#152.21 - January - Capricorn

January

Live in the Now - Capricorn - Plan

Mer-Goat. Saturn. Earth. 

Saturn is the planet of perspective. It is the furthest of the naked eye planets and is named after the granddaddy of the Gods. The other name for Saturn is Cronus - he was the father of Zeus.

In Saturn, we have the cool eyed, detached perspective of the year that has passed and the year which is to come. We reflect on what has gone before and that which is yet to occur. It is the time for planning and organisation. Of resolutions and possibilities.

The Capricorn is depicted as a half goat half fish being. The ancient nature of the zodiac is found in the animals which it has chosen to honour. Our agrarian is commemorated by the inclusion of not only the Goat, but the Ram as well as the Bull. In the Goat we have a barely domesticated animal who is far more at home on the slopes of mountains, eating anything that it encounters.

All of nature is depicted by the goat-like being Pan in Greek mythology. The satyr who roams the hills with its sriynx, a set of reed pipes which used to be a water nymph which was pursued by the amorous god. He is also the god Enki or Ea in Sumerian mythology. The God of Wisdom, the God of the Waters, the God of Creation. 

The constellation of Capricorn is quite faint. It's shape is an unfamiliar one - you really have to look for it. The brightest star is found on its rump. It is called Deneb Algedi - of the tail of the goat. It is not a very bright star, only 2.9 magnitude and not very far either - only 39 light years. 

Be that as it may, January starts the year. In sacred geometry, the quality of one, of wholeness is the quality of everything and nothing. It is a number which is magical - it comes out of nothing. Where there was nothing, now there is something. And that something is whole and indivisible - at first. It is the start of the very first day.

Being both of the mountains and the oceans, the Capricorn brings both polarities together, into the one. Be prepared for anything and everything the month of January invites. Meditate on the following days, what are your hopes and dreams, start having them now. Prepare to plant seeds, make promises you intend to keep, clear the way for the new cycle of the year, listen to the voice within.

The days of January are short and the nights seem to go on forever, but the truth is that on the appointed day of the start of Capricorn, the winter solstice occurs. The darkest days are behind us and the light has begun to return. It is no accident that Christmas is celebrated just after the rebirth of the Sun. The shadow side of Saturn is its heavy brooding lugubrious responsibility. People with a saturnine quality are gloomy and no fun to be around with. This is because one of Cronus' many names is Father Time - with his long white beard, grey cloak and staff, he is the very embodiment of sobriety and solemnity. 

It can feel like that January. After the revelry and excess, the intoxication and overindulgence of the previous months, coupled with the year's responsibility being newly received, it can all seem a bit too much. However, like the horns on the mountain goat's head, we can choose to wear this as a burden or we can choose to wear it as a resplendent crown. 

Working with the Earth elementals, the gnomes, we can try and listen to the innermost parts of the Earth where the veins of gold, silver and copper, where the crystals and precious stones are kept. We can think of ourselves as seeds and roots, guarded over by these beings, doing the work most furiously at this time of the year to bring to stirring the potential in the germs. Gnomes are also famously grumpy because they can never sleep. However they are also very hardworking. Ask he gnomes to lend you some of their vigilance and persistence. And perhaps some of their treasure too - whatever it may be.

Exercises:

Astronomy - Locate Capricorn. You can download an app to help with this, OR you can check the starmaps online. 

Sacred Geometry - Use a compass to draw a circle labyrinth.

Exercise for the Month - Plan your year. 

Write down a list of things which you need to do/want to achieve. Whittle it down to three things. Create six steps per objective which will see you eventually succeeding to do this. Write dates beside these and put them into your calendar. If three are too many, then just do one.

Elementals - Consider the Earth and understand how warm it is beneath the soil. Think about yourself following an elemental walking along the veins of metal. Ask the elemental to help bring your plans to fruition.