Keywords for 2021: Freedom and Change

Capricorn season begins on the Winter Solstice when the days in the Northern hemisphere are at their shortest. It’s the sign that straddles the new calendar year and is naturally associated with “taking stock”. Capricorn, aka the sea goat, is all about getting to the top of the mountain. And the only way to get there efficiently, is to assess where you are currently at. So, it’s no surprise that the sun’s stay in the sign of Capricorn coincides with the New Year’s theme of resolutions and goals.

But this year…..everything is different. 2020 was a doozy, and as much as we wish for all that it brought to be over, we also all know that it’s not. The work is ongoing, the restrictions, the fears and the uncertainty are still with us. I’ll spare you from all the nerdy astrological details of this moment, but there are two things that might be interesting to know.

First, we have just entered a new 200 year cycle in which the planets Jupiter and Saturn will be meeting up in the air signs. This is a transition from an earthy energy (think structures, rules, hierarchies, material concerns) to an airy energy (think ideas, innovation, freedom, rebellion and technology). This is not connected to the so-called "Age of Aquarius". That's a whole other ball of wax that astrologers don't agree on. We might have been in it for the past 100 or so years... or we are still a few hundred years away. Either way we are in an important transition right now.

Second point is that the numerology for 2021 is five  (2 + 0 + 1 + 2=5). In numerology, the number five represents freedom, curiosity and change.

So…..What does all this mean? My answer?
It’s time to break some rules.

Closeup of Jupiter and Saturn, via Dr Ski.

Despite the Capricorn season, I’ve always feel like January is a strange time for starting over anyway. Not much that feels very fresh or new in the dead of winter (in the Northern hemisphere anyway). I usually like to wait till spring to set my intentions for the year, and use this time to let those resolutions and goals marinate. But in light of freedom and change … I’m tempted to think a little more radically and reframe my reflection rituals this year around a different ideal. Instead of using this time to come up with ways we want improve ourselves and meet our goals, how can we free ourselves from the very idea that we need improvement? Not that we will not have goals- we are human after all, but that we will not measure our self-worth by the achievement of them. 

In the spirit of personal freedom, I’ll share with you what I’m doing in hopes that it inspires you to come up with something that works beautifully for YOU.

• I keep a notebook of all my “To Do” lists and ideas. I’m going to spend the next few days going over last year’s lists. Rather than prioritize the things that showed up over and over but didn’t get done, I am going to scratch them off the list permanently. WOW!
  
  
• At the same time, I’ll pull out my colored pens and stickers and “gold star” all the things I did do. I’ve already started doing this and it really does feel GREAT!
  
  
• Taking all this into account, I’m going to do some reflecting-probably in the form of journaling- on whether the structures I have built for myself are supporting me or holding me back. And more importantly, how has my thinking about what works and what doesn’t been influenced by what I believe, or have been told should work. Now feels like a very good time for releasing the idea something works for you just because it works for someone else.

I sat down this morning to write a blog about Capricorn Birthstones….This came out instead. Things are going to continue to change and be unpredictable, lets embrace that in all the small ways we can. 

Wherever and whenever possible let what is coming through, come through. And let whatever needs to go, go. ❤︎ 

PS- I actually did end up writing about those Capricorn Birthstones after all :)
You can read about that HERE