Salutations, Capricorn 2024
Season of Saturn and the Cosmic Mer-Goat
We enter the sun sign territory of Capricorn the day of the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere, and the summer solstice in the southern hemisphere, and will be in Capricorn from December 21 until 19 January, depending where you are in the world, while I am writing this in the UK. But what is the ancient story behind the zodiac sign of the Cosmic Goat, and what could it mean for us in Capricorn season 2024?
Traditional Associations
Glyph/Symbol: goat with a tail
Ruling planet: Saturn
Element: Earth
Quality: Cardinal (instigation)
Key phrase: I build, I use
Lucky Day: Saturday (The World card in the Tarot deck)
Lucky Numbers: 2 and 8
Body: Bones, knees, whole skeletal system
Tissue salt: Calc Phos (calcium phosphate.) The bone builder, it is the most abundant cell salt in the body. Sources include Beans, Beets, Carrots, Peanuts, Milk, Cheese and Avocados.
Birth Stones: Red Garnet and Black Onyx
Hebrew letter: “Ain”, meaning Eye. Capricorn is practical and sceptical, “seeing is believing.”
Plants: Wintergreen, Ivy, Carnation
Tarot: The Devil, Queen of Pentacles, 2, 3 and 4 Pentacles, also including Ace Pentacles as representative of the winter solstice.
Astronomy
Capricornus refers to the constellation while Capricorn is the corresponding zodiac sign. The stars of Capricorn are located in the area of the sky called The Sea, containing other water-related constellations, including Aquarius, Pisces and the River, Eridanus, making earthy Capricornus the odd one out. But the rainy season could start in January, though during Aquarius was more usual.
In the early Bronze Age around 450 BCE/BC, the winter solstice point physically occurred in the constellation of Capricorn. But since about 131 BCE/BC the solstice point has occurred in Sagittarius due to the tilt and the wobble of the earth and the effect known as the precession of the equinoxes. This does not affect the sun sign story which is based on an arithmetic model as codified by the Greek astrologer Ptolemy in the second century CE/AD.
Capricorn comes from the Latin “Capri” = goat, and “Cornus” = horn. Capricornus is not only the smallest constellation in the zodiac, with no first magnitude stars, but it is the second faintest constellation in the sky after Cancer. Even so, its brightest star, Delta Capricorni A, is a white giant with a luminosity 8.5 times that of the Sun, and there are five meteor showers associated with Capricornus: the Alpha, Chi, Sigma and Tau Capricornids, and the Capricornid-Sagittarids. The planet Neptune was discovered in the constellation Capricornus, near Deneb Algedi, the brightest star in the tail of the goat, 23 September, 1846.
The best time to see Capricornus in the night sky is from August until November in the Northern Hemisphere, best time about 9:00 PM in Mid-September, and in the Southern Hemisphere the best time is June through October. It is faint so this won’t be easy. If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, look low on the southern horizon. If you are in the Southern Hemisphere, look high in the sky on the northern horizon, and the arrowhead will be pointing upwards and not down.
The December solstice marks the start of the year’s shortest season.
This is from EarthSky…
Did you know that Earth’s seasons are slightly different lengths? And by season, we mean the time between a solstice and an equinox. The season – between the December solstice and March equinox – is a touch shy of 89 days. So it’s Earth’s shortest season.Here are the lengths of the astronomical seasons:
December solstice to March equinox: 88.99 days
March equinox to June solstice: 92.76 days
June solstice to September equinox: 93.65 days
September equinox to December solstice: 89.84 days
Read more here for the reasons why…
Nature, History and Mythology
December is the start of the mating season for The European ibex or mountain goat. The male starts fighting in December, first for territory and then for mating, tying in with the timing of Capricorn season. But the origin story of Capricorn came from ancient Mesopotamia. Enki was the Mer-Goat, the wise teacher lived in the oceans with the rest of his kind, but he was too old to follow when they left the oceans for ever and went to live on to the land, ascending to the mountains. Enki mourned and in his loneliness was placed in the heavens where he could look down and see his people, following their new destinies as creatures of the land.
Here is the duality of Capricorn, earth and water, pragmatism and emotional depth. The Greeks later told a similar story, in which Enki, now called Pricus was placed in the heavens by Zeus after his children left the oceans for the mountains in a story suggesting that the ancients apprehended, however poetically, the concept of evolution, that life on Earth had begun in the seas, and then some of that life had left the seas for ever.
The constellation of Capricorn was known to the Neo-Platonists as The Gate of the Gods, through which the souls of the newly dead re-ascend, returning home to the Source of all things.
The Capricorn Archetype
Card meanings: winter, detecting likely timing of future develpments in late December-late January, Pan, our animal nature, wild creatures, worldly power, hunger, desire, attraction, obsession, addiction, frustration, anger, entrapment, loss of autonomy, imprisonment, fear of failure
All the zodiac signs represent archetypes, meaning something that is considered to be a perfect or typical example of a particular kind of person or thing.
Capricorn is the Ruler, the Wise Elder, Protector, Organizer and Provider. Capricorn is a worker and a fighter with the determination to climb, overcoming hardships and mastering its environment. Capricorn is a pragmatist with strong ethics but it is not sentimental. These people express their devotion through deeds, not words.
Capricorn at the macro level is about worldly power, and the price that is paid for that power. Conversely it is about the loss of freedom, power and self-control through entrapment, obsession or addiction. This is the shadow side of Capricorn as portrayed by the Devil card. Here is the flex. But The Devil is an inescapable fact of the natural world. It stands for necessity, for working realities and the demands of winter survival. Capricorn represents both the darkness and the end of darkness, the sun sign of the solstice, the longest night, and then the light of the returning sun.
Astrology of Capricorn Season 2024
Mars is currently retrograde in Leo from December 6, 2024 to February 23, 2025, then goes retrograde in Cancer from January 6 until February 23, 2025. Look up your fifth and then fourth House, and where Mars sits in your personal natal chart to see where this long retrograde is most likely to impact you. And with Jupiter retrograde in Gemini, we might be feeling as if right now is a case of taking baby steps, or taking two steps forward and then back again, especially in connection with neighbours or siblings, short distance travel, and IT.
This is an eventful but erratic solstice 2024 astrologically, to say the least. We might be feeling somewhat flat and drained, but nervous, or twitchy with it. Tempers may be a little short and will need to stay on our toes this holiday season- and beyond- and keep a cool head, Capricorn style, and not let anything press our emotional buttons to the detriment of progress. But it also offers clear windows for healing and recovery, physical, emotional and familial, and to re-set finances, and to move -or restore important personal and family relationships, and creative and professional goals on a stronger footing.
December 21: the start of Capricorn season, the shortest daylight hours, winter solstice in the northern hemisphere. Classically, this is a seasonal juncture to review property, businesses, money and assets, duties and responsibilities, planning for the long term. But a dynamic grand square in mutable signs linking Saturn the manager with a waning Virgo Moon of health and admin, Sagittarius Mercury, Gemini Jupiter means we could be dealing with volatile communications, overseas news, events requiring remedial action, or malfunctioning systems.
December 24: Jupiter in Gemini square Saturn in Pisces. This is a major aspect raising existential questions. What do we dream of doing, how can we do it, what are the limits, what is the current working reality? We need a plan.
December 26: Mercury square Saturn. Tensions in communication ask us to slow down and approach conversations with utmost clarity, care and patience, doing our best to ensure mutual understanding and respect.
December 27: Venus square Uranus. A time to review finances. An unexpected extra expense, or the end of a social connection that we have outgrown, While squares can feel challenging, they are also catalysts for something new where we may have grown away from certain places and patterns or even people.
December 30: New Moon in Capricorn. Cautious strategies work best, but now Chiron stations direct. We have been sitting for some time with some deep discomfort. Now we can expect healing insights, health improvements or constructive ideas and revelations.
December 31: Mercury trine Chiron. A gentle trine, with opportunities for reconciliation, closure or healing as the year ends.
January 2: Venus moves into Pisces. Venus is exalted here, signifying opportunities in finances, close personal relationships and mystic, creative and artistic works
January 6: Mercury square Neptune. Something may not be adding up. Beware wishful thinking while also on January 6, Mars retrogrades out of Leo, going retrograde in Cancer till April 18, possible tensions, family matters, potentially plumbing issues, flooding
January 8: Mercury into Capricorn till January 28, serious matters around money, training, study, qualifications. A time to listen to trusted elders and the voices of greater experience, and a time to weigh our words with care.
January 13: Full Moon in Cancer, feelings run deep, family matters could get intense, especially to do with parents. Possibly issues to do with transport (Cancer=The Chariot) exacerbated by Mars retrograde in Leo and Pluto
January 15- 16: Sun opposite Mars, keep it cool, best not to rise to provocation.
January 18- 19: Venus conjunct Saturn. Weighty matters, finance and personal relationships, issues crystallize, cards on the table. This is not easy though it may prove productive or liberating.
January 19: Sun enters Aquarius until February 18
Happy Birthday, wise and wonderful Capricorn! Now that Pluto has moved out of the kingdom of your ruler Saturn, this has been a time of taking stock of all that has happened since 2008. Your ruler Saturn will likewise be guiding you to review deeply challenging events of more recent years with a fresh focus in 2025 on self-care and self-presentation, re-defining the ways you communicate whether dealing with written documents and other people when conducting business. The first half of 2025 looks especially significant for work, health and well-being, with favourable developments on these same fronts looking encouraging during the second half of 2025.
I draw a Tarot card for further general comment and draw The Hermit.
This card correlates with Virgo, and this solstice we have a waning Moon in Virgo, rising at 22.57 on December 21. This moon is opposing Saturn and square Jupiter. A day to proceed with circumspection, therefore, following the example of the maturity and wisdom of the watchful Hermit who like Gemini, is ruled by Mercury but here Mercury is operating in sixth house matters, home, care of elderly family members, community, household order, food, medicine, research, test results, paying the bills. The Hermit is grounded, but not tethered to the ground. He keeps his own counsel, harms none, feeds the birds, is mindful of health and community, sorts his paperwork in good time, and is capable, what is more, of forensic analysis and insights. His staff is an answering echo of the crozier of The Hierophant of Taurus, but the bishop’s palace of the Hermit is in the gardens, the meadows, the woods. Tarot Deck Video, The Tarot Illuminati NB, I have no affiliation whatsoever with the artist or publisher.
Something is afoot right now at the White House, maybe in Kyiv. The Hermit is in the world and of the world, and he cares so much, he shines a light wherever he goes. He will do his duty wherever he can, to the best of his ability. And he is devoted. He (for which we can read she, of course. We are dealing with an archetype) acts alone if necessary. But The Hermit understands better than anyone, fools rush in where angels fear to tread. He does not act where he can do no good, and he does not speak to no purpose, simply to express his emotions. There is something of the seer about this waning Hermit solstice Moon. Something of the solitary mage, this season of the Magi. There is an abiding historical and astronomical mystery, a question, a whisper, that the Christ child, or as he may have been known at the time, Yeshua Ben Joseph, may himself have arrived into the world at the solstice. But other sources suggest, based on astronomy, he could alternatively have been born in September 4-6 BCE as a Virgo sun sign native.
Happy Birthday, savvy, wise and wonderful Capricorn. Now that Pluto has moved out of the domain of your ruler Saturn, there is a great deal of taking stock of all that has happened since 2008. Your ruler Saturn will be guiding you to review undoubtedly intense and personally challenging events of 2024 with a fresh focus in 2025 on self-presentation, and the ways you communicate, dealing with written documents, and conducting business. The first half of 2025 looks especially important for work, health and well-being for you Capricorn, with favourable developments on these front looking very encouraging during the second half of the momentous year to come in 2025. I will be writing more about that later.
Back soon. Best wishes to you this solstice season.
Bring on the Magi.
Funny, I drew the Hermit this morning, for the first time in quite a while. After one more day of holiday preparations, I’m ready to go
Into Hermit mode for the rest of the year, (excepting family of course). A good time to rest and prepare for what’s ahead, I’m thinking.
Happy Holidays!