The Sun Entering Capricorn and Squaring the Nodes: A Small but Important Turning Point

Hey, everyone. This is Adam Elenbaas from Nightlight Astrology. Happy Friday, everybody!

Today, we're going to take a look at the Sun entering the sign of Capricorn and refresh on some of the seasonal meaning of the sign in relation to the return of light that happens in the northern hemisphere around this time. I'm focusing on this symbolically, so even if you're listening from the southern hemisphere, this is applicable in terms of understanding the symbolism of Capricorn and its association with the winter solstice. I hope you'll enjoy that regardless of where in the world you might be coming from.

We're also going to look at the fact that the Sun enters Capricorn and then immediately squares the nodes of the Moon. Over the weekend, I find that little transits like that with the Sun and the nodes—because the Sun and the Moon are so connected to the nodes through eclipses—can be very meaningful. We'll talk about that today, including a concept called the bending of the nodes. If you've never learned about these things before, that might be interesting to you, and I hope you'll enjoy it.

I'm going to have some bonus content over the weekend, so stay tuned for a little extra content as I'm trying to make sure we generate support for the Kickstarter. You'll see that on Saturday and maybe even Sunday. We'll see.

Anyhow, before we get into it, remember to like and subscribe. Share your comments if you've got a good story to share—we always love hearing from you. Use the hashtag #grab. You can also email us a story at grabbed@nightlightastrology.com with any of the major transits we've been looking at lately. You can find transcripts of any of these daily talks on my website, which is nightlightastrology.com.

We have a solstice event happening over the weekend here in Minneapolis at the Grapevine Collective, which is at the New City Center in Minneapolis. Go to the events page on the website, click on "In-Person Events." It's free to join us, just RSVP so we know you're coming and can bring enough stuff. We're going to have a little movement, a little meditation, and some time to socialize and hang out, ritualizing an important moment in the year.

We're hoping to make this a regular thing, at least for the year ahead, around the equinoxes and solstices, and maybe some other events too. We'll see. Anyhow, can't wait to see some of you there!

Now, the other thing I'm doing is promoting the annual Kickstarter campaign. We have just about 12 days left in our annual campaign. The backer goal we're heading for is 1,937 backers. We still need the support of 1,300 backers in just a little bit less than 12 days, so we really do need support. If you haven't donated already, please consider pitching in to support the channel and all this free content in the year ahead.

Of course, this is how I support myself and my family. It's also how I support a staff, including a full-time social media person who helps me edit, post, distribute, and manage all of the daily content year-round. It's a huge job.

Everything we do is about making sure astrology is affordable and accessible. You all helped us last year to set up an affordable reading service. Be sure to check that out. All of our classes are offered with need-based tuition for those who need it, and that happens in part because of the success of this Kickstarter campaign.

We also use this campaign as a flash sale for all of our programs. So, after today's video, I'll tell you more about the rewards available when you support the program. You can find the link in the description of this video, pinned to the top of the comment section, or on the website at nightlightastrology.com. When you go over there and scroll down, you'll see that any pledge makes a difference. $5, $10, $15—literally any dollar amount helps us meet our goal.

As you scroll down, you'll find all the rewards available. Like I said, I'll talk more about those at the end of today’s video. Some of the rewards include your horoscopes for the year ahead, the astrology of 2025 video, and all of our courses at 50% to 75% off when you bundle some of our programs together. So, there are lots of really good savings.

I like to say something every day about what I think makes this channel valuable. Here's a little checklist: If you appreciate the spiritual focus of this channel, where we don't just say, "Here’s what's going to happen to you," but also offer containers for these experiences philosophically and spiritually, then consider donating. We talk about things from both a mundane and spiritual perspective. If you enjoy that kind of approach, we would greatly appreciate your support.

We could really use the support here in these last days, so let’s see if we can reach our goal.

On that note, let’s now turn our attention to the Sun entering the sign of Capricorn.

Alright, let's get into it. We're looking at the Sun squaring the nodes of the Moon as it enters Capricorn. Of course, in the northern hemisphere, this is the winter solstice point. I'm going to talk about that just a little bit symbolically—some things to think about that we don't always consider when it comes to zero Capricorn and the winter solstice. Then, we'll take a look at the square to the nodes of the Moon and what it means that the Sun is at the South bending in particular. This is a concept I'll introduce to you today. If you've never heard of the bending of the nodes, don't worry. This is something that we'll look at together.

Let me just move something around here so I have a better view of what I'm looking at. Okay, there we go.

Alright, let's take a look at the timeline of this transit first. Here we are on Friday, December 20. Of course, there's a live stream today, and I hope you'll be able to attend that or see the replay. There will be a live Q&A and some live readings that I'm doing today as well.

Okay, so here we can see an important moment. Here's the Sun at 29 degrees of Sagittarius. Today and tomorrow, we'll be celebrating the Solstice with the gathering here in Minneapolis—kind of exciting. Moving forward to tomorrow, on the 21st, the Sun crosses into Capricorn. That is our northern hemisphere winter solstice moment. Immediately after that, the Sun forms a square to the nodes of the Moon. This square will happen between Saturday, December 21, and Sunday, December 22, finishing up by Monday, December 23. So, between now and Monday, the Sun moves into Capricorn and squares the nodes.

Now, in ancient astrology, there was a traditional concept called the bending. I'm not sure how old this concept is, actually. Now that I think about it, I don’t know if I've ever heard the first source that this comes from. I believe it could be a modern concept, though I think it's rooted in tradition. I don’t use it a whole lot, but I thought it would be interesting to use in this case. So, there's my lack of knowledge on that subject.

Anyway, when you're looking to see which bending a planet occupies when it's in a square to the node, what you do is start by looking at the North Node and go clockwise. So, in this case, we start with the North Node in Aries. We move around the wheel in a clockwise fashion. If we come to a planet at the first square we get to in clockwise fashion, this would be a planet at the South bending. If we were to keep going and go all the way around the wheel to the closing square before returning to the North Node, that would be the North bending.

What this basically means is that planets square to the nodes will be inclined toward one of the two nodes, depending on their position. And that's how you determine it. In this case, the Sun crossing into Capricorn is at the South bending, inclining itself toward the South Node in Libra. That’s fascinating! It's a fascinating little technique you can play with and see how you like it.

I’m going to delineate some things that we might notice based on this today. I’ve got five things to watch for, but before I do that, let me share a few words about the winter solstice. The winter solstice and the sign of Capricorn, in relation to each other, are an important astrological marker within the solar year.

One of the things that many people don’t fully understand when they start studying astrology is that they believe the meanings of the signs—what we commonly say about signs—come from the planets associated with the sign. For example, most of what we say about Leo is rooted in symbolism that is derived from the Sun, and the Sun’s meaning as a planet within the planetary language of astrology. Of course, we know the Sun is a star, but we're talking about it from the perspective of the planets—those wandering stars in the sky that we track as part of our astrological language.

When we talk about Scorpio, we’re talking about, in ancient astrology, mostly the qualities associated with feminine Mars. When we talk about Gemini, we’re talking about Hermes, Mercury. But that begs the question: why were these planets associated with these signs? We have many clues in ancient astrological texts, although it is not overtly explained in one place and not consistently across many texts. So we have to piece things together.

One of the most basic observations we can make is that the seasonal symbolism of the Sun’s movement through the solar year, from our perspective, is a journey that is not just about literal light, weather, or seasons, but a reflection of an eternal cycle between the qualities of light and dark. Within the 24-hour day, we see the vacillation of light and dark. Within the solar year, we see the vacillation of light and dark. In the lunar cycle every month, we see the vacillation of light and dark.

The I Ching is very similar in terms of its language, being made up of exchanges between Yang and Yin—light and dark. We also see that the fundamental way in which ancient astrological language is structured is through relationships between opposites that mirror the fundamental tension between light and dark. These opposites are reflected in the primary and secondary motions of the sky, the daytime and nighttime, the solar and lunar distinctions, the feminine and masculine assignment of elements, the oppositional qualities of the planets, and the planetary contrarities like exaltations and falls.

Everything in ancient astrology is about the interplay of opposites. This is also common in many ancient mystical traditions, such as Chinese medicine and Ayurveda. These languages are rooted in opposites. So to understand the Zodiac in a fundamental way is to understand that every placement of each planet through the Zodiac was likely tied to the alternation of light and dark, and how each planet could be associated with a particular stage of the play between light and dark in the solar year.

We can see this in many different facets of the Zodiac and in the arrangement of the signs. There is a very clear relationship between what's happening in the story of light and dark in the solar year and the assignment of planetary rulerships.

So, this leads us to the Winter Solstice. This is a symbolic moment, not a causal one. It doesn’t really matter which hemisphere you're in. We think about this moment as part of an ideal cycle of light and dark that exists in an archetypal dimension—whose applications are never tethered literally to seasons. That’s really important because this is a symbolic, divinatory language, and its orientation is not absolute but relative.

With that being said, during the Capricorn moment—at least from the standpoint of the Northern Hemisphere—the light is rising from within the darkness. We have reached the maximal amount of darkness in the 24-hour period, and from Capricorn forward, the light will gradually start returning day by day.

Why, in the world, would this be a feminine Earth sign ruled by Saturn? A sign that was also called the "gateway of the gods," opposite Cancer, the sign of the Summer Solstice, in which we've reached maximum light and the darkness is now gradually returning? The light is now descending.

So, the simple point is that when we're thinking about Cancer and the Moon—its rulership and Jupiter’s exaltation in that sign—we're thinking about light at its maximum peak or height, descending downward toward the Earth. That arc of the Sun in the sky reaches up northward, and as it comes down from the summer solstice forward, it starts descending.

Cancer is called the "gateway of mankind" and is associated with both the Moon and Jupiter—instigators and mediators of life. Biologically, in a symbolic way, we think of Jupiter in relation to procreation, sperm, birth, and the Moon in relation to birth, gestation, and the womb. So, in Cancer, we’re talking about the Moon and Jupiter because we’re talking about the descent of spirit into matter—the manifestation of life in the material world. This is the material Cosmos, a beautiful matrix of life that moves, passes away, and comes into being, only to go out of being again.

Now, when we get to Capricorn, we’re talking about the gradual return of light from within the darkness—the gradual ascent of light out of darkness. This is called the "gateway of the gods." And this is because, as much as the spirit descends into matter, there is always a return—a continual ascent. These are archetypal processes.

When we think about ascent, we think about the entrenchment in matter that the soul finds itself in. Let's say you're in your 20s, like most people who probably got into astrology or are listening to this. At some point in your 20s, you might have thought, "There must be something more. There must be a reason for my being here. I have to find my calling or purpose." There is this sense of fate, or karma, working in mysterious ways, something intelligible at play in the universe—like music has a kind of logic.

There must be a way I can understand this so I can live better. These kinds of questions are often what compel people to study astrology. And they happen because we think to ourselves, "I have to be more than just a body and food and instincts and material things." Not that there’s anything wrong with those things, but every human aspires to climb to the top of the mountain—whether that climb is about material achievements or about reaching toward something more transcendent, more spiritual.

This is very Capricornian—the desire for structure, achievement, and purpose—but also the "gateway of the gods" because, as the light rises and ascends back up in the sky, the path of enlightenment follows that trajectory toward the top of the mountain. The goal

is to reach toward the realm of the gods, overcoming base instincts and material desires, moving toward higher ideals. This is a natural impulse to transcend—one that rises from the depths of matter and instinct to a higher realm of consciousness and being.

This is very much like the story of the Buddha. He starts in palace life, but ultimately, he must transcend that to find spiritual awakening.

He sees poverty, death, and suffering. He sees the extremes of indulgence and great poverty. Then he says, "There must be something more than just these options, right? These extremes?" And so the path becomes a path of enlightenment. Capricorn is really about the ascent out of matter, back towards spirit, starting from the point of matter.

Now, sometimes that's going to be nothing more than the desire to build a skyscraper, you know? It can be just about conquering and accomplishing things in the material world that reach towards some kind of ideal plane—"I'm perfect, I've done everything, I've achieved a lot of power, wealth, success, or privilege." This can be kind of dark and heavy, and not surprisingly, that’s the shadow side of Capricorn.

On the other hand, that desire to transcend and go up the mountain is the place of hermits, sages, and wise people who live in remote monasteries at the top of the world. So, the impulse to transcend is very Capricornian. The impulse to transcend through hard work, discipline, and working our way out of and through the limiting, confining darkness of the material world is also very Capricornian.

This is why Capricorn is called the gateway of the gods. The path to transcendence is a long, hard, slow, determined climb. It requires realism, effort, and the ability to work in and through the raw material of our lives. That raw material is very earthy, embodied, and real. I mean, this is why Capricorns often have a kind of self-effacing humor—they realize that nothing rises without hard work. Everything rises out of manure. Everything rises from the raw material of life. Anything we make of ourselves that is transcendent has to climb up and through the material.

The winter solstice, then, is a time that can be about acknowledging the world we live in—its fallenness, its darkness, its beauty—while also renewing what we're living for, what transcendent goals or aspirations we have. Even if we fall short of them, even if we can only approximate some of those ideals, we all have a sense that there is something to live for. There is something that stirs to life, something that forces us to move beyond the basest conditions.

There’s also something about just sitting in the darkness and knowing that there is hope, faith, or light—that there's something guiding us beyond this world, even as we’re in it. Those are some of the things we celebrate around this time of year. Of course, there are New Year’s resolutions, and sometimes, if we’re overly perfectionistic or rigid, we end up failing at the very first goals we set for ourselves.

We’re in Capricorn now. Capricorns are good incrementalists. So, if you’re going to set any goals for yourself, think about them as incremental. Anyway, just a few thoughts here about the solstice.

Now, let’s look at five things to watch for, given that the Sun is going to square the South Node in Libra as it enters Capricorn:

A Point of Release: The South Node of the Moon is often thought of as a point of releasing old karma. So, over this weekend, you may notice a subtle but important release, a karmic release of some kind.

A Point of Fairness and Balance: If compromise, negotiation, diplomacy, and tact are qualities that you notice in the air this weekend, that wouldn’t be surprising, given that the Sun is squaring the South Node in Libra. A point of fairness and balance may be reached.

An Insight or Understanding: The South Node is often associated with the crystallization of insights from past lives, past experiences, or old cycles that are ready to release. You may experience a new understanding about the past.

A Point of Accomplishment: The South Node can also be about the crystallization of results. Because we’ve worked hard, put in the time and effort, we may now be ready to experience an accomplishment or result from our prior actions.

Reaping What’s Been Sown: To be fair, if you believe in karma (and you're not required to), there’s very much a way in which we could encapsulate everything around a Sun-South Node square by saying there’s a sense of culmination, completion, and karmic release. This is the reaping of what’s been sown.

Do I expect this to be the biggest thing in the world? No. It’s a pretty small, fast transit. So unless you have planets right at the first degrees of cardinal signs in your chart (tropical signs), I would not anticipate this being the world’s biggest deal. But, watch for it. See if you can notice it in the periphery of your experience.

This weekend, I’m going to leave it there. Remember, we have a solstice gathering tomorrow night in Minneapolis. It’s free to attend—just make sure you RSVP so we know you’re coming and can bring you a cookie.

And otherwise, if you haven’t yet donated to the Kickstarter, we still have a long way to go. We have over 1,400 backers that we need. So, we have a good, long push and sustained effort ahead of us before the new year. I believe we can get there. I really do. But if you haven’t donated yet, please consider doing so. There are a bunch of rewards available when you support the channel, and I’ll explain them next.