Today is Wednesday, December 21, 2011. We are at one of the most significant turning points of the year: solstice. Are you feeling it? This shortest day and longest night for the Northern Hemisphere is marked by the Sun’s ingress of Capricorn, which occurs overnight tonight or tomorrow morning, depending on your time zone. For the East Coast of the U.S., it occurs at 12:30 am Thursday.
Whether solstice, Yule, Christmas or Saturnalia, whether in ancient days or now, this time of year has held one of the most important and evocative holidays of the whole year. One might think that the summer solstice, with its long days and warmth, might have taken the most prominent position in our imaginations. But as much as we may love (even prefer) that time of year, now – the start of winter — is when the modern western world holds its biggest celebrations.
True, for the non-religious, Christmas has become a commercialized event far from its Christian roots, to say nothing of its even more ancient Pagan beginnings. (One could make a case for some likenesses to Saturnalia, the ancient Roman holiday of food, drink, revelry and gift-giving that honored Saturn – though the current extreme seems to have more to do with modern escapism than tradition at this point.)
Students of astrology understand that the Sun’s ingress of a cardinal sign indicates an initiation into a new season, and Capricorn is a cardinal sign. But it’s not even the sign that begins our zodiacal year – that’s Aries. Why then isn’t the spring equinox the time of the biggest, best, most-anticipated holidays? Can it get much better than the length of the days beginning to outweigh the nights? The start of the growing season with its “force that through the green fuse drives the flower” (to borrow from Dylan Thomas)?
Apparently, the origin of that force is deeper, darker and incredibly evocative – and gets its start now, three months before equinox. And perhaps because it exists in this point upon which we balance fear and faith, despair and anticipation, contraction and expansion, grave and womb – and more so because we come to this moment in the year through increasing darkness – the winter solstice is very internal. Yet for all its sense of stillness, it drives us to search. For some, it’s a search for a reason to keep going; a search for a connection within ourselves to something larger: to Source. In this current era, we know that the Sun’s annual conjunction with the center of our galaxy in Sagittarius happens just days before the solstice. But even hundreds (and thousands) of years ago, it seems this energy was understood.
One of the terms for this time of year is Yule (or Jul), a Nordic word that also has associations with a Middle High German word for ‘invocation of the Sun’. In the far northern regions of Europe, the sun never even reaches the horizon in midwinter. After that region converted to Christianity, people continued to use the word to mean the Christmas feast. But at its essence, a yule is a cycle or wheel that carries us onwards on the path of evolution.
In the book Odsmal by Guðrún Kristín, Kristín describes this time of year as it’s depicted in the ancient sacred poems of Iceland:
Skírnir is the rising sun at winter solstice in the North. He signifies that now the days are growing longer. Birth of the light of life. Skírnir is a ray of divinity, an avatar, geisli [geisli are rays of inner most subtle divinity, the spiritual Sun, the goddess] that makes the materially-oriented man realize how he shall wither away if he does not find his innermost divinity, his real core and essence, his nourishment.
Wolf-Dieter Storl, in Kräuterkunde, remarks: “The darkest night of the year was called mothers’ night, because now the sun god, lover of the goddess, is reborn in the lap of the Earth. With him, the light of life is renewed. It is the moment of quietness, of contemplation.”
Is it any wonder that early Christians chose this time to commemorate the birth of Jesus, the Son of God? Not only were there powerful and compelling myths of birth and redemption already in place, complete with celebrations, but the metaphor of light returning to a dark Earth to bring it back to life may be the most powerful one we have. And during this time, the constellation Virgo appears on the eastern horizon, where the Sun will rise on Christmas morning (a son born of a Virgin).
The return of the light signifies the process of making things conscious once again, and this past season in particular has ignited new opportunities to become conscious and bring healing to our darker nights of the soul. The Sun aspects potent planets in the winter solstice chart, including Uranus, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Chiron, Vesta and even Pluto. We are being asked to increase our conscious understanding of the changes we have been through in many facets of our lives as we head into the next three months.
The Saturnian boundaries provided by the Sun in Capricorn can provide respite, however. They provide us the opportunity to give structure and form to the visions we’ve received during our descent, allowing us to shine the light of consciousness out into the darkness in a way that can help others to see a little more clearly. The solstice is a time for setting intentions that will grow with the lengthening of the days. You are being invited to go inside and figure out just what seeds you’d like to sow in the magic of the darkness just before the dawn.
Looking for insights on how this week’s astrology affects your personal Sun and rising signs? Try out Planet Waves Light, our streamlined horoscope service. For deeper cultural context and astrological investigation, the premium Planet Waves subscription includes the same horoscopes, plus extensively-researched articles on Fridays.
green-star — thank you for the extra info! much of it was sent to me by our research assistants, but there is *so much* fascinating info about yule & solstice, there was no way to fit it all in. and you managed to find some tidbits i had not seen yet. we now have an incredible wealth of resources for next year’s solstice. 🙂
and thank you for the update on comet lovejoy! a friend of mine had told me it was predicted to hit the sun on his birthday, and was wondering what i meant. i like knowing that it survived, and i think your take on its message of surrendering to one’s path and trusting is a powerful and timely one.
I learned about several interesting aspects of Yule recently:
– that during this time around the Winter Solstice in some ancient Norse cultures, Mistletoe was tied to tree branches to indicate a call for warring factors to come together under that tree, lay down their swords and come to a peaceful settlement of their grievances… in other words, to end the wars and disagreements of the previous year and start the coming year with a clean space of peace among all participants.
– another translation for “Jul” apparently is “Wheel” as in the turning of…
– that the “Yule log” was supposed to be big enough to burn for 12 days and nights. This may be an ancient pre-Christian root for the 12 days of Christmas. In some traditions, a piece of the Yule log was saved (before burning) to be attached to the first plow of spring… thus bringing the power of the returning sun into the earth by way of the plow which it was believed, would help the seeds to germinate faster and grow better.
– In some cultures, all hearths in all the homes were extinguished on the night of the Winter Solstice and everyone sat up all night in the darkness (except perhaps for a single oil lamp) together keeping vigil, telling stories and making prayers for the return of the sun. At sunrise, new fires were then lit (sometimes from the Yule log which burned in a central location in the village) in all the hearths to symbolize the return of the Light, into the world and into the home.
– that during the Saturnalia feasting period, all citizens were of equal rank and all participated in events as equals – slaves and slave owners, wealthy and poor, highly educated and non-educated…..for the week of Saturnalia, all were more or less considered to have the same status and everyone enjoyed the feasting games and contests together. This tid-bit fascinated me given how we currently generally feel about “Saturn stuff”….I wonder if something has gotten lost down thru the ages that we might want to reclaim about Saturn if this lore is true. With Saturn poised to enter Scorpio, this might be an excellent time to research this tradition and bring it back!
– traditionally, in ancient Greek beliefs, the Solstices were the time when the Gods returned to Mt Olympus, including Hades, God of the underworld…it was the only time he was allowed to enter this city of light and be accepted by his kin without reservation.
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Something that has just occurred this Solstice season was a somewhat miraculous ride for comet Lovejoy ( please take note of the name!) Discovered only on Dec.2nd by Terry Lovejoy from Australia (hence the name of the comet) but on December 16th it plunged into the intense atmosphere of our own Sol (sun) and grazed the surface by a mere 120,000km and, astonishingly survived! It was not a huge comet to begin with (estimated to be only 500 meters in diameter) and no one thought it would survive, but it did.
And now, those of you who are lucky enough to be living in the Southern Hemisphere can now witness the spectacular tail that is beginning to be visible in the pre-dawn light. Here is a lovely time-lapse movie of how it is now appearing in Australia :
http://vimeo.com/34007626
This event feels highly significant to me, especially for our collective. First the idea of something from the farthest reaches of darkness can come kissing-close to it’s own death and survive is phenomenal. Now that it has performed this magical death-spiral (it literally did spiral for a while as it approached the surface of the sun, it begins to return to deep space once again, only now is sporting a glowing tail of triumph, to remind us all that we can die to what we think we are and be re-born. Now take all of that and add the layer of this comet’s name “Lovejoy” to the story and it really says something powerful about what is possible when we surrender to our own path and trust what is shaping us, as individuals and as a collective.
I am also reminded of the myth of Pandora…and the one tiny creature who was not allowed to escape after all the ills of the world had been accidentally unleashed, the creature called HOPE. For me, comet Lovejoy’s miraculous transformation has the same kind of feeling.
Perhaps our friends in the Southern Hemisphere can seek out a face-to-face with comet Lovejoy and share with us here in the north what it is like to stand in the pre-dawn light and gaze at such a glittering reminder of transformation against all odds. You are so lucky to get to see this! And you got to see comet McNaught in 2007! We in the north can only imagine what a thrill it must be to be able to see this event first-hand. 🙂
Thank you Amanda. Merry Christmas. To All.
I think the energy levels are different. We have more exposure to sunlight and longer days. But, in just listening to people talk about how tired they feel, how they yearn to relax and be ‘still’ for a moment – it tells me that the stages are all invariable the same
I wish I had more ‘time’ to reflect..before the moment passes
I’m jumping in with the Long Meg explanation – I’ve had intentions of getting there for a while myself, and instead I’ve ended up driving around the Lake District never getting further north than Lake Windermere (water is so distracting!). Looks so interesting though!!
http://www.britainexpress.com/articles/Ancient_Britain/long-meg.htm
Musicman:
THANK YOU for Salif and Cesaria. It’s such a treat to share the joy of music from this wonderful planet of ours!!
sinderhoper – what is the long meg?
As a soltice baby I am always interested to read about the origins, I pften go the long meg in the lake district on my birthday at sunset
startrek and kelly — i totally understand the frustration and disconnect, but as bkoehler points out, you are invited and welcome to share what your experiences and traditions are this time of year!
i did not forget you all down under — hence the statement, “This shortest day and longest night for the Northern Hemisphere.” there was no assumption that this is everyone’s reality the world over. hell, this article doesn’t even necessarily reflect the experience of someone in southern florida as opposed to northern canada.
but one of the things i kept in mind as i worked, is that the holiday traditions for most western cultures come from northern hemisphere ancient traditions… even greece, from which we get most (if not all?) western astrology is a northern hemisphere locale.
by no means am i suggesting that the southern hemisphere “doesn’t count.” far from it. but in juggling, sifting through and trying to incorporate research sent in from *seven* contributors to this article, all based in the northern hemisphere and sending in material chronicling traditions for the solstice from this half of the world (within a few hours of publication deadline, mind you), it was all i could do to put together what i have.
clearly it falls short, and i apologize for not fully accounting for the experiences of half our readership.
so how about this: a little assistance in preparation for the solstices of 2012?
if you two — and any others — could please do a little research on solstice traditions for your hemisphere, and how you celebrate what when, and how the seasons and astrology mesh for you, and send it in *now*, then we can have it on hand for when we need it.
that way, eric and i any any other PW editor can assimilate it well before deadline. this time of year is always busy and packed full, making it a little tricky to coordinate extra projects. we’d welcome any personal reflections on what this time of year means (and personal solstice anecdotes) from anyone in the southern hemisphere who would like to share.
you can email your contributions for the coming year to amanda (at) planetwaves.net or post them as comments here.
thank you! i really look forward to hearing what it’s like to be working with sagittarius and capricorn energies when light and dark are reversed. it’s messing with my head already…
Kelly and Startrek,
We would love to hear from you how you are experiencing this time of the year. The planets are in the same signs and degrees in the solstice chart for you down under as they are here up north. In Washington DC, USA, for example, there will be a midheaven on the solstice chart at 5 Cancer 31 and the ascendant will be 4 Libra 51. Will the chart for your part of the world have Capricorn on the midheaven or Arises rising?
The Sun in the DC chart will be at the nadir, along with Pluto, so in regards to the US government, the emphasis is on the strength of foundations and ancestry being challenged by Uranus at 0 Aries near the descendant, or 7th house cusp of partnerships. Where do they fall in the charts for your neck of the woods?
Today I loved hearing about a place I’ve never been to, Iceland, and since we are all on the same planet, and with the Internet availing people all over the world with one another, all at the same time, it seems only normal that we should share our experiences of planet-wide phenomena with each other. Please share!
be
Cesaria Evoria … from The Cape Verde Islands … along the West African coast … recorded with Mali’s voice of the Divine … Conscious … and Collective Unconscious … Salif Keita … who survived a childhood … as an African Albino (Marabouts,Griots,Jalis and Witchdoctors always need a sales pitch) … generally being regarded as the Devil … and stoned and beaten on a weekly basis!
Some 40 years later he then produced a lyrical masterpiece for Will Smith’s “Ali” film … “Tomorrow”
Saturn is here to bring out, affirm and strengthen that Collective Unconscious … that voice that is a road map of the Soul’s journey … as we dive into the fruit of the Capricorn Earth … from all of that healing Sagittarian Fire.
Perhaps … for upside down … hot is cold … Antipodeans … it is time for a PW to have Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn versions … or send it through the glass to Alice!
Here is Cesaria Evoria … Cape Verdean … fiery and hot … with the earthy Divinity of Salif Keita … Mali’s truest … and Africa’s greatest voice!
The seasons most loving greetings to you all!
Yamore
http://youtu.be/HIA47gHzLSI
Paul Hill
thanks
A great article but hey, this is Australia, light just after 4am, very hot and long days, this is the solstice to us at the right time the start of summer, as usual those at planet waves totally forget the other half exists which I often find very disappointing as no mention in this or other blogs, I think it about time to include the whole planet not just to top half.
Don down under.
Is Virgo always rising on Christmas morning?
Thank you. But what about us who live in the Southern Hemisphere?
Like yesterday – the most extraordinary blend of words and picture. Thank you for this wonderful hymn to the winter solstice – for its beauty and guidance – and for my favourite Dylan Thomas line. Was thinking how rich PW is – how all of you PW writers always bring poetry, art and music onto these pages. It’s such a treat to click on PW and find… Cesaria Evoria – sand dancers…(and sometimes great comedy too!). These are the things that nourish the heart and soul. And boy do we need that nourishment. But you pull no punches either, with your in-depth analysis of the political climate and happenings in the world. Have ended up writing a winter solstice celebration of PW! Thank you all for lighting up the darkness!
Sculpture and picture are sublime. Thank you for all.