Winter Solstice 2025
winter solstice
The Winter Solstice 2025 begins on Sunday, December 21, 2025 at 9:03 am CST. In Western Tropical Astrology, Capricorn season begins at the Winter Solstice, when the Sun has descended down to its southernmost position at the Tropic of Capricorn. The Sun appears to stand still around the Solstice, and it is therefore a good time for us to also pause our activities for reflection, to enter a state of “being” as opposed to “doing”. Paul F. Newman’s book Declination in Astrology: the Steps of the Sun contains some really great information about the Solar Festivals, and in it, he says that the actual days of Solstice were historically likely times to go inward and connect with the Divine, with the raucous celebrations occurring in the days following. This makes complete sense to me at the Winter Solstice, but sadly in our consumer-driven culture, these days when the Sun is asking us to slow down and go inward are the frenzied last-minute shopping days before our consumer-driven Christmas celebrations. So sad! I don’t like to speak for others, but I have to believe that even Jesus himself would not approve of our current ways of celebrating his special day. Or really much of anything that we do as a culture, especially how we treat “the least of these” - but I digress. We live within a culture, and that’s the facts, folks. If there is any way that you are able to find the time to pause, light a candle, and go inward around the time of the Winter Solstice, please allow yourself this time for reflection, and to connect with your own divine nature within you.
The astrology of this year’s Winter Solstice is similar to the energy of the Sagittarius new Moon that just occurred two days prior, however, with the Sun and Moon now joining Mars in Capricorn, it may mean that there is more of an earthy, initiatory energy now. The Moon at 17°17’ Capricorn is now applying to oppose Jupiter in Cancer at 22°38’, adding some emphasis to Jupiter’s square to Chiron at 22°40’. This may mean that if there were any insights or awarenesses that came up for you regarding those themes having to do with Chiron, they may now be activated in a way that is manifested in your emotional body or your physical body, or in some other way that is more tangible in real life. The three main Chiron themes we touched on were:
Human Consciousness vs Animal Instinct - in what ways do these two competing themes show up in your life? Do certain situations cause you to regress back to conditioned responses leftover from childhood (animal instinct), when you would be better served by assessing the situation with composure and acting/speaking from that more composed, reflective place (human consciousness)?
By imagining into this idea, we can come up with an example of how this may manifest in a person’s life. It could be that perhaps your conditioned response to uncomfortable situations is to bolt like a spooked stallion - pardon this homage to the Sagittarius new Moon we just experienced, I can’t help myself. Let’s say you have an event coming up that you are not comfortable attending. This could possibly manifest as your body responding to the discomfort by falling ill, perhaps a chronic illness that seems to stick with you, despite your best efforts at managing it - this could be a form of bolting like a spooked stallion. Can you imagine a way to recognize and honor your discomfort beforehand, and from there implement ways to work through it? If the event isn’t mandatory and you truly don’t want to attend, send your regrets. Folks will live right through any disappointment they may experience from your absence. If it is mandatory, or you truly do want to go, perhaps looking into working with a professional to manage the discomfort beforehand so that it isn’t debilitating would be worthwhile. There are SO many different mind and body therapies out there nowadays that you are bound to find one or more that work best for you in these types of situations. But the first step is to develop your awareness around your discomfort, and to honor your body’s instinctual responses to address this discomfort. The body is simply trying to protect you from a perceived threat, have compassion for both parts of you - your animal instincts and your human consciousness. With the return of the light at this Winter Solstice and the Sun newly in Capricorn, applying to conjunct Mars in Capricorn, can you imagine a way that you could now take action and initiate some type of healing or therepeutic work that could help you to more seamlessly weave together and synthesize the human consciousness with the animal instinct?
Mentor of Heroes - in what ways do you pass on your hard-earned wisdom to those around you? Do you feel that said knowledge is wasted on those who aren’t destined to be heroes? Does humanity deserve to benefit from your wisdom, and how would you then also benefit from imparting this wisdom?
Imagining into this idea, there may be a “teachable moment” that comes up for you as the daylight starts to increase. What attitudes do these moments stir in you? If I may get personal for a moment, I tend to getting excited about sharing ideas and techniques with people, and I default to sharing too much information or too many precise, pragmatic ways of doing things. Probably to a fault, as I’ve been accused of being pedantic. What?!? ME? Pshaw. Pedantic though I may admittedly be, there are times that I hear my dear departed mother’s voice saying, “if you want things done right, you have to do them yourself”, and I do feel that my ideas or directives are “cast as pearls before swine”; I feel I’m wasting my breath. But you know what? That’s ok, I can still put it out there, and I know it benefits me to do so, because it’s REAL hard for me to not offer pro tips, so there is a release of sorts for me when I impart ideas or techniques to folks. It’s not imperative for people to receive them in the way that I intend. Everybody is on their own journey.
The Wounded Healer - what is the festering wound that doesn’t ever seem to heal for you? Can you imagine this wound as an uncomfortable invitation for you to grow in some area of your life, perhaps to leave something behind that you have clung to beyond its use-by date? Is there something in some area of your life that needs to descend to Hades, so that a higher expression of yourself can be free?
Here we can simply circle back around to the first Chiron theme that we explored regarding a chronic condition that may come up for you, despite your best efforts at managing it. Can you imagine that condition as a dark goddess messenger sent to you to shake you out of your torpor? Especially at these times of lengthy darkness, we may feel this type of powerful energy in our lives, in our thoughts, or in our dreams. Most, if not every culture, has a representation of the dark goddess, and she is typically one who comes to pull the rug out from under you and reveal the truth of your situation to you. She may strip you of your comforts, so that in your vulnerability you are able to grow. Since Jupiter in Cancer is participating in this T-square with the Moon in Capricorn and Chiron in Aries at the Winter Solstice, let’s explore one of my favorite Cancer themes - that of the hermit crab, who once they outgrow the shell they’re currently inhabiting, must exit the cozy confines of that shell and wander unprotected to find a larger, more suitable shell. Imagine that the dark goddess energy has come to rid you of your too-small shell, so that you are able, in your vulnerability, to grow towards a larger and more expansive version of yourself. You won’t want to thank her in the moment, as you’re wandering unprotected and vulnerable, looking for a more suitable shell, but you will eventually. Does she sound a bit like the Pluto archetype to you? I admit, that is how I often see Pluto, as a dark goddess. Even the Pluto glyph looks to me like Venus, wearing a frightening Elizabethan collar.
Saturn rules Capricorn, and is located at 25°38’ Pisces, still conjunct Neptune at 29°24’ Pisces. Saturn is making supportive aspects with a trine to Jupiter at 22°38’ Cancer, and a sextile to Uranus at 28°16’ Taurus. A more challenging aspect is the square from Saturn to Venus at 26°09’ Sagittarius. This is arguably a repeating theme, in that while there is support for bringing ideas into form or themes into our conscious awareness, it may not feel that great with the square to Venus. If we think of Venus as our impulse towards beauty, love, sensual pleasure, and creature comforts and Saturn as the taskmaster who is there to effect the mission in the most efficient, pragmatic way possible, we can see how Venus might feel a little oppressed by Saturn. In Tina Fey’s memoir Bossypants, there is a story about Amy Poehler doing a character during a skit rehearsal and somebody - I think Jimmy Fallon? said something to the effect of, “Ew that’s not cute” and Amy Poehler said in a demonic voice, “I wasn’t trying to be cute”. This to me is the energy of Venus and Saturn. Your finer sensibilities may be disturbed, yet you won’t be able to pander to Saturn’s vanity - he is unconcerned; he is not trying to be cute.
As the light begins to return at this Winter Solstice, please be compassionate with yourself and those around you as you look for ways to initiate some healing for yourself, to be vulnerable to grow, and to impart your hard-earned wisdom to those around you. All of these endeavors will benefit not only yourself, but also those in your orbit. Happy Solstice everybody! And don’t forget to have some raucous celebrations (or your version of such) in the days following the Solstice.