25 Years of Celebrating
Life’s Cardinal Turning Points
© 2013 by Joyce Mason
All Rights Reserved
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strology is based on the seasons, and the when the Sun
enters 0o Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn, we greet Spring,
Summer, Autumn and Winter. These changes are as certain as the sky itself.
You don’t even have to be into astrology to “go by” this
orderly march of time. People the world over have read the Old Farmer’s Almanac since 1792 to find out
the best Moon signs for planting certain crops. There’s nothing we can do to
stop the seasons from changing. As the old saying goes, since we can’t beat
them, I suggest we join them.
As I’ve shared in many previous posts, I’ve celebrated the
solstices and equinoxes for many years with a groovy group of women. We call
ourselves the Solsisters. It started with my metaphysically-oriented workmates
at my government agency for waste management and recycling. We shared a natural
love of Earth and Sky. Since Winter Solstice 1988, we have been focusing on how
these outer seasonal changes herald inner changes inside us—and our rituals
focus on welcoming these shifts with open arms.
I consider the practice of doing rituals at these Astro-turning
points—many add the cross-quarters —to be the most practical and
experiential astrology we can practice. Ceremony takes astrology out of our
heads and brings it down to our earth and into our hearts and hearths—the
latter, especially at Winter Solstice, when we burn pieces of paper in the fire
with lists of what we want to let go of in our lives.
These celebrations are all about synchronizing with the way the planets are moving and life is reliving itself, with every passing year at a higher octave of the previous spring, summer, fall and winter.
Of all the seasons, winter has in many ways become my
favorite, though it’s neck-and-neck with autumn, the cusp on which I was born
and whose blatant beauty takes my breath away. I co-facilitate the Solsisters
events with my friend Christy. Over time, we’ve found our natural groove. She’s
an Aries who loves the light and does the Spring and Summer rituals. I do
Autumn and Winter. My first astrology teacher, Gavin Carruthers once said that
men grow into their Moons as they age and women into their Suns. There’s no
sign at its highest expression more ritualistic than Virgo, and when you add my
Cap Moon that’s such a wintry “feeling” sign, I get why I have become fonder of
winter the longer I’ve lived in a climate free from snow.
As time has marched on, I have come to love Winter Solstice
for its invitation to “go inner” and how it has taught me the beauty of
darkness. If you aren’t already doing
it:
Don’t let another year go by without creating Cardinal rituals, even if they’re only for yourself. Better yet, do what I did and create a circle of celebration that sustains you—ours for more than a quarter century.
At our 25-year celebration (see my Facebook page for photo), I told
those present, “Solsisters is a gift we’ve given ourselves.” This is absolutely
true, and it can be true for you, as well. I encourage you to take astrology
out of your mind only and to enliven your life with it by embracing the changes
it represents in various rituals and celebrations, all of which you can craft
yourself with our greatest gift of all—creativity.
You can search The Radical Virgo under a variety of key
words for tips about what we do: solstice, equinox, ritual, celebration or the
season names themselves. Search the Internet for every kind of suggestion, poem
and activity imaginable. Many of ours are drawn from what’s publicly published,
and watching our creative process as great minds merge to celebrate life is one
of the sustaining highs of being a leader of this circle.
Of course, I thanked the Solsisters present profusely for
all our years together at our silver anniversary celebration this week. I want
to thank your for our circle on The Radical Virgo, too. Even though it has been
less than five years, in over 300 posts, we have celebrated life together. A
poet popular in the 1970s, Rod McKuen, once wrote, “Love is a season and
holidays like signposts mark the time.” The same can be said of the solstices
and equinoxes, but they do even more than ring in the new. They confirm the
rhythm of life and a cosmos in a never-ending cycle of re-creation.
Here’s to marking these times by using all our senses and all our parts—body, mind and spirit—for as long as we’re still standing to
embrace life.
~~~
Photo Credit: © glopphy- fotolia.com
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