Time of Emergence: Celebrating Winter Cross-Quarter
Dear Reader,
I hope this finds you well. I'm writing to you on a calm, overcast day. My belly is filled with warm soup and my heart is echoing with whispers of hope and healing. Earlier today as I walked down to the river, I saw the first snowdrops and winterlings of the year poking out their heads, brightening the day with their joyful beauty.
What are you noticing in your surroundings?
How are you experiencing this time of year?
The heart of winter
The beginning of February features a major seasonal crossroads in the solar year. At February Cross-Quarter, the Sun reaches the middle degree of the sign of Aquarius in the tropical zodiac, marking the exact midpoint between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox and the height of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. This year, the exact Winter/Aquarius Cross-Quarter fell on February 4, 9:28 a.m. Central European Time (convert to your local time).
Winter Cross-Quarter is the 'Waxing Crescent Moon' and 'dawn' of the year when darkness begins to retreat, light starts to wax, and the days are becoming noticeably longer. I encourage you to look up the times of your city's sunrise and sunset and track the widening window of daylight hours (I like this site).
Where I live, sunrise has moved from 8:12 a.m. at Winter Solstice to 7:44 a.m. at Winter Cross-Quarter, lengthening the day by 28 minutes on morning's end. Sunset has moved from 4:08 p.m to 5:07 p.m., lengthening the day by 59 minutes on evening's end. In six weeks, the days have grown almost one and a half hours longer. And in six weeks from now, at Spring Equinox, they'll have grown by almost the double amount (2 hours and 49 minutes, to be exact).
Quickening and new growth
At a time when nature is reawakening and plant and animal life are emerging from their winter hibernation, we celebrate the growing strength of the Sun and the return of light and life. The air is filling up with birdsong and the first spring flowers are blooming.
It's a time of gently washing away winter's sleep from our eyes and emerging from the darkness of winter ourselves. It's a time of renewal, purification, and new hope, when the days are pregnant with new possibility. We're getting a glimpse of what is to come but too early to know for sure.
How may you support yourself in gently transitioning into spring?
How may you gently wake up your winter body?
Aquarius, the Water Bearer, is a fixed air sign and signifies a season of unwavering commitment to free thinking and new, innovative ideas. Belonging to Saturn, planet of boundaries, Aquarius is interested in that which lies beyond and wants to know what else could be. In the process, Aquarius teaches us to think for ourselves and to follow our own inner truth. Aquarius is here to help us reach into the future and remind us that anything is possible.
Are you ready to enter the heart of winter?
How has winter been unfolding for you?
What is gestating?
What is stirring within you?
What are you pregnant with?
What is wanting to emerge in your life?
What do you carry within that wishes to bloom upon the Earth?
You can take the questions sprinkled throughout this post on your walk or into your journal, your dreamtime, or any other kind of creative or contemplative practice. I hope they tickle you and help you weave yourself deeper into the mysteries of the season.
What this time of year is good for:
Rituals of light and renewal, tending fire and flame, blessing candles, reviving your morning rituals and routines, making way for the new, spring cleaning, imagination, visualization, experimentation, curiosity, patience, encouragement, building self-trust, trusting the process, gentle movement, listening to the whispers of your heart
Encourage what's awakening within
This year's Winter Cross-Quarter features the Sun forming a square (a 90-degree angle of tension and friction) with both Jupiter and Uranus in Taurus, highlighting the upcoming Jupiter-Uranus conjunction in April, which occurs approximately every 14 years and, as a world transit, promises a cyclical wave of creative innovation and breakthrough across many fields.
Taking place in Taurus, a fixed earth sign belonging to Venus, the Jupiter-Uranus field might help us innovate our relationships with our own body and with the larger body of the Earth and awaken our sense of self-worth and self-reliance. You might feel this more personally if you have any personal planets or angles between 20–22 degrees of any of the fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius).
The Sun-Jupiter field can speak of inspiring enthusiasm and generosity, but we have to be careful not to go too far or overextend ourselves. The Sun-Uranus field enlivens and excites us, but it can also take us by surprise and we might do well to stay as openminded and flexible as possible.
The Moon in Sagittarius is applying to a square with Saturn, the presiding deity of the Cross-Quarter, symbolizing an obstacle we need to meet in order to grow. The Moon is also forming a sextile (a 60-degree angle of opportunity) with Pluto, holding the promise of feeling emotionally renewed and empowered in the process.
Horoscope for Winter Cross-Quarter on February 4, 2024 at 9:28 a.m. CET
The Sun-Jupiter-Uranus field asks:
What is wanting to change in your life?
What wants to be liberated?
What needs to be disrupted?
Where do you desire more freedom?
Where might you need to shake up your routines?
What might you need to break away from?
Until next time…
I very much look forward to writing to you again around the time of Spring Equinox, which marks the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and heralds a time of rebirth and new beginnings. It falls on March 20, 4:06 a.m. Central European Time this year (convert to your local time).
In the meantime, I'm wishing you a beautiful rest of winter wherever you are. May you be blessed with refreshed hope and new inspiration.