Solstice means “Sun stands still.” Because the earth’s axis of rotation was tilted 23 ½ degrees to its orbit around the sun, the sun appears to move north and south during the year causing the seasons to change. Thousands of years ago the sun was in the constellation Cancer at summer solstice in June and in the constellation Capricornus at midwinter’s night or the winter solstice in December.
But not anymore. The Gregorian calendar is long overdue for replacement. The precession of the equinoxes describes the movement of the zodiac signs on the ecliptic 1 degree every 72 years. Now the summer solstice occurs in Gemini and the winter solstice is in Sagittarius. The Virgin card shown above from T: The New Tarot by John Starr Cooke is the equivalent of the World card in traditional Tarot. Cooke shows the current placement of the Equinoxes and Solstices in the Mutable zodiac signs of Gemini, Sagittarius, Virgo and Pisces using a new notation. While Gemini and Sagittarius are straightforward Virgo is the apple and the inverted cup is Pisces in his corner stations.
The starting dates of traditional zodiac signs (plus one) on the ecliptic are now different:
Sagittarius: Dec. 18 to Jan. 20
Capricorn: Jan. 21 to Feb. 16
Aquarius: Feb. 17 to March 11
Pisces: March 12 to April 18
Aries: April 19 to May 13
Taurus: May 14 to June 21
Gemini: June 22 to July 20
Cancer: July 21 to Aug. 10
Leo: Aug. 11 to Sept. 16
Virgo: Sept. 17 to Oct. 30
Libra: Oct. 31 to Nov. 23
Scorpio: Nov. 24 to Nov. 29
Ophiuchus: Nov. 30 to Dec. 17