Yuletide Wishes

or, that increasingly rare commodity known as hope

Greetings, all.

I had planned to write a horoscope for the impending New Moon. However, the recent tragic events in the US and Australia - combined with the ongoing horrors elsewhere in which our capacity for cruelty to one another has been made so blatantly evident - have got deep under my skin. Obviously this is true for many of you also, and I wish you to know that I sympathise.

Words appropriate to meet the moment are difficult to find, and have been for some time. As an astrologer, as one of multitudes performing the work of divination, I am supposed to convey the messages I receive from the cosmos (to put it in very broad terms); as a fallible mortal, these messages will invariably be tinged with the specificity of my human experience, local environment, privilege, prejudices, qualities and weaknesses. Every one of us who seek wisdom, through whatever means, is but a thread in the great tapestry of understanding; which is partly why we all need each other.

The idea for writing the following came to me as I was struggling to make legible sense of the New Moon and Southern solstice charts, which events take place within the next couple of days. Here in the Northern hemisphere, we are about to experience the shortest day of the year in terms of sunlight; but that moment marks a turning point; and thereafter daylight hours increase, until the summer solstice. The Southern hemisphere will see the reverse of that process, as their relatively long days begin to shorten. In both cases, the solstice (’solar standstill’) is a sacred time of transition, from which we all emerge in some sense renewed. Alongside a New Moon, this symbolic regeneration may well be even more palpable.

Light is a potent symbol here. Particularly at the winter solstice, the promise of increasing light gives hope amid the cold and the stretched-out phases of darkness; this time of year is packed with holidays and celebrations, since the gift of hope is so crucial for our wellbeing. Light represents the divine spark within each of us and in all life, the soul, shining for eternity even as everything else might fade. Here lies hope indeed, for nothing can mar what lives forever.

With this in mind, I would like to share with you my wishes and hopes for our world; for what it, and we, could become:

1. The eradication of preventable hunger.

2. Every human guaranteed the following: food, a safe home, sanitary conditions, all basic necessities, universal healthcare, social care whenever needed, lifelong access to education, personal privacy, habeas corpus, basic respect.

3. All human lives held equally sacrosanct in terms of protection against violation, harm, deprivation or neglect.

4. Freedom of movement. (Constant propaganda over the last 30 years at least has made this almost impossible to be treated as serious policy; but frankly, border restrictions - especially in wealthy and powerful nations - are rooted in white supremacy and need a complete overhaul, if not entire dissolution. We must remove all intimations that any demographic is less than. It just isn’t true.)

5. Pervasively science-based and evidence-based medicine and research, alongside respect for patients as the best judges of our own bodies and experiences.

6. Prioritisation of efforts to keep our planet habitable for all extant life, including actively and rigorously working against anthropogenic climate change and other environmental harms; likewise, persistent effort to improve and sustain the world we leave to ensuing generations.

7. International peace as an active aim; independence and self-determination as a rule. Each individual and demographic free to choose who will represent them; universal dedication to the maintenance and improvement (regarding human rights and representation) of democratic systems.

8. Resources necessary to sustaining our species treated as common to all of us.

9. Automatic right to protection of other complex animal species from exploitation, unnecessary harm and deprivation of needs.

10. Universal respect for individual self-expression that does not impede the due rights of others.

11. Universal inter-demographic equity, fairness and inclusion by default, including disability rights and access.

12. Widespread support for mental health, wellbeing and social needs.

13. Complete religious freedom; an end to peer pressure as a factor in spiritual decisions.

14. A culture in which habitual lying is treated as the seedy behaviour it is, especially lying for self-aggrandisement or to avoid consequences. A career-destroyer for those in power.

15. Likewise, those who attempt to hoard more wealth than they can possibly need or spend are despised.

16. Everyone who undertakes public service, from refuse collectors to specialist academics, are honoured for the work they do.

I don’t know how others will feel about the list above. It is designed only as a thought exercise, not as a comprehensive policy document. If you feel there are things to add or clarify, please feel free to say so in the comments.

Wishing you all a blessed solstice.

With love,

Theano