Following the Moon: Dec. 22, 2018
As I predicted, the New Moon of Dec. 7 led us into an eventful but sloppy two week period. The highlight was the televised meeting between President Trump, Nancy Pelosi, and Chuck Schumer that turned in to a comedy show highlighting Trump’s intransience. It was just what you might expect from Mars conjunct Neptune (the aspect that dominated that New Moon chart,) a lot of aggression and posturing going nowhere.
The government shutdown that this meeting was designed to avert was, of course, not averted, despite the best efforts by McConnell and Pelosi. I had predicted this, based on the Mars to Neptune conjunction. This aspect has a way of turning the cleverest plans into mush. Trump’s quick-change from proudly taking responsibility for the shutdown to blaming it on the Democrats also smells of Mars conjunct Neptune.
What I didn’t expect was Trump’s recent announcement that he wants to pull U.S. troop out of Syria and Afghanistan. However, this is also very much in keeping with Mars conjunct Neptune, since it seems to be a military maneuver utter detached from the realities on ground in both countries. Trump’s sudden change in direction has left many in the military in a Neptunian daze and probably had something to with the resignation of General Mattis as Secretary of Defense.
The past few lunation charts have been dominated by “hard” aspects (conjunctions, squares and oppositions). The Full Moon chart for Dec. 22 is a quite different animal. (Click here to see the chart.) Uranus is aspecting both the Sun and Moon but the aspects are a trine and sextile, easier aspects that don’t usually bring about jolting events. Uranus is the planet of disruption, so we should expect some surprises and instability during this two week period. However, since these changes will be taking place during what is, for most people, a holiday period, they won’t have as much impact.
Another nice feature in this chart is the conjunction of Mercury and Jupiter in Sagittarius. This should bode well for travelers during this highly traveled period. The fact that Mercury and Jupiter is square to Neptune adds a cautionary note. Travelers might encounter some confusion or our realities might be clouded by worrisome rumors and “fake news”. However, since Neptune also trines Venus in the Seventh House, it all seems to end in amicable agreement. (And maybe a cup of holiday cheer.)
The only thing that bothers me about this Full Moon chart is the fact that Saturn is directly on the Midheaven. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it does indicate a period of serious reflection and restricted action. This could refer to the government shutdown which will obviously have some adverse effects, particularly if it continues into 2019. However, since Saturn is sextile to both Neptune and Venus in this chart, I think people will be able to overlook this problem, at least in the short term.
