A New Moon of Startling Realizations and Sober Intentionality
Posted on December 8, 2023 in Configurations
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By Henry Seltzer for ASTROGRAPH Horoscopes
The Sagittarius New Moon taking place in the heart of the U.S. holiday season, on December 12th at about 3:30 pm PST, represents a very potent lunation. Trickster Uranus is once again strongly aspected, this time by an inconjunct (or quincunx) aspect within less than one degree. We can expect further surprises, and surprising intuitional revelations, as the December month continues to unfold. We also have in this New Moon prominent Eris in Aries, Saturn in Pisces, and the Chiron/ Eris midpoint of 19 Aries 53 stands in a close aspect the New Moon degree, a trine. This presages the continued significant painful place that we each might find ourselves in, both individually and for the collective, and as well the determination to make of that pain something meaningful in terms of forging better solutions for the future. Expansive Jupiter is also highlighted in this New Moon configuration, as are a stationing Mercury in Capricorn, and the presence of new Nature planets Makemake and Haumea, the latter in an exact trine with Saturn. This all makes for a very hearty stew of astrological influences as we head into the final three weeks of the year.
As far as the Mercury in this New Moon, representing our process of mentality, communication, and learning, the fact that Mercury is stationing to retrograde motion late evening of the same day, the 12th, cannot be underestimated. This is especially so as Mercury also is closely trine Jupiter in Taurus as it stations, giving greater oomph to Mercury and to the retrograde season that is concurrently initiated. Mercury moves backward through the Capricorn sign until December 22nd when it re-enters Sagittarius, then stations direct on the evening of January 1st. After recovering its lost zodiacal ground in the Sagittarius sign, then the first seven degrees of Capricorn, Mercury emerges from its retrograde shadow period on January 20th. For this entire extended time, you could encounter symptoms of the retrograde kind, in lost communications, missed personal connections, and mechanical breakdowns; there is also within this timeframe an opportunity for turning inward and tapping into your intuitive understanding of your true situation, and of your best way forward, once it is that the retrograde shadow period begins to abate.
Haumea, at 1 Scorpio 39, representing “profound connection to Nature,” involving as well concepts of an inner moral code that manifests as concern for others, treating others as we would want to be treated ourselves, and telling the truth at all times, is quite strong in this New Moon, being exactly aligned in trine with Saturn at 1 Pisces 37. Makemake, representing a similar inner moral code that manifests in actual social and environmental activism, is closely aspected by Mercury and Venus. We can only see this as further indication, as we head into the 2024 year, of a realization that is growing that there is a right way and a not-so-right way to proceed with issues both personal and international, along with acting on this understanding.

Venus, planet of aesthetics and of relating, at 9° Scorpio, is also prominent in the Sagittarius New Moon, being sextile stationary Mercury, closely sesquiquadrate fantasy-oriented Neptune, and closely contra-parallel and parallel to Jupiter and Saturn, exactly contra-parallel to each other. This is an idealistic and politically connected Venus that is oriented to the beyond as well as to the present moment. Our relating to each other now has a depth of passion and of activism, in support of a more global orientation whereby all humans are seen as part of the same larger whole. In the Tao Te Ching it is written that “One who recognizes all humans as part of one’s own body/ Is a sound person to guard them.”
In summary, this December 12th New Moon is quite a powerful lunation, featuring a plethora of astrological archetypes that make the next thirty days of this Sagittarius Season an extremely thoughtful and productive time of taking steps, rather than going further into despair, of instead leading the way toward potential solutions. May we, each one of us, in our private lives and our collective angst, minimize the negative and accentuate the positive wherever we can, and however that looks. Most importantly, may we not give up on ourselves and our process, instead celebrating being able to count on the Universe to see us through. Blessed be!
With the massive changes that are happening now, I highly recommend that folks get a transit report tailored specifically to their chart for the most accurate description of what's in store for you in the months ahead.
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Chart for the New Moon on December 12, 2023
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