Exact date to put up Christmas decorations to avoid bad luck

With a Mercury retrograde coming at the end of the month, it’s pivotal to wait until after this to decorate your home for the festive season. Speaking to tarot reading platform Tarotoo, astrologer Inbaal Honigman has recommended waiting until Mercury retrograde comes to an end on November 29 to put up your decorations.

This will coincide with the first Sunday of Advent, which traditionally is a popular day to decorate, alongside December 1. She explained: “Astrologically, in 2025, one of the most important things would be to miss the Mercury retrograde, which ends on November 29. The Mercury retrograde can be a harbinger of mayhem, so it’s best to wait until it is over before decorating.

“Traditionally, the 12 days of Christmas would start on Christmas Day, and so decorating beforehand was less common, and the tinsel would be down by January 5, which was the 12th day.”

And it’s not just decorating that can be influenced by the stars, Inbaal has suggested using astrology to decide on the perfect time to do your Christmas shopping – and that this year it may be best to wait till the last minute.

She says: “The good news is that in 2025, you shouldn’t start too soon. Ideally, the shopping period of 2025 would be December 1-20.

“The Mercury retrograde between November 10 and November 29 is an astrological phenomenon which negatively impacts communication. This means that online ordering systems, couriers, emails and phone calls are all likely to experience delays and mishaps.”

Inbaal finished: “In fact, leaving the bulk of your Christmas shopping to December in 2025 isn’t only advisable, it is responsible. The gifts that would be bought before December 21, will be purchased during the Sagittarius season, so they’ll be fun and joyful.

“Anything purchased during Capricorn season, after the 21st, will be beautiful but overpriced, because Capricorn is a posh kind of star sign, so the sensible cut off date is the 21st.”