Foundations in Transition
Solstice and Capricorn New Moon 2022
I love hiking through petrified layers of time that have been shaped into richly colored sandstone arches, cliffs, spires and canyons. Hundreds of miles of awe inspiring landscapes extend across The Four Corners area of the Southwest providing endless opportunities to lose one’s self in deep time.
The most famous geological wonder of this region, the Grand Canyon, reveals seemingly infinite layers of sandstone, basalt and granite that hold the records of almost 2 billion years of Earth’s story.
The brevity of my human lifespan and fragility of my human body stand out in high relief when compared to these vast spaces that were built from ancient sea beds and blowing sands and are continuously being worn down and reshaped by wind and water. What are 80 or even 100 years to a powerful river that’s been patiently carving out a spectacular canyon for 5 million years?
At the same time that these rock formations speak of time and eternity they also represent change. When I look up at a towering spire I know that some day it will come crashing down. Gravity will have its way. Things fall apart. Narrow places grow wider. Flash floods wash things away. Footprints vanish. The earth cracks and crumbles as tree roots break open once solid rock.
This old Earth is constantly in a process of transformation. Sometimes it seems that things change too slowly. Other times it seems the changes come too fast.
At the time of the Solstice we take notice of the change in seasons, the change in daylight and warmth, the change in orientation from inner to outer or outer to inner. This is the time when the Sun moves into Capricorn, the sign that is about laying foundations and building structures, both literally and metaphorically. Capricorn, a practical, effective and realistic earth sign, wants to manifest things that are solid, strong and impressive. It wants to achieve something and climb to great heights.
This year the Capricorn New Moon follows just one day after the Solstice bringing illumination to the foundations and structures that we have created in our personal lives as well as in the collective sphere. The New Moon presents opportunities to re-evaluate your goals and priorities and take a stand for your self-worth and self-respect (Venus in Capricorn). It’s not so important what others think of you. Instead focus on how you feel about yourself. This is also a time to re-think your responsibilities, reconsider your plans, and redefine success on your own terms (Mercury in Capricorn).
On the collective level, Pluto in Capricorn has been eroding the old unsustainable foundations of the power-over-paradigm for several years. The regenerative influence of Pluto is here to empower humanity to engage in alchemical transformations that will help us dismantle what’s not working of The Old and build The New Earth upon new collective foundations. This process of ringing in The New is supported by Saturn in Aquarius. That’s because Saturn is the planet that guides Capricorn, and Aquarius is concerned with the good of the whole. Thus Saturn in Aquarius is guiding the process of manifesting the new Aquarian paradigm.
The astrology of this time presents an interesting paradox… Both Saturn and Capricorn are concerned with things that are physical and endure over time, like the rock walls of the Grand Canyon. Indeed, Saturn and Capricorn are associated with time itself. Yet Aquarius and its guiding planet Uranus (currently in Taurus) point us in the direction of the quantum field where consciousness and light are more primary than physical substance, and time doesn’t exist in a linear way. Sometimes change takes time. Sometimes change happens outside of time.
Mother Earth Herself is changing. Human consciousness is evolving. Things fall apart. New things emerge and grow. Reality is solid and locked in time AND reality is infinitely mutable and free from time. It depends on the lens you’re looking through.
Both the Solstice and New Moon bring opportunities to reflect on the changes you wish to experience… What are you ready to release and what do you want to call forth?
May the Light of the Solstice Sun shine brightly in your life and illuminate the hearts and minds of humanity.
May the peace and love that you are become ever stronger in your awareness and guide your actions on behalf of thriving life for All Our Relations.