Andrew

Dodekatemoria 53: Sagittarius of Leo

This is a poem in this series of 144 poems that I’m writing based on the dodeks, or twelfth parts, of the Zodiac signs. As far as I know, everybody else calls them dodekatemoria, but that’s a very complicated word to say, so I just call them dodeks.

This series is for Patreon supporters only.

Scorpio of Leo: Precision Parts

10° Leo 00′ to 2° Leo 29′


Technical work requires good technique.
Only skillful hands know how to cut cogs
or how to shape teeth at angles oblique
from billets of metal — or wooden logs.

Part meets with part at arbors or bearings,
ratchet and escapement catch and release.
Cogs ring through changes, hid behind fairings —

and the mainspring trembles, not knowing peace.
Some machinists work through giant lenses;
others chop, cursing, with chisel and rasp.
Yet hands are steady. Gentle breath cleanses
the workpiece, if it must — no sudden gasp 

comes out, when they see they’ve cut too deeply —

but that’s rare; they do the work so sweetly.

Image: A machinist carefully cuts gears for a clock, while a timber-framer makes joints for a barn frame.

Important Relationships

  • Part of the Egyptian Term of Mercury in Leo
  • Part of Decan II of Leo (administrated by Jupiter): The Laurel Wreath

Colophon

This is a part of a series of poems based on the dodekatemoria, or twelfth parts, of the Zodiac signs. The dodekatemoria are sub-segments of the Zodiac, each representing two degrees thirty minutes (2° 30′) of arc; there are 144 dodeks (as I call them) in the full Zodiac, or twelve in each sign. Each dodek is supposed to be a recapitulation or miniature repetition or summary of its parent zodiac sign, as though it were filtered through the lens of the main sign.

The Sun crosses this distance of 2° 30′ in about two and a half days, making these dodeks cognate with the Moon, which crosses one sign of the Zodiac, or thirty degrees (30°) in about two and a half days. The Sun’s passage through a dodek thus mirrors the Moon’s passage through a sign, and squeezes a “mini-year” of passage through twelve signs into a single month.

Each series of dodeks begins at 0° 00′ of its parent sign with the same sign, and there are four dodeks in each sequence of 10° degrees. Each poem in this series will give a (my) name of the dodek, its relevant degrees, a sonnet describing it, a 1-2 sentence description of the dodek, and some other information.

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