Today is the eve of the Capricorn solstice 2012. When the Sun changes signs tomorrow at 6:11 am EST, we will directly encounter the most-hyped moment in the history of astrology, the New Age or amateur archeology.
Between ‘Maya Fever’, End Times jokes, and one of the most gut-wrenching mass killings in recent memory, it would not surprise me if a lot of us are feeling a little ungrounded, stretched thin, fractured or just generally apprehensive.
Even the idea of ‘how do I observe such an important astrological moment?’ may feel more stressful than exciting — though hopefully it is serving as a focal point and psychic touchstone for you.
I was trying to get a sense of just why this solstice feels so different to me; not just what I know intellectually to be different (13th baktun of Mayan calendar ends, we’ve all been in shock for a few days) but what feels different.
Aside from the particulars of the shifts in our individual personal lives, there seems to be a collective shift in how a lot of us are approaching this solstice.
I decided to take a look at what I had written around this time last year for a clue. Here is some of what popped out at me:
Points of greatest expansion lead to contraction; moments of constriction give way to release. It’s a bit like breathing in its cyclical rhythm but it is happening on multiple scales all at once. …
In the case of the Capricorn solstice, this shift in vital force — in a sense, the Earth’s deepest in-breath before beginning to exhale — has been something to set calendars and myths to. …
The palpable link to natural cycles and turning points may be what really draws so many of us to astrology. … That’s the part that lets us know we’re safe, we’re home, we can depend on this art to show us truth — because it links us to Earth’s in-breath and out-breath.