For a few years now the Sun at Winter Solstice has entered Capricorn in close alliance with transformative Pluto, and so it does this year, giving the shortest day a subtle, special power. In these years of acute uncertainty about our future and that of the planet it seems not just a quaint old custom to be glad that the round of the seasons is still more or less functioning, that the darkest days are passing and that with luck, love and judgment we’ll get ourselves through to spring’s renewal. It feels more like genuine grounds for thankfulness, as in the days when stone monuments were erected to mark the sun’s midwinter moment of death and rebirth. If you want to catch the Sun’s first breath in Capricorn this year you’ll have to be up long before the crow flies, at pitch-dark 5.30 on the 22nd. Myself, I’m going for this day’s sunset at 15.54 – Capricorn is practical!
Capricorn is the Cardinal earth sign, initiating in a realistic, systematic way, and ruled by limiting, grounding Saturn. It is concerned with the way things actually work and the rules that must be observed if enterprises are not to come unstuck. Lots of us are having to rethink some ground-rules about how life needs to be lived. If this feels a bit chilling or scary, the good old Capricornian trick of making a virtue of necessity can stiffen the sinews and summon up the blood so that we feel more inspired than daunted. The Sun’s tense encounter with Uranus reminds us that the one thing sure to unstick us is clinging tightly to what we’ve always done, so let go and grasp the paradox instead: change is the new constant.
But this is the festive season, right? Fear not, the Sun has some good mates about him this midwinter. Taurean Jupiter favours feasting, Libran Saturn brings excellent judgement and referees jollifications for good taste and fair play, Neptune helps us want to include those who might be left out, Venus and Mercury prompt sparkle and sociability.
The chart for Christmas day shows us Pluto, the dark lord of transpersonal power, sandwiched between the Sun and the New Moon. If you find yourself – or anyone else – coercing family, friends or self into playing ‘We’re having the PERFECT Christmas’ it might be time to introduce the traditional Lord of Misrule and get some belly-laughs going that bring things back into proportion. Compassionate Neptune says do it with kindness, do it with music everybody likes – or if all else fails, keep passing round the drink!
New Year sees the Sun still paired with powerful Pluto, while the waxing Moon teams up with radical Uranus to start 2012 with a bang. This is an intense moment for those it touches, and if you have planets at the beginning of Capricorn, Aries, Cancer or Libra you might want to watch out for combative or reactive impulses. It’s also a great time for a vision of real change. This could work particularly well if you’re with those who share your ideals, as Venus in Aquarius especially favours being with your chosen group. Virgoan Mars and Libran Saturn apply the acids tests: is it possible – and is it right?
Throughout this solar month we still have Jupiter and Saturn locked in their odd opposition – odd because they’re not in opposite signs, but oddly compatible because both Taurus and Libra are ruled by harmony-loving Venus. Whatever we do that’s grounded in a love of being alive on this beautiful Earth, and bounded by human decency and fairness, has a good chance of flourishing, I’d say, with a particular blessing from Neptune if it has an artistic or humanitarian theme. In those minutes when we’re not feeling inspired and high-minded the same planets may represent furthering our own interests and opposing whatever might rock our own little boat – a body’s got to make a living, after all. May both your person and your loving enterprises flourish in the New Year!
Currently we’re also getting an extra little kick to this connection from Uranus, whose inspired or insane messages on your wall may prompt some odd ideas that just might work. Mars in Virgo supplies the energy to test-drive rigorously before you buy into them; watch out for wheels rolling free! In this Capricornian month the Sun is specially empowered to illuminate ways of creating workable systems, so whether your schemes are for reorganising your room, revitalising your working life or re-ordering the planet, this is a good time to get on with it.
Happy Solstice! Merry Yuletide! Happy New Year!