{"id":2665,"date":"2026-01-21T11:45:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T11:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/?p=2665"},"modified":"2026-01-21T12:59:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T12:59:09","slug":"january-21st-st-agnes-day-aquarius-on-resolutions-and-t-shirts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chr.org.uk\/anddidthosefeet\/january-21st-st-agnes-day-aquarius-on-resolutions-and-t-shirts\/","title":{"rendered":"On Resolutions. Aquarius & T-Shirts January 21st St Agnes Day"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Aquarius (detail from Kalendar of the Shepherds)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Sun enters the house of Aquarius<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

‘The man born under Aquarius shall be lonely and ireful; he shall have silver at 32 years; he shall win wherever he goeth, or he shall be sore sick. He shall have fear on the water, and afterwards have good fortune, and shall go into divers strange countries. He shall live to be 75 years after nature.’<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘The woman shall be delicious, and have many noises for her children; she shall be in great peril at 24 years and thereafter in felicity. She shall have damage by beasts with four feet and shall live 77 years after nature.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Kalendar of Shepherds, 1604 (quoted in the Perpetual Almanac by Charles Kightly)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resolutions & Predictions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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the Author sporting a Betsy Trotwood aphorism ‘Never be mean, never be false, never be cruel’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Kalendar of Shepherds predictions for those born in Aquarius, (see above) are so specific they cannot help but be wrong for most people. Surely, the art of the prophecy, is to be vague, be general and to know human nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the 21st of January, we should have an idea of whether we are going to keep to your resolutions or not. And perhaps we should now be tuning them or adapting them to fit our lives as actually lived, rather than on our pious hopes. (for more on prophecy, see my post <\/a>here).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wisdom in a Taxi Ride<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 2023, on January 21st after my Uncle Brian’s Funeral. I had a chat with a taxi driver on the way to the railway station . He told me that funerals make him wonder how his behaviour might influence those the people who will, one day, make that special effort to turn up at his funeral. As a young Asian guy, he was thinking ahead quite some way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I replied that ‘Funerals make me reflect on how much time I have spoiled by not being fully engaged in the moment’. All those conversations where my mind wandered. Those radio programmes I only half heard as I tried to read a book at the same time. All those train journeys, walks in the woods or along the canal while listening to headphones. My visits to relatives where I rushed back to get home as quickly as possible. Being present in the moment was, maybe, the key to improving the quality of life and interactions with others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dickens’ solution to the woes of the world<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We continued chatting through the short journey. As we arrived in the forecourt of the station he suggested we exchange a final word of wisdom. As we had been talking about history, I turned to Charles Dickens. I told him Betsy Trotwood’s words to David Copperfield:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNever,” said my aunt, “be mean in anything; never be false; never be cruel. Avoid those three vices, Trot, and I can always be hopeful of you.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charles Dickens, David Copperfield<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I said that Betsy’s words stem from Charles Dickens’ belief that the key to progress in the world was to ignore the dogma of religion but to live by just one tenet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Treat people as you want to be treated by others<\/em>.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In return, he told me of an Islamic teacher who responded to his enquiry. ‘How to ensure salvation given all the many (possibly conflicting) moral teachings and texts there were’. The answer was, if he lived wisely and considered his impact on others, he could be sure of salvation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By this time, I had missed my train. But the two of us had had a moment of connection. There are plenty of trains from Guildford to Waterloo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dickens Philosophy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Dickens was a brilliant propagandist against the evils that are endemic in society. And yet, he was no socialist. He wrote ‘Hard Times’ which is a virulently anti-trade union story. But his recipe for improvement in society was based on implementing the broad understanding of religion, as expressed in these two quotations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself<\/em>\u201d (Matthew 22:37\u201339). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

T-shirts & the Rolling Stones<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
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Philosophy for life as told to St Patrick by a Druid<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I have a lot of t-shirts with quotations from history on them. I suspect I am one of the very few people who store his t-shirts in chronological order. The selfie shows chronologically, the first, and the last is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometime you’ll find
You get what you need”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the Rolling Stones have a big part to play in the musical history of Lindon, here are the lyrics in full and a youtube video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can’t always get what you want<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I saw her today at the reception
A glass of wine in her hand
I knew she would meet her connection
At her feet was her footloose man<\/p>\n\n\n\n


No, you can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometime you’ll find
You get what you need<\/p>\n\n\n\n

repeat above

And I went down to the demonstration
To get my fair share of abuse
Singing, “We’re gonna vent our frustration
If we don’t we’re gonna blow a fifty-amp fuse”
Sing it to me, honey<\/p>\n\n\n\n


You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometimes, well, you just might find
You get what you need
Ah baby, yeah
Ah<\/p>\n\n\n\n


I went down to the Chelsea drugstore
To get your prescription filled
I was standing in line with Mr. Jimmy
And, man, did he look pretty ill
We decided that we would have a soda
My favorite flavor, cherry red
I sung my song to Mr. Jimmy
Yeah, and he said one word to me, and that was “dead”
I said to him<\/p>\n\n\n\n


You can’t always get what you want, well no
You can’t always get what you want. I tell you, baby
You can’t always get what you want, no
But if you try sometimes you just might find, uh, mm
You get what you need, oh yeah, woo!
Ah, woo!
You get what you need, yeah, oh baby
Ah yeah<\/p>\n\n\n\n


I saw her today at the reception
In her glass was a bleeding man
She was practiced at the art of deception
Well, I could tell by her blood-stained hands, sing it<\/p>\n\n\n\n


You can’t always get what you want, yeah
You can’t always get what you want, ooh yeah, child
You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You just might find
You get what you need, ah yeah
Ah baby, woo!<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Ah, you can’t always get what you want, no, no, baby
You can’t always get what you want, you can’t now, now
You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You just might find that you
You get what you need, oh yeah<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ah yeah, do that<\/p>\n\n\n\n

source: https:\/\/www.lyricsondemand.com\/rolling_stones\/you_cant_always_get_what_you_want<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

YouTube Video<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

And here is an early video of the band, with Brian Jones, playing the song. Sadly, it doesn’t have the sublime choir singing the chorus. Youtube will probably play an ad. I don’t make any money from that by the way!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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