Happy Winter Solstice!

The Sun entered the sign of Capricorn at 2:22p PST yesterday, Friday 21st December 2018, marking the official beginning of the Winter season and the longest night of the year. In some parts of the world and in some cultures, this time of year represents the disappearance of the Sun’s light, with the Sun reappearing (or being reborn) on the third day after the Solstice…

…which makes it a perfect time to have the light of a Full Moon. This synchronicity doesn’t occur very often, but it’s happening now! The Cancer Full Moon reaches maximum phase at 9:48a PST on Saturday 22nd December, which makes it a waxing (growing) Full Moon the night of the Solstice as well as the last Full Moon of the 2018 calendar year.

These two events are joined by a third – the Ursids Meteor Shower. Meteor showers are often considered gifts from the Universe in spiritual circles – signs that new sources of inspiration are being delivered and/or that major changes are coming into manifestation.

How do these three energies come together in these first few days of the 2018-2019 Winter season?

Let’s get a bit technical to explain.

Capricorn and Cancer are both cardinal signs, meaning they both carry initiative energy – they’re both interested in getting things started. Where Cancer is the initiator of the Summer season, Capricorn is the initiator of Winter. This Winter Solstice + Full Moon combo is a perfect juxtaposition with the Cancer Full Moon bringing its “Summer glow” to the dark depths of Capricorn’s Winter through the Full Moon’s presence – it’s bringing the Light to Darkness.

Capricorn is also earth element energy, while Cancer is water element energy. Capricorn represents our earthly/human-created societal institutions and the structure, order, and focus those institutions provide. Yet many of our societal institutions have become compromised and/or corrupted, so it’s no accident the Cancer Full Moon is bringing a reconnection to our emotional energies – a remembering of compassion and empathy we hold in our hearts – back into the fold.

Then there’s that meteor shower, bringing sparks of emotion-driven inspiration as well as reminders that the only constant in life is change. The fact that emotional truth is coming to light even in the throes of structural darkness, that independent acts of love and justice are emerging even in the midst of collective apathy and imbalance – is inspiring many of us to keep going even if we cannot yet see light on the horizon.

Combine all of this with the day’s numerology – the 22nd’s 9 universal day energy of fulfillment and completions (coinciding with the Full Moon’s fulfillment energy), December’s 5 universal month energy of change and unexpected yet inspiring events (coinciding with the meteors), and 2018’s 11 universal year energy of self-leadership and inspiring peer leadership (coinciding with the cardinal energy), this is a POWERFUL convergence of energies which will likely prove a catalyst for major systemic societal change.

Of course, we humans love to complain about our current circumstances and how much change is needed, yet when change actually begins to manifest, quite a few of us do everything in our power to stop it.

The thing is, we are undergoing a massive shift in societal structure, and the energies present during this where this celestial trifecta is where the 2018 Cancer Full Moon can make its greatest effect, separating the wheat from the chaff.

There are some of us who find our self-identities in our societal roles and social associations. We may define ourselves by our class status, our material wealth and/or possessions, our job titles or positions, our career or educational achievements. We may also define ourselves by who we socialize with, or maybe, who we want to socialize with – seeking alignment with, interaction with, and/or the approval of others who are positions of power and influence or entertainment celebrities. Yet as our societal structures and values change, so do our societal status markers, and people have idolized money and power and those who have it for far too long.

As result of the increasing distance between the haves and have-nots (a.k.a. – those who are and those who want to be), many of us are beginning to feel insecure about our places in our communities and in the world. Some are even beginning to question our life choices up to this point, realizing the long road ahead of us in trying to manifest our lives in ways like those we strive to emulate, wondering if we should continue on paths in which we’re putting so much effort into roles which are not providing us with the time or financial resources to live the lives we say we want to live. And even for those who have all the money and stuff many of us aspire to, life is often lacking the emotional and spiritual fulfillment we think the resources should bring us. After all, we were told for much of our lives that our institutional/structural roles would bring us everything we needed to be happy and fulfilled . But now, the disappointment and disillusionment with those long-touted beliefs are cracking the façades of security and stability we’ve held up for so long, and through those cracks, the light of emotional and spiritual Truth is coming in to open minds and hearts.

However, there are also some of us who do not define ourselves by external definitions or designations. We have long seen the fallacies in seeking validation of ourselves through those external sources and structures. We haven’t subscribed to societal norms or social expectations, and have found ourselves challenged in a world that seems to celebrate everything we do not and cannot stand for. We’ve been regarded as the outcasts, weirdos, and “losers” – those who won’t conform and who “just don’t understand how the world works”.

Yet those of us who have not sought that societal and social validation are now finding ourselves in positions to rise above the emerging collapses as the societal institutions fall. Since we don’t subscribe to the structural and institutional rules and expectations, we are not seeing all that we identify with being in chaos. If anything, we are finding our paths and roles ever more clearly as our time to step up and lead others through the chaos of social and societal collapse into the calm of “self-identity from within” is now.

There is a great deal of emotion floating about right now – the disappointment, fear, and anger from those who are realizing they have been duped by their belief in a structure that is falling apart; and the contentment, courage, and peace from those who are realizing that the collapse of what has been may be disturbing, yet is occurring in order to make space for the foundation for a new reality they soon get to build. The most important lesson for us to remember is that nothing new can emerge until what is complete is cleared – this is the clearing. Allow it to happen, and focus on what you want to create in the space. In fact, use the initiative energy of this Capricorn 5 Sun and Cancer Full Moon to start planting seeds for that future now.

The light of this 2018 Cancer Full Moon is coming through the now undeniable cracks in the societal institutions and structures – the light from within each of us, showing each of us our own individual ways forward… if we choose to follow it.

Don’t look to others for your next steps. Find them in your heart. The light you find there will guide you through these longest nights.

The energies of this 2018 Cancer Full Moon will be felt most strongly from 19th through 25th December 2018. Make the most of these energetic gifts while they’re present.

Thank you for reading and sharing Signs and Numbers. Until next post…

~ Light, Love, and Blessings,

Grace