By Judith Gayle | Political Waves

Photo by Sharon Bellenger.

SHAKE HANDS with reality, my friends -- it's coming in the door, neat as a pin, pleats creased, conservatively coiffed and smelling of fresh air. It's still smiling, enthusiastic and glad-handing, to be sure, this Jupiter in Capricorn, and we still have a few weeks to get our loose ends tucked in before it's joined by Pluto, ending the thrill ride we took under more than a decade of Sagittarian energy. We'll jump from mutable fire to practical earth...and, if we're smart, we'll hit the ground running.

But we're not quite there yet, peeking out the door at this newcomer. We're standing in the portal of the Sun and Mercury conjunct the Galactic Center, filling our minds and hearts with possibilities and insights. We're dancing in the energy of Pluto conjunct the Sun that brings our fears to the surface and illuminates the rips in the fabric of our personal and national lives. We're entering in to the still point of solstice, shifting into a phase of winter dormancy and necessary transformation, as well as completing a nine-year wake-up cycle that began in the last century (1999). And to put a bright red ribbon on that package, we're moving quickly into the holidays that turn our focus not only toward our enduring affections for family and friends, but to our spiritual touchstones of faith and our deep longing for peace. (And you can't figure out why you feel bedraggled and exhausted!)

In the natural order of our star path, all that Sagittarius provides us -- vision, enthusiasm, optimism and expansion -- is followed by the pragmatic, disciplined Capricorn focus, cleaning up the frat house and nailing down what's real and what isn't. The mutable salesmanship of Sag provides an array of possibilities and problems which is handed off to Cappy to examine in depth, to determine what works and what doesn't. Work is the key word. Cappy does, and will insist that we all do, as well, for the good of the social whole. What has expanded must now contract, and solidify into a workable system.

We have a few weeks to become accustomed to this new energy signature before Pluto jumps the signs, as the Sun and Mercury enter Cappy to join Jupiter. Our thoughts will turn now to solutions, rather than speculations. It will be something of a shock...and a relief. The children have been running with scissors, but now Daddy's home. The party we've been throwing since the mid-90s has left quite a mess in its wake, and we all know that the "morning after" ain't so much fun. "Sober" is a word associated with Capricorn, and sober we shall become -- no longer caught in the hysteria and addictive cycles of the emotional bender we've been on. Sober sounds pretty good, certainly required, as we dig out from under the rubble.

I delight in the notion that the Daddy energy is what will finally begin to discipline the big systems and crooked politicians -- begin to clean up the debris of the Bush administration and the crony capitalists and the fat cat corporations, all of them pretending that they're the Daddies, the Big Daddies who provide us safety and look out for our best interests (while laughing all the way to the bank). Capricorn doesn't "promise" -- it doesn't have a sales pitch or a phony smile or pat you on the back. It just rolls up its sleeves and goes to work, looking at the bottom line, establishing boundaries and insisting on stability.

When Pluto went into Sag, none of us could imagine how swept away we'd become by religious zealotry and hypocrisy. We saw the ugliness of ignorance in the human soul, clothed in posturing and arrogance, and it not only split our society and defined our international affairs but forced us to refine our own belief systems, defending against those who sought to shove us all into the tight strictures of a national religious persona. We've endured a period of instruction on what fiery religious rhetoric provides us, and found it dangerous in the extreme. If ever there was an argument for the ultimate sanity of separation of church and state, the Sagittarian years gave us all the information we needed.

The influence of Saturn on this religious question should dampen down the hot air pretty quickly. Capricorn is interested in what's useful -- it has already raised a stern eyebrow at GOP presidential candidate and Baptist minister, Mike Huckabee, for attacking Mormon aspirant, Mitt Romney. Romney made a speech recently, trying for a Kennedy-esque moment; instead of achieving a respectful distance between politics and religion, Romney furthered his cause with the Christian Right by pleading that his brand of Christianity looked pretty much like theirs. Attempting to further his Christocratic bona fides, "Huck" mentioned in an interview that the Mormons believe that Satan was the brother of Jesus,  implying that the Mormons weren't "true believers" at all. His commentary has apparently backfired, creating a backlash from those who are tired of all this denominational infighting and are more interested in political positions than religious.

I see that as a sign of what's to come -- Saturn is respectful of others' belief systems, but is not likely to let them intrude on the business of the day. Its response to those like Huckabee and Romney, who seek to solidify their positions from a platform of national religion, is likely to be short and sweet: "Get off your cross, we need the wood."

There are a LOT of things we need, now, and practical Capricorn will put them at the top of the grocery list, although we are in a state of emergency on so many levels it's difficult to pick which is most important. On a global level, we are facing the rapid shocks of climate change, a dwindling food supply, water wars, nuclear proliferation, corporate monopoly and faltering economy. That's the short list. This nation's governance has not only ignored all these problems, but compounded them. Capricornian maturity will be more than welcome -- it will be required if we are to renew our commitment to co-creating a world that is friendly to humankind, one we can leave to our children and theirs, confident that life will continue to renew itself without the sorrow, conflict, and crisis that we have today.

There is a poem I like very much by Oriah Mountain Dreamer, entitled "The Invitation."

It speaks to me of this changing of the guard between the truth-seeking of Sagittarius and the sense of responsibility that resides in Capricorn. If we've done the internal work through these last turbulent years, entered our own sacred center to discover ourselves and our place in the universe, we will be able to say we've matured into a new vibration and come to a new understanding. This passage, particularly, strikes me as timely:

It doesn't interest me to know where
you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

Can we? Have we matured to the point of taking responsibility for all that is no longer working, no longer serving our individual lives, no longer serving the whole of us? Are we prepared to roll up our sleeves in Capricorn fashion and get to work? The forces of the universe have conspired to put us in that position -- recklessness is behind us, now, and a new season of practicality and problem-solving is ahead. Are we ready? I think we're more ready than we know.

As we approach the holidays, we come home to our traditions -- we take comfort in those things that have brought us joy in past years and that give us pleasure to share with one another, pass along to our own children. Our spiritual traditions have changed over the years, our rituals and celebrations alive with new energy, the best of the old wisdom coloring new understandings and realizations. May we enter into our festivities, allowing our hearts to expand and encompass all the truth we've sought and found in these last years of turbulent passage. Whatever traditions you bring to this moment, I wish you playful, peaceful days of bright blessing, and a renewed spirit of hope.

There is much to be grateful for, much to appreciate and so much to envision for our future. Let love be your guide and confidence soothe you through the days ahead as we come toward a point of Namaste: the God in me beholds the God in you. We walk together toward a healed world -- and the star still shines bright in the heavens, welcoming the Holy Child...the wise and holy children that we are becoming through the tempering of our souls...that will make it so.


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