Capricorn
DECEMBER 21 - JANUARY 19
"When one has arrived at certainty, he experiences one of the greatest joys which the human heart can feel."Louis Pasteur, Dedication Speech for the Institute, November, 1888
The Symbolic Image
A mountain goat is a horned animal. Capricornians are strong-willed, and know how to defend themselves. He lives amidst steep cliffs. '6 A Capricornian confronts life's hardships. The mountain goat often leads a '6 He tends to be independent. solitary life. He can easily climb the north side of a '6 He does not take the easiest path, mountain. because he is not deterred by the impos-sible. He seeks to withstand difficulties. He climbs toward the peaks. '6 He seeks to reach heights in life, and is a proud person. Always wary, he flees as soon as '6 Possessing keen awareness and reluctant humans come near. to share secrets with anyone, Capricornians are difficult to understand.
December.- The Beginning of the Winter A Capricornian is detached from the world, and seems to lack self-interest. He seeks solitude and security in order to attain the deepest level of concentration. He is extremely conscious of time. He uses his awareness of time to pursue his own aims The Sun is at its lowest point in the sky. The Winter Solstice takes place. Nights are longer, and days are shorter. The ground seems exceptionally barren, but, beneath the surface, it is being preoared for planting of seeds. Temperatures drop, and it becomes extremely cold. The trees merely seem to be dark skeletons. Animals hibernate, deep within their burrows. Capricornians seem cold and unemotional. Their feelings are internalized. Often melancholy and sometimes somber, a Capricornian remains loyal to principles which have been tested. Capricornians are anxiety-prone, but realistic, and their foresight aids their survival. Cardinal Winter Autumn is ending, and Winter is '6 This is a sign representing a quest for beginning. greater awareness. Capricorn is a cardinal sign.
The Earth: Crystallization of Awareness
Capricorn marks the beginning of the zodiacal cycle for the Earth. It represents cardinal earth, where seeds lie buried - the seeds of awareness. Afterwards, there is the fixed earth of Taurus, namely the bountiful earth, embodying concrete realities, followed by the mutable earth of Virgo, or the earth as a source of purification or reason. Within cardinal earth, it is difficult for feelings to penetrate the conscience, but, when they do so, their effects are subterranean. A Capricorn has a silent demeanor and a calm voice. His words appear to be carefully measured: "Silence is golden, and words are of silver" would be an appropriate motto. This type of person tends to possess a wiry physique
and to be somewhat unemotional. During Winter, the earth contains new seeds. The earth initiates a slow process of growth.The earth is hard and cold. A Capricornian possesses a sense of destiny, and feels that he is the only one capable of fulfilling his destiny. With little patience for uncertainties, a Capricornian erects a world where he can be sure of things. His friendships develop over long periods of time, and his plans are the result of protracted contemplation.This is a person who protects himself from futile distractions. He also protects himself from his passions and instincts.
Saturn: The Ruling Planet
Capricorn is ruled by Saturn, the most remote of the seven visible planets. When Uranus was discovered during the nineteenth century, it was recognized as another planet which rules Capricorn. Saturn overthrew his father Uranus by castrating him. Saturn was aided by his brothers the Titans (symbols of ambition and mental domination). He castrated his father with a weapon given to him by Rhea, his mother: it was a sickle made of flint (the blade of time). When Saturn became king, he expelled the Cyclops (dark and instinctive forces), who could have been his rivals. He sent them to the depths of Tartarus (as his father, Uranus, had also done). When Uranus was dying, he predicted that Saturn would be overthrown by one of his children. Thus, Saturn devoured his children as soon as they were born. In fact, Jupiter, one of Saturn's children who was rescued by Rhea, made him disgorge all of the others: Pluto, Neptune, Juno...Jupiter exiled Saturn to Italy, where Janus gave him a home. There, he introduced such widespread prosperity that his reign was remembered as "the Golden Age." The Romans celebrated this era each year at the end of December, with a festival known as "Saturnalia.
Uranus, the God of the Heavens, expresses the exalted awareness which Saturn seeks to acquire with his sickle (time). By dethroning Uranus, Saturn only displays an apparent thirst for power: he is actually seeking supreme awareness or control over his own fate, which he does not wish to entrust to anyone. When this goal is attained, the sickle acquires a new meaning: in addition to being a weapon for combatting time, it becomes a means of gaining benefits in the long run (a sickle is used to cut wheat). Capricornians may allow their ambitions to take priority over feelings. With "their passions under control," they seek to define goals intellectually. Knowing that time is on their side, Capricornians are persistent Self-respect also requires careful choice of companions. A Capricornian demands as much of himself as he does of others. He can lack compassion for those who show weaknesses.
Capricornians are capable of foregoing the joys and pleasures which enhance life. They are capable of enduring selfrestraint and austerity for long-term goals. They believe that, at some point, the plans which they have pursued will be fulfilled. Capricornians are secretive persons who only reveal their aims at the propitious time. External ambition is only one way of pursuing true wisdom: this is a Capricornian's secret knowledge. When a Capricornian has fulfilled his intentions, he is willing to share the spiritual and material fruits of his hardships. He can exercise a strong civilizing influence.
Behind his desire for prestige and power, there is the growth of awareness which the Capricornian seeks to promote, because external power is only a means of obtaining internal power and because obstacles and difficulties in life only represent a way of gaining greater self-control. A Capricornian weighs his motives carefully before expressing himself and before sharing his knowledge.
After Uranus was discovered, it was regarded as the second planet which rules Capricorn. Indeed, it is closely associated with the symbolic context of this sign: Perhaps a Capricornian's ethics can be summarized as follows: supreme awareness is only valuable when it can offer benefits for others.
The Bones, Skeleton, and Joints The bones, skeleton, and joints are the parts of the body associated with Capricorn: Bones provide the basic structure of the body. The skeleton is the simplest expression of our anatomy With its "ironic smile," the skeleton symbolizes the knowledge of someone who has crossed the threshold of the unknown. Lastly, the joints allow us to move and to initiate actions. Capricornians admire fortitude, endurance, and strength. Simplicity and reducing things to the essential are combined with these values: Capricornians tend to be ascetic. Representing the benefits of knowledge, Capricornians are often encyclopedists Capricornians also include activity, work, and expression among their aims.
These sources provide the zodiacal formula for Capricorn: a wintry, cardinal, earthly, saturnine, and uranian disposition, associated with the skeleton, bones, and joints. These attributes can be more fully explained in the following form: A Mountaineer's Temperament
His life embodies a struggle to ascend: Maurice Herzog, who climbed Annapurna, was a Capricornian who concretely expressed this feature - "to excel oneself in mountainclimbing." Konrad Adenauer was another Capricornian who steadily and courageously climbed from one level to another: he pursued his course inflexibly, without heeding criticism. Mao Tse-Tung, another Capricornian, tenaciously pursued a "long march" throughout his life. An Encyclopedic Mind
Many scientists, particularly astronomers, have been born under Capricorn: Kepler, Newton, Tycho Brahe, as well as Louis Pasteur and Benjamin Franklin. Nevertheless, it would be somewhat inappropriate to conclude that a Capricornian passport is needed to become a scientist, because not all Capricornians have pursued this path. It can be recognized, however, that the tendencies associated with this sign produce a hunger for knowledge so that many of its natives become specialists. A Capricornian's mode of thought can be symbolized by an encyclopedia. A Tamed Heart
"Hidden suffering snows upon my heart," wrote the poet Henri de Regnier. A Capricornian's heart is constant, but difficulty in expressing feelings may lead to melancholy. There is a quest for perfection in loved ones, and a fear of not finding the desired qualities. Thus, a Capricornian controls his feelings or sometimes lets them flow, either charming or frightening his beloved. Love is regarded as a sacrament involving purity and conscience. Thus, Saint Therese de Lisieux and Joan of Arc sought marriage to God.
The Capricorn ideogram is a stroke which retrocedes toward itself, expressing the path of the conscious mind as it seeks to attain the infinite depths of the inner self. This is a convoluted graphic expression, evoking the tortuous self-scrutiny which Capricornians
undergo: it is a symbol of introversion.