Thursday, DECEMBER 29

Mercury stations and turns retrograde today in the sign of Capricorn, and it will continue its retrograde journey until January 18th. Some delays or information clogs are possible.

With Mercury retrograde in Capricorn for the whole cycle, we may have little tolerance for small talk and tend to express ourselves after much deliberation. Plans may be considered and then reconsidered. We are in a good position to reevaluate professional or life path plans and goals. It’s also a fine time to explore what ambition or our reputation means to us. During this cycle, our thinking turns inward as we review and reassess matters.

Mercury retrograde periods can be times of heightened inner awareness–times when meditation, journaling, reworking old plans, and reviewing past work are favored more than usual. Minor breaks in the mechanical aspects of communication and transportation can reconnect us to other, possibly more meaningful, means of connecting.

The more difficult times are the periods of the shifts themselves (the days surrounding the stations — today and January 18th), after which we grow more and more accustomed to the motion.

Retrograde Mercury aligns with Venus today, and there can be a focus on analyzing feelings or relationships. We are inclined to chat, socialize, and flatter when Mercury and Venus meet, and with Mercury retrograde, we may be looking back and clarifying feelings or connections. It’s a cooperative influence that stimulates our desire for harmony and balance, and as a result, we may not dig too deeply. Mentally, we’re not as disciplined as usual, preferring to chat with others and to think about pleasant things. It’s a sociable time, but it’s also a time for looking back at old issues in a new, although possibly glossed-over, way.

Whether or not glossing over is helpful may be the question — some things belong in the past! We can feel as if we are starting fresh, and indeed, our ideas feel new and exciting, even if we are doing some recycling of old perspectives.

We can experience uncomfortable feelings about others, possibly revolving around our values and tastes, or we find others too aggressive or brusque. Still, it can also be a time for recognizing the needs and desires that we’ve suppressed. Getting into a healthier relationship with these buried needs can help, but we must first unpack issues stirring now.

A First Quarter Moon occurs today at 8:21 PM EST when the Sun in Capricorn forms a square to the Moon in Aries. There can be stress, clashing, and discord, but also great energy, motivation, and growth. We can feel more ambitious and competitive. We want to get something going, but we may not know the next step or the exact direction we want it/us to take. The Aries Moon from 5:37 AM forward can be impatient but enterprising and straightforward.

The void Moon occurs from 1:21 AM EST, with the Moon’s last aspect before changing signs (a sextile to Pluto), until the Moon enters Aries at 5:37 AM EST.