Yet does this aspect cut it as the "2012 alignment"? The thing is, that's what's in the chart. Not only is it in the chart, it's right at the winter solstice point, the focus of this whole business we have been describing as 2012. Even speaking as a minor planet specialist, I kept looking at the chart, seeing that Sun-Juno conjunction, and thinking, well, that can't really be important enough to be the 2012 alignment.
It was one of those weird astrological games of hide-and-seek. I would look at the chart, see the Sun aligned with Juno, and then keep looking for something that seemed to be more important. Then I would come back to Sun-Juno and wonder what it was about.
It wasn't till weeks before the event itself that I actually questioned whether that really is the central message of this momentous time in world history—something about marriage, or at least something about Juno.
Well, as it turns out, relationships are one of the most significant issues of our moment of history. Marriage remains a central goal of many people, as well as one of the biggest sources of profit for lawyers. Marriage itself is at a historic turning point. Same-sex couples can now marry in many places, even in the puritanical United States. This is an evolution not just in the history of our particular culture but also since the time of the Old Testament, when a man lying down with a man meant that he had to be stoned (now in Colorado and Washington, he can be).
Here in the US, we've finally backed off of the Defense of Marriage Act, a ridiculous concept. The whole issue is about to get to the Supreme Court. Europe is already on board with this; we are at a significant turning point in world history.
One thing about the first degree of Capricorn—the winter solstice point—is that it relates to all of the other cardinal points, one of which is the first degree of Aries. The whole cardinal cross resonates with the Aries Point, which has the theme "the personal is political." Fifty or 100 or 500 years ago, who would have predicted that marriage and personal relationships would be one of the most contentious issues at this time in history? Who would have imagined that we who live in the capital of the free would be fighting for the right to have a relationship with the person we love?
Yet we're not talking about Juno by herself here; the Sun is in the picture, and it is the Sun's movement that completes the 5,125-year cycle. In astrology, the Sun is one of the most vivid symbols for self. A Sun-Juno conjunction so prominent in the chart can be read as a kind of alchemical union with oneself.
This is the thing that our relationship-obsessed culture so often overlooks: that a relationship to oneself is the basis of all of the bonds and associations we form with others. It seems like just about all the time, every other relationship topic gets the attention, the books, and the courses. There is still significant misgiving about the topic of self-relating. At least in the US, we have a taboo on the topic, concerned that it will be conflated with vanity, narcissism, or being egotistical.
Most relationships are about a narcissistic infatuation with "the other" rather than recognition of the other. This is one reason why our relationships are in such crisis. There are many other drains on intimacy, including the time shortage, but if your consciousness is not centered in yourself, and you are unable to recognize the value of someone you care about, that does not bode well for clear relating.
So to me, Sun + Juno on the Aries Point on this momentous day suggests that we really do need to get right with ourselves before we can be right with anyone else. That, or we need to go into our relationships honestly admitting that we're also working out an inner relationship, and leave the bond with the other flexible enough to accommodate some self-discovery.
Sadly, we are taught to do precisely the opposite in our intimate bonds. In order to preserve the relationship, it's considered reasonable to subvert one's own process of growth and change—or that's what just seems to happen. The relationship is elevated to supreme status, and the life quest of the individuals involved seems to become its disciple.
