The Cosmic Story: Winter Solstice 2023
What Are We Birthing?
The Wheel of the Year: Yule – Winter Solstice
The Wheel of the Year keeps on turning, and here in the northern hemisphere, it’s now returning to its beginning – the Rebirth of the Light.
As I write this, we are in the shortest days of light this year here in the northern hemisphere – the Longest Nights are upon us. (And to you in the southern hemisphere, have fun with the longest days– Summer Solstice!)
If you’re able to, go out and be in the dark night. Feel the darkness, with its starry fields and glowing Moon. Listen to the voices of the night. Feel the chill as you breathe in the Winter air. Isn’t a night walk a time when we often experience the mystery and magic of life? The darkness awakens our imaginations. Especially when we’re out in Nature.
The Wheel of the Year is the story of how we humans experience the ebb and flow of light. It tells the story of Earth’s relationship with the Sun, just as a month tells the story of Earth’s relationship to the Moon. In modern times, with our insulated homes, electric lights and supermarkets, we no longer have the experiences our ancestors had, with their intimate relationship to nature and dependence on Her.
Yet we still participate in the story, whether we are conscious of it or not. Our religious holidays often celebrate these times under other names. But our connection to Nature and our cosmos is bound into our DNA.
So celebrate this Solstice – whether Winter or Summer – with a conscious intention of letting the light within you be reborn and to shine out. Let love, kindness and peace, beauty, courtesy and truth, honor, strength and courage become a bright 9-pointed star of light within you, a star that will shine out into the world to help overcome the darkness of fear, hate and ignorance that is swirling in our world.
Winter Solstice 2023
Once upon a time there was a land shrouded in darkness. This was not always so; at one time, it had been a land of great Light and depth and beauty.
Thus began my Winter Solstice story, about the loss of the light of Summer Solstice. But re-reading it now, I find that it could also describe our own times. Once we lived in a world of light, but now we live in darkness.
It feels that way for many people. After COVID, our world is different but the same. It seems out-of-phase, not quite settled back into the old ways we lived. And it shouldn’t. Even though people are trying to force it back because they are afraid.
The World that we counted on is shaken. The unexpected endless wars go on. Innocents are murdered, both through physical violence and legal violence. The Earth is going through cataclysmic changes. People are afraid and suspicious. There are extremes on both sides but most people live on the middle ground. What can we do to bring things back into balance? Will we? Will we survive as a species or will we die out as so many other species have done throughout the ages?
The Christians talk of the End Times, the Native people tell us The Emergence to the future Fifth World has begun. It is being made by the humble people of the little nations, tribes, and racial minorities. It will be made by all people of good will. Astrologers tell us to hope for the future once Pluto goes into Aquarius next year. One of the things Aquarius symbolizes is the ‘group mind’ and Pluto is going to evolve it.
It’s not the end of the world – it’s the end of an old collective system of belief.
What we are going through now is a collective ‘dark night of the soul’ where we are being given the chance to really look at ourselves – our shadows and our light – and choose to believe that Spirit is guiding us, even in the darkness of unknowing.
We can’t heal ourselves and our society – and our world – if we don’t reflect on what has been festering for millennia. The harsh inequality between people and humanity and Nature. This might seem too simplistic for the mess we find ourselves in, but it is the cause of so many of society’s ills.
The need to dominate both others and Nature. To take more than our fair share. The fear of the Other and of the magic of the Feminine. This Shadow wound won’t allow that we – humans and all aspects of Nature – are One Being – Mother Earth.
We begin to heal when we love thy neighbor as thyself. But first we must love ourselves in the right way. Can we learn to see ourselves so we can truly see others? Can we forgive ourselves and heal? If we can, we will know we are the same. One people, one world. One Spirit. This is the ultimate lesson of the Piscean Age, which we have to learn if we want a truly equal Aquarian Age.
Love One Another.
It will take is the death of patriarchy to allow it to happen. (Those Greek gods never passed on their power peacefully.) Patriarchy has shaped our world view – the good and the bad. When we break out of the patriarchal mold, we will see the world differently. Success won’t be measured in money, but rather by integrity and self-worth. Religion will become a deep connection between each person and Spirit. Education will focus on different learning styles and gifts. (Not everyone needs to go into finance.) We will consider Nature an equal partner in decisions that affect society as a whole.
Hopefully, we’ll lose our fear of life and of the Other. If we can break out of patriarchy’s rules, we’ll get to shape our future collective mindset (Aquarius) to embrace diversity, spirituality and community. This is the Piscean Love which needs to be the foundation of the Aquarian Age, for only Love can shape our equality and our sense of oneness.
It always begins in a small way. A single light to shine in the darkness. A light that gives people hope.
This is what Winter Solstice is to us. A Light in the Dark, like the prism light that Galadriel gave to Frodo. To lead us back into life and light. This is how we need to meet 2024, which is shaping up to being a year of great change.
Stay intentional – live in Love and Peace.
Winter Solstice, December 21-22, 2023
This year’s Winter Solstice occurs on Thursday, December 21, 2023 at 6:27pm Alaska time, 7:27pm PST, 8:27pm MT, 9:27pm CST, 10:27pm EST and on Friday, December 22 at 3:27am GMT. For three days, the Sun will ‘stand still’ before turning around and heading north again. The day it moves forward is Christmas Eve/morning – the Birth of the Sun/Son of God.
This year’s Solstice chart is very grounded, with 6 planets and an asteroid in Earth signs. The Capricorn Sun is in an easy flow (trine/120*) to the Taurus Moon, which is conjunct the great benefic Jupiter, bringing good luck and grace to us.
The Moon is our operating system if you will – how we experience life. Taurus Moon wants to enjoy the pleasures of life. This is a good reminder in these dark days that we can still enjoy life and give thanks for it, even while feeling deep sorrow for those who are enduring death, hunger and fear. With Jupiter so close to the Moon – don’t forget to go out and look at them – we can expand our enjoyment by including others. How do we want to embody our unconscious need for comfort, peace, beauty and love? We can also over-indulge with our eating, buying and celebrating. It’s all up to us how we engage with these cosmic energies.
Taurus is all about simplicity, enjoying the basic energies of life – love, community, enjoyment, pleasure, beauty.
Tis the gift to be simple,
'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we
ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just
right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When
true simplicity is gain'd,
To bow and to bend we will not be
asham'd,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by
turning, turning we come round right.
Jupiter is the great benefic, the luck-bringer, the energy of expansion and questing. But he is also the energy of spirituality and moral values. With both planets in Taurus – along with Uranus – it’s time to include Mother Earth’s needs and comfort as well as our own. Our physical body is our connect to Mother Earth. If we don’t keep our own bodies healthy, we will lose out on a strong connection to Nature’s biosphere.
This Solstice offers us an opportunity to center ourselves in our physical body (Taurus) and its needs so we consider what that means for our society (Capricorn). Do we really want our resources – those of our work and our money – to go towards war and consumerism, or do we want to share our resources with our communities, our nations and our world to bring about that peace we all hope for at this time of year?
Taurus is the sign that embodies the spiritual fire of Aries. What do we want to build? “If you build it, they will come.” The Field of Dreams wasn’t only for baseball. It’s for all of us. What dreams do we want to manifest this next year? Go out and build it and others will come.
Venus rules this Taurus Moon/Jupiter. She is traveling through Scorpio, opposite Uranus in Taurus. It’s the right time for a breakthrough in consciousness. While Venus is in the underworld of Scorpio, she is shedding her skin and being reborn on an emotional level. Venus is in an easy flow with Neptune in Pisces, opening her heart to the sorrow and sadness in the collective unconscious. Children should not be dying, and the elderly should not be abandoned.
Venus in Scorpio is opposite Uranus in Taurus. With Uranus’ awakening kiss, Venus can see what the Earth needs from us and what we need from Earth’s wisdom. So many of us are sick – from flues, COVID, nerves, depression, sleeplessness, confusion. We can go back to Mother Earth and be healed. We need to ground ourselves – 5-10 minutes of standing/walking barefoot on the Earth can reduce pain and inflammation, lower stress, and improve sleep. Taurus says, Simple is best. We don’t need drugs to make us better. We need to connect to the Earth’s energy and we need to learn to breathe right. (Reading a fabulous book called Breath by James Nestor – it’s absolutely worth reading. You’ll never take your breathing for granted again. And you’ll get healthy by breathing right.)
If the Moon is our operating system, then the Sun is our power source. This Solstice is powered by Capricorn, the need to contribute to our collective welfare – our dharma. On a mundane level, it rules our social structures – governments, finance systems, corporations, education, etc.
Mercury retrograde travels along with the Sun, and is open to considering whatever information comes its way. Let the information be informed by the Moon/Jupiter in Taurus and by Saturn in Pisces. Saturn in Pisces is preparing our emotional ground for new structures of reality. We need spiritual integrity and humility to ground us now. It’s time to believe again in Magic! (The real secret is that patriarchy has insisted that magic isn’t real. But we know it is and that it’s hiding in the rejected and reviled Feminine spirit.)
Pluto in the last degrees of Capricorn is once again squaring the Aries/Libra Nodes and also the Taurus Moon/Jupiter conjunction. It’s urging us all to stop being consumers so we can become citizens. Taurus isn’t only about possessions and money – it’s most basically about Values. What do we value? What is our self-worth, not our monetary worth? Pluto is in it’s last month in Capricorn before entering Aquarius again for 9 months. (Hint: Pluto returns to 29*+ Capricorn for the US elections next fall – our challenge to retain our democracy or collapse into fascism.) What will we value? If we value freedom and truth and the rights of all living beings, we need to stand up for it.
In the darkest days, we band together to ensure that life goes on. This is symbolized by The Emperor in the Tarot. The Emperor sets up the structure and rules of society. We are at a turning point, a time when the old Emperor is dying and a new King will soon arise. The old King doesn’t want to let go, but death is inevitable. It’s up to each of us to make it was painless as possible while making sure it happens! Patriarchy is making a last push for power. We the people have to stop it.
(I plan to give a free talk in January on Pluto in Aquarius, where we will do a past life regression to see if we were around during the American Revolution or any of the revolutions that occurred last time Pluto was in Aquarius (1778-1797). What did we learn then? Are we the revolutionaries we need today?)
Speaking of the New King, Mars in Sagittarius (which is out-of-bounds meaning it’s sort of a wildcard) is in a good flow with the North Node and Eris in Aries, enabling him to speak and stand up for the truth. Venus is inconjunct the North Node, making Venus feel like she has to sacrifice something to do the responsible thing. But since sacrifice means ‘to make sacred’ she won’t feel deprived. Venus is traveling just 30* behind Mars, putting her in the balsamic phase of their cycle. She’s telling him it’s time to grow up and choose the just and morally responsible thing to do.
While Venus is opposed by Uranus, Mars is in an inconjunct with Uranus. We are being challenged to act on our unique insights and on our own way of expressing our truths, regardless of what others think. Just remember that things take time to manifest. Go slow and let things gestate in their own natural time. Then watch things grow throughout the new year.
When Pluto goes into Aquarius for the next 20 years in December 2024, we will be working to transform the collective mindset and belief systems. It will be a time to learn to master our connection to the higher Mind (Uranus/Aquarius). Hopefully, humanity will expand its consciousness and learn to accept the multi-dimensionality of our being. I believe that there is magic in our world, and that the Divine Feminine holds it. As we integrate our feminine imagination with our masculine intellect, we will access those powers which are lying dormant in our DNA. We will become ‘the possible human’ as the transpersonal psychologist Jean Houston calls it. But first we need to consciously evolve.
So let your light shine out (don’t hide it under a bushel!). Make 2024 a turning point of collective awakening.
Wishing you a blessing Solstice,
Cathy
The Winter of Listening
No one but me by the fire,
my hands burning red
in the palms while
the night wind carries everything away
outside.
All this petty worry
while the great cloak of the sky grows
dark and intense round every living thing.
What is precious inside us does not
care to be known by the mind in ways that diminish its presence.
What we strive for in perfection
is not what turns us into the lit angel we desire,
what disturbs and then nourishes has everything we need.
What we hate in ourselves
is what we cannot know in ourselves
but what is true to the pattern
does not need to be explained.
Inside
everyone
is a great shout of joy
waiting to be born.
Even with the summer so far off
I feel it grown in me now
and ready to arrive in the world.
All those years listening
to those who had nothing to say.
All those years forgetting
how everything has its own voice
to make itself heard.
All those years
forgetting how easily
you can belong to everything
simply by listening.
And the slow difficulty of remembering
how everything is born from
an
opposite and miraculous otherness.
Silence and winter
has led me to that otherness.
So
let this winter of listening
be enough for the new life
I
must call my own.
~ David Whyte~
(The House of Belonging)
