At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the planetary alignments this month continue to challenge us and demand change. If we haven’t taken notice of the year’s themes so far, this month we might get a wake-up call. Two grand crosses phase in and out of alignment in June while building to an in-phase alignment at the winter solstice on the 21st. The geometric image of these overlapping grand crosses looks pretty but the effects will only be pretty if we work on the issues the planets have been bringing to our awareness over the past 6 months.
The most significant issue is to admit the ways we harm ourselves or others due to fear. It’s important not to go into denial over the dark sides of ourselves or others. We’re all human afterall, and sometimes slip into becoming victims or perpetrators of negative behaviour. There’s no need to whip ourselves over this or project blame onto others. The best we can do is acknowledge an error, apologise, accept the consequences and make a commitment to minimise such behaviour in the future. We will no doubt slip again and again while learning new ways. Yet over time with continual practice of the acknowledgement process, we will reduce our dark-side behaviour to a tolerable (and therefore creative, not destructive) degree.
Grand crosses are difficult alignments – they force us to face limitations and hard truths. The year so far has been about facing the hard parts of being human – words like ‘loss’, ‘death’, ‘endings’, ‘loneliness’ and ‘lack’ come to mind. I don’t know about you, but I’ve heard many accounts this year of the types of crises we’d prefer to avoid, and I’ve been experiencing my own version of these. I’ve heard of marriages ending, of dreadful secrets being revealed, of sudden deaths, of bad news about terminal illnesses or the onset of disorders. Avoiding feeling the pain of these necessary aspects of life is an avoidance of the dark. When we deny the dark we are, ironically, running away from life. Now, more than ever, the universe is offering an opportunity to experience our pain, not hide from it. It’s only in allowing ourselves to experience pain and come out the other side that we can engage with the true healing of our negative patterns.
The full moon in Sagittarius on the 11th continues the ‘confront your shadow’ theme. Try a ritual or ceremony at this time, or at the time of the winter solstice on the 21st, in which you speak out loud all you are letting go of and all that you plan to birth. The exact time of the solstice is 10.27 pm (EST). I did a simple ritual recently to help find a new home and it worked wonders. Half an hour later, a friend was on the phone making an unexpectedly perfect offer. From the winter solstice onwards the sun sets later each day, giving us more light during daytime hours. Symbolically, this is a reminder that even in our darkest hour, the light is returning and growing stronger. The planets emphasis this message when the Nodes (the points of destiny) shift zodiac signs on the 22nd, less than 24 hours after the solstice. This solstice ends a difficult fated phase and allows a new direction to emerge. We’ll get more of an experience of the Nodes at the new moon in Cancer on the 26th. Connect with loved ones at this time and share your deepest desires for your future direction. Support each other in concocting the grandest dreams possible but without going into denial about the limitations of being human!