If you know someone who takes their sweet time doing something because they’re busy surveying every possible way it could go wrong, but when it’s done it’s a masterpiece then you know a Capricorn.
Capricorn is ruled by Saturn which is the most distant planet visible to the naked eye, marking its rulership around  limitations, structures,  obstacles, as well as responsibility.

Saturn rules two signs, Capricorn and Aquarius. One is of the earth triplicity, the other air. In Capricorn we are inside of a house, while in Aquarius we imagine ourselves outside of it.

Capricorn is cardinal earth, and when we think of cardinal earth in the sense of beginning to build a material structure, for it to last measures need to be taken. The land needs to be surveyed, the blueprint drawn. This is no Sagittaria where we wing it, this needs to be planned with integrity.
In nature cardinal earth is the slow process of tectonic plate movement which eventually builds mountains, but not overnight. When they are done they stay that way for a while.

Being so far from the Sun, Saturn has a very slow cycle. It takes about 30 years to transit the whole zodiac, and around age 28-29 is when we get our infamous Saturn return and fully pass the threshold of adulthood.

If in Jupiter’s realm just visited in Sagittarius we’re pushed toward a higher purpose , meaning and action by our beliefs and ideals, in Capricorn we are confronted with the bleak realities of life. Saturn’s jurisdiction covers all the things which are certain no matter how lucky, hopeful or faithful we are. Death and decay, government and taxes, laws and regulations. In short, inescapable responsibilities of real life.

Saturn is called the Lord of Karma, and karma is nothing but a mechanism of cause and effect. It’s not inherently good or bad, it’s merely the result of action. Being under the rulership of a planet dealing with this means being able to see things from a bigger perspective. Though Jupiter has an eagle view of things, soaring the heights for meaning, Saturn deals with systems and rules, especially of the material nature. And very often if you understand the rules, then you can play within them without breaking them. Because Capricorn is not all work and no play. Even though the stereotype is the CEO and the suit, take a moment to remember the Wolf of Wall Street and how a lot of financial power reflects in the party realm.
In more mythological terms, the Greek god Pan was also very much business in the day, seducing nymphs in a dionysian fervour at night.

I started this series with Cancer which is cardinal water but also the sign opposite Capricorn. Now we are finally able to polarities. If in Cancer realm the Moon takes care of our nurturing, be it physical or emotional and mothers us, then in Capricorn we are provided with the structure on which the nurturing takes place. Capricorn is as much the breadwinner as it is the walls of the house. It’s the providing parent who’s away working for covering your material needs, not being very attentive to your emotional ones.

Capricorn’s children are not known for being extremely attentive or emotional. In fact, they are known for being cold and pragmatic, with a way of pointing out things that seems not only critical but disdainful, with an apparent fundamental pessimism. The criticism comes from the ability to see the cracks in the structures, however it’s a mistake to think that it’s only outwardly directed. Capricorn can see the mistakes it makes, as well as the mistakes other make, and will punish themselves harder than they let on.

Unfortunately, with constantly thinking about the future comes often the paralysis of the present “Why bother, if it can’t be done perfectly?” and a constant measure of the self against the standard. On the bright side,  this poison brings the gift and uncommon ability of learning from what someone else did wrong. And unlike a lot of other signs, Capricorn loves critical feedback as long as it’s factual and it’s coming from someone who is in a place which they value.

And speaking of places, thinking in systems means understanding you have a role in one too. While Capricorns are known for climbing the corporate ladder with the single mindedness of the goat climbing a mountain, being aware of your place and effect in the world can make you as much part of the hippie culture as the fintech one.

Capricorn takes pleasure in surviving on the bare minimum and conservation of resources, different faces of which can be frugality or downright stinginess. This earthly element makes them really good friends with Virgo, its mutable element counterpart, who also takes joy in focusing on details, but of a more sequential nature than the hierarchical attunement of Saturn. With Taurus, the goat shares the stubbornness of horns and inflexibility, as well as the ability to work hard for pleasure and security.

As for the emotional stinginess, it’s only its expression that’s not shared. Cap is after all an earth sign, and earth is always of the yin polarity meaning receptive. They feel as deeply as a regular person, they are just hesitant in showing it because they are well aware they can be affected. Saturn has a tendency to isolate and mark one as a black sheep, and while in Aquarius this ostracizing comes as a blessing, in Capricorn the rejection from the crowd is often hurtful, because being at the top really is lonely.