I just received the best news! My app has made it to the finals of the prestigious Media Excellence Award, in several categories. Wow! Winners will be announced at the black tie, red carpet event in Los Angeles on January 18. I am so honored to have made it this far, and of course, I plan to go. I can’t wait to shop for my dress. No matter what happens, it is such an honor…

The month opens with a full moon on December 3, in Gemini at 12 degrees, so pace yourself, as it appears your workaday world will be very hectic, requiring a great deal of energy. To meet the pressure of deadlines, you may be running down your resistance to colds and flu. Ask your doctor if you should schedule a flu shot (it takes two weeks to work), and if you should take any special vitamins.

You will crave privacy and rest, but looking at the buildup of planets in your assignment sector, taking vacation time away from the office seems unlikely. You will have plenty to do. If you work for a company that permits employees to work from home at times, that would be ideal to do for you at the start of the month. This same full moon may bring you in contact with medical personnel, not necessarily for you, but for someone close.

This full moon, December 3, might bring a secret to light, and if this proves true for you, when you hear about it, it seems someone has tried hard to withhold this information from you. Neptune will be in hard angle to that full moon and Sun (called a 90-degree square in astrology), and that tends to act like a lever to force information to the surface. Even if you don’t discover a secret with Neptune so active, it will be a confusing time.

In addition to Neptune taking a strong role, a planet known for a propensity to create a smoke-and-mirrors environment, we also have Mercury turning retrograde from December 3 to December 22. Mercury is known to cause miscommunications too. Although this planet does not turn until December 3, we always feel the delays and lapses in judgment and in memory at least two weeks ahead of its turn retrograde. Keep this in mind: Mercury acts his wildest at the start and end dates of the retrograde – I call these the bookend dates – so by all means, you need to be especially careful to stay away from those dates. I often see my friends signing papers, for example, the day before Mercury retrogrades and the day after it goes direct, and then they wonder why things went very wrong later. Keep a large space of days from the start and end dates of Mercury retrograde.

Mercury retrograde is going to impinge on your shopping for holiday gifts. Mercury rules electronic products, so it is never wise to buy those during the retrograde. Be smart and buy a gift card and let your recipient choose the item to their personal specifications. Judgment is always off, so don’t risk buying a computer, a car, a kitchen appliance, or any other similar item that will run on electricity or batteries.

If you want to learn more about Mercury retrograde, I have an essay about it on my homepage of Astrologyzone.com called All You Need to Know About Mercury Retrograde. I also have a Table of Dates of past and future Mercury retrograde periods, going up to year 2030, so you can check that too. My essay is also available on the premium, subscriber version of my app, available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, called Susan Miller’s Astrology Zone Daily Horoscope. On the menu look for under Life, Love + More, then, inside that section, you will see Susan’s Essays come up first, among lots more. (My app, both the free and paid versions, includes my monthly column, uncut, each month and both include a daily horoscope – the paid version has a much longer daily horoscope.) My table of Mercury retrograde dates is only found on my home page of my website.

The new moon of December 18 in Sagittarius, 27 degrees, will light your sixth house and will again echo the theme of work and health. At this point, if you would like to find work, either part-time or full-time, or extra work for weekends, this will be the time to look. The job you are likely to get will not be more prestigious than the one you had before – it will be a lateral move, similar to the one you had before. However, it would allow you to generate more income and that may be good news to you, and it comes just prior to the holiday, but that’s nice. Life can be full of surprises. Transiting Uranus, at 26 degrees, will be in ideal alignment to this new moon, December 18, to bring you sudden, exciting, welcome news about work and career.

I will tell you about a different, very difficult aspect that is happening early in the month, on December 1. Actually, I would love to skip talking about it, but then again, I don’t want you to feel broadsided by events. I wrote about this aspect in your November report because I felt you might notice it several days prior to this date, and I posted notes on Twitter and Facebook as you were getting close to it.

Here is the situation on December 1. You have warrior Mars making a direct opposition to explosive Uranus. This will make everyone feel edgy and ready to pounce aggressively. Near December 1, or in the days that follow, you may leave one job at this time, and coming at holiday time, this might make you concerned about money. However, the new moon December 19 will be your friend, and it seems it will open up sudden opportunities to work and bring in money, particularly in the publishing, broadcasting, digital world, and in the travel industry. These two planets will oppose each other at 25 degrees of cardinal signs Libra and Aries, so if your birthday falls on July 17 plus or minus four days, you will feel this energy directly. If anyone challenges you, you will need to choose words carefully, lest you trigger a meltdown in you and the other party. An aspect like this can leave an emotional or physical scar (do no extreme sports on or near December 1). My point in telling you all this is that if you had a hard time concerning your work life at the end of November or find that you do in early December, keep in mind that the new moon will be on your side, December 18 and in the ten days that follow. All is not lost.

Relationships will start to become serious from now on, too, which could be a good development or not, depending on the current condition of a close relationship now. I say this because on December 19, Saturn, the taskmaster planet, will enter your close committed relationship house for a three-year stay, until December 17, 2020. Whenever Saturn enters a house, I have found that something has to change, for you will soon find that the old ways won’t work as well as they used to anymore. You will have to find a new way to relate to a partner, with a clear idea of what you are willing to do to strengthen a relationship, and what you hope to receive in return. You are about to have life lessons learned through your experiences with this close relationship, in love or in business. As you learn, making your commitment to someone who is important to you will bring you your greatest personal growth.

The house where Saturn in Capricorn will enter rules marriage, not first love and casual first time dating (that’s fifth house), so if you are dating seriously, you may now be ready to marry and get started on your new life. Saturn urges us to take on responsibility that you had not been ready to take on before now. If you are married, you will also feel this trend, and you may work on finding a new way to relate to each other and to choose a goal you can tackle together.

When Saturn comes calling, he makes us grow up, no matter what age we happen to be and no matter where he settles in your chart. Others will notice the new you and accord you new respect. The area that you will take your big step forward is shown by the sector of the chart that Saturn is visiting – in your case it will be in terms of marriage and in the making of serious business contractual relationships.

This trend, Saturn opposition the Sun, can be hard on your health, so be sure to get enough sleep and eat nutritiously. During the coming three years, do all you can to protect your bones and teeth, as Saturn drains calcium from the body. If you can’t afford dental visits, consider going to a university dental school, at least for regular cleanings and checkups.

You won’t feel this trend the entire three years, because Saturn moves very slowly. (The last time you had this aspect was November 1988 to February 1991.) Cancers who will feel this trend this year will be those with birthdays that fall early in the sign, in June.

Now let’s move to the truly great news, the move of Jupiter to Scorpio last October, to stay until November 2018. This is the perfect place for this planet of good fortune and happiness to be if you are single and hoping to find your one true love, someone who is truly right for you. Jupiter is currently in a water sign like yours, and so you will absorb the goodness of Jupiter naturally and intuitively. If you are already in love, and perhaps married or in an established relationship, then you may hope to soon have a baby, and if so, Jupiter is in the finest place possible to make that happen for you. It took Jupiter twelve years to get to this part of your chart, so this is a very special trend that is just starting up for you. If you have had problems with conception, waste no time in seeing a fertility specialist immediately – you will want to take full advantage of Jupiter in this part of your chart.

Here is more exciting news: Mars! In this sense, Mars is a really helpful planet to you because he will add sexy warmth to your aura while in Scorpio, from December 9 to January 26. You will have amazing magnetism, for sure. Having both Jupiter AND Mars in this house is sensational for you. Jupiter will actually join with Mars on January 8 in perfect and rare mathematical alignment, but this month, by the last week of December, you will feel these two planets building energy as they move to perfect mathematical alignment next month.

The alignment of Jupiter and Mars this month will also boost your creativity on the job, so in the last week, as these two luminaries move closer to each other, set aside time to think, to write down ideas as they come to you without trying to edit them – let your creative ideas flow.

I should point out a potentially difficult day, December 21, when you may be criticized by the one you love romantically, or by your business colleague / collaborator. This is not a day to take risks – do not ask for favors or special treatment. Do your best to avoid interactions. I know, you are thinking, well, everyone has email, and yes, that is true. Know that in a day or two, any disappointment you feel will blow over.

Now let’s turn to another wonderful day for romance, which will be December 27, when Mars in Scorpio will reach out to Neptune in Pisces. This is a glamorous aspect, perfect for dinner out in a festively decorated romantic restaurant, for looking at city lights, or having private time with the one you love on a holiday hideaway.

New Year’s Eve should be special too, because by then, Jupiter and Mars will be so close, they will be within 3 tiny degrees (out of 360 degrees), so that will add to your fun. Here is more information! New Year’s Day brings a full moon in Cancer, 12 degrees. Something vitally important to you is coming to culmination, so you have a big start to the New Year.

As the month begins, you may be asking yourself, why is it that every year in December my workplace gets so very busy? Ah, it seems to be true, but next year’s holiday seasons will show a big improvement over this one. In the meantime, you will have work to get work done by certain dates, and at the same time, need to deal with workers who are missing in action or are confused about what they are expected to do. With Mercury retrograde, they may be making mistakes, requiring valuable time to be spent doing things over. You will need to check all work before it goes out. Subordinates are cheerful souls, however, considering Venus’ entry into your workaday sector, but it’s just that you will not have enough workers onboard to get the avalanche of incoming work out the door.

With Mercury retrograde, December 3 to 22, you will have difficulty in finding more helpers. Details will count more than ever, and only the eagle-eyed will rise above the month’s commotion. At the same time, express shippers that you depend on will be feeling the strain, for a higher number than usual shipments will be late or missing.

The new moon, December 18, will conjoin Saturn, and motivate you to build structure and institute new procedures in the workplace, and you might laugh and say to yourself, “Better late than never.” You will do this so that you never find yourself in the same kind of crunch again. It is clear that others – family, management, customers, and clients – are depending on you to make their holiday complete, and that realization will weigh heavily on you.

There is one exception to what I said above, and that is, if the Mars opposition to Uranus on December 1, plus or minus ten days, caused a rift between you and management. If so, you may find yourself without work, but the new moon December 18 will help you find more work similar to the work you did before.

Saturn, the tough teacher who helps to mature us and ready us for bigger responsibilities in life, will move out of Sagittarius on December 19/20, after three years in your work sector. Your work life will improve enormously. Saturn has to go somewhere, so next, Saturn will move to your partnership sector and get you ready to make a promise, in a legal alliance, whether in business or love, such as to agree to a proposal for marriage, or to tender one. Saturn tests the strength of relationships related to the house he visits, so if you are ready to walk down the aside, it is likely that your partner is too. If you are married, Saturn will test your devotion to your partner and to each other. If you are unhappy, you may find the courage to leave sometime between now and December 2020. If you are ready to sign a business partner, you will do so soon, in January. This is not the month to sign papers or to make a verbal agreement, due to Mercury retrograde.

Saturn will conjoin the Sun December 21, so the problem may not be your relationship but the lack of money coming in. You may see this to be true this month when you come up short and focus on ways to increase cash flow, from December 18 to month’s end.

The bright spot will be when Mars, the action planet ruling your career, moves into Scorpio from December 9 to January 26. During this period, at work you will burst with excellent ideas that will have considerable profit potential. Mars will also jazz your love life while Mars remains in Scorpio. Put a star on December 14, when Jupiter will conjoin the transiting moon in Scorpio and Mars will do all he can to make the night memorable.

As of last October, Jupiter entered your true love sector to say until November 2018, making the coming year tour best that you’ve seen in over a decade. All month Jupiter, Neptune, and Mars will encourage love and closeness. If you travel, make December 27 one of your days away, when Mars will contact Neptune for a truly heavenly time together.