When the Sun moves from festive Sagittarius into hard working Capricorn at the Winter Solstice, our mood changes. Light heartedness can shift into heaviness, inexplicable tiredness, and even depression. We can, however, adapt to the Earth’s shift and planetary change and honor our journey inward during this time of darkness. This is a time to find peace within, not to try to cover up our melancholy with sugar and parties. (In the Southern Hemisphere, Summer Solstice can be an outward celebration.)
December 21 – The Sun Shines in Capricorn
2:45 AM PST (10:45 GMT)
Capricorn is represented by the Mountain Goat aspiring to climb to the top of the mountain. But this is no ordinary mountain goat. It is actually a mythical sea-goat. The hind legs have taken the form of a fish tail, which makes the back side of this goat resemble a mermaid. The fish tail represents our connection with the water element and our emotions. The sea-goat must keep its tail connected to Mother Earth through its emotional body. If it fails to stay present in feeling sensitivity, its front feet lose their grip and it cannot reach the top of the mountain. This symbology conveys very important psychological information about our trek up the mountain of life.
During the last few millennium the patriarchy has redefined Capricorn in its own image and masked this feminine archetype with masculine traits. The Goat has morphed into a symbol of conquering the world with grit and hard work. The sensitive feeling tail which serves to direct our actions from intuitive/instinctual inner knowing has been forgotten and replaced by mental strategizing on how we can exploit the Planet and its bountiful resources and conquer physical reality with our cunningness and technology.
When we are connected to Mother Earth through our deep feelings, we know, accept, and honor her essence as a living organism. Without feeling sensitivity, the living Earth appears as an inert bundle of resources to be used to satisfy our own greed driven needs. As an economic system, the ‘greed machine’ has lost touch with the life-giving home that could support and nurture us all.
The basic problem with ignoring our feeling tail is that our emotions get suppressed in our subconscious. To the intellect, it may appear to be useful to ignore our feelings and emotions. However, ignorance is not bliss. What hides in our subconscious covetously rules our intellect and thus our actions (whether we believe or acknowledge this reality or not.) It doesn’t take much to witness that fear, anger, and greed direct the decision-making process of those who control the political and economic systems. The hidden tail rules. The results are obvious and deeply disturbing, even if we deny the cause.
December 19 – Mercury Goes Retrograde
2:55 AM PST (10:55 GMT) at 15 degrees Capricorn
Mercury remains in apparent backward motion until January 8 at 1:43 AM PST (9:43 GMT)
Mercury retrograde supports reflection, heart-felt honesty, strategic planning, and thorough preparatory work before launching your new projects or moving on to the next phase. Do not initiate or take action during this time if you feel any resistance or you aren’t totally prepared to move forward. Be cautious and careful. Be ready.
December 28-29 – Capricorn New Moon
10:52 PM PST (6:52 GMT) at 7 degrees Capricorn
At the Capricorn New Moon, the Sun, Moon, Mercury, and Pluto form a stellium in Capricorn, creating a serious mood for evaluating our plans in order to wisely move forward. Neptune, Mars, Chiron, asteroid Pallas, and the South Node form a stellium in Pisces, inviting us to be guided by higher love and to be inclusive in formulating our goals. One message is to stop siphoning off more of the Earth’s precious resources for the benefit of only a few. The ‘greed machine’ needs to either step aside or decide to operate from a compassionate heart.
The Capricorn archetype is about maturing into adulthood so that we can free ourselves from acting from spoiled brat or wounded childhood scripts that sabotage our individual and collective lives. Key words describing the Capricorn journey include – obligation, commitment, maturity, discipline, productive, practical, realistic, and responsible.
While the Sun shines in Capricorn we can cultivate and appreciate these powerful and useful qualities. If we look into the deeper meaning of responsibility, for example, we can recognize that taking responsibility for our own lives can deliver us to wholeness, inner peace, and freedom. We are each responsible for the state of our consciousness. Do we operate from fear, anger, and neediness, or do we operate from love, peace, and compassion? The state of world reflects the consciousness of the Earth’s inhabitants. We may be dismayed at the state of the world, but it should be no surprise to us given the fear and anger-based state of consciousness of most of the world’s population.
What can we do? Each of us can commit to finding peace within and operating from a compassionate heart.
January 12 – Cancer Full Moon and Cardinal Grand Cross
3:33 AM PST (11:33 GMT) at 22 degrees
The Water and Earth polarities meet every other month at the Full Moon to remind us about (1) how our body and emotions are connected, (2) how our inner reality affects our outer reality, and (3) how earth inhabitants interact with our home the Mother Earth.
The Cancer archetype embodies the Great Mother and her nurturing essence. Cancer teaches us to nurture and take care of ourselves (and each other.) Cancer connects us to our personal inner womb where we build a welcoming emotional foundation that can support us in the world.
The Cancer Full Moon can be a sacred time to connect with Mother Earth and our inner feeling space. But this Full Moon may evoke disturbing emotions more than quiet and cozy reflection. The Moon is confronted (opposed) by the Sun and Pluto in Capricorn. The Pluto factor signals the necessity of deep transformation that can happen only when we are brutally honest about our emotional conditioning and how it controls our intentions, thoughts and actions. The Sun illuminates Pluto’s deep truth and feelings.
The Cancer Moon also squares Jupiter in Libra and Uranus and Ceres in Aries. These oppositions and squares in the cardinal (active) signs form a grand cross. This energy demands action, but doesn’t necessarily give us the time and patience to work out the best long-term solutions. Moon in Cancer evokes our sensitive emotions. Uranus in Aries makes us impatient and assertive.
It is wise to plan ahead for this dynamic event. Promise yourself to breathe deeply and not to make any rash decisions or to take any impulsive actions. If, however, you have wisely used the Mercury Retrograde weeks (December 19 through January 8) to strategize and to prepare for the next phase of your journey, you can take advantage of the alignment of the cardinal ‘take action’ energy to move forward. You can certainly ascertain the best course of action by checking in with your emotions to monitor what ‘feels right’ and peaceful and what feels rushed and stressful.
Our challenge is to wisely use the powerful energies of the grand cross. In Capricorn terms, wise means disciplined, purposeful, and realistic. Deliberate action should be directed by intelligent evaluation of the current situation. We can benefit from this configuration if we are patient, plan carefully, and cooperate with all participants. Everyone involved has a special role to play and can contribute to a successful outcome. We must remember that an ‘objective’ evaluation must not discount the emotional and psychological components, which wag the tail of our best intentions.
Three hours after the peak of the Full Moon, Mercury enters Capricorn, where it stays through February 6 (before entering Aquarius.) With mental Mercury in Capricorn, the lens through which we view the world shifts from adventurous (and sometimes reckless) Sagittarius to stabilizing and cautious Capricorn. We can take a more detached approach and more carefully appraise our options as we move forward in the new year.
May each of you be blessed with a Happy, Healthy, and Harmonious New Year 2017!
May your presence create peace! Sat Nam!
