In the Northern Hemisphere, February brings awakening. It starts with the portal of Imbolc, when Sun reaches his midpoint between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. Subtle brightness pierces cold shadows.
In Celtic tradition, it’s the portal of Brigid, goddess of fire, smithcraft and healing. Forty days after birthing her Sun-child at Solstice, she makes a public reappearance, putting her gifts to use. As she walks into the world, her magical footsteps awaken land and livestock to new life. Each year, Brigid’s return was celebrated and received with bonfires in farm fields.
This tradition was woven into the devotion to the Virgin of Candlemas, whose early vestiges appear in 14th century Spain, when shepherds (likely high on mushrooms) reportedly encountered Our Lady, holding a child in one arm and a candle in the other, inspiring an icon that soon thereafter appeared in the nearby Church of Tenerife.
The image reaffirms Brigid’s feminine power of renewal. Not only does she bring forth life (the child on her arm), but uses all her abilities (both arms uncharacteristically busy in representations of the Virgin) to bring new light to the world. In ancient Mexico, the goddess Coatlicue is the Mother of the Solstice Sun, supporting syncretism with the imported Catholic tradition. For ancient Mayans, the Sun at the Solstice-Equinox crossroads of Imbolc reached through the cold winter ground to stir dormant seeds to begin their process of sprouting.
In bright Aquarius, the Imbolc Sun stirs our potential of higher acuity. This year it comes with a special charge, a revolutionary power for change. Pluto—slow but effective—is finally delivering on the promise made when he entered independent Aquarius in 2023. Remember when we thought that Pluto’s ingress in the 11th sign would reawaken the spirit of liberty? Not only does this February Sun reach the seeds buried in the cold winter soil, the ground itself is cracking. This month,
- Stalwart Saturn, ruler of soil, finishes his final visit in diaphanous Pisces to enters Aries, sign of action, to begin a new zodiac cycle.
- We get the first Eclipse in Aquarius since transformational Pluto’s ingress.
- Saturn perfects a conjunction to mysterious Neptune right on the zero point of 1 Aries, triggering a historic new beginning.
- Uranus, planet of surprises and ruler of over half the planets including Pluto in Aquarius, stations to go direct for the last time in Taurus, and before the month ends, takes a square from upstart Mars.
All of February’s most important transits make key triggers to the US Sibly chart, the chart for the Civil War or the chart of the American Revolution.
The month starts with…
Revolutionary, as in… Revolution?
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Crystal Pallas Pomeroy, Maya’s daughter and astrological protégé, offers in-depth astrological consultations from her home in Mexico, in person or via Skype. She is a noted author as well as a regular radio and television commentator on esoteric topics, and leads a spiritual and healing ministry in Mexico City. Crystal offers workshops on astrology, the sacred feminine, indigenous spirituality, and the goddess in beautiful locations throughout Mexico. Her book Angels & Goddesses (Llewellyn, Spring 2022) is available now. Reach Crystal by email here.
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