Have you seen Jupiter and Saturn recently?

My dog and I like an afternoon walk just before it gets dark, in time for the possibility of a beautiful sunset. One day last week I missed that window, and darkness had fully arrived before I could grab his leash and my coat. It was the best deadline I ever missed. Headed along the street, I glanced up at the southwestern sky, and two bright lights stilled my steps.

It's not my practice to follow astronomy news, so I didn't know anything other than what the moment's observations told me: these were not airplanes, nor the moon, nor any typical arrangement of stars. I was spellbound. Well known for talking to my dog, I surprised myself by talking to the sky. "Who are you?" I asked, and "thank you for sharing your bright beauty." These lights felt alive, fueling a warm and bright energy that has been dulled in the heavy presence of pandemic life and civic strife. I went home to the internet, and confirmed that it was, indeed, something special.

The great conjunction

Google told me that planets appear unusually close to each other when their orbits line up with ours. According to Nasa.gov's skywatch, Jupiter and Saturn have been "traveling across the sky together all year, but this month, they're putting on a great show" in the southwestern sky just after sunset. On Dec. 21 (the winter solstice), they will appear a dime's thickness apart, which hasn't happened in hundreds of years.

This is golden material for a yogi's soul. Lights aligning! An earthling's connection to the universe! Pausing in profound presence at a divine phenomenon! Dog or no, I highly recommend that you take yourself for an early evening walk this week, glance up to the southwest, and let those stars shine in.

In the light,
Annie