Caution: Drama & Intensity! Mars activates the fixed star axis! Mercury turns retrograde! Venus conjoints Pluto! All Signs Collective Horoscope (December 26th-January 1st)

Dear NightFall Astrology readers,

I hope you spent a wonderful Christmas with your friends and family and have recharged your batteries because things will get more serious this week!

While Christmas weekend was under the gorgeous and magical New Moon in Capricorn (with Christmas Eve being the perfect day for setting your New Year’s resolutions), we have 3 extremely intense (one of which can be very destructive; I don’t do fluff astrology here) astrological alignments starting this week. The most dangerous one is Mars conjoining the fixed star “Aldebaran” in the sidereal Taurus constellation (tropical Gemini) – the eye of the Bull – but also opposing the belligerent star “Antares” (the heart of the Scorpion & tropical Sagittarius). The “Aldebaran/Antares” axis is known as the “disaster axis”. Mars has already started conjoining it last weekend, and we all saw the cruelty of the racist attack on a Kurdish cultural centre in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, shooting dead three members of the local community and injuring several more. 

Your regular Mercury retrograde (starting on December 29th) is a minor detail next to this event. New Year’s Eve will also be marked by another dramatic transit: Venus conjunct Pluto in Capricorn, so relationships and finances will be put to the test (power struggles). What’s our saving grace here? Again, as I’ve mentioned before, we’re in Capricorn season and currently have a Capricorn pile-up (stellium) in the sky: responsibility, discipline, and pragmatism are the order of the week (and the first month of 2023, as Mars will be on the destruction axis during all of January!). 

Of course, with Venus (the minor benefic) in the mix, this transit can be empowering too, and Mercury retrograde can help review those long-term goals realistically! Astrology is always a mixed bag; you just have to learn to work with the language of the Universe!

One final reminder before we get into the details of this weekly forecast: avoid manifesting, starting anything new, or signing any contracts between December 29th and January 12th, as both Mercury (in Capricorn) and Mars (in Gemini) will be retrograde!

Now, let’s get into it.

1. Mars on the destruction axis: Aldebaran & Antares:

From December 24th until the end of January, Mars (the planet of drive, aggression, and war) will conjoin the fixed star Aldebaran (9°47′ of tropical Gemini) and oppose Antares (9°46′ of tropical Sagittarius).

These stars are also called the keepers of the East and West. First, Aldebaran, patron of the beginning of all affairs, Antares is responsible for finalising the processes, the end and the decay. The stars are strong and warlike, and by virtue of their location, they act like a pair, a “set”. Therefore, they are often considered together, saying that this is the “axis”. Unfortunately, historical events and an analysis of the biographies of people whose horoscopes are associated with it allow us to call it the axis of catastrophes.

As soon as some planet or the Sun reaches one of the stars of this “savoury couple”, some large-scale accident, cataclysm, emergency situation, etc. often happens (often, but fortunately, not always). For example, many astrologers have noticed that the largest disasters of the 20th century with a large number of victims – the Chornobyl accident and the events of September 11th, 2011 – are associated with the axis of catastrophes. But I have not yet met serious attempts to analyze in detail a large number of events with the participation of the stars Aldebaran and Antares. And I decided to conduct such an analysis myself. For the old authors, for understandable reasons, the very phenomenon of a “man-made disaster” could not exist.

I have reviewed several lists of events: the most significant man-made disasters of the 20th and 21st centuries; the most significant earthquakes in world history; the largest incidents at nuclear power plants; chemical plants and railway transport; some terrorist attacks; a kind of natural disaster such as crush. And also some other events of catastrophic scale or consequences. A series of horoscopes implicated in high-profile murders of the past 200 years. In total, about 120 events were considered very striking and memorable in the history of mankind.

By historical standards, this is not so much, but some weighty conclusions can be drawn. I am writing only about the results of this small study, so as not to bore readers with the details of the analysis.

So, the axis of catastrophes and the stars Antares and Aldebaran that form it are unusually often involved in catastrophic situations. For the mathematicians and scientists out there, let me be even more precise – “in significant catastrophic situations, the connection of the planets of the horoscope of the event with the stars of the axis is reliably more common than expected on average.”

The axis of disasters is primarily associated with man-made incidents leading to serious environmental pollution and potentially dangerous for a large number of people. In particular, accidents related to the nuclear and/or chemical industry. Mass casualties are frequent.

The axis is relatively less frequently involved in terrorist attacks, earthquakes, stampedes, transport accidents, and marine incidents. Again, comparatively less frequently than in man-made accidents, but also more often than it should be on average – in ordinary life under a peaceful sky, as they say.

The axis of catastrophes more often activates events caused by errors or unplanned human actions related to technology. Less common, but there are natural events resulting from planned human actions.

With aggressive Mars on this axis, expect the fight between the West and the East to escalate through many lies and manipulation (Mars is in Gemini, the communication sign). With Mars being retrograde, old conflicts will resurface and reach their peak. This will concern the following areas: finances, travel and transportation, online communication and social media, trade, contracts, and negotiations. Gemini rules the lungs and Mars signifies inflammations, so a drastic rise in respiratory diseases is also in the cards (we’ve already seen a resurgence of COVID-19 in China followed by draconian measures, and a triple epidemic of COVID, bronchiolitis and the flu in France).

How to work through the negative influence of a star? You need to control your impulses and passions completely. Calm outbursts of anger and irritation.

This transit will be most challenging for Gemini, Sagittarius, Pisces, and Virgo.

{ Please find below a list of some of the events that correlated to the activation of this axis by planets } :

• March 3rd, 1954: Castle Bravo (American test of a thermonuclear explosive device at Bikini Atoll. The explosion led to severe radiation contamination of the environment).
  Mars was exactly on the axis of the 11 Sagittarius catastrophes. Sun and Mercury were in exact tense aspects to the axis.
• August 6th and 9th, 1945: The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
  Mars is exactly on the axis of the 10-11 Gemini catastrophes. Saturn was exactly on the axis of catastrophes 8.5 Sagittarius.
• September 29th, 1957: Kyshtym accident (Chelyabinsk, one of the last century’s 7 most significant nuclear incidents).
  Saturn is exactly on the axis of catastrophes 9.5 Sagittarius.
• October 10th, 1957: Winksdale (included in the last century’s 7 most significant atomic incidents).
  Saturn is exactly on the axis of catastrophes 10.3 Sagittarius.
• December 2nd, 1984: Bhopal disaster (included in the 20 largest man-made disasters of the XX century).
  The Sun was exactly on the axis of disasters 10 Sagittarius, and Uranus was close to the axis of 13 Sagittarius.
• November 13th, 2005: An explosion at the Zilin chemical plant (included in the 15 largest man-made disasters of the XX century).
  Mercury was exactly on the axis of catastrophes 10 Sagittarius.
• August 31st, 2012: 7.6 magnitude earthquake in the Philippines.
  Jupiter was close to the axis of catastrophes at 14 Gemini.

2. Mercury stations retrograde:

By far, the most vilified, misunderstood, and frequent of the retrogrades is that of Mercury. He is the messenger of the gods and goddesses, the trickster who delivers the souls across the river of death, and, overall, a delightfully whimsical godling. It is said that Kepler, as well as Einstein, used Mercury’s orbit to come up with their theories. Mercury retrogrades have managed to convert to astrology, even the staunchest sceptics and unbelievers, who admit that there is something to the retrograde periods of Mercury and that, indeed, things go wacky when he “walks” in reverse. High-profile clients I consult report that they don’t have a problem telling their own clients or colleagues that they do not sign anything during Mercury retrograde. Everyone seems to get it.

Let’s get back into the car. When you parallel park, you need to reverse, stop, then go forward and maybe a bit more reverse until your car is parked nice and snugly. That’s how I see Mercury retrograde. Mercury is teaching us how to “park” our energy 3 or 4 times a year (in 2023, we are “blessed” with 4 Mercury retrogrades). But Mercury retrogrades are not energetic black holes or cursed; they have their advantages. During the reverse movement of Mercury (the Magician in the Tarot cards), we experience more synchronicities, and we are able to tap into our intuition. We can find lost objects (or people), and adopt new approaches to resolving old problems. In addition, Mercury retrograde is a wonderful time to reconnect and resurrect old, abandoned projects and manifest them. And remember, during Mercury reverse march, you can do anything that starts with the prefix “re”, as in redesign, reinvent, reconnect, redefine, reevaluate, re-edit, etc.

We end 2022 and start 2023 with a Mercury retrograde in Capricorn (December 29th through January 18th). This signal-jamming cycle is sure to create a bit of chaos as the calendar turns. Good luck getting aligned around NYE plans, 2023 goals, or whose traditions you’re going to honour.

If you’re travelling for a fete, leave early for your destination and reconfirm bookings. Think very carefully about your New Year’s guest list. Combative Mars is also retrograde until January 12th, and interactions could become heated and divisive, upsetting the general mood of your festivities. If end-of-year plans have grown overly complex, don’t force them. Even if you do pull things off “perfectly,” you could be too resentful (and exhausted!) to enjoy the fun.

This transit will be most challenging for Capricorn, Gemini, and Virgo.

3. Venus conjoins Pluto:

From December 30th until January 2nd, Venus will conjoin intense and esoteric Pluto in Capricorn. Let’s get out of the way the negative implications of this transit first. This could signal intense emotional experiences due to power struggles in relationships and/or compulsive spending, drinking, eating…

On the flip side, would you care for some hot sauce with your champagne? 2022 wraps on a spicy, sultry note as seductive Venus sidles up to magnetic Pluto in Capricorn for the night. If you’re in a relationship, keep celebrations intimate—or end them with quality one-on-one time. Under this soulfully sexy sync-up, a mind-body-soul connection could heat up fast! No matter how you choose to ring in the New Year—or with whom—make it festive. Venus favours beauty, music, art, romance…and a classic Little Black Dress. Pluto is the planet of transformation. (Think: phoenix rising from the ashes.) What do you want to leave in the dust as 2022 closes? Write a list, then do a ritual to burn the paper using a candle or a firepit. (Safely, of course!).

This transit will be felt most intensely by Capricorn, Cancer, Aries, and Libra. 

Stay safe! Happy New Year!

Your Astrologer – Theodora NightFall ~

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