Life of the Heavens
...On the Solstice and the Capricorn Full Moon
“I would like to know the stars again as the Chaldeans knew them, two thousand years before Christ. I would like to be able to put my ego into the sun, and my personality into the moon, and my character into the planets, and live the life of the heavens, as the early Chaldeans did.”
— D.H. Lawrence
As an astrologer in the modern age, it’s too easy to lose connection to what really matters in our study. Whether in a city or not, it’s too easy to forget to look up, to spend more time under the living sky. It’s also all too easy to forget the importance of certain times of the year like Equinoxes or the Solstices. It’s not our fault. Unless we were raised by Pagans, we weren’t taught it. So we must relearn. There is so much to relearn, rebuild, and reorient to in our world.
With the Sun standing still and the peak length of our days and/or nights behind us, there is now a Full Moon to celebrate under. Unfortunately for me, I’m sick. So I’m here in my studio contemplating D.H. Lawrence and the sky in between my coughs and sneezes.
There are ten thousand ways to celebrate the Sun at its standstill. If you are in Peru, you may take part in the Inti Raymi festival and experience the Incan way, if you're in Norway and you’re a runner, you might partake in the Midnight Sun Marathon taking advantage of the Sun that won’t quit, or here in the UK, of course, we have the countless who flock to Stonehenge. However we acknowledge it, it’s just important we are connecting to the core of it all, which is Life. Without the Sun, there is no life. Only darkness. For myself, I’m thankful to have enough Sun, to have a 2-0 record with Covid…almost.
With the Capricorn Full Moon tomorrow, it glows through an interesting Sabian Symbol. It reads:
2º Capricorn
"Three Stained-Glass Windows in a Gothic Church, One Damaged by War"
…three is an important number. Trinities appear everywhere; in the body, mind, and spirit; the father, son, and the holy spirit; in our astrology with the sun, moon, and ascendant creating a triad for personality. Take out one and the triangle loses its power. It’s also a symbol that surveys Capricorn well. Gothic architecture is stunning. Stained glass windows are unreal. The skill it takes to create such works is lost on most of us. I feel many of us have lost contact with not only these skills, but the sky and our past as well. It seems more people are interested in tearing it down than actually learning from it. This is an image that serves as a warning. Make art, not war. Know your past, and try not to delete it.
As an astrologer, I’m asked all the time: “where is this all headed?” “who is gonna win the election?” “when is it going to get better?” My answer is always the same: I dunno, but what I do know are the trends and how to read the symbols in time.
Back in early 2009 for example, right after Obama took office and inherited the banking collapse and the first bitcoins were being mined in secret amidst all the chaos, Pluto was around 2º of Capricorn. And so, this same degree was being tickled then by Pluto, as it is with this Solstice Full Moon. Pluto is an expert at exposing toxicity in complex systems and he didn’t let any of us down in 2008/09’ when he made his entrance. Now, aside from bitcoin and decentralized outlets like podcasts creating exponentially more awareness of what lies behind the curtain, not much has actually changed since then. The geriatric Plutocracy still runs the world, and only those at the top are any better for it. So what gives?
With our final days counting down with Pluto in this “Gothic” sign, it’s a near guarantee that business as usual is coming to an end. It is something to be optimistic about. And even though we usually think of Aquarius as being future-oriented, it also relates to the past; it’s the sign that governs historians for instance. More people are becoming interested in history (including myself); more people are turning back to the church; more people are becoming conservative. It’s clearly on display all over the world with the populist victories that are happening. Pluto revealed too much, and now this liberal order must contort and twist as it swings to its polarity. People are craving order. We want to feel powerful. Eventually, at least it is the prayer, we will once more.
This pendulum swing always occurs right on time. You can use Pluto as a metric, with his 248-year orbit in measuring the life span of empires (the return for the USA). You can also see it with the Uranus cycle every 84 years (another return for the US and a 4th turning)—or their own planetary pair as well (the Pluto/Uranus cycle is a powerful cycle to study for this). It’s time, and it’s perfect. And we will never know enough to worry.
I remain optimistic because there is no other choice, but also because astrology helps to reassure us, over and over again, that everything is right on time. And so, in this midpoint of the solar year, may it bring in an astounding clarity on how it is we can grow our spirit, and not diminish it like these fine folk at Stonehenge yesterday who I’m sure have their hearts in the right place, but read the room—the field—the ancestors—folks. Defacing Stonehedge on the holiest day of its year isn’t going to win many minds over to the cause. Not cool. Saving the Earth from oil by poisoning ancient lichen at a megalithic site is not the approach. Everyone—including the ancient builders— is shaking their heads…
Happy Solstice my friends!
-adam
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Excellent read Adam and wishing a speedy recovery. I too turn to history and find comfort learning the patterns. Those kids surely didn’t read the room. Too rash to be nuanced and too literal (the malaise of these times) to be more imaginative and intelligently trickster.
Lovely read, per usual. Very sorry to hear about Stonehenge. I hope for you a swift recovery.