Moon Mondays!
I’ve been a total bah humbug about Christmas for years. Honestly, I could care less about it. I’m not religious, and for a long time, the holidays just brought stress. Sadness. A knot in my chest. Not joy.
So this week, as Venus moves into Capricorn on Christmas Eve, we’re talking about how to create real peace during the holidays without abandoning ourselves—especially if family feels complicated.
For many years, Christmas felt heavy to me. Family stress. Anxiety. Old wounds getting ripped open year after year. The worst was the Christmas my dad locked me out of the house—all day—on Christmas Day.
I stood outside, knocking, hollering, waiting, hoping he would open the door. He never did.
That kind of neglect stays with you. That Christmas crushed something in me, and that might be where my inner Scrooge was born.
If you grew up with family trauma, estrangement, or learned that survival meant distance, the holidays can stir up a lot. There’s so much pressure for everything to look perfect—happy families, cozy gatherings, magical, love-filled moments.
And if that’s not your reality, it can feel incredibly isolating. And downright painful.
If you’re working non-stop, like we do here in my little busy ski town, estranged from family, or just feeling quietly melancholy this week—I see you.
I’ve been there. For many years, the holidays just made me sad.
This week, Venus—the planet of our feminine power, our capacity to simply be, and the strength that comes from honoring and being our full selves—enters Capricorn. Mars is already there. The Sun just moved into Capricorn yesterday on the solstice—now the light is officially returning one minute at a time.
Capricorn is the archetype of grounded wisdom. I think of her as the healthy grandmother—the one who’s lived a full life, seen it all, and loves you exactly as you are. She sees the truth of you beneath the pain, beneath the stories you inherited.
Capricorn helps us face reality with compassion and then move forward. And sometimes moving forward means letting ourselves actually feel what’s been buried.
Capricorn is deeply practical. She says: have a good cry. Get it out. It’s okay to feel your feelings.
Stuffing emotions only hurts us in the long run. When we bypass grief, it leaks out sideways—through overdrinking, overeating, endless scrolling, too much screen time, or harsh self-talk. And those coping mechanisms often lead to even harsher self-talk.
So if the holidays are getting you down, try this gentle micro-step.
Give yourself permission to feel what’s actually there—without fixing it, without bypassing it, without doing anything with it. Just feel it.
You could sit somewhere quiet and take a few breaths. Even at a holiday gathering, you might go into the bathroom for a moment. And just let yourself mourn what wasn’t, or what you needed and never received. Just the hurt that’s there.
Because the truth is, the only way through is through.
Feeling your feelings is uncomfortable for a short time. Like a toddler who loses their mind and then they’re over it. Emotions have motion (it’s in the word)—they move through us.
What’s far more damaging is trying to bypass it. Letting yourself feel what’s really there is much more freeing than numbing yourself will ever be.
Next week, we welcome the Cancer Full Moon, which brings even more opportunities to feel, soften, and tend to our inner world. More lunar medicine is coming in the form of boundaries.
I’m Sheridan Semple, Astrology Life Coach and Moon Sister Circle Guide, here to help women reconnect with their inner wisdom through the cycles of the Moon.
If you’d like to live more in tune with the Moon, you can download my free 3 Steps to Changing Your Life with the Moon guide. It’s the perfect companion to these Moon Mondays.
And if you’re craving deeper connection, sisterhood, and guidance through your healing process, I’d love to welcome you into my Moon Sister Circle—where we live this work together.
Wishing you a gentle, grounded, and drama-free holiday, exactly as you are.
✨ With love,
Sheridan
