We’re in the darkest and shortest days of the year now, when
we need to balance the strong but waning impulse to celebrate and meet with
family and friends with the growing impulse to find solitude and quiet.
Winter Solstice marks not only the beginning of winter, but
also the beginning of the solar year.
Hence a chart cast for Winter Solstice informs us of the energies not
only of that moment, but also of the coming winter season, and on through the
solar year.
That said, the good news is this year presents a lot of
opportunity for purging old demons and growing in ways we’ve been resisting and
avoiding. This looks like a year
of a lot of effort, perhaps with more interest in the work to be done than in
the goals we are working towards.
With the Sun, Jupiter and Ascendant in a grand earth trine, it would
seem we’d be heading into a time of much manifestation. However, Jupiter is still retrograde
until December 25th, which suggests that the outer rewards will come
later. Questions to ask yourself: What, based on my core beliefs and
personal interests, do I want to manifest? Are there any skills or knowledge sets I need to develop
first? What are my true values?
The Sun is also square Uranus and widely conjunct
Pluto. This accentuates a pattern
we’ve been dealing with for a while, and will continue to deal with for some
years to come. It indicates
conflict between a need for personal freedom, and a need to tow the line, get to work, and be responsible to whatever
holds the deepest meaning to us.
This is manifesting throughout the world as great political and
climactic upheaval - revolution now meets steady, plodding, but huge change. Thinks to think: How is the ratio of my
responsibilities to my freedom? Am
I giving myself enough of both? If
not, what can I change to make that so?
Mysterious Neptune is very active in this chart. He is trine Saturn, square the Moon,
sextile both the Sun and Jupiter, and laying very close to the Descendant. When a planet is very active like this,
it holds a lot of power in a chart.
This matches up interestingly with the fact that Neptune will be
entering Pisces in February.
Because that is his native sign, he will indeed become quite powerful
over the next many years. For now,
he’s still making his way out of Aquarius, where he has been since 1998, sans a
couple of brief dips into neighboring signs. So we still have a few weeks to finish up anything that
began for us in 1998 and 1999, especially anything relating to communities we
became involved with. Face
squarely any illusions you’ve been harboring since then. Neptune is a planet of letting go. The questions here are: What began for me in the late ’90’s
that is coming to a close or shifting point now?
A brief 101 on Neptune:
He rules over consciousness, compassion, creativity &
romance, but also illusion and escapism.
Any planet (or person) he touches has great creative and spiritual
potential, so long as they don’t permanently delude themselves or lapse too heavily
into escapism.
The Neptune/Saturn trine strongly affects
relationships. It suggests a
potential for great romance, or for being horribly deluded that one is in a
great romance. This configuration
suggests a need to WORK on one’s relationships (the configuration favors open
communication), and through that work root out any delusions, avoidance, or
denial. Then there is the
opportunity to either grow in consciousness together, or go your separate ways. Ideally, both parties would then grow
in consciousness, but as always we can only be responsible for ourselves in
that matter. Are there any
illusions I’m harboring about my relationships? Am I martyring myself in any relationships or in my job?
The Neptune/Moon square indicates conflict between family
and personal needs versus service to one’s community. All squares require an attending to both needs, but at
separate times. Make sure you
attend to your personal and family time, which actually revitalizes you and
holds the deepest meaning. While
the pull to help humanity may feel overwhelming and of the utmost importance in
this time of great global and political shifting, we must continue to honor
those ties that are most dear to us.
Neptune’s sextiles with the Sun and Jupiter will make that hard to
remember at times, as they accentuate the need to work hard and to live by and
spread our philosophies. So I’ll
say it again: Remember to take proper care of yourself, and of those you
love. Do so, and your other
involvements will thrive all the more.
Mars is square to the lunar nodes, and in the shadow of his
retrograde (more on that retrograde in a future entry). This configuration supports purging old
junk - any kind of old, used up, unnecessary junk, but especially from your
body, your mind, and your workload.
This continues some of what we faced during the eclipses, but now a need
to take care of our personal affairs is greatly accentuated. If you have been ignoring any warning
signs from your body, now is the time to attend to them. Once again, the planets remind us to
take care of ourselves first. Then
our work in the world will be more effective. And the homework is: Am I taking time out to take care of myself, physically,
mentally, emotionally & spiritually?
Am I attending to those I love?
How important is my work after all? Am I really doing it for the good of others, or am I using
it to avoid myself & those I love?
That said, I may not be able to get another entry out in
time for the new moon in Capricorn.
One must walk one’s talk, eh?
I wish you all a light-filled year as we birth ourselves
anew out of this wintry darkness.
Thanks for reading.
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