Finding your way in the dark
In spirituality we often talk about the light and the dark. The light being the benefic or good and the dark being the malefic or bad but it is not that simple. On an individual level we all have things that we hide away in the dark, and things that we do not show to the world. We often call this our shadow side in spirituality. These are the things we don’t or can’t face within ourselves and we all have those but I would say that there are times when it is important to take another look in the dark corners of our psyche and find strength in our darkness.
Many of our movies today, especially super hero movies, have a clear dichotomy of good and bad, light and dark. They often portray the archetype of the hero’s journey. The hero being someone who has looked into their darkness and overcome any hardships that they have experienced in life and found strength in their own personal darkness. The villain often experiences similar hardships but instead of overcoming those hardships they sit in the darkness and make themselves so uncomfortable that they often begin taking their angst out on innocent people around them. At this point the hero steps in and protects the innocent people from the wrath of the villain. These movies are popular and relate-able because on some level we all have this struggle going on in ourselves but, the journey of hero and villain is not as direct as the movies portray. If only it was that simple.
As we head into the winter solstice we celebrate the return of the light but as the light shines brighter the shadows can often get darker. The trick is to not get trapped in the dark like the villain but to go into the dark and bring order to the chaos like the hero. Ultimately it is the light that casts the shadow and one cannot exist without the other. The order exists in the knowing that we as individuals are all connected to something bigger, some kind of universal order in which we all exist together. In the dark we can loose track of those things that connect us to the world but in the light we can look and see that there is some kind of footing to grab onto and pull us back into connection.
As the sun reaches zero degrees of Capricorn this year marking the winter solstice, Mercury will be at 1 degree of Capricorn and it is retrograde. Mercury represents our mind which we use to understand the connection and calm the chaos of the dark. Mercury will meet with the sun the next day, anytime the sun conjuncts another planet we call this a cazimi which is derived from an Arabic word meaning “at the heart of it”. During the cazimi it is believed that the light of which ever planet meets with the sun shines brighter. So we are being given a gift this year at the solstice and if we use this energy properly we can gain an understanding of what it is that connects us as an individual to the universal order. The trick is to hang onto that knowledge even in the chaos of the dark. The north node of the moon is approaching a conjunction with Chiron the wounded healer meaning that our destiny at this time is tied to our healing. Watch for synchronicities at this time and leave room for magic in your life as some of the things that exist in the darkness and pop out from time to time to try and keep us separate from our connection can be magically healed. Leaving room for magic means not deciding ahead of time what the outcome of a difficult situation may be or how it should look. Jupiter which has been retrograde since September 4th will station direct in the evening of December 30th meaning that we may see new paths open up at the end of this year that have appeared to be closed since September. In the evening on January 1st Mercury will station direct in Sagittarius which Jupiter rules so our minds can begin to look for answers in the future and not reflecting in the past.
It isn’t every year that the planets line up with the calendar like this so you can use the momentum of the “new year new you” motto popular around this time of year to make some lasting changes. Good luck and Happy Solstice! I am available for readings if you would like to reach out you can email at wendy@wendykenneally.com to discuss where in your life these energies are focused for 2024.