A Total Solar Eclipse and The Great Conjunction

December 2020
A Total Solar Eclipse and The Great Conjunction

This is a huge month astrologically and brings us to a crescendo of energy that has been building all year. We are in Eclipse season with a particularly powerful Total Solar Eclipse just a week before the Winter Solstice and the long-awaited Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Aquarius.

December starts off quietly, and then on December 13th, Mercury squares Neptune. This brings a foggy mind situation. There can be forgetfulness, confusion, a vague unsettling feeling, and overwhelming sensations. You’re not as mentally sharp as usual so it challenges clear thinking. It’s sort of a Mercury retrograde-type vibe. Plan to relax this day. Don’t schedule any urgent tasks, don’t make any major decision, and this is not a good day to sign documents or commit to anything long-term.
This is helpful for creative endeavors that require imagination and intuition so pay attention to downloads that you get. Dreams may be particularly strong. If you are dealing with a situation that you are trying to understand better, use meditation or ask your guides for clarity rather than trying to discuss this with words. Turn your conscious brain off for a while and let the unconscious find the solution. This energy can evoke emotions like disappointment, sadness, or heightened sensitivity so if that comes to you, just give yourself some time off. The energy will pass relatively quickly.
December 14th is the most astrologically charged day this month. At 8:17 am PST we have a New Moon, total Solar Eclipse at 23 degrees Sagittarius. A Solar Eclipse tends to bring powerful energetic agitation and this is a very potent Eclipse since it is so closely combined with the North and South Node. It’s very common to feel restless or ungrounded. Staying hydrated and being around water is really important and can help calm the agitation.
Obviously, we have a New Moon every month and that energy gives us the chance to reset the area of our life that is impacted by that New Moon. But, approximately every six months we get a New Moon Eclipse that, besides giving us the opportunity to begin anew, helps us break up our ‘stuck in the rut’ methods of behavior. Eclipses are based strongly in drama and intensity hence we may experience the breaking up of our old patterns and disruptions to the regular routines of our lives as a bit traumatic.
This eclipse is very close to the South Node and that brings a non-material influence. It’s not unusual to want to purge or declutter when this astrological point is activated. The South Node also calls us to a more spiritual mindset which can bring about a change in our perspectives or a shift in our beliefs. Existential questions are likely to be forefront in all of our minds during this month.
Typically, during a New Moon we look toward the future and begin the manifestation process that brings to us what we desire. That is true of this New Moon as well and that manifestation energy is given extra oomph by the Eclipse. However, because this New Moon is closely involved with the South Node, we also experience the energy of endings and releasing. Since the South Node is also about changing perspective, we will have the ability to see things in a new light or from a different point of view. This makes it easier to see what no longer serves us and helps us release those things.
A New Moon on the South Node can also point out that something from the past must be released before forward movement can occur. This can stimulate or make you aware of pain or a trauma that holds you back or it can highlight a particular behavior that has been a part of your life for a long time and keeps you from moving forward. As we identify and shift these things the pathway becomes clear. You may continue in the same direction or move onto a new path that may be more meaningful to your life, but either way going forward is easier because the block has been released.
One thing to understand about this type of Eclipse is that the usual Solar light is blocked temporarily. Because the Sun is our ego/conscious self when it is temporarily obscured, we have the opportunity to tap into our intuitive nature and our unconscious self. It’s important to connect to that inner realm during this time. This can manifest in many ways, but one thing you may need to do is remove yourself from a particular situation in order to fully determine how you feel about it or how you want to proceed with it. This separate and quiet time allows for internal reflection and when you emerge you will have a clear understanding of why you are doing a particular thing and/or why you are going to stop doing a particular thing. It’s very inspiring!
During this Eclipse, Mercury is also combining with the South Node. This is ‘out with the old, in with the new’ energy. Be aware of old mental habits or thinking patterns and be willing to let them go. There is a strong spiritual quality to this combination so it’s likely we will all be swept up in deeper more esoteric topics rather than practical day-to-day thinking. It’s a strong time for creative endeavors and divine inspiration. Pay attention to dreams and downloads.
Solar Eclipses can often affect leadership, as well so we may see some shifts globally in that area. This can also manifest as government desperately trying to maintain order by enacting more restrictive laws, rules, and regulations.
Also on December 14th, we have Venus in a lovely combination with Jupiter. This is all about luck, sweetness, intimacy, connections, and expressing emotions in healthy ways. Use this energy to express gratitude for all that you have. Tell the people in your life that they are appreciated and what they mean to you. The energy is very positive and uplifting and will definitely bring the warm and fuzzies.
On December 17th we experience an enormous and long-awaited energy shift as Saturn moves into the sign of Aquarius and Jupiter follows on December 19th.
Jupiter’s condition in Capricorn over the last 13 months has contributed to a lot of the limitations, restrictions, and instability that we have all experienced this year. Thankfully, this ends with this most helpful planet shifting into Aquarius. However, the change from challenge and restriction to openness and expansion won’t happen immediately. That process will evolve over the next year, but we will feel the shift on these dates.
Saturn leaves Capricorn for the first time since December 2017. This ends a three-year chapter in all of our lives. It’s likely that there has been a strong focus on effort in a particular part of your life. Hopefully, you can look back on the last three years and see that you have adopted new structures in the form of behaviors or routines that are better suited to who you are now. Maybe you had to change some old habits, or consolidate a part of your life. It’s worth taking the time to reflect on what life was like for you in 2017 and how it is now. What has changed? Has something fallen away? What have you learned? By acknowledging the changes that have happened, you prepare for the new energy that is coming.
Saturn changing signs is always a significant astrological event and by moving into Aquarius, Saturn has the potential to bring much more positive energy. Saturn in Aquarius has less fear and is strongly about looking forward as opposed to embracing the past. Saturn in Capricorn has a strong desire to preserve and protect the past and we’ve seen that obviously revealed in the collective experience of struggling to maintain the outdated status quo at all costs. Saturn in Aquarius looks to the future and is more interested in how we can move forward from here in a way that benefits the collective.
Not only are Jupiter and Saturn changing signs, but they are bringing an elemental change as well. As we shift from the Earth sign of Capricorn to the Air sign of Aquarius, we will experience a change in density. Air is lighter so we will feel less bogged down and more able to change – to communicate and interact. Saturn in Aquarius is also highly intellectual, innovative and will bring us many new inventions, especially in the world of technology.
These two planets changing sign is definitely noteworthy, but the most important component of this energy is related to the two planets conjoining on December 21st at zero degrees of Aquarius. This is one of the most significant aspects of 2020 and the decade.
The conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn is known as A Great Conjunction and begins (at the minimum) a new twenty-year cycle. The last time this occurred was in May 2000 in the Earth sign of Taurus. Certainly, this event was significant, but the coming together of Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius activates a new 200-year cycle in the element of Air. Over the last two hundred years, whenever these two planets have come together it has been in the Earth signs of Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn – heavy, dense, maintaining the status quo. Beginning December 21st and lasting for the next two hundred years, these two planets will come together in the Air signs of Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius – light, intellectual, innovative, focusing on the new.
These cycles have significant impact not just on each of us personally, but on our societies and how we interact as a collective. This Great Conjunction impels us forward collectively into a new era with the qualities of air. It’s likely that the impact to the collective will have obvious implications that we’ll be able to see easily. The impact on a personal level may take longer to manifest.
Jupiter helps you see the picture of where you want to go in your life and Saturn shows you how to get there. This energy combines big picture vision with practical steps to achievement. However, Jupiter always brings expansion and whenever activated we tend to take on more than we can possibly do. But if we allow Saturn to modulate Jupiter’s expansiveness, we can focus on doing one or two things extremely well rather than scattering our energy until exhaustion over takes us. This uses the energy properly and will bring a much better result. Let Saturn bring a ‘quality control’ component to your life.
So, when you think of next year, consider paring back on your expansion plans. By committing to just a few things, you free up space in your life and that allows for growth or for being open to unexpected possibilities that are quite likely to occur in 2021. This way you will have time and energy to respond in a spontaneous way to what the Universe brings you.
If a big problem or a dark time came into your life in March 2020 – exclusive of Covid-19 which affects us collectively – this Jupiter/Saturn interaction will help you to resolve that issue.
During this time some of you will be focused on the last three years as being significant in your life and others will feel the longer twenty-year cycle shift. Either way, it’s extremely important to think about what you want the next phase of your life to look like. It’s also important to understand that since this is the beginning of a new 200-year cycle, we will experience a significant reset socially and collectively in the next few months and years. We are now being guided and inspired by different symbolic forces and themes, but it may take a while for our consciousness to recognize and accept that. When doing your planning, take the time to consider a much longer time frame than you normally would.
December 21st also brings us the Winter Solstice and the Sun moving into the sign of Capricorn. The Solstice is a time when the Sun stands still. This has historically been an invitation from the Cosmos to pause, to rest and recharge, and to step out of the normal window of time and reflect on what has happened in our lives. Think about where you’ve come from and where you want to go. Not all of us have the opportunity to do this, but try to find time during these two weeks to be conscious of the Sun standing still and then turning to bring back the light. As the Sun returns to movement in January, it will be heading in a different direction. That is very significant for this time of humanity.
Stillness and reflection points form a cross road for reorientation and a time to begin a new journey. Check in internally. Is your guidance system moving you in a direction that is still meaningful for you, or is it trying to redirect your attention to something new? Pay attention to Energetic Nudges that you get from the Universe. Take time to tap into Source, listen to your downloads and begin the manifestation process for the shift. This is a fantastic opportunity to create the life you’ve been dreaming of.
The most challenging aspect of the month occurs on December 23rd. This is the last of three interactions between Mars and Pluto. The combination of these two planets brings power dynamics, forces pitted against each other, disagreements, and the experience of being thwarted or blocked. It can also bring an obsessive drive to get things done, so you may feel compelled to focus on a particular issue or project and try to push it forward no matter what. This combination has a volatile quality and can bring willfulness. There is also the potential to be hit with a very intense or challenging situation. Whatever gets presented to you regarding these topics, it’s important to stay in your power and try to resolve it before the holidays. This links back to August 2020, so if something has been niggling at you since then you now have the potential to resolve it.
On the plus side, this energy can be very productive if handled in the right way. If you feel overwhelmed or strongly agitated, physical exertion with an intended goal will help you burn off that excess energy.
The Full Moon at 8 degrees Cancer falls on December 29th at 7:28 pm PST. This is a very special Full Moon because it is the first one in the sign of Cancer for three years that isn’t opposed or muted by Saturn in Capricorn. This Full Moon wraps up the year with a giant swell of emotions. It’s very nourishing and an excellent time to focus on self-care, and to connect with people that you feel comfortable and safe with. Allow yourself to bask in the feeling of being protected and nurtured. Try to take some time to relax and disconnect, spend quiet time alone or with your loved ones, meditate, walk in nature, take a salt bath. Nurture your inner child. No stress should be the goal so if family interaction is more triggering than soothing, take some time away from that type of interaction. This is a wonderful Full Moon for magic or any rituals that you’d like to participate in.
While there is no doubt that 2020 has been a challenging year, it has also been the preview for an intense square between Saturn and Uranus. This is the energy of revolution and will be upon us for the entire year of 2021. The combination of the planets Saturn and Uranus pushes us into a struggle between control and freedom. It’s now time to choose. Do we want to be restricted and controlled by fear, or do we want to have the freedom to make our own choices; good or bad?
Saturn represents the archetype of restriction. It’s old and stodgy (think Father Time) and is reluctant to change processes that have been in place for centuries. Saturn will fight to keep its well-established rules, laws, societal orders, and social norms.
On the other hand, Uranus wants to shake things up. It looks to the new, the exciting. It’s very creative, innovative energy and is quite useful for pushing us out of stagnation and into new possibilities.
Saturn/Uranus hard alignments like this represent periods of forced growth and radical change. It’s a time when the old and the new wrestle for dominance. When these two planets interact with each other the results are unpredictable. That causes fear and resistance to change. However, resistance is futile! Change/evolution is a necessary thing and getting in the way of it only enhances the challenges. Abraham-Hicks points out that it’s much easier to paddle a canoe downstream than upstream. How true that is and if we can allow ourselves to get into the flow of the energy of change and ride the tide, adapting to the new will be easier. If we let fear take over, we block our forward progress and huddle in the dark waiting to be saved.
What’s vital though, is that we work together to bring about the proper change. The challenge with that is obvious, of course – everyone has a different opinion about what is and is not proper. But, seriously, pay attention to who benefits from changes that are proposed. As UK astrology Jessica Davidson points out – Constant surveillance, mandated vaccines, a digital economy, and universal basic income run by AI is not a recipe for personal freedom – at least not for the majority.
On a personal level, we can use this energy to break away from old behavior and thinking patterns. Any structures in your life that no longer serve you can now be released more easily. As the square aspect intensifies during 2021, we may feel that we’ve lost control of situations and events, but this energy also brings renewal. It gives birth to new ideas and allows us to free ourselves from the old ways. The key is to stay as flexible and adaptable as you can. Be open to the change and the new ideas that are presented to you. Don’t jump into the first thing that comes along, but give yourself time to explore new directions and the opportunities that come with stepping outside your comfort zone.
This Saturn/Uranus square will be exact three times in 2021 and once in 2022. The dates to watch out for are:
February 17, 2021, June 15, 2021, December 24, 2021, and October 1-12, 2022.
My original intention with writing this newsletter was to do whatever I could to help as many people as possible navigate the challenging energy of 2020. We are approaching the end of this milestone year and the end of my Moon Reports. In 2021, I will be using this time to focus on writing the books that dance maniacally around in my head. I will still be available for readings so please reach out whenever you want to schedule and if the Universe prompts me to reach out to you in Moon Report form, I will certainly do so.
Congratulations on surviving 2020! I wish you all a fun-filled and relaxing holiday season!
— Beth Lauderdale ~ Evolutionary Astrology