strange confusion—or both.

Trust the process.
These are anaretic times.
And anaretic times change us in ways we only understand in hindsight. God speed, as we all do this together.