The freshness of the coming year is heralded well before its dawn.

Transitions are rarely cataclysmic, overnight changes like the celebration of a 31st night would have us believe. More often, there are gradual shifts towards a tipping point, followed by an adjustment period of recalibration to a newer way of being.

So for those of us who found 2014 to be an impactful year, the suggestion would be to take the last few days of this year to assimilate and consciously integrate your growth.  There would be habits and complaints to leave behind.  There would be dreams and fears that have now largely dissolved.  There would be relationships that have ended, or begun or changed in irrevocable ways.  There would be unexpressed grief, as also celebrations left incomplete.

Importantly, more loudly than ever before, this year you may have begun to notice the whisper of a voice that invites you to the possibility of a completely new way of being and living.

DARKNESS TO LIGHT   If you wish to change your status on the Earth, you will need to release the dark energy that inhibits you from accepting the blessings of free-flowing love. We highly suggest you spend much time reflecting on your own inner darkness rather than what others have done, for you have no control over their choices, only your own. This is the time to begin, for there is no other thing on Earth that is more important.

You are the creator of your reality. Yes, there are things that are beyond your control due to the mass consciousness of large groups. However, these issues cannot affect you on a deep level, if you choose to believe otherwise. Disease, depression, oppression are all belief codes you can hold dear to your heart or reject. Look inside deeply, observe your beliefs and choose whether to continue with those belief codes or to discard them and replace them with new codes.

You do have the power and ability to create a utopian society for yourself even amongst all the angst of the world. Seek like-minded individuals who are not in the doom and gloom of the unthinkable acts of those who have taken control of the masses. Talk to these like-minded individuals, learn what they have done and are currently doing to avoid being caught in the web of hysteria. Make friends with these people. Move to another location if you feel that where you are is not in your best interest. Pay attention to your passions. What do you truly desire? Once you find your passions, take steps to make them a part of your reality.

A court in Argentina has ruled that Sandra, an Orangutan being held in an Argentine zoo, can be freed and moved to a sanctuary after the court recognized the ape as a ‘non-human person’ being unlawfully deprived of its freedom.

Animal rights activists, seeking to free Sandra, filed a habeas corpus petition, which are traditionally used to challenge the legality of a human being’s imprisonment. The association of Officials and Lawyers for Animal Rights made the case that Sandra had sufficient cognitive functions and that it’s wrong to treat her as an object.

The court agreed that Sandra, who was born into captivity in Germany 20 years ago deserved the basic rights of a non-human person.

The shortest day of the year, Winter Solstice, is today. A most remarkable New Moon is occurring on the solstice at 0 Capricorn! Both luminaries will be on the true cusp of Sagittarius and Capricorn today, as evidenced by each disk of the Sun and Moon, exactly conjunct at 0 degrees 6 minutes Capricorn, partly in tropical Sagittarius and partly in tropical Capricorn. What this means is a bit beyond the scope of my newsletter, but it might contribute to an edgy month. The ingress chart, pictured above (or below if you’re seeing this on my Facebook page) has Apollon-Saturn-Sun forming aspects to one another. “Delayed multiplication of consciousness” could be a theme for this month, along with the edginess (which could be a plus, well used) and Mars and Uranus playing ping pong in mutual reception. What a cacophony of energies on the first day of the solar month!

Your heart has a story to tell. Your heart may rightly feel that you have scrimped on it, for one reason or another. You haven't let your heart be in full bloom. You have contracted your heart. What is big, you have made small, of lesser importance to the mind. The mind has its place. However, the mind was never meant to cramp your heart. In terms of the world, everyone has a heart, yet hearts have been subjected to egregious repression, as if a heart has to be less than it is, as if you are to be a little embarrassed by or ashamed of your seeking heart. Be proud of your heart. Give it the honor it deserves.

It may be true that your heart's work which is to throb has a large playing field. Your heart can go anywhere. Let's face it: Your heart plays a much larger role than you may dare express and expose. Let's right now give 3 cheers for your heart! Let your heart play the music it loves! Let your heart be a heart and not a repressed heart that can only come out on certain established conditions. Your heart is not designed to follow orders. Your heart is designed to be the leader, the initiator of your life.

Your mind is not to outline your life. Oh, no, your life is to be free to follow your heart. Your heart is not meant to have an overseer. Your heart is meant to point the way. Your heart is not made to stay still.

By Simon Vorster

Contributing Writer for Wake Up World

The zodiac does not enact life, it merely reflects it.

As the sun leaves Sagittarius and enters Capricorn, a new evolutionary journey of our consciousness begins. Out of the mutable fiery, jovial energy that is Sagittarius we go, we once again return inward and into the depths of our soul’s inner reality. It is here where we are asked to slow down, take time and start to reflect again on the meaning behind the special purpose we feel awakened to.

Much of our cosmic journey so far has brought us great awareness towards wanting more fulfilment out of life. With both Jupiter in Leo and Uranus in Aries stimulating and activating these fiery creative aspects of ourselves it is most certainly something we cannot ignore. With the Sun and Moons movement into Capricorn where they join Venus and Mercury the seeds for this next evolutionary cycle are created. The stage is set for this month’s theme: Inner reflection and finding Soul purpose.