If you were expecting some kind of sun sign nonsense, forget it. This is real astrology. See the section above. Please note: this forecast is expressed in terms of Universal Time (UT). Current UT date and time appear at the top of this page. (To update display, use your browser's reload/refresh button.)
AN OVERVIEW
Looking into the skies of December, three major themes are clearly preeminent. First and foremost, there's the waxing Saturn-Uranus square (90-degree arc): it's in effect all month, and it comes only once every couple generations. This is the Y2K aspect, signifying both vulnerability and breakthroughs on the high-tech front. Closely related, because these same two planets are involved, are December's two major Mars aspects. The waning square (270-degree arc) from Mars to Saturn and the Red Planet's conjunction with Uranus each happen only once every two years or so - and they're happening virtually simultaneously this month, on the 10th and 14th respectively. It's a combination that shortens tempers and stirs anger, and it points to nefarious assaults on high-tech infrastructure. Last but not least is this month's SuperMoon alignment on the 22nd, a celestial signature of an upsurge in strong storms and moderate to severe seismic activity.
THE SATURN-URANUS SQUARE: STILL TICKING
All of December is very much under the shadow of Saturn's square to Uranus, which I long ago dubbed the astrological Y2K signature. For one thing, the geocentric Saturn-Uranus square that made the second of its "three-peat" appearances in November remains within 3-4 degrees of being exact all month. What's more, the heliocentric Saturn-Uranus square that will become exact on January 29, 2000 is growing in strength throughout December. The aspect is just a degree and a half from exact as the month opens, and within just over a half-degree of partile at month's end.
As I've already pointed out, these two planets haven't been more than five degrees from an exact geocentric square since the end of May '99, and won't get outside that range until January 2000 - only to regenerate in March. And the heliocentric square has been within five degrees of exact since mid-July '99, remaining so until mid-August 2000. So we've been more or less continually in the shadow of Saturn's square to Uranus for months now, and will be for months yet to come.
Also as previously indicated, I see the Saturn-Uranus square as the aegis of Y2K disruptions and other accidental or design-flaw outages in, as well as criminal or terrorist assaults on, the communications network that is the backbone of the global information civilization. Although Saturn being in Taurus suggests that the financial infrastructure will be a natural target for much this kind of thing - the banks, as Willie Sutton observed, are where the money is - the communications network itself is vulnerable to outages whether by accident (or short-sighted planning) or by nefarious design. And that can have wide-ranging effects.
We've already seen an increasing number of minor Y2K problems, computer virus flaps and other computer security incidents - as well as stepped-up hacker attacks - since July. The fun is just beginning. Expect more of the same, and more virulent. After all, this current crop of Saturn-Uranus hard aspects is the first in the waxing square phase since the triple conjunction of these two planets in 1988. The final (geocentric) alignment in that particular conjunction series took place on October 10 of that year - some two weeks before the "Morris Worm" wrecked the Internet. So be Y2K-ready: have extra cash and at least a few days worth of food and fuel on hand, and stay on top of computer security issues. (Make and keep good backups, use and update your antivirus software, and ensure that your machines are Y2K updated as much as possible.) Don't be fooled into thinking this is just a January 1, 2000 vulnerability. It isn't. It has already appeared, and it will linger off and on for months. January 1 may well usher in a simultaneous rash of high-tech problems, but it won't be the end of them.
While the kind of disruptions I'm talking about will generally increase in number as we head to the rollover date of January 1 (and get closer to the January 29 heliocentric Saturn-Uranus square), there are a few dates that seem to stand out. The period of the new moon (December 4-10) is one of them. The new moon itself is in aspect to Uranus and falls at the midpoint of a Venus-Neptune square. It's also conjunct Pluto, which is in turn in quincunx aspect (150 degrees) to Saturn. Mid-December also shows some vulnerability, with Mars squaring Saturn on the 10th and then aligning with Uranus on the 14th - followed by the Venus opposition to Saturn the next day. Mars remains well within orb of its conjunction to Uranus on the 20th, the day Jupiter makes its direct station. And then as the month draws to a close and the rollover date looms large . . . well, you get the picture. As I've said many times before, I think this is more a time to take reasonable precautions than a time to prepare for a Megiddo-style meltdown. Stock the pantry, in other words - instead of holing up in a bunker somewhere. I'm betting we'll see nuisance-type stuff - temporary disruption of basic services akin to what we'd experience in a hurricane or snowstorm - rather than an apocalypse. But even nuisances can be a real pain to the unready, so do make reasonable preparations.
Not to dwell on the negative, I see this same planetary configuration as the herald of savvy innovations in the computer and technology fields: new operating systems emerging or gaining a larger foothold, communication break-throughs that deliver ever greater functionality for an ever smaller price. So even as we're all busy fixing messes of one kind or another, there will also be new and better technological toys coming on line to play with. In other words, even in the midst of chaotic unplanned (but not unexpected) breakdowns and devilishly ingenious assaults on computerized systems and the like, there will also be progressive innovations coming on line: clouds yes, but silver linings too.
RED PLANET REPRISE
Continuing a comeback begun in November is Mars, which makes a couple major aspects this month. The Red Planet's waning square to Saturn on the 10th remains within five degrees of being exact from the 4th through the 20th, and is particularly strong while within a single degree of exact aspect (i.e. from the 9th through the 11th). Aggression, avarice and conflict are prime keynotes of this particular configuration. If that sounds like saber-rattling at the international level, riots and subversion at the national level, and old fashion thuggery at the personal level . . . well, I think that's pretty well got it surrounded. Except to mention the heightened potential for accidents, building fires and other dangerous mishaps due to reckless behavior or poor judgment. The elderly and teens are at special risk, but we're all vulnerable. So stay focused, keep your mind on what you're doing, steer clear of the kind of places where trouble is likely to strike.
Mars lines up with Uranus at 14 Aquarius on the 14th, although the Red Planet remains with five degrees of this aspect from the 7th through the 20th, and within a single degree from 12th through the 15th. This is a period when technological mishaps and foul play are likely to be a major theme in world events. High-tech infrastructure breakdowns are bound to be in the picture at times like this.
LUNAR ALIGNMENTS & EXTREMES
There are only seven winter solstice full moons in the entire 20th Century. (Past instances occurred in 1904, 1923, 1942, 1965, 1980 and 1984.) The last of them, and the only one that happens to be a SuperMoon, takes place on December 22nd this year. It's the crown jewel in a string of lunar activation that punctuates the last month of 1999. And it's the continuation of a series of them that started with the November 23 SuperMoon and stretches into the first couple months of the year 2000. (Going forward, these include the January 21 SuperMoon lunar eclipse and the February 5 solar eclipse.)
If you don't already know by now, here's what to expect during these pronounced lunar activations: an upsurge from normal background levels of strong storms (and the attendant flooding) as well as seismic activity (including volcanic eruptions as well as Richter 5 or greater earthquakes). These are also times when you can expect an upwelling in the tide of human emotions - an intensity of feelings that can put reason out of the running.
It all starts with Luna crossing the celestial equator southward on the 2nd, ushering in a mild increase in storm and seismic potential from the 1st through the 3rd. Next comes the new moon at 15 Sagittarius on the 7th (conjunct Pluto, at the midpoint of a Venus-Neptune square) - a much stronger signal of increased storm and seismic activity. You'll start seeing events of this sort making the news as early as the 4th, and similar headlines will extend all the way to the 11th. (That's because the Moon reaches maximum declination south of the equator on December 10.) The storm and seismic potential subsides to normal background after that, until a brief surge centered a day either way of the Moon's equatorial crossing on the 17th. None of these lunar events rises to the level of an eclipse or SuperMoon, but they'll still be noteworthy.
SUPERMOON SOLSTICE
The major storm and seismic peak of the month comes as the Moon reaches perigee - closest approach to Earth - within seven hours of the December 22 full moon at 0 Cancer, and attains maximum declination north of the celestial equator some 17 hours later on the 23rd. This makes for a very strong SuperMoon indeed: a notable spike in severe storms, with inland (from precipitation) and coastal (tidal) flooding, plus moderate to severe seismic activity (Richter 5+ quakes as well as volcanic eruptions) may be expected to last from the 19th through the 25th. The seismic and meteorological extremes largely subside to background levels after that, with only a moderate up-tick a day either way of the Moon's southward crossing of the equator on the 29th.
Add 'em all up, and you get quite strong lunar signals for December 4-11 and 16-25. These are the major periods when strong storms, flooding and moderate to severe seismic events (including volcanic eruptions and Richter 5 or greater earthquakes) are most likely to surge above and beyond their normal background levels. And by far the greatest disturbances of this sort can be expected during the December 19-25 SuperMoon window. Because they're planetary in scale, these effects can be felt practically all over Planet Earth. But among the standout SuperMoon target zones, some of the most notable are likely to lie in the eastern US and Canada, on a north-south line that runs through Florida and western Cuba down through Central America. Southwest Africa, western Russian, the Middle East, and central plus southeast Australia also fit into this pattern, along with Southeast Asia and much of Japan.
SPECIAL FEATURE: This month's birthdays of the famous and infamous (with astrological birth charts)
