Capricorn femininity

Capricorn is like a diamond. It does best under pressure. If a Capricorn native has a hard Saturn-sun or Saturn-moon contact, then the pressure can be intense. It’s not remotely fun. So you have to forgive us Caps sun for having a dour outlook sometimes. But if Capricorn can take all that pressure, the result is dazzling. Diamonds symbolize the incorruptible. They arise from carbon, the most common element, to become hardest substance in the world.

All that diamond hardness contradicts N. American ideas about femininity. There is something distinctly unfeminine about the cool, cutting, measured steeliness of a practical Capricorn woman. There’s nothing brash or boss-say or rough-and-tumble tough about it, qualities that we find in other more masculine signs. This is not to say that it’s unnatural for women to be steely. I am saying that in terms of gender norms, whenever we see the forceful, commanding Capricornian woman, she’s de-feminized, just as a gentle Cancerian male is emasculated.

 

Saturn Return redux (part two)

Brian Foo via society6.com

If you missed part one, you can catch it here. These posts form a two part series about what you can look forward to with a Saturn Return.

I recently gave a tarot reading to a friend of mine and she remarked that she was surprized that I was still practicing tarot. That seemed like something the “Old Isthmus” would do. And I thought what a strange comment that was because I hadn’t realized how much I had changed. You’re so practical now, she clarifies. You’re so into these practical things. Joining groups, chairing meetings, all of it. And she’s right; in the past I never concerned myself with ideas about civic engagement, leadership and what not.

The Saturn Return has consolidated a lot of my responsibilities to society. A prosperous, vibrant, tolerant and creative society doesn’t just happen by magic or by virtue of inertia. And contrary to a lot of articles I read, leading a meaningful, happy life is very much a social endeavour that is deeply tied into the participation in the creation of shared meaning. Whenever we talk about happiness or satisfaction in the west, we always focus on the individual. But without shared meaning, shared narratives, shared metaphors that are authentic, we are lost in our own idiosyncratic, solipsistic fantasies or, as is very common, we become easy prey for systems of meaning that are inauthentic, harmful and do not accurately reflect our reality.

 

Saturn Return redux

Let me preface this post by saying that my chart is quite Saturnian. Saturn aspects most of my other natal planets. I am very familiar with Saturn. The whole world falling apart experience is not how I would describe my Saturn transits. They are more like having the sense of a formidable pressure. Like, a serious PRESSURE.

A lot of digital ink has virtually spilled online about the horrors of the Saturn return. I want to share a different take on the transit because there is far too much writing out there that I could not relate to and that, as an astrologer, did not match the experiences of the people I was reading charts for. (On that note, for a great series of videos about the Saturn Return that isn’t all sturm und drang, check out ElsaElsa’s blog.)

My return began with dreams of crossing a long river. Debating pragmatically what to take with me and what to leave behind. Knowing I had to swim alone.

 

Saturn in Libra: the ties that bind

Saturn has been making its way through Libra lately, the sign in which Saturn is exalted. What is it about the great malefic that works so well in Venus ruled Libra, a sign that represents balance and justice? How do the burdens represented by Saturn relate to the sun sign most notorious of keeping things light?

Perhaps an anecdote about a friend’s recent “leadership” workshop might help explain exactly how the bondage, responsibilities and weight of Saturn do so well in the realm of relationships.