YULE BLESSINGS
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YULE / MIDWINTER / WINTER SOLSTICE
December 21, 2021 @ 7:58am PST
The Wheel of the Year has turned and we are back in the darkness;
the primordial womb of life.
The cycle begins again…
The God at Yule
As the Sun moves into Capricorn – the sign of authority, status, and mastery – the Shadow of the Crowned God reaches maximum strength as the Holly King. Remember, shadows are longest when the sun is lowest. The energy of this sometimes-antlered, holly- and mistletoe- adorned old man with the long white hair and beard, is held by Saturn, who makes his home in Capricorn.
Saturn is the guardian and the mentor who represents protection, work, and productivity. He is also the Lord of the Harvest and Father Time who respects the natural laws, and honours time and experience as the true teachers of wisdom. As Saturn, the Holly King knows his time has come and he departs with grace as the Goddess births his complement, the Light.
The Goddess at Yule
As for the Goddess, the Earth moves into Cancer, the liminal sign of the womb and tomb, where she births the Light of the Crowned God. From this point, the shadows shorten and the days grow brighter and longer, as the Oak King’s reign begins.
Cancer is also home to the Moon, the traveller overseeing cycles and connection with the Divine Feminine, the Matriarch of life. She will support the growing Sun and ensure the continued cycling of the Wheel of the Year.
The Gates
The Cancer/Capricorn axis – where the Milky Way crosses the ecliptic – delineates the gates in and out of the Otherworld; cosmic death and rebirth.
(The Taurus/Scorpio axis delineates the gates in and out of the Underworld; earthly death and rebirth.)
With the earth in Cancer at Midwinter, the Light (Oak King) finds birth, while the sun in Capricorn ushers the Shadow (Holly King) into the tomb – which is also the womb – of the Great Goddess.
When the earth enters Capricorn at Midsummer, the Goddess opens the way for the Shadow (Holly King), while the sun in Cancer honours the peak of Light (Oak King) in the womb – which is also the tomb – of the Great Goddess.
NOTE: Fourth chamber – Cancer’s chamber of residence in the zodiac – represents both the home and the place to which all life returns in the end.
GIRDLE OF THE GODDESS
In the language of Theodomy, the 12 signs of the zodiac are further divided into 36 primordial energies of the divine feminine, called the Girdle of the Goddess.
At the time of the winter solstice, the sun moves into the 28th primordial energy activating HOLLE, the Goddess of Midwinter.
See my HOLLE post for more information.
DARKNESS & LIGHT
While modern traditions celebrate the season with activities and parties, it is important to remember that the energies of Yule resonate with peace and stillness. Solstice means “stationary sun” or “sun standing still”, as the Sun appears to pause in the sky before beginning its ascending journey.
In addition, modern practices have shifted the focus from an appreciation of the dark to an overemphasis on the light, but this was not always the case. Charles Dickens did not invent the yuletide ghost story, he was honouring an age-old tradition. Yet, today we deliberately deny the darkness and all its rich gifts, preferring to tell stories that focus on the light and the group, instead of the individual in the dark.
As humans, we rely on our sight more than any other sense. We have become an outward, active, light-obsessed creature…to our own detriment. With the advent of electrical light, darkness is no longer imposed and can be kept at bay indefinitely. Unfortunately, this also enables us to avoid looking inward. It is no coincidence that the birth and growth of psychology and psychoanalysis correlates exactly with the birth and growth of the electrical light! Our desire and ability to avoid physical darkness is representative of our desire and ability to avoid self-awareness, and we have abused that power. Many mental health imbalances stem from an inability to cope with the constant, active, outside world of light. We don’t allow ourselves the time in the dark to rest, reflect, understand, and heal. Because of this, anything that does not exist in the light is “unknown” and hence feared. When we don’t spend the time to get to know what’s in the dark, the anxiety associated with those things grows and mutates. With that in mind, it is not surprising that the discovery of Pluto – traveller of death, darkness, and psychoanalysis – coincides with the point-of-no-return for electrical light in the home and individual psychotherapy. The cosmos is a constant expression of the energies at play. As above, so below…as below, so above.
Getting back to Dickens for a moment, Scrooge represents a valuable truth: we can only truly appreciate the light after experiencing the dark. Now, we may not all need an intense “dark night of the soul”, but Yule – with its darkest and longest night of the year – offers us a chance to actually be in the dark; to turn our sense of sight inwards, and reflect on our Self. So, I invite you to meet this new turning of the Wheel without expectations and without resolutions. Sit in the peace and stillness at the height of darkness, connect with your Self, and feel your place in the natural flow of the cycle.
Wishing you all a very Blessed Solstice and a peaceful Yuletide season…
and may the dark illuminate your soul!