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This week remarkably includes four planets changing signs, following the second eclipse in the present series. Venus will move into high-spirited Sagittarius on Tuesday and Mercury will enter sober Capricorn on Sunday. These transits are brief, with both lasting until January 8th. The mixed bag they offer will have Venus inviting us to meet and mingle, while Mercury will be more serious and subdued. The Saturn and Jupiter shifts into inventive, original Aquarius, on the 16th and 19th, are more significant and much longer-lasting. Jupiter will be in the fixed air sign until December 28, 2021, and Saturn until March of 2023. Saturn is the restrictive, greater malefic and Jupiter the expansive, greater benefic. That we’ll be spending the next year with these contradictory bodies inhabiting the same sign warrants a review of Aquarius.

In the astrology community, a debate about planetary rulership has emerged over the past several years. This movement assigns the rulership of each of astrology’s twelve signs to the original seven planets, excluding Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. From this perspective, Scorpio is ruled by Mars instead of Pluto, Pisces is ruled by Jupiter and not Neptune, and Aquarius by Saturn rather than Uranus. As a writer, I like to consider all opinions, and I can see some valid relationships in this scheme. But as a professional reader, there has to be solid evidence of a theory in the real-life circumstances of clients before I endorse a given school of thought. When it comes to Aquarius, I can see some Saturnian qualities, like rigidity. But that can be attributed to the sign’s fixed modality. My experience of Aquarius Sun sign people is much more in keeping with the traits we associate with Uranus. Like Aries natives, Aquarians typically prize and prioritize freedom and are usually the earliest adapters to new technologies. Aquarians identify with outliers, rebels and misfits, and strongly advocate for human rights and social equality. Also, the minute a definite assertion is made, they instinctively and invariably argue its exact opposite, pure Uranus. For context, Uranus was discovered in 1781, the very year when America decidedly won its independence, in Yorktown, Virginia on October 19th. The French Revolution, 1789-99, and Irish Rebellion of 1798 quickly followed. Collectively, those wars represented a colossal societal change from monarchical authority to self-governance. So there is most certainly a correlation between the discovery of this planet and the qualities, such as revolution, shock and innovation, that we associate with it. In terms of the rulership of Aquarius, let’s see how applicable those characteristics are, especially during Saturn’s transit of the 11th sign.

Though the early stage of Saturn’s transit of Aquarius will make a hard aspect, astrology’s notorious square, to Uranus in Taurus, there are some promising commonalities in this combination. Ringed Saturn imposes limitations, forcing pragmatism on high-minded Aquarian ideas and ideals. Similarly, disruptive Uranus finds itself a third of the way through its seven-year-transit of the fixed earth sign of Taurus, where it has been coming to terms with the finiteness of resources. Saturn and Taurus will demand real world applications and solutions from ingenious Aquarius and technologically-advanced Uranus. Jupiter’s presence in Aquarius for the next year will amply the need for breakthroughs and perhaps accelerate their speed. The coming Saturn Uranus and Jupiter Uranus squares will put the pressure on all involved parties to make progress. When Mars enters Taurus on January 6th, it too will press for resolutions. We’ll get our first glimpse of the shapes of things to come on December 21st, when Jupiter and Saturn meet at 0:29 of Aquarius, for what is being billed as The Great Conjunction. For millennia, the Solstices have marked the changing of the seasons. The zero degree placement of this conjunction signals that something completely new is at hand. Indeed, we are bravely crossing the threshold into a new Age.

The week begins under the influence of the Moon in organized, dutiful Virgo, making Monday and Tuesday its best days for tending to details and practical matters. On Wednesday nebulous Neptune will square the Sagittarius Sun, and on Sunday the planet of illusion and confusion will square ordinarily clear-minded Mercury. The Sun describes identity and Mercury mental clarity. If we can get our bearings before heading into this five-day fog, we’re less likely to go off-track in the heat of battle. As information whizzes around us, factions argue and disorientation sets in, a deeper guiding force will be on offer from Scorpio. Venus, the planet of desire, is inhabiting the sign of raw honesty. On Thursday she’ll hook up with Scorpio’s ruler Pluto, in Capricorn, via a supportive and powerful sextile. Later in the day, the Moon will join her in the passionate water sign. Early next week Venus will go on to sextile Jupiter and then Saturn, in the aftermath of our next eclipse and right before all three planets change signs. This is our last shot at deciphering the codes coming from seductive Scorpio and applying them as only pragmatic, capable Capricorn can.

While all of that is taking place, the Sag Sun will make a boisterous trine to aggressive Mars in Aries late Thursday night, to be followed by Mercury’s Sag trine to Mars on Monday. This likely positive “ready, aim and fire” barrage is another reason to remain mission focused. The Moon ultimately will end this week in philosophical Sagittarius, where it will be for Monday’s eclipse and its new Moon phase. Cheerful, restless Sag adores an adventure. It constantly explores new territory, while pondering and positing deeper questions about collective beliefs and guiding principles. Ruled by Jupiter, the mutable fire sign also comprehends a larger context. For us mere mortals, peering through those Zeus-sized spectacles, into the next week, month or year, may provide a tactical advantage. When we know where we’re heading to and what we’re aiming for, we can deploy our resources wisely.

This week gets started under the super intuitive power of Mercury in Scorpio forming a trine to Neptune in Pisces. On Saturday Neptune will emerge from a five-month-long retrograde, and on December 5th Venus in Scorpio will trine Neptune. At first glance, the hallmarks of 2020’s Sagittarius Sun cycle are obvious. Two yang-sign eclipses are on the way, as are the much anticipated shifts of Jupiter and Saturn into yang-oriented Aquarius. The fiery Sag Sun is also set to trine Mars in outgoing Aries on December 10th, and Mercury, once in Sagittarius, will trine Mars on the 14th (the day of the second eclipse). There is no doubt that unfolding events are substantial. The positive polarity of the signs being activated further suggests that the coming changes will be quite pronounced. The eclipse that kicks things off takes place next Monday, November 30th. Between now and then, we have a chance to pause and explore the quieter, more ethereal side of life.

Scorpio and Pisces are highly psychic. Scorpio, much like a detective for hire, goes looking for the answers. Mutable Pisces, though more passive, none the less constantly quests for the truth. Both are water signs, making them extremely perceptive, emotional and creative. While Mercury prefers the intellectual, rational realms of the air signs, in Scorpio, it aligns us with something deeper and much more instinctive. Neptune went retrograde back on June 23rd, when much of the world was coming out of lockdowns. It’s interesting to note that as this subtle, infiltrating planet stations direct lockdowns are coming back into force. Facing the gravity of 2020 is unavoidable. As we contemplate the end of this consequential year and begin imagining 2021, Mercury and Neptune are messaging us in dreams, psychic “hits” and visions. Neptune is also known as the higher octave of Venus, the planet of beauty. If Venus can be likened to a mellifluous voice, then Neptune is a master chorale work. The buildup to their December 5th trine will help us more clearly recognize what is mortal versus what is eternal. Informed by the insights of the coming days, we can move into the new time with more solemnity and a sense of greater purpose.