by SOL W JONASSEN
Loving everyone and everything is rather hard. To be able to show toxic people mercy isn’t easy either. To appreciate those whose values differ from ours can also prove tricky. All in all, being a kind, loving, and empathic being takes a lot of work. The mind kicks in with its judgment pretty quickly, and there is little doubt that when our territory, identity, or values are threatened, we get defensive. And we easily end up being not so nice.
Not as nice as we would like to at least.
And why does it matter to be nice all the time? It can feel rather oppressive that we have some moral high horses running around pointing at our flaws all the time, reminding us to be nice. «Be a good girl and a good boy now, won’t ya?» It can feel somewhat stifling and, not to mention suppressing. Besides, what happens to truth when we are being gagged with niceties?
Our real problem is that humans have these three parts of the brain that we try to organize: The reptilian, the paleo-mammalian brain, and then the youngest part of the brain, the neo-mammalian brain, which relates directly to the prefrontal cortex connected to impulse control. And we are all that. We are the most instinctual, defensive reactions originating from the reptilian part to the most emotional and caring side relating to the limbic system and the paleo mammalian brain. Then, we are rational, aware, and able to plan, which is connected to the neo-mammalian brain. And with all that inside one human, we sure have our work cut out. This is the massive task we undertake in the sign of Capricorn: to organize being human.
It is in Capricorn that we are confronted with our most immature behavior, and we need to take a look in the mirror to make sure we are not telling ourselves some handy lies in order to uphold fake self-confidence. Capricorn demands that we carry ourselves with integrity and that we are capable of taking responsibility for our own actions instead of deflecting. Capricorn is civilization, and as late astrologer, Erin Sullivan in her book Saturn in Transit aptly describes in the subtitle: «Boundaries of Mind, Body and Soul.» She goes on to write in the preface that in order to have a civil society, we need to repress certain impulses. So how do we do that without doing what we have done since the dawn of civilization through guilt, control, and shaming?
How do we find the balance between Capricorn mastery and the more instinctual, limbic parts of ourselves, and is it even possible? It is. But it requires wisdom, experience, and guidance. Some sort of Jedi training basically. We need to be students of our bodies, emotions, and souls and learn from those who have mastered this paradoxical existence.
Regulation is a keyword for Capricorn’s ruler, Saturn, and regulation is something entirely different from suppression. Regulation is a conscious capacity where we make a conscious choice. It is not made for us. We make it. And we decide what is the right and correct thing to do in the moment. A dogma states that there are fixed rules that apply to all. A wise Capricorn knows that this is not true and that every moment is unique and requires a unique response.
The one-size-fits-all method we have tried when navigating moral issues around being human is what has created a rigid society of irrational judgment. «This is evil. This is good.» If it was only that easy the initiation of Capricorn wouldn’t be such a difficult task, but it is. It is incredibly difficult. This initiation tests our capacity to make judgments and trust our authority. We are being tested on our integrity, i.e., our capacity to make the right choice in any given situation. We are also tested on our willingness to take full responsibility for our own lives and be truly accountable, despite the centralization of societal power we all live under. In Capricorn, there are explanations, but there are no excuses. It is a bit on the tough love spectrum, but evidently, this is something that is good for humans and makes them healthy, strong, and capable.
That little kick in the butt that is Cap is, in other words, exactly what we need. Capricorn needs to understand, though, that there is a time for everything and not be so harsh. According to esoteric astrology the higher ruler, the hierarchal ruler, of the sign is Venus. Love. Harmony. Balance. Beauty. So inside that hard shell is a super soft love-being who only wants the best for us.
This New Moon comes just before the New Year, and the ruler, Saturn, is in Pisces. This shows that quite a few ambitious New Year promises will be made, and some of them will be quite impossible to keep. Capricorn likes to keep it real. It realizes the limitations and works with them instead of idealizing what a perfect life would look like and then try to achieve that only to fail. We cannot set ourselves up for failure. The message of this new moon is to be as human as we possibly can and then act in a conscious and deliberate way, never letting go of our higher task of trying to master the paradox of emotion and mind. We can try to be what we inherently have the capacity to be, but we also have to accept that we won’t always manage that.
Happy New Year. May your mind be set, but your heart be soft and forgiving.
Sol W Jonassen
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