New Year's Resolutions - but why now?

Capricorn 2008

Resolutions – things we think we should have, but love to hate. We have reached Capricorn again – that sign of ‘shoulds’ and goals and missions. Getting serious about things and achieving that ideal – the thing we think we should be – thinner, a non-smoker, a moderate drinker, an exerciser. We will have more time for ourselves. There are so many things we feel we should do. Capricorn a time for guilt and self-blame.

New Year’s Resolutions, list of items

Capricorn is a earthy physical sign, so it is probably not surprising that many resolutions are about physical things. Capricorn, ruled by Saturn, is also the master of time, so another group of resolutions have much to do with how we spend our time. More time with our kids/ wife/ things we love/ name the one you feel the most guilty about.

Capricorn is though, also about authority and responsibility – our own. So why do we follow all these mad traditions and rules? After all New Year’s day has no real basis – it was a decision, based loosely on the Solar calendar, to start the year at this date because it was the civil calendar and it made things easier. But there is no natural meaning to it. In countries other than Christian-based ones, New Year is at some other time of the year entirely, often in March when the Sun starts at the beginning of Aries again. So we are following someone else’s authority here. Of course this has become a tradition which also has merits.

A nice fresh start

The idea behind New Year is that we can start afresh. Some traditions, (some of them rather bizarre), are about letting the old year go and starting the coming year as you mean to go on. Interestingly this is similar to the idea that a horoscope shows a seed moment, that the start determines how things will be. So if you start the New Year well, all will follow in a good way for the approaching year.

Some of the strange traditions include opening all the doors and windows of the house to let the old year out. Making sure not to cry or wail on New Years day. Wear new clothes, have a full wallet and full cupboards, make a lot of noise to scare away evil, and make sure you don’t wash dishes on this day as this can cause death in the coming year! If you are a girl looking for a partner and on waking you see a man out the window, this augurs well for a marriage in the coming year!

However on a more serious Capricornian note, this dark month in the North, has celebrations in many religions that correspond with the Sun returning and light coming back to us in the northerly regions. As the Sun in astrology is about the heart, I would venture to offer a ‘should’ here: To go inwards to find what is in your heart, to follow what you find there and to make your goals, mission and resolutions in line with that. Our own authority here is much wiser than what any advertisement for or against a particular food or diet tells us. Capricorn is a time for a reality check, for clarity and focus and for decisions.

Values and Goals – do they match?

There are two things I came across this month that I find interesting in this context. The first was an interview with Dr. John Demartini, known from the film the Secret. Although the film is certainly not on my top ten list, the message is a rewrite of ancient wisdom. Demartini, in the interview makes for interesting listening. Beliefs – where do they come from? Do we follow blindly? He believes that constraints or voids, give rise to values. What we perceive to be missing most in our lives, becomes most important to us. We yearn to fill the gap. Everyone has values, and in Demartini’s view these have a hierarchy whereby the highest on our list gets the highest focus. This dictates our destiny. It is how we make decisions.

Now back to the Capricorn bit with which I agree – if our goals are not congruent with this list, we can’t achieve what we want. We often try to live by others’ belief systems. How many parents do you see where work is top of father’s list and family is top of mother’s list? There is a constant struggle of values and our own belief systems are often sabotaged in relationships of any kind.

A searching question

Identify your top value and then ask yourself the question “Can is see evidence of this in my life and in my goals?” The soul according to Demartini requires authenticity.

So the month of Capricorn offers a time of clarity and a time of manifestation. The festival of Epiphany in January, twelve days after Christmas, or Three Kings, as it is known here in Holland, seems to be a celebration of what was long awaited (in this case the birth of the Messiah) having arrived and being announced. In January we are sure that the days are getting longer. We can celebrate without doubt – our goals are manifested. There is a result.

Company values, soul purpose and mission

My belief is that companies and other entities, also have values which give rise to a particular culture, and the mission needs to be congruent with these. Many companies have values which are not necessarily to do with money, however it is taken for granted that part of the mission should be to make money. Why?

At the beginning of this year, the Dutch newspaper, the Volkskrant, gave predictions for the coming year. The well known Dutch astrologer Peter Delahaye, when talking about Pluto entering the sign of Capricorn this year (more later), is quoted as saying: “Alle organisaties die geen bezieling hebben, storten in en alles wat bezield is, krijgt vorm.” The literal translation is something like, ‘Every organisation that isn’t inspired will die and ones that are, will take shape’. However the word bezield contains the word ziel which means ‘soul’. I like to think of Peter’s quote as meaning that any company that does not act in line with its mission and soul purpose, will flounder. Ones that do, will flourish.

The second interesting interview I heard this month was with Professor Richard Sennett about the idea of craftmanship being important for the future of companies. The idea that companies need to have a craft, something that they do well, to prosper. A true craftsman is passionate about what he makes. Companies should be too.

Work questions

So before we leave Capricorn for another year…

Does your company have a mission that is congruent with its core values?
What is your company’s craft? Where does it excel?
Do your values fit with the values of the company that you work for?
Do you sabotage your values to fit in with the authority in the company or do you remain authentic to what you really believe in?

Update on 2008 – Pluto’s next mission

In 2008, Pluto will move from Sagittarius into Capricorn. This was discussed in the last Capricorn issue (see Capricorn 2007) but let’s look a bit closer at the dates this year.
Because we ‘see’ Pluto from earth it appears as if he goes forward, backwards and forwards again. This is because we are moving too. Don’t be fooled by the fact that Pluto is now a ‘dwarf-planet’. He still has a lot to say!

I love this Human cartoon – on many sites

He puts a foot into Capricorn very soon, on 26th January at 3:45 GMT to be precise. He tries it out for a while in that sign and then makes a retreat back into Sagittarius on June 14th this year, at 3:47 GMT this time. Finally on November 27th at 2:06 GMT, he decides to stay until 2024. I think this means that this year we will see the end of the focus on immigration, fundamentalism of all forms, religious, scientific or any other sort of belief system. Not that these will disappear but that the focus will change. The transforming power of Pluto has transformed the church, belief systems and travel as we knew it. It has also given us the internet, knowledge was power. However the internet cannot continue as it is.

The background as a whole is set to change. Delahaye has given us one idea with which I wholeheartedly agree. Others, like the craftsmanship mentioned above, will be important at company level and also at individual level. My view is that qualifications will become more important. Companies may become more structured and hierarchical, with defined goals at all levels. Personal and company responsibility will become more of an issue. Responsibility for people but also for the planet as well as profit. Accountability will be more important and the internet will definitely be affected by this. Signs of Capricorn are beginning already. Gordon Brown in England (a Capricorn nation as it happens) has just announced measures to stop the ‘Nanny State’ rules and to make everyone take more personal responsibility. It will be interesting to see whether we can rise to the challenge of Pluto in Capricorn and take up the opportunities that it offers. We need to become our own authority figures and we need to grow up!

Faye Blake-Cossar

Interesting websites of the month

The link for the original interview is no longer available but this video of Dr. John Demartini is on the same topic.

Quote of the Month

“A Mission Statement is a dense slab of words that a large organization produces when it needs to establish that its workers are not just sitting around downloading Internet porn”.
Dave Barry, American writer and humorist.