Michael O'Connor Astrologer

Solstice Blessings!

Winter Solstice 2023 is very special indeed. In fact, it is extra special. Yet, it also hosts its own challenges, and these will unfold throughout 2024.

Winter Solstice this year marks a great turning point for us all, but one which might prove quite challenging at times. The good news is that we can choose to participate in it, in this special moment now called Winter Solstice, the ‘Natural New Year’, symbolic of the New Moon and of Solar Eclipses too, and over the course of the coming year.

When the numbers in 2023 are added, it equates to 7, the most mystical and spiritual number of all save, for 0 itself. 7 is the number of spiritual initiations. 2023 still has 10 days to go to the powerful and eventful year that the 8-year that 2024 is, and the countdown begins today.

The exact time when the Sun enters the Tropical Sign of Capricorn which is the official moment of Solstice is 10:27 pm EST (7:27 pm PST) on December 21, 2023.

What this also reveals is that the event occurs on December 22 at 3:27 am GMT.

At a more collective level, we are left to decipher which is the official date. Socially and politically, from a global perspective, it would be the 22^nd because Greenwich England is the location of the International Date Line, or where the internationally recognized 0-hour is located. Whether we like it, know it, believe it or not, the global, official location to determine when a new event occurs is in England. Of course, wherever any person is, is where their personal reality is.

Yet, the collective agreement reveals the collective mind or consciousness and if we have to choose a specific location on the planet, Greenwich, England is the best choice because humanity as a whole now officially recognized the international date line and, despite all older calendars, the Gregorian Calendar is now the global standard and the world now collectively ‘agrees’ that it is December 21/22, 2023.

What is implied in all of this is the less linear and more mystical consideration that we are collectively, co-creating what we deem ‘reality’.

This is ever an ongoing process, but it has now emerged to a whole new level of power and no amount of dismissal, denial or rebellion by any person or group is going to change it anytime soon.

So, what this suggests for us all is that the time has come to collectively dream a new dream. This represents a whole new reality for humanity. Of course, this is not a new process at all. In the bigger picture, we can look back at key dates to see the early turning points for it. Among these is WW I in 1914 to 1918 which spanned across both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, the establishment of the League of Nations in January 1920, the first photograph of Earth in 1946, the Moon Landing in 1969, The WWW as public domain in 1993, Y2K on New Year’s Day 2000 to start the new millennium. Then there is the whole 2012 movement associated with the end of the Mayan Calendar that gained global attention, even if it was sensationalized.

Beyond what one might think about these events or who is to blame, for example, they can be accurately understood as synchronicities that constitute collective initiations. As is true of many kinds of major initiation experiences of ‘rights of passage they can indeed be and often are painful, but not always.

Astrologically, among the more significant events was the exact conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius and exactly on Winter Solstice in 2020 and, more recently in late March of 2023, Pluto entered Aquarius and despite the fact that it re-entered Capricorn just two months later where it has been since and will do so again after it enters Aquarius for the second time on January 20, 2024 – the same day the Sun enters Aquarius.

This short list of factors serves to provide examples of how the world has progressively and continues to become what some describe as a ‘global village’. Yet, we have now arrived at the next crucial turning point and Winter Solstice 2023 offers its own contribution to it.

The Winter Solstice Chart – A Breakdown

The following offers an astrological analysis, which could be technical for some, but provides the rationale for this rather special Solstice.

What is concealed in the inner reality of the Winter Solstice 2023 chart is a powerful message that the time has come to push through and beyond to a whole new level.

Pluto at the critical 29th degree of Capricorn is ‘disposited’ (transfers the energy) by Saturn (because it is the planet that rules Capricorn) which is in Pisces. In turn, Saturn in Pisces disposits to Neptune, which is the ruling planet for Pisces. Not surprisingly, Neptune is the planet that is symbolically associated with the number 7.  This entire process officially, aptly began on March 7, 2023, the day when Saturn entered Pisces. At that time, Pluto was at 29 Capricorn, as it is again now on Winter Solstice 2023. Pluto was also still in Capricorn and at critical 29 on Spring Equinox 2023.

This is the real clue to the inner story equating to a powerful anchoring theme associated with Pisces, the sign of dreams and or dreamers in the deeper, more mystical aspect, which includes the notion that existence itself is God’s dream.

In the current Winter Solstice 2023 chart, the Sun is conjunct Mercury Retrograde in Capricorn, again disposited by Saturn and then from Saturn to Neptune, which is the ‘final dispositor’, or the anchor planet of the chart, because it is the only planet that is in its own sign. Mercury’s conjunction with the Sun is technically deemed ‘combust’ which means it is between 1 and 5 degrees away from the Sun and, in this case, the span is just 1degre and 32 minutes, which means it is ‘strongly combust’. Mercury is symbolic of our reasoning mind and that it is retrograde and in Capricorn, implies that the ability to reason more objectively is obscured by social conditioning, tradition, and the past in general.

So, it is indicative of being collectively stuck in traditional or habitual modes of perception and to our subsequent reasoning processes.

In summary, Mercury retrograde combust the Sun is indicating being ‘blinded by our ego light’ so to speak. Since Mercury is in Saturn-ruled Capricorn, which is in Pisces and where it can be understood to be undergoing a process of disintegration, we get more details regarding this overall process. 

The old modes of perception are disintegrating and this will occur at a  collective level and the outer manifest world will have to change to adapt to this inner, core theme.

On the flip side, the Moon at 0 Taurus 22, the sign of the builder of foundations and the sign of its exaltation is forming a creativity-inspiring trine to the Sun. The Moon is also applying to a conjunction with Jupiter at 5 Taurus 43 and retrograde, which is a very auspicious combination. The conjunction will occur just 9 hours later. All of this refers to the rebuilding process on the other side of the disintegration.

Venus, the ruling planet of Taurus, in Scorpio meanwhile also plays an important role as the cutting planet of a bowl chart pattern, contributing to the overall dynamic of death and rebirth underway, a core theme associated with Scorpio.

While Winter Solstice 2023 is part of the official launch process, the larger dynamic will unfold throughout 2024, in association with the power-mode process that number 8 implies. Number 8 is symbolic of major events and achievements, but symbolically final exams and dynamics like the playoffs in sports. In this regard, it might prove necessary to ‘pass the exam’ in 2024 and this is likely true at both individual and collective levels.

Since resistance to the law of change is futile, (which includes rationalization of who might be behind things), we are wise to focus to consciously align, or at least be aware, and to cooperate.

In 2024 we are going to be pushed to collectively reconsider who we are. At the high end, we will awaken to the realization that we are a family, the human family, and the time has come to commit more fully to the global village.

Ironically, this process requires that we each tune in personally and subjectively. Doing so now, in the energy of Winter Solstice is a great time to do so, yet there will be more opportunities as well over the coming days and weeks in early 2024. After that, it could prove a little too late, but not necessarily either. A key to the entire process is to align from a soul level, which includes our deepest feelings, and to surrender faithfully and willingly to the larger process underway. Doing so will contribute to the higher outcome.

The ideal intention is to consciously enter an altered brain state from that of conscious reasoning, as with the dream state, or as with lucid dreaming or guided meditation or a mild state of hypnosis in which are right brain is more operative and receptive. This break with ordinary reality, by at least shifting from Beta (conscious reasoning) to Alpha (relaxed and receptive) to Theta, as with deep meditation, is the key.

Learn more about Brain Waves HERE.

Above all, be aware and, ideally, consciously and intentionally enter into a faithful and reverent state of alignment with the overall process. This can and also ideally manifest as an ongoing awareness into 2024 so that when major events begin to occur, you are more mentally, emotionally and spiritually (soul alignment) prepared.

In short, we are, you are…, being invited to become a conscious dreamer. In the words of authors  Ariel Spilsbury & Michael Bryner in their book: “The Mayan Oracle – Return Path to the Stars”, we can read the following in regard to this focus:

“In becoming a conscious dreamer, you can assist in literally creating a new reality for yourself, as well as contributing to the larger dream that is emerging. By focusing on this creation, your thoughts and intentions are projected and this energetic field seeds, supports, and empowers the creation of the unfolding reality. The conscious dream state or field holds powerful opportunities where potential, past, and future are held in the same matrix as the present moment. At a certain point, when a critical threshold of energy has been focused on a clear intent such as world peace (or collective communion), the underlying constructs of reality shift and a new reality begins filtering into human experience. Make no mistake: great change is seeded by conscious dreamers who understand and know that they are co-creating the larger dream.”

The collective goal now is to consciously, intentionally, and faithfully, break free of the instinctual, lower survival mind tendency to hold onto the limited reference points regarding beliefs, patterns, and identities. This includes our collective self-concept and sense of identity. The time has come to remember that we are souls incarnate and we co-create reality, whether we are consciously aware of it or not. Our individual and collective reality is maintained by our collective beliefs, self-concepts, and sense of identity, which tend to anchor into set reference points.

When these reference points change, so does our experience of reality. At this stage, the change in our experience of reality is occurring at a collective level.

The key now is to be willing to explore unfamiliar territory and our collective reference becomes more open and fluid. This can be perceived either as frightening or exciting. Experiencing fluid reference points can feel like floating weightless in space. However, you also feel delighted as you discover the depth of your changed perspective, knowing that you have been touched by the Divine.

Winter Solstice 2023 is extra special. It offers an invitation to us all to awaken to our divinely ordained, co-creative powers. It marks an important turning point in our collective journey when we will contribute to creating a whole new experience of what we call reality. Use this opportunity to tune in and to be ready because, ready or not…

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What does 2024 have in store for you?

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