It’s Monday. Do you know where your planets are?

I’ll tell you.

Highlights this week:

• Sun sextiles Saturn on Monday
• Sun squares Neptune on Wednesday
• Mercury trines Uranus on Saturday

That’s it.

• MONDAY: Moon in Leo drives the day with a need to shine, shine, shine. Standard Moon-in-Leo strategy: pay someone a compliment. A cooperative connection between the Sun and Saturn supports taking care of business. What a perfect day for the G7 leaders to meet for an online conference, and declare their continued support for Ukraine, as Heather Cox Richardson explains. The Sun-Saturn sextile (that’s the technical term) is exact at 1:12 PM ET, with bonus support reflecting the Moon’s sextile to Mars at 8:04 PM ET. An upset to the status quo awaits around 10:46 PM ET, as the Moon squares rebel Uranus. This is NOT a negative statement, btw. The upset could reflect a breakthrough or something else that gets you out of a rut. But it could also reflect something seemingly chaotic, and if you understand the planetary weather reflecting the potential for chaos, it’ll increase the odds of you staying centered. Same goes for whatever block, authoritative advance, cut, lose or otherwise sobering thing manifests around 9:08 AM ET on…
• TUESDAY: …as the Leo Moon’s regal need for love, love, love is opposed by chilly Saturn in “we the people” Aquarius. On this particular Tuesday, the Moon’s next stop is a fiery harmony with the Sun in Sagittarius at 10:51 AM ET. And then…a 17 hour Moon VOID, meaning that the Moon doesn’t connect with any of the other kids in the cosmic sandbox for the remainder of its time in Leo. Thus, the energy of the day may wander without focus. Another potential is a “snowball effect” of howling regal (Leo Moon) indignation. Sound and fury, signifying nothing? Probably, given the conventional wisdom that actions initiated during Moon voids are often of no consequence. There is also a higher probability of twists and flakes disrupting your efforts to move forward in a straight line…but this can aid in some fun and interesting creative connections. Roll with the twists; stick to routine concerns if you’re at the office. Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill — and avoid impulse shopping. CHILL if you can.
• WEDNESDAY: Moon enters Virgo at 3:45 AM ET, ready to put everything back in order and make things right. Oh…but now there is a square between the Sun (leaders) and Neptune (dreams, fog), possibly coloring everything rose, exact at 12:09 PM ET. That may explain some of yesterday’s Moon void in Leo drama. Here’s a sampling of Sun square Neptune headlines in the news from 2020. I expect more of the same this week, i.e., themes of music, oceans, dreams, drugs, victims, saviors, refugees, water, delusion, ideals, dissolution, lies, scandal, surrender, etc. etc. The theme of surrender and seemingly-ultimate ENDINGS reflects Jupiter (expansion) now in its last full week of Pisces, the very end of the world. Today, however, the Virgo Moon trines Venus in Capricorn at 3:32 PM ET, working to balance the dreamy fog with some earthy practicality.
• THURSDAY: A trine between Moon and Mercury at 4:01 AM ET seeks to get the word out, possibly with an especially sharp tongue, given the 6:29 AM ET square between the Moon (and its Virgo need for perfection) and Mars — still retrograde — and still weaponizing words during its long trek through Gemini. A creative workaround is supported by Moon’s trine to Uranus (call in your besties), exact at 10:41 AM ET. Spend the rest of the day sorting out the details. As evening approaches, double-check said details, in light of the Moon’s opposition to foggy Neptune, exact at 12:40 AM ET on…
• FRIDAY. The 3rd Quarter Moon between the Sun in Sagittarius’ need to push boundaries and the Virgo Moon’s insistence on crossing every darn “T” may require an adjustment in your plans for world domination. The 3rd Quarter Moon is at 3:56 AM ET. Moon trine Pluto at 9:24 AM ET adds emotional depth and power to your wake-up routine. An opposition between Moon and Jupiter at 2:13 PM ET adds good cheer and potential indulgence to holiday parties. Moon goes void for less than 30 minutes, and shifts gears into Libra at 2:49 PM ET. The weekend is thus driven by a need for fairness and balance in relationships. Diplomacy rules!
• SATURDAY: More indulgence, perhaps — or a clash of values in social graces — as Moon squares Venus at 8:28 AM ET. Running your holiday errands is supported by the Moon’s trine to Mars at 2:43 PM ET. Get creative with it — possibly online — as Mercury trines Uranus (innovation; technology) at 4:36 PM ET. Which reminds me…

for last-minute holiday gift shoppers, I now have gift certificates I can send via email (much as I enjoy decorating snail mail gift certificates by hand). And speaking of snail mail, the 2023 Really Useful Mercury Retrograde Survival Guide Bookmarks have arrived! I’ll be happy to send you three in exchange for a $6.99 contribution to my Cosmic Tip Jar. The bookmarks are great stocking stuffers.  Shout-out to Avid Reader Laura, whose printing company did such a beautiful job!

• SUNDAY: A repeat of Monday’s possible high-efficiency, as the Libra Moon trines Saturn and sextiles the Sun at 6:31 AM ET and 5:35 PM ET, respectively. Efficiency may also be manifested in an evening catharsis or power play, as Moon makes its weekly clash with Pluto at 5:35 PM ET…and then goes void for the next five hours. Chill! Moon enters Scorpio at 10:30 PM ET, getting our Solstice Week off to an emotionally deep and potent start. But it all looks quite grand and wonderful midweek, as you’ll see in the next edition of this Forecast.

And now, the news.

Still more BIG stories in sports, courts, publishing and foreign affairs, reflecting last week’s squares between Mercury-Venus and Jupiter (all at the high-profile Aries Point), and last week’s opposition between the Sun and macho Mars:

• High-profile prisoner swap: Olympic gold medalist/WNBA player Brittney Griner was released from a Russian penal colony, in exchange for convicted arms dealer Victor Bout. Gosh, this story made me smile.
• Two journalists covering the World Cup in Qatar have died within the past few days.

Meanwhile…

We’re less than three weeks away from the third exact hit of the U.S. Pluto Return, which happens on December 28th. Here’s a post from last January, written several weeks before the first hit in February. Basically the US Pluto Return was — and still is — expected to expose corruption in our systems of business and government. It also affords an opportunity for a very likely shift in the balance of power and resources. It’s likely because this is what has happened in the United States in the aftermath of a challenging aspect of transiting Pluto to the U.S. natal Pluto, as explained in that link from January. The third hit of a multi-hit cycle is usually more intense than the ones before, and we’re seeing this in an uptick of revelations about aforementioned corruption. Today, for example, Talking Points Memo began publishing “The Meadows Texts: A Plot to Overturn an American Election,” starring 34 members of Congress, especially Ted Cruz. Jupiter is at the Aries Point all this week and next, and Avid Readers know what that means: Ted Cruz will be all over the news!

UPDATE: on Kyrsten Sinema, whose horoscope is an apt reflection of the tension we all experienced this fall, as old guard Saturn was in a close challenging aspect (a square) with avant-garde Uranus. Both planets were — and still are — in fixed signs, i.e., Aquarius and Taurus, respectively. A fixed sign (the others are Scorpio and Leo) are signs that are like the immovable object: fixed in their opinions and not inclined to change. Sinema — as explained in past write-ups of her horoscope, as well as in a past episode of Off the Charts: A Stellar Newscast — has a Saturn-Uranus square in her natal chart, with Saturn in Leo and Uranus in Scorpio. Fixed! Not only that, but her Aquarius Moon opposes Saturn and squares Uranus. Is she old guard or is she avant-garde? Yes! And this week, just days before the third and final opposition of Pluto to her Venus, she announced she’s leaving the Democratic Party to become an Independent.

In Sinema’s horoscope, Pluto rules her values, self-worth and money. Venus rules her Libra Ascendant — how she needs to be seen — and also her 8th house — other peoples’ money and values. A skilled astrologer would anticipate the pressure Sinema has been under this year to purge, transform and potentially empower herself in these areas of her life. Pluto is also connecting with a Sinema’s Sun-Moon midpoint — which suggests all of these power dynamics and purging and transforming are likely to play out in her relationships. A separation would not be unexpected. And by the way, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is also having this Pluto-Sun/Moon midpoint transit, and note that she has stepped down as leader of the Democrats in Congress.

Whitney and I will probably talk more about Sinema’s horoscope in the next episode of Off the Charts: A Stellar Newscast, so stay tuned.

In other news…

Avid Readers sent me a lot of stories last week!

Avid Reader Jeri, who is also a Faithful Monthly Supporter of this forecast, wanted to make sure I didn’t miss the latest on “Sam Brinton: A Trans Activist with Baggage.” It’s a weird story, frankly. Brinton is the first openly non-binary person to serve in a federal government leader role (they were the deputy assistant secretary of spent fuel and waste disposition in the Office of Nuclear Energy, reports Rolling Stone). They have also been charged with luggage theft at more than one airport in recent months. Bewildering, isn’t it? We don’t have a birth time for Brinton, but Avid Reader Jeri sent the date and place: Sept 11, 1987, Perry Iowa.

Brinton is a Virgo with the Sun sandwiched between Venus and Mars.  Their Venus is square Uranus, suggesting unconventional attractions and social expressions, with a strong independent streak. Their Mars is square Saturn, suggesting a potentially militant application of authority — or a controlled application of assertive energy. Saturn and Uranus are in a wide conjunction in boundary-pushing, righteous Sagittarius — and their Virgo Sun is caught right in the middle of this old guard vs. avant garde dilemma. Right now, transiting Mars and Neptune are all over these two squares. We anticipate bewildering provocation. Astrology is amazing.

Meanwhile, their Mercury — how they need to think and communicate — is in “both sides” Libra, square nebulous Neptune — about to be blown up (like a balloon) by transiting Jupiter in Aries. Moon is in Taurus, likely opposing Pluto in Scorpio — and this is simply intense. Finally, their Jupiter is at 28 Aries — a need for reward that is all me-me-me — and transiting Pluto is about to amplify that need in the extreme as it travels through the last two degrees of Capricorn in 2023. Usually a super-charged pattern between Pluto and Jupiter facilitates access to extremes of power and resources. I’m not sure how this will play out in Brinton’s case.

Thank you, Jeri, for making sure I didn’t miss this story — with its fascinating astrology.

UPDATE: Seems like it was only yesterday when we were writing about how planetary patterns in the horoscope of Qatar aptly reflected how it was being blockaded and squeezed by four of its Arab neighbors. That was Qatar getting Saturn from all angles in 2017, as Avid Readers may have surmised, given the words “blockaded” and “squeezed.” Now Qatar is on the verge of getting Neptune from all angles — and how do you think Qatar is making news lately? In stories of scandal and corruption, including “What are the Qatari bribery allegations rocking the European Parliament?”

Just for fun:

• “Gen Z came to ‘slay’. Their bosses don’t know what that means”
• “US scientists reach long-awaited nuclear fusion breakthrough, source says.”  One can only hope that Pluto at the end of Capricorn and Neptune at the end of Pisces (very soon!) will reflect us kicking our fossil fuel habit.
• Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawānanakoa, the “last Hawaiian princess,” has died at 96. As an exercise, you can read her obituary and see how her life was reflected in what we know of her horoscope.
• Here is Beth Owl’s Daughter’s Tarot Card of the Week — always in sync with planetary patterns

And finally…

• “Massachusetts recount flips state house election to Democrat by one vote”

By ONE vote. Don’t ever think yours doesn’t count.

Here’s the 411 on personal consultations. Yes, I have gift certificates — and written reports — and Mercury Retrograde Bookmarks! And a Cosmic Tip Jar for Avid Readers who are inspired by the holidaze!  ‘Tis the season! And I have PowerPoints on how astrology works and what we can expect in 2023. If you’d like to book me for a speaking engagement, that would be super fun!

Mahalo for reading this forecast, and for sharing it with friends.

Mele Kalikimaka