The Winter Solstice is the split second in the year in which the Sun is at its greatest angular distance from the Equatorial plane from the observer. This occurs at Midday when the sun is at its lowest point in the Sky over the course of the year.
Zero degrees of Capricorn, marks this point. It occurs between the 20th and 23rd of December in the Northern hemisphere. The Winter Solstice has for millennia been associated with a very sacred, special period of time. From Stonehenge to the Pyramids, to Christ’s birth, which most Historians claim was not really on the 24th December, this astronomical event has been imbued with importance.
The Antiscia are the degrees of the Zodiac Year which correspond on either side of the Winter Solstice beginning at 00 degrees of Capricorn. How do they work? Why are they important? If you notice that a beautiful spring day in April can sometimes look and feel exactly the same as a beautiful day in October, or at least that there are the same number of daylight hours and night time hours you have the beginning of an explanation. There is a seasonal significance to the Antiscia, being that days in late spring can be very similar to days of early Summer, with early spring having similarities with late summer at least by the amount of daylight that there is due to the Sun’s rising and setting positions through the year.
The real significance of Antiscia though comes from its relation to that winter solstice. The Solstice is a magical point in time, the turning point in the year, and it should be considered as the real new year if you go by the Astronomical significance of it. So for an example: 15 degrees of Pisces and Libra are Antiscia to each other. They are both an equal distance away from the Winter Solstice which would be 75 degrees. They have the same number of hours of daylight, because the Sun at these point rises the same time and sets the same time. The Sun during the day reaches the same degree in the sky and the Midheaven is at the same distance from the equator. The only difference is that one side is increasing in light and the other is decreasing.
In the Night Sky of the Winter Solstice, as seen from a northern sky, the three stars in Orion’s Belt align with the brightest star in the eastern sky Sirius to show where the Sun will rise in the morning after winter solstice. At about three BC it is said that “three wise men” or “three Kings” came from the East following a “bright star” to witness the “Son of God” being born. It is interesting that to this day this birth is celebrated year after year coinciding with the Winter Solstice, the place where the Sun was traditionally thought to be “re-born” each year.
To think of the immense meaning and significance not just in terms of the mathematical astronomical point, but of what it means on a spiritual level, then the Antiscia connecting through the Winter Solstice must has an astrological significance too and it is not surprising that there are tables which delineate their positions.
How do you go about interpreting Anticia though? It is clear that even though many separate cultures around the world throughout history and pre-history did not have any cultural cross pollination, they still honoured the Winter Solstice. Take Amaterasu, the Japanese Sun-Goddess, bringing Sunlight back to the universe on this day, Beiwe of the Scandinavian Saami people, Chaomos ancient Pakistan, and then Natalis Domini of 4th Century Rome. All of these sacred traditions are connected together by re-birth of the Sun, by renewal of hope for the coming year, and all celebrated and honoured at the same time.
It would be obvious that any point that was close enough to the actual Winter Solstice point would be both conjunct itself and in Anticia. So two planets or points both placed within a degree of 00 Capricorn would be conjunct and in Anticia. The interpretation of points and planets must therefore be linked in with that Solar Renewal. It is often described that planets or points placed at 00 degrees of Cardinal signs are “Aries Point”, but if we take the Winter Solstice for its true Astrological and Astronomical significance, that point ought to be renamed the “Capricorn Point.”
Planets or Points that are Antiscia with each other are connected by the most sacred timing in relation to the Capricorn Point, in relation to the Winter Solstice. The interpretation of Antiscia, are that they mirror each other, they aspect each other through being symmetrically equidistant.
Having explained Antiscia though, I believe that these points are only connected by the Solar Year and only in relation to those Solstice points. They work like a mirror, but to get a truer picture it may be more useful to consider the parallel aspects. Anticia are based on Solar Longitude, they correspond roughly to the Solar Latitude throughout the year. But since the planets do not pass exactly along the elliptical plane, looking up parallel and contraparallel aspects are definitely a more accurate three dimensional representation, a more complicated calculation, sure, but with technology these aspects are easily seen and analysed.