From Sunday, December 9 through Friday, December 14, 2018 the sun will be in Gate 26, THE TRICKSTER, or ACCUMULATION. In I-Ching this hexagram is called THE TAMING POWER OF THE GREAT.

This is the energy to close the sale; the impetus to say anything, do anything to finalize the deal.

OK I'm just going to go ahead and say it. THE TRICKSTER gets a bad rap, because it can be associated with lying and deception. This is the low expression of this energy of course. Our own president here in the United States has the moon in Gate 26 at the time of his birth. He is driven to close the sale, so to speak.

On the other hand, many people with this energy are absolute champions of the truth. They intuitively know if they allow themselves to tell a white lie here or there, their grasp on the truth very well may be tenuous. So as a result they are brutally honest and downright appalled by dishonesty.

There's a happy medium here. This energy is placed in our chart for us to examine our own relationship with the truth. To master THE TRICKSTER, we must master integrity. How do we get what we need in this life without compromising our integrity?

THE TRICKSTER is tribal energy after all, so this energy actually comes from a place of providing for our loved ones. The motivation is pure. With that in mind, it's easy to rationalize a white lie here or there in order to feed our loved ones. But it is our responsibility to maintain our integrity while still providing for our loved ones.

Those of us with an undefined Solar Plexus can relate. We hate to upset people so we may skirt the truth here and there for self preservation.

What is your relationship to the truth? Do you say what you need to say to get what you need? Is that OK? Why not? Do you tell white lies to avoid getting in trouble? Or are you someone who refuses to bend the truth under any circumstance? Is that OK? What does integrity mean to you? Is this something you need to work on or is the work done? Do the ends justify the means? Where do you draw the line?

Don’t forget that you need to love and respect yourself in the morning.