the fifth century B.C., the Greeks celebrated it at the Winter Solstice, as did the Romans with a festival dedicated to
Saturn - the Saturnalia. To counteract this revelry the early Christians celebrated it in commemoration of the birth of
Jesus with prayer and acts of charity. When the year was made to begin on January 1st, Christmas was shifted to
December 25th, the octave of New Year's day, the while Pagan Rome made sacrifices to Janus, after whom January was
named. Janus, guardian deity of gates, was represented with two faces, watching both entering and departing wayfarers:
the going out of the old year and the coming in of the new.Emperors began extorting tribute, strena, by way of New Year's gifts. Henry III of England followed this precedent, a
custom which did not become entirely obsolete until the Commonwealth.The Scottish name for New Year's Eve is Hogmany, when the children ran around singing and begging gifts in the form
of oaten cakes. The Parsees, Persians who emigrated to India, celebrate Yazdegera with worship of their divinities and
visits to their friends to join hands in the ceremony of hamijar. The Druids distributed sprigs of sacred misletoe. On the
continent the New Year giving of strenae "for luck" still survives, but in English-speaking countries it has been
superseded by the Christmas gift, while the wassail-bowl has now become a bowl of eggnog.Cancer The fourth sign of the zodiac. v. Signs.
Cappella. A yellow star, in 20° Gemini, the spectrum of which more nearly than that of any other bright Northern star,
resembles the spectrum of our Sun.
Capricorn. The tenth sign of the zodiac. v. Signs.
Caput Draconis. The Dragon's Head. v. Moon's Node.
Cardinal Signs. Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn -- whose cusps coincide with the cardinal points of the compass:
Aries, East; Cancer, North; Libra, West; and Capricorn, South. v. Signs.
Casting the Horoscope. The term used by astrologers to imply the calculations necessary to be made, prior to the
delineation of the nativity. v. Figure.
Cataclysmic Planet. Uranus, which combines both teh magnetic and the electric elements, producing sudden effects.
Catahibazon. An Arabic term for Cauda Draconis. v. Moon's Node.
Cauda Draconis. The Dragon's Tail. v. Moon's Node.
Cazimi. An Arabian astronomical term applied to the center of the Solar disc. It is employed to describe a planet located
within an arc of seventeen minutes (17') of the Sun's longitude: or by some authorities within half a degree of the Sun's
center. It is then said to be "in the heart of the Sun." Older authorities considered that this position fortified the planet as
much as combustion debilitates it. In his dictionary, James Wilson scoffed at this "silly distinction," saying that a planet so
placed "is undoubtedly in the worst state of combustion." Most modern authorities are inclined to agree with him, although
the favorable and unfavorable qualities it imparts vary according to the planet involved. v. Combust.