The Winter Solstice has a long tradition connected to celebration in many cultures. Before Christianity, it was a nature celebration. December is still sometimes referred to as the Yuletide Season. The word “Yule” originated with a Norse pagan tradition that marked a time of renewal brought in with the new light and longer days after the Winter Solstice.
It is interesting to note that immediately after the Solstice, there is very little apparent shift in the daylight between December 21 or 22 (depending on the year) and the following 2 or 3 days. To ordinary human perception, the days start to get longer on around December 25. It wasn’t until telescopes could measure the declination of the Sun more accurately that we understood that the polar axis was not entirely standing still between the Solstice and Christmas.
The culmination of the Autumn harvest would have been completed by October’s end and we would have entered a time of rest and hibernation. With the rest, comes dreaming. And new plans emerge from dream time as we follow the light into a new cycle of longer days. If we follow nature’s cycles then this “stationary” time between the Solstice and Christmas is, in my opinion, the most powerful time to make plans and create resolutions or goals. Much more powerful than New Year’s Day.
This year it is significant that Mercury goes direct on December 16 and emerges from its “shadow” period (a time when its movement in either direction is barely perceptible) right around the time of the Winter Solstice. This will make goal and resolution setting even more potent. A second New Moon on December 30 will also help us lift our dreams into reality as long as we keep the humanistic and spiritual element in the forefront.
However, Mars will be retrograde from December 7 until February 24 and opposing Pluto off and on through May, so our plans may not gain traction until mid-Spring or early Summer. Instead, we are being directed to strengthen the “roots” of our plans more extensively to withstand the headwinds created by Mars and Pluto, as well as other planetary energies.
Although Pluto Is firmly in Aquarius now, but we must continue to be prepared to adapt to other big changes next year. In March Neptune mores into Aries. In May Saturn moves into Aries. and in July Uranus moves into Gemini. Expect to work longer, harder, and more creatively than ever before. By the time the Summer Solstice arrives in June, we may be grateful that the days are getting shorter again as we catch our collective breaths!