Astrology of December: Mercury Rx and New Moon in Sagittarius
Becoming the Compass
Mercury Retrograde
November 25 at 22° Sagittarius - December 15 at 06° Sagittarius
God is Change
New Moon in Sagittarius at 09°33’
December 1, 2024, 1:21 am EST
The New Moon in Sagittarius on Sunday, December 1st, is no ordinary beginning. Reality is being reconfigured, Mercury is retrograde and we are challenged to explore the mysterious realm of human freedom.
Change is not happening to us – it’s happening through us, but it often doesn’t feel that way when we’re stuck in patterns and outdated ways of being.
This is the second of five new moons in a row that occur at 9 degrees. Although it is common for several new moons to occur at the same degree, this round holds extra significance. In numerology, 9 is the number of perpetuation. Each multiple of 9 adds up to 9 (1+8=9, 2+7=9, etc.) symbolizing that every cycle of completion seeds a new beginning that contains each cycle that came before. In this way, 9 is about connecting with the greater cosmic whole and the universal interconnectedness of all life.
Sagittarius is the 9th sign of the zodiac and is rooted in these themes as well – expanding by seeking meaning and the highest truth, synthesizing diverse perspectives across cultures and religions. In its power, Sagittarius embraces the uncertainty of beginning as the threshold of growth and expansion. It celebrates that in each discovery, a greater mystery is revealed, meaning its quest for truth will never end. Although it loves freedom, obstacles must also be embraced as an opportunity to hone in its creative abilities and apply its skillfully developed intellect to find the pathway to freedom. Sagittarius embodies self-motivation, expansive awareness and unyielding faith in possibility.
Such idealism is beautiful, yet it also warrants skepticism. With all of these high ideals, Sagittarius can also exhibit overconfidence, arrogance and fail to see the real-life outcomes of its pursuit of a bigger vision. Because Sagittarius so diligently develops its values and perspectives, self-righteousness, on occasion, will inevitably sneak in. Sagittarius is prone to blindspots when contemplating ideas on a purely conceptual level, forgetting that real life is messy and humans are complicated, the Sagittarian included.
Land of the Free: The U.S. Sagittarius Rising
This New Moon puts a spotlight on Sagittarius energy the world knows all too well – the United States with its 12° Sagittarius Ascendant (also known as the ‘rising sign’). The U.S. very accurately represents how an idealistic view of freedom is easily twisted.
The Puritans came to Turtle Island (as the indigenous people of this land referred to the continent of North and Central America) to escape religious persecution in England. Yet, to gain their freedom, they robbed the freedom (and lives) of indigenous peoples who called this land home for as long as time can tell. Very quickly after arriving, they also shipped in enslaved African, building a nation on stolen labor. All of this was justified by claims of moral superiority as a result of their inability to understand the intelligence of a culture that was different from their own. While Africans and indigenous people seemed to live in harmony with nature, practice religions based on animism (the principle that living and nonliving entities have a spiritual essence or life force), and even worship deities associated with the elements, the Puritans saw their god as singular, separate, and superior to the earth. For Puritans, freedom was based on controlling or escaping the natural elements, viewing the wilderness (including the wilderness of their own bodies) as dangerous, chaotic, and even demonic.
The colonizers were able to see themselves as superior because they had decided theirs was the ultimate perception of truth. Their view of freedom was so tightly defined that even the flagrant similarities between what they were doing to the indigenous and African peoples and what had been done to them by the English Crown was not a deal breaker. This is the danger of Sagittarius – letting your taste for a discovery you arrive at overpower the wisdom that there is no ultimate. The search for truth must carry on infinitely into the future.
Of course, have carried on that search, continuously passing down the torch and attempting to forge a path in which all humans live in a land that’s called freedom. Yet, through many hard won advances, the debate wages on, and in the parasitic growth of information, the quest for truth grows ever-more arduous. While the debate over human rights takes a different form and flavor, it seems people cling even more strongly to their one superior view, their favored form of freedom and truth.
Over the next couple of weeks (from November 24 to December 14) Mercury will not only retrograde over the U.S. Ascendant in Sagittarius, but the most important part of its retrograde journey, when it conjuncts the Sun on December 5, will be 2° away from the U.S. Ascendant. The Ascendant represents how the country presents itself. If you grew up in the U.S., or a country whose culture was highly influenced by the U.S. freedom branding, then it may be time to look at how this branding has impacted how you present yourself, too.
The Freedom Wound
The U.S. has been revisiting its freedom wound for the last five years since the asteroid Chiron has returned to Aries, where it was when the U.S. was formed. Chiron is called the wounded healer and it symbolizes the wounds we’re born with that teach us how to become healers by requiring that we heal ourselves. Aries is a sign of freedom and fierce independence, speaking to concepts of rugged individualism and freedom for some but not for all. During the New Moon, Chiron will be 1° away from where it was the day the Declaration of Independence was signed. Clearly America has been reckoning with this festering wound, with increasing calls from the masses to address widening economic inequality, issues with healthcare, and an environmental crisis that it has played a major role in. The freedom project, while an upgrade from monarchies that ruled for millennia prior, has continuously preferenced those who embodied the ideals of the monarch – conquest, domination, hierarchies, superiority, and force. Tribal, cooperative, and egalitarian systems, more common among matriarchal societies and cultures that take an animist worldview, are subdued, subjected, and diminished.
The total solar eclipse that occurred in April this year was almost exactly conjunct the U.S. Chiron point and was also visible from a huge swath of the country. With water covering so much of the earth, for an eclipse to be visible over that much land in itself is rare, let alone with the significance of it coinciding with not only the U.S. Chiron return, but the time when Chiron was at almost the same degree. Because Chiron retrogrades, for this New Moon, it’s at the same degree as it was during that eclipse. To put this in perspective, each sign has 30 degrees. Over Chiron’s 8 year period in Aries, it will touch all 30 degrees, so you can see the synchronicities of these events are highly specific. What’s more, for an eclipse to happen, the Moon and the Sun have to be at the lunar nodes, which is where the moon crosses the earth’s apparent path around the Sun. In a solar eclipse, this alignment causes the Moon to temporarily block the light of the Sun. The lunar nodes are considered destiny points, where fates align and the light can exponentially increase or decrease in a moment's notice. During the eclipse, the North Node, or the destiny point representing the future and an increase was right next to Chiron. This can indicate an increase in healing, but it can also indicate the wound getting worse before it gets better.
Perhaps the U.S. Mars, which also relates to freedom and represents our agency, in Gemini can provide some insight in how we might approach this healing. The U.S. Mars is in a harmonious relationship with the U.S. Chiron in Aries is called a sextile. Both Aries and Gemini love novelty, and where Chiron is expressing an oppression of its individuality in Aries, Mars in Gemini has a genuine desire to see everyone expressed. Gemini is less concerned with being right than with having fun, connecting, and exploring. Maybe there is something here to teach us about where our deep desire for freedom has been repressed and we’ve settled for a scarcity view on what is safe, correct, and attainable.
Sagittarius and Gemini: The Axis of Perception
Gemini and Sagittarius are on an axis, representing opposing but complementary energies that create a dynamic tension. Gemini and Sagittarius make up what astrologers call the axis of perception and is the realm of all things related to curiosity and learning. Gemini is ruled by Mercury, The Messenger, who governs all things communication, the air signs forte. Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter, the philosopher, who arranges the information Mercury collects in a cosmic context, transforming knowledge into wisdom. Sagittarius is a fire sign, motivated by passion of the heart, action and adventure – and not just physical action and adventure but meaningfully action and intellectual adventure that require a deeper understanding. Mercury and Gemini thrive in the details that Juipter and Sagittarius are likely to miss from their cosmic lens. Where Mercury and Gemini are inclined towards social interactions, Jupiter and Sagittarius are consumed by culture and curiosity about what drives human behavior and connection. Mercury and Gemini are quick to move to the next topic, where Jupiter and Sagittarius are willing to chew on a concept for years, even a lifetime, constantly reinventing it through an ever-expanding and evolving perspective.
This dynamic is especially pertinent now because Mercury and Jupiter are in each other’s signs. Jupiter has been in Gemini since May 25, 2025, and the whole time Mercury retrogrades in Sagittarius from November 24 to December 14, it will be opposite Juipter, coming into the second of three direct oppositions on December 4th. Mercury entered its “pre-retrograde shadow” (which means the degree it will return to at the end of its retrograde journey) on November 7, days after the U.S. election. The Mercury retrograde opposite Jupiter represents a dynamic tension between our thoughts and our beliefs, our communication and our values – a tension that is clearly reflected in the political culture in the United States.
Although planets are considered to be in their detriment when they’re in the sign opposite their place of rulership, when the roles are reversed, they are thought to have some additional help. Mercury in Sagittarius is prone to dogmatism which according to Oxford Dictionary, means, “the tendency to lay down principles as incontrovertibly true, without consideration of evidence or the opinions of others.” Mercury wants to communicate, but the realms Sagittarius explores sometimes take weeks, months, or even years of contemplation before they can be articulated clearly. As a result, Gemini in Sagittarius can simplify complex issues, refusing to debate on the details and instead pointing to broad sweeping statements like the economy or perceived strength or a general sense of patriotism.
Jupiter’s challenge in Gemini is that it can easily become scatterbrained and side-tracked. Jupiter brings abundance and without the will to go deep, an abundance of surface level knowledge can easily lead to a superficial and even false sense of understanding and result in inconsistency. The Sagittarius vision that takes the cosmic view to arrange information into a wider context in which their meaning can be more accurately understood is limited when Jupiter is in Gemini, but when Mercury is here, there may be some skills we can gain in this challenge.
Mercury Retrograde
When a planet goes retrograde, something is under review, and when that planet is Mercury, what is under review is about communication. These are times to reflect on things like:
Where do you let your desire to know limit your willingness to put in the work to understand? When are you liable to blow hot air and speak empty words, knowing you don’t have the facts, but still feeling convicted in your beliefs? Are there beliefs you’ll more readily defend even though you have all the facts? Does reflecting on this bring up any triggers around feeling smart?
These questions are increasingly important when we live in a meritocracy where intellect is weaponized. In the aforementioned context of freedom for some at the expense of others that has not been unique to the United States, it’s just been more pronounced, these false concepts of supremacy have been used to invalidate people’s worth and their experience. Although this has been happening for a few hundred years in America, it’s also been happening for millenia under empires and caste based societies in which it was normalized for one person’s humanity to be worth more than others based on the material wealth they were born into. No wonder then, that we all feel such urgency to prove ourselves and our worthiness. No wonder then, we so often deny the contradictions we embody, rather than admitting the simple fact that every wise person who has walked the planet has tried to tell us – the more we know, the more we realize we don’t. We will always be a work in progress. This is not to say that wisdom simply resigns to not knowing – quite the opposite. Wisdom seeks to increase its capacity to be with the mystery so it can expand its understanding of life, embracing the adventure that is to be found in that journey of endless evolution.
You know the Bob Marley quote that goes something like, “I am not perfect and I do not live to be. Before you point your fingers, make sure your hands are clean”? So often, the areas where we’re most critical of others reflect aspects of our own identity we’re ashamed of. We strive to be perfect as means of self-protection, hiding our “imperfections” from ourselves, and as a result our psyche sees them externally, attempting to show us what we’ve relegated to the shadows. When we begin to welcome in these shadows and understand ourselves in the broader context of our human experience, we can have compassion for ourselves and others when we fall into political polarization, and help each other wake up to the delusion that it’s either or, this or that. Instead, we peel back what are the values and beliefs behind the facts people are spewing (be them fact or fiction) and seek to imagine a culture of psychological safety in which people no longer feel they have to infringe on someone else’s freedom to protect their own.
Mercury in Sagittarius is our opportunity to start tracking the ways we limit ourselves by getting stuck on one-dimensional knowing. The knowing that pins it down, checks the box, collects its accolades, and gets it right. When Mercury goes retrograde, we hit snags in communication. Sometimes it feels like our brains aren’t working right and sometimes it feels like they’re not working at all. Communication breakdowns are likely, with a partner or a friend, an email sent too soon or an impassioned online rant that may wake up the next day regretting. Every time we hit a bump in the road, this is our chance to take a step back, observe, and question if we’re getting stuck in one interpretation of the experience when it would be more liberating and empowering to view mistakes as essential stops on the journey to truth, freedom, and understanding.
During this Mercury retrograde, you might try reflecting on the following:
What is your relationship with “mistakes”? Do you put pressure on yourself to get it right? What areas of your life do you feel this the most and how do those areas relate to your core values and beliefs?
Has a mistake ever benefited you? If not you, have you heard a story by a friend or even someone you don’t know where what was experienced as bad luck ended up bringing what could be considered good fortune? If not, read and reflect on this short Zen teaching about the farmer.
What vision, goal, or outcome do you cling to the most? Maybe it’s around making money, having a certain job title, or finding the perfect lover. What are the values and beliefs reflected in that goal? Is your goal limiting the numerous pathways those values and beliefs might be expressed?
This Mercury retrograde is an opportunity to explore the possibility that there’s a whole lot of fun and not knowing! It means we get to create something, be wayfinders, pioneers of a new way – maybe even a better way, a peaceful way, an abundant way where everyone is free and has what they need to survive and thrive on this gorgeous planet. And with a square to Saturn in Pisces, the impression I’m getting is that our greatest power will result from faith that all roads lead to home. More on that below.
The Tyranny of the Possible
Through the entirety of Mercury Retrograde and the rest of the year, Mercury and Juipter are in a hard aspect with Saturn called a square. This aspect is a prime feature of the New Moon on December 1st which is closely engaged in this dynamic at 09° Sagittarius. When the Sun and Moon come together in a New Moon, it is time to set intentions about aligning our goals and desires in relationship to the solar energy (Sagittarius: creative freedom, unbridled expression, visionary thinking) and identifying the resources, the lunar energy, needed to actualize those goals and desires.
With Saturn, the reality gatekeeper, in the sensitive, spiritual waters of Pisces at a point of tension, approximately halfway between the Sun, Moon, Mercury in Sagittarius and Jupiter in Gemini, this month is about releasing ourselves from the tyranny of the possible. Picture this like there is a bowstring connecting Gemini and Sagittarius, and that string is being pulled back by Saturn, increasing tension to create force so the arrow can be shot.
Saturn is the reality we’re creating, and in Pisces, it functions very differently than it’s used to. In Pisces, Saturn asks us to tap into the ethereal realm where time is all happening at once, and we get to dream a new reality into existence. With Mercury in Sagittarius and Jupiter in Gemini, this is a lot of energy to hold. All three signs are mutable, meaning prone to mutation. When this type of aspect occurs, stability is said to be found at the missing fourth leg, in this case the fourth mutable sign, Virgo. The lesson of Virgo is to be whole in yourself. To be of service, but from the wisdom that only service offered in integrity is sustainable in the long haul.
One of my favorite quotes by the Virgo Adrienne Maree Brown is “Perhaps the most egregious thing we are taught is that we should be really good at what’s already possible, to leave the impossible alone.” Although Virgo is a pragmatic earth sign, her brilliance comes from her ability to envision the many paths to stability. Spring doesn’t blossom the same way every year. Each harvest produces a unique bounty. This New Moon is about resourcing ourselves to keep faith in the big vision, not only for our lives but for the world. Now's the time to finally accept that invitation to meet in the field beyond right and wrong.
While Saturn is dreaming the impossible dream, Mercury and Jupiter are teaching us to stop prioritizing being right and being good at and instead fearlessly pursue the thing we don’t know – even the thing we can’t know! That’s unknowable! Virgo warns us, how can we approach this journey in a way that is sustainable? What are the fundamental things we do know about what keeps us nourished, grounded, and regulated? What are the trigger points we anticipate in the coming month based on increased family time during the holidays, the pressure to spend money, or something going on in our relationships or career? These will be the times that our grounding practices will be most essential for expanding our capacity to experience triggers as portals to freedom when we learn to adopt a both/and perspective, releasing the scarcity of either or.
Some key dates to be aware of this month are:
December 4: Mercury and Jupiter make the second of 3 oppositions which brings up lessons around healthy conflict (look back to their first of 3 oppositions on November 18th to reflect on what this might have in store for you)
December 5: Mercury conjuncts the Sun halfway through its retrograde journey, reminding us not to take life too seriously, that all experience can be an exploration of aliveness. If you have to have big conversations this month or release something for your business, this is the best day to do it
December 6: Mercury exacts its square with Saturn which is about confronting extremism and where we tend towards spiritual bypassing, rather than building the soft strength of feeling the pain of being alive AND embracing the levity that what now seems like a curse can later become a blessing.
December 7: Sun exacts its square to Jupiter, supporting you to align your hearts with your minds and your thoughts with your values and vision by keeping faith that all roads lead to home, and every lesson is a blessing.
December 24: Jupiter exacts its square with Saturn, showing you where you’ve been superficial or impatient and limited yourself with either or thinking. This is a time to embrace humility and curiosity, especially if you’re spending time with family and anticipate triggers, remembering the difference between judgement and discernment is that judgement is stagnant and discernment is evolving. It might be tempting to defend your beliefs, but asking questions instead is more likely to facilitate connection and mutual expansion.
December 26: Mercury in Sagittarius exacts its final opposition to Jupiter in Gemini highlighting where our learning and growth require us to make space for our own internal conflicts, not as a problem to be solved but a gateway to our shared humanity.
Wishing you fun and play amidst challenge and optimism of seeing the opportunity in every difficulty.
Xx Nico
“There is no dry land. There is only fearlessness, which can be found in the heart. This is the path to freedom.” - Elizabeth Lesser
All that you touch
You Change.
All that you Change
Changes you.
The only lasting truth
Is Change.
God
Is Change.”
- Octavia Butler