Tonight is the winter solstice, the longest night of the year and when Jupiter will cuddle up with Saturn.
Behind a tree-covered hill is the night sky and the Milky Way.
Beauty in the sky.
Jupiter and Saturn are the largest planets in the sky. Tonight, Saturn will align so close to Jupiter that NASA says that when looking with the naked eye, the space between them will only be the thickness of a dime! It is called the "great conjunction" of Jupiter and Saturn and will appear very bright on the night sky's southwest horizon. It will be beautiful, so take a moment to look up at the sky if it is clear to catch a glimpse of this celestial event.
Wow, this is really cool!
The great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn is a once in 800-year event. It is unique because this is the first Jupiter-Saturn conjunction to occur at night in the northern hemisphere and on the winter solstice — the longest night of the year. It is the official start of Winter!
2020 has been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year.
This year has been really hard. I'm pretty sure you already knew that. We are all exhausted from an emotionally, physically, and spiritually taxing year. We cannot see our friends or loved ones for fear of making them sick. We have integrated face masks into our wardrobes. Many are out of work or are fighting to keep their hard-won small businesses from collapsing. Others have lost dear ones to COVID-19. Some have to delay fertility treatments because they lost their health insurance and can no longer afford them. Others are unsure they want to continue with so many unknown risks from COVID-19. All of this in the setting of a chaotic administration, political unrest, and a country finally awakened to widespread racial disparities in housing, policing, pay, and healthcare access. It can feel like we are residing in and barely making it through one of the darkest periods of our lifetimes. And yet, Jupiter cuddling up with Saturn shines a light in our collective darkest hour.
The light at the end of a dark tunnel?
Could the great conjunction represent the light at the end of long darkness? I am choosing to see it in this way. With the advent of the vaccine, a new economic package that will provide some relief, the incoming administration will hopefully implement a substantial change in managing the COVID-19 response. I don't know what our new normal will look like, but I look forward to discovering it.
Take a break.
The start of Winter while Saturn cuddles up with Jupiter and appearing like the brightest "star" in the sky on the longest, darkest night of the year also reminds me of something within the theory of East Asian Medicine (EAM).* The theories underpinning EAM emerged and were refined from careful observation of the interplay between climate, nature, and humans. Think of those theories as one more way to understand how the body works when well or unwell. Early classical texts describe Winter as the time for rest. It is a time where we spend more time indoors, get more sleep, slow down, restore from the hard work of autumnal harvests, and prepare for spring activities. With the pandemic and stay at home orders, this may feel like the worst time in the world to rest. For many, 2020 has been a year of immeasurable stress that few were prepared for. Taking more time to relax may feel counterintuitive right now. But like the brightness of two planets mutually supporting each other, think of this rest as a way to revive you and prepare you for the days ahead.
Take a break, friend.