Mercury is retrograde

Mercury is retrograde from December 13, 2023 to January 2, 2024. This Mercury Retrograde starts in Capricorn, the same sign it was in at the beginning of this year; however, it retrogrades back into Sagittarius, starting on December 24th. This Mercury Retrograde cycle is a good time to reflect on a goal you set at the beginning of the year, related to your business matters or to your sense of public responsibility. However, as Mercury moves from the stability and singular focus of earth in its Capricorn form, into Sagittarius, fire in its most dynamic and inspired form, you may be asked to take a step back from the goal itself, and instead to center the creative vision that inspires that goal.

While Sagittarius has the creative vision to believe in something bigger than oneself, Capricorn asks that that social vision be made concrete and manifest through one’s duties and obligations to the world around you. Moving in the other direction, while Capricorn has a singular focus, goal, and mission it aims to achieve, Sagittarius is the creative hope, inspiration, and philosophy animating that mission. 

While you’ve actualized through the Mercury Retrograde cycles this year, the areas of life where your sense of personal responsibility, your resources, and your efforts are most useful, the next year of retrograde cycles are asking you to reflect on the areas of life where your belief systems, individual desires, and creative impulses are most needed.

See below for how this Mercury Retrograde season will affect your sign (for the most accurate horoscope, look at your Rising sun, but Sun signs and Moon signs also work)

Aries

The beginning of the year may have had you re-evaluating a career path. Throughout the year, you have acquired material resources and prioritized structuring your days to navigate potential burnout and overwhelm. The end of the year is a good time to reflect again on your career path or chosen public mission, but this time reflecting more so on the higher belief systems that animate your public mission. Over the next year, you may need to reflect on and re-evaluate less on your money matters, but instead, more on your soul and ego matters - what do you need to animate your life with passion, creativity, and inspiration?

Taurus

The beginning of the year may have had you reflecting on a higher belief system or course of study in order to expand your sense of self in the world. Throughout the year, you’ve increased your personal profile and presence and used your skills to cultivate joy and pleasure in your life as you work to expand the community of like-minded people who will recognize you. The end of the year is a good time to reflect again on what it is you truly believe in, the North Star that guides your path in the world. However, this time you may need to reflect more on who else you can share life with who inspires your more high-minded self. Over the next year, you may need to reflect on and re-evaluate your spaces of emotional retreat or belonging as places of creative self-expression and potential self-expansion.

Gemini

The beginning of this year may have had you reflecting on shared resources, investments, and your interdependent relationships, those with whom you choose to share life’s responsibilities. Throughout the year, you’ve gotten material support from spirit guides or unknown benefactors and put in the work of creating your foundation of home as the emotional space of belonging even as responsibilities on the career front have challenged you emotionally. The end of the year is a good time to reflect again on how you give and receive from the collective pot and who you choose to share your life with. However, this time you may also need to reflect on the idea of partnership itself as the dynamic space of give-and-take with your closest confidantes and collaborators. Over the next year, you may need to reflect on how you engage with the social medium as a whole - community, relationships, collectives - with dynamic fire, purpose, and creativity.

Cancer

The beginning of the year may have had you reflecting on partnership, whether romantic, business, or close friendship, setting a goal to seek out stable and reliable people to be in relationship with. Throughout the year, you’ve received material support from your community and put in effort in building your social network while also discovering what your unique contribution to community is. The end of the year is a good time to reflect again on the confidantes and collaborators you choose to partner with, but this time also reflecting on the work you need to do in order to show up as someone with something substantive to contribute to those you care most about. Over the next year, you may need to reflect on how you accumulate worth, through your effort, skills, and the responsibility you take on in the world, maybe by taking risks and following an independent path.

Leo

The beginning of the year may have had you reflecting on your daily responsibilities and work routines, becoming more goal-oriented in how you approach your daily tasks. Throughout the year, you’ve gotten opportunities on the career front and handled your money matters while balancing what is yours with what you need to contribute to the collective pot. The end of the year is a good time to reflect again on your daily routines and work habits, but this time also reflecting on how you bring your dynamic, creative, energetic, and authentic self into your daily life. Over the next year, you may need to reflect on and re-evaluate less on your career goals but more on your soul and ego matters - what do you need to animate your life with passion, creativity, fun and inspiration?

Virgo

The beginning of the year may have had you reflecting on your creative endeavors, romances, and passion projects. Throughout the year, you’ve gotten an opportunity to journey somewhere new (whether literally or in your sense of your place in the world) and gotten to work on cultivating your personal presence while experiencing how those closest to you can help you grow into the person you’re meant to be. The end of the year is a good time to reflect again on your creative endeavors and the unique contributions you have to make. However, you may also need to reflect on the foundations of home and spaces of emotional belonging from which a healthy ego can emerge in the fullness of its authenticity. Over the next year, you may need to reflect on and re-evaluate your spaces of emotional retreat and belonging as places of creative self-expression and self-expansion.

Libra

The beginning of the year may have had you re-evaluating the foundations and structures of your home or private life. Throughout the year, you have gathered the financing from others and worked outside of the public spotlight in order to better navigate your daily to-do list and host of responsibilities. The end of the year is a good time to reflect again on your home and private spaces, but this time reflecting more on how you engage with the communities and environments you make home within. Over the next year, you may reflect less on stability and material security in your spaces of emotional retreat, and instead re-evaluate how you engage with the social medium as a whole - community, relationships, collectives - with dynamic fire, purpose, and creativity.

Scorpio

The beginning of the year may have had you reflecting on your communicative projects, social mediums, and how you navigate your local environment. Throughout the year, you have gathered resources from partners and close collaborators and put in the work in navigating your community of like-minded people and friend groups. The end of the year is a good time to reflect again on how you navigate the social medium, but this time also reflecting on your material resources and how you earn your keep. Over the next year, you may need to reflect on how you accumulate value, not just socially, but through your own effort, skills, and the responsibility you take on in the world, maybe by taking the risk of following your passions and creative fire.

Sagittarius

The beginning of the year may have had you reflecting on your money matters and how you earn your keep, becoming more financially responsible and goal-oriented. Throughout the year, you may have gotten an opportunity through work and put in the effort on cultivating your public mission statement. The end of the year is a good time to reflect again on your relationship to money and resources, especially how they symbolize overall self-worth and self-esteem, as you also reflect on your own personal presence in the world and how you’re received by those around you. Over the next year, you may need to reflect on and re-evaluate less on your material needs but more on your ego needs - what do you need to animate your life with passion, creativity, and inspiration?

Capricorn

The beginning of the year may have had you reflecting on your personal aesthetic, presence, and how you’re received by those around you. Throughout the year, you may have gotten an opportunity through a passion project, creative outlet, or a new romance as you put in the work to expand your sense of self in the world through your higher ideals or philosophies. The end of the year is a good time to reflect again on your personal growth, but this time also reflecting on the transpersonal purpose or path that you’re carving out through your engagement with spaces of retreat, isolation, and emotional rejuvenation that inspire hope in you. Over the next year, you may need to reflect on and re-evaluate your spaces of retreat and belonging as places of creative self-expression and self-expansion.

Aquarius

The beginning of the year may have had you reflecting on your transpersonal path, either through a spiritual path or in spaces of retreat from public life. Throughout the year, you received an opportunity to move to a more abundant home and put in the effort in cultivating your shared resources and investments. The end of the year is a good time to reflect again on your transpersonal path, but this time reflecting also on how you show up in a community of like-minded lightseers. Over the next year, you may reflect less on stability and material security in your spaces of emotional retreat, and instead re-evaluate how you engage with the social medium as a whole - community, relationships, and collectives - with dynamic fire, purpose, and creativity.

Pisces

The beginning of the year may have had you reflecting on your community of like-minded peers, friendships, and social networks. Throughout the year, you may have received an opportunity to connect with and share your ideas with others, and you put in the effort to build close partnerships, friendships, and significant relationships while challenging yourself to grow in your personal presence in the world. The end of the year is a good time to reflect again on your social networks, but this time reflecting on the social vision that inspires your sense of social responsibility. Over the next year, you may need to reflect on how you show up as a responsible agent in the world, not just as part of a group, but also through your own personal mission, skills, and the responsibility you take on in the world, maybe by following your highest ideals and creative fire.