The transition of the New Year, marked by the illumination of fireworks and candles, is a brief moment in the depths of winter in which we may acknowledge the passing of the old year and welcome in new life and future possibilities for the year ahead. Once the vision passes we return to introspective hibernation, for in the midst of wintry cold dank days and long dark nights this a time to rest, focus within and stay close to home in heart and hearth. It is not until the first green shoots of the early snowdrops emerge from the snow covered and hard frosted ground in the first week of February that there is any sense of life beginning to stir. Now we can properly turn our thoughts to the year ahead as our energy rises and we begin to unfold from the dark snug and slough off the heavy mantle of the previous year to emerge fresh and renewed. This is the time of the Celtic festival of Imbolc, sacred to the Maiden aspect of the Goddess, which honours the earth in her renewal and welcomes her re-emergence in early spring. As the pale sunshine strengthens and the thaw continues the flow of the waters in rivers and streams increases expressing a physical corollary of this new cleansing tide. This is the time of spring cleaning when one cleans the dust and dirt of the past year out of one's house, which traditionally literally meant clearing out the old strewn herbs and straw. But this is also a time of washing away the old, outworn and empty elements of our inner life which are part of the past and thereby release space for new experiences, projects and plans that you would like to bring to life in the new year ahead.

Cycles of the Heavens

February - Aquarius

With an incremental increase in winter light and the newly emerging shafts of green life from hard frosted earth, the Sun leaves behind the deep hibernation of midwinter and the grounded pragmatism of Capricorn. From 20th January it ascends now into the celestial realms of Aquarius and the temenos of fixed air, from whose clear and rarefied heights the Water Bearer pours forth his divine inspiration to humanity. Here we are refreshed in the sparkling stream of consciousness which flows from heaven to earth, opening our minds to new concepts, loosening old mental constructs as new ideas arise before us and bringing future possibilities into our awareness. Here we enter the conceptual and abstract realms where we are liberated to create and explore new mental forms and expand our horizons to new conceptual limits. Ruled by Saturn, this sign unites mind with form and serves to bring through the new collective impulses and ideas whose time has come to be embodied and enlivened in matter. This, indeed, is the sign of the intellectual pioneer who brings new ideas into being on behalf of all humanity and, as form follows thought, enables a new world to arise. Individually at this time, we too can explore fresh ideas and thoughts of how we would like to refashion our own world, and we may be inspired with creative possibilities which can, in due course, manifest in our lives.