Happy Winter Solstice 2012 - Part 2 (And A Great Solstice Ritual For Cleaning Out the Old and Welcoming The New!) - Aquarius Papers

by Robert Wilkinson

In this article we’re going to cover more significant factors in the Winter Solstice chart, including Sabian Symbols and Jones Patterns. And yes, this articles includes a ritual I do every year at this time that helps me let go of the old and welcome the new that I want to see in the next year! Yes, it’s fun!!

First, more on the Solstice chart. Saturn, ruler of the Sun, Pluto, and Mars, is at 9 Scorpio as one of the foundation legs of the Yod, or Finger of God, that dominates the landscape at present Rudhyar states this degree symbolizes the “mechanical inventiveness and control over nature needed to balance man’s emphasis on mind and self,” and “applied creativity.”

Over the next 90 days Saturn will show us how to repair or reconstruct what needs it due to past unhealthy habits, where we learn a technique of deeper relationship with ourselves and our patterns to achieve a cleaner and clearer focus. Now that we’ve paid our dues in 2011 and 2012, it’s time to embrace a deeper communion with life, the Earth, each other, and our Divine potential of living. Let go of all that you no longer need to bear as you remember you’re on a pilgrimage up a sacred mountain with the rest of us also walking that walk.

These qualities of life will continue to be revealed from now through February 18, after which they will have to be seen or understood from a different angle between then and early July 2013, with special emphasis on the last half of April so that they can externalize in a newer, healthier, more appropriate way beginning late June. Hopefully we’ll have mastered these energies by their final activation in September 2013 as we prepare to move into unknown zones of Saturnian mastery when it leaves its “shadow zone,” or span of its retrograde period, in mid-October 2013.

The Sabian Symbol for this degree is "Dental work,” showing the need to reverse some form of decay that results from living in society. Dr. Marc E. Jones, creator of the Sabian Symbols, states that here we can “self-renewal through a continuous and conscientious attention to the needs of the being on all planes of effort,” and our ‘stewardship of an inner and divine spark through which individuality sustains its spiritual citizenship” among our Brothers and Sisters.

We are told there are great personal rewards when we show a proper concern over our potentials and possessions, and we can fulfill our highest mission as we dramatize ourselves and our excellent gifts for others. The keyword is PRACTICALITY, and we are told when positive this degree indicates creative ingenuity brought to a real service for others.

This implies that the ruler of the Light/Life of the next 90 days is telling us to do some kind of repair work, go for a deeper communion with our Divine Self as well as others, and open to a newer, deeper social or emotional connectedness to repair something that has decayed. As Saturn is exactly sextile Pluto, this repair work will productively serve the larger reorganizational trend, allowing us to eliminate what is obstructing our ability to attune with the invisible world and our helpers there, whether Angels, Devas, nature spirits, or whatever else is assisting us whether we see them or not.

The planets fall in a Bucket Jones pattern, with the occupied span between Saturn in Scorpio and Moon in Aries, with Jupiter as the handle, or nozzle, focusing the rest of the planetary energies. As Jupiter is gobsmacked in an exact Yod, discussed yesterday and in the recent article on that subject, expect the next 90 days to train us in forms of “marksmanship” and “Zen archery” so that we can hit whatever we aim at.

As noted yesterday, Mars rules Saturn in the Solstice chart and vise-versa, showing them in mutual reception which is a very strengthening and self-reinforcing energy loop. Mars is on the degree of “A mountain pilgrimage,” showing the promise of an energy of complete harmony of ideals and values, as well as an intensification of vision to which our intelligence aspires.

Here we are encouraged to hold unswervingly to the ultimate course we have chosen for ourselves. The keyword is PERSEVERANCE, and at its best, this degree “is a total reconciliation of mind and heart in an unquestioned devotion to some worthwhile task at hand.” Study the degrees of Saturn and Mars if you want to see what rules every other planetary energy in the chart except Neptune.

The Moon is at 15 Aries, making it a First Quarter Moon at the Solstice. This is totally action oriented, and often entails strength of will, the sense of being driven, and features ego-building activities. Any “crisis in action” is so we may build the structures necessary to serve us in actualizing our objective and purposes. Especially when there’s a sense of urgency or a need for direct and immediate action, it represents a glimpse of our ultimate fulfillment.

The Moon Sabian Symbol shows that at the end of our “day of manifestation,” we can catch glimpses of a greater purpose or fulfillment, or a more fully conscious realization of who we are, through remembering the powers we acquired in the past. Here we can find forms of culminating our urge to be something new these past three years.

Dr. Jones says this degree, “An Indian weaving a blanket,” indicates “personal fulfillment through a simple excellence of self-expression,” showing us the basic skills needed to bring all desired things to personal relevance. Here we stabilize our ego through preserving some artistic expression of self that demonstrates our cultural values. The keyword is DILIGENCE, and when positive this degree is “the quiet persistence of each proper act of self in the interest of its own genius.”

Feelings will run very high this season, and drive most of the information seeking and decision making process. The trick will be to allow your feelings and experiences to lead you to get information and a clear vision that allows us to act without looping back into feelings and mind while ignoring the need to act. Learn to identify how and what you feel and experience after a decision and action, since feelings will allow new perspectives to come forth.

Given what’s happening in this Solstice chart and the fact that all of humanity confronts choices in each individual’s “forks in the road of destiny,” I will again offer you something I’ve given you in past Solstices. It’s a few lines from my favorite song, "Two Different Roads," written by Capricorn legend and music pioneer Michael Nesmith:

You might think that I'll wait, but he who hesitates is lost, this is not just a game,
It's the problem of creation and only meditation can make your mind and age the same,
I know, 'cause this all happened once before....

(I found the song last year, so enjoy the music to some of the best lyrics I’ve ever heard. The busted links in that birthday celebration have been fixed, but you’ll have to wait until Dec 30 for this year’s birthday celebration of this remarkable man for the ages!)

So even as you learn to feel your way to knowledge and visions that enable you to decide and act, eliminate whatever you need to an keep attuning to the invisible world to see how to take aim based in your training in order to “hit the mark.” We’re now square in the middle of a very volatile and conflicted era, but I’ll also state (using one metaphor making the rounds) that those of us who have trained are already moving more easily through 4D and 5D reality, and so the transformation probably won’t be as jolting for some as for those who haven’t trained in spiritual practices up to now.

The collective field is becoming more dense, and we who have been striving to live in higher awareness of our Oneness and connection to All-That-Is are finally at the threshold of seeing the dawning of a new Age. It may take years or even decades to see the concretization of the New Era, the externalization of the Spiritual Fellowship of Brother and Sister Masters of the Wisdom, as well as know which part of the New Group of World Servers we’re here to work with and within, but make no mistake, the advent of the adventure in consciousness is NOW!

On a final note, in the Northern Hemisphere the Winter Solstice ushers in a season dedicated to "seeds in latency," those that will sprout in March when the light force is stronger, the ground is warmer, and Spring is on the way. Whether in the Northern or Southern Hemispheres, the Solstices and Equinoxes are special points in the year cycle, marking the end of one season and the beginning of the next one. They are great for getting clear about our resolve, and what we want to see made manifest in times to come.

And now for the fun part!

This brings us to the ritual I mentioned at the beginning. Whether you're in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere, there is a special ceremony I do each year that yields some fairly spectacular results. This is not a very elaborate ritual, but it's very powerful in its simplicity.

The Solstices mark points of transition from an old "half year" of the Sun moving South or North (depending on where you are on the Earth) into the opposite direction. In the Spirit of this "coming or going," I first take a moment to note what has left my life the past year while saying goodbye on deepest levels. This creates space for that which is more appropriate to my evolution and wellbeing.

Then I make a list of everything I want to leave my life in the coming year, and A) find a disposable object associated with each thing (or person, or personal habit) I want to see leave, or B) I draw a picture that represents those things, people, or habits. Then I burn each individual picture in a fire, one at a time, while saying goodbye to each of those. (I make a duplicate list to check the next year to remind me of what I wanted to see leave.)

I also make a list of things I want to see come into my life in the coming year. I try to make it realistic, but also allow my imagination to bring forth what might be or could be, even if improbable. After all, it's supposed to be fun! I play with possibilities, and write them down, without getting hung up on specific forms. This is about content more than form.

Then I draw pictures symbolizing those things, and burn them, one by one, in a fire, welcoming in those better things than I've known up to now, putting it up and out into the "Spiritual atmosphere" so that Divine Mother can bring it forth in the coming months. I also make a duplicate list to check the next year.

Over the years I've done this ritual, I find very often that every single thing I want to leave actually does leave. And, I usually see most if not all that I want to appear show up in the following year. Even when one or both lists falls short by a thing or two, overall I've seen great progress year after year.

It's also very interesting to note how my lists have changed over the years, with some concerns falling away and new things presenting themselves according to my intention. And sometimes, when I have not received what I thought I wanted, it became clear why it wasn't good or necessary for me to have that which I thought I wanted.

So in this time of transition from the old year into the Winter of the new, take a moment to note what has left your life the past year, thus creating space for that which is more appropriate to your evolution and wellbeing. And if you feel like doing a Solstice ritual, whether this one or another, open to your greatest good and highest possibility of happiness, and you just may find a measure of that in the coming year.

As "they" say, Mahalo, Aloha, Namaskarams, Aum Namah Shivaya, Happy and Merry Solstice, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmastide, Joyous Christ Mass, and Happy New Year!