The Winter Sun
I am using this solstice time as a space for dreaming.
The Winter Solstice marks the longest night of the year and the beginning of Capricorn Season, the earthy home of Saturn. It is here we meet the dark in its fullest and begin to sink into the mysterious depths of matter. The solstice also marks the pivot point of the winter sun, meaning each subsequent day brings with it more and more light. This time is one of great shadow but great light as well, even if it arises from a manmade hearth or a candle by your bed. Consider how a world with just light is incomplete, lopsided, and how the dark alone ignores all that is coming into life at this time.
I am using this time for inner sight, using the wisdom of sleep to guide me through this liminal space. I am lighting candles, gathering juniper and cedar, baking with my loved ones, getting warm with my pup.
Consider what brings you comfort in the night; consider what sort of visions live in the shadow; consider the light inside the dark.
The word “dream” comes from the Old Norse draumr, Danish drøm, Swedish dröm, Old Saxon drom "merriment, noise,"1. The Old English meaning for “dream” included "joy, mirth, noisy merriment," as well as "music”.2 The only thing all music has in common is repetition of some sort. I like calling things “songs”— like our relationship to food and love— to signify something that changes all of the time while remaining itself. The Moon is the planet of dreams because she is the planet of the magic in the mundane: how else would we describe dreams, our portals to far-off lands that we get to visit each and every night?
Some may see our dreams as just noise or the mind processing the detritus from the day before but if you can find the pattern, the repeating themes in your dreams, then you can also find not just their meaning, but the pure joy in experiencing this reverie. Wednesday night, I began a 12-day dreaming practice with prompts given by Bee diviner Ariella Daly. The first night, I lit candles, made a food and drink offering, and was prompted to dream with my maternal lineage. I had watched a movie that night called “Maggie’s Plan” where Greta Gerwig falls for Ethan Hawke, a married man, but wants to get him back together with his ex-wife because all he does is think about himself. Those scenes traced their way onto my dreams, along with me having a child and having another family take our photos; carrying around a big roll of papers I must wrap up again when I am called to the dance floor; repairmen standing in my apartment, waiting for some unknown cue; Ethan Hawke mentioning myrrh. I don’t yet know what my maternal line is trying to tell me with these hints but I know the logic of dreams follows some other thread than what the mind offers. I will be patient.
The Blood of Pleasure
Venus is currently traversing the final 10º of Scorpio, a chthonic, at times uncomfortable place for the Lesser (in size but not in power!) Benefic. In the nocturnal sign of Mars, Venus wants the love to penetrate. The pleasure to hurt. The affection to rattle and startle our comfort. This third decan of Scorpio, while ruled by the Moon and Venus, two normally soft planets, can be a difficult one. The image associated with it in the Yavanjataka depicts “A cruel man wearing a golden suit of armour. Standing in a hole, he is clever (in obtaining) treasure and what he desires. He wishes to follow a vow that is broken. He knows how to use weapons, but is tormented, having been robbed by his companions”.3 We have the Venusian themes of desire and luxury, combined with the treachery and broken vows of Mars.
Desires take on a psychedelic, illusory, hue in this part of the zodiac. Our desires here have the potential to be self-destructive if we are not honest without ourselves and let the overripe ones fall to the ground and turn to compost. But while the reality of our desires may not come to fruition, there is great imagination here that can alchemize our thwarted wishes into poignant pieces of art.
Something the Lot of Eros has taught me is that no desire is for nothing; desire is what propels us into action, gives us imagination, has us reaching, ultimately for closeness to the divine. According to Simone Weil, “[p]urity is the power to contemplate defilement,”4 or, in other words, we reach our true suchness by letting the debauchery of desire exist within our lives without letting it take over.
If you want to further contemplate the sweetbitter nature of desire and the myriad unique ways it shows up in your life, consider my and Kira Ryberg’s lecture on the Lot of Eros.
This collaborative lecture is 2 hours and 20 minutes long and provides a deep dive into the Lot of Eros. We take a look at the many meanings of love, the mythology of Eros and the myriad ways that the Lot of Eros can manifest in a life and astrological chart. We provide suggestions for how to delineate the Lot of Eros by looking at several example charts, along with giving you ideas around how to deepen and develop a relationship with Eros’ presence in your own life. We will explore delineating the Lot of Eros by planetary ruler, aspects, element and fixed star conjunction. This lecture is an extensive and comprehensive overview on the Lot of Eros and it explores significations of this hermetic lot that have never been discussed before. It takes us beyond the traditional texts and into the present moment so that you can gain a complete understanding of the many ways the Lot of Eros influences someone’s life.
This lecture is the first in-depth treatment of this amorous, creative point of its kind. We make connections and go places you can’t find anywhere else. In addition to a video lecture, you also get a .pdf of the lecture slides and a resource list for further Eros study.
This is for the lovers, the yearners, the artists, the mystics, the friends. This is for anyone with a deep interest in astrology or just knowing themselves more intimately.
Learn more and purchase via Kira’s website with the link below:
For now, I leave you with this Venus in Scorpio/ Lot of Eros-coded thought.
Until next week,
Love,
Chloe
https://www.etymonline.com/word/dream
ibid.
Austin Coppock, “36 Faces: The History, Astrology and Magic of the Decans”, p. 287
Simone Weil, “Attention and Will”