Capricorn (Dec. 21–Jan 20): Krich nit tsu hoich, vestu nit darfen falen: Don’t climb too high and you won’t have to fall.


Hebrews named Capricorn “the slain kid,” which refers to the blood of the lamb sacrificed during the Passover story, saving firstborns from slaughter. Capricorn was also known as Azazel, the scapegoat from Leviticus.



Capricorn, a cardinal earth sign, shows a great deal of initiative: you want to control your environment rather than have it control you. Although you are earth-bound, you are more concerned with your own state of mind—which is largely ambitious, but also idealistic to the point of neurotic—than with the outside world.  

While Capricornis generally thought of to be ruled by the goat, you are actually ruled by a goat-fish (a goat with a fish tail!). Although your goat side is always climbing toward the top of the mountain, you also take refuge in the waters of consciousness (this is associated with the Greek god Pan, who took refuge in a river by turning his lower half into a fish). Finding a balance between caution and passion allows you to flip the script on those who have you pinned one way or the other.  If you lean toward the goat-side, try to handle others—and yourself!—with kid gloves. 



There are three different levels of Capricorn:  practical, earthly and sensual, and confused by depth of desires—why you may often fail to express your true feelings, concealing them under your practicality and work ethic. Striving to be industrious and persevering, calm and diligent and determined, your concern with status makes you almost puritanical in your discipline. Largely conservative, you are the consummate professional—shveyr arbiter (hard worker)—not exposing your feelings, and patiently waiting for the results of your hard work and ambitions. 



The New Moon in your sign on January 11 gives an opportunity to put something in motion—perhaps one of your long-awaited ambitions will come to fruition if you put your nose to the grindstone. Mercury also shifts into your sign on December 31, where it will stay until January 18. You can really get into your pragmatic thinking and express your true self. With Mars in Aquarius starting December 25, take more initiative in a leadership role. Venus in Sagittarius, meanwhile, gives you a chance to really take a look at your love life, giving you more freedom to solidify your true self and what you want out of love.  


Famous Capricorn Jews: J.D. Salinger, Jason Segel, Bebe Neuwirth, Sandy Koufax, Hank Greenberg, Simon Wiesenthal, Howard Stern, Shari Lewis, Andy Kaufman, Helena Rubenstein, Heidi Fleiss, Phil Spector, Harry Shearer, Soupy Sales, Diane Von Furstenberg, Vidal Sassoon, Laura Schlessinger, Susan Sontag, Stan Lee, Isaac Asimov (unknown, but celebrated on Jan.2)



AQUARIUS (JANUARY 21-FEBRUARY 20): You may be dreaming of a better reality, but try to relax and let the fates do their thing. Vos vet zein, vet zein: what will be, will be! While you Aquarians tend to be emotionally detached, you can harness these cosmic energies to give yourself over to something greater than yourself.  

PISCES (FEBRUARY 21-MARCH 20): You’ve been selling yourself short for far too long, and your neshama may be a bit worse for wear. Forces are at work to get you the recognition you deserve, and perhaps a much-needed boost in your finances. Sweet Pisces often want to help others—but before you do that, you must help yourself. 
 
ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 20): With your ruling planet Mars in innovative and philanthropic Aquarius, you may find yourself spending time with new people and in situations that call for your special brand of bravado. If you can look at your life from the outside, you’ll see that you can deal with your ongoing issues while giving attention to the rest of the world.

TAURUS (APRIL 21- MAY 20): Life keeps teaching you the lesson that time can alter everything: di tseit ken alts ibermachen. As much as you’ve been burning both ends of the candle for what seems like ages, you must continue to assert yourself. Doing what’s right for you, rather than what others think is the right thing for you, gives you the courage of your convictions.

GEMINI (MAY 21- JUNE 20): Kolboynik (rascally know-it-all) Geminis have a knack for finding convenient excuses and explanations for everything. With your ruling planet moving into Capricorn around January 8, you may become more focused on money matters, favoring independence and practicality over flights of fancy.

CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 20): With the full moon in your sign on December 28, you will be more inclined to pay attention to details that may have previously gone unnoticed. Because this particular full moon has some stressful energies attached to it, you may feel even more like secluding yourself in your shell. If you can find a way to make your home cozy while getting yourself out into the world, you may be in for a surprise or two.

LEO (JULY 21-AUGUST 20): Ven nit di shein, volt kain shoten nit geven: If not for the light, there would be no shadow. Leos have the potential to light up a room with your good vibes, and the upcoming full moon energy is perfect for empathizing with others. Understanding other people and what they’re all about can help you relate to yourself with more clarity of purpose.

VIRGO (AUGUST 21-SEPTEMBER 20): Be good to yourselves this month, dear Virgos. You may hold dear to your balobotishe (respectable, well-mannered) reputation, but embracing your creativity and individuality does not mean letting go of your cred. Your ruling planet Venus will be in Sagittarius for the first part of the new year, giving you the freedom to explore what makes you truly healthy, wealthy and wise.

LIBRA (SEPTEMBER 21-OCTOBER 20): Libras sometimes get a bad rap for being a Jack-of-all trades, master of none (Fil meloches, vainik broches). This month, you may be feeling insecure about your indecision, and tendency to flit from one interest to another. Deep feelings may be heading your way, and holding on to a something stable may help you to decide what is most important to you. 


SCORPIO (OCTOBER 21-NOVEMBER 20): To you secretive Scorpios, information is power, and power is maintained by keeping that information to yourself. Who do you think you’re fooling? Listening to your heart will give you a sense of what you really want out of life, love and career.  You can be true to yourself without giving the rest of us shpilkes. 


SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 21–Dec. 20): If you feel your confidence has been given a once over from all of the planets traveling through your sign in the past month, keep in mind that you fire signs have a lot your corner to ensure you remain true to your echt (authentic) self. You’ve got a lot of room to maneuver, and if anyone gives you a hard time for your freedom-urges, they probably weren’t worth having around to begin with.

What’s Your Sign?
Sagittarius, the Adventurous Archer (Nov. 21 – Dec. 20)
Stinging Scorpio (October 21-November 20)
Lovely, Lawful Libra (September 21-October 20)
Virgo, the Anxious Maiden (August 21-September 20)
Leo, King of the Jungle (July 21 – August 20)

(Art by Margarita Korol)

The post Jewcy Horoscopes: Capricorn, the Cardinal Earth Sign (Dec. 21–Jan 20) appeared first on Jewcy.

Before the Beatniks drew national attention, before Elvis, before a thousand kids who had never met a black person began listening to the blues, before John, Paul, George and Ringo; before Dylan, before hippies, before the 1968 riots in Paris, before punk rock, and before people realized that there was a lot of money to be made off youthful rebellion, there was J.D. Salinger.

Salinger might not be the greatest American fiction writer of the 20^th century, but there is plenty of evidence that says he’s the most important. He may or may not have written the great American novel, he created characters that will live on for decades to come, and he has a hold on artists of all kinds, an allure that both attracts readers and bleeds into contemporary literature.

For all we know, J.D. Salinger didn’t care about this unfaltering legacy, and if he could have gone on living another 200 years, he would probably still be hiding out in his fortress in Cornish, New Hampshire, hoping we’d all just leave him alone.

But since God, nature, or whatever, works in mysterious ways, Salinger is no longer of this Earth, and that is why Kenneth Slawenski’s biography, J.D. Salinger: A Life, is one of the most anticipated biographies of the year.  Salinger is back in the spotlight, but this time he can’t object.

Attempting to piece together the life of a man who dropped out of sight for 40 years –at the height of his popularity and influence—is hardly a task to be envied; yet, it reads like a labor of love, and Slawenski does everything short of spying on Salinger.  His book is part biography, part literary criticism, and succeeds in connecting Salinger’s work to his own life, giving us as good of picture as we may ever get; and makes the picture a bit more clear.

For years, Salinger lived under the impression that both of his parents were Jewish, but he eventually came to find out that his mother was of Irish-Catholic descent. Although this has been a source of controversy and discussion among Salinger aficionados for years, Slawenski notes that as Sol Salinger’s social status advanced, he began to turn his back on his Jewish background.  Similarly, Holden Caulfield’s obsession with all this is “phony,” suggests that perhaps Salinger’s works were filled with veiled autobiographical references.

One of the book’s most interesting stories is about Salinger’s time spent in Austria, right before World War II.  Salinger, living with a Jewish family, falls in love with his host family’s daughter — only to lose her in the chaos that would claim millions in the coming years.  Salinger grieved the loss of his Austrian family, and his first love, and would later attempt to retell that story in “A Girl I knew.”

Slawenski also mentions an unpublished, proto-Inglorious Basterds story about a Frenchman who kidnaps Adolf Hitler.  There was also the writer’s first hand experience with the horrors perpetrated by the Nazis, written during his time with a division that helped liberate victims in Dachau.  Salinger never talked much about this time in his life, but the effects on his writing must have been immeasurable.

Telling the tale of Salinger by recounting his formative years, his rise and eventually his disappearance from the public eye; Slawenski doesn’t rely on hearsay, and has done a good job at playing detective. Slawenski doesn’t rewrite history, but J.D. Salinger: A Life is an honest account of a writer who really didn’t want to be worshiped or praised.  Slawenski is respectful of Salinger’s wishes, and delivers a worthy biography.

The post J.D. Salinger, We Hardly Knew Ya… appeared first on Jewcy.