The Capricorn Archetype

“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall” – Confucius

Welcome to Capricorn Season, where Time and Structure rule supreme!Born to overcome hardships and master its environment, structure, hierarchy, boundaries, and authority are key expressions of this archetype. With its penchant for pragmatism, strong ethics, and relentlessness, Capricorn embodies the Saturnian archetype. Leaving no stone unturned, it follows the sure path to the summit by placing one careful step after another, unconcerned with how long it will take to reach to the top.

Driven to control everything around them, Capricorn-dominant people have a compulsion to take charge of and feel responsible for every situation that they are involved in. They have an innate talent for organising all the minute pieces of the puzzle to reach the larger goal. With an eye firmly on the target, keeping commitments and promises, making sensible decisions, and hiding feelings and fear allow these individuals to approach life from an adult position. Their philosophy is that things have to be difficult to be important, and that revealing their own vulnerability is a sign of weakness.

Masters at achieving goals, they have an insatiable need to know that they have the power to succeed. With an instinctive grasp of how to accomplish things and thrive in business, in their minds success in the outer world is the only way to prove this point. Yet, what these people need above all else, is to feel safe, cared for, and respected for who they are, regardless of what they have achieved.

Capricornians take everything seriously. They carry the weight of the world on their shoulders. While firmly in pursuit of their goals, these people have a natural tendency to delay gratification for themselves and typically put up an emotional wall, every other need on the backburner until the objective is realised. Inevitably, a new target is right behind, and these individuals may end up keeping others out and neglecting their own feelings indefinitely. They make tremendous personal sacrifices, work relentlessly, stand for principles they believe in at the expense of their own personal needs, all in pursuit of acknowledgement, respect, and authority in their field.

Taken to its extremes, Capricornian energy may come across as rigid, unapproachable, cold and calculating, sometimes even ruthless, with no spontaneity or emotions on display. Caution and an aversion to risk taking lead to a preference for tradition and following the trodden path, as they have proven successful and enduring in the long run. Like its counterpart Cancer, Capricorn is also concerned with self-protection and security. The former addresses this need emotionally, and the latter physically, and both prefer stability over change.The Saturnian undertones of Capricorn Season and 2019 more widely will shine the light on where we are going wrong in our lives. Like a reality check, they will help us to align with our deepest self, to ensure we are ultimately pursuing our deepest purpose. In this sense, they will be about psychological maturity, self-mastery, safety, and self-sufficiency. They will be about doing the right thing, at the right time, the right way. Any obstacles along the way are likely to be symptomatic of one of these three principles not being in balance. Capricorn helps us to identify whether we need to course correct, and how. Then plan for it, but without expecting overnight success. This is not the Saturnian — nor indeed the Capricornian — way.