December 21st, 2023: Winter Solstice

The Sun enters Saturn-ruled Capricorn at 10:27 pm EST. We arrive at another Winter Solstice (in the Northern Hemisphere) - the longest night. The darkest point of the year is ripe with possibility (as are all Solstices and Equinoxes) because this is one of the Cardinal turning points. There's a definite shift from one state to another as we cross over into longer days. 

Capricorn is about crystallization, history and the dividing line between past and future. Traditions take on added emphasis as does the awareness of mortality. What's real (what you've committed to, the rules you must follow) can weigh heavily  - you may feel trapped or supported. Before the light increases, you can use the darkness and stillness to examine which traditions you want to keep/celebrate and which ones you want to jettison. Of course, some rules are non-negotiable so this process of examination can also be about how you will work within limits as you move forward.

Endings are also a Capricorn theme so the longest night is an excellent time to say goodbye (permanently) to old commitments. 

In the Southern Hemisphere we have the Summer Solstice (longest day) which occurs on Dec 22nd. For a brief moment, time stands still and you're flooded with light (rather than darkness). Capricorn themes are fully illuminated by the Sun at peak power. A new chapter begins as you step into longer nights.

Just before the Sun enters Capricorn there is a Waxing Trine between the Aries Moon and Sagittarius Sun (29 deg). Here is a burst of momentum (fuelled by the urgency of final degrees) that carries you into the longest night via a flow of courage, initiative and independence. The Sun opposes Vesta Rx (newly returned to Gemini) and spotlights a key message/choice/duality that demands your attention. An ending or culmination involves tension between a bigger purpose "out there" vs what grabs your focus right here. 

All this will inform the ending and new beginning of the Solstice. 

Also today, Mercury Rx in Capricorn makes a sextile to Saturn in Pisces (2 deg) for quiet, sober conversations/realizations. This aspect happened previously on Dec 2nd so you're returning to this (or receiving a message from the past). 

Venus in Scorpio opposes Uranus Rx in Taurus (19 deg) and makes a sextile to Juno in Virgo (20 deg), suggesting a radical ending or 180 deg turn in a relationship, financial or self-esteem matter. Appropriately for this boundary-crossing time, Venus/Uranus can free you as control is yanked away. Too, there can be surprising revelations about what you really want and love as something deeper is exposed. Uranus provides clarity through detachment, so what you thought you possessed can be taken away. But Venus' sextile to Juno whispers that this can open up a relationship contract- new details and solutions emerge. Perhaps you agree to let go. Whatever happens, it's not the time to insist on control or ownership. 

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Painting by László Mednyánszky: Wikimedia Commons