We continue to publish a series of articles about the zodiac signs through the prism of mythology. Today we have Capricorn.
In the free space formed by the Heavens, amidst primordial waters, the Earth is created. The boundless movement of the elements has no goal and strives for a result. Yet among the elements, a world of solid substance emerges, one with a beginning and an end. This limited world is stable: it is governed by rigid laws that preserve it. These are the laws of time and fate, symbolized in astrology by the planet Saturn. The Earth, where ancestors are buried, becomes one’s own for humanity. Migration ends, and a person finds a Homeland, a concept passed down from generation to generation, from clan to clan. The tribe secures a specific territory for itself, and the gods too become tribal, protecting their lineage. Such are the Roman Vesta, Saturn’s eldest daughter, or Rod, the most ancient head of the Slavic pantheon.
Those under Saturn’s care are tasked with bringing everything to completion—to perfection—in all they undertake, including their own fate, crystallizing their image and style. Capricorns often narrow their lives to a single goal, which, like Vesta’s unquenchable flame, warms their soul unseen by others. The goal is their inner core, enabling matter to sublimate into spirit.
Capricorns are born in the darkest and most difficult time of the year, and this is the most severe and serious sign of the zodiac. The achievements of Capricorn become meaningful milestones in life. Using external circumstances to the benefit of their cause, they manage to complete their plans on time so that realization becomes the next step on the calibrated path of their journey. Relying on the best memory in the Zodiac and the core of their personality, this sign takes responsibility for their existence and the work of their hands. Like a creator molding the world from clay, this brings the life wisdom of the elders who once founded and preserved their lineage—and the very Earth of Gaia.
The ancient image of the constellation Capricorn is a reptile, half-beast, half-fish, not yet human. Carrying the past of the human race within it, this sign does not always manage to live in the present, forgetting the new needs of the human soul. It sometimes consciously tends toward a mechanical approach, limiting and deadening the world around it so that it does not interfere with the realization of its goal. For the planet Saturn, the world is ruled by the harsh principle of “give as you receive,” forcing one to sacrifice everything dear and close, postponing what the soul truly asks for. The burden of responsibility that Capricorns tend to assume—responsibility akin to that of Atlas, who holds the Heavens on his shoulders—must not narrow the horizons of their vision.
(author A. Gromova based on materials by Semir and V. Vetash “Astrology and Mythology”)
