CHRISTMAS ASTROLOGY AND MESSAGE:
Happy Holidays! I love all the cultures and the holidays, and it is auspicious that the Jewish Festival of Lights and Hanukkah falls on Christmas Day for the first time since 2005, and it will not happen again until 2035 due to the Jewish Lunar Calendar, which adds a leap month 7 times every 19 years.  While there is still no peace in the Middle East with Houthis of Yemen sending hyper-sonic missiles onto Israel, there is hope for Gaza coming to an end, and Syria is a miracle and also Lebanon.
We are moving toward the New Moon on Monday, Dec. 30, in the constellation of Purva Shadha (Sagittarius 13.20-26.40). I always feel that the New Moon after the Winter Solstice around Christmas is a rebirth time. The daylight after the Winter Solstice only increases seconds at first, but usually, within a few weeks, we notice that the light on the planet is starting to grow again. When the Sun enters Capricorn on Jan. 13-14, it brings the new business year with the Holiday of Makara Sankranti, marketing the Sun’s movement in the East Sky.
Saturn squares Jupiter with a 75% aspect exactly on Dec. 24, and this energy may diminish some of Jupiter’s Christmas Joy and expansion. However, Jupiter opposes Mercury on Christmas Day, bringing some energy for Mercury, the jokester, although Saturn quickly takes it away on Dec. 27 with an exact square from Saturn. It would appear that Virgos and Geminis may experience the most ups and downs this week.
Venus moves into Aquarius on Saturday, Dec. 28, until Jan. 27, igniting creativity, scientific invention, and innovation for the next month. Finally, on Dec. 28, the plague of Saturn conjunct Ketu in the D9 Navamsha chart will end as Saturn moves into a new constellation, Purvabhadrapada (Aquarius 20-Pisces 3.20). The first part of the journey is in Aries Navamsha, where Saturn is debilitated, so post-Christmas anxiety will return until early Feb. 2nd. So you must keep the Vata element down, not run around like a rabbit, and drink your calming herbal teas.
Luckily, Mercury does not go back into the troubled Gandanta until Jan. 2-5th, when emotional karma needs to be unraveled. There is enough of that to deal with during family time.
Get ready for Mars to go out of bounds Jan. 1- Apr. 7, and that will put action and energy into hyperspeed. This is the first time since 2010 that it is out of bounds in Cancer, and we will write more about this. It is not just a Western astrological concept, as the ancient Vedic seers did look at this and used it in their advanced calculations.
Moving into the New Year, we need to focus on the positive. However, despite significant conflicts in the world still in Ukraine, we sense some easing and saner minds are in the background, countering the forces of darkness that continue to want to march us into more fear about nuclear wars and catastrophes.  There is so much we can do in our communities to make a difference for people experiencing homelessness and with local food bank donations, and this has to continue all year and not just through the Christmas season. There are good people everywhere, and there are more of them than those caught up in darkness. Remember to make a difference in someone’s life; we are here to be kind and loving and not to cower in fear, waiting for the next shoe to drop.
I love this wonderful message from Yogananda about the Birth of Christ at Christmas, and it reminds me of the need for rebirth at this time of year. Whatever religion you are connected to, the importance of rebirth of our inner Divinity and the Sun in the constellation of Mula (Sagittarius 0-13.20) is constantly reminding us of our need for liberation and moving off the wheel of karma:
Paramahansa Yogananda:
Every day, every hour, every golden second, Christ has been knocking… Now, in this august sacred dawn, Christ is especially coming in answer to your inner call, to awaken his Christ Consciousness Omnipresence within you.
This Christ of Everywhere is sleeping in the breast of Eternity; He loves to take new birth at any time, anywhere, especially in the warmth of your true affection. Though the Infinite Christ is present in every speck of space as the splendor of ever new wisdom and creative expression, you can never see Him unless He chooses to be seen in the cradle of your unceasing devotion. The cozy crib of your heart has for a very long time been small, holding self-love alone; now you must make it enormous, so that social, national, international, and Cosmic Christ-love may be born there and become One Love.
The Infinite Christ is everywhere; worship His nativity in Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Moslem, Jewish, and other true religious temples. Every expression of Truth flows from the All-pervading Christ perception, so learn to worship that sacred Universal Intelligence in every pure religion, belief, and teaching. Since the Cosmic Christ dreamed into existence the divine being that is man, you should celebrate the birth of Christ in your newly awakened equal love for every nationality and race.
From “A Cradle for the Christ of Everywhere” in The Second Coming of Christ
(Special thanks to Juliana Swanson for sharing this wonderful quote.)
