Winter Solstice 2021 arrives on Wednesday December 21 at 4:48p Eastern Time, 1:48p Pacific Time and 21:48 Universal Time. This is the Summer Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere which is on Thursday December 22 at 8:47a AET
It is reassuring to know in these inconsistent (crazy!) times that the wheel of the the seasons turns as it always has for thousands of year. The winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere is the shortest day of the year and is the moment when the dark begins to wane the light gradually returns and the the days being to get longer again. This return of the light has been celebrated through out time from Roman Saturnalia to modern Christmas festivities. December Solstice Traditions from TimeandDate has interesting background on the these celebration.
The astrology chart for the Solstice represents the birth of this new season and gives indications of what to expect.
The Sun is always at 0 degrees Capricorn the moment of the Solstice and Venus, Mercury and Pluto are also in Capricorn now. The Moon is in optimistic Sagittarius while Saturn, the ruler of Capricorn, is still uplifted in airy Aquarius. Neptune moves forward in Pisces, Uranus travels retrograde in Taurus next to the karmic North Node and Mars continues his retrograde journey in Gemini. Much of the tense connections from earlier in the year between the planets have eased, which indicates more harmonious energy for this new season. However at the precise moment of the Solstice huge Jupiter is at 0 degrees Aries and forms an exact 90* square to the Sun. When the largest planet clashes with the Sun, the Star of our solar system, this creates a tense formation! At the Summer Solstice (6/21/22) the Sun in Cancer also formed a tight square to Jupiter in Aries triggering this disturbing pattern.
Last year at this time Russia was massing troops at the Ukraine border escalating tensions in the region and as we all know now, this was leading up to the Ukraine War which began 2 months later on Feb. 24, 2022 when Russian/Putin invaded Ukraine. Fire sign Aries is the sign of war and warriors and Jupiter just re-entered Aries the day before the Solstice (on 12/20). Earth sign Capricorn is the sign of worldly status quo, and the clash between Jupiter/Sun at the Solstice lets us know that Putin, even if he stands alone (Aries!) against world powers like NATO and the US (Capricorn) he has no plans to back down and in fact as I write this Russia continues with vicious missile attacks on Kyiv.
This is a photo of Kyiv on December 18, 2021. Let us hope and pray it will return to this beauty after this brutal war ends!
Kyiv in December 2021
Wounded Healer Chiron is also traveling in Aries and on the Solstice Venus in Capricorn forms a tense square to Chiron with a similar vibration to the sun/Jupiter square. Venus represents women and this square against Chiron repeats the clash between those intent on war at all cost versus the mothers and wives of the soldiers dying and the pain of losing so many loved ones to a needless war instigated by an insane ruler.
At the same time Venus squares Chiron she also reaches out a lovely trine to Uranus which bodes well for calmer energy to come later when Uranus moves forward again next year on 1/22/23. Other hopeful configurations comes from the Sagittarius Moon. The Moon in the Solstice chart indicates the mood of the public and Sagittarius is an optimistic sign that even when pushed down by negativity won’t stay there long, but bounces back to a higher happier perspective, a wonderful trait! At the Solstice the Moon creates trines to both Jupiter and Chiron which help uplift people’s spirits.
Messenger Mercury is in Capricorn at the Solstice stationed in-between Venus and Pluto and is slow-mo at Solstice preparing to turn retrograde on 12/29 (thru 1/18). Mercury in Capricorn represents the voice of mature authority figures who are trying to find solutions to world problems like the war, climate change and the continued surges in covid, along with flu and other respiratory diseases. But are people willing to listen to these voices of reason? The fiery energy of the Sagittarius Moon with Jupiter and Chiron in Aries, says “No Way – I’m going to do what I want, damn the consequences!”
Stern Saturn in independent thinking Aquarius adds to “I’m going my own way” energy. At the same time Saturn has finally moved away from the irritating square with Uranus, evident for much of this year, so the Aquarius ability to rise above to see the bigger picture is more available now too.
Mars continues his Gemini journey and earlier in the year rammy Mars was butting into nebulous Neptune in Pisces creating confusion and exacerbating misinformation, especially in the lead-up to the US midterm elections. (See Autumn Equinox) Gemini rules average people, the public at large, and Mars moves retrograde at the Solstice. The waning of the Mars/Neptune square helps bring more clarity, but Mars retro at the Solstice also indicates that most people are still getting the short stick, for example with the Fed raising interest rates in order to “cool inflation” but which makes everything from mortgages to consumer goods more expensive – too bad little people, we’re helping the rich get richer, so just don’t look too closely! With the spunky Sagittarius Moon forming an opposition to Mars people are aware of how they are being manipulated, but over the holidays, so what – We’re going to have a good time anyway! Actually a good choice!
There is much more to be said about Mars retro in Gemini –
