great devotion if he thinks it is merited; a stickler for the proprieties.
He drives a hard bargain, but not an unjust one, and he asks no mercy
from anyone. He has plenty of suspicion, and figures that anyone who
can “put one over” on him has earned what he gets.
Not the most ardent of signs in personal relations, Capricorn’s love is
still a much-to-be-desired thing, stable and steady, able to put up with a
good deal for the sake of loyalty if not indeed for affection. He will
rarely marry beneath his station, and frequently marries above it. He
understands “Thee shouldst marry for love, but thou canst just as well
love where there is money.” He is an excellent executive and will not
long remain subordinate. He rules by instinct and sometimes makes
those he rules quite angry. He has little interest in seeing their point of
view or answering their questions, and believes that “orders is orders”:
he took ’em once, and now it’s someone else’s turn.
When the main chance requires it, Capricorn can be mild and meek as
a lamb, but he’ll snap off the foreman’s job if he gets a chance. Once
arrived, however, he can be lavishly charitable. He loves the sense of
importance it gives him, the feeling that he has made the world give to
him, and now he can afford to give something back to it. Underlying
all his virtues and faults is the primary instinct to vindicate himself
with power, to preserve himself materially in the highest structure he
can build; and if some affliction in the horoscope doesn’t undermine
his judgment (which it often does) and cause him to overplay his hand
at some critical point, he generally emerges with the world or some
considerable portion of it at his feet. (Courtesy of Matrix Software
[http://thenewage.com].)
The following excerpt comes not from a natal report program, but from David
Cochrane’s recent book, Astrology for the 21st Century.Based on lessons for astrology
students, it approaches the signs of the zodiac from a somewhat different perspective
than the other aforementioned short delineations:
The image of the mountain goat steadily climbing to the top is a com-
mon image of Capricorn. Capricorn gives the ability to develop a plan
and carefully execute it. Capricorn is serious and sometimes humorless.
Capricorn is mature and responsible. Like most astrologers, I have
found these descriptions of Capricorn to be accurate.
In searching for a specific trait that might be central to the Capricorn’s
personality, I have one speculative idea: mental and emotional detach-
ment. The most consistent feature of Capricorn seems to be its ability
to look at everything objectively, as if through the lens of a camera,
rather than colored by one’s personal tastes and interests. The objectiv-
ity and detachment of Capricorn gives the ability to develop strategies
and plans that work. Objectivity and detachment are traits that we
associate with older people and accounts for the maturity of Capricorn.
Detachment and objectivity require one to emotionally separate one-THEASTROLOGYBOOK [125]
Capricorn