Yuletide Greetings, Holiday Cheer, and the Constancy of Capricorn
Happy Holidays! I hope the joy of the season is finding you and uplifting your heart!
One of my favourite activities at this time of year is sitting quietly with the twinkling holiday lights on, the candles lit, the yule tree beside me, a raging fire burning in the hearth, and the feeling of magic that's inevitably in the air as the holidays approach. It also helps that there is quite a bit of snow on the ground, and yet still quite of bit of snow falling! It's exactly this kind of scene that taps me into the feeling of what my ancestors must have also felt at this time of year -- cold and dark days that invite us into the cozy warmth of our homes with fires, lights, and good company, food, celebration, and merriment.
This time of year, that of the Winter Solstice and the Yule festival, Christmas and Hanukkah, has always been a special time for our ancestors, as they, too, recognized the inherent magic of the season. The longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, the Winter Solstice is a time of celebration in which we honour the darkness and the introspection it offers, as well as move once again into the light with the lengthening of the days. To celebrate Yuletide, Evergreen trimmings were brought inside to symbolize the effervescence of life, bringing this cheer indoors during the cold months. The holly bush, seen as representing the masculine energy, with its prickly leaves to repel negativity and red berries to symbolize vitality, were also placed in windowsills and on mantles to commemorate the season. The feminine energy was represented by mistletoe, seen to embody the Mother Goddess with its bright green, and seeds of hope with its white berries. It was worn for fertility by some, as well as placed above doorways, a tradition we still participate in today! And of course, the Yule tree and then Christmas tree has been celebrated for countless decades as a life-giving element, one that people decorate to honour life, and place gifts under it to welcome the tradition of gift-giving.
The Romans celebrated a great festivity at this time of year called Saturnalia, one in which there was much merry-making, feasting, and likely the imbibing of many spirits. Saturn is the planet that rules Capricorn, the zodiac sign the Sun moves into on the Winter Solstice. Yet those who know Saturn know that this festival sounds nothing like his archetypal energies. In fact, Saturnalia sounds more Jupiterian and Sagittarian in nature than it does what it's named for! Saturn is actually known as Father Time, an old, white-haired, skinny and bearded man who has wisdom to offer for those who seek it. Yet we must be willing to work hard and humble ourselves to the lessons he offers, and if we do, we gain the opportunity to embody just a little of the awareness he's been developing for eons. Where the merry-making comes in is here:: if we work hard often and are continually learning these lessons that life inevitably offers, at some point we're going to want a break! And Saturn, being a practical figure, agrees that taking time to delight in life rather than just bear its hardships is important and necessary. So we get to do just that during this holiday reprieve from the tasking of life!
I often consider Saturn's feminine counterpart to be the goddess of the Indian tradition, Dhumavati (Duh-MAH-vah-tee). The crone goddess of disappointment and letting go, Dhumavati was traditionally thought of as bad luck, an old widow who was forced to live with other women of the same misfortune, separate from society, considered to have nothing left to offer. Yet this couldn't be further from the truth! One of Dhumavati's great gifts is in helping us to develop the wisdom available as we age. She asks us to let go of the versions of ourselves that we have outgrown, that are no longer consistent with who we are becoming. She asks us to open to the process of aging, also letting go of visions, dreams, and ideas we once held that are no longer consistent for us, and that would limit us immensely were we to keep holding onto them as we age. She calls us to create space within ourselves for the wise beings we are here to become if that is the path we so choose. She is consistent with Saturn in this way, for he, too, welcomes us to age in a way that invites elderhood and awareness rather than curmudgeonly behaviour or its opposite, an inability to ripen gracefully with time.
Why does any of this to do with Saturn/Dhumavati/Capricorn matter anyway? With the New Moon Eclipse taking place in Capricorn just a few days after the Solstice on December 25th on the West Coast and the wee hours of December 26th on the East Coast, we'll be in the midst of these wisdom teaching energies. And because the planets Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto are now ALL in the sign of Cap for the majority of the year, a major influx of this energy is available for some time to come. Jupiter is asking us to expand into our potential, taking action and putting forth the effort to make this potential a reality. As my teacher Steven Forrest would say, he's asking us how we've been underestimating ourselves and to take practical efforts to stop doing just that, creating a reality that is consistent with our highest self. Saturn is encouraging us to take action in our lives to make the inner changes we've experienced as of late part of our outer reality. Saturn in transit always asks us how we've outgrown a certain part of our lives, and Dhumavati is consistent with this message, inviting us to commit to shifting what we know has stopped being meaningful to us. And Pluto, the Lord of the Underworld AND the Riches, is persuading us to get to the root of any deep-seated ancestral and karmic patterns that perhaps keep us enduring too much, believing that we have to do it alone and without help, or that we have to suffer for reality to work in the way that we want it to. These are all patterns that many humans have carried, and for a long time, and now there's a powerful opportunity to heal some of these very deep tendencies that don't have to shape our current realities. Richness and fulfillment can come from healing these distortions, allowing us to have greater energy to put into the lives we are creating, singing meaning to life through them. But Capricorn always reminds us that it will take consistency, perseverance, and fortitude to climb the mountain. As well, it's important that we stop for breaks along the way, perhaps a little merry-making, and some light-heartedness. The hobbits are very good at this for those of you LOTR fans. Yet even to the old goat, this is practical! And the eclipse, in bringing light to issues that have been brewing beneath the surface for some time, might help bring some insights and revelations to this process of healing and integration, making it more possible than we had once thought.
Lastly for now, the Full Moon taking place on January 10th in the sign of Cancer, is also an eclipse. Cancer reminds us that healing through feeling is of huge importance as humans; that our emotions need not be suppressed or repressed. When we have the ability to feel them, allowing them to move through our systems, perhaps crying, perhaps sitting with the fullness of an emotion we haven't given time or energy to, the qi and blood in our cellular tissue is freed up to move in the way it's meant to, unhindered and unrestricted. There is a lightness of being that can ensue because the energy isn't getting stuck anywhere, and we simply feel better. Cancer reminds us that we must nourish and take care of ourselves so that we can do this for others. For in honouring the way the Universe moves through us, we honour the Universe itself. In other words, "when Mama's happy, everybody's happy." Same for Dad. And really for everyone. When we're giving ourselves the time, energy, and attention we need for self-care, we meet the world as brighter, more present humans. And our world certainly needs more of that!
As we move into the dark in remembrance of the light, as well as into the solace that winter brings, may you tap into the spirit of the ancestors in the ways that are most sacred and authentic for you, remembering and knowing the divine spark in all things. May you deeply know and fully embody your true nature in the world. The Force is alive within you! Enjoy.
