Happy New Moon in Sagittarius and Solstice weekend! <3 <3 <3
(And, after a brief hiatus, welcome back to the podcast!)
This is the first episode under my new name: Living the Spiral, as I wave a grateful goodbye to the insights that Cycles of Time brought me. This new name reflects how I understand growth, healing, and time itself. It’s multifaceted, layered, always moving, always returning, always up-leveling us through sacred pause and reflection.
There’s a quote from the Gene Keys that says “Addiction lives in cycles; Invention lives in Spirals”. That speaks to the deeper meaning behind this name change. Addiction is about mental looping, this familiar compulsion to return to the same thought, the same story, the same internal argument again and again, even when we should know better. Addiction is when our minds chew endlessly on something because they are trying to resolve something through force. Nothing new enters, so the loop tightens.
On the other hand, invention is when that same repetitive energy is allowed to turn inward instead of outward, to level up once once cycle completes. An inventive process also circles back to where it began, but now it circles a mystery rather than a problem. Insight comes through reflection about what we’ve learned during the past cycle. It can appear suddenly, often after long periods of apparent stagnation. As a circle completes, it moves to another dimension, creating the spiral.
Alongside Living the Spiral podcast, I am also changing the name of my business container- Astrosomatics is now Hearth & Spiral. Hearth is the warm center, a place where stories are shared, food is prepared, and fire is tended to get us through the long seasons. Spiral is the path of becoming, the way life unfolds through cycles, initiations, and deepening returns. Together, they hold both the inner and outer expressions of this work.
This episode will begin my new format, as I’ve moved on from weekly forecasts for now. With each New and Full Moon, I’m going to offer a seasonal deep dive that weaves astrology with the interconnected wisdoms of the Living the Spiral mandala: the Medicine Wheel, the Daoist Five Element cycle, Human Design, the Gene Keys, the I Ching, mythology, and astronomy. These systems speak in different dialects, yet they describe the same living intelligence moving through time, season, body, and sky.
I’m so grateful to all of you who reached out to let me know that you missed my voice in your ear-buds. That means a lot, and I’m so glad you’re here.
Anyway. Let’s get this party started and dive into the new moon, happening on Friday, December 19, 2025. (I wrote a bunch today in addition to recording the podcast, so choose your preference! - Click above to listen, or read on…)
December 19: New Moon in Sagittarius
This Sagittarius New Moon is the last new moon of 2025, arriving at 28 degrees and 24 minutes -almost the final degree of the sign- on the threshold of the Winter Solstice.
Late degree new moons have the sensation of culmination and readiness, a ‘last call’ kind of vibe. Sagittarius moves through the world as a seeker, philosopher, and storyteller, it’s mutable fire gathering meaning through experience, travel, and perspective. At the final degrees, that fire concentrates into some hot embers. What will remain of it as we migrate into the cardinal earth of Capricorn season is a distilled sense of truth shaped by the fire of adventure and deeply lived experience.
Sun & Moon the Gate of Self-Love (Gate 10)
In Human Design, the Sun and Moon are activating Gate 10, the Gate of Self-Love, also known as Behavior of the Self. This gate is focused on the deep awareness of how we move through our lives with self-love, and how our natural inner truth expresses itself through our behavior.
When Gate 10 is activated, we are collectively focused on living our truth as a personal example for others, guiding individuals to express their unique being without needing external approval, fostering self-empowerment, and embracing imperfections as part of our radiant individuality. This gate’s energy encourages a life of deep integrity where actions align with inner essence, teaching that self-love isn’t selfish but essential for a fulfilled life, bringing transformation to the collective through example.
In the Gene Keys, Gate 10 traces a path from the shadow of Self-Obsession into the gift of Naturalness and arrives the siddhi of embodied Being. This new moon is happening in the cusp gate that takes us from Sagittarius into Capricorn, so it centers on bringing to coherence between self-identity and rightful action, and to a form of self-love that is rooted in being naturally aligned with our own uniqueness.
The first great revelation that comes from the journey into your own unique nature is: “You cannot be defined by any kind of label“. Once you understand that you are neither your name, nor your actions, feelings, thoughts or beliefs, you realize that human nature is something far greater and wider than you ever suspected.
-Richard Rudd, Gene Keys
Across the sky from the new moon, the Earth sits opposite the sun and moon in Gate 15, the Gate of Extremes. The earth gate is the grounding energy that is always opposite the sun on the mandala, attuning us to the opposite season from the one we’re living through.
Gate 15 is the Summer Solstice Gate, and it carries the wide range of human experience and the capacity to move between polarities. It holds the rhythm of humanity itself, including fluctuation, diversity, and emotional breadth. Together, Gates 10 and 15 form an axis that balances integrity-fueled personal behavior with collective participation in the dynamism of the whole.
Gate 10 is like a little, self contained seed that is beneath the earth during Winter, alone in its uniqueness, and Gate 15 is the flourishing garden that is interconnected with everything, spilling over itself, and fully alive. The polarity between these two solstice gates emphasizes how we can be in harmony with our inner selves while remaining responsive-and part of- to the larger field.
Love with a Sobering Reality Check: A Square to Neptune & Saturn
Beyond the specific gate that the new moon is in, the aspects to the new moon further shape the energetics of this moment. A conjunction with Mars, Venus, and the Galactic Center add passion and a sense of true value to the energy of self-love and care, but a square to Saturn and Neptune bring a tone of sobriety and sensitivity- a ‘love yourself but get-real’ vibe. Squares are not negative, but rather configurations that bring up tension, and that encourage action- like making a choice to walk through a threshold.
The moon square Saturn emphasizes structure, responsibility, and accountability. Saturn is in Gate 36, the last full gate of Pisces, known as the Gate of Crisis. I think of this gate as the birth-canal gate, the crisis that we must go through before being born like a little sprout into Aries. 36 governs intense emotional experiences, vulnerability, and transformation, representing humanity’s journey through suffering to wisdom. It can manifest as drama and inadequacy if resisted, however.
The moon square Neptune dissolves boundaries and opens the imagination. Neptune is currently in Gate 25, the Gate of Universal Love or Innocence. This is the Gate the sun is in on the Spring Equinox, the cusp between Pisces and Aries, the birth out of the Primordial Soup. The new moon’s gate 10 and 25 are both in the G-Center in the bodygraph, the center of identity, so this new moon will bring up an activating tension between Self-Love and Universal Love. The tension between them reveals that personal integrity and openhearted compassion inform one another, each shaping how love moves through both the individual and the greater field.
The combined influence of Saturn and Neptune both squaring the New Moon invites us to be discerning around our dreams, ideals, and commitments, encouraging clarity around what we can bring forward with integrity.
The Moon also aligns closely in conjunction with Venus in Sagittarius (in Gate 11: Ideas) and Mars in Capricorn (still in Gate 10: Self-Love), as well as with the Galactic Center- the supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.
Venus in Sagittarius places value on truth, meaning, and expansive vision. It seeks relationships, ideas, and desires that widen the horizon. In the Gate of Ideas, you may feel harmonious or have an emphasis on your values by bringing new ideas into your world. Mars in Capricorn, it’s exalted placement, channels will through discipline and sustained effort, where action gains direction and endurance. All together, these influences support a form of self-love that expresses through honesty, dedication, embodied choice, and… expansive wonder at what lies at the center of our spiral galaxy.
Speaking of the Galactic Center, have you heard of 3i Atlas?
On the day of the New Moon, an interstellar object known as 3iAtlas makes its closest approach to Earth before it continues barreling across the solar system with it’s strange lights and jetstreams. If you haven’t heard of 3i Atlas, it’s an intergalactic object (only the 3rd of which humanity has ever encountered, hence the 3), and it’s been making scientists and spiritual seekers alike scratch their heads with it’s strange behavior.
Here’s a video all about it by geophysicist Stefan Burns that was live-streamed during the perigee to the earth last night (Dec. 18th):
My favorite part of this transmission is about 15 minutes in when he talks about the electromagnetic/quantum/consciousness field emitted by the comet that could affect us: “If you expand consciousness to be an inherent property of the universe - electrons, particles, plasma, etc- and systems that have more frequency in vibration of internested resonances together display higher levels of consciousness- and this is something that could affect us. It’s beyond our current level of understanding, but that’s what I believe”.
I find it super cool that 3i Atlas originally entered our solar system from the direction of the Galactic center, in the constellation Sagittarius. (This supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy is known as Sagittarius A, based on it’s location, and the arrow of Sagittarius the archer in the sky actually points toward this center-point!).
Scientists have been studying this comet-esque-being as a messenger from beyond our cosmic neighborhood, noting that it’s unlike anything they’ve ever seen before. Spiritual thinkers and astrologers (like the immensely popular Pam Gregory) have been reflecting on it as a reminder of scale, mystery, and the vastness in which human stories unfold. Many are speculating that it’s approach toward earth on this new moon is a part of heralding the great awakening, actualizing the prophecy of lightworkers and star-beings coming into their inspirational power. Sagittarius, the sign that is associated with vast horizons and orientation beyond the familiar, provides a fitting backdrop for such a visitor!
The Solstice, Yule & Capricorn’s Initiation
The Solstice follows the day after the new moon. The Sun reaches its lowest arc in the sky. Darkness gathers fully before the gradual return of light begins. In the pagan wheel of the year, this moment is honored as Yule, a turning point held in stillness, warmth, and quiet anticipation.
At the Solstice, the Sun shifts from Sagittarius into Capricorn. These are the only two zodiac signs whose totems are mythical hybrids. Sagittarius bridges human and animal, and Capricorn bridges mountain and sea. Together, they speak to a continuity between vision and structure, instinct and responsibility.
Gate 10 is the solar gate on this cusp, emphasizing the importance of how we walks forward through this potent threshold. The Solstice being in the Gate of Self-love means that on the darkest, longest night of the year, we have the opportunity to go deeply inward and make choices that reflect our own inner truth. This energy is not about proving ourselves to the outer world, but coming into alignment with our internal self worth as the light of the sun slowly returns.
This Sagittarius New Moon and Solstice, I invite you to practice a gentle recalibration. Love yourself as if you were a quiet seed sitting under the cold ground filled with infinite potential. Allow yourself permission to be still, reflective, and peaceful, recognizing that the soil you sit in and the vastness of the starry sky are one and the same. Remember how lucky you are to be alive, as a unique individual that is made up of the same stuff as the stars and the galactic center. This solstice, zoom out to zoom back in. Let the macro and the micro hold you, give you a tight hug.
Capricorn season is on it’s way, and with it a demand for patience, diligence, and ambition. But for this one moment, this new moon Solstice dark night with an intergalactic visitor passing nearby, allow yourself to bask in the wonder of existence. And give yourself some deep, nourishing love.
Until next time,
Alison
P.S. Follow me on Instagram: @hearthandspiral!
