As the calendar year draws to a close, we find ourselves at one of the hinges of the solar year as well. When the lunar cycle syncs up with that, we have a deep, still New Moon.
Twice each year, the Sun reaches a solstice, as it hits the limit of its distance from the equator. Currently, the Sun is at its southernmost point, giving us winter and the southern hemisphere summer.
We humans have celebrated this time of the Sun standing still for thousands of years. Ancient sites such as Newgrange in Ireland, the Sun Temple of Machu Picchu in Peru, the Temple of Karnak at Luxor in Egypt, several structures in Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, and Stonehenge in southwest England all were built to highlight the Sun’s Capricorn Solstice.
I think of the Solstice as a caesura, a pause in poetry that follows the sense of the poem and its meaning, rather than the metrics. The Sun’s pause is natural. It adds sense and meaning to our year, when we pay attention. It has nothing to do with the structures we humans create around time, benchmarks, checklists, or calendars. No matter where we are, what we are doing, or how we feel, the Sun will pause in its place.
This pause at the beginning of Capricorn is one of strength. There’s no sense at the Solstice of the Sun being tired, or weak. Rather, this feels like the Sun gathering power, surveying where it’s been and looking forward to the next wave.
The astrological Solstice occurs precisely when the Sun enters Capricorn. Yet this is a multi-day (and night) event. It’s said that at each Solstice, the Sun dances in place for three days.
The celebrations of this time may have been longer still. It’s recently been discovered that the Sun penetrated the chamber at Newgrange for a full eighteen days.
Which means that this year, Jupiter’s entry into Aries on December 20, and Chiron’s direct station and the New Moon on December 23, all happen within the time of the Solstice. We’re in a pivot point. What do we need to know to move forward?
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This is a very Capricorn New Moon. This cardinal Earth sign feels right at home in the still quiet of Solstice. Here we find structure, solidity, sobriety, a strong sense of purpose, and the willingness to stay the course. Saturn, ruler of the New Moon, is strongly placed in Aquarius. We typically experience Saturn as holding us back, blocking movement. At this New Moon, in the midst of holiday plans and end-of-year accounting, we may welcome a call to slow down.
The New Moon is exact on December 23 with the Sun and Moon at 01º32’ Capricorn. It’s a crowded space, with Venus, Mercury, and Pluto also in the sign of the Sea Goat.
Venus in Capricorn shifts values and relationships from the theoretical to the real. What do justice, freedom, and autonomy look like on the streets of Tehran? In a movement determined to topple a corrupt regime, women, artists, athletes, students, and people from all walks of life, put their lives on the line. Does it seem more Saturnian to support the status quo? Perhaps it’s time to rethink any automatic linking of Saturn to whatever government is in power, and instead look to fundamental structures in all human societies that foster Saturnian values like integrity, truth, and justice.
Mercury (21º30’) sits between Venus (16º38’) and Pluto (27º23’). It looks like Mercury will carry on to conjunct Pluto and move into Aquarius–but no. On December 29, Mercury stations retrograde, so instead will return to conjunct Venus, moving back to 08º08’ Capricorn before stationing direct again.
The retrograde happens entirely within this lunar cycle, completed before we reach the New Moon in Aquarius. It adds a layer of discernment to the New Moon. Mercury is already within its shadow. We are thinking in logical, grounded ways. Soon we’ll be called to reexamine, reevaluate, and reassess our plans and structures.
The presence of Pluto, lord of the unseen, alchemist of the soul, adds to the depth and stillness. This is where we really get foundational. Pluto focuses on what is underneath, what is hidden, what is forbidden, what is lost. We’re in the last months of Pluto’s long sojourn in Capricorn. Structures in the world, in our lives, and in our psyches are under examination. Wherever Pluto finds something rotten or unstable, we may experience breakdowns. It’s time to pay attention.
But this New Moon is not limited to the sober seriousness of Saturn. Jupiter, newly arrived in Aries, squares the New Moon and positively enjoys shaking things up. Where change is needed, Jupiter in Aries can hurry it along. Where the status quo needs to be poked, Jupiter in Aries might try that. Here we find the enthusiasm and energy to tackle the big issues that face our world.
Considering this challenge between cardinal Earth and cardinal Fire, between a dark New Moon and the biggest planet in our solar system, I found myself thinking about Time Lords. What could be more Saturnian than aliens who manipulate time? And then we have The Doctor, the rogue Time Lord who goes about doing Jupitarian things like saving people and nudging timelines in the direction of peace and justice. Maybe in this cycle, we can learn something from The Doctor about managing our time flexibly, intelligently, and to good purpose.
This combination of Capricorn stability and Aries drive is not a bad one for thinking about the year ahead. Another practice associated with this time of year is divination. From December 26, through to the Full Moon in Cancer on January 6, we are in the omen days, the “between” times.
At this time of year, in many cultures, power structures were turned inside out and upside down. Kings became peasants, bishops became beggars, although only in jest.
These inversions are sometimes seen as ways of maintaining the status quo by letting off steam once a year. I wonder whether such festivities also remind us how arbitrary social hierarchies can be, and that we can make changes, when we summon the will and the energy to do it.
We’ve entered a new season and a new phase of the Sun’s journey. Jupiter in Aries also reminds us that this time of year, in the northern hemisphere, signals the rebirth of the Sun and, in many traditions, the birth or rebirth of a magical son, a boy child meant for great things.
Given the state of the world, we’re in need of heroes. Yet the message of this New Moon in Capricorn is that heroes will not always look big, bold, brave, and bright.
Sometimes heroes are small, young, vulnerable, yet still determined to give everything they have for freedom, justice, and autonomy.
Sometimes heroes are never seen, never famous, never on social media. They serve steadily, reliably, stoically, working hard at the seemingly ordinary tasks that keep us all alive.
Jupiter in Aries asks, what kind of hero will you become? The New Moon in Capricorn asks, what foundations will you need to put in place to get there?
All images are original Midjourney renders.