art is courtesy of the American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore, MD
No matter our culture or belief system, we are each equally divine children of our Mother Earth, crafted of the same carbon elements and influenced through the same seasonal cycles. Therefore we can all acknowledge this pivotal time in the Wheel of the Year as we enter a new cycle, cross a new threshold, and honor the dawning of an entirely new age.
Solstice portal is a time to DREAM. In the longest night of the year, it is in our slowing down and in our deeper listening in which we discover a new dimension of Truth — We are no longer waiting for change, but we are actively Becoming it!
Who we think we are is ever-further revealed when we allow circumstances (memories, the present moment, and future unfoldments) to remain just as they are, and the difference is made in our cultivation of a shift in perspective of the meaning. This work is a movement inwards — not a rushing to the mall or a crowd pleasing event. First and foremost our efforts are needed in the tending of our own hearts and psyches. This time may be unearthing karmic patterns and lessons to be recycled. May we bring our utmost awareness to what is arising — bathing it in the same kindness and compassion we would give to a newborn child (within us still lives that child). This activation of awareness requires effort in the psyche, and yet it worth the extra intention to make new neural connections which transform our habits to better serve our destined evolution.
“The new age of which many speak is born through us. We do not arrive in it fully formed, nor find ourselves delivered through external intervention. Instead, we birth it from our own becoming. All things move towards evolution or entropy and both states live in this conjunction.” — Sarah Varcas
May we know that all is exactly where it needs to be today. Solstice is not about seeing the Light, but is about praying with the Light, creating the Light, though it is unseen. This time is prayers in the darkness (both environmentally and metaphorically) for the Light to return — prayers that there is purpose in mystery and that new growth will soon appear.
This is the patience and preparation for the birthing portal. Solstice is a time to find within ourselves — and then to hold — the frequency of celebration for our wonderful visions that have yet to come into manifestation.
A simple practice for honoring this transitional energy is to light a Solstice candle, infusing it with your prayers and meditation for transformation, higher awareness, and planetary healing.
Candlelight. Divine emblems. 1867
In terms of planetary healing, this Solstice is divinely aligned with the Great Conjunction of Saturn + Jupiter in 1st degree of Aquarius (with 7 planets in Aquarius!).
“Conjunctions between Saturn and Jupiter occur every twenty years. They speak to humanity’s efforts to create sustainable structures which allow for a meaningful experience of life on planet earth. Jupiter is a future-focused planet, and Saturn the planet of linear time and the maturation that accompanies it. Together they seek to fulfill the potential of the human family in line with its collective karmic load and combined potentiality. When these planets meet, the old and new co-exist with not a moment’s space between. Whilst we think in terms of linear time, truth exists outside of it, revealing itself in ways we can now better appreciate. The most ancient truths can be as vibrant as cutting-edge thought and the latest perspective as jaded as the most oft repeated lie. This conjunction in Aquarius weaves the past and present into a vivid singularity, creating a perceptual shift which casts both the past and future in a new and illuminating light.” —Sarah Varcas
In Aquarius, possibilities (mind, innovation) are inspired and expanded. Future potentiality is pulsing. This is about the COLLECTIVE now — a shift in power in favor of the collective human family. We are collectively stepping into the power in action of Truth!
For more on the Great Aquarian Conjunction of Saturn + Jupiter, I highly recommend reading Sarah Varcas’s post here.