N.C. Wyeth “The Giant”

As the Sun moves through the late degrees of Cancer this week, it shines a spotlight across the zodiac onto the heavyweights in Capricorn that have so dominated the cosmic and cultural landscape this year: Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto. The Sun, in an opposition such as this, calls up questions around our selfhood, life force and purpose. For us on Earth, pivoting on the axis of the Mother and the Father, between our great star and the collective energies of these outer planets, the tension is a taut umbilical cord, transmitting stories that revolve around identity and inheritance.

The Sun opposite Saturn challenges our sense of self in the face of responsibility, limitations and the passage of time; how our response to others’ expectations, to pressure and to fear tests our internal fortitude. Worthiness, in this case, is measured based on hard work and performance of duty, and success is a measure of achievement, dedication and persistence. 

The Sun opposite Jupiter challenges the faith we place in ourselves and our buoyancy amidst turning tides. How much of a role does social status play in your ability to believe in yourself? How much stock do you put in your own authority and prestige? The Jupiterian version of success, in contrast to the Saturnian, is a means to freedom, choice and experience. In what ways are you growing and expanding lately in spite of these restrictive times? 

The Sun opposite Pluto challenges our sense of self in the face of life and death, power and control, loss or destruction. If we bravely and carefully explore the depths of our psyches, our stories around fear and survival, the hidden parts of our natures and the secrets that hide in our family trees, then we will be rewarded with riches in the form of rebirth, wisdom and incredible resiliency. If we are resistant to transformation, then the light of our Sun refracts into the dark corners of the Underworld and the shadows on the wall become distorted and grotesque. 

Stories of the solar hero always contain lessons about sovereignty, something which has to be earned through a series of tests. This transit is asking us to think about the ways in which cultural, societal, familial and parental messaging inform our sense of identity. The Big Gods in Capricorn may be testing us right now, but what they want is to see us grow and mature into more realized versions of ourselves, more aligned with our life purpose, and more in touch with our destiny.