by Robert Wilkinson
The 2017 Northern Hemisphere Winter Solstice/Southern Hemisphere Summer Solstice happens 8:29 am PST, 11:29 am EST, 4:29 pm GMT on December 21, 2017. This is the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, and the longest in the Southern! In the North the Solar force will begin to get longer and stronger, a welcome relief for those of us who need lots of sunshine to keep our dispositions equally sunny. The Winter Solstice is a special time for me, where I do a specific ritual every year that yields great results which I'll explain in part 2. For now, let's discuss the Solstice chart.
It has been put forth over the centuries that the charts done for the Solstices and Equinoxes give snapshots of what we can expect during that season. In this article, I’ll offer you some insights about the Solstice chart, and discuss how this Solstice relates to the very important past Winter Solstices that were conjunct Pluto at the Galactic Center, since those profoundly impacted how we will experience the major shifts happening at this Solstice.
Today is the last day of Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, the last day of Spring in the Southern. If you’re wondering how I reconcile the seemingly opposing energies between the hemispheres, when you’re done here please take a look at The Mirroring of the Northern and Southern Hemisphere Year Cycles in Astrology. It may help readers “down under” see how the important points of seasonal change, though opposite in physical manifestation, actually have similar challenges at each point of shift.
There is an old tradition that offers us two times when "the year begins," one at the Vernal Equinox, the other at the Autumnal. Perhaps that tradition came from explorers who saw the seasons flip between the Northern and Southern, going from the beginning of warm to the beginning of cold as they moved up and down the latitudes.
This is an excellent time for looking at what has ended, what is emerging, and making decisions about how we want to live in 2018. We up North have now reaped the harvest of what we've done and not done, and can figure out how we want to claim our power in 2018. In the Southern latitudes, you've finished your "Spring planting," and will now see how these labors will come to fulfillment over the next 90 days.
Whether North or South, keep following through on the emergent archetypes you've already begun to live, since this is the time to embrace personal power in some public way. Regardless of where we live, what follows explores elements we all can expect to experience over the next 13 weeks.
As mentioned, the charts for the Summer and Winter Solstices provide guideposts for what will follow in the 90 days after those points in time, just as charts for the Vernal and Autumnal Equinox each show what will follow in the period after those points in time. In this chart, the HUGE factor dominating the entire chart is the Sun conjunct Saturn at 1 Capricorn. This, along with the impending Venus conjunct Saturn also at 1 Capricorn in a few days shows the coming season will be one of people coming to power, for better or worse!
Obviously, since the Sun is the key to the Solstice, the aspects it makes are extremely important. In this December 2017 Solstice chart, the Sun makes many powerful aspects, including an exact septile to Mars, an exact semisquare to Jupiter, a tight separating quintile to Neptune, and a vigintile to Pluto.
This means major themes of the next 90 days involve extraordinary forks in the road of destiny for our world due to the Sun conjunct Saturn in Capricorn with both septile Mars in Scorpio. Capricorn is organized and efficient; Scorpio is laser focused. Mars and Saturn are both comfortable operating in their home signs.
These septiles will affect us all, most particularly those with planets or power points near 7-11 Scorpio, 29 Sagittarius – 3 Capricorn, 20-24 Aquarius, 12-16 Aries, 3-7 Gemini, 25-29 Cancer, and 16-20 Virgo. If you have one of these zones occupied, your life is about to take some dramatic shifts! We will all see these made manifest in the larger world as Venus makes its conjunction with Saturn, and Mercury moves forward across the Solstice point in January.
There are a host of strong aspects in this chart! The Moon is sextile Mercury, in a weak semisquare to Venus and weak quintile to Uranus, and a very tight square to Mars. That will certainly put a hard edge to many things! At least we have Mars blessed by Jupiter, and with the trines to Neptune, we should all know when, where, and how to flow.
Other aspect show Mercury decile Mars and quadraelftile Uranus, Venus in an out of sign conjunction to Sun and Saturn and quintile Neptune. I gave you the solar aspects earlier, as well as the Mars conjunct Jupiter and septile Saturn. Mars is trine Neptune, Jupiter is semisquare Saturn, trine Neptune (via collection of light), and sextile Pluto, and Saturn is vigintile Pluto.
Tightly separating partile aspects are still active, though separating. These include Venus novile Jupiter and trine Uranus, Sun quintile Neptune, Mars quintile Pluto, Jupiter quadranovile Uranus, and Saturn quintile Neptune.
So overall there’s a lot of compression and strong energy releases promised by the septiles to Mars released by the square between the Moon and Mars. This promises radical emergences, reorientations, and we will see new faces come to power. Of course, expect power conflicts between the old and the new. See the social patterns as they are “pre-formed,” since they will show you what is to come. There will be meltdowns as well, with maximum stress on those with planets or power points near 6-10 Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius, as well as 21-25 degrees of Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces.
So What’s Been Going On Before Now?
In a brief nod to what “brought us to this dance” in years past, the conjunction of the Sun with Pluto was exact or very close back when Pluto was exactly conjunct the Galactic Center between 2006-2009. This set some extremely long wave energies into play on our Earth, and marked a huge renewal for the next 250 years, mas or menos. We are now solidly launched into that new Era. This particular Solstice will codify some of the Galactic energies because of the conjunction of the Sun and Saturn on the GC.
The Sun square Uranus was close or exact on Winter Solstice 2010, 2011 (exact!) and 2012. So the seed forms created by the Sun and Pluto when they powered up the Galactic Center energies for the next “season of the Millennium” back in 2006-2009 were moved into revolutionary newness by Uranus in the first sign of the zodiac since then.
Pluto offers us seeds to sprout or seeds of future weeds to be pulled before they grow, and so the years Pluto spent at the GC sent the world “galactic seeds” that have been hidden up to now. This Solstice brings those hidden seeds into manifestation. We have now turned the corner as a planet and humanity relative to the Galactic Wisdom we have been learning to know in seed form these past 11 years.
Other Factors
This is the first December Solstice with Saturn in Capricorn, so besides the Sun shining a big light on the Galactic Center, we also have Saturn dominating the stage by being in its home sign on the critical first degree! Because Saturn is the ruler of the Sun, the next year will open us to newer, more mature forms of Capricorn energy and expression in our lives wherever we have early Capricorn in our charts.
2016 was about the lessons of 11 Sag, while 2017 featured the themes of 21 Sag. Those years restructured wherever we have Sag in our charts. 2018 is about the lesson of 1 Capricorn. (Yes, you may find some interesting information by putting the Solstice chart on top of yours, and see where those transits fall.)
Saturn ruling the Sun is a primary dispositor influence, and so Saturn always plays a big part in the December through March season. On this Solstice, Saturn’s aspects are overall very favorable, with 2 conjunctions (Sun and Venus), a powerful septile and semisquare, and a trine and sextile. This shows a very stable and productive Saturn, in charge and comfortable with the collective field. While there is internal friction from Jupiter, Saturn in its home sign septile to Mars in its home sign is by far the most powerful determinator in this chart.
At this time, Venus leads the Sun, showing relationships are very important at present in being led to the Light, and as Venus is in Sag, it is ruled by Jupiter and therefore Mars. So it exerts an entirely different influence than the Saturn ruled planets.
In a final reflection, the North Node in Leo continues to help us develop our heart strength, love, creativity, and perfect self-expression. I went into the current Node position and degree in the recent New Moon article, so please consult that to learn more about this powerful pull into our line of greatest evolutionary development.
Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend
Because Saturn plays such a large part in any December Solstice chart, if you haven’t gotten your copy already, please considering getting a copy of my new book, Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend. We all need to make friends with our inner Saturn if we would claim our spiritual maturity and live in a way that fulfills our higher purpose for being alive as Spirits in the material world.
This book takes an entirely new look at our inner Saturn and the power it gives us to take command of our lives and destiny. If Saturn represents all that limits us and holds us back, it’s only because we must master those lessons so we may become spiritual adults and fulfill our purpose for being alive on Earth. By knowing our Saturnian strengths, we can overcome fear and any sense of victimization or powerlessness.
It was written for both astrologers and non-astrologers, and gives the reader the power to understand why some things happened when they did, and offers ways for you to “make friends” with this part of our existence and take command of your destiny. As you read each chapter, you’ll become more aware of all the factors assisting Soul growth through understanding how Saturn relates to Dharma and various types of karma, and how it represents the Ring-Pass-Not, or that part of us which must learn certain lessons so we can find purpose and meaning in each chapter of life.
The second part of the book examines how Saturn cycles mark major points of choice and change throughout life, and what we can expect when Saturn makes conjunctions, squares, and oppositions to our planets and Ascendant. There are tables assisting the reader to know when Saturn was in each sign, so even those with little or no understanding of astrology can track the timing on their major life changes. There is an entire chapter dedicated to the Saturn Return, perhaps the most important times in life when our decisions profoundly shape our future.
Part two closes with a chapter on one of the most crucial factors in our personal unfoldment: how the progressed Moon and transiting Saturn cycles track each other throughout life and relate to our emotional growth, and a chapter on a global phenomenon happening since 2003 impacting everyone on Earth. The Epilogue offers a few insights about living “the spiritual life,” and opens dimensions of higher and broader possibilities of personal evolution, regardless of which path to Truth we may be on.
This is a book you will reference many times for many reasons, and each time you pick it up you’re sure to find undiscovered gems of insight on each page. This book can help you throw off all the attitudes and memories which have held you back from finding and living the life and purpose you’ve been searching for since you were young. Welcome to the journey of self-discovery, and finding your power to live your life on your own terms, fulfilling your reason for being alive as an Eternal having human experiences!
Please order your copy today! You can go to the Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend page on Amazon and this should be all you need to order your copy. I’ve been told that people who live overseas can get their copy much faster by going through Amazon, which now has the page up. And if you would, please write a review on the Amazon site, since the more reviews, the bigger the boost on their site.
Enjoy digesting the information in this article, and I’ll post part two soon!
As "they" say, Mahalo, Aloha, Namaskarams, Aum Namah Shivaya, Happy and Merry Solstice, Happy Hanukkah (slight return!), Merry Christmastide, Joyous Christ Mass, and Happy New Year!
© Copyright 2017 Robert Wilkinson
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