OFF THE PLUMB TREE-December 2025

December begins with a Full Moon on the 4th at 6:14 PM. The Sun is in free-spirited adventure loving Sagittarius, and the Moon is in its opposite sign Gemini, the sign of the communicator and the salesman. Sagittarius reads long books, Gemini reads magazines. According to the Farmer’s Almanac, the native Americans and early colonists called this the Full Cold Moon or the Long Night Moon (for obvious reasons).  

Venus and Mars both accompany this Full Moon in Sagittarius. They left Mercury behind as he was retrograding back into Scorpio in November.  Our thinking (Mercury) might be ponderous and secretive, with twinges of regret, revenge or victimization as emotionally intense Scorpio takes life dramatically.

Whereas the Sun, Venus and Mars in freedom loving fiery Sagittarius is just the opposite, wanting excitement and new adventures.  Having gone direct on the 27th of November at 20 Scorpio, retracing back over your Scorpio planets for the 3rd time, by now, you should be feeling some relief as the emotional or financial issues (Scorpio governs money from other people, inheritances, taxes etc.) having been rethought 3 times, should begin to get resolved. Mercury will catch up when he moves into Sagittarius on the 12th and those intense mental and emotional burdens will be dropped. 

In fact, the beginning of December is a good time to make some financial decisions that feel right and that might want to have a prolonged existence. The two big “Chroniclers of Time” as the Ancients called them, Saturn and Jupiter, are both in water signs making a favorable aspect to the last pass of Mercury in Scorpio. Contracts, deals, mergers, trades, negotiations, all are favorable in the first week before the 11th at 5:30 PM when Mercury moves into Sagittarius, one of its least favorite places to be.

The 15th has the planet Mars moving into Capricorn, where he is exalted.  In other words, Mars loves to be in Capricorn, as Capricorn is ruled by Saturn and Saturn can steady any inclination Mars has to move headstrong in some direction, not necessarily for the common good.  Mars will be in Capricorn until January 24th when he enters the next sign Aquarius.  Mars in Capricorn is good for changing jobs or a location, any endeavor that expands one’s territory to gain access to new resources says Astrologer Austin Coppock in his book, “36 Faces”.  

You may think of the mountain goat, whom Capricorn represents, climbing ever higher up the craggy mountain to reach the summit.  Careful decision making and deliberation before acting are the hallmarks of Mars in Capricorn.  It transits Capricorn once every 2 ½ years.  The last time was Jan 5 -Feb 14, 2024.  If you remember what happened then, you might have any idea of what will happen this time-or at least what area of life will be highlighted.  Nothing ever repeats exactly but there is a rhyming. 

There is a New Moon on December 19th at 28 Sagittarius, whose degree pictures “A fat boy mowing the lawn”. This image suggests that for the next month, beginning now, we ought to be moving our bodies, or at least making more of an effort than we usually do, to improve our physical condition and our physical surroundings.   As we are at Christmastime maybe decorating the house and improving its appearance will appeal.  As Benjamin Franklin said: “Laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon overtakes him.”

The planets Saturn and Neptune accompany the Sun and Moon at the end of Pisces at this New Moon, in effect 30 days.  Making our dreams our reality should have become more of a habit by now, as these two planets have been influencing us all year.   At least we ought to have arranged our spiritual life into a disciplined routine. Saturn makes things concrete; he rules form and boundaries. Neptune rules the formless, our spiritual connection, what we cannot see, our need to fuse with something. They are opposites, but when put together can make real our dreams.

At this New Moon Saturn and Jupiter are in dreamy Pisces, so we are in the envisioning stage where we imagine what our next few years will look like.  When the two planets meet in February they will be in Aries, not Pisces. The transition from Pisces, the place of universal consciousness symbolized by the two fishes swimming in opposite directions in a dreamy watery ocean, into Aries, the headstrong ram with battering horns is intense. We are motivated into action; this transition will thrust each of us into a new identity or calling.

There will be a big shift in the planets in 2026 as they move more into fire and air with less emotional watery Pisces, especially true when Jupiter leaves Cancer and goes into fiery Leo in July. 

But as for now, pay attention to your dreams and notice how relationships and situations are both ending and beginning at the same time. This is the Pisces realm.

If you wish to hear my video presentation talk on 2026, I will be speaking at the Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton on Thursday Feb 12th .  You can go to their website to register. www.myrml.org