Sylvan E Thorncraft © August 2003

     Capricorn is the sturdy one who sets her goal and then pursues it step by step.  She can be tenacious as she makes order of her situation, working for greater productivity and achievement (I Utilize).  Her traditional symbol is the goat.

     Her card is the Devil (15) which represents the principle of mirth and humor as what ‘bedevils’ us.  The lesson of this card is to face what troubles us with Capricorn’s tenacity and the humor of Pan.

     Capricorn holds the Winter Solstice.  The sun is reborn, but she knows that it is a long road to summer, there is a lot of growing to do.  The coldest part of winter, a time of challenge and stillness, is yet to come.

     This time is also held in the last quarter moon.  She is rising at midnight and setting at noon, her light fading but balances with dark.  The future is shrouded in shadow, but there is a need to lighten the load, to shed the parts of ourselves that no longer serve us.

     As I thought about the wheel of the year I was drawn to a familiar story of mother giving birth to the sacred son.  She is the Great Mother of the Faerie tradition, giving birth to the Divine Child Sun from the star spangled expanse that is her womb.  She is Arianrhod, keeper of the silver wheel of the milky way, the ever-virgin mother of Dylan and Llew.  She is Mary for Christians, Isis in Egypt, Alcmne, who holds the power of the moon, births the Greek savior Heracles at Winter Solstice.

     I chose the Great Mother of earth and sky as she prepares to give birth to her sun child who holds the seeds of potential for the coming year.  She is a reminder that time spent in darkness, in gestation, yields great wisdom and vision that will infuse the cycle to come with meaning.  Working from this place of wisdom provides great strength, helping one carefully build the systems and structures needed to support one’s life journey.