Happy Solstice

The end of the world has been predicted approximately 183 times over the last 2,000 or so years, so there’s no reason to worry that this 2012 prediction malarkey will turn out to be correct. In fact, if you're an email subscriber, you will probably be reading this AFTER the appointed apocalpyse time of 11:11 GMT.

21^st December is a very important date though, because it marks the Winter Solstice (Summer Solstice below the Equator). The Winter Solstice is the shortest day, it’s a celebration of the return of the light (return of the son / the Sun). It’s Yule in the pagan calendar.

That’s worth celebrating, taking a bit of time out from Christmas consumerism to give thanks and count our blessings.

Joyce Mason over at The Radical Virgo has a wonderful piece full of ideas for the Solstice, which she describes as a time to release the old, recognise your accomplishments and embrace the new. Check it out here.

Here’s A Coffee at the end of the World my look at the Solstice chart, which in astrology is used as a good predictor for the season to come, at least until the Spring Equinox.

Lua Astrology also has some great insights about the Solstice chart here, focusing on its powerful Yod (Finger of God) aspect.

Also see Orcus author Jeremy Neal's take on the Solstice Chart over at Chirotic Journal.

And finally, In The End of the World Scheduled For Friday, Eric Francis gives us his irreverent and satirical take on 2012.

Here's wishing you a happy Yule, Chrismas etc, with many more to come.

With love,
Mandi
www.mandilockley.com 

A Coffee at the End of the World

So, 21st December 2012 is almost upon us. A whole industry has grown up around this date, which apparently marks the end of the Mayan calendar.

Will the world (as we know it) end? I’m so sure it won’t, I’m meeting a good friend the day after for a coffee to celebrate the continuation of the status quo. We always meet on the last Saturday before Christmas, at the same coffee shop and order the biggest, sweetest coffees on the menu, topped off with a tower of squirty spray-can cream.

It’s an indulgence which, though unspoken, celebrates another year of our enduring friendship. We’ve been doing it so long it’s turned into a tradition.

Tradition of course, is associated with Capricorn, the sign the Sun moves into on 21st December. The Sun's ingress into Capricorn marks the Winter Solstice (the Summer Solstice in the southern hemisphere). The chart for the Solstice is traditionally used as a predictor for the season to come, at least until the Spring Equinox.

So what message is the Solstice chart carrying?

December 21 Solstice, set for London (Click to Enlarge)

The first stand out is Mars in Capricorn. Mars is strong in Capricorn, exalted. We are expected to respect and look up to whatever Mars in Capricorn is symbolising. If we’re looking at this chart from a collective perspective, then Mars here represents those in authority - leaders, organisers, decision makers, action takers. Bravo Mars!

But look a little more closely at Mars and all is not as it first seems. Mars is unaspected, making no major aspects to any major planets. Mars in this position wants to do its own thing, unchallenged. But here’s the rub. It’s void of course, meaning that it won’t make any more aspects before it moves into egalitarian Aquarius. (its exact Sextile to the Nodal Axis occurred three days before the Solstice). All this means that by the time of the Solstice, Mars in Capricorn has already completed its work and has nothing else to do. Because, of its exaltation in Capricorn, however, it will still arrogantly cling to its sense of self importance and fail to see the impotence of its position.

Draw whatever conclusions you want, but it seems assured that those in positions of authority in society will find they are not able to Get Things Done in the way they would like during the coming three months or so.

Mars is a masculine energy, so we need to look elsewhere for the feminine. There is a clear pointer in the Solstice chart towards a positive surge of balancing feminine energy. Juno joins the Sun at 0 degrees Capricorn - the Aries point degree, where a great rush of energy projects outwards into the world, seeking manifestation. Juno symbolises the union of the masculine and feminine, including the legal union of marriage. Juno also stands for primal feminine power and issues of equality, a useful counterpoint for the male power represented by the Sun. Interesting that the legalisation of gay marriage in the UK is currently on the political agenda. We will also hear more about female inequality in the workplace (the Sun-Juno conjunction falls in the 10th House for the UK), with female unemployment reaching an all time high in 2012 and with mounting pressure on corporations to promote more women to the Board.

The first major aspect to become exact after the Solstice is Saturn’s first Sextile to Pluto on 26 December (it will also fall exact in March and September 2013, with its influence stretching from November 2012 to November 2013).

Saturn in Scorpio is in mutual reception with Pluto in Capricorn, meaning that Saturn and Pluto fall in the sign of each other’s ruler. Planets in mutual reception support each other. They can be powerful allies as the world and individuals work towards positive change. Just as easily though, Saturn and Pluto can become dangerous partners in crime. It remains to be seen how this will go, but it’s likely we will see both extremes. The opportunity during this Sextile, if we choose to take it, is to push the relationship towards its more positive expression.

Probably the most significant pattern of this chart is the exact Yod, with Jupiter in Gemini making Quincunx aspects to Saturn and Pluto in Sextile. In Dynamics of Aspect Analysis, Bill Tierney describes a Yod as a fork in the road, the finger of fate, the opportunity to follow a new direction. Uncertainties may be felt and adjustments may need to be made, but change is necessary. He goes on to say that with Jupiter at the apex, the opportunity is for an expansion of consciousness and the broadening of a social vision.

This is a Yod charged with aspiration, optimism and idealism, which has the potential to make a big social impact. Jupiter in Gemini wants freedom of speech, freedom of mind and freedom of movement. Jupiter is in detriment (meaning that it’s difficult to operate to its best potential in Gemini), so it might be easy for the more negative side of Jupiter to find expression: over reaching; impractical and excessively moralistic. We will need to tap into the more positive energies of Saturn and Pluto to be reminded that real and lasting change requires time, effort and patience. 

The chart also gives us Saturn Trine Neptune. If we are being optimistic we can predict peaceful resolutions, treaties, new understandings and a more compassionate idea of morality. This is an opportunity to show we care and to do something practical about it. If we want to be cautious, we should be wary of those who merely pay lip service to compassionate actions and humanitarian causes, while surreptitiously pursuing their own agenda.

Looking at this from the perspective of the 2012 predictions, Jupiter in detriment in Gemini in the Yod can all to0 easily make him a false prophet, the witting or unwitting spreader of fear and overblown, baseless theories and rumours. The Saturn Neptune Trine also has the capacity for deception. We need to keep our wits about us if we suspect others are using our fears to control and manipulate us. Putting fearful energy into our endeavours and reactions can create a strong negative force. Refusing to panic and facing our fears (if we are called to do so) can, if done with self compassion and care, become a powerful healing energy.

The key to facing our fears is keeping them in healthy perspective. Our guides for this journey are Saturn in Scorpio and Pluto in Capricorn, who together push us to the edges of our worst fears and force us to stare down into the abyss, with the purpose of offering us freedom from them. My e-book on Saturn in Scorpio deals with the issue of fear, control and keeping safe in detail. Here’s an exclusive extended excerpt from the book.

There’s no doubt the world is constantly changing, but it’s an evolution that is slow, ongoing, complex and multilayered, as reflected by the long cycles of the outer planets: the 493-year Neptune-Pluto cycle; the 120+ year Uranus-Pluto cycle and so on.

As the planets turn and connect, we are still here, working out the same old Karma. Now if that is not enough to help put things in perspective, I don’t know what is!

Happy 2012 Solstice.

With love,
Mandi
www.mandilockley.com

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The It's-Not-The-End-Of-The-World Playlist

21st December 2012 is almost upon us folks. Yours truly doesn't buy into the whole 2012 end of the world hype. It may be the end of the Mayan calendar (allegedly), but there is a calendar for 2013. I've seen them in the shops, so it must be true! Some of them even have pics of One Direction on them!

However, as a lover of symbol and ceremony, I think it's only right to mark the date. 21st December is after all a Solstice and even though we have two Solstices every year (summer and winter), it's still a significant astronomical/astrological/symbolic event in itself.

So, in the first of two, maybe three, posts about 21.12.12 (or 12.21.12, if you're west of the Altantic),  I would like to share Jon Fortgang's Apolcalypse Playlist. I'm sure you'll agree that every honest to goodness Day of Judgement wouldn't be the same without a rocking soundtrack to accompany it. Here's Jon's cracking intro, followed by a link to the songs:

The world has been ending since the start of recorded history, and probably on a fairly regular basis before that.

Zarathustra was the first not to start making long-terms plans, somewhere around 1,200 BCE in modern Iran. More than 200 specific dates for the Great Reckoning have been posited over the last two millennia. There were around 100 confident predictions of the end of the world in the twentieth century alone, though anyone who lived through the industrial conflicts of the last 100 years may feel that, in every meaningful sense, the world did actually end in 1914, again in 1940, again in 1945 and on a weekly basis thereafter.

In his book Apocalypse: A History of the End of Time, John Michael Greer chronicles the viral life of the apocalypse meme in the run up to 21 December 2012, which may or may not be the point at which the Mayan calendar comes to an end and there are no more days to count.

In fact, says Greer, there is scant evidence to suggest that this date has ever been of any significance whatsoever to ancient Mesoamerican cultures – or to anyone else. Just one reference to it was found in a minor Mayan temple and no one's quite sure how the numbers there work out anyway.

We do, nevertheless, recognise the perversely seductive appeal of apocalyptic thinking round here. Imminent cataclysm introduces a fairly acute sense of drama. ('Catharsis' - purification through tragedy – shares with 'cataclysm' the Ancient Greek root 'kataklysmos' – a washing away of things).

Acceding to the apocalyptic meme makes the adept feel exclusive, elect, terrible and significant. Heroes come forth in the wasteland. And after the apocalypse there's the whole Mad Max, po-ap thing: a literal leveling of the social order with, in the movies anyway, a bizarrely carnivalesque undertone. ('Carnival', which has the same Latin root as 'carnage': a removal of flesh or meat.)

In fact, of course, the world – and the rest of the universe - will probably conclude with the heat death of the Sun in around four billion years' time. We're unlikely to be here to see that. But it does introduce some helpful perspective.

Anyway, to celebrate the fact that the world is not going to end in three weeks' time, we are assembling the Apocalypse Playlist: 20 songs about the end of the world at the rate of one (or possibly two) a day, until we get to 21/12/12...

Now click here to follow Jon's suggestions, guaranteed to be more fun and more surprising than an Advent Calendar, although I can't promise a chocolate behind every video window.  

Jon Fortgang is a London based journalist, writer and editor.

With love,
Mandi
www.mandilockley.com

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December Astrology Part 2 - Season's Meetings and Greetings

Season's Greetings!

Continuing Astroair's summary of December's astrological happenings...

Love, peace and harmony planet Venus moves into Aquarius, the sign of friendship and teamwork on December 20. This might not be the sexiest or most affectionate placement for Venus, but it's good for getting together with groups of people during this seasonal time, be that your complicated family or your circle of friends. Venus in Aquarius can seem detached at times, so if you or a loved one comes over a little aloof, just give yourself or them a bit of space and you/they will soon be back to their sociable self.

A Square between Venus and Jupiter on December 21, can only be a good thing, so expect peace, love and harmony to break out all around!

On December 22, the Sun moves into Capricorn. As a December Capricorn myself, I feel bound to defend my much maligned sign. Far from being serious and boring, Capricorns can be a wacky bunch, just check out these quotes from some famous cappies. Far from being slow and patient, Capricorns are dynamic and swift acting once they decide what they want and work out how to get it. However, discovering what they want and being in a position to get it might take some some time. This is because Saturn is trying to teach them the lesson of patience and well earned reward. This might be hard for cappy to swallow at times, but unfortunately there it is!

The Sun's entry into Capricorn marks the Winter Solstice (the Summer Solstice in the southern hemisphere). The chart for the Solstice is commonly used as a predictor for the season to come, at least until the Spring Equinox which marks the Sun's passage into Aries.

In the Solstice Chart the Sun trines Jupiter, presenting us with an opportunity to feel optimistic about the end of this year and the beginning of next, especially as Jupiter turns direct on December 25, after being retrograde since the end of August. Sun square Uranus asks us to brace ourselves for the unexpected, as disruptive and perhaps surprising elements come into play. Without a doubt, change is in the air in the coming months, another indicator of which is Sun conjunct Pluto. This aspect is still quite wide in the Solstice Chart, but becomes exact on December 29, in time for the tail end of the year. Of course, with Pluto being in Capricorn since 2008, every winter solstice chart for the past few years has had Sun conjunct Pluto. This reflects the fact that Pluto’s idea of change is slow, deep, transformation. We cannot doubt that the world is slowly becoming a very different kind of place for so many of us. In this season’s solstice chart, Jupiter opposite Saturn arms us with a sense of purpose to help us tackle any challenge that comes our way. Finally, Moon square Neptune suggests that the general mood will be our collective desire to escape, dream and get away from it all. Indulge if you must, but beware of deceiving yourself about what is real and what is not. Strictly speaking, if something seems too good to be true, it usually is!

December 24 brings a New Moon in Capricorn. I always think of the Capricorn New Moon as the start to the New Year... New Moons are seeding times, when we can ‘plant’ our intentions and watch them grow. Therefore, if you do have any New Year’s resolutions, decide upon them around this New Moon. OK, with the holiday indulgences in full swing, it might not be practical to put them into action until the New Year but setting the intention now can’t hurt, can it? And make a note to check back in on those resolutions around the time of the Aries Equinox in March, a time which marks another new beginning.

Wishing all my readers a happy and peaceful end to the year and a happy and healthy 2012.

Thanks for reading.

With love, Mandi
www.mandilockley.com

Summary of December's Astrology

December 1: Venus conjunct Pluto
December 2: Sun square Mars
December 5: Venus trine Mars
December 9: Uranus turns Direct
December 10: Full Moon Lunar Eclipse in Gemini
December 13: Mercury turns Direct
December 18: Venus squares Saturn
December 20: Venus enters Aquarius
December 21: Venus squares Jupiter
December 22 (December 21 in PST time zones): Sun enters Capricorn
December 22 (December 21 in PST time zones): The Winter Solstice (Summer Solstice in the southern hemisphere)
December 22: Sun trines Jupiter and squares Uranus
December 24: New Moon in Capricorn
December 25: Jupiter stations Direct

December 29: Sun conjunct Pluto

Solstice Forecast

What will the next three months bring? Change or business as usual? Summer of discontent or calm before the storm?


The Sun’s yearly ingress into Cancer marks the June Solstice (summer in the northern hemisphere, winter in the south). 


Solstice charts, along with Equinox charts, are considered to reflect the energies of the upcoming three months.


The Solstice chart below is set for London, for the moment the Sun moves into Cancer on June 21. However, the planetary aspects, degrees and sign placements will not change if you relocate the chart, (only the angles and house positions change), so they are relevant anywhere. So this review of the Solstice looks at the general aspects and planet positions, as they would apply anywhere in the world and also looks at a few things as they relate specifically to the UK.


In the Solstice chart, the Sun forms a cardinal grand cross, involving Mercury, Saturn, Uranus and Pluto. (I am allowing orbs of up to ten degrees here, which is the standard in mundane (world) astrology – for natal transits the orbs would be no more than 2-3 degrees).

Click to enlarge

You’ve probably spotted that the Sun is picking up on the Saturn-Uranus-Pluto cardinal t-square that had us all in a lather last year. But don’t forget that every Solstice or Equinox chart since late 2009 has had the Sun in aspect to that t-square, because by their very nature, these charts feature the Sun at 0 degrees of one of the cardinal signs. So, business as usual? Well yes in a way, the next few months will see the nerve-racking ping-pong game of crisis-action-reaction running on and on, through the economic, political and ecological crises currently being playing out throughout the world.


What is interesting is that this is the last Solstice or Equinox chart where the Sun hooks into a conjunction, square or opposition with Saturn. In mundane astrology, Saturn rules the housing marking, industry in general and how the laws of the land are enforced and administered, so we can expect any of these issues to be aired quite extensively by our leaders in the upcoming three months.


By the time of the Libra Equinox ingress in September, Saturn will have moved out of orb, so the Sun will be in a t-square with just Uranus and Pluto, the two planets edging ever closer to their first exact square since the 1930’s. Uranus is about social rebellion and revolution, freedom, progress, technological advances and Pluto is about power struggles, control, resources, anything in society that is hidden, taboo or buried and along with Neptune, it rules oil. Already we can see Uranus-Pluto themes playing out throughout the North Africa and the Middle East. It will be interesting to see how things develop on that front once cautious, restricting, relationship-oriented Saturn in Libra moves out of the t-square.


But we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves.


This Solstice chart sees two slower moving planets in new signs since the Aries Equinox in April - Jupiter in Taurus and Neptune in Pisces conjunct Chiron in Pisces.


Jupiter’s overriding principle is expansion and growth, so in Taurus, we will see issues of bodily growth (the obesity issue) and a spotlight on our society’s values and attitudes towards security. Are we consuming too much (physically and economically)? Does this really make us feel secure as a society? Do we really need all those luxuries to have a safe and comfortable life? Have we been squandering our natural resources? Already, our intensive farming methods are coming into question yet again, over the e-coli crisis which has been spreading across Europe through an as yet unidentified food source. It also asks us to rethink the way food is transported.  Perhaps Jupiter in Taurus will see further growth in the burgeoning industry for locally grown seasonal produce?


Jupiter is also about higher education and with it falling in money and values oriented Taurus, we will be forced to question the value we put on higher education, as the row over massive hikes in university fees in the UK rumbles on. Should we let go of the ideal of higher education for all and let university degrees fall back into the exclusive domain of the wealthy and the privileged? A trine from Pluto in Capricorn in the 2nd house, underscores the intensity of this issue, highlighting the need for a new perspective on the whole issue. Expect this to become a tense party political issue as this summer rolls on and the new academic year edges closer.


Another topic that could come up again in the UK now that Jupiter is in Taurus is the controversial issue of airport expansion. Many plans for new runways and new airports across the UK were dropped because of the recession, but perhaps some of the plans will be picked up on again during the next year. Expect huge and popular protests from environmental groups if they do.


Neptune in Pisces has already seen some manifestations. A recent report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy said that despite the trillions spent by governments around the world on the “war on drugs”, drug usage has not fallen and drug related crime has skyrocketed. The report calls for governments to consider legalising some drugs, and the de-criminalisation of drug users.


The debate this has opened up will no doubt run and run. Already, in the UK, the charity Release (which campaigns for changes in the drugs laws in the UK) has written to the Prime Minister “calling for a review of the current drug policies, with a view to decriminalisation of possession for all drugs. This letter has been signed by leading QC's, three former Chief Constables, academics, politicians and high profile celebrities.”


Neptune in Pisces falls in the 12^th House of the Solstice chart for the UK, so we can expect the debate here to centre around the burden that illegal drug use places on our prison and healthcare systems. With the Moon (the mood of the population) widely conjunct Neptune, this issue is bound to pull at the nation’s sympathies. It is interesting to note that Neptune makes an easy trine aspect to the Sun (Prime Minister/Government), so it will be fascinating to see what they does with this issue. Will the government easily win the public around and get its way on this issue? Or will the public feel deceived (Moon-Neptune, Pisces, 12^th house)?


Also in the UK, National Health Service reforms are being planned by the government. Already, the reform plans have been changed following criticism. Again, this issues falls under Neptune conjunct Moon in Pisces trine Sun. Will the government eventually get its way? Perhaps we shouldn’t discount a tight square from Mars in Gemini in the third house. Both sides of debate will compete to get their voices heard on this issue, with the danger of an aggressive propaganda campaign on both sides.


Finally, as the Uranus-Pluto square rumbles ever closer to its first exact square in 2012, more strike action, protest and rebellion is on the way, “union leaders are threatening the biggest wave of strikes since 1926, after the government unveiled proposals for public sector employees to work longer and pay more for less generous entitlements in retirement.” I think it’s fascinating that Saturn in Libra and Pluto in Capricorn, both speak about concerns about ageing and retirement. Already, the government opposition party (symbolised by Mars in Gemini here) are warning the unions that they will play into the hands of the government  if they strike, suggesting that the government will use the strikes as propaganda (Neptune in Pisces) to convince the public (the Moon) that the strikers and unions are to blame for the slow economic recovery. Expect this confused argument to heat up over the summer.  (news source: BBC).


I do hope you enjoy this season, whatever it brings. Take a step back now and again and view things from the wider perspective....cherish the gift of insight that astrology brings.


With love,

Mandihttp://www.mandilockley.com/


Solstice/Equinox 101: There are two Solstices and the two Equinoxes each year. These important power points occur as the Sun enters one of the cardinal signs of the zodiac - Aries, Cancer, Libra or Capricorn and astrologers use the charts for these events to make predictions for the following three months ahead.
The first Equinox of the year occurs when the Sun moves into Aries, the first sign of the zodiac, around March 21, marking the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and the beginning of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. At an Equinox, day and night are of equal length.
The first Solstice occurs when the Sun moves into Cancer around June 21. In the Northern Hemisphere the Solstice marks midsummer, the longest day of the year and in the Southern Hemisphere it marks midwinter, the shortest day of the year.
The second Equinox, around September 21, when the Sun moves into Libra, marks the start of autumn in the N. Hemisphere and the start of spring in the S. Hemisphere.
Finally, the second Solstice of the year occurs around December 21 when the Sun moves into Capricorn, marking the shortest day (midwinter) in the N. Hemisphere and longest day (midsummer) in the S. Hemisphere. The further away from the Equator you are located the more pronounced the Equinoxes will be. For example, very Northern locations will experience twenty-four hour darkness at the winter Solstice and twenty-four hour sunlight at the summer Solstice. If you are located very near to the Equator, day and night are more or less of equal length all year round.
The Solstices and Equinoxes have been important and much celebrated festival days for many thousands of years and are today still celebrated by modern Wiccans, Pagans and Druids.
 Stonehenge image from: http://www.stonehengetours.com/html/summer-solstice-tour.htm




The ancient stone circle of Stonehenge near Salisbury, England is a major focal point for celebrating the summer Solstice, with thousands gathering each year to watch the Solstice sunrise align with the stones.

The Solstice and the Grand Cross

The Sun’s ingress into the sign of Cancer is always a very important power point in the solar calendar, marking the June Solstice*. This year’s Solstice chart is a very powerful one indeed because it picks right up on all the main action!

Cancer, as many of you will know, is one of the cardinal signs, the others being Aries, Libra and Capricorn. Since 2008 most of the outer planets, which represent collective moods, feeling and developments, have been moving into the cardinal signs. First Pluto moved into Capricorn in 2008, next Saturn went into Libra in 2009, and finally in March ’10, Uranus moved Aries.

The chart for the Solstice picks up all these outer planets very strongly. You can see this very clearly, marked out in red lines in the chart below. The Sun, to the left of the chart, connects with Saturn at the bottom (currently in Virgo after a retrograde period, but back in Libra by July 21); Pluto in Capricorn on the right and Jupiter and Uranus in Aries at the top. These connections form what is known as a grand cross.

Before considering what this grand cross means, think about how things have been for you the last three months or so. How are you feeling now? For me, the last few months have been pretty hard-going. Flux, overwhelm, emotional and mental fatigue and the constant need to adjust to new energies. On top of all that, a sense of losing momentum and the urge to withdraw, retreat and lie low for a while. Frankly, it’s been exhausting.

Your experience might be similar, or completely different, but consider your own experience as you read on, because we all start from the place that we’re at, if you know what I mean. For sure, we’ve all been living through some challenging planetary aspects these last couple of years, particularly those of us with natal planets or angles in the late mutable signs and/or early cardinal signs (you can get your chart for free at www.alabe.com if you want to know if you’re affected). Many of us have had to deal with big changes over which we’ve had little control and many more of us are having to work hard to set healthy boundaries as we try to balance conflicting commitments and maintain our poise as we juggle what we must do with what we want to do.

So, what’s next? Well, the Solstice chart can be used to make a general prediction for the coming three months, so let’s take a look at it. First of all, the grand cross stands out. A grand cross symbolises conflicting energies, opposition, tension, competing priorities. There is the danger of stalemate, working yourself into a corner, or the feeling of being buffered about from pillar to post, but not really getting anywhere fast as you try to balance everything and everyone in your life. Primarily in cardinal signs it urges us to do something, to take action. The time for procrastination is over. However, as I have said on this blog before, we have to take correct action, with clear and positive intention. Before stepping on a path, we should ask ourselves if we are taking positive, empowered steps forward or are we merely reacting to circumstances. The gift that a grand cross brings is tremendous energy and the opportunity to find stability and balance. The trap that a grand cross brings is inflexibility, re-action rather than action and a whole heap of tension.

So what can we do, to ensure that we are able to use energies of this grand cross for the highest good, for the best possible outcome? Well there are a number of ways and here are just a few ideas and I’m sure you’ll have some ideas of your own.

Using the energies of the planets involved wisely and to the highest good is a sensible place to start. Remember though, that when we are communing with the planets, tapping into their energies, it's a bit like communing with the gods, because the planets were named after the old, great gods. We should hold that thought and respect it.

Saturn in Virgo reminds us to take a reality check and helps us to remember that sometimes it’s the small, practical, carefully thought out things we do that make the difference, not the grand gestures. When Saturn goes back into Libra, it reminds us to find balance in our lives, to set healthy boundaries in our relationships, to act justly and to opt for fair compromise.

Uranus in Aries, here in conjunction with Jupiter in Aries, reminds us to have faith, to think big, to be creative, to experiment, to express our individuality and authenticity, to get excited, to grab opportunities and to jump right in and initiate change.

Pluto in Capricorn reminds us to own and use our personal power wisely and responsibly. We’ve collectively worked hard to get to this point and we are ready to learn that having and holding power doesn’t have to, and shouldn’t, mean taking the power away from someone else. Pluto (along with Saturn) can also help us to keep things in perspective, to act properly under pressure and not to let fear blind us from seeing things clearly.

Finally, the Sun in Cancer reminds us to care and to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe and nurtured. It asks us to remember our roots and to listen to our instincts. Look again at the chart above. See the blue triangle that starts from the Sun in Cancer and picks up the Moon, Neptune and Chiron? This formation, a grand trine, provides us with an opportunity to find some gentle release from the tension of  the grand cross and sprinkles a little bit of magic-dust idealism over our outlook. It reminds us that sometimes we need to just simply go with the flow. Falling in air and water signs, the grand trine speaks of the need to find the head-heart balance as we go about our lives.

And finally, here are a few other suggestions of things to do to nurture ourselves during these testing times:

Learn to follow your feelings and your instincts
Ask where you are meant to be and listen for the answer
Act from the heart, for the highest good
Practice being in the moment
Spend time in nature
Stay grounded
Follow your creative urges
Sing, dance, play, celebrate, make some noise

Just a few days after the Solstice, on June 26 there is a Lunar Eclipse, with the Moon joining the grand cross dance. More on this, plus how to use the Eclipse energies to do some releasement work in a few days time.

The grand cross described here is a temporary alignment, but Saturn, Uranus and Pluto have been making a t-square together for some time gone and some time to come. To find out more and to access some amazing coping and healing techniques, see the Cardinal T Square Blog-A-Thon

With love,
Mandi
http://www.mandilockley.com/

*Solstice/Equinox 101:
There are two Solstices and the two Equinoxes each year. These important power points occur as the Sun enters one of the cardinal signs of the zodiac - Aries, Cancer, Libra or Capricorn and astrologers use the charts for these events to make predictions for the following three months ahead.
The first Equinox of the year occurs when the Sun moves into Aries, the first sign of the zodiac, around March 21, marking the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and the beginning of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. At an Equinox, day and night are of equal length.
The first Solstice occurs when the Sun moves into Cancer around June 21. In the Northern Hemisphere the Solstice marks midsummer, the longest day of the year and in the Southern Hemisphere it marks midwinter, the shortest day of the year.
The second Equinox, around September 21, when the Sun moves into Libra, marks the start of autumn in the N. Hemisphere and the start of spring in the S. Hemisphere.
Finally, the second Solstice of the year occurs around December 21 when the Sun moves into Capricorn, marking the shortest day (midwinter) in the N. Hemisphere and longest day (midsummer) in the S. Hemisphere. The further away from the Equator you are located the more pronounced the Equinoxes will be. For example, very Northern locations will experience twenty-four hour darkness at the winter Solstice and twenty-four hour sunlight at the summer Solstice. If you are located very near to the Equator, day and night are more or less of equal length all year round.
The Solstices and Equinoxes have been important and much celebrated festival days for many thousands of years and are today still celebrated by modern Wiccans, Pagans and Druids.

Stonehenge image from: http://www.stonehengetours.com/html/summer-solstice-tour.htm The ancient stone circle of Stonehenge near Salisbury, England is a major focal point for celebrating the summer Solstice, with thousands gathering each year to watch the Solstice sunrise align with the stones.

The chart pictured is set for the moment the Sun enters Cancer on 21st June 2010 and uses Solar Sign houses.

Ho! Ho! Ho! The Solstice & The Sun in Capricorn

The Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year, marking the yearly turning point when the days become longer, a promise of Spring.

The Solstices are always a very poignant, spiritual time, loaded with myth and symbolism, celebrated throughout history in rituals and festivals across different religions and cultures.

For us astrologers, the Winter Solstice on the 21st December (in the Northern Hemisphere) marks the Sun’s ingress into the Cardinal Earth sign of Capricorn, the old sea goat.

When the Sun moves into a new sign, I always like to write an upbeat positive blog about that sign. Especially so for Capricorn, the oft-maligned sign whose ruler is that old Malefic, Saturn, the hard task master, the planet that won’t let us get away with it, he who subjects us to boundaries, limitations, obligations, difficult lessons and a nagging conscience.

Being a Capricorn myself, it’s hard to be objective, so I was thrilled when I found this blog from Mystic Cyber Crow which has some great pictures of Saturn and the other Winter Solstice Gods. Look through these pics and it’s not hard to see how Saturn is related, mythologically speaking, to our dear old jolly Santa!

Yippeeeee!!! Santa brings us gifts and therefore so too does Saturn! The gift of discipline to get things done, the gift of authority, the gift of being able to meet our material, practical needs, the gift of time, wisdom, experience and maturity. Something to celebrate, no?

Saturnalia, the ancient Roman holiday which celebrated the Solstice and the God Saturn, was the biggest and most raucous festival in the calendar. People gave gifts, drank, gambled and caroused. Such was the merryment, they even gave their slaves the day off & let them insult their masters! See, Saturn's not so bad after all, is he? LOL!

Enjoy the Sun’s journey through Capricorn, because starting with the Winter Solstice as it does, this lovely sign really does carry the promise of new life, the greatest gift of all.

Solstice wishes,

Mandi

And here's a link to a lovely blog on Auntie Moon's site: A Season of Lights ~ Bringing the Solstice Inside

(the santa suit pictured is available from http://www.partypants.fsnet.co.uk/)