Reflection for the winter solstice

These thoughts in the recent the IFAP Newsletter, by its editor Melanie, are very appropriate for the winter solstice, and give us all pause for reflection. Translated by Web Translate in Thiunderbird.

This night marks the winter solstice and the beginning of a new season. On 22 December at 04:27, we enter the 2023 Capricorn season and a time of maturation begins. The seed for the new light to come, which will grow again from this moment on, is now being planted.

The English word for solstice means “sun stands still”. We experience this moment twice a year and it is nature’s invitation to us to slow down and pause. Something in our hearts is calling us deeper inwards.

Mercury, with its current retrograde also in the sign Capricorn to Sagittarius, signs this invitation and also advises us to slow down, to ground and feel, to review our affairs and to take responsibility in the areas where we may and must make an impact.

It is also a time for reflection, letting go and a wonderful opportunity to set our intentions for the coming year. As deeply as we allow ourselves to rest and receive during this time, we can soar and shine brightly at the Cancer Solstice.

The Sagittarius season offered an invitation to stretch ourselves in different directions, to have new experiences and explore different truths and wisdom. It was a time of spontaneous exploration of life, the world and our authentic expression. Now, as Capricorn begins, we are invited to commit to living in alignment with the very truth within us that we discovered the previous month. It’s time to practically apply the wisdom and knowledge we’ve accumulated and use it to build something that is in alignment with our beliefs and values.

Here are a few questions that we can meditate on today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow if we like, so that we become clearer and clearer about what we want to let go of, what identifications no longer fit and what we want to create instead.

• Is there something in your life that is preventing you from showing up fully?
• What is one thing, idea, inspiration that you want to tackle in the new year?
• Is there a word that sums up your intention for the new year?
• Mercury retrograde through Capricorn has the potential to facilitate a shift in mindset that allows us to show up in life more maturely, and it can inspire us to let go of fears of judgement that hold us back from full natural and authentic expression.
• Retrograde in Capricorn also encourages us to let go of mental scripts and communication patterns that are a result of our conditioning and instead explore independent thinking to discover new, different ways of expressing our thoughts and feelings.
• Where can I let go of the “should” and get into a steady flow instead?
• Which mountain am I climbing, and is it mine?
• What am I building? What is my project at this point in time?
• I have this/that idea, how do I manage to realise it with all my resources?

The Capricorn solstice invites us to reflect on everything we have built and reminds us what we care about most and why.

Now is the time to engage in our own healing and renewal, to leave the old ways that no longer work and open the door to brand new possibilities that inspire us and allow the light within us to shine.