Winter Solstice Wishes & New Moon Tiding
Patchy clouds spread out across the pale blue sky, a reminder that the soft side of Winter does exist, and that we can always trust in its appearance, even if it’s preceded by the unexpected. While we can generally count on the calm before the storm, we’re often invited to find this quality during and after its arrival as well. I was definitely reminded of this when the wicked windstorm that graced our area with its presence in the wee hours of Wednesday morning showed up, ravaging forests, some homes and cars, and certainly power lines, leaving many of us turning to neighbors and community members for support, boiling water on camping stoves, and sharing the warmth of our wood-burning stoves with those who rely on the power grid for heat. I was beyond grateful for the help of a dear friend who came over in a moment’s notice to wire the water pump to our generator so we could actually have running water in the midst of the outage — then come back a day and a half later to rewire it back into the power grid. When our power was restored after over 36 hours, the visceral response I felt in my body was palpable: my heart lifted, my breath deepened, and my nervous system settled, all in a matter of moments.
With the movement of the majority of the transiting planets into new signs, where most will stay for a period of now two and a half to eighteen years, the shaking up of things has already begun and is certain to continue, whether it’s due to weather events, sociopolitical and cultural upheaval, interpersonal and inter-relational shifting, and of course, the potent inner transformation that may precipitate all of the above, with the exception of the weather, perhaps! And though we are living in unprecedented times, haven’t all who have been alive felt the similar stirrings of unrest and change, the pulls of stability and security with those of evolution and metamorphosis, possibly even transmogrification? And aren’t these exactly the reasons why we chose to be here? For these are the experiences and expressions that connect us through space and time, that keep the thread of interconnectedness moving from ancient to modern times, through bloodlines and lineages, hiding within our DNA structures but present in our daily lives with the decisions we make and actions we take, at least in part. We are here thanks to our ancestors, our previous and future selves, and most importantly, the great intelligence that is alive and well at the heart of all things. And what a time we’ve chosen to be alive!
Something that the Sagittarius New Moon might remind us is that we are resilient by design. And while many a reader may have nary a planet or angle in the sign of the Archer and Philosopher, each sign nonetheless has the ability to gift us with access to itself, especially at certain cosmic times, for all contain archetypal flavors that are available to the collective. The buoyant, expansive nature that Sagittarius inspires in itself and others is in the air during a Sag New Moon, and it invites us to bask in its ebullient vibe as we approach the Winter Solstice, the day of the long dark, and the turn of the waning sun to its gradual return.
For the past ten months or so, since Imbolc, I’ve been journeying to the Otherworld to visit the Cailleach on a regular basis. Known as the divine hag of winter, this creator of landscapes and wielder of wisdom is well-known and loved by many with Celtic ancestry, by those who still celebrate her name and being. Called into her humble cave deep within the mountains, I’ve made my way to visit her hearth fire, sit at her feet, and imbibe the wisdom she offers, steeping myself in its profundity over and again, so that I may know even an ounce of myself as her, as one who is able to carry her gifts. She has humbled me beyond belief, schooled me in ways I’ve never known, and reminded me of who I am without the ideas of who I thought I was, encouraged me to surrender what I cannot possibly hold in my being to give birth to what I must. It has honestly been one of the most powerful experiences of my life. And interestingly, it has all taken place within the depths of my own being, the inner spaces that only I can know for myself. In saying ‘yes’ to this rich internal landscape and majestic maestra of worlds, I have been able to return to this one more fortified and clear, sovereign and authentic, and in truth, more of the self I came here to be.
The Cailleach has reminded me that only when we are comfortable in the darkest of places can we be truly alive. Only when we have faced what our culture is so good at ignoring — death, aging, and truly anything that makes us uncomfortable — can we know ourselves as Whole. Only when we sit in and deeply know the fecund dark can we embody the resilience that is our innate nature. This resilience is innate, but it must be turned on, cultivated, embodied, and eventually known in the most all-embracing of ways. And this brings us back to Sagittarius. The same resilience that this astrological sign so effortlessly expresses — one that is lighthearted, bright, and expansive — is meant to be deeply understood in the darkest of times and places. Only then will it know the true meaning of the virtue with which it is associated.
One of the things I love about visiting the Cailleach is that every time I’m there, a fire is burning brightly. The room is dark if we are inside, as is the sky if we are out — though brilliant starlight pierces through its darkness — but there is always a blazing warmth that is at the heart of our time together. And this is exactly how it is meant to be, for here, I learn how to tend to what is most in need of my energy. The flames consume all that isn’t essential as they give birth to all that is. Their glow reminds me of what my heart has always known — that kindling light in the darkness is what we are here to do, especially as the aforementioned times we chose to be here for continue to increase in intensity. The heat warms me to my core, connecting me with the vital anchor of aliveness that is at the heart of all things, pulsing in rhythmic harmony with all of life. It is this hearth that I must regularly mind, for in so doing, it enlivens all that I nurture in the world around me. And the fact that here we are at the Sagittarius New Moon, the last of the fire signs, isn’t lost on me. Its inspiration comes from the places it tends within its heart, mind, body, and spirit, just as is our own.
As the Winter Solstice approaches here in the Northern hemisphere, ushering in a new season and cycle, I continue to be humbly guided by all that has been sparked to life within. My wish for you is that you also find inspiration, resilience, and respite by sitting with your own hearth fire and tending to the sacred flame that lives within you. Particularly at this portal of time, the closing of one phase and the opening of another, we are invited to pay closer attention to what has been and what will become. In looking back over the year, we see who we once were and what led us to the places and spaces we’ve visited and lived, envisioned and known. We are given the opportunity to put down what is no longer in alignment with who we know we truly are, with who we are becoming.
In looking forward toward a new cycle, we call in what is wanting to be birthed within our lives, the song that our soul sings and wants to be shared with the world. With the New Moon just two days before the Solstice, the portal of new beginnings is open wide, and as we sit with the pyre in the fertile womb of life, anything is possible. We get to begin again, remembering who we were before we took shape and form as these earth bodies and minds, reconnecting with the soul mission that we know is ours to live, yet only if we choose to embody it with all of ourselves. We are invited to co-create reality, weaving our own deepest truths and gifts into the collective threads of life, helping give shape and form, texture and color, to the world we all share, one which certainly needs more love and tenderness, creativity and heart, care and compassion, integrity and sovereignty, authenticity and truth, from those who can offer it.
My wish is that we all nurture the sacred presence within, that we come together to sing our hearts’ songs together, and that we lift each other up in so doing, co-creating the world that is ready to be birthed right about now.
Happy New Moon, Blessed Solstice and Yule, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Joyful Awakening. May your days ahead be merry and bright, and may it be so because you remember how to keep the flame alive in all the ways you are inspired to.
