Capricorn

Capricorn is the tenth sign of the zodiac, a cardinal earth sign ruled by Saturn. This year the Sun is in Capricorn from 21 December to 20 January 2027. The sign opens at a solstice, the one Ptolemy calls the winter solstice because he writes from the northern hemisphere.

The sign where the Sun turns

Ptolemy counts two tropical signs, Cancer and Capricorn. The name comes from turning. On reaching the first point of either sign the Sun seems, in his words, “to change his course towards a contrary latitude”, and brings “winter by that which he makes in Capricorn”. The season is the northern hemisphere’s.

Modern astrology calls such a sign cardinal. William Lilly sets three words for it together in his line on Capricorn: “Solsticiall, Cardinall, Moveable”.

Ptolemy also makes Capricorn feminine. It belongs to his second triplicity, which he says “consists of feminine signs”.

Saturn’s house, with Mars exalted in it

Capricorn is one of the two houses of Saturn, and one of Ptolemy’s reasons is temperature. Saturn, “since he is cold and inimical to heat”, takes “the signs opposite to Cancer and Leo: these are Aquarius and Capricorn; and they are assigned to him in consideration of their cold and wintry nature”. Cancer is the house of the Moon, and Capricorn is the sign that faces it.

Two other planets have a standing here. Of the first Ptolemy writes: “Mars possesses a fiery nature, which receives its greatest intensity in Capricorn, in which sign this planet becomes most southerly; his exaltation is therefore placed in Capricorn, in opposition to that of Jupiter”. Jupiter is exalted in Cancer, and Ptolemy gives him “his fall in Capricorn”.

Set side by side, these make Capricorn a sign Ptolemy calls cold and wintry and also the place where a planet of “fiery nature” is at its strongest. The contrast is ours to point out; he does not remark on it.

The second triplicity, “formed by Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn”, he allots to the Moon and Venus. Saturn comes into it through Capricorn, “the house of that planet”.

The Capricorn character, as the old books give it

Lilly’s line runs “Nocturnal, Cold, Dry, Melancholly, Earthly, Feminine”, and it names Capricorn “the House of Saturn”. Like Ptolemy he makes it the exaltation of Mars. His words are qualities of a sign for an astrologer judging a chart, and they are not a portrait of anyone.

Alan Leo writes the portrait. “The Capricornians, when individualised, are impartial, just and accurate, aiming to be precise, exact and constant, fulfilling all things with a persistent, persevering and industrious nature.” And again: “They are assiduous, arduous and careful, zealous and diligent, ever enduring with a calm, earnest patience, and a grave reflective demeanour.”

Ambition comes up more than once in the sentences we have from him. Capricornian individuals, he says, are “capable of attaining great heights, as they possess both ambition and endurance”. He adds: “They are always more or less ambitious, and in some way or other are ever seeking to display their independence.”

One criticism of his takes in the whole element: “In common with the earthy signs, those born under Capricorn can be extremely selfish; but their virtue lies in patience, contemplation and reflection.”

Earth, and the signs nearest to Capricorn

Taurus and Virgo are the other earth signs, the same two that Ptolemy joins with Capricorn in his second triplicity. By our formula they stand level at the top of the list of matches below. Capricorn paired with itself is third and Scorpio fourth. Cancer, the opposite sign, is sixth of the twelve, and Gemini is last. The method that produces this order is on how we score.

Alan Leo’s phrase “In common with the earthy signs” shows that he too treats the earth signs as a group; in our data those are Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn. He says nothing in this chapter about how the three get on with one another, and the list below is the formula’s work, not his.