Beast of War — A Shark, A War, and the Depths Between

TRAILER

 FRANÇAIS app de traduction en haut

Kiah Roache-Turner’s Beast of War arrives like a rogue wave—unexpected, muscular, and undeniably mythic—crashing through the increasingly stagnant shallows of contemporary creature features. What begins as a seemingly traditional World War II drama about camaraderie and the corrosion of innocence in young men swerves, boldly and almost wickedly, into a delirious genre hybrid: a survival thriller in which a handful of Australian soldiers must fend off a ravenous great white shark after their ship is obliterated by enemy fire. It is, improbably, both a study in tension and a lamentation for the horrors that swallow men whole—whether forged by nations or by nature.

Roache-Turner, best known for the kinetic apocalypse of Wyrmwood and the gonzo creature mischief of Sting, opens his latest film with a lyrical deception. In a Byron rainforest, a unit of fresh-faced recruits jog, joke, flirt, and dream their way toward deployment. It’s the sort of soft-focus prologue that classic war cinema has trained us to associate with the fragile brightness before the storm. Among them are Will (Joel Nankervis), all naïve ambition and wide-eyed promise, and Leo (Mark Coles Smith), the film’s stoic heart—a Nyikina soldier whose competence and dignity are tempered by relentless racism from within his own ranks. A third figure, Des Kelly (Sam Delich), slouches through these scenes with sneering menace, the sort of soldier who confuses cruelty for authority.

The film’s early training sequence crystallizes its emotional architecture. When Will slips into a mud pit—actually a vat of ground organic coffee, a behind-the-scenes detail that feels like quintessential Roache-Turner mischief—Leo risks reprimand to save him. In this moment, the film establishes not only the men’s bond, but Leo’s fundamental ethos: decency as defiance, humanity as rebellion. It’s the lesson beat into the troops’ heads—“never leave a man behind”—but here it resonates deeper. Leo is a First Nations soldier earning one-third the pay of his white peers and still expected to embody the highest ideals of military honor. His rescue of Will is both a duty and a moral stance, a quiet refusal to shrink beneath prejudice.

Then the ship explodes, and Beast of War reveals its true shape.

The survivors cling to a twisted drift of metal, their world reduced to a trembling disc of rust and fear. Roache-Turner keeps the camera locked in with the men, resisting the cheap spectacle of sky-wide shots and grandiose flourishes. The ocean becomes a mutable character—glistening, indifferent, infinite. It’s here, in this claustrophobic mid-ocean purgatory, that the shark appears, and the film sinks its teeth not only into flesh but into form.

The debut of the creature is executed with an almost reverent homage to Jaws: a slow breach, a cavernous maw, the glint of relentless appetite. Viewers familiar with the patchy CGI that hobbles so many low-budget shark films may be stunned to learn that the beast—nicknamed Shazza—is the most advanced animatronic great white ever built. Formation Effects, a Brisbane-based company, sculpted her with a precision that makes the shark’s physicality feel eerily authentic. Shazza’s presence electrifies the film; we feel the water tremble before she does. When Roache-Turner affixes a shattered air raid siren to her fin—giving the shark the banshee wail of a wounded bomber—he invents something close to cinematic poetry: a mechanical monster haunted by the machinery of human warfare.

But the brilliance of Beast of War lies in Roache-Turner’s refusal to treat the men as mere chum. Each character carries his own fissures—subtle tragedies that surface in quiet moments between panic attacks and desperate strategies. One soldier’s brain injury renders his choices unpredictable, lending the film a nerve-wracking undercurrent: sometimes the greatest danger on the raft isn’t the shark circling below, but the minds fraying above. Roache-Turner allows banter, gallows humor, and outright silliness to punctuate the carnage, understanding that relief is part of realism. Even in the darkest theaters of war, soldiers laugh; sometimes laughter is the only buoy they have left.

Mark Coles Smith gives the film its backbone. His Leo is a study in emotional economy—a man forged in hardship, refusing to descend to the level of those who diminish him. When Des dishes out racist abuse, Leo’s restraint becomes its own kind of defiance, a dignified counterweight to the ugliness that Australia has yet to exorcise from its national psyche. Smith’s interplay with the younger Will evokes the older-brother dynamic he cultivated on other sets; it tempers the film’s brutality with a subtle tenderness. In flashbacks, Aswan Reid deepens Leo’s backstory, hinting at griefs that trail him like shadows in the surf.

The film also situates itself in the fraught context of First Nations service during both world wars—men who fought courageously for a country that did not consider them equal. This historical undercurrent gives Beast of War a political spine that distinguishes it from its pulpier cousins. When Leo stands as the film’s moral and literal center of gravity, his heroism functions as both representation and rebuke. As Smith has said, with far-right movements emboldened and Indigenous communities under strain, seeing an Aboriginal protagonist lead with integrity is not merely refreshing—it is necessary.

Despite its thematic heft, Beast of War never luxuriates in self-importance. At a taut 87 minutes, the film is propelled by a mechanical confidence reminiscent of the very shark it showcases: it knows what it wants and how to get it. The violence is unflinching—grenade impacts, severed limbs, oceans clouded with blood—but never gratuitous. Roache-Turner’s gore has purpose; each burst of carnage underscores the fragility of the human body and the sheer absurdity of sending young men toward death, whether by bullets or by teeth.

The production itself has its own saga. In order to shoot Shazza convincingly, the crew constructed a 40-meter tank containing two million liters of water—an audacity that borders on madness given the film’s indie budget. Volume screens projected dogfighting planes onto the water’s surface, binding the soldiers’ quiet hell to the sky’s roaring chaos. It is this relentless ingenuity—this refusal to let constraints shrink imagination—that makes the film feel so alive.

When the final credits roll, Beast of War lingers not simply as a shark thriller well-told but as a war story refracted through an unexpected lens. It forces viewers to confront the overlapping violences that define conflict: the violence nations unleash, the violence men inflict on one another, and the violence that lies in wait beneath the surface, indifferent to human agendas.

Roache-Turner has done something rare: he has crafted a genre mash-up that honors both its influences and its ambitions. Beast of War may make you think twice before dipping a toe into the surf, but it may also make you wonder about the young men who go to war dreaming of glory, only to find themselves battling monsters—human and otherwise—on every horizon.

In the crowded ocean of shark cinema, this one doesn’t merely swim.

It thrives, sleek and determined, with its own fierce heartbeat.

LENA GHIO   

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Montréal en Lumière 2026 : Quand la gastronomie montréalaise brille comme jamais

Montréal en Lumière 2026

ENGLISH translation app above 

Chaque hiver, Montréal trouve une façon bien à elle de nous faire oublier les bancs de neige, le froid qui pique et les trottoirs glacés : elle nous rassemble autour de la lumière, de la culture… et surtout, de la bouffe. En 2026, le festival Montréal en Lumière (MEL) revient plus grand, plus éclaté et plus gourmand que jamais. Après avoir remporté le prestigieux Lauriers de la gastronomie québécoise – Événement gastronomique de l’année 2025, le festival entre dans sa 27e année avec une programmation qui confirme une fois de plus son statut de plus grand rendez-vous gourmand au pays.

Du 20 février au 7 mars 2026 (avec le volet gastronomique lancé dès le 20 février), le Quartier des spectacles se transforme en terrain de jeu lumineux, culturel et culinaire. Cette édition rend hommage à 65 ans d’histoire gastronomique montréalaise : un thème délicieux, inspiré de l’exposition du Musée McCord Stewart, qui promet un voyage sensoriel à travers les recettes, les traditions et les saveurs qui ont façonné la table montréalaise d’hier à aujourd’hui.

Voici les chefs qui feront du volet gastronomique une véritable fiesta pour les papilles !

Une bouchée d’histoire : 65 ans de gastronomie montréalaise revisitée

Cette année, la Programmation gourmande Banque Nationale plonge au cœur des archives culinaires de la ville. Montréal a toujours été un carrefour de saveurs, et 65 ans d’évolution gastronomique, c’est une histoire pleine de transformations : des grands classiques d’hier aux explosions de créativité d’aujourd’hui.

On retrouve les incontournables :

• Les Bonnes Tables Air France, toujours attendues par les épicuriens du festival

• Une carte interactive signée Tastet pour repérer les expériences culinaires vedettes

• Les Brunchs en Lumière, le parfait lendemain de la Nuit blanche (ou le parfait remède après avoir trop dansé ou trop marché dehors, on va pas se mentir)

Et comme si ce n’était pas assez, la liste des restaurants participants ressemble à un véritable Who’s Who de la scène culinaire montréalaise. Du Toqué! à Bar St-Denis, du Ritz-Carlton à Marcus, en passant par Romies, Monème, Sushi Okeya Kyujiro, Rose Ross, Molenne, Gibbys, La Spada, Panacée, et des dizaines d’autres établissements – c’est littéralement une tournée des grands ducs version 2026.

Les chefs invités viennent d’ici et d’ailleurs : Mads Refslund, Davy Tissot, Fabien Pairon, Lorenzo Di Gravio, Kevin De Porre, Jin Numata, Camille Delcroix, Philippe Fraur-Brac, Johnny Chung, et plus encore. Une vraie brochette de talents qui viennent pimper la scène locale avec leur savoir-faire, leurs influences internationales et leurs techniques de haut vol.

Et en parlant de nouveauté : le Village Gourmand présenté par Miele prend de l’expansion. Sous un même chapiteau, on retrouvera :

• le bistro SAQ

• des ateliers et conférences

• des journées thématiques, dont une journée dédiée au cidre de glace le 6 mars

• et une compétition culinaire quotidienne, une première dans l’histoire du festival

C’est le genre d’endroit où tu passes “juste pour jeter un coup d'œil” et tu te retrouves trois heures plus tard avec un verre dans une main, un amuse-bouche dans l’autre, à écouter un chef expliquer l’origine d’un bouillon fermenté du Bas-Saint-Laurent. Montréal, quoi.

Des spectacles pour faire vibrer la ville

Parce qu’un Montréal en Lumière sans musique, c’est un peu comme une poutine sans fromage en grains : ça manque de squeak et de magie.

La programmation musicale 2026 est résolument variée. On parle de grands noms, de découvertes, d’artistes d’ici et d’ailleurs qui viennent électriser la ville :

• Loud, en première montréalaise

• Lou-Adriane Cassidy, fraîchement célébrée à l’ADISQ

• The Barr Brothers, K.Maro, Louis-Jean Cormier

• La sensation rap gatinoise kinji00

• Les icônes canadiennes Sloan

• Le collectif chorégraphique (LA)HORDE du Ballet national de Marseille

Et pour les amateurs de groove : un spectacle unique réunira LaF et Original Gros Bonnet, fusionnant rap, jazz et funk en un soir seulement. Les billets partent vite : la mise en vente débute le 4 décembre.

Côté ambiance extérieure, le DJ français Perceval assurera le set d’ouverture gratuit à la Station DJ Rogers. De quoi donner le ton à un festival qui prend autant au sérieux ses beats que ses bouchées.

Salade de homard servie sur craquelins croustillants.

Les activités hivernales : la ville devient un parc d’attractions glacé

Winter is not cancelled à Montréal. Au contraire : on en tire parti.

Sur la Place Loto-Québec, les trois volets du festival se rejoignent pour créer un espace animé, lumineux et festif :

• Le Sentier de patin Loto-Québec

• Le Chalet de patin Tim Hortons

• La Grande Roue Intuit TurboImpôt

• La Station DJ Rogers, où les tourne-disques résistent au froid mieux que nous tous

Et grande nouveauté 2026 : LUMINO, un parcours immersif d’une trentaine d’œuvres lumineuses intérieures et extérieures, transformera le Quartier des spectacles en un immense musée vivant. Le genre de truc qui te donne envie de sortir prendre une marche à -15°C juste pour tout voir.

Sans oublier le retour du restaurant éphémère Chez Canton, au 2e étage de la Maison du Festival, accessible via Libro. Un spot qui promet d’être couru par les foodies qui aiment autant manger que flasher sur leurs assiettes sur Instagram.

Pour les familles, une série d’activités de relâche débarque grâce à la collaboration avec Télé-Québec. De quoi occuper les petits (et sauver un peu les parents).

Crevettes de Matane sur tuile de parmesan croustillant, relevées d’une sauce tomate douce et veloutée.

La Nuit blanche 2026 : 24 heures de culture, de folie et de surprises

Le samedi 28 février 2026, la ville se transforme en marathon créatif et festif pour la Nuit blanche à Montréal, présentée par la Banque Nationale et appuyée par la STM. La programmation complète sera révélée en février, mais on peut déjà s’attendre à des installations artistiques, des soirées thématiques, des ateliers, des performances et des parcours urbains… le tout gratuit.

C’est l’événement où la ville s’arrête d’hiberner pour une seule nuit. Et si tu n’as pas encore vécu une Nuit blanche dans ta vie : c’est l’année pour commencer.

Montréal en Lumière : un moteur culturel et gastronomique

Année après année, MEL prouve qu’il est bien plus qu’un festival : c’est un moment où le centre-ville se réinvente, où les restaurants collaborent, où les artistes se rencontrent, où les Montréalais se rassemblent malgré le froid. L’événement dynamise le Quartier des spectacles, encourage l’économie locale et met en valeur les chefs, créateurs, artisans et producteurs qui font de Montréal une ville gourmande reconnue internationalement.

La programmation complète est disponible sur le site officiel du festival, mais une chose est sûre : l’édition 2026 s’annonce comme un incontournable, un mélange parfait de tradition, d’innovation et de célébration.

Montréal en Lumière 2026 : la ville s’illumine, et on savoure chaque instant.

INFOS

LENA GHIO   

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Photos © LENA GHIO, 2025

Timbits fourrés à la crème de Tim Hortons.

Montreal just unlocked a new dimension. Step inside SonoLux!

The lobby is less a check-in area and more an atmospheric portal—a dimly lit, sculptural corridor alive with electronic and video art, accompanied by a curated sonic environment that shifts subtly throughout the day.

FRANÇAIS app de traduction en haut

Montreal has long been a city where creative expression thrives—through food, festivals, design, and the distinct rhythm of its neighbourhoods. Yet even in a city known for reinvention, few openings feel as genuinely new as SonoLux, the immersive, art-driven boutique hotel debuting in the historic National Trust building on Saint-Jacques Street. Billed as “North America’s only hotel of its kind,” SonoLux sets out to fuse visual art, sound, and sensorial design into a unified hospitality experience. It is an ambitious promise—one that the hotel embraces from the moment you cross its threshold.

Entering SonoLux feels like stepping into an alternate version of Old Montreal: one where futurism quietly hums beneath 1914 stone, and where hospitality is reframed as a multi-layered artistic encounter. The lobby is less a check-in area and more an atmospheric portal—a dimly lit, sculptural corridor alive with electronic and video art, accompanied by a curated sonic environment that shifts subtly throughout the day. There is an immediate sense of seduction, of being invited not merely to stay the night but to embark on a journey. The hotel describes itself as “an evolving journey from the lobby to the rooms,” and for once such language is not an exaggeration.

In this sequence, Daniel Gallant, Founder and Conceptor of the hotel, Cheryl Sims, guest curator of the initial exhibition, Katherine Melançon, one of the artists, Micah Lockhart artistic director for SonoLux

A Hotel as Curatorial Space

At the heart of SonoLux is its role as a contemporary art venue. For its inaugural exhibition, the hotel has appointed Cheryl Sims, PhD, Director and Chief Curator at PHI and one of Montreal’s most respected voices in media art. Her exhibition, Seeds of R/Evolution (November 2025 – April 2026), is nothing less than a manifesto for what this hotel aims to be.

Featuring artists such as Santiago Tamayo Soler, Lisa Jackson, Jasmina Cibic, Skawennati, Maureen Bradley, Danielle Comeau, Katherine Melançon, MUE, Kosisochukwu Nnebe, and Sahar Homami, the show explores the relationship between revolution and evolution—concepts that, as Sim notes, oscillate between rupture and gradual transformation. Through digital animation, video games, documentary, live action, and hybrid forms, the works invite guests to consider how artists act as “constant gardeners,” cultivating alternate paths through histories, futures, ecosystems, and systems of power.

Unlike traditional art hotels, where works hang politely in hallways, the exhibition at SonoLux is integrated directly into the building’s architecture. Screens, projections, and soundscapes are positioned with curatorial precision, yet they remain fluid, alive, atmospheric. This integration dissolves the line between public lobby, gallery, and private corridor, generating what feels like a continuous, unfolding narrative. Staying here is akin to inhabiting part of an art experience—one that encourages reflection rather than spectacle.

Sim’s curatorial vision is a major triumph for the hotel. It injects intellectual depth and emotional resonance, positioning SonoLux not as a novelty but as a genuine cultural venue.

Frédéric Blais aka Fred Everything is the sound and music curator. On certain Fridays and Saturdays, you can discover a new DJ experience. 

Subterra: Where the Hotel’s Pulse Beats Loudest

Below the lobby lies Subterra, SonoLux’s subterranean sonic lounge and arguably its most intoxicating space. Marketed as a gathering point for DJs, music lovers, and “sonic archaeologists,” Subterra feels like a cross between an audiophile listening room and an underground cultural salon. Its mission: to unearth overlooked rhythms, from jazz and soul to dub, funk, and the hidden B-side gems that shaped entire genres.

On certain weekends, guest DJs craft bespoke sound environments. These events are not typical hotel nightlife—they feel curated, almost scholarly in intention, yet deliciously atmospheric. It is rare to find a hospitality space that treats music not as background noise but as an exploration, a form of cultural memory.

The culinary program at Subterra elevates the space even further. Cocktails by mixologist Clément Wallas are as visually striking as they are complex, while Chef Graham Hood’s savory bites and Nadiia Manchuk’s exquisite desserts surpass the expectations of what one would associate with a “lounge menu.” This is haute cuisine in miniature, with flavors and textures layered like the art and sound upstairs. Each plate is a thoughtful composition—creative without pretension.

LUMI: A Seasonal Ode to Ingredients

For those seeking a full culinary experience, the hotel’s restaurant, LUMI, presents a contemporary seasonal menu focused on showcasing a single “star ingredient” in each dish. Here, Hood and his team channel creativity into unexpected pairings and meticulous technique. The results are refined, expressive plates that surprise without overwhelming.

The restaurant’s philosophy—food as the artful assembly of nature’s gifts—aligns smoothly with SonoLux’s overarching identity. It is not simply farm-to-table cuisine; it is ingredient-driven artistry.

Rooms That Balance Serenity With Sonic Playfulness

The guest rooms extend the hotel’s immersive ambition with impressive restraint. Where the lobby leans into sensory theatricality, the rooms adopt a more meditative tone. They are serene havens defined by noble materials, warm textures, and carefully modulated lighting. The design philosophy favors elegant functionality: a space that adapts fluidly to the guest’s mood and daily rhythm.

A blackout curtain separates the sleeping zone from a small den, offering both privacy and flexibility. Multifunctional, movable chairs transform the space from a quiet workspace into an intimate lounge or dining nook. The effect is subtle but meaningful—especially in a boutique hotel where square footage is at a premium. SonoLux wants its guests to curate their room experience, and the modular design supports that goal seamlessly.

Each room subtly echoes the property’s artistic DNA. Experimental video art or sound elements may appear as part of the in-room experience, though never so intrusively as to break the tranquility. Instead, the technology enhances the room’s purpose as both refuge and creative incubator.

A Singular Offering in North America

As a newcomer to Montreal’s collection of high-design hotels, SonoLux is already making a statement. According to recent listings of anticipated 2025 openings, SonoLux stands among the city’s most exciting arrivals and is distinguished as Quebec’s first contemporary art hotel. Its blend of immersive media, hospitality, and curatorial rigor appears to be unmatched not only in Canada but across North America.

Its scale—just 36 rooms—carries clear advantages. Intimate, attentive, and deeply experiential, the hotel offers something boutique properties often chase but rarely achieve: a genuinely original identity.

Final Thoughts

SonoLux is not merely a place to stay; it is a conceptual and sensorial experience, one that reframes what a hotel can be. It invites conversation, fosters connection, and encourages guests to see—and hear—the world differently. From Cheryl Sims's stirring inaugural exhibition to the sonic explorations of Subterra and the tranquil elegance of the guest rooms, SonoLux weaves together art, sound, design, and hospitality into a seamless tapestry.

In a city celebrated for its creativity, SonoLux still manages to feel revelatory. For travelers seeking more than comfort—for those hungry for reflection, inspiration, atmosphere, or simply something unexpected—SonoLux is Montreal’s new benchmark for immersive hospitality.

FOR ALL INFORMATION

Location: 225 Saint-Jacques Street    Website: sonolux.ca

LENA GHIO   

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Photos © LENA GHIO, 2025

December 2025 Horoscope — A Month of Renewal, Courage, and Quiet Miracles

 FRANÇAIS app de traduction à gauche

December 2025 arrives with the Sun blazing through adventurous Sagittarius before settling into steady Capricorn near month’s end. This shift from fire to earth invites all signs to dream boldly—and then anchor those dreams in real, lasting form. With Mercury joining the Sun in Sagittarius through most of the month, clarity and optimism return where you may have recently felt overwhelmed. Ideas flow more freely now, and conversations spark with possibility. Trust your voice; it’s guiding you somewhere meaningful.

Mars traveling through Capricorn strengthens discipline and determination. Across the zodiac, this is your reminder that effort adds magic to inspiration. Whether you’re rebuilding confidence or preparing for a new chapter, the momentum is on your side. Little steps count—even the smallest shift in routine can open a new doorway.

Venus beginning the month in Sagittarius sprinkles warmth throughout relationships. Many of you may feel a rekindling of hope, a willingness to believe the best in others again. If you’ve been healing, this month offers gentle encouragement that connection can feel safe, sweet, and spacious.

Meanwhile, Jupiter in nurturing Cancer forms a supportive backdrop to everything. Expansion now happens through emotional honesty, home, and the people who truly know you. This is a beautiful time to strengthen roots or revisit something from the past with kinder eyes.

Saturn and Neptune in Pisces remind us that faith and responsibility aren’t opposites—they’re dance partners. Stay patient with yourself. You don’t have to have every detail figured out. You only have to keep showing up.

As December closes with the Sun in Capricorn, the year bows out with a promise: the work you commit to now will carry blessings into 2026. Believe in the new beginning forming beneath your feet.

 Trust the process. Trust yourself. The light is returning. 

♈ Aries

December sweeps in with bright Sagittarian fire igniting your ninth house of expansion, travel, and truth-seeking. With the Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Mars all burning through adventurous Sagittarius, your world feels wider, your ambitions bolder, and your desire for meaning impossible to ignore. This is a month for choosing the path that scares you a little—but excites you a lot.

Mars, your ruling planet, strides through late Sagittarius and into early Capricorn, strengthening your professional momentum. Old limits dissolve as Jupiter in Cancer activates your fourth house, tenderizing your instincts and directing you toward supportive environments and people who feel like emotional bedrock. You’re building something lasting now, and even the smallest courageous step sends ripples into the year ahead.

Saturn and Neptune in Pisces continue their subtle behind-the-scenes recalibration, working on your subconscious patterns. If you’ve been carrying a hidden burden, December invites a deep internal release. Trust your intuition—it’s sharper than usual, especially near mid-month. Uranus in late Taurus continues to shake up your financial landscape, but this time the sudden changes feel liberating rather than destabilizing.

As the Sun enters Capricorn on the 21st, your tenth house lights up. The year ends with a strong, steady push toward visibility, authority, and achievement. You’re ready for a new role—or a new version of yourself.

Full Moon Insight — 13° Gemini (4 December)

This Full Moon sparks your third–ninth house axis, lighting up conversations, learning, travel, and perspective. A sudden insight arrives through a message, a short trip, or a conversation that crystallizes something you’ve been wrestling with internally. Siblings, peers, or neighbors may play a surprising role. Let curiosity lead; what you discover now reframes a long-standing belief and opens a path you didn’t realize you could walk.

New Moon Insight — 28° Sagittarius (19 December)

This New Moon plants a powerful seed in your ninth house, inviting a fresh chapter in education, publishing, travel, or spiritual pursuit. Set intentions around mastering a skill, expanding your world, or stepping into a larger mission. Doors open quickly after this lunation—expect an opportunity that carries you beyond your comfort zone but directly toward your future. Embrace the leap.

♉ Taurus 

December brings a sweeping shift of perspective, Taurus, as the Sun’s journey through Sagittarius activates your eighth house of depth, inheritance, and intimate commitments. With Mercury and Mars also slicing through this region of your chart, you’re invited to sharpen boundaries, negotiate from a position of strength, and clear psychological clutter that has overstayed its welcome. Conversations that once felt delicate sharpen into clarity. You’re not merely speaking your truth—you’re mastering it.

Venus enters Capricorn early in the month, bolstering your confidence in long-range plans. This earthy support steadies your finances, your educational ambitions, and your broader sense of meaning. Jupiter in Cancer continues to harmonize with your Sun, offering subtle but continuous protection: allies appear when you need them, and emotional intelligence becomes a superpower.

As the month closes, the energy grows expansive. Capricorn’s grounding influence (Sun after the 21st, Venus and Mars already there) highlights your ninth house: faith, travel, scholarship, and your search for a wider horizon. If you’ve been craving movement, a new course of study, or a philosophical reboot, the end of December brings precisely that turning point. Trust the process—you’re building a future that won’t waver in the wind.

Full Moon Insight — 13° Gemini (4 December)

This Full Moon illuminates your second house of earned income and self-worth, revealing the subtle scripts that shape how you value your time, talent, and emotional bandwidth. Gemini’s airy brilliance encourages you to articulate your needs without apology and to renegotiate any agreement that no longer reflects your true contribution. A financial insight or a conversation about resources may surface suddenly, but it clarifies more than it complicates. Treat this lunation as a mirror: what you notice now helps you build a more secure and self-honoring foundation in the year ahead.

New Moon Insight — 28° Sagittarius (19 December)

This New Moon resets your eighth house, inviting bold new beginnings around shared finances, intimacy, and personal transformation. Sagittarius fires up your courage, urging you to release an old fear or pattern that has kept you playing small. A joint investment, emotional partnership, or therapeutic process may open fresh terrain. Trust that what feels intense is also liberating—this lunation widens the pathways to vulnerability, honesty, and authentic connection. What you plant now grows through integrity, transparency, and a willingness to let your deeper truth lead the way.

♊ Gemini

December opens with a surge of clarity as the Full Moon in Gemini (Dec 5 at ~04:30 UT, 13°05’ Gemini) illuminates your first house of identity. What you’ve been refining internally since mid-autumn now steps into the light. This month is rich with reckoning and renewal: the Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Mars all move through Sagittarius, activating your relationship sector and urging you to articulate what you truly need from partners, allies, and collaborators.

Mercury—your ruling planet—travels through late Sagittarius all month, encouraging bold truth-telling. Conversations may feel spicier than usual, but they open doors that have been stuck for months. Meanwhile, Mars in fiery Sagittarius pushes you to take decisive action in partnerships. Whether romantic or professional, clarity is your compass.

Jupiter continues its passage through Cancer, strengthening financial instincts and urging you to invest in your emotional security. Saturn and Neptune in Pisces draw your attention to career boundaries and long-term vision—pressure points that help refine what you’re building, not restrict it. With Pluto steady in Aquarius, your worldview continues to transform, inviting deep intellectual rebirth.

The New Moon in Sagittarius (Dec 20 at ~06:40 UT, 28°20’ Sagittarius) lands in your partnership house, opening a new chapter of connection. December’s sky asks you to stay curious, stay agile, and above all stay honest. It’s a month to release outdated narratives and step into relational confidence.

Full Moon Insight — 13° Gemini (4 December)

This Full Moon electrifies your sense of self, highlighting how you communicate your desires, your story, and your emotional truth. Old self-concepts fall away as new clarity dawns. A conversation or realization near this lunation may feel like a spotlight moment—revealing how far you’ve come and where your voice wants to travel next. Let this illumination guide you toward choices that honor your authentic rhythm.

New Moon Insight — 28° Sagittarius (19 December)

The New Moon invites a fresh cycle in partnerships, agreements, and expectations. Here, honesty becomes the bridge to renewal. Whether you’re committing, renegotiating, or releasing, this lunation brings a clean slate. Plant intentions around reciprocity, courage, and shared vision. This Sagittarius seed wants growth—fast, true, and expansive—if you meet it with openness and trust.

♋ Cancer

December opens with a quick shift in pace. The Sun in Sagittarius lights up your sixth house of daily rhythms, wellbeing, and craft. With Mars also in Sagittarius for most of the month, you feel a rare surge of determination to refine routines that have become stale. Work projects demand more precision, but your intuition stays sharp. This is a month to streamline—bravely prune what drains you, amplify what frees you.

By mid-month, Venus enters Capricorn and moves through your seventh house, softening relational edges. Connections—romantic, professional, and collaborative—take on a more grounded and deliberate tone. You want honesty, commitment, and maturity from others, and you’re more than willing to offer the same.

A major turning point comes at the New Moon in late Sagittarius on December 20, activating a deep reset in your health habits and work environment. It’s an opening to redefine what “energy” truly means for you—less overextension, more sustainable flow.

As the Sun moves into Capricorn on December 21, partnerships rise to the forefront. With Jupiter steady in Cancer all month, you have unusual emotional buoyancy and self-trust. You’re growing, and the world is adapting to your new shape.

The month closes with both tenderness and clarity: Saturn continues its quiet tour of Pisces, encouraging spiritual discipline, while Uranus in Taurus nudges you toward more courageous social choices. December asks you to honor your body, refine your commitments, and choose relationships that feel like home.

Full Moon Insight — 13° Gemini (4 December)

Using interpolation between the ephemeris positions, the Full Moon occurs on December 4, 2025, with the Moon at approximately 13° Gemini opposing the Sun at 13° Sagittarius. This lunation illuminates your twelfth house–sixth house axis, revealing hidden tensions between productivity and rest. A project or habit you’ve outgrown reaches its limit, urging release. The Gemini Moon sharpens your inner dialogue: notice what you tell yourself when you’re tired, overwhelmed, or on autopilot. This is a moment of revelation—clear, whisper-soft, unmistakably honest. Listen carefully. The intuitive shift it brings sets the tone for the year’s end.

New Moon Insight — 28° Sagittarius (19 December)

Interpolating the data from December 18–20 shows the New Moon forming on December 20, 2025, around 27° Sagittarius. This fresh start appears in your sixth house, calling you to redefine how you serve your own wellbeing. The Sagittarian tone encourages exploration—try new health practices, rethink work processes, or commit to a daily ritual that lifts both spirit and stamina. This is a visionary New Moon, one that blesses long-term growth. Let bold intentions guide you, but stay present to the small steps that make big shifts real.

♌ Leo 

December invites you onto a stage lit with creative power, conviction, and a certain regal self-restoration. With the Sun blazing through fellow fire sign Sagittarius for most of the month, your fifth-house themes—pleasure, artistry, romance, courage—ignite with fresh enthusiasm. Venus and Mars also heat this sector, urging you to reclaim joy where it has grown thin and to champion endeavors that express your truth without apology. If this year has demanded resilience, December reminds you that vitality is not a luxury but a birthright.

Mercury’s trek through late Sagittarius invites bold conversation but also caution—speak with full-hearted clarity, not haste. After the Solstice, when the Sun shifts into Capricorn, your focus pivots toward practicality: routines, health, systems, and the fine art of doing what works. Saturn steadies your financial and shared-resources sector; careful commitments bring long-term security, especially as Jupiter in Cancer stirs private insights that strengthen emotional grounding.

Uranus near the end of Taurus continues to create career surprises, but by now you recognize that the unexpected is not your enemy. December asks you to rise to the challenge: shape the future with intention, not reaction. With Pluto charging through the early degrees of Aquarius, relationships reflect deeper truths; authenticity outweighs performance. Let others meet you where you really are.

This month, joy is your compass. When you follow it, doors that once seemed immovable begin to open.

Full Moon Insight — 13° Gemini (4 December)

This airy Full Moon lights your eleventh house of community, aspirations, and collective purpose. Conversations become catalysts, revealing which alliances stimulate growth and which drain your spark. A friendship may reach a turning point—either deepening into something beautifully collaborative or drifting out of orbit. Ideas arrive fast and glittering; capture the ones that ring true. This lunation reminds you that your creativity flourishes when you share it, not when you protect it behind closed doors.

New Moon Insight — 28° Sagittarius (19 December)

The New Moon in late Sagittarius opens a clear, fierce doorway into your fifth house, inviting you to start anew in love, creative projects, or personal expression. Something you’ve hesitated to claim now becomes impossible to ignore. Set intentions that honor your gifts without shrinking them. This lunation magnifies the courage to risk vulnerability for passion, to choose joy even when it requires boldness. Let this be the moment you say yes to what lights you from within.

♍ Virgo 

December stirs your creative fire, Virgo, as a cluster of planets—Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Mars—all move through spirited Sagittarius, activating your 4th house of home, roots, and emotional foundations. Even if life feels busier than usual, a deeper part of you seeks warmth, belonging, and the comfort of simplifying what has grown too scattered. Jupiter in Cancer enhances social support, reminding you that your inner circle is an asset, not a distraction.

Mercury, your ruler, spends most of the month in Sagittarius, urging you to speak boldly and reorganize your personal world with conviction. Under this influence, clarity comes from naming what you want—not simply accommodating the needs around you. Mars adds heat: boundaries may need fortifying, especially with family or housemates, but the result is liberating. Saturn and Neptune in Pisces continue their slow reshaping of your relationships, helping you refine which connections truly nourish you.

Capricorn season begins on the 21st, rekindling your earthy focus and boosting your 5th-house inspiration. Pleasure, romance, and creative risks take on new importance. Let joy become a discipline rather than an afterthought. By month’s end, you step into a brighter, more expressive version of yourself.

Full Moon Insight — 13° Gemini (4 December)

This Full Moon lights up your 10th house, clarifying your public presence and long-term ambitions. You may receive recognition for recent efforts or experience a pivotal career conversation that reshapes your direction. Gemini’s airy wit encourages flexibility: instead of clinging to a rigid plan, experiment with new methods of presenting your ideas or restructuring your professional path. The message is simple but potent—your voice has reach. Use it wisely.

New Moon Insight — 28° Sagittarius (19 December)

The New Moon in your 4th house invites renewal at the deepest level of your emotional landscape. Sagittarius expands whatever it touches, so this isn’t merely about tidying rooms—it’s about expanding your sense of safety and belonging. Set intentions around home moves, family healing, or redesigning your environment to support a more adventurous, inspired version of daily life. What you plant now becomes the foundation for a creative surge in early 2026.

♎ Libra 

December draws you into a sparkling swirl of curiosity and connection, Libra. With the Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Mars blazing through Sagittarius—your third house of communication and local movement—your voice becomes magnetic and your world quickens. You may feel unusually direct, eager to speak truths you’ve edited for too long. This is liberating, but remember: clarity is not the same as volume. Choose your words like jewels.

Mars in Sagittarius adds adventure to your routines, urging you to explore new neighborhoods, study something invigorating, or rekindle a lively friendship. Venus, your ruling planet, travels close to the Sun all month, making your charm nearly impossible to ignore. Agreements, negotiations, and sibling relationships receive a warm glow—lean into diplomacy, not appeasement.

The shift of the Sun into Capricorn on the 21st turns your focus inward. Your fourth house becomes the stage for restoration, boundary work, and long-term planning. Uranus’s steady presence in Taurus continues to reshape your financial landscape, but this month you sense its deeper purpose: liberation, not loss. Jupiter in Cancer keeps career opportunities simmering—small but promising steps appear where you least expect them.

This is a month to rewrite your mental habits, reclaim your voice, and rest with intention. Let simplicity become your strategy and sincerity your compass.

Full Moon Insight — 13° Gemini (4 December)

This Gemini Full Moon illuminates your ninth house of meaning, widening the lens through which you interpret recent events. A belief, assumption, or long-held certainty undergoes a revealing shift. Conversations, books, or travel spark awakening; a casual comment may become a turning point. You’re challenged to integrate new information without sacrificing your inner equilibrium. Stay nimble, but not scattered. This lunation asks you to question your story—and choose the version that frees you.

New Moon Insight — 28° Sagittarius (19 December)

The Sagittarius New Moon renews your third house, blessing fresh starts in communication, learning, and daily rhythms. A project involving writing, teaching, marketing, or community outreach may take root. This is the perfect moment to refresh your mindset, rework your schedule, or initiate a dialogue that restores harmony. Keep intentions simple and sincere. What you plant now becomes the foundation of a clearer, steadier way of speaking your truth in 2026.

♏ Scorpio

December opens with a surge of fire and focus as the Sun moves through Sagittarius, illuminating your second house of resources and self-worth. With Mars also heating up this sector, your motivations sharpen: what you value, what you earn, and what you’re prepared to defend or release are all up for decisive revision. Venus traveling through late Sagittarius sweetens these efforts, helping you magnetize the right allies and opportunities—though Mercury retrograde mid-month may ask you to renegotiate terms or revisit a financial discussion you thought was finished.

Jupiter’s steady movement through Cancer enhances long-range vision, drawing your attention toward education, travel, publishing, or spiritual study. Saturn and Neptune in Pisces continue their year-long refinement of your creative and romantic life, encouraging you to blend intuition with discipline. This mutable emphasis asks you to work the edges—letting go of rigidity while resisting the temptation to drift.

By the time the Sun enters Capricorn on December 21, communication becomes your core currency. The last stretch of 2025 urges you to articulate your ambitions clearly, commit to a writing or teaching project, or repair a relationship through steady, grounded dialogue.

Full Moon Insight — 13° Gemini (4 December)

This Full Moon lights up your eighth house of intimacy, shared finances, and psychological depth. A revelation around trust, joint resources, or an emotional entanglement reaches a turning point. Conversations may feel charged, but the Gemini Moon encourages curiosity rather than accusation. This is a moment of integration: what you own versus what you share, what you hold versus what you release. A boundary clarified now becomes a source of genuine empowerment.

New Moon Insight — 28° Sagittarius (19 December)

This New Moon in your second house invites a fresh financial narrative. A new source of income, a restructured budget, or a revised sense of personal value begins to take shape. Sagittarius calls for expansion—but with wisdom. Plant intentions that stretch you without scattering your energy. Anchor your goals in something measurable, and the next six months will reward your precision. This lunation is a vow to yourself: to earn, create, and choose in alignment with your worth.

♐ Sagittarius

December opens with a sense of unmistakable arrival. The Sun, Venus, Mercury, and Mars traverse your sign, illuminating your chart from every angle. You feel seen, energized, and fully in command of your narrative. Venus enhances your magnetism, Mars fuels decisive action, and Mercury sharpens your voice, allowing you to communicate with clarity and authority. This is your annual moment of self-definition—a time when timidity cannot exist, and bold authenticity reigns.

While your personal planets blaze through Sagittarius, Jupiter—the ruler of your sign—remains in late Cancer, emphasizing your eighth-house realms: shared resources, emotional intimacy, and the transformative power of trust. Partnerships of every kind—financial, romantic, or creative—demand sincerity. Doors open when vulnerability meets strength, and alliances formed now hold the potential to reshape your path.

Beneath the surface, Saturn and Neptune continue their slow confluence in late Pisces, marking the culmination of long-term work on home, security, and belonging. The structures that once held you are dissolving and reshaping. Now, clarity emerges: you sense new forms taking shape even as the old patterns release. Completion and preparation define this energy; endings here create fertile ground for fresh beginnings.

As the Sun moves into Capricorn on the 21st, focus shifts to the second house—finances, self-worth, and tangible results. Decisions made now gain traction quickly. December asks for deliberate, disciplined expansion rather than speculation. Ground your ambitions in clarity, and let your actions set the stage for a new year of empowered growth.

This month, Sagittarius, you stand at the intersection of culmination and emergence—a moment to honor what has ended and step boldly into what is ready to begin.

Full Moon Insight — 13° Gemini (4 December)

This Full Moon lights up your axis of knowledge, communication, and truth. The Moon in Gemini opposes your Sagittarian Sun, highlighting what you’ve learned—and what you’ve avoided. Conversations peak, revelations spark, and a message finds its way through the noise. Use it. This lunation encourages synthesis: connect intellect with intuition, curiosity with conviction.

New Moon Insight — 28° Sagittarius (19 December)

A magnificent New Moon in your sign seals the month with intention. At 27° Sagittarius, this is a gateway Moon—one that demands boldness without bravado. Plant a vision that stretches you beyond the familiar. Identity, purpose, and personal direction reset here. Make your wish not from longing, but from recognition of who you are becoming.

♑ Capricorn

December opens like a deep in-breath, Capricorn: quiet, potent, and full of intention. With the Sun moving through your twelfth house for most of the month, you’re pulled toward introspection—yet this is no retreat. Mars and Venus in Sagittarius activate a fiery clearing process, encouraging you to shed outdated ambitions and reclaim the desires you’ve shelved for later. “Later” has now become now.

By mid-month, the atmosphere shifts. Mercury weaving through late Sagittarius encourages strategic withdrawal from noise and distraction. You’re choosing your battles carefully—and winning them by refusing to play small. When the Sun enters Capricorn on December 21, your personal New Year begins. Your confidence returns with unmistakable authority. The final days of the month bring a crisp sense of direction as Jupiter in Cancer continues to amplify relationship commitments, collaborative opportunities, and supportive alliances. You’re no longer doing everything alone—and that is the true milestone of this cycle.

Saturn in Pisces steadies your voice and gives form to ideas that had previously been too abstract to ground. Uranus and Neptune still humming through Taurus and Pisces generate creative breakthroughs, particularly in how you structure work, mentorship, and emotional boundaries. December is your month to shape the future with precision, patience, and a touch of Capricorn magic.

Full Moon Insight — 13° Gemini (4 December)

This Full Moon lights up your sixth–twelfth-house axis, revealing the delicate balancing act between service and self-care. Tasks, obligations, and routines may feel louder than usual, but beneath the noise lies an important message: something in your daily structure requires release or reinvention. Allow yourself flexibility. A Gemini Full Moon reminds you that adaptability is strength, not chaos. By adjusting expectations—especially around work, wellness, or time management—you reclaim authority over your energy and restore clarity to your long-term goals.

New Moon Insight — 28° Sagittarius (19 December)

This New Moon gathers its power in your twelfth house, offering a profound energetic reset. Think of it as the cosmic “soft reboot” your spirit has been craving. Old frustrations dissolve. New intentions emerge quietly but unmistakably. This is an auspicious time for releasing subconscious fear, fortifying spiritual practices, or setting behind-the-scenes goals that will fully bloom once the Sun enters Capricorn. Trust the stillness. What you plant now becomes the backbone of your 2026 success story—steady, strategic, and unmistakably yours.

♒ Aquarius 

December opens with a bright, forward-looking rhythm for you, Aquarius. With the Sun moving through adventurous Sagittarius, your 11th-house of vision, alliances, and future aspirations is luminescent. You feel the tug of possibility, the sense that the year’s final chapter wants you not to conclude—but to launch. Fiery Mars in Sagittarius sharpens your instincts: friendships and collaborations become energized, sometimes dramatically so. Who you choose to stand beside now determines the emotional tone of early 2026.

Jupiter in Cancer continues its nourishing tour of your 6th house, amplifying work, wellness, and your desire to streamline daily life. Efficiency becomes its own kind of freedom. Saturn, Neptune, and the North Node clustered in Pisces highlight your 2nd house, calling for sacred discernment around money, boundaries, and spiritual integrity. Financial clarity arrives through listening inward before taking action outward.

Venus slips from Sagittarius into Capricorn on the 25th, shifting your emotional landscape into softer, more private terrain. As it moves through your introspective 12th house, intimacy becomes quieter, sweeter, almost medicinal. Love heals in silence and sincerity.

Uranus in Taurus continues its long, tectonic reconfiguration of your 4th house, stirring the foundations of home and identity. Even subtle domestic changes now ripple into big inner realizations. December encourages you to trust the deeper tremors.

Full Moon Insight — 13° Gemini (4 December)

This airy Full Moon lights up your 5th house, illuminating creativity, romance, and heartfelt expression. A conversation, idea, or spontaneous opening reveals the joy you’ve been postponing. This lunation reminds you to play, to speak your truth without performing it. Creative projects peak or gain visibility, and a romantic storyline may crystallize with surprising clarity. Let curiosity guide you; it knows exactly where delight lives for you now.

New Moon Insight — 28° Sagittarius (19 December)

A potent rebirth unfolds in your 11th house, inviting you to set audacious goals for 2026. This Sagittarius New Moon asks you to widen your horizon—professionally, socially, spiritually. New alliances, group endeavors, or long-term plans emerge with unusual momentum. Plant intentions that stretch your courage: commit to the version of your future that excites and slightly terrifies you. The cosmos meets your boldness with equal generosity.

♓ Pisces

December arrives with a quiet but decisive shift in your public presence, Pisces. With the Sun moving through Sagittarius and activating your tenth house of reputation, the month places your ambitions in the foreground. Venus, Mars, and Mercury travel alongside the Sun for much of this cycle, lending eloquence, courage, and a renewed sense of direction. You may feel a surge of confidence where earlier in the year there was hesitation; professional visibility is strengthening, and allies appear at just the right moment.

Jupiter moving through Cancer, a flowing trine to your Pisces placements, rekindles faith in your creative gifts. Saturn and Neptune continue their long sojourn through your sign, anchoring you in a deeper realism while simultaneously sharpening your intuition. This unique Saturn–Neptune blend encourages mastery of your craft while gently dissolving outdated self-definitions. The message: you are allowed to evolve into the person you’ve quietly known you were becoming.

By mid-month, energy gathers around collaborations and long-term visions as Mercury slows for its retrograde station in late Sagittarius. Don’t rush negotiations; instead, refine them. You’ll thank yourself later. After the Sun enters Capricorn on the 21st, the attention shifts to community and future-oriented projects. Support networks strengthen, and you may find yourself stepping into a role that mixes leadership with compassionate intelligence.

Full Moon Insight — 13° Gemini (4 December)

This Full Moon lights up your fourth house, revealing the emotional architecture that supports your outward success. With the Sun at Sagittarius 12°56’, tension between home and career peaks, yet offers clarity. A family matter, living situation, or private concern reaches a turning point. Allow reflective space; what surfaces now helps you stabilize your foundation so your ambitions can expand without strain.

New Moon Insight — 28° Sagittarius (19 December)

This New Moon in your tenth house initiates a fresh professional cycle. The Sun and Moon unite near Sagittarius 27°40’, marking an inspired moment to set long-range goals. You may commit to a major project, redefine success, or claim a new level of authority. Let this fire-sign lunation rekindle your sense of purpose—your talent deserves a wider horizon, and December’s new beginning opens exactly that.

LENA GHIO   

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