Waning Moon, Bidding This Year Farewell

Holidays!

Disseminating Moon in Leo
December 21, 2013
7:45 am EST / 12:45 pm GMT

Winter Solstice
December 21, 2013
12:11 pm EST / 5:11 pm GMT

Last Quarter Moon in Libra
December 25, 2013
8:48 am EST / 1:48 pm GMT

Balsamic Moon in Scorpio
December 29, 2013
12:19 am EST / 5:19 am GMT

New Moon in Capricorn
January 1, 2014
6:14 am EST / 11:14 am GMT

Before diving into the astrology of the next few weeks, look at the symmetry of this waning cycle's events with our common calendar: The Disseminating Moon on the Solstice, Last Quarter on Christmas Day, Balsamic as December reaches its close, and New Moon on New Year's Day.

The patterns in the skies echo those on Earth: It's time once again to review where we are, honor and celebrate what has been, and turn toward what it to come. There's a lot going on, and we can all feel it.

The Disseminating Moon is the time for sharing what we've learned––making the Full Moon's illuminations part of who we are in the world. With the Dissemination Moon in Leo, and Mercury conjunct the Sun in Sagittarius, we'll have no trouble trumpeting our achievements to the skies! The challenge this day may be more in the area of listening to anyone else. 

That same day is the Winter Solstice, on the calendar and astrologically. This day, the Sun transitions into Capricorn, Old Man Winter, the energy of putting your back into it, working hard, and getting it done. This is the day the Sun shows us he's still here, not waning for good, but returning.

Capricorn is not the zodiac's happiest sign, but the Solstice is truly something to celebrate. This year, we've been through a lot, have lost and won, achieved and failed, learned and grown. The Sun's dance of return tells us the workhorse of our solar system is still on board, fueling our efforts, lighting our fires. Time for dance, song, tales around the fire, and good memories.

The Last Quarter Moon is a challenge: Can we balance our gains and our losses? In many traditions, the birth of a Sun Child is celebrated at this time, a promise of renewal and redemption. This year, the sky patterns point to a renewal of great depth and scope.

At this Last Quarter, the Sun and Mercury align with transformative Pluto. The Libran Moon aligns with Mars, squaring the Pluto–Sun–Mercury group. Uranus the revolutionary is opposing Mars and the Moon, and squaring Pluto–Sun–Mercury.

Yes, this is the infamous Pluto–Uranus square, the zeitgeist, being activated by the Sun, Mercury, the Moon and Mars. No man is an island, we are all connected to each other, and our personal decisions now are linked to everything else. No pressure, though ...

This year's holiday will be a time of special energy. We may be acutely aware of what we have already lost, and what in our world is at risk. Yet that very awareness brings a new depth of appreciation as we celebrate all we have.

The Balsamic Moon in Scorpio aligns with Saturn the task-master, as the Sun and Mercury draw even closer to Pluto. As the Pluto–Uranus square continues to be activated, we are brought face to face with what we need to let go of.

At this Balsamic Moon, think of Dickens' Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come and his message to Scrooge. It is only through letting go of whatever is holding us back that we can step into a brighter future.

And then, boom! New Year's Day and a New Moon in Capricorn. I'll be writing more about this New Moon later, but it's time to drag my over-used adjective "intense" out of the closet and dust it off for this one: Sun, Moon, and Mercury tightly conjunct Pluto, squared by Uranus and Mars.

2014 will be arriving with major mojo, so, no thinking small with those resolutions.

So, no holding back this holiday season! Celebrate with hugs and appreciations and festivities of all kinds, in the full knowledge of the impermanence of our live. Embrace it all! And in those quiet moments, release what no longer works with gratitude.

Holiday blessings to one and all.
    

Winter Solstice: Finding Alignment

Newgrange spirals

Winter Solstice
December 21, 2012

In astrology, the Winter Solstice happens when the Sun enters Capricorn, cardinal Earth. The Sun goes to ground, so to speak, standing still for about three days before turning back from decline and beginning to rise higher in the sky once again.

Since the time is marked by the Sun's entry into Capricorn, the astrological solstice does not always fall on December 21. This year, it does, arriving just before dawn, Eastern Standard Time.

Much has been said about this December 21, and much written. Here, I'll focus on the astrology of this day––which is compelling in its own way, though not (in my view) catastrophic.

Throughout this Solstice chart, we see a combination of the mystical and the practical. The Sun at 0 Capricorn, the workhorse of the zodiac, sextiles Neptune at 0 Pisces, the zodiac at its most visionary. The Sun in conjunct Juno, the goddess focused on justice and social contracts. Neptune is conjunct Chiron, the wounded healer and mentor.

We see pragmatic action grounded in reality connecting to the deepest, widest, broadest, craziest, most impossible dreams we can dream.

There's energy here too, a wild fiery blending of mind and heart: The Solstice Moon rides through the middle of Aries, cardinal Fire, making a flowing trine to Mercury in Sagittarius.

Here we have emotions and thoughts flaming together, moving confidently into new territory.

Then the heavy hitters, bringing gravitas to the celebration: Saturn and Pluto form a tight sextile, made more powerful by their mutual reception. These two share energy because they're 60 degrees apart, and because each travels through the sign ruled by the other.

Saturn, that bastion of responsibility, practicality and hard work, is at his most mysterious and magical in Scorpio. This Saturn has hidden depths, doesn't miss a trick, and seems to know everything.

Pluto, lord of the depths, is at his most comprehensively thorough in Capricorn. He leaves no stone unturned; in fact, he's moving continents.

The only question with these two working together is, can we stand it? Can we look unflinching at the secrets uncovered? Can we look truth in the face and go toe to toe with Goliath? This is a real question, not a rhetorical one, and the Solstice chart says we're still thinking about it.

Saturn and Pluto are each inconjunct Jupiter, forming yet another yod or finger of fate. The pattern is especially strong today, with all three less than a degree apart in each sign.

So, Saturn and Pluto join power, making Jupiter really uncomfortable. Can we be sure of anything in these times? What do we really know? Jupiter is retrograde in Gemini, remember, and much less sure of himself than usual. The philosopher-sage has a lot on his mind.

The yod aspect always points to a place where we need to make adjustments––this yod, combining as it does, Saturn, Pluto and Jupiter, points to big adjustments. The answer to the problem posed by a yod is said to lie underneath the apex––and there we see Venus, generously optimistic in Sagittarius.

Venus is personal. She's creative and relational. She's clever, holding her own in debate while never losing sight of the human aspects of a situation. You remember the slogan, the personal is political? This Venus, resting opposite Jupiter, poised between Saturn and Pluto, might be telling us the political is personal––or perhaps challenging us to realize this.

Another way to express this might be to say that what we do and how we do it, say more about who we are than what we say. If our actions are already aligned with our values, this is comforting. If they're not, well, it's going to feel a bit awkward until we get things lined up better.

At the Winter Solstice, at Newgrange in Ireland, the Sun pierces deep into a stone tunnel carved with spirals and other drawings. Just one day each year, a shaft of light illuminates this shadowed spot. We don't know what––or who––might have been placed in the niche at the end of the passage. We don't know what significance the ancients attached to this.

Yet there's a long waiting list, to be one of the few allowed in to see this Solstice light. We've all got those dark places in need of insight and healing. We've all got unanswered questions. We look to the Solstice Sun to show us, not everything, but the next thing.
    

Soon, the New Moon

planting with the Moon!

Preparing for the New Moon in Sagittarius
Arriving December 13, 2012

We're in the Scorpio Balsamic, let's clean out the gunk, time now ... a great time to peek ahead, imagine the blaze of light to come (soon, very soon) and align with the best in all of that.

Which is a fancy way of saying, we've got something to look forward to!

First, some background on New Moons: Each lunar month, the Sun and Moon meet at the same position in the zodiac. Astrologically, they're conjunct. At this point, the energies of the two luminaries, the lights in our sky, join up, energizing the same point. This merging of energies happens in the dark. The Moon and Sun rise and set at the same time, leaving the night sky empty.

The burst of energy happening in darkness makes each New Moon a seed time, a moment when the cosmos starts something new. Seeds germinate in the dark, so what will emerge is a mystery. We get clues about this mystery by looking at the sign and degree of the New Moon, and the aspect patterns that surround it. This can tell us a lot about what each New Moon will bring.

Of course, our interest tends to focus on our own lives––what will the New Moon bring to me? This is where your birth chart comes in. Knowing how each New Moon will touch your chart, by sign, degree, and house, tells you what might emerge for you.

If you need a copy of your birth chart, go here: Astro-com Birth Data Entry It's free.

Then compare your chart with the New Moon chart. Where does 21 degrees of Sagittarius fall in your chart? What else in this New Moon chart is touching your chart?

Once you have some ideas about that, the New Moon becomes a time for wishing. We set intentions, listen to dreams, explore oracles, and plant seeds.

For me, this is a lunar, magical, co-creative process. I partner with what's already happening. I avoid asserting willfully what I want, and instead explore what is being offered, and how I can best align with that.

WAIT for the New Moon to make wishes. Remember that until the New Moon arrives, the Moon is waning, releasing, letting go. You want to plant your seeds when the Moon begins growing again. The first three days after the New Moon are best, and your own process will be strongest for you.

What about the Galactic Alignment? You may have heard that the world is about to end, described in a variety of scenarios, one of which is a galactic alignment happening on or around the Solstice. So, wishing for stuff might feel a bit ... superfluous.

It turns out that the galactic alignment concept––the apocalyptic one, anyway––doesn't hold up either astronomically or astrologically.

Our Milky Way galaxy has a massively huge black hole in its center. This black hole is named Sagittarius A and, astrologically speaking, falls at about 26 Sagittarius, give or take, since it's really, really, really, really big.

the Milky Way

So, one way of thinking about galactic alignment is to say, when does the Sun (or Moon or any other body or point) reach 26 Sag? This kind of alignment happens once a year for the Sun, once a month for the Moon, and so on for everything else relative to its orbit.

If we look at "alignment" this way, which in astrology is a conjunction, then the Dec 13 New Moon conjuncts the galactic center, being only 5 degrees away, and therefore well placed to transit not radiation to destroy us, but information to enlighten us. This is way cool.

The dire end-of-world predictions are mostly talking about a different kind of alignment, either actually crossing the real galactic plan, or crossing the galactic equator. (Sometimes it's hard to tell.)

Our solar system is way far from the actual galactic plane and will not cross it any time soon. The Earth crosses the galactic equator twice every year, and will continue to do so. If the Earth comes to an end any time soon, it won't be due to this event. Here's the science on that.

What's happening seems to be a confusion between science and symbol. One aspect of this muddle is the idea that this year, crossing the galactic equator coincides with the Winter Solstice––which it doesn't, precisely, as the closest lineup of crossing and solstice happened back in 1998.

We do live in an era when the solstice and crossing the galactic equator are closer than at other times in history. And, given some of the other amazing transits we've got (notably the Pluto–Uranus square), we're living in an incredibly transformative time.

I just don't see any evidence the Earth is going to be zapped out of existence while crossing the galactic equator near the Winter Solstice.

Back to the New Moon. This Sagittarian New Moon will be offering amazing, optimistic, philosophical, adventurous, liberating energy. The biggest challenge will be staying within our limits, since this is a no-boundaries kind of Moon ... we'll look to Saturn for help with that one.

More on the special qualities of the New Moon, tomorrow!
     

Winter Solstice: Birth of the Light

On the longest night of the year, light is reborn. We can't see it yet––winter tightens its grip and Spring is far away––yet we see the Sun stopping, and trust that the turn and slow climb will begin. This is the Winter Solstice.

newborn bear cub

This time of year is associated with tales of the birth of a magical child who brings light and hope into darkness. If we look closely at what's happening energetically, we see something more like a conception than a birth: Deep in the darkness, a new vitality stirs. It won't be visible for a while but we know it's there.

In winter caves, mother bears give birth in darkness. They're hibernating––a deep meditative state––and the cubs snuggle in, sucking the mother's milk and nestling against her warm body. This is a Winter Solstice kind of birthing, when new life emerges in hidden places.

In The Book of the Moon, Steven Forrest draws a parallel between the lunar cycle from New Moon to Full, and the annual cycle of solstices, equinoxes and the four great Fire festivals between. He links the New Moon with the Winter Solstice and festival of Yule, saying:

"The dark Moon's inwardness and otherworldliness merge with the out-rushing intensity of the waxing cycle.  ... This is the sheer life-fire of the germinating seed. It is young, naive––and bursting with vital force."

And yet the Sun enters Capricorn at this time, the Saturn-ruled sign that pushes us to be responsible, work hard, practice our craft, and wait. Where are youth and naivete in that? What's going on?

Solstice chart

Think of Capricorn as the mother bear, the container, the safe space for the newborn cub. If she hadn't made it through the year past, found a suitable den, fattened up, and dug in, this new cub wouldn't have a chance.

But she did, and here's the tiny, hairless, blind, helpless bear-seed starting to grow.

We live in cycles, waxing and waning patterns that simultaneously repeat and change. Without one, the other is not possible. Without the other, the one cannot arrive.

When we get attached to one part of a cycle, we miss a sense of cyclic flow. Whether we're attached to acquisition, achievement and success, or to loss, failure and disappointment, we become rigid. When we lose flexibility, we lose insight, we lose choice, we lose hope.

The power of this year's Winter Solstice is heightened by the New Moon in Capricorn following so closely on its heels and by the number of planets clustered in the first degrees: The New Moon at 2 Capricorn, Uranus at 0 Aries, Neptune and Chiron straddling 0 Pisces, Venus at 1 Aquarius, and Jupiter at 0 Taurus poised to turn direct. Our attention is drawn again and again to the power of new beginnings.

At this time of the Winter Solstice, the New Moon of the year, we are invited to pause. At the turning of the tide, the ocean is still. If we also are quiet, we can hear the stillness and then the change. The germinating seed is not visible, but we feel its pulse. This is the gift of hope.
    

Waning Moon in Cancer

Whether you could see her glowing copper, or she was blanketed by clouds, the Full Moon gateway has opened. Occurring so late in Gemini, the Full Moon was also the Moon's final aspect, entering a very brief time-between-times before she stepped calmly into her home sign of Cancer.

With the Moon in Cancer, sign of home, family and tradition, and the Sun moving toward Capricorn, we go to ground. The Sun reaches the Solstice point at 6:38pm EST, and all the world waits as he stands still.

The Green Knight

This is the time, in pagan traditions, when the Oak King and the Holly King meet in battle. Holly, the darkening half of the year, has reigned since he took the throne in Midsummer. Today, the Oak King assumes the mantle, vanquishing his darker brother and turning the year back toward its light half.

Today, the Cancer Moon opposes the North Node, Pluto, and later, Mars, all in Capricorn. The energy of Capricorn focuses on accomplishment, driving forward, achieving goals. The North Node, Pluto and Mars emphasize this energy as well. So perhaps we can see them as the Oak King, strong and proud, ready to challenge the past and move into a bright future.

The Moon in Cancer stands with the South Node, the past, tradition, what is familiar and comfortable. Today the Moon takes the part of the Holly King who, though ceding the throne to Oak, reminds us he will return again, that he too is part of the wheel.

Mercury in Sagittarius squares Jupiter in Pisces, giving voice to ancient tales. Gather round the fire, and listen to the bardic voices.

Full Moon in Gemini, December 21

Full Moon, Lunar Eclipse, alignment with the Galactic Center, Winter Solstice, Mercury retrograde ... this has been an amazing astrological year, and the intensity continues right on through.

At this Full Moon, we line up with the Galactic Center to be full-filled with messages from the cosmos, expanding with Sagittarian enthusiasm. Lest we feel the Moon is blocked from this wonderful time of connection, here's some Science News from Dr. Tony Phillips of NASA that sheds new light on what happens at a Lunar Eclipse:

Sunset over Mountains by Eusebius

Imagine yourself standing on a dusty lunar plain looking up at the sky. Overhead hangs Earth, nightside down, completely hiding the sun behind it. The eclipse is underway.

You might expect Earth seen in this way to be utterly dark, but it's not. The rim of the planet is on fire! As you scan your eye around Earth's circumference, you're seeing every sunrise and every sunset in the world, all of them, all at once.

This incredible light beams into the heart of Earth's shadow, filling it with a coppery glow and transforming the Moon into a great red orb.

Back on Earth, the shadowed Moon paints newly fallen snow with unfamiliar colors--not much luster, but lots of beauty. Enjoy the show. 

The image of all the sunrises and sunsets on Earth, shining onto the "eclipsed" Moon completes the network of celestial bodies communicating to us at this time. No one is left out, everyone connects.

So it is with us ... whatever our situation this year, wherever we find ourselves this holiday season, this Full Moon Solstice embraces everyone, inviting all of us into a wider, deeper, more comprehensive view of the universe.

This Full Moon comes at a liminal time, the threshold as the Sun stops and turns, the threshold as the Moon turns from waxing to waning, a time when our Sun, Earth and Moon rest in alignment with the center of our galaxy. This is a doorway we can step through, a transformative moment.

We are invited to align with the best in ourselves, clarify our goals and vision, and step through the gate.