- Zafarnama by Kiran Gill
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- ✨CAPRICORN SZN✨
capricorn Félix Vallotton’s Cinq heures, 1898
Cap szn is here! Ruled by Saturn, capricorns typically experience the fruits of their labor once they’ve achieved maturity. As a result, these individuals are relentless and determined. Let us commemorate capricorns by shouting out some authors and covetable gifts.
This earth sign claims dominion over the following notable authors: E. M. Forster, Khalil Gibran, Henry Miller, Yukio Mishima, Haruki Murakami, Edgar Allan Poe, Susan Sontag, J. R. R. Tolkien, and more.
Below is one visionary I think you all should know:
Forough Farrokhzad - December 29, 1934:
Forough Farrokhzad
The Iranian poet and filmmaker was born in Tehran, the fourth of seven children. She was married to the satirist Parviz Shapour at the age of 16. After one son and four years of marriage, they divorced.
Her poems, formally controlled, mixed modernity with classicism. She is known for her depiction of female desire though she believed in separating gender from art. The below passage is an excerpt from an interview she gave and paints a compelling picture of who she was as both a woman and artist:
“If my poems, as you say, have an aspect of femininity, it is of course quite natural. After all, fortunately, I am a woman. But if you speak of artistic merits, I think gender cannot play a role. In fact to even voice such a suggestion is unethical. It is natural that a woman, because of her physical, emotional, and spiritual inclinations, may give certain issues greater attention, issues that men may not normally address. I believe that if those who choose art to express their inner self, feel they have to do so with their gender in mind, they would never progress in their art — and that is not right. So when I write, if I keep thinking, oh I’m a woman and I must address feminine issues rather than human issues, then that is a kind of stopping and self-destruction. Because what matters, is to cultivate and nourish one’s own positive characteristics until one reaches a level worthy of being a human. What is important is the work produced by a human being and not one labelled as a man or a woman. When a poem reaches a certain level of maturation, it separates itself from its creator and connects to a world where it is valid based on its own merits.”
Encouraged by her husband, she released her first poetry collection and by the age of 23, she published three poetry collections. Her poetry was autobiographical and explored her unhappiness with traditional gender roles as well romantic affairs.
For example, her 1955 poem “Captive” highlighted her thoughts on marriage:
I think about it and yet I know
I’ll never be able to leave this cage
Even if the warden should let me go
I’ve lost the strength to fly away.
Meanwhile, her highly controversial poem “The Sin” highlighted her affair with a writer and editor, Nasser Khodayar. Read the full poem here, though I must share this “In the soft bed, my body / drunkenly quivered on his chest.”
Her personal life was marked by tragedy. Her ex-husband family’s barred her from visiting her son. This, alongside Khodayar’s cruel depiction of her in a series of short stories led to her nervous breakdown in 1955. After attempting suicide, she was placed in a psychiatric clinic and received electric shock therapy.*
She recovered and left Iran for the first time for nine months in Europe. Upon her return, with renewed confidence, she endeavored to commit herself to her art. One of her accomplishments includes directing a documentary on Iranian lepers which is highly allegorical. The film won the grand prize at the Oberhausen Film Festival in West Germany in 1963. It can be watched here.
In 1964, she dropped this satirical banger, “Oh Bejeweled Realm” as part of her collection Another Birth:
Tomorrow I can,
In the backroom of Khachick’s shop,
Snort a few grams of some of the purest stuff,
Swill a few glasses of mixed-up Pepsi-Cola,
Give out a few oh Gods, and Hallelujahs, haw-haws, aha-aha-aha,
And formally join the ranks of high-minded thinkers and an asinine Enlightenment.
Then I’ll sign up with the Ho-Ho School of Thought,
And put out my first great novel
Published with a bankrupt press.
She died in a car accident at the age of 32. Her work, alongside her unconventional life and untimely death, solidified her as icon of Iranian poetry.
To read her work, check out Sin and Another Birth. To learn more about her, here are two Youtube talks: Legacy of Forugh Farrokhzad and “I Cannot Lie”: The Literary Biography and Unpublished Letters of Forugh Farrokhzad.
THE ULTIMATE CAPRICORN WISHLIST
Look to the below wishlist as an ideal gift(s) for the enterprising Cap in your life. Not going to lie, I would also love any of the below gifts. Esp, the watch!
Grandalas birds in Lachen, India. Photo by @aviantrails
Cap season falls in the middle of winter and these are the shearling coats that will keep you warm: Lemaire, Bluemarine, Acne Studios, and Loulou Studio.
Bode, with its amalgamation of prints and textures, is on my mind, here are some picks from the brand that I find enticing:
The cream Flora jacket accented with red beads
The above would pair nicely with these ballerina flats
A nice cotton top; pistachio green with serrated edges, which can be worn out or to bed
This New England sweatshirt is nothing great… But, I’m still drawn to it as a New Englander.
How about elevating the hardworking Cap’s everyday fit with the below?
I think about couches more often than not and though 1stdibs has a lot of Togo couches on their site, I’m gravitating towards the Object 085 Sofa in a rich chocolate hue. Also, would not say no to the Sesann Sofa or a green ‘Mississippi’ sofa. This pepto pink armchair is also something special.
The most luxurious candle from 1986 Home; weighing 7.5 pounds, encased in marble and will burn for 190 hours.
I’m not a watch aficionado but there are about three styles that I like — Panthère de Cartier is one of them.
The Row love does not end with the Margaux purse as I’m intrigued by the in-store only R Oil which smells of sandalwood and tobacco leaves. The hand blended oil is $490.
Keep those hands moisturized with Byredo’s new Tulipmania hand cream.
Finally, gift the serious cap in your life some whimsy with a charming Sonny Angel that can dangle over their laptop while they remind their internet friends to drink water. Speaking of water, for those of your partial to water bottles, might I suggest this one?
Honor Fraser for Cap Sun Thierry Mugler - Haute Couture SS 1998
*Albeit, in 1960, she would attempt suicide once more as she was still unable to visit her son.
**Also still not monetized.
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