Welcoming Yule, Capricorn season, and the Cancer Full Moon

Sagittarius season is winding down. This Friday, December 21, the Sun enters Capricorn.

I always find it difficult to connect with the natural energies at this time of year, even though I always feel so called to Capricorn season.

Yet there can be so much pressure with the holidays coming up that it can be difficult to get much downtime. People are rushing from party to party, store to store.

And I feel guilty saying no. And also, I want to say yes. Friends who have moved away come home at Christmas. There seems to be an extra effort on everyone’s part to get together, catch up, and enjoy the moment.

And yet I am a walking contradiction these days.

I always feel a strong pull to go inward at this time of year. Which is why I wish it was a bit easier to get into sync with the natural energies, rather than feel pulled against the grain by all the rushing around that can happens now.

One of my favourite memories about the Winter Solstice, or Yule, goes back to when I was in college. I was off on break, and staying at my parents’ house.

It was chilly outside, and my parents were in the basement, watching TV. I was laying across the living room floor, with a book and a glass of wine, and it was absolutely perfect. I even remember what I was reading: Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood.

Later, the snow started to fall, and I stayed up late writing poetry in my journal. Poems that, several years later, became a book.

Why am I talking about this? Why does it matter?

Because to me, this the ideal thing to do at the Winter Solstice. It is when the wheel turns once again and we enter into a season of solitude and hibernation.

It’s within those quieter times that we incubate ideas for what’s to come. It’s in making space for silence that we can hear our own voices again.

We can gather inspiration from the books we read. We can heal through a quiet, warm night. Perhaps with a hot bath, or some time spent journaling.

We get back to our thoughts, where we find our true plans and paths.

We can enter into dialogue with ourselves, and our spirits, and ask:

What has this year meant? And what will I need to do with this new year ahead of me?

It can be challenging to map out the architecture of one’s life without uninterrupted time to do so. And sometimes, I feel I need those deeper, longer chunks of time to do that.

I need days where I’m not obligated to be anywhere.
I need days where I don’t have to pay attention to what time it is. I need to time and space to think for myself, and to do what I feel naturally drawn towards, rather than what I feel obligated to do.

It’s not always possible to carve out these times for ourselves. Maybe that’s why I have such a vivid memory of a time when I felt I got it right.

Last year, at this time, I was helping my mother move, as she is not at a time in her life where she can manage these things herself. As she gets older, her independence suffers. Moving another person – arranging their things, their lease agreements, their address changes – might actually be more work than moving yourself. (Who thought that was even possible, right?)

Sometimes, life will demand more of us, and we need to respond.

But during the times when we are able to hide away, to get lost in a book or to sit in our own sacred spaces, even just for a short while, I think it’s important to take advantage of that.

The Winter Solstice reminds us that we are entering into a full season of space. And so my hope is that you are able to get a little bit of silence for yourself sometime soon, if that’s what you need right now.

The Tower was the card I pulled for this week. It can seem like a contradictory energy and image to have as we prepare to move into a quieter season.

And yet the Tower also allows us to shake ourselves free. To move outside of any constraints, and to move out of any traditions, routines, or obligations that have kept us boxed in.

It encourages us to find freedom in our own thoughts and desires, and to break away however we need to.

It is also a card of transformation, and that’s what can happen at this time of year. The dreams and ideas that we incubate around the Winter Solstice can grow to become the seeds we plant later on.

Like the poems I wrote all those years ago that grew into something more.

On Saturday, December 22, we welcome the Full Moon in Cancer, a time where your deepest needs can come to light.

It feels so magical to have this Full Moon arrive so close to the Winter Solstice. What a beautiful way to bring your feelings to the surface and see which of your intentions are coming full circle at this time.

This Full Moon will connect back to the Cancer New Moon earlier this summer, so if you set any dreams into motion then you might want to see how they are developing.

Because this is a deep, watery Moon, emotions can run high, so if you feel a little tender, or if you notice those around you are having stronger reactions than usual, take care. Remember to be careful with yourself, and those you love.

Especially if you are celebrating the holidays at this time, too. The air can have an extra charge to it already, and when you throw a Full Moon in the mix it all goes up to a whole other level.

If it helps, here is an intention to take with you throughout the week:

I open to the silence within and trust in its gifts.

And if you’d like to connect with this week’s Full Moon in Cancer, here is a tarot spread you can try at home:

1. What desire is ready to manifest?
   
2. What feeling is ready to be expressed?
   
3. What aspect of myself is ready to be witnessed?
   
4. What kind of space am I ready to hold for others?
   

Until next time,

Liz xo

Liz Worth

www.lizworth.com
lizworth@gmail.com

Liz Worth is a Toronto-based tarot reader, astrologer, and author. She uses tarot and astrology to help people find clarity, guidance, and purpose.

Liz regularly offers workshops and seminars about tarot, astrology, and magic, believing that these are tools everyone can learn and benefit from. In 2017, Toronto Life magazine and She Does the City listed Liz as a go-to reader and tarot teacher. Her horoscopes have appeared in Flare Magazine and Spiral Nature, and her writing has also been published by Biddy Tarot, Little Red Tarot, and the Numinous. She is currently working on a follow-up to her book Going Beyond the Little White Book: A Contemporary Guide to Tarot.