No matter ones creed, belief - or placement in time and space – it is always good to take regular times to pause and recapitulate. If this is not an ongoing process, at least the turning of the year is a good occasion to do so. It doesn’t matter that the New Year actually begins with the entering of Aries in the sign of the Sun or with Capricorns entering in the Sun – both the Ram and the Goat signals something worthy of contemplation. Yet other cultures count the solstices as markers of renewal. They are both animal signs heralding new beginnings. Heralding the new should bring a death to the old. Parts of the old should be transmuted, other parts taken as lessons so we can count our blessings. The Western New Year falls anyhow within the perimeters of the rays of the fixed star Deneb Algedi , the tail of Capricorn. Cauda Capricorni is one of the fifteen fixed stars and is evoked by the scent of marjoram. If the moon is favorable it gives victory in disputes and