By Amanda Painter
When this column publishes, it’ll be within a couple minutes of the Capricorn New Moon and annular (not total) solar eclipse. The New Moon is exact at 12:13 am EST (5:13:00 UTC), with the eclipse peaking about four minutes later. You likely have some idea already what the event signifies for you.
![Boy in a funeral procession; the Balinese do not mind strangers witnessing their ceremonies, and funerals are a big celebration. Karma and dharma are a strong part of their Hindu beliefs. Photo by Amanda Painter.](http://members.planetwaves.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/375-Bali_boy_funeral_Nov2019_IMG_1415-copy.jpg)
Boy in a Hindu funeral procession at Pura Goa Lawah; the Balinese do not mind strangers witnessing their ceremonies, and funerals celebrate reincarnation. Photo by Amanda Painter.
Yet even if you were not sent a bright star in the east last night to follow — or some other massive, impossible-to-ignore sign from god — chances are you can look back over the past year to gather some clues. After all, this eclipse is happening in Capricorn, the same sign as the year-defining Saturn-Pluto conjunction that’s exact in a few weeks.
Saturn-Pluto has been the long game: the gradual building of pressure, the progressive dismantling, the ever-increasing awareness of a need to restructure. Its manifestations on the world stage have been obvious and dramatic. Possibly it’s been showing up in your life more subtly — kind of like insistent, repeated nudges in a particular direction, or something coming apart in stages.
Eclipses, on the other hand, tend to be a more focused process. Usually there’s one solar and one lunar eclipse bracketing a two-week span. (The corresponding partial lunar eclipse of this pair arrives Jan. 10, almost aligning with the 12 Days of Christmas and the arrival of the three Magi with their gifts.)