The Great Conjunction, The Winter Solstice, and the Reconciliation of Duality

Anyone interested in astrology has probably already done some research about the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn tonight on the Winter solstice. In these pre-dawn hours that begin this auspicious day, I find myself writing this piece to connect with the energy of this celestial event and to explore some archetypal correspondences that arise when I meditate upon it.

To summarize some general information about the event: The “Great Conjunction,” as astrologers and astronomers call it, will occur at 1:21 p.m. on December 21st, 2020 and be visible in the southwestern sky when the stars appear in the early evening. Jupiter and Saturn will meet in 0 degrees of Aquarius, closer than they have been since 1623. You’ve probably noticed the two bright planets in the southern sky these last months, drawing closer toward one another from our Earthly perspective as we approach the solstice. Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions occur roughly every 20 years and they remain in signs of the same element for cycles of approximately 200 years (aside from some overlap during each transition). This conjunction in Aquarius marks the beginning of a 200 year cycle of Air sign conjunctions and brings us out of 200 years of Earth sign conjunctions. This shift is called a “Great Mutation,” an event of great significance to astrologers. Outer planets represent collective rather than personal energies, so this transition will mark a global shift in focus from Earth energy into Air energy. We are moving from an era of materialism (Earth, the Industrial Revolution) into a period ruled by the mind, information and technology (Air, the information age). The transpersonal nature of this Great Conjunction will be amplified by its occurrence the sign of Aquarius (which is one the 3 final or transpersonal signs of the zodiac- Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces).The Great Conjunction was also equated by Kepler with the Biblical Star of Bethlehem.

Tonight we will experience the confluence of potent celestial events, as the Great Conjunction coincides with the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. Jupiter and Saturn will merge into a single brilliant cluster to be viewed for just a few brief hours before they follow the Sun beyond the Western horizon and the world is fully submerged into the darkness of the longest night. This night signifies the final death of the year: It stirs our hearts with reverence for mortality and yearning for the resurrection of the light that has died.

These winter days are somber, even as the sun shines a distant and diffuse light from its mantel in the southern sky, a reminder of its fleeting presence and imminent retreat. How precious is the daylight as it grows ever more scarce. By the time we arrive at the solstice, the night is so long, we believe that the Sun may never rise again. So we keep the light alive. We decorate with strings of lights and surround ourselves with loved ones to keep the fire burning in our hearts. We tend our bonfires into the dark hours of the night, as an offering to the Sun, to call the light back up from the underworld. We honor our ancestors, because we know the dead are connected to the very source of life itself.

There is a power in this darkness that is so deep that it seems to have swallowed the light forever: There is the sleeping jewel of regeneration. The world rests in the heaviest slumber. The animals and the seeds of plants hibernate beneath the snowy ground, just as the sun dreams below the horizon, a necessary death before the birth of the Spring.

How fitting that this Conjunction of Saturn, the planet of death, and Jupiter, the planet of rebirth, should occur on this night of death and rebirth, on the most Saturnian day of the year.

Saturn is the traditional ruler of Capricorn and Aquarius, while Jupiter traditionally rules Sagittarius and Pisces. Saturn represents contraction, while Jupiter represents expansion. Saturn is the god of limitations and boundaries, while Jupiter represents fortune and generosity. Saturn grounds us in material reality, while Jupiter elevates our dreams and ideals. Though they appear to be opposites, like all dualities, each relies upon the other in order to exist. Neither is preferable to the other, but both are necessary. Saturn has a correspondence to Earth, and since we are ever-seeking balance, we are naturally drawn to Jupiter, the god of expansion, to balance the limitations of living on this earthly plane. However, expansion without limitation is directionless and rambling. We need limitations and forms to ground our inspiration in the tangible world. Expansion and contraction combined create movement, and thus bring the world into being from the empty stillness that preceded them.

This conjunction finds us entering into a 200 year cycle ruled by the element of Air, an era of communication, information and technology. We will experience the expansiveness (Jupiter) and the limitations (Saturn) of a highly connected and fast-paced, yet disembodied world. We began the transition into this cycle in 1980, when the Great Conjunction cycle momentarily dipped out of the Earth element and into a Great Conjunction in Libra. We have already begun experiencing the boons and drawbacks of the information age, a time when we are more connected socially and informationally, yet more dissociated and emotionally disconnected than ever before.

Saturn is Kronos, the principle of time itself, who mercilessly devours his own children. He is the older disciplinarian father figure, conservative and obsessed with rules. As the ruler of Capricorn, Saturn is the dead of night of the Winter Solstice. Jupiter is the son of Saturn. He is Springtime itself. He is benevolent and jovial, the “cool dad” who will help you out in a bind, but who is too busy pursuing his dreams to be reliable. But are the father and the son really different at the end of the day? Just like Saturn, Jupiter had to murder his own father in order to survive and safeguard himself against overthrow at the hands of his own children. If Saturn is the vengeful God of the Old Testament, Jupiter is the Christ figure of the New Testament. Winter inevitably becomes Springtime, and Springtime cycles back into winter. The child becomes the parent, and the parent becomes the child.

Since Christmas is a syncretized Solstice celebration, it seems especially relevant to consider the parallels between Jupiter and St. Nick, and Saturn’s association with Father Time. Father Time, or the grim reaper, has long been considered the ruler of this time of year. Krampus, with his goat-like Capricornian appearance, is one pre-Christian manifestation of this frightful mid-winter reaper figure. We have replaced such pagan Saturnian denizens of the solstice with Santa Claus, an invention that helps us bring more light into these dark days. Santa, like Jupiter, brings us gifts and mirth rather than the oppressive scythe of death. But he comes out of the darkest night, just like Krampus, who punishes children; or the spirits who ride with the cavalcade of the wild hunt to claim the souls of the dead. Santa, Jesus, and Jupiter carry the hope of the first sunrise after the winter solstice, a hope so pure that it can only come out of the longest, darkest night.

If Saturn is the long night, Jupiter is the rebirth of the day. The confluence of these planetary energies on a night when their assigned powers annually converge surely energizes the power of both events.

So what of the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter? What happens when the principles of expansion and contraction unite as one? Do they cancel each other out or does their individual power become amplified? Does the world cease to exist or does it begin anew? Or maybe they have always been one and the same. Maybe the spell of perceived duality will be broken, if only momentarily. If Saturn represents duality itself, and Jupiter represents non-duality, maybe their union will show us that even duality and non-duality can simultaneously coexist. Perhaps as we gaze at the two planets shining as one, or watch the sun rise from the unsurpassed darkness of this night, we will understand that the night is day and that death is life.

There’s a lot more I could say about this conjunction, but a lot of astrologers have done a great job breaking down the minutiae. I could write on the significance of the planets coming together at 0 degrees of Aquarius, or that both planets moved out of the sign of Capricorn this week (Or how Capricorn and Aquarius are the two signs traditionally ruled by Saturn). I could talk more about historical Great Mutations, but instead I will suggest you research more if the topic interests you.

I wish everyone a blessed solstice. The season of darkness is hardly over, but the days will slowly begin to lengthen after today. If the darkness begins to close in around you, light a candle in your home or in your heart, and rejoice in the rebirth of the light. And please, give yourself a moment to witness the Great Conjunction this evening.