As a Christmas gift this year for loved ones, I write these words in the aura of the Winter Solstice transition

A Millennial Solstice Contemplation

From Kevin Trammel

As a Christmas gift this year for loved ones, I write these words in the aura of the Winter Solstice transition. The exact astronomical time of Solstice this year is 2:44 a.m. the morning of December 22, 1999.

There are a few rather poignant outer events associated with this year’s Solstice. For example, on waking up at just about the exact moment of Solstice, I looked out my window and had the immediate impression that we’d had a snowfall. This struck me as peculiar since we’d been experiencing the Santa Ana winds the past couple of days (another unusual event around this Solstice) and it was nearly 60 degrees F outside. Then, I realized that it was not snow at all, but rather, the light of the moon, which was very unusually bright. The front lawn and the tall pines all were brilliantly lit in bright silvery-white light.

This year, at the very time of Solstice, the moon is appearing 14% larger than normal. According to my sources, this last occurred 133 years ago. This explains the incredible brightness of the moon. In fact, it’s so bright that earlier tonight, while driving up the canyon from nearby Placerville, I was able to drive much of the way without headlights. Yes, I could actually see quite well, thank you!

Of course, another event which contributes a measure of novelty and notoriety to this year’s Solstice, is the general consensus that 2,000 marks the transition from one millennium to the next. I say “general consensus” because technically, if one researches the true framework of the Gregorian Calendar, one will discover that its underlying conventions actually put the start of a millennium at year 1 of the 1,000-year cycle. So, January 1, 2001 is, according to that calendar, the first year of the “new millennium.”

My astrologer friends tell me that there are many unusual events transpiring around this millennial shift. These events have been occurring for several years and others will continue for several years into the 2,000s. Primarily, they talk of a general trend that influences events and one’s mental atmosphere such that we are moved to turn from outer-oriented life-styles to more inwardly-directed ones. This means higher emphasis on spiritual virtues, like honesty, sincerity, devotion to things other than matter. Also, they say that these years technology will simply explode. It is easy to see that this is happening.

Clearly, whether one looks at astrology, astronomy, shamanism, or the Wall Street Journal, the millennial shift is having quite an impact.

As I sit here writing, I marvel at the rather unusual stillness and peace of this night. These wee-hours, or “hours of nectar,” as they’re known to mystics, are generally calm and easy. But tonight’s silence seems much greater than other nights’. I’ve heard no sounds of animals, of traffic on the nearby highway, of motors running; no creaking of boards or rustling of breezes. Outside all is as still as an old painting of a moonlit sylvan scene.

To me, it seems the most important feature of this millennial transition and this Solstice (Solstice is astronomically and esoterically the actual movement from the old year to the new) is that it is bringing each of us into a deeper, more sincere contemplation of our own individual life’s journey, and how we want it to be in our heart of hearts.

Everyone longs for a greater reality, one which encompasses the chaos of our times and the daily challenges and mysteries of one’s own individual life with a more expansive, more loving, inclusive, meaningful, whole and satisfying truth, or reality. The aura of moving from one millennium to the next evokes that archetypal desire. It signifies a great transition and incites each one to make note of whether he or she has made any significant transitions in his or her own life.

We all receive so much daily input regarding how one should live, what constitutes a full and healthy life, what is the meaning and purpose of life, that it is a great challenge to single out “What truly is important to me?”

Our marketers tell us that buying better toys, better food, better homes, better life-styles, will make us happy. Many of our scientists tell us that certain drugs, or certain chemicals, or various physical conditions are necessary in order for happiness to manifest. Psychologists tell us to begin with mind and emotions and re-shape them according to certain standards. Philosophers… well… philosophers say there is no truth, no ultimate foundation for happiness, but instead there are various ways by which we organize our society and our thoughts and certain of these ways appear to be, perhaps, more reasonable than others. Law makers seem to have no commerce with truth whatsoever, and seem to be responding to economics above all else. Virtues of love, brotherhood, the divine, do not enter into their calculations except where deemed necessary to preserve the “security” of our economies.

Which brings one to reflect upon religion. There are thousands of religious paths in the world. Most teach that their way is superior to all others. Some teach that all ways are the same, yet maintain this particular “way” as superior to others. How is a sincere seeker of spiritual fulfillment to know where to turn for “the straight and simple truth?” It’s a deep conundrum I think we all face.

The simple moonlight outside, the wholeness of it, its silent grace, and the tall, reverent trees in audience to their lunar oracle, seem to suggest there is a singular force behind everything. The trees seem to say to me that if you make a still place, within yourself, and enter with humility, listening for It, truth and beauty will emerge from the very fabric of your being, having been there all along.

All the blessings of life to you in this new year.