Aries Monthly Horoscope

The grand finale to one heck of a year has arrived, Aries. And you'll send 2023 off with your signature flourish—or at least you'll try. In the first five months of 2023, you hosted expansive Jupiter in Aries, completing a year of huge personal growth. Jupiter departed your sign on May 16, but by July 17, you were hosting the karmic north node in your sign, a phase that continues until January 2025. 

Translation? Big life changes are inevitable. Luckily, you're not a sign that enjoys stagnation. Embrace this phase of "coming into your own." Fascinating adventures await!

The bright spots of December: Three signal-jamming retrograde phases will end this month. On December 6, foggy Neptune will turn direct (forward) in Pisces and your dreamy, imaginative twelfth house. Toward the end of the month, healer-feeler Chiron ends a five-month retrograde on December 26. Best of all, jovial Jupiter pops the champagne cork on December 30, completing its four-month retrograde in Taurus and your money house. Bring on the 2024 abundance!

Enjoy your toasts and twinkly lights as much as possible in the first part of December. With the Sun AND your ruler, Mars, in Sagittarius, your no-limits ninth house is on fire, and everything feels possible now. The December 12 Sagittarius new moon could bring a high-flying opportunity to take a leap into something totally new.

The back half of the month, alas, will bring some plot twists. Starting December 13, communication planet Mercury will turn retrograde, which could grind your ambitious endeavors nearly to a halt until January 1. Will Mercury retrograde be the Grinch who steals Christmas? You may have to use your Aries superpowers to stop it from being a holiday heist.

Mercury will split its retrograde between Capricorn and Sagittarius, back-spinning through your career sector until December 23, then rearing into your outspoken ninth house for the duration (yes, over Christmas and New Year's Eve). You’re not often one to back down from a debate, Aries. But if circular political arguments erupt at the holiday tables and parties—a likelihood amplified by Mercury retrograde—think twice before you enter the fray. 

Ask yourself: Is this a scenario where anyone is actually going to listen to anyone else? Or will we all just be shouting at one another, competing to be heard? If productive dialogue is possible, then maybe just maybe you can engage.

As it turns out, Mercury is playing a starring role in the holiday productions in all kinds of ways. Christmas AND New Year’s will feature the moon in the Mercury-ruled signs of Gemini and Virgo, respectively.

On Christmas, you'll be feeling social thanks to the Gemini moon in your interactive third house. But Mercury’s opposition to argumentative Mars could spark some tableside drama. The day after Christmas, December 26, a Cancer full moon in your domestic, emotional fourth house opens the floodgates. You might have to wait until then to get some proper family bonding in—or to slip off by yourself for restorative self-care.

Happy, healthy New Year? On December 31, the moon is in Virgo and your sixth house of wellness. You might opt to ring in 2024 with mocktails and vegan treats or to skip the crowds and head out into nature for a green, serene finale to the year. (Will your eyelids stay open until midnight?) After such an intense year, a restful couple days off the grid communing with the trees and seas might be the perfect reset for you, Aries.