Lunar Eclipse at the Edge of the Winter Solstice!

This is the third Full Moon in a row that falls in the 29th and final degree of a sign. Back in October, the Full Moon was at 29 Aries; in November, the Full Moon was at 29 Taurus; now we have the final Full Moon of 2010 at 29 Gemini, shortly before the Winter Solstice.

The last degree of any given sign is known as the "cusp," and its energy is highly unstable; it teeters on the verge of the next sign, yet is not quite there yet.

I have never read this anywhere, but it is my belief that the final "dwad" of any given sign (i.e., 27.30 to 29.59 degrees) has great potential to achieve mastery of the nature of that particular sign. My favorite aspect in my own chart is the trine between my Mercury at 28 Cancer and Neptune at 28 Scorpio.

In the case of this Full Moon, which is also a Lunar Eclipse (exact 3:13 a.m. EST--quick, go outside and start watching the Moon turn into a bronze medal!), the mastery can be found in the attributes of Sagittarius and Gemini. Although these two signs are opposite each other, they have much in common: curiosity, a desire to communicate on an intellectual and philosophical level, an affinity with travel, teaching, and learning.

When negatively expressed, Gemini is prone to gossip; Sagittarius, to overly blunt tactlessness. Since we are still within orb of the very recent Sun/Uranus, Mercury/Uranus, and Moon/Uranus squares, be particularly careful not to let your rebellion and desire for freedom get the better of you; these difficult squares may be manifesting as "December burnout"--losing patience with various holiday obligations and purchases.

Just after the Solstice at 6:39 p.m. is the Mercury/Jupiter square, so do try not to bite off more than you can chew. With the Sun moving into Capricorn, you won't be able to stomach overindulgence of any kind as well as you could with the Sun in Sagittarius.

Detective Work

Did you say or share anything of great top-secret importance last Sunday, December 5? Or did someone share that information with you? Well, it's coming back today, although in slightly different form...perhaps whatever the secret 411 is will be "taken back" or otherwise transformed via an old-fashioned game of Telephone, where the original words are rendered into something unrecognizeable.

Just don't push too hard today, whatever that sensitive info contains. Mars is moving over that already supercharged Mercury/Pluto conjunction, so despite Mercury being retrograde, silence is highly unlikely.

This is a highly productive day for detectives, amateur sleuths, bloodhounds, therapists, and surgeons. But it's not such a good day for individuals, or corporations, in positions of power (the triple conjunction falls in the highly ambitious sign of Capricorn) who have something to hide. If you happen to be a member of a gang, call in sick with the fu today unless you relish the prospect of receiving broken bones for some infraction or other. And if you absolutely must scale that mountain today, bring along extra guides and extra supplies.

I would not be surprised if more pitch-black stuff comes out regarding the aptly named (given Uranus in Pisces) WikiLeaks, or if a whole other scandal breaks.

Basically, if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about. If you do have something to hide, you can either clear your conscience or join a huge club that's getting bigger all the time.

Wrapping up Sun in Scorpio on a Full Moon

I've been incommunicado during most of the Scorpio period for a variety of reasons.

For starters, just a few days after Halloween, during a routine eye exam at my local eyewear store for the Visually Challenged, it was discovered I had a small hole in my left retina.

That Friday, during the very dark of the Moon in Scorpio, I got pyrotechnically ill not once, but two times at a lovely dinner party, from either too much to drink or too many samosas, and yet my abrupt excursions to the bathroom miraculously went undetected by all except for my Taller Half.

Upon further examination two days later by an opthalmologist who used to play tennis with my father, the "small hole" in my left retina had morphed into a larger rip, plus there were a few others, and the retina had already begun to detach. The eye operation as considered minor due to the fact that I was awake the entire time and not screaming in pain (though I did inwardly squirm with discomfort and a general sense of ickiness), yet the ordeal left me blurry and sore and quite out of the mood for astrologizing, or much of anything except for sleeping and watching reruns of Bad Girls Club on the Oxygen Network.

I am not looking forward to my follow-up exam at the end of the month, but I was extremely lucky my eye problem was detected at this time, for next year, with Uranus in Aries (eyes) squaring Pluto and opposing my Uranus, my left retina might have slipped its moorings altogether.

Last week, with the Moon robustly waxing, found me freelancing in an actual office for the first time in 5 years. On the way to my first day at the office, I decided I had enough time to pick up my new vintage eyeglasses in Chinatown, where I slipped on a leaf and fell on my chin and right knee in the middle of Mott Street. I managed to mop up the blood and buy a new pair of cheap tights and still show up at the office with my new glasses bang on time. I guess the Sun/Jupiter trine made all that possible--including my not being seriously injured. The workplace had great people and high energy, and they seemed to like my work...yet I was also trying to work on another at-home freelance project and prepare for a featured reading performance at the Cornelia Street Cafe. By midweek I was getting very nervous because I still wasn't absolutely sure of my performance program, which is something I like to lock in at least five days ahead of time so I can get in a lot of practice.

Fortunately on Thursday Jupiter and Venus both turned direct in signs that are considered very strong for those two planets: Pisces (Jupiter and Libra (Venus). Plus we got an inspiring Sun/Uranus trine in the wee hours of Friday Brooklyn Standard Time, so after I got home from the office I was able to figure it all out plus do a marathon run-through before passing out at 3 a.m. While still in bed the next morning, the Moon now in Taurus, I figured out what I was going to wear.

The poetry and prose performance itself, with the Sun less than a degree away from my very strongly aspected Neptune, went very well and I'm glad I bothered to find a videographer to film (Neptune!) it plus my Taller Half's performance. A gaggle of good friends showed up at Cornelia St. and we had a fun time afterward at an Indian restaurant--and despite drinking plenty of wine and ingesting plenty of spices, my digestive system did not revolt.

Now on the verge of the Full Moon in the last degrees of Scorpio and Taurus, this is a good time to take stock of the entire Scorpio period and balance intense ego needs and desire for taking sexual and financial risks with emotional sensuality and desire for comfort and security. Overindulgence in food, drink, drugs, and/or sex is a real possibility with this Sun/Moon combination, so try to be moderate in your extreme needs and wants.

It is indeed of great significance that this is the second Full Moon in a row that falls in the last degree of a sign. And it will happen again next month.

Stay tuned for my Thanksgiving report!