New Year coming..

Not long now, the Moon is Void of Course for about another 1/2 hour, and then moves into the sign of Aquarius.  Good for shaking off whatever was lurking over the last week, but remember that anything you start in the next couple of days is going to experience a long road of work winding up fizzling out in confusion.  If I were you, I'd wait and give the dust time to settle.
 In about 3 days the energy will pick up and be supporting productivity until around the 3rd week of January when Mars turns retrograde.
Have I talked about retrogrades?  They aren't used as such in Vedic astrology because it's a different system of cycle measurement, but in Western, or Tropical, or what most Westerners think of as astrology, retrogrades are the time when the relative orbits of the Earth and some planet are at their closest proximity.  The effect can be a distilled dose of the energy represented by that body.
 Mars on the level of personal astrology has a lot to do with how we get our needs met.  When Mars is retrograde, [ happens every couple of years for about 6 weeks] we get the chance to review how we do that, and also what we are driven by.  It can be a very valuable time or a bloody uncomfortable one.

The turning of the Light

In 5 days the Northern hemisphere gets the gift of the longest night.  There is magic in the feeling of change.  Many are uncomfortable with change, but for millennia it has been celebrated, ritualized and honored.  One way that could be seen is another attempt on the part of humans to believe in control over events.
The night of the Solstice is an energetic portal, one of 8. It releases powerful energies into the global consciousness and supports forward movement for us all.
In the cycle of the astrological year, this door is #7, and can be seen as an opportunity to spend some time in your own interior to decide how you will flow with this surge of energy.  This involves being honest about what kind of life you want and what the price is for that.  Winter is for more than surviving the cold and pushing for more social engagement.  It is a time for cultivating clarity and a core sense of peace.

Mercury direct!

Ok, y'all, you can sign papers at the end of the week, and start new projects.  We are going to have a window in which there is support of nature for activity and productivity until Mars goes retrograde in January.  As we come down from the Full Moon to the New [on Christmas] It's good to not have a powerful attachment to things working out quickly.  More growth after the New Moon.
We are all still being offered the chance to let go of the old way of doing things.  If you want to hold on to a worn out paradigm, go right ahead.  There will be plenty of opportunity to change your mind, redirect and grow forward in the new year, and one way or the other, it's the only direction left.