Happy Solstice and New Moon in Capricorn! This Super New Moon becomes exact at 5:16 AM New York time (10:16 GMT) on Friday, December 23; the Solstice became exact at 4:47 PM New York time (21:47 GMT) on Wednesday, December 21.
2022 concludes with a Super New Moon in Capricorn very close to the Solstice! As a reminder a SuperMoon occurs when the moon is physically closer to the Earth than usual, thus amplifying its effects.
HAPPY SOLSTICE!
We have been immersed in a super-powerful energetic gateway in the days leading up to this Solstice, since the 12/12 gateway. It's been the final grand energetic portal of this momentous year of 2022, as our bodies and spirits are being further refined in preparation for the dawning of the sacred year of 2023.
I am going to focus this section on the significance of the Winter Solstice/Yule, since most of my readers are in the Northern Hemisphere.
In the Pagan traditions, Yule is a festival celebrating the longest night of the year, and the return of the sun (as after the Solstice, the daylight gets just a little bit longer each day). So, the Winter Solstice is seen not as a time of darkness--but of rebirth! It is the return of the Sun King!
It's a good thing to ask yourself how you can become reborn? How can you be reborn into a new version of yourself?
It is also of course the official beginning of the winter season in the Northern Hemisphere. Right on cue, much of the United States and Canada has entered into a deep freeze this week. Wintertime is a time of hibernation for nature. The holidays are a time to remind ourselves that it’s important to take a ‘time out’ from the grind of trying to grow and succeed, and to just relax, rest, retreat, read, watch movies, connect with family, etc.
Christmas, which of course is really based on the ancient tradition of Yule, is a celebration. People tend to be more jolly and grateful around Christmastime, which is just how the Pagans have been celebrating Yule for thousands of years. The Solstice Time is a great time to be extra grateful for all of the blessings in your life and to place your thoughts on exactly how you want to see your 2023 go.
Who do you want to be in 2023? What do you want your life to look like in 2023? How do you want your 2023 to feel?
2023 is a 7 Universal Year in numerology, so our inward spiritual journey will be the focus for the coming year. I'll have a video with a full energetic and astrological preview of 2023 on New Year’s Eve, so make sure you’re subscribed to my YouTube channel.
HAPPY SUPER NEW MOON IN CAPRICORN!
Capricorn season arrived when the sun entered 0 degrees and 0 minutes of that sign on the Solstice. This Super New Moon at 1 ½ degrees brings the Capricornian energies to the forefront of the collective consciousness—as we now have a stellium in Capricorn (the sun, the moon, Mercury, Venus, and Pluto).
Capricorn is about the material world, the earth, structures, and legacies. It is the cardinal earth sign, as it initiates the season of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. It is ruled by stubborn, serious Saturn. Saturn is the builder, and it is also in charge of legacies and structures. It is also the planet of karma.
Capricorn's glyph—or symbol—is that of a 'Sea Goat'--with the horns of the mountain goat and the tail of a fish. It is the ruler of the 10th House in astrology, which is the House of Ambition/Social Status. The Midheaven (or MC) sits at the beginning of this house. The 10th House rules over our career and how we act, show up, and are perceived in the outside world.
The main feature of this New Moon chart is that the sun and moon square the exalted Jupiter in Aries. Jupiter has just re-entered Aries after spending the last two months in Pisces. A planet in the first degree of a sign is exalted (meaning it has a more powerful influence than usual).
Jupiter is the planet of growth, and in Mars-ruled Aries, that growth can happen very quickly. With this expansive planet squaring the Super New Moon, the concern is that these energies might cause us to be greedy, or to bite off more than we can chew in projects.
The next 28 days are a bad time to take unnecessary risks—even more so with us in the pre-phase of another Mercury Retrograde (more on that later in this article). The next 28 days are a time to ‘take it easy’, ‘go with the flow’, be practical, and plan for the future.
TAKING STOCK AND PLANNING AHEAD
Hopefully you've taken stock of where you're at in life as we prepare to turn the calendar from 2022 to 2023; and hopefully you've made a list of goals/intentions for this sacred year to come. My suggestion is to make a list of goals and categorize them (e.g. career, health, relationships, finances, hobbies, spiritual development). Keep them posted in your room or office and reference them throughout the year.
I hear comments on every New and Full Moon that my journal prompts are very helpful, so here are some things to journal on to get you in touch with the most realistic view of the landscape of your life. From a place of groundedness, it is much easier to make forward progress through instituting new strategies and making courageous choices when need be.
Please note that these questions are intended to get you thinking about where you want to head for the long-term, not for you to necessarily make hasty changes in direction:
Do I feel like my current living environment is supporting my highest evolution? If not, then what needs to change? Do I need to clean or reorganize? Do I need to relocate? Do I need to live with different people (or alone)?
Do I feel like my current job or career is supporting my highest possible evolution? If not, then what might be the highest possible resolution to my career path? If it's not logical to leave my current occupation at this time, then how can I plan to make a transition to a new career in the future? What steps can I get started with now?
What is my current financial situation, from a realistic and grounded standpoint? What steps do I need to take to improve my finances (e.g. saving more, reducing costs, attracting a higher-paying position, investing, creating a side hustle)?
Which interpersonal relationships of mine need work (e.g. partner, family, friends, business associates, neighbors)? How would these relationships ideally look and feel? What practical steps could I take to improve these relationships?
Do I feel like the people I spend the most time talking to and associating with are supporting my highest evolution? If not, then how might I put myself into a position where I can attract more supportive people into my life?
What baggage am I currently carrying that has gotten too heavy for me to carry any longer?
What changes do I feel like my Higher Self or soul is asking for me to make over the next year?
Who do I want to become by the end of 2023? What does my vision for the happiest, healthiest, and most successful version of myself by the end of 2023 look like?
Do I feel like my daily habits are currently supporting my highest possible health and highest possible evolution overall? If not, which supportive habits might I be able to add to my daily repertoire that would put me back on my highest possible path?
What is my body asking of me? Better nutrition? More exercise? More sleep? Better sleep? Less stress? More deep breathing? Fasting? Cleansing? All of the above?
What kind of plan could I put together to give my body just what it needs to heal, grow and flourish over the next year (and beyond), regardless of what is going on in the outside world right now?
THIS NEW MOON INVITES YOU TO COMMIT TO NEW, SUPPORTIVE RITUALS
Aristotle didn't actually say “You are what you repeatedly do,” but irregardless of the fact that this famous quote has been misattributed, it is still a wonderful piece of wisdom! If you want to make long-lasting changes in your life, it requires repetition.
Here's why: the subconscious mind actually manifests 95% of your reality. This part of your mind is formed pretty much completely between the ages of 0 and 7, when our brains are predominately in a Theta wave state. The thoughts and beliefs of our parents, caregivers, and even the media end up forming the template of our subconscious mind.
If we don't do the healing work, this subconscious mind will continue to manifest the same sorts of problems and frustrations for us over and over again. Only 5% of our thoughts come from the input of the conscious mind, so that's why making lasting change in your life requires a lot of deliberate repetition.
During Capricorn season, it is natural to become more aware of which sorts of activities and addictions that have become a normal part of your life are slowing you down and holding you back.
Once you've identified those daily activities that aren't supporting your highest evolution, the next step is to of course figure out which new rituals you can implement that will allow you to shift those hardened subconscious patterns that control 95% of your life.
One of the overlooked principles of co-creation is that a small input can create a large output. Meaning, it only takes a few minutes per day of a new supportive rituals in order to make a significant change in your life. Just a few minutes of meditation per day, for example, can cause a wonderful improvement to your health and well-being.
Here are some ideas for supportive daily rituals you can implement in 2023:
Meditating/visualizing first thing in the morning prior to checking your phone
Setting daily morning intentions
Drawing a daily tarot or oracle card
Daily exercise routine
EFT tapping
Dry brushing
Rebounding
Grounding exercises
Yoga or tai chi
Gratitude journal
Journaling your thoughts before bed
A dream journal
A daily artistic practice (e.g. drawing or creative writing)
MERCURY PREPARING TO RETROGRADE
Mercury, the planet of communication, is currently in its pre-Retrograde Shadow Phase, as it prepares to station Retrograde on December 29. During the week before and after the planetary stations, the effects of the station are most strongly felt.
During a Mercury Retrograde period, it is a time to work on refining our communication. Remember: emotions, intentions, and subtleties are easily lost during text and written communication. With this Mercury Retrograde occurring in Capricorn, it is a time to focus on being practical and straightforward in our communication.
During this Mercury Retrograde time, it’s important to give others the benefit of the doubt when it comes to communication. Communication could come off as cold during this time, but people may just be being practical and straightforward—Capricorn is a serious sign.
Mercury Retrograde is a great time to reconnect with people from your past. We often feel like we are back in the past with other people when we are in communication with them during a Mercury Retrograde; oftentimes, when the post-Retrograde Shadow Phase ends, we are then back to being focused on the future and the people from our past largely fade away until the next Mercury Retrograde period.
With this Mercury Retrograde occurring in business-oriented Capricorn and coinciding with a Mars Retrograde in Gemini (one of the signs that Mercury rules), this is an especially good time to dig into and revisit unfinished career-related projects from the past, as well as to get in contact with potentially helpful and lucrative networking connections that didn’t really go anywhere in the past. You never know, now could be the time!
Also, with Mercury sextiling Neptune, it’s a good time to revisit unfinished creative and artistic projects from the past. Maybe you started an art piece, and you can finish it over the holidays! Also, it’s a good time to pay attention to your dreams, and journal on them—we will likely receive very good insight from our dreams over the next 28 days.
By the way, if you were born under a Mercury Retrograde, it's not going to affect you as strongly--and in fact you might even feel more ‘at home’ during this time.
Here is some general advice for this Mercury Retrograde:
Make sure that all the 'I's are dotted' and 'all the T's are crossed' when signing any contracts. Consider Murphy's Law during Mercury Retrograde: what can go wrong, will go wrong. Consider holding off on signing contracts until February, if it's something that isn't time-sensitive.
Be extra clear in your communication with others. Give others more leeway than usual. Inquire to clarify what someone means by something if you're unsure, especially if it's via text message or e-mail.
Avoid purchasing big-ticket items (e.g. a new car) until February, if possible
Back up all of your computer files and your smartphone!
Triple-check travel plans and appointment times. Verify times with others.
Release expectations of others, especially when it comes to people responding in a timely fashion. Give people the benefit of the doubt. Expectations of others may go unfulfilled.
As always, use Mercury Retrograde as a time to refine your communication, rather than to be afraid of miscommunications, or electronics breaking down, or travel plans getting interrupted.
Also, with Jupiter in Aries squaring the New Moon, and Black Moon Lilith trining the New Moon (this is a very seductive/persuasive aspect), scammers and criminals will likely be more cunning and aggressive than usual over the next 28 days. Be careful to not fall for phishing scams, whether it be via text, phone, e-mail, or otherwise.
As an aside, it’s nice to see justice coming for Sam Bankman-Fried, one of the worst financial criminals of all-time, during this time.
Wishing you a Happy Solstice, a Blessed Yule, a Happy New Moon, and a Happy New Year!
With Love,
Matthew John
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