Yuletide Blessings my friends,

I send my heartfelt wishes for a meaningful holiday and a hope filled New Year. December 21^st is the longest night in the Northern Hemisphere. The Winter Solstice is honored with ceremonies using some form of light all over the world. Folks have burned Yule logs, gathered for bonfires, and lit torches, candles, and oil lamps. The traditions reassured them that the days of more light would be returning. We string electric lights around our homes at this time but rarely do we appreciate what the effect of long dark nights would have been because it is so easy to switch on a light.

This year, December 21^st will be a powerful time and not only because it is the longest night.

JUPITER & SATURN will form the first visible “double planet” in 800 years… 

Before 2020 comes to a close, Jupiter and Saturn will be so close that they will appear to form a “double planet.” The great conjunction, as the planetary alignment has come to be known, hasn’t occurred in nearly 800 years.

When their orbits align every 20 years, Jupiter and Saturn get extremely close to one another. This occurs because Jupiter orbits the sun every 12 years, while Saturn’s orbit takes 30 years — every couple of decades, Jupiter laps Saturn, according to NASA.

However, 2020’s conjunction is especially rare — the planets haven’t been observed this close together since medieval times, in 1226.

“Alignments between these two planets are rather rare, occurring once every 20 years or so, but this conjunction is exceptionally rare because of how close the planets will appear to one another,” Rice University astronomer Patrick Hartigan said in a statement.

Winter Solstice, also known as ‘midwinter” draws nigh…  a time when the sun renews its cycle and “returns.”  In North America, this year, it happens on December 21st at 3:02 am MST in the morning on December 21st, as the sun enters the sign of Capricorn.  Winter Solstice is the day with the shortest period of daylight and with the longest night of the year,  After this important day the days start getting longer, hurray!!  Fire and light are traditional symbols of celebrations held at the darkest time of the year. Since the beginning of time, the winter solstice has been seen as a significant time of year in many cultures, and has been marked by festivals and rituals.  It symbolizes the death and rebirth of the Sun.

Al wrote a great fun series (one of his last) about ESP for our website ESPLAB.com.

By Al G Manning

The whole of the Bible contains much Spirit Contact and many other forms of ESP. We might start with John the Baptist who was predicted by an angel of the Lord who struck his father dumb until the actual birth and the name John was given to him. John went about the land preaching of the coming and baptizing people before Jesus appeared.

The time period, between Oct. 31^st and Nov. 2^nd is one of the most widely celebrated ancient traditions honoring our ongoing connection to loved ones who have passed. Samhain heralds the thinning of the veil between the seen and unseen worlds; the Day of the Dead is a major festival in Mexico. Honoring our ancestors with love and gratitude has always been the theme of this time. Given all the precarious events, culminating in a contentious presidential election, just one day after the Day of the Dead, we need our beloved guides’ help more than ever.

This is the time of going within and diving deeper into your soul. The ancient wisdom is that we do not lose our connection with our loved ones who have crossed over.

The Fall Equinox is the second of the three major harvest festivals. The Celtic name is Mabon: the season of storing food and preserving nature’s bounty for the coming winter months. This year it will be on September 22nd at 9:37 am Pacific Time as the sun enters Libra, the sign of the balancing scales. Equinox refers to balance, with day and night roughly equal. The theme of transition is also associated with this time.

The other theme of the Equinox is CHANGE. The Autumnal Equinox is a major transition from summer to fall. It is time to prepare for winter. In current times we are going through a major transition, which will likely result in a whole new paradigm for us all.