Winter is a season of recovery and preparation. –Paul Theroux

A New Moon is always a new beginning, yet this is the last one of 2016 so it contains both an ending and a beginning, both past and future. The sign Capricorn is associated with age, maturity and wisdom; a New Moon is young, naïve, filled with potential. The challenge is to take the difficult lessons and new reality of this past year and combine it with the hope and promise of what could be.

 The Moon of Truth, the Moon of Consequences

The Sun and Moon are accompanied by Mercury and Pluto, also in sober and serious Capricorn.  Mercury and Pluto ask us to go deep and confront what is dark within ourselves and the world. Capricorn at its best represents excellence and mastery; it demands accountability.  It’s not just looking deeply but acting responsibly as well. This is a time for hard questions and truthful answers. What have I achieved this year? What is holding me back? Where do I want to put my energies now? What do I want to manifest in 2017? 

We must be willing to let go of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. – Joseph Campbell

That maverick Uranus in fiery Aries, retrograde since July 29, turns direct on December 29. As Uranus gains speed we have an opportunity to see what we have learned during this time and to move forward. Saturn, the ruler of Capricorn, in Sagittarius, makes a challenging square to Chiron. Old wounds surface for the purpose of healing.  Are you still holding onto old hurts and grievances; do you continue to be hard on yourself and others? Saturn (the old) and Uranus (the new) are in a supportive trine. They will be exact on May 18 and November 11, 2017 but they are travelling together in this positive formation all year helping us to anchor (Saturn) new habits and creative projects (Uranus). Mercury continues its retrograde motion through January 8. Use this time to process the past year and prepare for the new.

Time present and time past are both perhaps present in time future, and time future contained in time past. –T. S. Eliot

This week between Christmas and New Year is its own season, “a time outside of time.” It feels as if a door opens between the worlds; it belongs to neither the old year but it is not quite the new. It has its own magic; open, porous, filled with possibility. We’ve all been through so much this year. We need to be gentle with ourselves and with each other. Give yourself some downtime, soul time; time to heal, time to dream. Wishing you a beautiful and blessed 2017. All is well, you are loved, Virginia

What is your life is calling you

When the noise is silenced

The meetings adjourned…

The lists laid aside

And the Wild Iris blooms

By itself in the dark forest…What still pulls on your soul?

–Rumi