Archive for December, 2010

Total Lunar Eclipse and Winter Solstice

Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010

Lunar Eclipse / Full Moon in Gemini – December 21, 2010, 08:13 UT
Winter Solstice – December 22, 2010, 23:38 UT

This special Full Moon in the last degree of Gemini was a total lunar eclipse at the South node of the Moon. The eclipse took place on the Winter Solstice.

The Sun-Moon opposition was squared by the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction in Pisces. A pile of minor planets and asteroids including Logos, Juno, Makemake and Typhon on the cusp of Virgo and Libra, completed a mutable grand cross. The Sun in the last degree of Sagittarius was accompanied by a large diversity of planets and asteroids including Mercury retrograde, Pallas, Crantor, and Pluto. The Moon conjoined the Centaur planet Cyllarus in early Cancer. The rich symbolism contained in the prominent heavenly bodies parallels the news and events unfolding in the world.

In the Northern Hemisphere the Winter Solstice marks the shortest day of the year. After the Solstice the days get gradually longer and the light starts to increase. In the current charts asteroid Balder, named after the shining god of the Vikings, is squaring asteroid Hoder, the namesake of the twin brother of Balder. Asteroid Saga is in conjunction with Balder. Balder gets additional sparks from Vesta. This is the time to be reminded of the story of Balder.

Balder was the most beautiful and beloved of the old Norse gods. Because of Loki’s trickery, the blind brother Hoder threw a mistletoe at Balder and thus caused Balder’s death. The gods were weeping for him. He was ceremonially burnt upon his own ship at Summer Solstice, symbolized by the Midsummer’s bonfires. Balder is said to return to life after Ragnarök. The Earth will appear again from the sea, it will be fertile, green, and cleansed of all its sufferings.

The myth clearly has its origins in the change of seasons. The joy of people is present in the sunlight, in the presence of the radiant god Balder. The gloom of the winter months is symbolized by the death of Balder, carried out by the twin brother. The god of light is reborn at the Winter Solstice and greeted with the burning of the yule log and also with the lights in contemporary Christmas trees.

Happy Winter Solstice!