A Midwinter Full Moon
Winter Solstice is the culmination of the increasing night before the dawning of the light that will lead us back to Summer Solstice. It's where the SUN stands still for 3 days, and we assess our journey, contemplating how we will use the next half year cycle. It's the beginning of the CAPRICORN season, which is associated with the earth element, and the direction north. Here at the bottom of the year in the North, is where we can ground into the supportive physical wisdom of Mother Earth, our most fundamental guardian angel.
This year Winter Solstice is December 21 at 2:23pm on the West Coast and then the days will begin to lengthen; 2 minutes more light per day, until Midsummer.
January 1 is considered the first day of the New Year, but really, the cycle of light that our human lives have always revolved around, ends and begins at Winter Solstice. The old year has passed on and the rebirth will soon bring new activity.
The MOON is full at 00 degrees CANCER, the Summer Solstice point. CANCER is a cardinal, feminine, nocturnal, cold and moist sign ruled by the MOON herself. When you combine cardinality and water you get a lot of dynamic emotional activity, but mostly on the inside. CANCER the Crab is known to be full of feelings and moods and oriented towards protecting her tender underbelly with her pinchers. She is the sign that teaches us to personalize our lives, that what we care about and love and protect becomes the center of our personal universe. CANCER knows that feelings are very important and they are required to emotionally process our lives. Without digesting our lives through our feelings, we are in a cold robotic universe. CANCER is the sign of mother, of children, of nurturing, protecting, and fostering those who we love.
"CANCER is made of shimmering tears, the moon's light, and water from an ocean storm" (Luminatress). This Full MOON happens at the midpoint between the holy days of Winter Solstice and Christmas.
Winter Solstice or Yule is far older than our observation of December 25 as Jesus’s birthday. The Great Goddess giving birth to the Sun King as the SUN stands still (sol-stice) is an ancient story.
Here is an excerpt from the movie Zeitgeist.
"The Greatest Story Ever Told: As far back as 10 thousand B.C.E., history is abundant with carvings and writings reflecting people's respect and adoration for the Sun as every morning it would rise, bringing vision, warmth, and security, saving humans from the cold, blind, predator-filled, darkness of night. Without it, everyone understood the crops would not grow, and life would cease. These realities made the sun the most adored object of all time. Likewise, the tracking of the stars allowed them to recognize and anticipate events which occurred over long periods, such as eclipses and full moons. In turn, they catalogued celestial groups into constellations.
The Zodiac, one of the oldest conceptual images in human history, reflects the sun as it figuratively passes through the 12 major constellations over the course of a year. It also reflects the 12 months of the year, the 4 seasons, and the solstices and equinoxes. The term Zodiac relates to the fact that constellations were anthropomorphized, or personified, as figures, or animals.
The early civilizations personified them with elaborate myths involving their movements and relationships. The sun, with its life-giving and life -aving qualities was personified as a representative of the unseen creator or god..."God's Sun, the light of the world, the savior of humankind”.
Horus is the Sun God of Egypt of around 3000 BC. He is the sun, anthropomorphized, and his life is a series of allegorical myths involving the sun's movement in the sky.
Many other gods are found to have the same general mythological structure.
Attis, of Phrygia, born of the virgin Nana on December 25th, crucified, placed in a tomb and after 3 days, was resurrected.
Dionysus, born of a virgin on December 25th, was a traveling teacher who performed miracles such as turning water into wine, he was referred to as the "King of Kings," "God's Only Begotten Son," "The Alpha and Omega," and upon his death, he was resurrected.
Mithra, of Persia, born of a virgin on December 25th, he had 12 disciples and performed miracles, and upon his death was buried for 3 days and thus resurrected, he was also referred to as "The Truth," "The Light". The sacred day of worship of Mithra was Sunday.
The fact of the matter is there are numerous saviors, from different periods, from all over the world, which subscribe to these general characteristics". READ MORE AT BOTTOM OF PAGE
The pagan traditions of Yule have infused themselves into the celebration of the birth of Jesus. The evergreens represent everlasting life. Decorating a tree with lights and offerings is a pagan rooted tradition.
MERCURY conjunct JUPITER in SAG is a lovely signature for all the socializing that the holidays ask of us. It gives a boost of optimism and wit and joviality to offset the sensitive and emotional Full MOON that governs this year's Solstice gateway. So eat, drink, and be merry, but also allow for some emotional currents that you may need to be navigated, perhaps remembering those who are no longer with us.
The night of Winter Solstice is the time to let go of the extra baggage gleaned during the last year. It's time to leave behind what no longer serves your highest growth and health. Tune into the quiet stillness of this time, and feel the direction that you want to go from here.
The MOON being full in her own sign allows her more grace in handling her square to CHIRON, which is a part of this Full MOON's story. It speaks directly to family wounds and transgressions, passed down through the ancestral line. These are up for cleansing and healing right now. This a good Full MOON to get your body into some water. Hot, cold, salty, fresh, standing, swimming, bathing... you choose. In this way you may lustrate yourself.
CHIRON and URANUS are both at the end of their respective signs, and although they can’t see each other, they, the SUN, the MOON and her NODES are all humming together. Stargazer Li reminded me that the transmutation of a CHIRON transit is to begin to live your wounds as your gifts.
Let's take it to heart, at the close of the year.
There is also a story of Winter Solstice that even predates Santa, taking us back to the great and beloved Deer Mother. "It was she who once flew through winter’s longest darkest night with the life-giving light of the sun in her horns.
Ever since the early Neolithic, when the earth was much colder and reindeer more widespread, the female reindeer was venerated by northern people. She was the “life-giving mother”, the leader of the herds upon which they depended for survival, and they followed the reindeer migrations for milk, food, clothing and shelter. And from the British Isles, Scandinavia, Russia, Siberia, across the land bridge of the Bering Strait, she was a revered spiritual figure associated with fertility, motherhood, regeneration and the rebirth of the sun (the theme of winter solstice). Her antlers adorned shrines and altars, were buried in ceremonial graves, and were worn as shamanic headdresses. Her image was etched in standing stones, woven into ceremonial cloth and clothing, cast in jewelry, painted on drums, and tattooed onto skin. The reindeer was often shown leaping or flying through the air with neck outstretched and legs flung out fore and aft. Her antlers were frequently depicted as the tree of life, carrying birds, the sun, moon and stars. And across the northern world, it was the Deer Mother who took flight from the dark of the old year to bring light and life to the new.....
May your holy days be filled with love and joy and hygge!
I am offering a Winter Solstice special on Forecasts for 2019,
until December 31, 2018. Click here to book. and here to subscribe
Merry Solstice!
Paetra Tauchert, Astrologer
Images:
1. Franz Dvorak, The Guardian Angel, 1900
2. Kerry Darlington
3. Artist unknown
4. Pinterest
5. Photo by Mary Kathleen McCormick on FB
6. Heinrich Leffler and Joseph Urban, 1921
7. Margaret Clarke
8. Carl Larsson, 'Now It's Christmas Time Again (detail), 1907
9. Jane Whiting Chrzanoska
10. Photo by Flowell, 2018
11. Pintrest
T he Greatest Story Ever Told, continued from above....
The story of Jesus's birth sequence is completely astrological.
The star in the east is Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, which, on December 24th, aligns with the 3 brightest stars in Orion's Belt.
These 3 bright stars are called today what they were called in ancient times:
The Three Kings. The Three Kings and the brightest star, Sirius,
all point to the place of the sunrise on December 25th.
This is why the Three Kings "follow" the star in the east, to locate the sunrise --
the birth of the sun.
The Virgin Mary is the constellation Virgo, also known as Virgo the Virgin.
Virgo in Latin means virgin.
Virgo is also referred to as the House of Bread,
and the representation of Virgo is a virgin holding a sheaf of wheat,
which represents the time of harvest.
Bethlehem literally translates to "house of bread".
Bethlehem is thus a reference to the constellation Virgo,
a place in the sky, not on Earth.
The most obvious of all the astrological symbolism around Jesus
are the 12 disciples. They are simply the 12 constellations of the Zodiac,
which Jesus/the Son/Sun, travels through.
Happy Rebirthday to Jesus and all the Sun Kings,
Blessed Be!
