It begins with this one. And ends, too. This lunar cycle is a giant portal into the future. When we move through any gateway of change we leave behind an old world. My hope for this moment between the past and the future is that we pause with eyes wide open to take stock; ask for guidance from our spirit allies, ancestors, and co-inhabitants on this Earth; and move forward with humility and power. In the northern hemisphere, this lunar cycle occurs in the darkest season of the year. The dark is an encouragement to pause, rest, reflect. This new Moon is also a total solar eclipse, another type of darkening, that ripples out into the world. I witnessed a total eclipse in 2017. As the Moon’s shadow touched my skin, I experienced a purifying moment—the power of darkness melded with a fresh start. I didn’t expect that.
I need to clarify. Whenever a white person (like I am) talks about fresh starts, it is important to say, there is no easy pass for those of us who have fed on the privileges of white skin. There is no easy fresh start for us, only a fresh commitment to repair, and right size, and right place. That is the kind of beginning I am hoping for and that is why I want to encourage white people to stand at this gateway with eyes wide open. How can we envision a better future without a real accounting for the past?
The signs of Capricorn and Aquarius—both ruled by Saturn—teach us about the essential linking between the past and the future. Saturn has spent the last 2 and a half years transiting through Capricorn. Capricorn is the guardian of our histories. Saturn in Capricorn (with a brutal assist from Pluto in Capricorn) has revealed the ways histories of colonization, capitalism, and white supremacy have chained us to systems that perpetuate harm. In the personal realm, Saturn in Capricorn, has evoked the pressures of family/cultural expectations and personal ambitions to build strong foundations. Saturn is the wise grandparent who wants us to thrive through responsible action and commitment. Have you solidified a portion of your life during this time? Take stock of the structures that promote our thriving. What are they? What needs composting?
On December 16, Saturn leaves Capricorn behind to enter the Aquarian realm of the future, where Saturn will govern with their typical style of applying pressure and withholding easy success. Saturn makes us work for the visions that create our future. Saturn will show us the flaws, the holes in our reasoning, and the limitations of our resources. Saturn will slow down the rate we will be able to jump into our future. Take time. Take care.
A contrary influence to taking care and time is this eclipse in Sagittarius. Sagittarius is mutable fire. It moves quickly. Evolution is happening quickly. Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter who will be entering Aquarius on December 19 and conjoining Saturn in the first degree of Aquarius on December 21. Jupiter wants to speed up and will be slowed a bit by Saturn’s influence. Jupiter represents expansion and hope. You may be wanting to feel expansive hope for the future. Dare we feel expansive hope? How does expansive hope contribute to the functioning of our world?
The portal that opens with this solar eclipse could accelerate expansive hope and could remind us why it is dangerous to jump too far ahead of ourselves. How are we tempted to bypass our Capricorn lessons? How are we mired in despair because we can’t seem to move through these lessons? Every 20 years, Jupiter and Saturn conjoin. The force of constriction meets the force of expansion. This meeting of these planets that influence so much of our reality inaugurates a new point of view that permeates our world. These Great Conjunctions, as they are called, occur in the same element for 200 years and then mutate to the next element. For the last 200 years, Jupiter and Saturn have met in earth signs. In 1980, the shift to air began with a conjunction in Libra. In 2000, the conjunction returned to earth for the last time, and this year the conjunction enters the air age for the next 200 years. Air becomes the base material with which we shape our future. While in earth signs, humans created a vast reshaping of the Earth. This influence is not always positive. Not all cultures relate to the Earth as colonizers. But the cultures that did, have shaped this world into a mess. We are leaving the earth element through having had a deep exploration of Capricorn. The past is present. Consequences feel immense and heavy.
What is the medicine for this moment?
In 200 years, there will be 9 Great Conjunctions in the air signs: Aquarius, Gemini, and Libra. (the pattern deviates to a water sign once in 2159). Air is the shaper of our world, with its gifts for curiosity, social connection, and invention. How might we broaden these things to include better relationships to all life? How might we tend to air as we would tend a precious resource? How might we become more careful with our words, technologies, and visions? What other elemental allies could help us be mindful of the misuse of air, too?
During 2021 we begin what is to be a long relationship with air. I will be part of a panel of astrologers (Otis Bell of (R)evolutionary Astrology and Mika Kumagai of Mikastrology) talking about this new air age and the star stories of 2021. Our perspective is as healers, activists, and visionaries. How do we begin? What seed patterns may we lay down now that will promote the thriving of the Earth? What do you see at this portal?
Learn more and register for this free online offering sponsored by Starsdance Mystery School—Star Stories: Weaving the connective threads of 2021 to be held on January 3, 2021 at 2 pm PST here.
Starsdance Astrology 
You must be logged in to post a comment.