Capricorn Season Brings Closure
Art Direction and Photograph by: Catie Menke. Model: Erin Lynn.
Copy by: Alison Brownell
Model: Erin Lynn
Creative Direction by: Catie Menke
The beginning of Capricorn season on December 21, marking the close of Sagittarius season, will have us singing right along with Semisonic. Every new beginning really DOES come from some other beginning’s end, and during the upcoming four weeks, we experience both.
Capricorn energy usually has us trying to align ourselves with achievement. It’s not a coincidence that the idea of “New Year’s Resolutions” lands within Capricorn. The sign of the goat does believe that you CAN be the G.O.A.T. (“Greatest of All Time”). Capricorn rules the tenth house, the highest point of our charts. It’s what we are known for, what we have worked hard to achieve, and where we are most visible.
Art Direction and Photograph by: Catie Menke. Model: Erin Lynn.
This year, however, with the rug pulled out from under us, we’ve been redefining what success means to us, how we want to show up, and what we actually want to be known for. The structures that once supported us no longer exist in many cases, and we’ve found that we’ve had to rebuild. The absolute devastation of the Capricorn ruled parts of our lives has been the theme of this entire year, starting with Saturn and Pluto meeting there on January 12 for their once every 38 year get-together, followed by three Jupiter and Pluto connections in the same area of Capricorn across the course of spring, summer and fall. This is, of course, to say nothing of the fact that Mars squared all those planets twice already during his retrograde and is about to do it one more time as he moves forward.
If you don’t know a whole lot about astrology, that’s okay. The very popular meme, the “This is fine” dog, is a very accurate visual for what this year’s energy has been.
Art Direction and Photograph by: Catie Menke. Model: Erin Lynn.
When the sun heads into Capricorn, he officially chases both Saturn and Jupiter out, as they head into Aquarius. They meet on the same day in what is called “The Great Conjunction”. Saturn and Jupiter only hang out in the exact same place in the sky every twenty years, so as we close out the last twenty years of our lives, we’re beginning the next twenty around high-minded, innovative ideas supported with luck, a good attitude and hard work. Whether your 2020 was good or bad (or somewhere in the middle), we were shown what no longer worked for us. Now that we know, and the dust is settling, we have to do better. This conjunction shows us what we are supposed to make of our futures. The phrase we heard all year, “New Normal”, is now as outdated as your lower back tattoo from 2000, as normal has been completely thrown out the door. This is not because we’re still restricted (although we might be for a while longer due to ‘Rona), but because we are ready to work, making changes to improve what we thought normal was “supposed” to be. We are redefining success, both on our own terms and for the collective.
At the same time, Mars will be moving into his final square with Pluto. If you have found yourself in a massive power struggle over the last six months, especially relating to the fight between autonomy versus authority, you’ll finally get a resolution toward the end of December. Even better than that? Mars will leave his retrograde shadow behind on January 4 and move into Taurus on January 7, leaving behind his extra long, six month stay in Aries. If you notice that you feel decidedly less combative and more like napping after the first week of the year, this is why. The tension won’t dissipate immediately, but it will lift considerably.
We will also get a Cancer full moon on December 29, right before the calendar divorces us from 2020. This moon will be incredibly emotional, so if you’re looking back at the year and feeling weepy, just have your Kleen-ex at the ready. It feels like we’ve been doing so much grieving this year that you might think you’re out of tears to cry. Whether or not your tear ducts are coughing up dust, do use this day (or the 30th) to be really clear about what you want to leave behind. Take some time to write down what you are ready to release. Feel free to write “All of 2020” at the top of your list if you need a writing prompt to get you started, but don’t end there. What did you notice about how you had been living that you needed to change? What about yourself did you discover that you didn’t love and would like to do better with? Dig deep, feel the energy of these things leaving your body as you write, then rip up the list and flush it down the toilet. Another option is to take advantage of your shower that day to imagine those things being washed off you and going down the drain. Whatever you choose to do, pick something that allows water to rush away from you. Full moons are for culmination and release. Don’t let something stick to you if you’re ready to allow it to move on.
Art Direction and Photograph by: Catie Menke. Model: Erin Lynn.
Finally, if you’re into New Year’s Resolutions, then the absolute best time to set them isn’t January 1, but January 13, 2021, with the new moon in Capricorn. Because this moon is on the same point as last year’s Saturn - Pluto conjunction that kicked off the mess we call 2020, we are presented with a powerful opportunity for a rebirth. If it wasn’t working, it broke, and it can’t be fixed. This is the pivot point, where we officially shut the door on the past year and get to build anew. What do you want? What is your new version of success? What are you ready to build from the mound of destruction you’re standing in? This is the time when we finally feel ready. We see into the past to know why it happened, and how we must move into the future.
The tricky thing about closure is that it doesn’t actually happen until you’re ready to start something else. It is possible to be sad about what’s leaving (or what has already left), and excited for what is coming next. Over the next month, we’ll feel both, but as the sun gets nearer to the end of his Capricorn journey, we’ll start to feel more excited and empowered about what’s coming than sad about what we no longer have.
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