December starts out being a rather stressful month but one that will gather strength and energy quickly to reach a number of crescendos in late Sagittarius, just before Christmas, as the Sun and Mercury close in on a magnificent conjunction of Jupiter and Pluto.

The initial stress comes from a T square between the Sun, Saturn and Uranus, and from the Moon in Leo squaring Mercury in Scorpio. The former involves the Sun in Sagittarius seeking to express its sheer solar radiance and urge towards freedom, getting caught in a tug of war between the earthy conservatism of Saturn in Virgo and the bomb throwing revolutionary in Uranus. Saturn and Uranus are ancient adversaries that create a great deal of tension as the old and the new, the realist and the utopian, get polarised by the opposition. The challenge here is how to get some kind of working balance between them as each has valid truths to share.

Saturn in Virgo is always hard for Sagittarius as the sign is great on big picture stuff, but lousy on the details, the fine print. Sag wants to leave the nitty-gritty to others, wanting to charge off to the next spanda of its inspirational genius, but Saturn hauls him back for reality checks, so necessary in the process of translating ideas into manifestation. We may not like Saturn much, but nothing much can really happen without him. As for the Centaur, he resonates more with Uranus, as he can also be wild and more fun, but even then he won't fully trust the wizard while he's in Pisces. Too much dubious emotional energy underneath for the straight shooting, straight talking Sagittarian. The Moon squaring Mercury is also a stressful aspect and a tricky one, as the emotional energies of the time are operating in very different ways to the mental ones. It makes it hard for our minds and our feelings to get it together, creating all sorts of confusion around choices and decisions. But Mercury moves out of Scorpio to join the Sun in Sagittarius almost immediately, getting more in sync with the fire energies of the month.

Scorpio is nevertheless a strong place for the month, less obvious on the surface, but still a potent place, as Persephone, Black Moon and Diana/Artemis are conjunct in the sign, squaring both Chiron and Neptune in Aquarius. In the midst of the predominantly fire and air energy of the month, it would be all too easy to ignore and override the deeper emotional tides represented by Scorpio. The combination calls for staying connected with those parts of our emotional selves that need healing and purification, as part of deepening our relationship with the sacred feminine in all her aspects. This includes a powerful focus on sexual healing and old relationship dynamics, especially as Venus goes into Scorpio from Libra on the 6th.

The tsunami that is the conjunction of Jupiter and Pluto breaks exactly on December the 12th, an awesome combination that combines the dual powers of grace and transformation to maximum effect. And it represents the culmination of a number of collective processes, giving it added significance. Firstly, it heralds the last weeks of Jupiter going through Sagittarius, its zodiacal home, and a great yearlong transit of mutual growth and expansion. Secondly, it coincides with the last continuous period that the great Pluto spends in the Centaur's sign before entering Capricorn in January. It has been in Sag since November 1995 and will not be back fully for over 200 years.
Although Pluto will retrograde back into Sagittarius from June to November next year for its last appearance, Jupiter crossing it feels like a culmination of many of the deep transformative processes of the last 12 years. If you take the time to reflect on how much our individual lives have changed deeply during this time and, how much our world has been profoundly altered socially, politically and environmentally, you get a sense at what's at stake in the last months of this transit.

In terms of our personal journeys, the Jupiter/Pluto conjunction offers a profound opportunity for psychospiritual transformation, as the energies bring together the deepest and highest aspects of our total selves. Deep purification goes hand in hand with tremendous openings and the sheer power available for change is so awesome that we'd be fools not to use it for transforming our lives for the better, through whatever spiritual and therapeutic practices take us to the very core of who we are and can be.

As always, there will be those wounded and delusional creatures who will misuse the energies. As much as Pluto in Sagittarius honours the statement "The truth shall set us free", this transit has also empowered fundamentalism in all its forms to commit great atrocities and I pray that this transit doesn't coincide with more of the same. Even so, whatever happens is a part of the huge impersonal cycles of death, transformation and rebirth. Better to use the energy to change within, than align the ego with its destructive tendencies. Take care.

Daniel Sowelu (BSc DipEd) is a therapeutic astrologer, primal therapist and group leader in his 21st year of private practice.