The Sun's Paces: Thirty-Six Hymns for the Decans of the Zodiac

by Andrew Watt

From ancient Egypt, through the golden ages of Greece and Rome, to the twilight of the Renaissance, a hidden calendar of thirty-six ten-day periods paced out the Sun's position against the stars. As the Sun moved through the Zodiac a month at a time, it also traveled more slowly through the Decans. The ancient Egyptians and the Greeks believed that a number of minor deities watched over these ten-day stretches of time; the Abrahamic faiths assigned them angels; in Hindu cosmology, a number of animal-bodied heroes watch over us from these parts of the sky. In this book, poet Andrew B. Watt presents thirty-six hymns or odes dedicated to the Graeco-Roman figures along the Sun's path. With startling imagery, he explores ways in which these mythic figures speak to the modern day, and offer both timeless challenges and constantly-renewed opportunities. By following the poetic cycle around the course of the year, readers attune themselves to a range of mythic experiences present in the night sky, and reawaken themselves to both the wonder and the mindset of ancient peoples who saw their own stories present in the stars. This poetic collection was in part inspired by the reading of Austin Coppock's book for serious astrologers, THIRTY-SIX FACES, available from Three Hands Press.

65 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 5, 2017

About the author

Andrew Watt is an independent consultant and author specializing in XML and Web technologies. He has written over ten books, including XPath Essentials and XML Schema Essentials, and is an active contributor to Web development specifications and technical communities.

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to get this book in paper. Poetry, especially meditative and seasonal, such as this would be good to hold in your hands until the binding gives out. Having said that, the Kindle version is still super interesting.

My favorite was Horae (The Hours). An excerpt:

"Success never comes from one day's effort,
but from the shoulder applied to the plow
again and again. No small discomfort
attends the labor: it can't be done now,
and be completed."

The whole book is full of wisdom in verse like this, and it's lovely. There are a few spots that felt rough or dated, but I suppose that's to be expected from a tradition this ancient. There are enough other areas where you can feel the hymn take over the author which is always a delight.