Winter Solstice, 2013 & a Peek at 2014
Sun in Capricorn: 12/21/13 (PDT) through 1/19/14
Reality,
realization, really, real, surreal, ethereal - the Latin root of these words
means, “thing.”
“Thing”
comes from an Old German word that referred not only to inanimate objects, but
also meetings and matters of concern.
In the coming months, notice the encounters - the meetings - in
your life... encounters with other people, encounters between matter &
non-matter (i.e. energy, emotion, thought, the mysterious), & encounters
between the various parts of yourself - between the parts you know well and the
parts you hide from yourself.
The
questions - the real questions - for the Capricorn solar month & for
all of this winter season are:
What
are the “things” of my life? How
did they come to be?
What
“things” are worth bringing into being?
What am
I encountering, & how did I manifest those encounters?
Does
this matter really concern me? If
so, how? If not, how can I drop
it?
Although the December 17th Gemini
Full Moon is a hectic time, give those
questions some initial rumination.
With personal genius-stimulating Uranus stationing direct in
revolutionary Aries, & mental Mercury applying to a conjunction with the
energizing Sun in late philosophy-minded Sagittarius, fresh insight is readily
available. The proximity of the
Sun to the Galactic Center offers access to unifying ideas, which will be quite
useful in dealing with the ongoing loose Grand Cardinal Cross - an influence
that has us going in every direction at once. Yes, there is a cosmic reason you feel like a chicken
running about with its head cut off.
Winter Solstice - December 21st - is a
power-packed day as the Sun enters
nose-to-the-grindstone Capricorn, & less than five hours later Venus stations
retrograde at the tail end of that same sign. She’ll be retrograding through late to mid-Capricorn until
January 31st, 2014. We
tend to feel Venus retrograde periods intensely as issues with finances,
relationships & values come to the fore. Venus is the esoteric ruler of Gemini, so communication is
also affected - not in the Mercurial way of losing cell phones and such, but
rather in direct, Venusian person-to-person interactions. Venus rules the compromises we make in
order to keep the peace, & our ability to tune into another person’s views
& state of being in order to relate effectively with them. Her retrograde through Saturn-ruled
Capricorn suggests necessary adjustments in our work & responsibilities,
based on our changing values, changing finances, & changing relationships.
The
Sabian symbol for the degree of Venus’ retrograde station is “a woman
reading tea leaves.” The
danger of this influence is allowing mundane details & pesky nuisances to
bog you down, & thus receiving tainted insights that maintain your current
level of realization through that smoggy filter of awareness. The high road is to steady your mind on what truly matters to you,
& allow insight to filter your way through that lens so that you are able
to realize newer, truer “things” for yourself.
Venus retrograde questions:
What do
I value? Am I living, acting,
speaking & thinking in tune with
my values?
What am
I responsible for, based on my values?
Is this in alignment with the responsibilities I’ve actually taken on?
Mars in Libra is applying to an opposition with Uranus & a
square with Pluto, stimulating another
Cardinal T-square, & a loose Grand Cardinal Cross with Jupiter retrograde
in mid-Cancer. You’ll feel these
influences strongly starting in late December and early January, & again in
mid-January. That feeling is the
uncomfortable combination of these many disparate tugs:
1,
deepening your commitments to & restructuring your life for the sake of
your long-term goals (Pluto in Capricorn),
2,
acting - sometimes suddenly - on revolutionizing insights (Uranus in Aries),
3,
balancing your will with necessary compromise, especially in relationships
(Mars in Libra), &
4,
clarifying your true needs, & updating your beliefs around your access to
nourishment (Jupiter retrograding in Cancer).
Saturn in Scorpio is both trine
Jupiter in Cancer, stimulating both inspired & practical planning in those
matters that have deeper meaning & offer greater nourishment, & square
the Leo Moon, insinuating tension between your need for carefree joy and the
work of attending to your responsibilities. Make sure you create space for play this season, even
as your work sweeps up your time, energy & resources. This configuration suggests that play
is what ultimately feeds your work, & brings you the most nourishment in
the long run.
Trends of 2014:
The new moon in Capricorn occurs in the wee hours of the first day of
the new year. We enter the year
with half of the major bodies used in astrology in the sign of Capricorn - the
Sun, the Moon, Pluto & Mercury are all closely conjoined in mid-Capricorn,
while Venus retrogrades in late Capricorn, applying to a sextile with Saturn in
Scorpio. The Grand Cardinal Cross,
mentioned above, is in full effect.
Based
on those hard-driving patterns, the following questions will be fruitful guides
at that new moon, & throughout 2014:
How can
I maintain a sense of balance, freedom & loving softness, even when my
responsibilities & goals demand my time, energy, resources & focus?
Am I
working towards what really matters to me, or am I just working?
Am I
taking time out to enjoy the fruits of my labors, & to make sure I’m still
on course?
The rule of thumb for a happy & successful 2014 is plan some really good vacations because your responsibilities will have you working triple time this
year. The surest way to balance
out that heavy dose of hard-working, goal-fixated, Saturn-ruled Capricorn is to
step away from your normal reality every so often. This will give you the personal freedom Uranus in Aries asks
of you, the compassion, healing & dreamtime Neptune & Chiron in Pisces
require, the loving tenderness & self-care Jupiter in Cancer calls for,
& with all that you’ll meet the drive for overall balance inspired by Mars
in Libra.
The Full Moon in Cancer on January 15th
stimulates another round of Grand Cardinal Cross intensity... as if full moons
aren’t intense enough on their own.
Retrograding Venus in Capricorn is applying to a square with Mars in
Libra, applying tension to relationships, especially around issues of
responsibility and compromise. Temper your communications by stating what’s important to
you, & finding out what is important to the people you are communicating
with. Differing values lead to
different points of view. That
will consistently be at the root of your misunderstandings & discussions at
this time.
Also in
this full moon chart, Mercury in Aquarius (ruled by Uranus) is applying to a
sextile with Uranus. This
influence offers profound insight, especially if you “think outside the box.” The best advice for this full moon is
take some time to brainstorm & improvise in any medium. If you enjoy automatic writing (2
minutes of non-stop writing without lifting your pen until an alarm goes off,
based on a given word, phrase or other idea-stimulator), here are some planetary energy-inspired prompts for
mid-January:
I’m
inspired by...
In
balance
What
really feeds me:
What I
won’t admit to myself:
And
that brings us to the end of the Capricorn solar month, at the end of which,
the days will be noticeably lengthening once again. Stay tuned for the Aquarius solar month report, which will
cover the next Mercury retrograde.
Did I mention that the first half of 2014 will be dominated by pesky inner planet
retrogrades? Write your plans in the sand, friends. Summer’s the time for bigger leaps
& steadier commitments.
For
more personalized insight, you may schedule a private astrological consult, a healing session, or a healing intensive. Consults & healings are both
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Until next time, wishing you tender stillness, even in the midst of the
many callings of the mundane world.
Thanks for reading,
...