Your December 2021 Horoscope Ends The Year With A Bang

We stand on the precipice of the next dimension, a Piscean paradise of new connections and artistic expression. December begins with the dream god Neptune going direct in Pisces for the first time since June, and ends with Jupiter, planet of light and wisdom, joining it for a year-long residency in the ocean kingdom. After so much ambivalence comes a creative resurgence. But to welcome the deluge, we’ll have to break down the floodgates. December promises necessary destruction on the way to wholeness.

The closure begins on December 4, with the total solar eclipse in Sagittarius, the final chapter of an eclipse cycle between Gemini and Sagittarius that has raged since 2020. The two mutable signs have defined the last two years, an era when every personal choice betrays larger political consequences, when cancellation weighs over action, and “freedom” has come to mean entitlement. It all ends here. When the sun goes dark, and the noise cuts out, which beliefs will you take with you? What drives your life? What is the point? Sagittarius always marches forward, and with no values to guide it, can take the most misguided of turns. Where are you going? Take the Gemini full moon on December 18 to invest in the daily practices which imbue your life with meaning, keep you embodied, and help direct you to your highest values.

The eclipse is just an opening salvo. On December 8, Venus faces off with Pluto, in Capricorn, before going retrograde December 19 through January 29. In an earth sign like Capricorn, Venus is most concerned with what Lil’ Kim would call “the horse, the porsche and the farm,” those signifiers of material triumph in a capitalist society. By all means, secure your bag, but is this vacation in Cabo with your boyfriend Travis what you really wanted? One way or another, you will confront the ways you’ve settled for unfulfilling visions of career, financial, or relationship success. Many astrologers are promising a Case of the Ex season, in which old lovers come calling out of the blue. They come from an old life, of limited imagination. To meet the Piscean 2022 you deserve, and to expand your vision of love and pleasure, you must banish the ghouls. Don’t look back, or you’ll turn to a pillar of sh*t.

Capricorn season launches on December 21, welcoming Mercury in the final days of 2021 to help clarify your goals and bring them to fruition. The Sagittarian adventure shifts nicely into Capricornian industry; anything can be achieved. But the stars have one last gauntlet in the way, with the third Saturn-Uranus square, raging from Christmas Eve through the New Year. The last time these two archetypes — tradition versus change — clashed, it was on the battleground of Pride. This time, Christmas provides fuel for the fire, with Aquarius and Taurus, two fixed signs concerned with originality and ownership, throwing down for the holidays. Saturn in Aquarius wants to build a shared new reality for all, while Uranus in Taurus asserts our individual entitlements and worth, at any cost. This square, which comes just days after a new Matrix movie, at the Christmas table with your family, promises new dialogue — and confrontation — about the standards we’ve accepted, the ways different generations understand our economic and ideological reality, and what you deserve to be happy. Remember: Conflict is not abuse, and may be necessary to create something new. Merry Christmas. We hope you survive the experience!

ARIES & ARIES RISING

Venus retrograde goes down starting December 19 in Capricorn, in your tenth house of career, casting a side-eye on what you thought all your efforts would have yielded by now. What are you working for? Is material success or public clout doing it for you the way it used to? The answers you seek can only be addressed in the domains of the spiritual and philosophical, where Sagittarius excels. Your ruling planet, Mars, marches into the Centaur’s kingdom on December 14, where it will stay through January 24. Take any chance you can to travel, study, learn, and expose yourself to new ideas or possibilities. Your linear path to success has come to a dead end. Now’s the time to expand your vision.

TAURUS & TAURUS RISING

You have been laboring under the delusion that power is granted by some gatekeepers or institution — your church, your thesis advisor, your improv group. That all ends this month, as Venus goes down in Pluto’s hellfire in Capricorn, in your ninth house of wider social acceptance, starting December 19. With Neptune going direct in Pisces, in your eleventh house of community and audience at the start of the month, and Jupiter joining on the 28th for a 2022 victory lap, it’s clear that your world is about to expand vastly. But first, you’ll have to end 2021 with yet another culling. You must cut out the relationships and rules which no longer hold relevance to your emerging originality. You’re ready to graduate.

GEMINI & GEMINI RISING

All of the upheaval, pain, and lessons of the past two years come to a synthesis point this month, with the final eclipse of the Gemini-Sagittarius cycle on December 4, and the full moon in Gemini on December 18. When the sun goes momentarily dark in Sagittarius on December 4, in your seventh house of intimate partnership, the big question is: Who lights your way? Who will be with you through the next transformation? As Venus retrogrades in your eighth house of union and commitment, you have the chance to hash out many of your worst relationship fears, and address any power dynamics which need to be balanced. You’ve chosen the relationships that matter. Now you get to make them last.

CANCER & CANCER RISING

December is a test. Venus, planet of love, has been blossoming in Capricorn, in your seventh house of relationships, since early November. But this month, she comes out of furs and into fire, facing off with Pluto starting on December 8, and then going retrograde from the 19 through the end of January 2022. Sagittarius season is a time of cultivating values, and with the centaur in your sixth house of boundaries, all the non-negotiables and new rules you’ve set will be put to the test. Count on old exes and illusory promises to surface this month, and remember the ways you’ve learned to trust your instincts and intuitions. By the time of the Gemini full moon in your twelfth house of personal history and trauma on December 28, you’ll have battled down old demons in the form of old loves.

LEO & LEO RISING

They may not be buying what you’re selling this month. Have you considered that you’re in too small a market? On December 11-12, the sun, in Sagittarius, in your fifth house of creative expression, squares Neptune, in Pisces, in your house of transformation. Have you become myopic in your artistry? Then, as Venus goes retrograde in Capricorn, in your sixth house of the body and boundaries starting December 19, you’ll start to wonder what all your output is for, and why the gratification doesn’t feel rewarding anymore. These stumbling blocks are meant to realign you to a higher purpose, and a bigger payoff. Reconnect your creativity, your self-presentation, and your work to a higher sense of values and ideals, to a bigger consciousness, and your life will go electric.

VIRGO & VIRGO RISING

New life emerges in your home and relationships. As Neptune goes direct in Pisces on December 1, in your seventh house of intimate partnership, you’re ready to be seen in new ways. Your public visibility is set to expand on the new moon in Gemini, in your tenth house of career on December 18, and when Jupiter starts its surge in Pisces on December 28. You’re gearing up for more time in the sun, and the best way to serve the incoming attention is to root down. Take Sagittarius season to color the home you live in, to initiate the ideation from within. Give yourself a creative incubation space you can count on, so that when things get bigger and brighter, you’ll feel more solid than ever.

LIBRA & LIBRA RISING

Like Buffy Summers leaving Sunnydale at the end of Season 2, you’re about to go very far from home. Throughout your life, your ruler Venus has drawn you to the people and surroundings that inspire beauty, peace, and possibility. This month, Venus comes into contact with Pluto, the destroyer and king of the underworld, in Capricorn, in your fourth house of home, roots, and foundations. On December 19, the planet of beauty and love goes retrograde, through the end of January. You will be forced to confront the illusory rewards you’ve claimed, and the once-alluring but now-enervating sources of support on which you rely. This transit will burn down the counterfeit luxuries, shanty homes, and false facades you’ve lived in, so that all that remains is as good as gold. Don’t hold on to anything – or anyone – until you know you’re free.

SCORPIO & SCORPIO RISING

Ready for another cleansing? Until it leaves your sign on December 13, Mars is on a mission to streamline, clarify, and make possible all your ambitions. As Mars squares Jupiter, in Aquarius, in your fourth house of home, from December 6–9, you’ll have a chance to process and eliminate residual Thanksgiving trauma. How has your idea of family changed over the past year? What gives you a sense of home, and how does it support your drive? Any part of your daily life, including the people you interact with and the rituals you cling to, is up for review. While everyone else sets nonsense 2022 goals, yours might matter. Ensure that you’re supported for the next phase of the conquest.

SAGITTARIUS & SAGITTARIUS RISING

Since the summer of 2020, eclipses on the Gemini-Sagittarius axis have brought to the fore a conflict of praxis versus theory, of practical versus possible. The final chapter of the saga comes with the total solar eclipse in Sagittarius on December 4. Over the insanity of the last year and a half, which values have stayed with you? Which dreams or beliefs have formed your due north? When the sun goes dark, which fundamental truths will guide your way? With a full moon in Gemini on December 18, in your seventh house of intimate partnerships, you’ll have a chance to confront who in your life you wish to take on the next phase of the grand adventure.

CAPRICORN & CAPRICORN RISING

During the peak season of corporate materialism, you’ll be left questioning what it’s all worth. In your sign, Venus symbolizes the rewards for all your toiling, be they beautiful people or things. As Venus crosses through the gates of the underworld starting December 8, in a conjunction with Pluto, then goes retrograde on December 19 through the end of January, you’ll consider the value of the relationship, the house, or the recognition you’ve so furiously clawed towards all these years. Burn away your old future so that you may enter Capricorn season with a new direction, and purpose, on January 21.

AQUARIUS & AQUARIUS RISING

This is a time of culmination. The bright and bold planet Jupiter has spent most of the year in Aquarius, shining the light on your awakening. On the 28, Jupiter leaves Aquarius, not to return until 2032. How, over the last year, have you cultivated your originality, and how do you honor that? A square from Mars in Scorpio, in your tenth house of career, from December 6–9, will offer the first test. Do you compromise your point of view for the possibility of success? Then, on Christmas Eve, the chaotic Uranus in Taurus, in your fourth house of home, throws another gauntlet your way. Does your family recognize the ways that you’ve changed? Have you given them a chance to? You’ve come a long way this year. Now’s the time to hold fast, stick the landing, and prove that these changes are meant to last.

PISCES & PISCES RISING

It all went wrong in late June, when the promises of the summer, the vaccinations, and some idea of free love came crashing down. What happened to the momentum? All that changes this month, one of your ruling planets, Neptune, which has been in retrograde since June, goes direct on December 1. You can have your dreams back now! On the 28, your other master, Jupiter, returns to Pisces for a thrilling 2022 tour. The lights are on you. Employ the bold vision of Sagittarius to imagine your ideal career path for 2022. You just might make it happen.