Once Again, We Are in the Dark
There is a Duality to facing Emptiness.
The last Full Moon of 2021, which arrived in peak glory late Saturday December 18th, is a few days shy of the Winter Solstice on Tuesday December 21st. Eclipse Season alone was intense, as our last New and Full Moon had chaotic showdowns of tense opposite and overlapping celestial magnitudes. Now we sit in the amplification of our final Full Moon of the year in the sign of Gemini. Gemini, represented by the Twins, is the Archetype of Duality itself. The Northern Hemisphere Winter Solstice is the Darkest Day of the Year. It is a powerful time to reflect on Light and Dark, Love and Death, Past and Future.
While the Sun spends its last couple of days in Sagittarius, it is almost as if we are having an additional farewell to the Gemini-Sagittarius Lunar Nodes that have reigned months upon months since May of 2022. And in the last days of Sagittarius, a sign that is propelled by joyful adventure, it seems appropriate that the Sun soon switches over to down-to-business Capricorn as we deal with new (and yet a familiar repeat of) challenges. Like a loop, back and forth, we seem to teeter from one end to the other.
The power of Duality has long been a loud theme throughout the pandemic. 2020’s extremities forced many to foster foundations through little else but waivering inner stability. Additionally, those who honored stay-at-home connected to the symbologies of Hearth on an unexpected and greater level than ever imagined. This 2021 Winter Solstice, we once again looked back to the Spring Equinox of 2020, when the beginning of pandemic protocols were rearranging livelihoods for the U.S.
As the Omicron variant spreads like wildfire, contributing to an alarming increase of COVID+ cases (vaccinated included), many cities are renewing mandates and companies are considering temporary closures. There is a certain dread in realizing we are going into a 3rd year of the pandemic. Considering the shock of the initial COVID-19 arrival in early 2020, when we were worried it would run its course in a whole 3 weeks (*smdh*), it’s incredibly anxiety-inducing to consider we may be back at the beginning with Omicron. Disappointment is natural. Nothing has turned out as expected on multiple fronts, whether it be political, economical, social. The understatement of understatements.
There is a shadow hanging over more than our physical realm. We live in extended uncertainty with less and less support, once again pressured to stay isolated, awaiting information. Quarantine in the Spring of 2020 was a breeze compared to its following Winter case rise, then vaccinations came, offering relief. During the Holidays we are seeing the same worry once again. Not only is a New Year ahead but the possibility of lockdown, loss of work, death all over again. Perhaps some of us have pressures or delusions to continue as if nothing is different during this very busy season. Many are in financial straits, which is enough to create complete cerebral chaos, but all the more reason in our isolation to return to the embrace of uncertainty. How do you find balance while caught in the crosshairs of extremes? What is a “new normal” and have you considered not wanting to go back to the way it was? When will this ever end?
