The Capricorn Solstice

On the evening of Thursday, December 21st, the Capricorn Solstice arrives, signaling, for the Northern Hemisphere, the shortest day and the longest night of the year. This contributes to this moment’s significance for this section of the earth, celebrating, as the days begin to get longer and longer, the return of the light. There is a special quality to the chart for 7:28 PM PT, the moment of the Sun’s Capricorn ingress, as the Capricorn Solstice chart is one harbinger for the coming year. There is in fact quite a lot of Pluto, signifying a strong propensity for evolutionary changes to continue taking place in the zeitgeist, and in our personal lives as well, as we can allow it. We additionally find, unusually, the Sun and Moon in a perfect trine arrangement, at 0 degrees of their respective signs, with the Moon at 0 Taurus. This is a hopeful indication, and a potent alignment, especially as we also see the Sun’s position bolstered by retrograde Mercury close by, 1 ½ degrees away, at 1 Capricorn, while the Moon is magnified by her conjunction and parallel with Jupiter at 5 Taurus. We simultaneously find Uranus at 19 Taurus quite closely opposed to Venus at 20 Scorpio and inconjunct Mars at 20 Sagittarius, bringing personal relationship surprises in coming months and the potential for novel activity or sudden anger to emerge. Interestingly also, the new Nature planet Haumea, residing at 1 Scorpio, opposes the Moon and the Moon/Jupiter midpoint, making a close T-square to transformational Pluto, which has also been a significant theme in recent months. Pluto currently resides in the last degree of Capricorn about to re-enter Aquarius in mid-January.

The presence of Haumea in this Solstice, closely trine Saturn, and in the T-square with Moon, Jupiter, and Pluto, is quite important, because this new planetary archetype, while little known, is powerful. My research has indicated that Haumea represents “profound connection to Nature,” and thus to earth issues such as climate change, and furthermore, to right action, right relationship, and telling the truth. These are simple verities that correspond to a form of natural law, understood and adhered to by some more than others, that is nevertheless an inherent and a vital part of being human. Issues of what is the right thing to do in a given circumstance have been coming up repeatedly in recent months, in particular the consequences of being caught up in lies, and will continue to play an enormous role on the global stage as the 2024 year gets underway.

On another optimistic note, it is quite remarkable that as the Sun enters Capricorn, the Moon trines the Sun exactly and that the Moon in so doing is precisely parallel to Jupiter and contra-parallel to Saturn within a few minutes of a degree! Jupiter with Saturn represents socio-political world events, and the Moon prominently there indicates that the public is concerned, as indeed it should be. In considering these alignments and their exactitude, one can only take pause, and feel a sense of the rainbow showing up representing the promise of the universe to remain, always, on our side, in the end, as we continue to pray for peace.

Meanwhile, in this Capricorn Solstice configuration, we have Mercury in retrograde quite close to the Sun, with its cazimi, its ¼ degree moment of closeness, arriving on the next morning of the 22nd at 10 am PT. That Mercury is retrograde and conjunct the Sun introduces the concept of inner exploration, reflection, and ultimate subjectivity as we forge ahead in our evolutionary development and in our dealings with each other. We need to recognize the entire truth of ourselves, which includes understanding the potency and the validity of all that we hold inside, along with the ability that we all have at deep levels to coordinate and to control events and outcomes.

In this latter regard as well, it is important to recognize the power of the new 21st century archetypes such as Eris, feminine warrior in support of soul intention, to aid us in finding ourselves along with more complete concepts of who we, at base, really are. This is independent of early conditioning and consensus thought forms, and comes only from our own selves, deep inside, once it is that we can fully accept our own authority. Eris in this Solstice configuration is conjunct the lunar North Node, as she has been for the last several months now, since mid-September, and is also potently aspected, being trine Mars, square Pluto, and septile Saturn.

In summary, then, as we enter into this new 2024 year, let us continue, as we must, to keep on keeping on, with as much faith as we can muster that the universe will see us through. I like repeating the words of Neem Karoli Baba, guru to Ram Dass, when he feared for the world and was caught up in its difficulty and sadness: “Ram Dass,” the saint was said to offer him in such a moment, “Can’t you see it’s all perfect?”