The sure-footed Four of Pentacles, the Curse of Rain, Hecate-it's The New Moon in Capricorn
Image Wikipedia
We have now entered the cosmic territory of the third and final decan of the sun sign territory of Capricorn the wise, celestial Mer-Goat. (We looked at the origin myth of the Sea-Goat in a previous post: https://katieellenhazeldine.substack.com/p/songs-of-solstice-salutations-capricorn)
The third decan of Capricorn correlates with the dates 11-20 January and with the tarot card, The Four of Pentacles.
Images from The Rider Waite Tarot and The Gilded Tarot
The Four of Pentacles is nicknamed The Miser card, unfairly, really, because he is holding on tight to what he’s got. Unfairly, because you can't give or share what you haven’t got. We cannot make a place for ourselves without the will and the means to do so. You can't create a shelter, a warm spot, a safe place, a sanctuary, for yourself or for others without the effort and the discipline it takes to put even just a little by, and not blow it, especially when there is little to spare.
The decans, as mentioned in previous posts, deal in seasonal archetypes. The third decan Capricorn native is clever, shrewd, proud, industrious and conscientious in the workplace. Possibly opinionated. They can be secretive, mistrustful of others, and when under pressure, calculating or possibly deceitful. They may be also constitutionally prone to melancholy, pessimism. But they have a keen, if mordant, wry, dry sense of humour, and they are kindly, indeed passionate in devotion; deeply attuned to the power of landscape, and the wild creatures that make it their own.
The Four of Pentacles represents a guarded, watchful pause, a time of reflection before we move forward into the volatility of the fixed Air potency of the Aquarian Five of Swords, commencing 20 January…which this year will be a planetary humdinger, coinciding with the momentous entry of Pluto into Aquarius for the first time this year.
The Five of Swords- conflict- Rider Waite Tarot
-Pluto represents the underworld, all that is underground, mining, power, secrets, deep state, momentous change, death in any sense of the word)
-Aquarius represents the element of Air, clouds, Humanity itself, Cloud Tech, Space Tech, Medical Tech, new ideas OR wholesale imposition of ideology, revolution.
Aquarius, the sign of the Water Bearer is also the Cloud Bearer, known to the Babylonians as Sabatu- The Curse of Rain, because it brought floods in February, and not infrequently these were devastating.
Sadly we are seeing this in action big time in the UK even before we have entered Aquarius in 2024.
Pluto in Aquarius is where the story is heading. The last time we were there, 1778-1798. what sort of things happened?
-The French Revolution
-The American Revolution
-The Haitian Revolution
-The Enlightenment
-The invention of cast iron and the cotton gin, beginning the Industrial Revolution
-Discovery of Uranus
-The Smallpox Vaccine
During the previous Pluto in Aquarius, 1523-1553, Europe underwent the upheaval of The Reformation (Martin Luther: “here I stand. I can do no other”) King Henry v111 of England split with the Pope, and his subjects were now Catholic no more, on pain of being liable of being put to death for
a) heresy
b) treason
I live in Lancashire where this history leaves its ghostly marks to this day. Alice Nutter, who was hanged for being one of the Pendle witches, was part of a notable Lancashire Catholic family, and was likely targeted as such. Such is the darker fundamentalist potential of Pluto in Aquarius.
Roughlee, Nelson, Lancashire. Poignant statue in memory of Alice Nutter. Sculptor David Palmer
This will be a fascinating next twenty years. But it’s not as if a new era is entered into overnight or indeed, is not already making itself felt. The Post Office Scandal in the UK, which convicted more than 700 innocent sub postmasters, some of whom actually to prison, including a pregnant lady, on the say-so of a computer glitch which no-one in charge at Fujitsu would admit to, though they knew about it, could hardly be more a dystopian display of the worst potential of Pluto in Aquarius if it tried, but has been going on since 1999. Read about it HERE
The New Moon in Capricorn 2024
Pluto in Aquarius is well nigh here, but we are not quite there yet. Meanwhile, January’s New Moon 11 January is is 20 degrees of Capricorn.
All New Moons are nature’s planning windows. Tonight and tomorrow we plant seeds and start to water them. Seeds of ideas for new projects or changes in the way we do our finances or in our work direction. This sturdy, grounded yet experimental New Moon at 20 degrees of Capricorn will be trine Uranus, uber planet of change. Astrologically speaking this is a particularly optimistic, energetic, upbeat and potentially ambitious New Moon. This is less about making do, more about starting or starting anew, making and doing. We might also decide we want a makeover. Capricorn rules the Tenth House, and governs the way we are seen in the world.
This New Moon is also a super moon. We can’t see it, but the Moon came closer today than in a normal New Moon, and today was only the first of five Super New Moons in 2024, a year of turbo charged lunar energy for digging and planting, instigating change. Typically, there are 3-4 Super moons in a year, and they can make a difference of 2 inches in the height of the world’s tides, while Mars is in Capricorn until 12 February. This bestows an energy boost in tackling practical- and creative tasks.
Image via NASA
There is a world of difference between taking a chance on doing something new or differently, and between being reckless, feckless or downright daft. They do say a change is as good as a rest. Capricorn thinks long term, and when it moves forward, it is not much given to wallowing or looking back.
This is a time for ditching what is long overdue for dumping, while surprises, chance encounters and new work opportunities all go with this territory.
There is a world of difference between taking a chance on doing something new or differently, and between being reckless, feckless or downright daft. They do say a change is as good as a rest. It is a time for ditching what is long overdue for dumping, while surprises, chance encounters and new work opportunities all go with this territory.
Hecate, goddess of the New Moon
All hail to Hekate, the Greeks and Romans would say in honour of the impending New Moon. Hekate was the goddess of the waning moon, where Persephone was the manifestation of the Waxing Moon and Artemis was the face of the Full Moon.
Hecate, the keeper of the crossroads, is better known today as the goddess of witchcraft, but she was worshipped in Rome as a protecting household deity. None could enter without permission a household that was under the protection of Hecate.
Read more about the worship of Hecate HERE in a previous post:
Image via Pinterest
Last night or tonight in magical practice would be a night to honour Hecate or petition her help with prayers or gifts of incense (waft a stick) raisins, or apparently she is partial to virtual offerings of currant cake.
Eat it on her behalf so Hecate can enjoy it vicariously. Give an ancient goddess a break. It’s tough I know, but think of Hecate. Someone’s got to do it.
Thank you for reading.