Capricorn, The Goat-Fish
December 21- January 19th
Mode: Cardinal ~ Element: Earth ~ Ruler: Saturn Mythic Archetypes: Hestia (Vesta) ~ Ea (Babylonian) ~ Rhea ~ Pan

Of the four major turning points of the year, the Winter Solstice may be the most significant. Here, at the moment of greatest darkness in the northern hemisphere, the Sun "turns back" once again. In the ancient mythological drama of the god or goddess descent into the underworld, the return to humanity has now begun commencing the journey of individual consciousness, the point of greatest contact with universal consciousness. The collective wisdom has been assimilated, and the individual begins a symbolic return as a transformed being; the self has become the Self. This is why all gods who represent the higher Self - including Christ - have births celebrated at the Winter Solstice. This turning point has been celebrated since at least 3000 BC.

Capricorn has a long and involved mythic history. Originally it was not the goat, but the "goat-fish". In ancient Babylon, the god Ea was depicted as a man cloaked with the skin of a fish. Ea was Capricorn, the bringer of civilization, the fish man who is also, symbolically, the antelope. He ruled the waters underneath the earth, the vital power which kept the Tigris and Euphrates rivers flowing, and hence supplied life to the land. The Greeks also knew Capricorn as the goat and as a source of nourishment, although they equated the sign with Amalthea, the goat-nymph who suckled the infant Zeus (Jupiter) when his mother Rhea hid him on the island of Crete to save him from the wrath of his father, Cronus (Saturn). As a reward for her service to the future king of the gods, Amalthea was placed in the heavens as the constellation Capricorn. In Capricorn we find the symbolism of wintry withdrawal, latent sexuality, spiritual rebirth, and a powerful sense of purpose all combined. The Olympian ruler of Capricorn was Vesta (Hestia), who embodied all of these qualities. Saturn's placement in the horoscope is often feared because it symbolizes obstacles, delays, rigidity, restriction, perfection-seeking, materialism, and coldness.