Winter Solstice 2012 - Standing at the Threshold of the Ages

hroughout the mystery traditions of the West, the winter solstice has marked a time of renewal and return of the light and heralded the birth of kings. The winter solstice arrives when the sun reaches its most southerly declination and enters the sign of

Capricorn. As the sun enters this great celestial gate, the threshold at the heart of the darkest night is crossed and light returns. From a pagan perspective the winter solstice marks a brief moment in the depths of winter in which we may acknowledge the passing of the old year and step over the threshold into the new year to welcome in new life and future possibilities for the year ahead. So the solstice is closely tied to the seasons and the cycles of the earth.

Midwinter festivals have been celebrated in Britain since prehistory. Stone circles and monuments like Newgrange in Ireland are aligned to the midwinter sun, whereby the light of the rising sun on the winter solstice flows into the heart of the chamber like a river of light bringing hope and renewal. The Roman festivals of Saturnalia and New Year feast of Kalendae mark the beginning and end of the midwinter period, and the great medieval festivities of the twelve days of Christmas run from Christmas to Epiphany.

Yet this year the midwinter transition has a significance that is considerably greater than the annual seasonal cycle and the festivals of the religious calendar which marks out this period as a time of transition and renewal on a grand scale. As I want to explore here, the reason for this significance is the incrementally slow movements by precession of the winter solstice sun that has bought it to a significant alignment against the much bigger backdrop of the stars. This has been greatly anticipated by ancient civilisations and has been considered by our Western philosophical forebears to signify the culmination of the great overarching cycles of civilisation aligned to the precessional Ages. The current alignment of the winter solstice with the night sky has been considered to mark the end of the Ages and we can think of it as no less than the end and the beginning of the Great Platonic Year. As astrologers, this alignment demands our attention, for this may be the most significant astronomical and astrological event in our lifetimes.

In order to gain insight into this event, Id like to look at the symbolism and imagery held within the Western traditions to explore what is being aligned at this time as we contemplate 1

the juxtaposition of the earthly cycles of the renewal and rebirth at the solstice with the celestial images and archetypes of the heavenly journey through the stars.

The astrologers world view is informed by a neoplatonic vision of the cosmos. The ptolemaic map, which was derived from neoplatonic sources, is reflected in every astrological chart we draw and is showing a threefold division of the cosmos into the heavenly, planetary and earthly worlds. We can recognise this as the map of the cosmos that we as astrologers work with comprised of the earth and the cross of matter or the angles, the planets and the stars of the zodiac. This map places us on the earth at the centre of our world where we are surrounded by the planetary spheres and the stars.

This neoplatonic map is a map showing three worlds which we might recognise from other traditions like shamanism and magic where some traditions have an upperworld, underworld and earth. The map shows these realms laid out in concentric rings around each other. The celestial realm of the fixed stars is associated with the spiritual world, the place of the divine, the heavenly realm. Deity is present in the celestial sphere in the primum mobile which lies just beyond the fixed stars and encompasses and circumscribes our world. This is the realm of the Ain Soph Ur on the kabbalists Tree of Life, the Empyrean Fire of the Greeks or the Christian Heaven. The stars then relate to the heavenly sphere. This is the heavenly realm and the place where one can approach the divine. We can of course relate our astrological symbols to this map and in the celestial sphere the twelve constellations are symbolised by the twelve signs. The realm beneath is the planetary realm which is called the astral realm in magical traditions and we can also associate it with the realm of psyche or soul or the psychic realm. This is the realm of the seven planetary spheres from Saturn, who marks the boundary to heaven down through the spheres of the planets to the sphere of the Moon. Beneath this level below the Moon is the third level of our physical realm of earth which was considered to be constituted of the four elements. The neoplatonists also laid out the elements in concentric rings around the earth from the lightest material fire down through air and water to the densest element earth.

Whilst maps show us the lie of the land they can also show us the road that we can take through the land. Our astrological map similarly shows us the hermetic overview of the cosmos and how the cosmos is perceived to be laid out and relates together which we might think of as esoteric topology. It is a symbolic representation of our cosmos which enables us 2

to draw and interpret our charts. But for philosophers and seekers of wisdom we might also consider that the map is a road map which serves as an esoteric guidebook to guide seekers and souls through the elemental world, the astral spheres and the heavenly realms of the cosmos. As such we find that it is showing us the eternal journey of the soul down through the planetary spheres to earth into incarnation and then out of incarnation back up through the spheres to the stars and the realm of the divine. This is a journey which neoplatonists or hermeticists throughout the ages would recognise as the migration of the soul. This journey through the worlds between heaven and earth is marked by a series of transitions and gateways which can be explored symbolically. One enduring symbol of the heavenly sphere, which is conveyed down through the Western mystery tradition is that of the heavenly city located high above the world beyond the stars, sometimes on top of a sacred mountain or at the centre of the world. This sacred archetype is a ubiquitous symbol in Western and Eastern thought. It represents the abode of deity and is a place of immortality and is depicted as containing a wellspring of spiritual power at its centre. This divine city is hailed as both the souls source and the journeys end, whose sacred and holy precinct can be accessed through the citys great gates. An exploration of the zodiac symbolism which flows through the wisdom traditions of the East and West shows that the great gates of the heavenly city are represented by the twelve zodiac signs. Plato makes one of the earliest references to the zodiac signs as the twelve gates of heaven when he describes his ideal city in his Vision of Er. Later St John, in the Book of Revelation, describes his vision of the Celestial Jerusalem with its twelve gates and their twelve fold correspondances of angels and tribes and precious stones.i These images of the sacred city or temple are carried into our Western medieval mythic literature as the round Grail Temple on top of the sacred onyx mountain, and then as Arthurs round table, which is built to Merlins design to be the altar of the grail when the grail is found. This celestial archetype then is a ubiquitous symbol. It is the abode of deity, the place of immortality with a container or well spring of spiritual power found at the centre of the wheel or square where its spiritual nature is indicated by its twelve fold imagery. So these then are the images and archetypes for the celestial part of our map.

What significance is accorded the gates then in these celestial symbols of heavenly perfection? The gates of the heavenly city are aligned to the four directions. These axes are aligned with the celestial events of the equinoxes and solstices which are the hinge points in the solar cycle. Of these two axes it is the solsticial axis, the great gates of Cancer and 3

Capricorn, which receives attention in the classical literature and early philosophy as the axis of the threshold out of and into this sacred domain. The earliest reference we have to the gates is in Greek tradition circa 500BC in Homers Odyssey where we first meet the great gates in the cave at Ithaca as Odysseus returns to his homeland. And this view is developed in the early centuries AD when Porphyry expounds on the meaning and astrological significance of the gates to suggest that Cancer is the gate through which souls descend to earth whilst Capricorn is the gate through which they ascend to the celestial spheresii.

The two gates which are entry and exit from earth, which is symbolised by the cave, are therefore the two solsticial gates of the summer and winter solstice. These points are the two hinges in the solar cycle. They are the limit, beyond which the sun may not travel and whose crossing marks the entry into the next phase of growth or decay. The gates therefore stand at the beginning of these two successive phases. So each gate marks a transition point. At Cancer, although it is a time of summer and joy, we nevertheless have the beginning of the phase of descent of darkening days and with that the association of the entry of the soul into the darkness of matter. Whilst Capricorn at the dark and depressing time of deep winter, nevertheless marks the beginning of ascent and is associated with the return to the Light, or as pagans might say, a return of the light.

The symbolism of the solsticial gateways was carried into Roman philosophy by the neoplatonic philosophers of the early centuries AD. In Rome this idea was further linked to the symbolism of Janus. Janus, the god who gives his name to January, is the god of the threshold, and is often portrayed as a god with two faces, each one looking forward and backward. He presides over the transition point as the janitor holding the keys to the door of the year. The doors of course are the solstice doors and the feast of Janus was celebrated in Rome by the guild of the artisans at the two solstices. This symbolism passed into Christianity assuming the form of the feast of the two St Johns which were celebrated at the solstice tides. The feast of St John the Baptist was held at the summer solstice and the feast of St John the Evangelist at the winter solstice, and the guilds of craftsmen continued to celebrate and dedicate their solsticial feasts in this way throughout the Middle Ages, and carried this practice of honouring the solsticial gateways on into the Renaissance era.

Whilst the solstices were recognised and celebrated gateways within the year as part of the earthly cycle, there is another perennial significant celestial event which impressed itself 4

upon the neoplatonic world view and which became entwined with the idea of the heavenly gates. This is the great river of light seen flowing across the sky every night, the great pathway of stars - the Milky Way. This light pathway flows through the heavens, passing in a great arc across the night sky, flowing down to meet the earth at both sides of the horizon. To the philosophers, the Milky Way was viewed as a starry pathway along which souls would travel from the heavenly realms through the starry gates down through the astral realms stepping down to the realm of earth, and along which souls would then return passing back up to heaven after their sojourn here on earth. This great starry pathway crosses through the great celestial starry wheel, the zodiac, intersecting it perennially through the star constellations of Gemini and Sagittarius which mark the galactic centre. To the neoplatonists this intersection of the starry pathway with the zodiacal heavenly gates marked the gateway to the spiritual world, the very gates of heaven through which souls could cross over the threshold between heaven and earth.

These ideas of the journey of the soul which passes through these great gates and down the Milky Way are transported into Roman philosophy by Cicero in 51BC in his Dream of Scipio. This philosophical work expresses a neoplatonic view of the universe as conveyed through a dream. The dream is of a soldier who, whilst wounded on the battle field and close to death, is shown by his grandfather the heavens and the journey of the souls down the great Milky Way and through the spheres of the planets to earth and their ascent back to heaven after life.

Ciceros work is developed by the late Roman philosopher and mapmaker Macrobius in c 400 AD. His commentary on the Dream of Scipio was one of the primary neoplatonic sources for philosophers of the Middle Ages, who adapted this philosophy to the Christian view. The idea of making the journey along the starry pathway was transposed into the increasingly popular pilgrimage activity of the medieval era, when pilgrims and philosophers alike walked the starry way to Compostella or Jerusalem in search of salvation and spiritual renewal.

Macrobius explains the order of the steps by which the soul descends from the heavens to life on earth. He describes how the Milky Way girdles the ecliptic, crossing at the zodiac signs of Cancer and Capricorn marking the portals of entry and return. Once through the gate, Macrobius considers that the soul descends through the successive planetary spheres lying beneath. In Saturns sphere the soul acquires reason and understanding, in Jupiters sphere 5

the power to act, in Marss sphere bold spirit, in the Suns sphere perception and imagination, in Venuss sphere passion, in Mercurys sphere the ability to speak and interpret and in the Moons sphere the function of moulding and increasing bodies.iii Here in our terrestrial bodies he considers that our soul is drawn downwards and imprisoned temporarily in the perishable region and the abode of mortality. Here the soul has descended from the heavenly city and arrived into the cave.

Thus the gates of Cancer and Capricorn are the portals of entry into and release from life on earth. This symbolism underpins the astrological symbolism of Cancer and Capricorn as signs of transition. Cancer is symbolised by the crab, the creature who lives on the seashore at the interface between the realms of earth and sea. The sign is associated with the experience of coming into physical being and earthly life, hence our association with birth, home and embodiment. It is also the sign of memory and history, as if the soul is seeking inspiration from the journey it has so recently undertaken. Here we experience immanence, the experience of the divine in nature, and the remembrance of our celestial and divine origins. For Capricorn, the ancient symbol of the sea goat similarly symbolises the ability to move between the worlds. This sign marks the exit and release from this world and is associated with ambition and material achievement as we strive to meet the challenges of material existence and achieve dominion over the material world which then enables our release from it. It also symbolises sacrifice as we surrender to material constraint and duty and the inevitable transition. This gate is therefore the Portal of the Gods, the place of illumination in darkness. It is the place of the birth of the midwinter king and our doorway to immortality.

So we have explored the imagery and symbolism of our cosmic map encompassing both the celestial region and the pathway through the heavenly gates down through the spheres to earth and back which is associated with the river of stars, the Milky Way. And we have also seen the winter solstice as a transition point in the earthly cycle. So what of this powerful transition time now? What makes this winter solstice so significant? What is being aligned at this time? To understand this we need to consider the relationship between the earthly and the celestial cycles and the relationship between the stars and the signs, which we understand as the sidereal and tropical zodiacs. The relationship between constellations and signs alters slowly, as we know, with precession. The tropical zodiac slowly slips behind the sidereal zodiac at the rate of one degree every seventy two years. We might think of this as the zero degree Aries equinoctial point slowly slipping backwards through the constellation of 6

Pisces where it has been for the last 2000 years and now moving backwards into Aquarius, such that over a great sweep of time it slowly circumscribes the whole zodiac. This great cycle takes 26,000 years and is known as the Great Year.

As these precessional Ages pass this also gives rise to shifting alignments of the stars with the solstice and equinoctial events. This was observed by the ancients and incorporated into changing cultures and mythologies of previous eras. In our current era, the place of the winter solstice sun at 0 tropical Capricorn, has precessed back to 5 sidereal Sagittarius and at this degree it is now arriving into direct alignment with the galactic equator at the heart of the Milky Way. This is the marking of time on a grand scale. This is the prime marker, the measuring point which locates in time and space the beginning and end of the Great Year. Mayan observers may have long since been aware of the significance of this alignment. The end of the Mayan calendar corresponded to the time when this alignment came to exactitude, which was determined to be the winter solstice of 2012iv. This period indicated the end of the Ages in Mayan culture, marking a period of transition from one Great Age to the next. This time has also been associated with the end of the Age of Kali, the Kali Yuga in Vedic philosophy, to be followed by the beginning of the next Golden Agev We might reflect on this symbolically. Here we have the northern gate of the solstice come to align with this great starry pathway to heaven. This moment marks out this solstice as a mighty threshold. The flow of time has brought the gateway of the midwinter solstice to align exactly with the starry pathway of the Milky Way. The Portal of the Gods has aligned with the starry road to heaven. Alignment of these gateways, these celestial crossing points of ecliptic and galaxy, and the earthly hinge in the cycle of earthly light and dark provokes a very powerful poetic imagery of the gateways aligning between heaven and earth. If we watch the skies at this winter solstice we will observe the sun rise into the faded path of the Milky Way marking a visible celestial corollary to this symbolic convergence.

What might this mean? Well, it seems we are standing collectively at a great threshold. The response to this great celestial event might be chaos, fear of loss and irrevocable change as we approach the threshold, but an awareness of great new potential and possibilities for the future as we become aware of the immense opportunity that crossing a threshold brings. This cosmic event is taking place at a moment in the world of global upheaval, uncertainty and exponential change, much of which is an expression of the powerful Saturn Uranus Pluto T7

Square we are currently experiencing. And within this disturbance and uncertainty there is also an increasing yearning for more meaningful ways to live which is all the more needed in Western culture where we have travelled so deeply into a material existence. How might we approach this moment? Well, we might have awareness that we are experiencing this threshold moment collectively. Some of the feelings which might be evoked as we approach the threshold are collective - of chaos, or fear of loss or fear of change, and these are changeful and turbulent times as at a collective level uncertainty ebbs around us. But there is also inspiration and awareness of great potentiality as we become aware of the immense opportunity that crossing a threshold brings in the release of old patterns and forms and re-emergence into fresh possibility at the other side. Undertaking this transition for ourselves we may also be able to help dispel wider fear or anxiety, and help to contribute to collective inspiration and understanding of the possibilities for the collective in this transition. At an individual level then we can approach the threshold as a time of transition, of crossing into a new beginning and of planting and seeding new beginnings at this time with all the promise of hope and renewal that this brings. And we can also recognise that we can bring our awareness to witness and participate in this transition on behalf of the collective as we step into the return of the Light.

i ii

Revelations 21:10 22:2.

Porphyry, On the Cave of the Nymphs in the Thirteen Book of the Odyssey.From the greek of Porphyry, trans. Thomas Taylor (London 1917) p25. iii Macrobius, The Dream of Scipio trans. William H Stahl, Columbia University Press (New York 1952) p133-137.
iv v

John Major Jenkins, The How and Why of the Mayan End Date 2012, The Mountain Astrologer, (Dec/Jan 1995), p52.

Other observers of galactic alignment have made a case for exact alignment occurring in 1998. Such variations in exactitude of celestial events are likely to be inevitable when calculating events based on precession. See Daniel Giamario, A Shamanic look at the Turning of the Ages, (ShamanicAstrology.com).

A version of this article was originally published in the Astrological Journal in 2004. This was revised for a talk at the Divine Circle of Astrology in October 2012 and for the Midwinter Labyrinth workshop held on December 22nd 2012 Cat Cox 2013 8