Capricorn takes care of our practical needs

The Capricorn in us all can feel a bit heavy - it’s that sense of responsibility one gets when in touch with exactly how a situation really is, and knowing what needs to be done. And it’s compounded by sensing that, if one went ahead and said all this, people would either be annoyed at being ‘told’, or would let one go ahead and do all the work. And when things go wrong, you just know it’s you that will get the blame - the Capricorn half-goat so easily becomes the scape-goat.

Let’s redefine what’s going on

The New Moon on 24 December is in Capricorn, very close to Pluto, so this month’s focus will probably be on the upheavals in our corporate, financial and material world (Pluto is said to be instigating them). These changes aren’t so much about destruction, as they are ‘revealing the present truth.’ It can clearly feel like destruction when illusions and dreams fall away. But our assumption, that what worked for many years will always work, is an illusion because change is constant, and our dreams of a future built on that misunderstanding need to go.

The trouble is that we don’t really want to look too closely at what is changing beneath a successful facade. For instance, the banking system may be basically a good idea, but making money out of money for the sake of it loses its originally helpful purpose, and turns it in on itself - what is not in line with nature destroys itself in the end. In our own lives, we get to see where we have been pushing our worries under the carpet because we were doing OK too. Everything reflects everything else, so these are wonderful times for checking our personal behaviour for hidden motives: are we really being altruistic, what we are trying to get out of our relationships, and so on. It’s not that wanting something for oneself is bad, it’s just that we need to know what we are really doing, because much of our expectation is based on superficial assumptions, and then we wonder why we don’t get what we think we want!

Tectonic plate shifts and volcanoes

Pluto in Capricorn represents the energy of deep earth movement and erupting volcanoes. The beauty of volcanic activity is that it brings the needed elements of creation and growth - the truth - out of the depths, and scatters it under the sky for us to use. Not everything we’ve been standing on was an illusion, and wherever we built on facts rather than hopes, and for a life-affirming purpose, growth will continue. What’s more, there will be more space to grow, and healthily, because the false structures will stop blocking useful progress. Supportive banking allows for the growth of innovative companies, the improvement in energy-saving gadgetry, and the flourishing of community projects - and there are a few banks working that way.

This is the new look at Pluto, and why we speak of it allowing for transformation rather than simply destroying everything. The experience of having your expectations for the future shattered can be painful, but it leaves room for us to discover what we really want in life. Those desires that spring from our true centre have an energy and immediacy that reflects, and connects with, the naturally creative energy of life. We attract what we need for our heart’s desires to flower, when we let go of what we think we should be doing, and what will please the world and make us secure. Creativity rarely looks as though it will lead to security, but following the creative flow of our moment by moment responses to life is actually the safest thing to do when we don’t know what’s round the corner. It’s like keeping our knees flexible on our raft, to keep a better balance as waves go underneath.

It seems the last week or so many of us have been feeling inner doubt, and that we are not up to what is necessary - unprepared. Mercury in Sagittarius has been squaring Mars in Virgo - I speak about it on the YouTube vlog - it is the principle of ‘having big ideas’ clashing with the principle of ‘creating perfect results’. This aspect has been hanging about because Mercury was retrograde for a while, and it doesn’t fade away until mid-January.

So please let’s just get over it, enjoy having a go, and also be very gentle and tolerant with others and ourselves during any get-togethers. It’s only a wisp of awkwardness, and it would be a pity if the results were destructive unnecessarily - we might find ourselves regretting our decisions later. Taking a breath when things hot up, pausing before trying to force out point home, whatever works for you to deliver peaceful communication . . .

So have fun kindly!

Improved projects get underway

After four months of slowed activity and halted projects, on 25 December Jupiter will end its retrograde appearance, ready to move forwards through Taurus again - this suggests that we are getting ready for the next phase of growth in our material experience, be that finance, work, home or health. This sense of encouragement could precipitate a desire to make sudden changes, but, unless you have been planning them for some time, you may find yourself without a support system (Uranus squares Sun/Moon). On the other hand, sudden change may occur in your circumstances, and, if this happens, you need to accept it as an opportunity for growth in ways which hadn’t been possible before. If change does occur this month, we can trust that growth is being supported, and even blessed (Jupiter trine Sun/Moon and sextile Neptune/Chiron).

Trust Life, with surprise and wonder

From 6 to 10 January, there could be an explosion of ideas (Mercury, our conscious communication, will trine Jupiter) at first many wild possibilities perhaps, but settling into something very practical from 8 January (Mercury into Capricorn working better with Mars). On 13 January, we may find ourselves contemplating the big changes that need making (Mercury reaches Pluto) - a good time to organise how we may put them into practice. I have a sense of positive expectancy for 2012 - I need to be careful not to turn this into specific expectations. I love that saying: ‘You turn to spirit for help when your foundations are shaking, only to find it’s spirit that’s shaking them’!