The 2015 Winter Solstice will take place in less than 48 hours, December 21st at 11:47 pm Eastern to be exact. In the northern hemisphere, the hours of darkness are long and daylight is short. The Sun has reached its southernmost point in its apparent path around the Earth and it’s about to change direction.

Astrologers take note of the precise moment that the Solstice is exact. It’s the moment when the Sun leaves Sagittarius and enters Capricorn and we celebrate the beginning of Calendar Winter. A chart of this moment gives us an astrological preview of themes that will play out in the new season.

The 2015 winter solstice chart below was elected for Washington D.C.

The sky, and the coming season, is dominated by a couple aspect patterns. While they play out in a large way on the world stage, their effect on you and your own world depends on how close they touch planets and sensitive points in your  birth chart.

Major Themes of the 2015 Winter Solstice Chart

Instability and rapid change has been a recurring theme since the beginning of the decade. It is described astrologically by the Uranus/Pluto square. If the aspect is touching your chart directly, there is an area in your day-to-day life where it seems as if the inmates are running the asylum. The antics of candidates in the US Presidential race are one example. The candidates on the extremes on both ends of the political spectrum are upending the status quo, voicing sentiments from segments of the population who feel their concerns are generally not heard.

Since this fall, Saturn in Sagittarius has been squaring Neptune, a theme that will continue through 2016. While this energy can throw a wet blanket on pie-in-the-sky thinking, the aspect’s function is to bring a reality check to dreaming and wishful thinking.

Each pattern is unsettling if it touches your chart directly, yet each contains opportunities for you to take hold of your life and shape it  in new and more satisfying directions. Uranus/Pluto presents you with unconventional thinking and pushes you to question conventional solutions. Saturn/Neptune wants you to ground your dreams and do the work to enable them to become real. Sometimes it means slowing down to take incremental steps when you want to race forward. It also means not cutting corners. But if you do, you’ll end up with something real and tangible.

But the Solstice chart has a third aspect pattern a triangle between four planets in Earth signs. This pattern, called a grand trine, adds stability. When things start to get a little too crazy, step back, take a deep breath  and ground yourself.

Sticking to business, appealing to practical realities and your opponent or partner’s self interest, are the means to navigate through any roadblocks that come up. Discipline and a budget will guide you to discern what you want and what you need.

The Solstice Sun sits at the bottom of the chart in the fourth house of endings. If there is something in your life coming to an end, let it go. You are making room for something new to come in.

The promise of the of the 2015 Winter Solstice planetary patterns is to realize big achievement so long as you put in the sweat-equity.