Moon is waxing and energy is increasing within your inner realms. The week begins with winter Solstice (Northern Hemisphere) marking the darkest day of the year. Despite the waxing Moon, it is an inward time on multiple levels. As our light source reaches its darkest point, our inner light also weakens and is fragile, increasing a sense of vulnerability. Allow for more silence and longer pauses, more time outdoors and more self care.

This is a wild week! There will be three planetary shifts, an intense full Moon and Rahu and Ketu moving to their sandhi degrees while Jupiter continues to move closer to the edge of Leo. Extra care and caution are necessary with all the movement and shifts happening back to back. Be diligent with your self tracking and gather extra resources, guidance and support right now.

Early Monday morning, Moon shifts to Bharani- offering possible restriction, constriction and difficulties with relationships and money. This is a reminder to find more balance with both. Where are you out of alignment and not in right relationship with wealth and love? Where are you giving too much and neglecting deeper needs? Where are you starving yourself for false gratification?

Say yes to nourishment by aligning with love, gratitude, creativity and your passion for life. Keep it simple and let go of the extras, the distractions, the false nourishment that keeps you in lack. Say yes to your transformation and allow in new possibilities. As winter Solstice arrives, the darkness deepens. Light your lights and call upon the Sun to bring you resources for growth and healing.
Winter Solstice occurs for the Northern Hemisphere (Summer Solstice for the Southern Hemisphere) on December 21st at 08:49 PST, marking the shortest and darkest day of the year, as well as the official start of winter.

The winter months bring increased soma, more ability to resource from within, while helping us clear away what doesn't nourish or support our growth. It is a cycle of death, release and endings.
As the new year approaches, it's an excellent time to start clarifying intentions for what you are gathering and carrying with you for the year to come, while honoring your inner needs and extra self care. Meditate, increase physical activity, stay warm, eat simple, light foods. Carefully keep your agni stoked with right diet, routine and lifestyle. Keep it simple. Less is more.

Tuesday, Moon shifts to Krittika nakshatra early morning, stirring Agni, the fire of life. Chaos and calamity may increase today as the ruling planet of this nakshatra, Sun, transits the unstable constellation, Mula. Pull up the weeds in your life and throw them onto the compost pile. Seek clarity, purification and transformation. Late morning, Moon shifts to Taurus, it's sign of exaltation. Saturn gives his gaze, increasing depression, sadness, slowness and frustrations, while Rahu's gaze amplifies this. Expect big emotions to surface today. Do you invite them in or suppress them? How do you surf these tides? Where do you need healthier boundaries? What resources are necessary as you move forward?

Rahu and Ketu move into the two degree range, becoming sandhi- or in the gap between signs. Rahu will move to Leo on January 30th and Ketu will move into Aquarius. This marks a delicate, transitional time with your shadows and your liberation process. Gather your resources and support for the months ahead. I'll be sharing more details about theses transits in the next few weeks.

Wednesday, Moon continue through Taurus transiting its mulitrikona degrees. The emotional body is still sensitive today as Saturn shares his direct gaze to the Moon. A certain intensity may be felt with Rahu's shadowy stare as well. Just as the day begins, Moon shifts to Rohini nakshatra and creativity is sparked. Make time for movement, dance, drawing, painting and honoring your creative life force energy. What types of nourishment are you creating for yourself? Contain it!

As the Moon enters the 14th tithi, almost completely full, Mars finally leaves its challenging conjunction with Rahu behind. On December 23rd at 15:46 PST, Mars lands in Libra for an almost two month transit, staying here until February 20th. Intense creative sparks will fly in this cycle. Prepare to maximize this time by carving out designated time and space for your creative endeavors. Seek to balance and harmonize masculine and feminine forces within. Masculine energy is product oriented, which Mars is extremely well suited for. However, the feminine energy of Libra supports flow, fluidity, movement and strong creative pulls. Both are essential, yet the tendency in our Western-centric culture is to neglect our feminine needs. Be sure to honor your feminine side with ample pauses, time in nature, rest, meditation, extra self care and creative activities. Emphasize process rather than product in this cycle in order to deepen nourishment and cultivate more presence with your creative potential. On the other hand, harness the creative energy and contain it for manifesting desires consciously.

Use this Mars in Libra cycle to harmonize and balance the emotional body. Some of this comes through grief and purging the internal waters, honoring your inner tides and letting them flow more fluidly. Cry and laugh, seek joy yet attend to the pain and struggles. Lean into your challenges, the pain, the hurts and struggles. Massage them with your tears and let your emotional body flow more freely. Let the healing in. Find the balms that soothe your scars. Balance inner and outer realms, past and present, pain and happiness. Stand in the center of your polarities and stabilize through your pelvic wisdom. Soften and awaken your heart center; channel your inner knowing. Let it guide you towards trust, truth and awakening. Walk your path of dharma with conviction and purpose. Don't bow, bend or back down. The stakes are too high- and getting higher. Not yet sure what your dharmic work is? Lean into your suffering and let your wounds become your gifts.

Minutes before midnight, Moon moves to Mrigashirsha nakshatra. Find the soma. Venus moves to the edge of Libra, preparing to shift into Scorpio. Feelings, wealth, health, relationships and comforts are fragile.

Thursday arrives and Moon continue through the realm of Soma, Mrigashirsha nakshatra. What resources can you use to deepen your inner stability and support right now? Midday, Moon moves to Gemini and receives gaze from Mercury and Sun. Do you feel the scrutiny? The critic? The task master? This narrow focus can increase the sense of chaos and confusion within. Find ways to ground and stabilize. Use self care to come back to center.

Before midnight, Moon shifts to Ardra nakshatra, increasing volatile emotions and feelings. How can you create more safety and support for yourself? Be mindful of excess at this time and notice where you are suppressing your needs. Healthy boundaries are a must. The Moon is full and potent right now. Track the emotional body diligently.

Mercury is at the edge of Sagittarius and has entered its sandhi degrees. The mind and all things Mercury are fragile. Pay attention to communications, creativity, writing, commerce and connections.

Friday arrives with yet another planetary shift. Just hours before the full Moon on the 25th, Venus slips into Scorpio, joining Saturn here at 01:25 am PST. This transit amplifies themes around creativity and the emotional body- for those willing to dive into their dark matter. With Venus in Scorpio (Mars' sign) Mars in Libra (Venus's sign) there is an exchange between fire and water that occurs. Use this for momentum and propelling yourself forward.  Emotional intensity is a given in this month long cycle so make sure to gather ample resource for grounding, landing and also moving the emotional body more fluidly. Grief amplifies, yet as mentioned previously, this is a necessity for cultivating deeper balance and inner harmony. The extent to which you can cultivate presence, surrender and balance with your sadness and joy, heavy parts and light parts, darkness and light, is the extent in which you can receive more nourishment. Suppressing your grief will only keep you further away from that which you truly long for- life force energy. Where are you resisting your darkness? How can you lean into your shadows more intimately? What compassion can you give yourself in the process? Where are you stuck and where do you need more support, guidance and help?

Use your creativity, the arts and courage to cultivate deeper presence with your sorrows. Find balance with your story by writing about it as well as dancing, drawing or making music with it. The Saturn and Venus conjunction requests you get embodied and  ground your knowing into physical body presence. Or perhaps you start with the pathway of the body and let its innate knowing seep into your mental body awareness? What are you moving? What is moving through you? What is moving you forward, awakening your core? Don't back down. Activate with this intensity, but resource your self with powerful presence simultaneously. Step into an embodied, empowered state. Where do you feel your power landing within? Resource from here.

Just hours after Venus shifts into the deep and mysteries sign of Scorpio, the full Moon arrives. For many around the world who celebrate Christmas, this full Moon may feel especially potent. The Moon is at its fullest at 03:10 am PST on the 25th, while Moon transits Gemini and Ardra nakshatra. There is a certain emotional tenacity in this cycle which must be acknowledged and managed with intention and care. Ardra is known for its outbursts, over-active emotional body, ferocity, anger and destructive tendencies. Go into this waning cycle knowing that the emotional body will need your extra attention. Arm yourself with resources, guidance, therapeutic tools and wisdom.

The cycle to come brings intense change, calamity and turmoil in varying forms. It's a time of liberating the shadow and bringing parts of ourselves to the light for greater healing. Trust the intensity has something important to share with you. What is the mirror being shown? What reflection is being presented? Do you like what you see? What changes and adjustments need to be made? What support do you need in order to find greater ease, strength and stability? How can you deepen self trust, resiliency and a sense of thriving? Where do you need to hit the release valve and just blow off some steam?

Destruction is a necessary part of growth and the creative process. What needs to be destroyed in order to make space for more nourishing and supportive relationships and experiences? For many, the holiday time period (pre, during and post) can be highly charged- amplifying destructive tendencies. Be mindful of healthy boundaries with family members and friends. Be aware of excess- whether it's too much time with others, over-indulgences with food, sweets, alcohol and intoxicants, or over-spending. Watch addictions and addictive behaviors in yourself and others. Where are you playing the victim and returning to cycles of self-sabotage? Gather a team of support around yourself in order to remind yourself of intentions for balance and stability. Above all, use self care to bolster your inner reserves. Attend to your needs on all four levels of your being- physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Rest and restore.

Just before midnight, the Moon shifts into Punarvasu nakshatra, which offers Aditi's resources and support. Allow her to nourish you with wisdom and understanding in the coming days.

Saturday, Moon moves through Aditi's constellation, Punarvasu and Mercury's sign, Gemini. Find ways to expand your awareness and wisdom today. Let this bring you some compassion and self trust, perhaps stability. The mind is fragile as Mercury changes signs today. Attend to the mental body and communications diligently.

Mid afternoon, Saturday, Moon moves into its own sign, Cancer. Ketu gives his gaze, provoking sudden awareness and spiritual messages. As Saturday closes, Moon shifts into Pushya nakshatra, the nourishing star. Seek balance.

Mercury moves to Capricorn at 09:58 am PST, an amicable sign for him. Multiple gazes are given to Mercury, stirring the mind and provoking textures in the mental body landscape. Saturn, Mars and Rahu give their drishti to Mercury, instigating tension and frustrations. This is a time to seek balance in your momentum. Leap and land carefully- and with intention. Desires may be strong and intense on the mental body level. Are these desires controlling you? Find ways to soften and surrender. The tension between Saturn (stop, slow) and Mars (go, fast) is intensified by Rahu (the amplifier).

Capricorn's nature is to push really hard, overwork and to tenaciously take on a challenge. Are you biting off more than you can chew? Saying yes when you really need to say no? Find ways to delegate, get extra support and notice where you invite in overwhelm. This is often a strategy for self sabotage, perpetuating cycles of "not being enough" or "not doing good enough". Remember that challenges are an opportunity to notice what needs to change or shift within us or our choices. What needs to change in order for smoother sailing?

As Mercury continues to move through the constellation Uttarashada, the Vishvadevas provoke some stability and balance for the mind while inviting in some peace and inner joy. On January 5th, Mercury goes retrograde for three weeks until January 25th. He will then travel back through the domain of the Vishvadevas, returning to Sagittarius just minutes after the 14th arrives. As he lands back into Sagittarius, he runs right into the Sun, rendering him combust and in exact conjunction with the heat of fire itself. The mind will be hot, agitated and fragile leading up to and after this transit so be mindful of your thoughts, words and actions. Sun and Mercury pass and begin to separate as Mercury retreats back through Sagittarius and the Sun moves forward into Capricorn. Retrograde Jupiter now gives his gaze to Mercury, softening and stabilizing the mind, yet provoking growth and wisdom in ways that may arrive as challenges and learning curves.

Mercury moves back into the first portion of the Ashada constellation, Purva on the 17th and Apas arrives with her watery ways to increase flow, fluidity and movement. With the conjunction of Venus and Mercury at this time, a powerful creative energy may be felt. Use this creativity for movement, change and supporting transformation. Mercury won't arrive back into Capricorn until February 8th, when he will ask you to revisit themes around forcing outcomes and pushing hard to achieve. Where can you surrender and release?

During this entire dance of the mind and its intense movements and changes, Rahu and Ketu will be shifting simultaneously into new signs for the next year and a half. This increases the instability and fragile nature of the transits and your personal experiences. This is a time for extra self care, guidance and resources that provide stability, support and clarity. It's also important to get extra planetary support through yagyas.

Sunday, Moon travels through Pushya nakshatra and requests stability, support and balance. Ketu's gaze on the Moon helps the heart and emotional body clear and cut blockages, restrictions. Let him help you increase liberation by removing the rubble that is closing the heart center. Use the rhythm of your heart to find your own pulse, your own beat. What song are you singing? How do your steps match your inner beat? Get clear on your emotional body needs. Ground, land, settle. Resource from your inner knowing and awaken your inner trust.

Late evening, Moon shifts into the final constellation of Cancer, Ashlesha. Stay out of the illusion.

Monday begins with a waning Moon moving through the 4th tithi (Moon phase). Find ways to contain and hold yourself with comfort and support. As Moon continues through Cancer and Ashlesha nakshatra, Sarpa brings illusions and deception to the foreground. Are you stuck in the shadow? Where can you shine more light on your darkness? Your emotional body can give you the necessary messages for increasing the light within. It is your barometer for wellness, for how well your needs are being met. Where do you need more support, new resources, extra self care? What changes need to be made in order for your inner nourishment to increase? It's a time of change and making new choices in order for new and different results in the weeks and months to come. Start now.



*All timing is given in Pacific Standard Time Zone.

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