EARTH & US: Solstice, Change and Transformation
By: Cathy Holt
Tags: Winter Solstice, Indigenous Women, Astrology, Revolution, Womens Earth Alliance

Greetings of the Solstice! This is a time of major change for me personally. Moving out of my home of 6 1/2 years, and actually leaving Asheville itself after nearly 16 years, is causing me to do a life review of sorts, as I discard what I no longer need and prepare to move to Swannanoa. The outer work of winnowing and paring down seems to have some parallel with my inner world, leaving me lighter and clearer. I’ve also applied to the Peace Corps — although placements are currently on hold due to the pandemic. (Did you know that there is no upper age limit?)

Astrologically, this Winter Solstice brings the “Great Conjunction” of Jupiter and Saturn, just hours after the moment of the Solstice. Saturn is all about mastering structures of physical reality, while Jupiter in Aquarius indicates expansion of the transpersonal and intuitive, a big step into the “Age of Aquarius” that was heralded in the ‘60’s. Major breakthroughs, awakening, new freedom, transcendence, creative flowering are all possible. This seems to be a time for transforming foundational systems, institutions and structures, with mass protests and revolutions opening the way for freedom, and creation of new solutions. A 200-year “Great Mutation cycle” is also about to begin, a shift from earth to air; this shift moves us away from the materialistic (selfish grasping for wealth and power) and toward cooperative, collective thriving. It could be a time of finding joy in serving others with our unique gifts and talents. (Thank you Benjamin Bernstein of www.Astroshaman.com for these insights!)

I am hopeful that our country will finally take significant steps towards re-imagining the police, immigration reform, and reparations for both indigenous people and African Americans. It’s been centuries of colonization, brutality and inhumane treatment. The whole extractive, exploitative economy needs to change drastically in order to arrest and reverse climate catastrophe. This means major change, and soon!

We are witnessing the arising and leadership of indigenous women the world over. I especially invite you to look into Women’s Earth Alliance. For the past 15 years, a group of women have been mentoring younger grassroots women working internationally for environmental justice. Mainly indigenous and women of color, they are leading campaigns for food security, water restoration and protection; they’re fighting toxic dumping, air pollution, pesticides and pipelines. They are trailblazers in the “just transition” from a fossil fueled economy to a sustainable one. “Women nurture the land,” they say. Jessica Girard, of Fairbanks, AK, sees white supremacy as the root cause of the climate crisis, linking these two issues. Extractive economies steal from the Earth, from the commons, and extract labor from people. Black, Indigenous, and People of Color are treated as disposable. To get inspired by the women’s stories, visit www.Womensearthalliance.org.

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Part of my moving and packing process was re-visiting some collages I’ve made over the past few years, mostly around New Year’s Day. I felt inspired to set them to poetry, one of which I’ll offer to you here along with the images. I hope you enjoy it; perhaps it will open something in you.

Heart Visions

What if we breathed?

Could we take a gentle breath into our hearts,

Love and forgive ourselves?

Offer love to our indigenous sisters,

Water guardians and protectors,

And see the brown skinned woman who sings

Love and peace from a radiant heart, in a river of rainbows?

Feel gratitude for the golden glory of a flower

Blooming bright as the sun above…

Love and connection with all creatures,

And with our children

As their delighted laughter

Brings peace and the rainbow.

When we listen to the music of the world

And tune in to our hearts,

Comes the deeper sight,

The heart’s own vision,

Through the eye of a bird…

A new hope, a flowering world.

Let us find the spiritual experience

That brings us alive and keeps us

Alive every day all the way,

Living the rainbow.