Astrology of the Week Ahead December 9–15

Hey everyone, this is Adam Elenbaas from Nightlight Astrology. Happy Monday, everybody!

Today, we're going to take a look at the astrology of the week ahead, including a big full moon in the sign of Gemini, with its ruler, Mercury, turning direct in Sagittarius after three weeks or so of retrograde.

We're also looking at a Venus-Mars opposition that is coming through this week, with Venus in Aquarius and Mars now retrograde in the sign of Leo.

I'm also going to be taking a look at the connection between Aquarius and aliens a little bit more in depth. I've gotten a lot of good questions about that since November's webinar. So we'll be talking about that.

Also, I'll be a guest on Lori Lothian's channel later in the week, talking about the same thing. That ought to be fun!

I want to point you to a few events happening, and then give you a Kickstarter update for the day. Head over to NightlightAstrology.com — that's our website.

There are a couple of events coming up that you may enjoy. One is, if you're in the Minneapolis area, on December 21, we have a solstice gathering. It's free to attend, just RSVP under the In-Person Events page, under the Events tab on the website. We're going to get together for community, reflection, centering, and a little bit of movement. It’s just a good time to gather on a ritual evening like the solstice.

The other event: If you go to Events and click on Live Talks this week, I’m giving a talk on the sixth house — the house of slavery, sickness, sacrifice, and service. Why was this called the House of Bad Fortune, and the joy of Mars? It sounds kind of grim, but actually, there's a lot to the sixth house that is really important and enlightening.

When we dive into it a little deeper, it’s not nearly as bad as people think. We’ll unpack some of the ancient roots of this house, its meaning, and how we might utilize it with a more enlightened perspective, especially with difficult houses. I think that’s important.

When you register, you’ll get the link to attend live this Thursday night, from 7 to 9 p.m. Eastern. If you can’t make it, you’ll get the recording link to watch the replay.

Now, I’ll point you over to the Kickstarter campaign. The campaign is trying to rally the support of 1,937 backers donating to support our channel for all the free content I create in the year ahead. Right now, we have about 335 backers.

You can find the link to the Kickstarter campaign in the description of this video, in the comment section, or head over to the website and click the 2025 Kickstarter tab.

When you get to the Kickstarter campaign, you’ll see reward tiers on the right-hand side of the screen.

I want to emphasize that we still need 1,102 backers by January 1. We're about 70 backers behind last year’s pace. So, I’m trying to ring the bell here — we need to keep going! We’re doing well, but we need the support of quite a few more backers before the end of the year.

A $5, $10, or $20 donation is as good as someone buying a class pass, because the total number of backers at all donation levels really adds up and helps us reach our goal. We know people are coming from different situations, and we value all donations.

There will be an explanation of the different rewards at the end of today’s video. You can tune in to hear me explain the major discounts we offer on classes if you want to study at Nightlight and join our community of astrological education. We have four years of curriculum, and all of those programs are greatly discounted through Kickstarter.

We also have little gifts, like the Astrology of 2025 calendar, and a talk I’m giving on the astrology of 2025 that won’t be released anywhere else. Probably the best deal we have are the Year-Ahead Horoscopes — all 12 whole sign house Sun and rising horoscopes for 2025. You get about eight hours of content.

These are some good deals you can pick up, and I’ll tell you more about the programs you can get at the end.

If you enjoy the channel, or if you’ve ever gotten something life-changing from a video or talk, or if you tune in regularly as part of your spiritual practice or relationship to astrology, please consider supporting us.

Every day, I like to share something that I bake into the content on purpose. Today, I just want to mention something I try my best to emulate, which is intellectual humility.

By that, I mean that all my favorite teachers — whether from graduate school or from spiritual teachers in different traditions — have been people who, despite having vast knowledge, communicate in a way that allows me to think for myself and make meaning in a way unique to me.

The way I create content daily is to make sure I communicate what I think and feel while also making it clear that these are my thoughts and feelings. I hope you’ll take this and do something useful with it.

If you value that kind of space, you may consider supporting the channel.

Okay, well, on that note, we’ll now take a look at the astrology of the week ahead!

All right, let's go ahead and get into it. We're taking a look at all of the major transits of the week. I'm going to run through each of the transits first, and then I will break down each of them individually. I'll also give you a little sense of what other content is coming this week. It's not a super busy week astrologically, so I'm throwing in a couple of things that I think will be fun to look at that are not connected to some of the transits this week. I'll tell you about that in a second.

Anyway, let me pull up the real-time clock. Here we go. And let's start with December 12. So the beginning of the week here on Monday, not a lot going on. We're going to speed things up to Thursday of this week. That's when we have a pretty spicy transit: Venus opposing Mars. Now, I'll break this down in a minute, but the opposition between Venus and Mars will perfect at about 5 a.m. Central time, about 6 a.m. Eastern. I guess that would be probably about 3 a.m. Pacific, something like that. But that transit comes through this Thursday, where Venus in Aquarius will be opposing Mars retrograde in Leo. You can expect that this one will probably pack a punch. So, big transit right there—it's probably the transit of the week, and I suspect that we will spend probably a day or two covering this one. I have one day planned, possibly a second. We'll see how it goes.

On the 13th, the very next day, a lot of the transits come to the end of this week. Then we're going to see just a very brief little sextile between Venus and Mercury. Now, I think this is interesting since Mercury is reaching its station point. So we have a Mercury that's turning direct essentially this week, just two days later, right as it contacts Venus through a sextile. Now, Venus and Mercury, because they travel so close to the Sun, are often not aspecting one another in a sextile. They'll often be in the same sign. Right? So having them two signs apart and making a little sextile as Mercury stations to turn direct feels like a nice little auspicious transit. I'll tell you about that. We won't be doing any content on that one, but I have some other things planned this week, so I'll cover that now so you can be aware of it in this video.

We're also going to spend some time on the full moon. The full moon in Gemini is a big one this month, and that has to do with the fact that this full moon is ruled by a Mercury that's turning direct. That is coming into a square with Neptune, and the Sun is also squaring Neptune, while Jupiter and Saturn are also about to square. So, we have this kind of mutable T-square that's being activated by the full moon on the 15th. We're going to talk about that today, and then we'll definitely have some content on that later in the week.

We're also going to be looking at Mercury turning direct on the same day as the full moon, which is Sunday the 15th. So, the very end of the week, there will be some fireworks with a full moon in Mercury’s sign, as Mercury is turning direct in Sagittarius after about three weeks of being retrograde. That's the major astrology of the week.

I told you I would also tell you just a little bit about what else we're going to talk about. One talk that I have planned was really interesting. Someone sent me a message—actually, a few people did—with questions about the connection between Pluto entering Aquarius and the topic of aliens, UFOs, extraterrestrial races or civilizations, things like that. I have to admit, I think it's a completely fascinating topic. There were some really interesting questions that were asked after I did my webinar on Pluto into Aquarius, the week that Pluto went into Aquarius, where there was some mention in that talk as well. I talked a little bit about a lot of things, but I mentioned alien life and why the connection between Pluto in Aquarius and the topic of aliens is relevant.

So, I’m going to do a little bit more on that this week for fun. Then over the weekend, I think what I’m going to do is reboot an episode that I did, I think it was all the way back in 2020, on the topic of the planets ingressing into the sign of Aquarius, the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Aquarius, and the topic of aliens. Someone also sent me the link to an old talk I did and said, "I went back and looked at the talk you did on Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius in 2020, and the topic of aliens, which you predicted at that time would become more and more prominent as Pluto entered Aquarius in the years to come."

I thought that was really interesting because, you know, sometimes I forget what videos I've made, and I thought that was a really interesting one. So I think I’m going to reboot that over the weekend so everyone can see it again. I’ll do a replay episode, and I’m probably going to make a little introduction and make a few comments on what I think has aged well with that video, or why I think it's still relevant for us to look at that video now, with respect to the topic of Pluto and aliens, and the question of alien life.

Why might that be a really important one for this 20-year stretch? What are the implications of discovering alien life or being in contact with alien life while Pluto is in Aquarius? What would that mean for us? So, I’m going to explore that from a kind of spiritual, philosophical perspective this week, and then I’ll probably reboot that old episode for fun over the weekend.

Also, obviously, drumming up some support for the Kickstarter over the weekend is important because sometimes the backers die down a little bit over the weekends. We’ve got to try to keep the pace going as best we can. So, a little bonus content, and also doing a live stream this week. So, lots of good content to come.

Now, let's take a look at each of the transits. Let’s start with Venus opposite Mars. Now, there’s going to be a lot more to say about this, so remember we’re just doing a little preview for now, because this really will be the topic of the week in many ways. But this transit is going to come through on Thursday, December 12. So, the first part of the week is a little quiet, which is why we’ll fill it with things like aliens. And then we’ll move right into this territory by Wednesday, and probably Thursday as well.

So, you can see that Venus is opposing Mars on Thursday here from Aquarius to Leo. We did some horoscopes recently on the oppositions between Venus and Mars, Venus-Pluto, Mars-Pluto across the Aquarius-Leo axis that I thought were pretty helpful. So, you could always go back and look at those. I think those would be helpful horoscopes to revisit for right now. And those were, I think, a week or two ago that I did those.

Anyhow, so I mean, it was last week. I think Venus is the goddess of love, harmony, beauty, sensuality, happiness, enjoyment, pleasure—when life feels like it is a smooth, easy, enjoyable ride, or when good things happen that you go, "Wow, I wasn’t expecting that!" That was unexpected good fortune, an unexpected bump or lift in your mood or attitude. That’s Venus, the goddess of good fortune, the goddess of good luck. You might even call it, in the ancient world, like just when something happens to cross your path that is good or meaningful or beneficial.

Also, the ability to harmonize with anyone or anything, to find flow, to find things that are enjoyable, pleasant, sensual. So, opposite that, of course, the natural opposite is Mars, the god of war, the god of struggle, the god of strife. If you want to build a house, you’re going to have to do things like cut and saw and hammer and pound and work and strain your muscles, your body. You have to lift things, probably work under the sun. It’s going to be a labor. These are Mars-like qualities.

Mars was the god of misfortune, but we have to understand what that meant. Broadly speaking, the god of misfortune would mean the world where there is pain and work and difficulty and obstacles, and the need for exertion or assertion or effort. Where there’s effort, there’s a push—that’s part of life too. It’s not really bad; it’s just the friction that is part of creation, you know. So when we think about Mars, we can think about war and violence and irritation, or fevers, or things that are hot or cutting or severing. We can also think about things that require effort and work and struggle and sacrifice. Mars is also connected to people who will die for a cause, people who will fight for something they believe in, people who will advocate, protect, guard, or defend.

So when you put Venus and Mars into an oppositional tension with one another, what do you get? You get something like the tango. I’ve used that image recently, but you get a push and pull, a back and forth. You get things that are seeking harmony, resolution, peace, ease, and at the same time, requiring effort and struggle.

Okay, so which one is going to win out? Is this going to be a struggle? Are we going to find harmony and peace here? It’s like two people getting together in an argument. One says, “Look, I just want to make peace.” The other one says, “I just want to win.” Mars is retrograde, which

means that we may have a Mars that is more willing to compromise, or that is compromised and less willing or able to fight. There may be some need for Mars to surrender its will, its ego, its pride, its grand sense of self, very Mars in Leo, because some greater social need is requiring that we lay down some degree of our self-interest.

So, it’s like laying the sword down. The Mars-Venus opposition can also just be flat-out about struggles between men and women, or partners or friends or coworkers—power struggles, power dynamics, where there are different or conflicting visions of who is right, who should lead, who gets what, how peace or harmony or flow should look. What does fairness look like? These kinds of dynamics are also not surprising when Venus and Mars oppose one another.

Now, Venus is coming off the conjunction to Pluto, so she’s going through, having just gone through a very powerful moment of transformation, and immediately hits this space of conflict or compromise or the feeling that she doesn’t have everything she needs and requires something. And then how willing is Mars to give or aid in the need that Venus has? She’s emerging from a transformative healing crisis, let’s say, with Pluto, and then immediately running into opposition from Mars. What could that look like?

On the other hand, Venus could be emboldened and empowered from the contact with Pluto and is now requiring something of Mars, and Mars in the retrograde position may be more willing to give it. But let’s watch for these tensions—creative tensions, sexual tensions, relational tensions, conflicts of value, the need for compromise, creative solutions to power struggles. These are the kinds of things coming through Thursday of this week. We’re going to spend more time with that as the week goes on.

Now, the next day we have this nice, brief little transit between Mercury, who is now basically stationing, and Venus. I like this because, of course, Mercury—you may notice—is reaching backward toward a trine with Mars. Could Mercury be mediating the conflict between Venus and Mars, providing some kind of interesting solution? Maybe. Maybe there’ll be a trickster or a mercurial figure, a piece of news or information, a way of communicating, something that brings some peace to the situation the next day when Mercury and Venus contact.

Because one of the things that Mercury and Venus also bring together in their contact is enjoyable, easy, pleasing speech—harmonious words, music, singing, songwriting, poetry, literature, acting, all of those Venus-Mercury dynamics in sextile. Those can be lovely to listen to, to see enacted by creative people or speakers or communicators. There’s something here that suggests a willingness to find creative solutions or compromise, or to speak articulately, passionately, carefully, diplomatically, right in the wake of a little power struggle between Venus and Mars. So, I like that aspect for that reason. Also, just lucky, fun, upbeat. If you find yourself in a good mood or just your thoughts are flowing and happy and smooth, that would be very Mercury-Venus.

So, watch for that transit coming through on Friday, kind of smoothing things over a little bit. And then we get into Saturday and Sunday, where the full moon is starting to form. And on the 15th, Mercury will be direct. Now we’re going to spend some time with this one toward the end of the week as well, but let us just take a look at this. Whoops. Go back. Here we go. Oh no, where am I? Oh, here we go.

All right, so you’ll see the full moon forming here, Gemini and Sagittarius, and we have that Mercury-Jupiter dynamic present in the full moon. Sun in the sign of Jupiter, Moon in the sign of Mercury. Mercury’s turning direct with the mutual reception by detriment and opposition to Jupiter that will now start forming again through direct movement. So again, that’s seeing this full moon bringing about the dialectic that is so present this month. Philosophically, ideologically, religiously, politically, there is a kind of debate or a back-and-forth exchange of ideas and values. An ability to perhaps flip-flop, or see things from a perspective that is very different, or sometimes maybe even feels like it’s opposed to our own or contrary to our own.

To walk a mile in someone else’s shoes or to come up with a creative solution to a problem, or to bring a meeting of the minds somehow. All of these things are present again at the time of the full moon, where there’s this kind of paradigmatic change taking place—a change of philosophy, a change of mind, a change of paradigm. Deep structures are changing because of experiences that are leading to wisdom, the evolution of our understanding, maturity, spiritual growth. Life experiences add up and slowly start changing our view of life, our paradigm, and therefore the actions that we take, or the priorities that we have in our life, and how we sort of like—what are our top priorities?

That tends to change as our experiences lead us to value different things. This is a month, remember, that Jupiter is square to Saturn. This full moon is participating in an ongoing dialog that is leading to deep paradigmatic changes in our lives. You can see this on a mundane level, again, taking place with respect to the cultivation of a new cabinet, a new political administration, things like that.

So, busy week. Most of it comes from the 12th to the 15th. That’s Thursday through Sunday. So, tomorrow, I will be filling a little bit of time with some talk on aliens. I think that’ll be fun. We’re going to look at Pluto and Aquarius and the topic of aliens. Have a little bonus material for you over the weekend, if I can, if I can figure out just make sure I have the original video so we can republish it. All that good stuff.

I’ll take you back to some coverage that I had of the topic of Aquarius and aliens back around the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction at zero Aquarius, where Pluto is now. So it was really fun. I thank you too. I can’t remember the name of the viewer who referred me to that old video from my archives. They said, "I rewatched it, and it was really cool to hear you imagining what kinds of things might be coming up around aliens when Pluto finally entered Aquarius and covered the same degree as the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction."

Now here we are. Sometimes it’s fun to look back at stuff like that, so I’ll probably throw that in as a bonus episode over the weekend.

All right. Well, again, we need a lot of help still to get to the goal for our Kickstarter this year. We need well over 1,000 backers still. I think it’s probably the time I’m recording this. Well, you’ll know because of my little intro videos that I’m tagging on, but we have a long way to go. We need a lot of help. Every donation counts—$5, $1, $10, $15. Stick around because after sign-off, you can learn all about the rewards that are available when you support the channel, including our best sales on all of our online courses and programs, certification courses. So, if you want to take advantage of the Kickstarter on that level, that’s definitely our best sale of the year. So check that out, and we will see you again tomorrow. Bye.