Inner Space for December
Though it may seem difficult to believe, 2006 was a year of rest and relaxation in contrast to what adventures await us in 2007. We enter December with the first waves of energy: many planets are now in Sagittarius, indeed, most planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, the Sun and Pluto), and Pluto is headed straight for its first conjunction with the Galactic Core in nearly three centuries. This is the astrology that says the world is our home, if anyplace is home. And when the world is home, it’s not far from the cosmos itself being the place we have journeyed long to visit, and where we seek that strange blend of comfort and freedom.
Aries (March 20-April 19)
Perhaps the surprise of the year was how much you have to share with others, and how much others are willing to share with you. We live in a time when private interests dominate everything, and where for the most part our homes have become so isolated that we tend to forget that they are designed to facilitate not only solitude, but also community. There is something to be said for sharing your washing machine with a neighbor. Live human voices are riskier than the television, because people have needs. But it’s good to be in contact with the pleasure of helping others find fulfillment.
Taurus (April 19-May 20)
Home is where the front door closes and locks. Home is where you are the boss. Many people pay rent but don’t know the power of that lock; many more still feel like they live in their parents’ place, or must follow the rules of phantom authority figures in their minds who seem to know what is best, having nothing to do with what feels right, or what you want, or what you need, for that matter. Times are changing fast. There was an element of deception you needed to penetrate; there was a door you needed to walk through. Remember how you did it, because you may need to do it again.
Gemini (May 20-June 21)
There can be no doubt: if you don’t feel right, you’re not where you belong. This may pertain to a relationship or to a physical space; it may refer to the work you do or the city or town you call home. Once feelings enter the picture, however, it becomes more difficult to deny them, which is why it’s so darned popular to get rid of them. For you, there is no turning back. This is a lifetime like no other, a moment in your personal history that has no valid comparison, and you are discovering yourself (mainly by feeling) someone you never expected to become.
Cancer (June 21-July 22)
Every impulse in your body has said the same thing: you need to have more fun. The thing is, fun can be serious business. Satisfying pleasure takes effort, particularly when you’re intimately aware of the implications of your choices. So, this year has been something of a balancing act, or maybe you’ve had the feeling of treading on the surface of water like a bug. If you’re not plunging to the bottom of the lake, you’re doing a fine job holding your own walking all the way out to the center. Now that you’re there, what do you plan to do? Of course, remember why you came.
Leo (July 22-Aug. 23)
Jupiter and so much other activity in Scorpio pretty much assure that you’re living in a better space, a better place, and a better way of life. But the question is: do you feel safer? Why or why not? If you set your mind to it, you’ll feel a lot more secure, but this exists more as a potential than as a hard and fast reality. Conflicting signals the past month have raised your doubts, but at this point you are solid enough with the world and yourself to dare some new experiments in family, art and the art of living.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22)
Your ideas keep changing and growing, and in many ways have run apace of your physical reality. You know what it means to feel good, yet have a long way to go getting there. You’ve experienced many improvements in your private space, which seem to have come on the heels of so much change and disruption. But you’ve yet to set about the real business of bringing these ideas to full fruition. The winds of change have begun to blow: you now know your home is an international place of some kind, be it in theme or actual location on the ground.
Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23)
What do you consider your home? Does it extend beyond the four walls you occupy, into the surrounding community? Now you will see why this way of defining your living space is so obvious, necessary and helpful. By denying that home is also a common space, and a shared idea, we constrain ourselves to isolation and cut ourselves off from resources and support. Over the next few weeks you seem poised to blaze out with a message of hope and unity. Speak loudly, and clearly, because many are waiting for information on just this topic.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22)
All these irritating qualities you keep discovering about where you live have, at least, given you endless opportunities to make improvements. This seems to be a process you’ve settled into willingly and even happily, particularly when you compare it to the five years or so before you made your really big changes through 2005. When does it end? Well, not as long as you keep going, but you do have some power to spare: your profound ability to solve, resolve, repair and renovate is a great gift to your friends, family and neighbors.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22)
You have, by some grace, miracle or heavenly karma, been able to soothe over tensions at home, and in truth, begun the process of emotional healing that you have so long sought. You’re more realistic than most people give you credit for, at least in your insistence that people are people and entitled to their misgivings and trespasses. Rare is the chance to go deep beneath the surface of these little waves and find a place of solace. You will soon see, however, that peace of mind is the most powerful force in the universe — second only to the persistent restlessness for which you are so deservedly famous.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20)
These days it seems your physical setting verges on irrelevant; your inner world is so illuminated, you could light the way through a deep forest on a rainy night. You bring your home with you, wherever you go, and people can feel it. I suggest you take it with you consciously, wherever you may go this month — and by every indication, you long to travel far and wide, but it’s all the same place. The words of the poet John Gardner come to mind: “If my heart lies here, within my breast, light it up! / And I’ll invite you in as my first guest.”
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19)
Aquarius is the sign of friends, and this is a rare season of companionship for you. At this point, nothing can work against you: no distractions turn to productive exchanges; casual discussions turn to visionary journeys of the mind. Put up your Christmas lights early, and tell the world your doors are open. Offer your best food and drink, and welcome those people you love, and those you do not know. Miracles are in the air, particularly your kitchen and living room.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
One problem that many of the most successful people have is staying grounded. Somehow, the solid foundations that success is standing on end up being far below the levels where the breakthroughs occur. Pisces is the sign of the feet. Keep them on the ground, and keep hot food on the stove as the enormous changes of this month send their tidings of the future: tidings of progress, honor and the only success that deserves the name — that which heals the world, and heals you at the same time.