Composite image showing the Smith Cloud, an immense cloud of hydrogen gas, making its way toward our galaxy at nearly 700,000 miles per hour. Image by Saxton/Lockman/NRAO/AUI/NSF/Mellinger.

This will be another week of unusual astrology, which will intensify over the next five or six days. I’m going to provide a rundown of the basics, with some practical ideas and philosophy. We all read a lot on the internet, and the stream of ‘content’ goes by so fast it’s difficult to remember what you learned. So, I’ll send this letter out again on Tuesday evening, as a reminder.

The current astrology may enhance the condition of forgetting what you learn, or what you know, and arrive with various forms of false certainty, including the notion that you’re not really so vulnerable (when in fact we need to be monitoring our vulnerabilities carefully this week).

Photo illustration of the center of spiral galaxy M106, compiled from Hubble Space Telescope images and ground observation. Image by NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team, R. Gendler, G. Bacon.

And, as a corollary, some unusually positive developments are possible, particularly if you proceed with awareness, curiosity and a modicum of sincere caution. This must include a devotion to truth that includes withholding judgment, speaking only of what you have verified or are actively investigating (i.e., no gossip), and being cautious against believing potential deception coming from others.

Fraud has two elements: what is said, and what is believed. At a certain point the person who is being lied to is responsible for what they know and putting the elements together. The burden shifts from the liar to the one being lied to. This is both a legal principle and a moral one.

When it happens, most people figure out that they’re being lied to, but that’s an inconvenient truth. You will need to go out of your way this week to see what is happening in your environment, and to put the elements together. Information will seem to cascade out from Wednesday through Saturday, including some significant revelations.

I suggest postponing acting on your perceptions and newfound knowledge until Monday, Dec. 10 at the earliest. Right now patience is essential, and as the week develops, it may be increasingly difficult to access within yourself. That does not mean impossible.

Here are the three main factors involved, which happen nearly simultaneously:

Mercury stations direct in Scorpio. This takes place Thursday, Dec. 6, at 4:22 pm EST. Through the week we will be in what some astrologers call Mercury storm, when Mercury is very close to its stationary direct point. Most of the retrograde has been in Sagittarius, though the tail end is in Scorpio. In many ways Scorpio is a repository of secrets.

Mercury direct has a way of shaking out concealed information, though this has as prerequisites: 1. Paying attention and 2. Maintaining some objectivity. Otherwise, you might not notice what you could easily benefit from. Pay attention to any reasons you might have not to be interested in the truth.

Mercury will station direct trine Chiron in Pisces (an aspect it will hold all week). This to me says, “You will be told everything you need to know.”

Spiral galaxy Messier 63, also known as the Sunflower Galaxy, captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. Image by NASA/GSFC.

New Moon in Sagittarius, conjunct the Great Attractor. This is overnight Thursday to Friday, 2:20 am EST. The Moon-Sun conjunction aligns to about one degree with the Great Attractor. This is the focal point of our supercluster of 100,000 galaxies, spread out over 520 million light years. (This supercluster includes the Milky Way; we live in this thing). It’s located in mid-Sagittarius [see video here].

The Great Attractor (the central feature in the Laniakea Supercluster of galaxies) has a way of polarizing things. This can seem to act ‘unconsciously’, as a kind of internal pressure to push issues, for example. People with strong Great Attractor aspects can come under attack and be unhurt by the slings and arrows.

Laniakea (or Great Heaven) is a deeply spiritual force, which I believe is the physical source or origin of concepts like Shamballa. It’s also a new factor and has received little in the way of serious research by astrologers (we at Planet Waves have been on the case since about 2002; it was discovered in 1986, with Chiron in Gemini exactly opposite it. The most recent developments came just four years ago, in 2014.)

Mars conjunct Neptune in Pisces. This is the tricky part, because it adds the elements of imagination and inspiration — and also delusion, deception and self-destruction. The Moon and the Sun square this point, and squares to Neptune can be challenging and slippery, particularly with Mars involved as an accelerant.

Squares of any kind demand integrity (trines request it politely, or offer it). Squares to Mars-Neptune make integrity a real challenge, and it must begin with being honest with yourself.

Here’s the problem with that. Being real with yourself implies that you will act on what you know; and the remedy for that is not being real — hence its appeal.

We are in another situation (not mentioned here) involving Saturn in Capricorn conjunct two special points, Hades and Kronos. There is a real struggle to take responsibility here, one that is affecting all of society and its institutions at the moment.

But this will only influence you if you let it; your options for action remain open. That starts with claiming your life every day.