Sun Jam: Capricorn
Sun Jam, curated by our editor Marisa Vito is a poetry-focused astrology series reflecting on how to exist within the astrological seasons. Influenced by the solar sign and ruling planet of the time, we’ll share poems, cosmic interpretations, visual art, sounds and more as the wheel of the year turns. Happy solar return, Capricorns! Our first Sun Jam is a gift to Capricorns, sharing how to navigate the last moments of this rich & grounded Saturn-ruled time. Future Sun Jams will share how we can all embrace the energy of each sign.
The Fox by Kahlil Gibran
A fox looked at his shadow at sunrise and said, “I will have
a camel for lunch today.” And all morning he went about looking
for camels. But at noon he saw his shadow again—and he said, “A
mouse will do.”
Gibran’s poem “The Fox” brings us into the year 2021 with its tiredness and settlements. 2020 was a year of changing plans, losing routine tethers, and beginning to make something out of the surrounding environment. While many people have felt this, Capricorns have felt the bends in their backs and changed their structured lives. “A mouse will do” after searching for the camel is the mindset Capricorns are feeling with the coming year. However, leaning into the changes Capricorn has made will lead them to let go of what used to bring them security and open them further to breaking their day to day. Settling for the mouse becomes recognition of the self and knowing how to survive that recognition.
Asking the Way by Ko Un
You fools who ask what god is
should ask what life is instead.
Find a port where lemon trees bloom.
Ask about places to drink in the port.
Ask about the drinkers.
Ask about the lemon trees.
Ask and ask until nothing’s left to ask.
How does reality change when you ask about it? “Ask and ask until nothing’s left to ask” imitates Capricorn's search for knowledge and truth. But what is the truth without waiting? The continued repetition of “ask” showcases Capricorn’s insistence on understanding. But the seeking out “where lemon trees bloom” becomes the new goal of the Capricorn - slowly peeling back the onion layers of life. “You fools who ask what god is” appear childish to the Capricorn as the only way to find truth is to sit closer to it and learn to accept pure truth as nothing.
A Garden in the Desert by Harriet Monroe
So light and soft the days fall—
Like petals one by one
Down from yon tree whose flowers all
Must vanish in the sun.
Like almond-petals down, dear,
Odorous, rosy-white,
Falling to our green world here
Off the thick boughs of night.
One like another still lies—
Tomorrow is today.
Always the buzzing bee flies,
Who never flies away.
Ever the same blue sky rounds
Its chalice for the sun.
The mountains at the world's bounds
Their purple chorals run.
And ever you and I, friend,
Free of this mortal scheme,
Look out beyond desire's end
And dream the spacious dream.
“Tomorrow is today.” Capricorns have learned this lesson over and over this past year. Seeking out the self and a possible uncomplicated reality has brought them to live presently. Keeping the change they were able to build will only allow them to be more adaptable to what life has in store.
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Collage by Gabriela Rodriguez Conliffe
Image Sources: Sister Corita Kent - Art Department Rules / “An Unusual Request”, from the series Glory of the Artifice, 2015 by Christto & Andrew / Saturn and its rings captured by Hubble in Ultraviolet light / Klaus Rinke, Boden, Wand, Ecke, Raum, 1970
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Marisa Vito is a California-based poet who has pieces published in Crab Fat Magazine and the Los Angeles Magazine. She graduated from the University of California, San Diego with a degree in English Literature/Writing. When not reading or writing, she enjoys cooking/baking, learning more about gender theory, and interpreting people’s natal charts.