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Winter Solstice Musings

The birth of winter in the Northern Hemisphere comes at the moment of the Winter Solstice, when the long hours of night begin to lessen and the sunlit days once again begin to lengthen, drawn inexorably toward the languorous days of summer six months hence. At its root, this festival celebrates the annual rebirth of the Light as it overcomes the Darkness, bringing renewed hope to humankind. Most religious traditions commemorate it with their own symbolism and mythology - the birth of the Christ on Earth, the miracle of the candles that burned for 8 days without oil, etc. – but underneath, there is a similar motif in them all, based on the theme of the Light, shining with some kind of divine presence, defeating the threat of encroaching darkness.

It may be that an even deeper mystery pervades the Winter Solstice, one which derives its meaning from the fact that this is the moment when the Earth is passing through the perigee of its annual rotation around the Sun. In other words, the Earth is, for this brief moment, at its closest point to the Sun in the entire year. In ancient times, the Sun was worshipped as the source of all life and a divinity in its own right. In our modern scientific consciousness, by contrast, we think of the Sun as merely a ball of various gases, just as we think of ourselves as merely a physical body. But if we can grasp the concept of a deeper spiritual presence within ourselves, who are we to say what may or may not inhabit that ball of gases at the center of our solar system? And is there some momentary communion between the Earth and the Heavens, in this time of nearness between them at the birth of winter, that also contributes to the theme of the Light overcoming the Darkness? Such is the profound mystery surrounding the Solstice.

In astrology, it is the Sun passing through the four Cardinal points in the tropical zodiac that corresponds with the beginning of the four seasons. These four corners of the year are the Spring Equinox (Sun at 00 Aries), the Summer Solstice (Sun at 00 Cancer), the Fall Equinox (Sun at 00 Libra), and the Winter Solstice (Sun at 00 Capricorn). A chart may be drawn for each of these significant moments for the capital city of a particular nation, which will describe the life of that nation for the three months of the following season. The Spring Equinox chart may also be seen as the birth of the zodiacal year and can be used to understand the entire 12-month period.

These charts are of particular consequence when planets fall exactly on or in hard aspect to one of the chart angles or near enough that a subsequent transit will make the aspect with the angle exact within the designated three-month season or within twelve months if the aspect is in the Spring Equinox chart. Also significant are hard aspects (including conjunctions) that are either exact or will be exact during the period for which the Ingress chart is operational. A recent example can be found in the London bombings of July 2005. The timing of these events can be found in the Spring Equinox chart of 2005 drawn for London. Here we find Saturn (20Cancer24) conjunct the Moon (29Cancer39) opposite Mars (29Capricorn50), with the Moon/Mars opposition very close to the Ascendant/horizon line (1Leo17). On the day of the first attack, July 7, 2005, transiting Saturn (28Cancer49) had moved to conjunct the Equinox Moon and oppose Equinox Mars, with the transiting Moon (24Cancer23), acting as a trigger throughout the day. The second attack, July 21, 2005, brought transiting Saturn (00Leo39) to a conjunction with the Equinox Ascendant (1Leo17), with again the transiting Moon (29Capricorn26) acting as a trigger from the opposition point and conjunct Equinox Mars.

Another example of a significant Ingress chart is the Spring Equinox chart prior to 9/11 in which Uranus (22Aquarius58) is exactly square to the Ascendant (22Taurus11). On 9/11, transiting Uranus was at 21Aquarius50 retrograde, slightly past the exact square to the Ascendant in the Equinox chart. So what triggered this explosive square on 9/11? In this case, we find a tertiary progression in the US chart of Mercury at 21Scorpio56, moving to the exact opposition to the Equinox Ascendant over the next, very agitated, five days.

Happily, such dramatic events are not always unfolding, and the key would seem to be some involvement of the Ascendant of a Solar Ingress chart if the event will physically or more intensely impact the nation itself. An exact aspect to the Midheaven, on the other hand, is more likely to impact the nation’s ruler in some way. In the Fall Equinox chart of 2005 drawn for Washington, we find Pluto (21Sagittarius56) just separating from a conjunction to the Midheaven (21Sagittarius36). These three months have certainly been a time period when the president has been battling for his political survival and engaged in many bitter power struggles (Pluto). Had this been a waxing conjunction with perhaps a station exactly on the MC, we would have seen a far more profound and protracted conflict.

The Winter Solstice chart of 2005 has within it a Grand Cross including the planets Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, and Neptune, with the added attraction of Pluto in either a semisquare or a sesquiquadrate to Mars, Saturn and Jupiter. The Mars/Saturn square is particularly tight, with Mars, additionally, only 3 degrees and 14 minutes from the Ascendant (5Taurus51), albeit separating. This chart suggests a great deal of tension in the nation during this season, with the people angry (Mars/Ascendant), and the administration struggling to contain the anger (square from Saturn, ruler of MC). This process will be particularly strong from December 23 through January 12, as Mars moves to the exact square with Solstice Saturn and then Saturn moves to the exact square with Solstice Mars. The upset and agitation in the populace is also indicated by the exact opposition of the Moon and Uranus in the Solstice chart. Additionally, some kind of sadness, grief, or burden may impact the nation from February 8 through February 23, 2006, when transiting Saturn makes its exact square to the Solstice Ascendant.

Looking ahead to the Spring Equinox chart of 2006, there are indications that the surprises, upsets, agitation, reversals, and rebellion inherent in the planet Uranus will dominate the landscape in 2006. We find Uranus (11Pisces49) and Mercury (14Pisces20) square Mars (16Gemini16) in the Equinox chart. Moreover, the Uranian elements of this chart are further highlighted when seen in the context of transits of Uranus to the US chart and the Gulf War chart.

When transiting Uranus moves to the exact conjunction of Equinox Mercury in the 8th house of death and profound transformation, where it sits from April 21 through July 21, 2006, we have a simultaneous transit of Uranus to the Ascendant of the Gulf War chart (14 Pisces), suggesting powerful, explosive, unexpected, and transformative events on the warfront. When transiting Mars twice moves to an exact hard aspect with Equinox Pluto (26Sagittarius44), activating a natal 10-degree-wide opposition, both times it is during the potentially upsetting and disruptive transit of Uranus square the US Ascendant (12Sagittarius59). The first crossing of Uranus square US Ascendant will be from March 24 through April 13, 2006, with the Mars opposition to Equinox Pluto from April 6 though April 8, 2006. The second crossing of Uranus square US Ascendant will be from August 6 through September 2, 2006, with Mars opposing Equinox Pluto from August 31 to September 2. Mars will also be triggering a very volatile 3/29/06 eclipse chart at the end of August 2006. There is a significant potential for disruptive and upsetting events during both of these powerful planetary configurations.

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The Solstices and the Equinoxes mark our movement through the year and its seasons. In the early days of winter at the time of the Solstice, as the days begin to incrementally grow longer, there is relief in knowing the Light is once again waxing stronger. Before the advent of electricity, humanity deeply felt the inwardness of the season and the rebirth that came with the shift in late December, just as they celebrated the outward streaming of their energy at the Summer Solstice. In our modern industrialized world, we have lost touch with these yearly rhythms, but their deeper truths underlie much of the religious tradition today. These four great signposts on the earth’s yearly path are each seed moments that can be clearly charted for predictive purposes. But in using them for prediction, we might also remember what they stand for as manifestations of our yearly journey in our shared life on Earth.