Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice - Protection

"The things we truly love stay with us always, locked in our hearts as long as life remains."

— Josephine Baker

We reach the Winter Solstice this week in an extraordinarily potent and extremely challenging atmosphere. Venus turns retrograde in a powerful, extended conjunction with Pluto, challenging us to learn new ways of relating within an entirely new but still developing framework. The retrograde Venus is likely to dash our idealism and put our relationships in a rather cold, harsh light. Saturn and Uranus make the third and final exact square. This long arc aspect has been with us all year, setting out obstacles for us to overcome, demanding that we check and recheck our foundations for any weaknesses before embarking on a mission of innovative change. In the process, old frameworks, structures and guidelines are being dismantled but we are left without much that we believe we can rely on. We may be inclined to believe that the obstacles are endless but Chiron's direct station occurring shortly after the retrograde station of Venus, in a sextile to Saturn, encourages perseverance, as well as compassion for the struggles that others are facing — instead of focusing only our own challenges. Nonetheless, this week's environment is likely to feel rather cold and tense. If we try to fall back on what has worked for us in the past, our responses are likely to seem hollow and unfeeling. We may be inclined to respond to obstacles and slowdowns with impatience or defensiveness, likely arising out of feelings of inadequacy. Self-control and compassion will go far to keep us from feeling isolated or helpless. Past experience, past ways of relating, and established channels of communication seem to fall short. We are being guided to learn how to deliver our individual message — those things that matter to us the most — in a new way. The Winter Solstice on Tuesday begins to turn our focus towards protecting our important ideas until we can find some way to share those ideas effectively with others. Until there are reliable new structures and guidelines, we may simply look for ways to fall back and protect our ideas until people are ready to listen. We may look for ways to conform to whatever guidelines we can find even if there is little safety to be found in conformity. Some will believe that we will do better if we become part of 'Something Bigger' but joining others in common effort seems to threaten our individual perspective. No matter how much we focus on a performance that allows us to protect or control our message, the ultimate goal of sharing our honest perspective with others does not feel safe or achievable this week. Nonetheless, this is actually the moment where we need to begin to build the new structures and lay the groundwork for new guidelines that provide us with more effective ways of relating to those around us. With self-control and compassion for the struggles of others, we will begin to develop an entirely new understanding of how to build or rebuild our relationships and our alliances with others. Careful compromise will allow us to protect what is most important to us, while learning to honor what is most important to others.

Sunday's shifts require adjustments. We need to maintain a delicate balance between sticking with what know and finding new approaches. Impatience is especially destabilizing. Timing is everything on Monday. Intuition helps us to find a way to say the right thing at the right time. Our concern over appearances increases on Tuesday with the arrival of the Winter Solstice. We may begin to realize that we will do better if we become part of 'Something Bigger'. There is a sort of 'split focus' on Wednesday between our outer presentation and inner 'machinations'. Performance is paramount. We need some detachment on Thursday to help us stay focused on our message and not just on our performance. Falling back on 'old structures' on Friday may seem hollow and cold. We may seem to be out of touch, erratic, or irresponsible when we try out new ideas or approaches. Confidence is bolstered on Saturday and we begin to feel safer when we express our individual views and opinions.

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