A 4th House Story And A Full Moon In Cancer

Don't know about you but my December has whizzed by in a Saturn in Virgo style flurry of lists, commitments and stuff to sort, as well as a waving off of old stuff and welcoming in of new stuff, and in trying to suss my damaged internet connection... Amy Winehouse has been a more reliable performer than my net connection of late, which along with a continuing saga of various housing situation issues (noisy neighbours, grrrr) meant I've been able to spend even less time than usual writing this blog than I would like.

Transformation planet Pluto hit the base of my chart, my 4th house, a couple of years ago (4th house rules comfort zone, home and family, what's private, personal and very emotionally driven, just like its ruling planet, the moon), and it has been a bit of an intense emotional rollercoaster since then to say the least. Pluto has been in opposition to my Mercury/MC combo at the highest point of my chart, which has manifested as a constant challenge of whether home/personal stuff or work/outside world stuff wins my attention. And months ago I spotted the pile-up of planets that were due to congregate around Pluto at this time of the year and eyed it with trepidation, wondering what on earth else might be about to manifest in this 4th house mix as a result of the Sagittarius sun, expansion planet Jupiter (my 4th house ruler), and communication planet Mercury mingling and merging with the Pluto energy.

I've worked with astrology long enough to know that any energy, no matter how intense looking can express positively, yet it still felt bizarre last week, when with utter synchronicity, right in the heart of all the swooshing busyness, a perfect and peaceful new place for me to live appeared from apparently nowhere (on the day Jupiter moved into Capricorn), transforming everything in my situation including my faith, in a Pluto moment. I've always been into the 'create your own reality' approach of the Law of Attraction philosophy, but what I'd found difficult was not the idea that we are each the creator of our own reality, but the challenge of holding faith long enough toward a preferred vision of the future for positive thinking to get going a snowball-down-mountain type momentum and expansion.

How to think positively when you've already got yourself in a real negative situation is always the dilemma; how to hold the dream while reality keeps biting. Well it can't be done overnight that's for sure, but there's nothing like a stellium in the sign of Sagittarius to help be buoyant enough to rise high above 'reality' and realise that reality is built on belief, and so is as transient and pliable as belief itself.

And now the Solstice is upon us, serving as a cosmic timer for significant turning points, and it means there's a change of mood afoot. Here in the northern hemisphere, Winter Solstice marks the beginning of the sun's journey through earthy Capricorn. This year it is joined by expansion-orientated Jupiter; and during the early hours of Christmas Eve here in the UK the sun in Capricorn stands opposite moon in Cancer, indicating a full moon. With Mars close to the moon on one side of the zodiac, and Pluto still close to sun/Jupiter/Mercury on the other side, it all spells tension as the energies pull against each other. But while I'm gritting my teeth having to write this through my neighbour's endless repeat drivel of overly loud bad-taste power ballads on a hi-fi that only seems to work to its full capacity very late at night, by the end of January I'm outta here, which makes the anticipation of change a real tension breaker.

Change and transition is such a big theme of late 2007 and early 2008; it's everywhere you look, and the mood has now moved from the recent promise of Sagittarius to the anticipation of commitment in Capricorn. Where Sag was about huge leaps of faith, Cap is the next known small step, so Capricorn is easier to handle in that respect; but it's also the sign of great expectations, and apparently the universe delivers experience according to our expectations of it. Therefore this full moon might be a good time to look at expectations of experiences ahead, increasing a feeling of deservability accordingly if low levels are sighted.

0 Degrees Of Capricorn - Season's Greetings

In the northern hemisphere, when the Sun begins its journey through the sign of Capricorn it's the Winter Solstice, and the 2006 Solstice takes place on 22nd December, at around 12.15am GMT. The Winter Solstice has always been a time of celebration, as it marks the spot of the longest night, and the beginning of longer days. The Sun is reborn at this moment, to grow in strength until the Summer Solstice in June, when the cycle of shortening nights repeats again. Different cultures and different religions have had their own way of celebrating this time for thousands upon thousands of years. Some of the traditions have merged with others, some remain unchanged, but the celebrations continue to be an important part of people's lives everywhere.

It doesn't take a great amount of google searching to discover the origins of Christmas link to the Winter Solstice. Research certainly indicates that the story of the birth of a son to a virgin is a lot older than 2000 years. According to Achayra S in The Christ Conspiracy, there's a long list of deities who share a similar story, many of whom were born to a virgin on or around the 25th December (old calendar Solstice time), visited by wise men, and who grew up to be healers and saviours. Some of the more famous ones she includes are Mithra, Buddha, Krishna, Dionysus, Hercules and Horus (Her theory is all these characters, Jesus included; refer to an original solar myth with astrological correspondences).

I mention this not to get the backs up of Christians who are Christmas story devotees, but because it fascinates me that this Solstice based tale has stayed with us so strongly through the ages, in its various forms, and across so many cultures. To me this means it's vitally important to us that it stays in our conscious awareness. Why that is, I don't know. I know why it's important to me, being an astrologer with a passion for the cycles and seasons I live within; but I don't know why it's had such a hold on the collective psyche for so many thousands of years, with all its diversity of belief and interest.

Is it because it expresses the deep magic and mystery of the human condition? or is it something more astrologically mundane, and simply our collective response to the story, expressing according to the nature of the sign the celebrations fall under? Or is it both? A mix of mystery and mundane?

The adherence to tradition and ritual that has stood the test of time is very Capricorn. Time itself is related to Capricorn, so it would be appropriate to be celebrate it's seasonal passing. It's also in the nature of this sign to be a bit of a humbug about enjoying the festivities. Way back when the Romans celebrated this time as Saturnalia (Saturn rules the sign of Capricorn), Seneca complained that "the whole mob has let itself go in pleasures", while Pliny the Younger retired to his room to avoid the celebrations. This is also the season of the lecture about materialism, consumerism and the perils of excess, maybe because Capricorn is associated with limits, discipline and restriction. There's always a cry from someone to return to the good old days, when people celebrated with appropriate modesty, respectfully mindful of the 'real' message (back to that ever present solar deity myth); though when that was I don't know, as there's always been an associated history of hardcore merry-making. Finally of course, there's the extensive preparations for the holiday season - there's nothing more Capricorn-esque than a step by step, stressful build-up to fulfilling a goal. Preparation, pressure, and planning; it's all Cappy territory.

There's more on the rich tradition of Solstice time here.